Legendary {x}

What's that, yer fool enough ta not believe the stories boy? Yer fool enough ta not believe such myths and tall tales have power, even though ye yerself use them, ya damn fool bard? We may nae understand how it works, or why it works, or how the power comes ta light. But we know it does. This is Valerick laddie, where magick flies free upon the winds, and manna bleeds out of every stinking pore of the world an' outta every thing and creature, livin', dead, or otherwise. Ye'd best start believing in fairy tales and monster stories, me boyo. Cause once we climb this cliff and enter Ol' Grimjaw's cave? Yer gonna be livin' one!

Storm-Lancer Fenna Novikoal to her adventuring companion Fredwick Rumster

The Legendary Condition Explained

In coming up with this conceptualization, this idea, this beginning of something that could one day maybe become an actual TTRPG rules system (though I would need much refinement and editing I realize) there were inspirations and certain parts of other experiences from other games I wished to keep. One of them, conceptually, was the idea of 'boss' or 'legendary' monsters being capable of just....doing more. Being more terrifying, avoiding more stuff, overcoming more saves (so defensive tests), resisting more magick, and inflicting more damage on a more epic scale, as well as in some cases in their lairs or home bases, even having environmental effects on the battle space players will be confronting the creature in. That last bit will be present more in a given creature's biography and reference sheet when appropriate, as those environmental effects will be unique to the creature in question.

However the other piece, that legendary monster feeling, well there does exist a system that did something for that which I have experienced. It is something 5e brought to the table that while it is done plainly, it can be manipulated to feel epic as all hell. If it was not so clunky in just being a simple mechanical set of advantages, but given a breath of narrative life, given some wider and more....narratively driven ways it would alter a creature or individual in an encounter.

Thus this concept. The Legendary (x) Condition. Legendary as a condition has a few notable effects upon a creature, however these effects are not extensively listed here. In fact, a big part of the effects it should have should be narratively decided by the lore and GM at the time. This is because of the way this condition is meant to work.

On Valerick words have a lot of power. Stories and tall tales from local myths and legends to the epics that, barring a few finer points, are shared the world over across different cultures, that energy, that essence being put out into the universe means something. Its actually, though most whom live upon Valerick cannot fathom such a concept, why the Void is an ever present and ever continuing threat. The realm of nightmares only exists, indeed, only thrives, because the subconscious and conscious behavior of mortal sapients across the realms lets it thrive. Their voices, their conviction, their fear, their loathing, their enjoyment of horror stories, of tales about things that go bump in the night, of their dreams and nightmares and biggest fears and doubts, all those things whispered into the Aether gave birth to the Void and continue to feed it even now. It is the dichotomy of existence for the creatures of the Void. They desire to maim, corrupt, and ultimately destroy mortal sapient life, to burn it down to its roots, without truly understanding that to do so would be the end of their very existence.

But perhaps the Fell gods do understand. Perhaps that is why they and their factions, those creatures we associate with them, do not get along with each other very often, if at all. Because they understand the sheer paradox of their own existence and pit their own kind off one another to insure the darkness is never wholly victorious. None can know.

However that same power is also what passes the status of Legendary on to creatures, individuals and even groups. Your own PCs as a group could, if you wished to run such a game, gain this condition and its benefits over the course of their stories. After all, what did you think it meant to become Exemplari.

But as will be seen below, when we break down what this condition does in general, and noting where certain specifics may be found, or at least inspiration for them considered, GMs should be wary both with how freely they utilize this condition on their own creatures, and extremely wary with the concept of gifting it to PCs. Humbly, I, your humble guide and writer, would perhaps recommend giving them Legendary (2) or perhaps Legendary (3) at the very most in a given campaign, and to insure it is earned properly, in place of a level up perhaps after downing some terrible beast or monstrous individual, some arch villian of the current story path of the adventure. Such status needs to be earned, truly earned, through deeds mighty, heroic, or terrible, with people living on to spread the word of them!

Transmission & Vectors

Legendary (x) has 5 levels. Each rank has its own parameters as to how it was achieved, and in broad general terms, how widespread the story or 'legends' of the creature in question deeds must be;

• Legendary (1): This is quite local, very local, usually limited to perhaps a very large city, or something akin to a township or county, something spread over a fair number of people, but is believed or taken seriously, or even seen as important/threatening in a very limited area. A real world example would be sewer gators in New York City. The story is a true urban myth or legend there, and such a creature in the sewers of New York City, or on the streets above, would likely count as Legendary (1) and garner the benefits. But remove it from that specific environment, and it loses that edge, that aura, that presence because the story more or less loses its local cultural impact.



• Legendary (2): A creature achieving this status would be spreading over a more populous and larger area, but in similar ways to Legendary (1) still be quite limited in its impact. A real life example geographically conveniently close to our first is the Jersey Devil. Sure the state of New Jersey over would likely be the cause and feeding this condition in such a creature, and yes others outside of New Jersey in our modern times are familiar with some aspects of the supposed creature and stories. Hell the state uses it as a marketing tactic, its the name of their NHL hockey team. However beyond New Jersey's borders the creature's impact and force of presence fed by such a story, the power it would wield in public consciousness and perception would drop swiftly.


Legendary (3) By this point, to aid GMs in understanding, our real world examples begin running slim swiftly. However this would be a creature or individual whom has earned this sort of respect/fear, this sort of presence/impact by their mere presence upon popular consciousness that it is likely spread to engulf an almost country or multiple country sized area. For this real world example we leave my side of the Atlantic and instead look to the UK, and Scotland in particular. The Loch Ness Monster, or Nessie as it is affectionately and jokingly referred to in some cases would be an obvious scale here. Its status may drop by one rank outside Scotland directly, but anyone in the UK or Ireland would know enough of the stories and urban legends of such a creature that its power of presence and the impacts and benefits such would bestow upon Valerick would not be negated by such distance from the source of its power, it would have to travel further to see this condition and its benefits lessen.


• Legendary (4): At this rank you would be looking at most certainly a continental reputation, at someone or some creature that has had such an impact upon sapient society that its myths and legends and stories survive translations and cultural crossings mostly, if not entirely intact. In our modern age, one would consider any such celebrity perhaps an example, however for this thought experiment to help you GMs out there, you need to distance yourself from modern information infrastructure (unless you are playing using these rules in your own setting and not Valerick in which case carry on). So for this real world example, We look to something more complex, and not a creature but now a sapient individual. Alexander the Great. During his reign, over the course of it, he ascended his way swiftly into, comparably if he had been in the setting presented her where such stories could hold the power this condition will suggest? About the inter-continental realm of status and most certainly crossing cultural and language barriers with the stories and at least visual descriptions of the man intact enough to allow that power to grow. Such is the necessary sort of effect upon the world around you a creature or individual would need to exert to achieve this level of this condition. Not necessarily as he did, via military means, but it would need to have similar massive sweeping and notable life altering effects upon people that would leave great impact immediately, and whilst the creature/individual yet live the stories grow to that sort of size. Many are the creature or individual whom may reach this cultural level post mortem, but they are few and far between that do so alive.



• Legendary (5): At this point we leave the realm of more or less all comparables and need to discuss what the hypothetical would mean. This level of the Legendary Condition would be more or less reserved for Ancient Tanes, True born Dragons returned again, Named Saints somehow given form to walk upon Valerick once again, or the 16 Firstborn Nightmares, the first born twins of each of the Fell Gods. No other creature would or could truly have such a reputation that would have spread, at Valericks base level of information and culture exchange. Even in our modern era, the only true examples that exist are perhaps faceless groups, not individuals or creatures.
  
  Or if you really wanted to stretch it, something as ambigious as Bigfoot/Abominable Snowman/Sasquatch. They are all more or less reskins of the same story, and could, if you really stretched it, qualify. But otherwise, at no point is there any figures besides perhaps highly volatile religious ones that would be a useful comparison in real world for the GMs reading this. Basically a creature or monster with this level of Legendary is Godzilla. It is the end all be all. It is the final boss of the campaign, or a religious reckoning beyond which the world can consider.
  
  Again, there are perhaps long dead people in our own reality whom would have this level of status now, though even then it would be a stretch. But living, or having had it whilst they were alive? There are no great examples to offer, in this writer's mind, and so for this description we stick to fictional, to vague generalizations and to conceptualizations. Use this tier sparingly. This should be a once in a campaign sort of foe and perhaps a once in a campaign sort of social encounter at most, at the very most. They should be life altering, reality shifting, mental state changing affairs for your PCs and nothing less than that.

Causes

As stated it is the stories themselves, the stories and myths and legends passed around cultures, sapient beings, groups of people. Do not mistake this, generic stories of goblins, ghouls, ghosts, rats, vampires, creepy bugs or random unnamed monsters that go bump in the night have no real effect by themselves. The first step to acquiring this condition is consistency. Is going from an unnamed (or name regularly switching) entity to having a cultural moniker. As soon as a name and description becomes more or less static (the description can change a bit here and there with translation across languages, but the name should remain as persistent as translations allow) and spreads over an appropriate distance/threshold of peoples as a collective and becomes a part of their cultural weaving? That is how such a condition is born.

Symptoms

So this condition bestows many effects and benefits in the rules we need to discuss. Some will be listed as merely 'creature specific' and that is your moment as a GM to consider what might be appropriate. Some base creature templates have listed advancement or advancement rules. Perhaps it is some sort of evolution or advancement? Perhaps it is merely bigger, stronger and meaner than others of its kind? However beyond that, it does have other static effects as well, so let us break it down in a proper listed fashion for you.

GM NOTE: As a small disclaimer however, the lists below should NOT be taken as gospel. Legendary as a condition only increases a creature's EL by 2+1/additional tier of Legendary after the first. As such, giving a creature all the abilities listed for its tier depending on your game's power level, party, playstyle, etc. Generally I would recommend 3 abilities off the list as a good median to work with, and go up or down from there sparingly. It will be a careful process using this condition and learning how to wield it well in its sparing use, but I promise you it can have wonderful and epic narrative and story-telling results. The best of luck, now sortie on and learn what it means to be Legendary!;

Legendary (1)

• +3 Attribute Points: These should be placed by you as a GM where you feel, based on the legend, the creature or individual should have them.



• One Tough Specimen: +2d12 wounds.



• 1 Unique Ability or Action: Something outside the norm for its species and kind. An Ungal Warlord that has a mutation giving it a fiery breath weapon as an example.



• Legendary Presence: The creature's sheer presence, reputation nad impact upon those around it reduces their ability to think clearly and perform at their best. Any creature that starts its turn within 5 feet (+5 feet for each size above medium the creature is) of the legendary individual is at a -2 to all d20 rolls. A Legendary (1) creature's presence only holds up until it has taken 25 wounds worth of damage, then it is gone until after a Rest.



• Legendary Defense (Pick one Arcane, Divine, Powers, Martial): The first spell, prayer, power or critical hit against a Legendary (1) creature simply fails to do anything, the creature seeming to not notice it at all. This is burned and does not recover without a Rest, and it is not optional to use, it is merely triggered.



• 1 Legendary Action: These are meant to function almost exactly how they do in DnD 5e, and should be used accordingly, however instead of a select list, it is merely an extra action that the creature cannot use on its turn but uses at initiative 15 or lower, and must be used between two other creatures turns, it cannot interrupt another creature's turn to do this.

Legendary (2)

• +6 Attribute Points: Similar to the (1) version of the condition, though here seems most relevant to remind GMs that Attributes are designed to have a soft (read player attainable) cap at 30, and a hard (read exceedingly powerful magick item, or end game EL 20 or more foe) 40. So do keep that in mind when assigning these points.



• One Tough Specimen: +2d12 Wounds, Rapid Recovery (5)



• 1 Unique Ability or Action: This is the same as above however as with all these, you are stepping up now, so think bigger. More damage then you'd use for the previous step, or an action that has a bigger effect area, or can influence more targets.



• Legendary Speed: The creature has +10 feet movement speed.



• Legendary Presence: The creature's sheer presence, reputation nad impact upon those around it reduces their ability to think clearly and perform at their best. Any creature that starts its turn within 10 feet (+5 feet for each size above medium the creature is) of the legendary individual is at a -2 to all d20 rolls. A Legendary (2) creature's Legendary Presence only lasts until the creature takes 50 wounds worth of damage, and then it is gone until it has time to have a Rest.



• Legendary Defenses (Pick 1; Arcane, Divine, Powers, Martial): The first two spells, prayers, powers or critical hits against a Legendary (2) creature simply fails to do anything, the creature seeming to not notice it at all. This is burned and does not recover without a Rest, and it is not optional to use, it is merely triggered.



• 2 Legendary Actions: Cannot be taken at the same time unless for an ability that costs 2 actions. Cannot activate twice between the same two creatures turns.

Legendary (3)

• +9 Attribute Points: As noted in previous sections, spend wisely, and consider the soft and hard cap expectations.



• One Tough Specimen: +2d12 Wounds, Rapid Recovery (10)



• 1 Unique Ability or Action: again feel free to step it up, and even consider a 2 action ability to activate, so a combination ability that lets the creature move and attack or utilize some cool power whilst perhaps raising some sort of defensive shield of some kind. Things of this nature.



• Legendary Speed: +10 feet Movement speed, +1 Reaction per round



• Legendary Presence: The creature's sheer presence, reputation nad impact upon those around it reduces their ability to think clearly and perform at their best. Any creature that starts its turn within 10 feet (+5 feet for each size above medium the creature is) of the legendary individual is at a -4 to all d20 rolls. A Legendary (3) creature's Legendary Presence only lasts until it has taken 75 wounds worth of damage, then it is gone until it has time to take a Rest.



• Legendary Defenses (Pick 2; Arcane, Divine, Powers, Martial): The first two spells, prayers, powers or critical hits against a Legendary (3) creature simply fails to do anything, the creature seeming to not notice it at all. This is burned and does not recover without a Rest, and it is not optional to use, it is merely triggered. It does not gain two instances of this for both selections, the ability merely covers both selections and will be burned the first two times required and meeting either selection (in otherwords picking martial and divine means if a warrior crits the creature twice in a row, the defenses are gone and the priest can use a prayer with no fear of it not working).



• 2 Legendary Actions: Cannot be taken at the same time unless for an ability that costs 2 actions. Cannot activate twice between the same two creatures turns.

Legendary (4)

• +12 Attribute Points: As noted above, just consider carefully when spending and templating this creature and its balance



• One Tough Specimen: +2d12 Wounds, Rapid Recover (15)



• 1 Unique Ability or Action: Perhaps now start looking into big abilities, things of a massive and battle altering nature that could cost all 3 actions.



• Legendary Speed: +20 feet movement speed, +1 Reaction



• Legendary Presence: The creature's sheer presence, reputation nad impact upon those around it reduces their ability to think clearly and perform at their best. Any creature that starts its turn within 15 feet (+5 feet for each size above medium the creature is) of the legendary individual is at a -4 to all d20 rolls. A Legendary (4) creature's Legendary Presence only lasts until it has taken 100 wounds worth of damage, then it is gone until it has time to take a Rest.



• Legendary Defenses: (Pick 2; Arcane, Divine, Powers, Martial): The first three spells, prayers, powers or critical hits against a Legendary (4) creature simply fails to do anything, the creature seeming to not notice it at all. This is burned and does not recover without a Rest, and it is not optional to use, it is merely triggered. It does not gain two instances of this for both selections, the ability merely covers both selections and will be burned the first two times required and meeting either selection (in otherwords picking martial and divine means if a warrior crits the creature twice in a row, the defenses are gone and the priest can use a prayer with no fear of it not working).



• 2 Legendary Actions: As noted above.

Legendary (5)

• Legendary Immunities: Choose Two types of Elemental damage or alternatively choose Arcane, Powers or Divine. The creature gains full on immunity to damage and conditions that attempt to be bestowed from those sorts of sources.



• Legendary Recovery: The creature shrugs off any condition barring death with ease. Regardless of the cause of the effect, any condition it suffers only lasts until the beginning of its next turn.



• +15 Attribute Points: At this point, spend as you would wish. A creature of this status should likely have at least three attributes at 30+ and at least one tickling the ceiling of 40 if not outright reaching it.



• One Tough Specimen: +2d12 Wounds, Rapid Recovery (20)



• 1 Unique Ability or Action: At this point, again get a bit wild with it. Make it a massive aoe spell like effect for 1 action, if your PCs are in this sort of fight, you and they should be expecting apocolyptic levels of power.



• Legendary Speed: +20 Feet movement speed, +1 Reaction, Haste (1) condition permanent.



• Legendary Presence: The creature's sheer presence, reputation nad impact upon those around it reduces their ability to think clearly and perform at their best. Any creature that starts its turn within 15 feet (+5 feet for each size above medium the creature is) of the legendary individual is at a -6 to all d20 rolls. A Legendary (5) creature's Legendary Presence only lasts until it has taken 125 wounds worth of damage and then it is gone until it can take a Rest



• Legendary Defenses: The first three times this creature should be damaged or have any sort of harm inflicted upon it by any source of any kind, nothing happens. It seems to have no effect, regardless of the source.



• 3 Legendary Actions: As noted above

In Conclusion

In conclusion, I hope this section and these rules both make sense, and help you the reader as a GM understand how delicate and sparing a thing the Legendary condition should be in your game. It takes effort, planning and skill you use it well, to insure its appearance in your games doesn't derail the campaign. Use it sparingly, use it for its narrative value, and the epic climax it can create. Pick and choose only some of the listed effects for your creature if that feels more balanced. As mentioned above it is balanced sparingly, not with the idea that a creature with a Legendary Status is benefitting from the effects of the entire list of the abilities under that heading, but about 3 of them as an average. So workshop to your needs!

Now go forth and may you find the rare moments you choose to utilize this condition and its narrative capabilities provide you and your group with as much tension, fun, fear, and triumph as the groups I've been workshopping it with have!