Kumbha, son of Kumbhakarna

Kumbhakarna is a rakshasa (devil) that towers over man. Despite his monstrous size and great hunger, he was described to be of good character, though he killed and ate many monks just to show his power. He was granted a boon, but accidentally asked for the “Nidraasana” (bed for sleeping) and slept for six months. When he awoke, he devoured everything in sight. The warrior who defeated him did not sleep, eat or drink for 14 years to prepare for his battle with the devil.

Here are my thoughts for Kumbha, his son and goat herder.

Might: 5, Nature: 7
Descriptors: Sleeping, Devouring, Herding
Kill: 14, Weapons: Attack: +1d Mighty Thews, Maneuver +1d Giant Stride
Drive off: 10, Weapons: Attack: +1d Mighty Thews, Maneuver +1d Giant Stride
Flee: 7, Weapons: Attack: +1s Insatiable Hunger
Armor: Demon Skin (equivalent to leather)
Instinct: Devour everything in sight.
Special: Against an adventurer who has fasted for 14 days without sleep or food, Khumba’s Order of Might is reduced to 2.

My biggest concern is the Special (the rest of the stats are very close to a troll’s).

  1. What’s the best method to accomplish this? I was thinking an Ob 4 Heath test (suggested failure condition: Hungry and Thirsty) and an Ob 5 Will test (suggested failure: condition exhausted).

  2. The intent of reducing OoM is so that a) he’s killable, and b) while he’s still dangerous (rolling 8 dice on attacks and having a very high disposition) it’s also possible to deal him crippling wounds (+1s due to higher OoM)

Thoughts?

This is awesome. I think for the special, first step would be the player seeking Kumbha’s weakness and learning about it. And just a thought:

Fasting Conflict
Disposition: Ritualist + Will
Actions: Attack, Will; Defend, Health; Maneuver & Feint, Ritualist.

I’m sure you could get creative with the disposition of the “opponent”…

Pretty easy for the special weakness. Reduce Kumbha’s Might by 1 when facing an opponent who has either the hungry and thirsty or exhausted conditions. If the opponent has both conditions, reduce Kumbha’s Might by 2.

Really cool idea. I like having tough monsters that can be defeated through smart play and knowing their weaknesses.

Jared’s idea is good, nice and clean mechanics! You could also do something like the Order of Might is reduced based on the current Turn number, like maybe reduced by 1 for every 10 Turns? Thus a group that really stretches themselves thin and doesn’t Camp for 30 Turns will be able to take him on.

Jared, the benefit of this is that it’s simple, which is great. The downside to me is that the players will most likely just stumble upon this advantage and not even realize they are getting a benefit. While Kumbha isn’t an entire mystery himself, I dig the idea of the characters being able to learn about him and prepare to fight him (should they be that insane), rather than just stumble upon him when they are already ground up and decided he wasn’t nearly as tough as they thought he would be.

Any ideas on how to make gaining those conditions more deliberate and less incidental to adventuring?

Note: I’ll be at Kublacon this weekend and I’m going to play-test this there if I can round up a pickup game. I’ll try your method as is and see how it goes.

Personally I think the goal behind the warrior’s fasting is not simply to become hungry and exhausted (that’s easy!), but instead to become cleansed and enlightened.

I think the ability to face down the demon comes from the ritual of fasting, not from simply being hungry and exhausted—anyone can do that. This is why I think it would be interesting to make it a Ritual test. Discovering the weakness would be a Theologian test, or a process of doing research in town, or using Supernal Vision, etc…

It’s like in Skogenby [spoiler!], if you do the ritual cleansing you can gain an advantage over Haathor Vash.

So in the end, I think characters should be able to fast appropriately using Ritualist a certain obstacle and gain the advantage over Kumbha. They don’t necessarily have to have the conditions marked off. Someone can fast and come away from it more powerful than they were before. Know what I mean?

Anyway, I find this whole thing pretty inspiring and I think I’ll incorporate this guy in our upcoming game. Will report back with how it goes. :slight_smile:

I really like Grover’s take on it. Just being hungry or exhausted isn’t as interesting as the notion that something spiritual is happening to you after fasting. That cleansing and focus gives you a spiritual advantage against the creature. I could see Ritual and Theologian morphing into its own subsystem in a demon heavy game. As a result I’d lean towards the fasting increasing the characters OoM by 1 against demonic powers. Or at least this demonic power. That puts your demon within the kill zone for the character.

Plus it has the benefit setting the precident for later. Fasting can put you in range of killing this minor demon., but not higher Order demons. Different rituals may exist for those though. I like this!

Chris and Grover, I love these ideas. A ritual roll to fast is spot on. I think I’d make the suggested failure be the condition Exhausted and then the bonus only lasts until the character eats, drinks, or sleeps (so if Hungry & Thirsty comes up, the only real way to get rid of it would be through a prologue/missed session).

Theologian to learn of the ritual looks like it would be ob 5 (lesser spirit, malign, near reaches).
Ritualist to perform the fast seems like it would only be ob 3 (coming of age + evil gm factor due to the physical exertion of not eating, drinking or sleeping).

I’d make it a Health test to fast. Ritualist perhaps useful as preparation; generate supplies that give +1D to the fasting test.

Also, if he’s a demon, why not fuck with the players a little? Right before they meet him, they encounter some splendid feasting tent with luxurious beds and delicious hot food. Tempt them!

Yep, I dig it. Anyone can try it. Here’s my write up for it:

Fasting Ritual

Kubha’s father Kumbhakarna was a mighty rakshasa (demon) who could only be slain by a mortal who did not sleep, eat, or drink for 14 years. A ob 5 Theologian test will reveal the ritual fasting a mortal would have to perform in order to slay Kumbha.

Once it is known performing the ritual is an Ob 5 Health test that must take place during a camp phase. Help cannot be provided by others, but an Ob 3 rituals test can be used to generate supplies and grant +1d to to the roll.

Suggested Failure:

  • Condition: Exhausted. The ritual is complete by the supplicant is exhausted from the ordeal.

After the ritual is complete, the supplicant cannot eat, drink or sleep (relieve the Hungry and Thirsty or Exhausted conditions), or the benefit is lost.

This is awesome.

Now THAT is amazing Sean. It’s dead on. Session this Saturday for us and I’ll see if I can incorporate this. You Californians are nuts my dude!!!

Thanks guys! I’ve yet to play-test it but I’m feeling strong about this adventure.

Update: So I used the word “demon” when presenting the lead and they ran the other way. Will report back when they finally get some backbone and do something about these rumors of terror in the countryside…

Priceless! I’m play-testing the adventure next weekend. I’ll run it two, maybe three times. Excited to see what different folks do.