#street skelm

[thecreaturecodex]

Skelm, Street

Image © Paizo Publishing. Accessed at Archives of Nethys here

[I love the skelms. They might be my favorite Pathfinder monster new to 2e. I've seen the idea of a male equivalent to hags discussed before. Someone on rpg.net, maybe it was @crinosg or @prokopetz, gave their take the name "coots" and used the Old Man of the Mountain from a Betty Boop cartoon as their model. Paizo's brilliant idea was tying their male hag analogue to ideas of toxic masculinity and entitlement. Since I'm someone who loves to use monsters as tools of social commentary, I was basically their target audience here.]

Skelm, Street CR 3 LE Monstrous Humanoid If not for his unnaturally red face and the rack of antlers growing from his brow, this could be an ordinary human. He wears leather armor and carries a cane.

Skelms are creatures of rage and spite, created spontaneously from evil humanoids overwhelmed by anger. All skelms are male, and some sages posit that they are some sort of metaphysical counterpart to hags. Unlike the prolonged ritual to make a hag, a skelm can arise from a totally normal person in a matter of hours—skelms often hold court over potential recruits and transform them through brutal, humiliating hazing. After transformation, a skelm will often return to their previous life, hiding their inhuman features through magical disguises and changing their pursuits to cruelty and exploitation full time.

All skelms have antlers, which are a source of combined pride and shame. Skelms with smaller racks will belittle those with larger ones, although they will claim other reasons for this scorn if pressed. Even more distinctively, skelms deny that they have antlers when dealing with non-skelms, regardless of evidence or argument.

Street skelms are the weakest of the skelms. In their mortal guise, street skelms exploit the respect most people give to the elderly and the wealthy, and they usually appear as one or both of these in order to recruit a mob. Street skelms have little in the way of magical talents, but they are skilled at finding scapegoats to blame for community ills and sic their followers after. Street skelms have even more of a chip on their shoulder than other skelms do, and their egos are especially delicate. Their combat tactics, whether they are in their monstrous forms or not, tend to revolve around doing an immense amount of damage to a single target at a time, preferably a weak or vulnerable one, and then crowing about it for a few rounds before resuming their assault.

Street Skelm CR 3 XP 800 LE Medium monstrous humanoid Init +2; Senses Perception +7, scent

Defense AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 14(+2 Dex, +1 dodge, +2 armor, +2 natural) hp 25 (3d10+9) Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +5; -2 vs. emotion effects DR 3/cold iron

Offense Speed 30 ft. Melee gore +7 (1d6+6 plus trip) or improvised club +7 (1d6+4), gore +2 (1d6+2 plus trip) Ranged rock +5 (1d4+4) Special Attacks belittling rant,improvisational brawler, punishing strike

Statistics Str 18, Dex 15, Con 17, Int 16, Wis 13, Cha 18 Base Atk +3; CMB +7; CMD 19 Feats Catch Off Guard (B), Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Throw Anything (B) Skills Bluff +7,Disguise +7, Intimidate +13, Knowledge (local) +6, Perception +7, Sense Motive +4, Stealth +8; Racial Modifiers +4 Intimidate Languages Aklo, Common SQ change shape (Small or Medium male humanoid, alter self),skelm traits

Ecology Environment urban Organization solitary or gang (1 plus 2-24 humanoids) Treasure standard

Special Abilities Belittling Rant (Su) As a standard action, a street skelm can give a rant that affects all creatures that can hear and understand it within 30 feet. A DC 15 Will save negates the effect. A creature affected by a street skelm is shaken for 1 minute. Anyone shaken in this way takes an additional -2 to damage rolls against the skelm, but gains a +2 morale bonus to damage rolls against other targets. The save DC is Charisma based. Improvisational Brawler (Ex) A street skelm gains Catch Off Guard and Throw Anything as bonus feats. A street skelm treats all improvised ranged weapons as having a 20 foot range increment. Punishing Blow (Ex) As a standard action, a street skelm can exert himself to make a single powerful attack. When he does, he adds an additional damage die of the same type to the attack, and can make a CMB check as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity to push the creature hit 5 feet. After making this attack, the street skelm is treated as being flat footed until the beginning of its next turn. Skelm Traits (Ex) All skelms gain a +4 racial bonus to Intimidate checks, but a -2 penalty to all saving throws against emotion effects.

#skelm #street skelm #monstrous humanoid #pathfinder 1e #pathfinder 2e #hag #social commentary #toxic masculinity

[crinosmonsters]

Street Skelm

The least of Skelm Kind, Street Skelm lurk in public places. Posing as members of the upper class, figures of authority, or other individuals normally respected within a community. They leverage this reverence in order to spread their hateful views and rile up crowds against the targets of their ire, which includes anyone who dares speak out against their hateful rantings.

Street Skelm dress in old fashioned clothes, and often wear a hat or hood to hide their antlers when not transformed. They also carry a walking stick with which to bludgeon those who wound their fragile egos.

#DnD5e #Monster #Skelm #Pathfinder2e

[im-flashtoo]

things I like about Pathfinder: the Skelm is a monster that exists - excerpts from Archives of Nethys:

"these antlered monsters crave fearful respect and brutally punish any who dare disagree with their lofty opinions, even in the slightest degree. Although quite dangerous on their own, skelms are at their deadliest when leading an angry mob"

"Skelms heap enraging humiliation on potential new brothers as a form of indoctrination, convincing these recruits that some other person or group is responsible for their misery"

"they're more common among cultures with deeply entrenched gender roles, unjust hierarchies, and those that don't offer healthy ways to experience and process anger"

"skelms are cruelly manipulative shapeshifters, but all male"

"all skelms have branching antlers resembling those of a stag. Skelms with smaller antlers shame and bully skelms with larger antlers, although they always use some other excuse. However, skelms pretend they don't have antlers at all when dealing with non-skelms, regardless of evidence or argument. Skelms will even gore enemies with their antlers in combat, even if afterwards they deny the action they obviously just took"

they took toxic masculinity and oppressive patriarchy and turned it into something you can kick in the nuts.

we all have encountered a would-be skelm in real life, either personally or tangentially, as with the Street Skelm, the lowest of them:

"Street skelms abuse the deference given to elders and the well-to-do in public spaces, appearing as such so they can verbally or physically punish those who dare defy their cruel sensibilities. To excuse his actions or gather allies, a street skelm might rant about a target, building a pretense of some vague threat the target poses to the community's social order. These rantings can rally a mob to carry out the skelm's violence against his target, some of whom even act out of fear against becoming the skelm's next target.

Street skelms abuse the deference given to elders and the well-to-do in public spaces, appearing as such so they can verbally or physically punish those who dare defy their cruel sensibilities. To excuse his actions or gather allies, a street skelm might rant about a target, building a pretense of some vague threat the target poses to the community's social order. These rantings can rally a mob to carry out the skelm's violence against his target, some of whom even act out of fear against becoming the skelm's next target."

Yeah, I think I know that guy.

[cardinalira]

Echoes of the Past

[CLOSED STARTER WITH @cassocktwirl] 

The man was brought directly to Father Copia when he walked into the church from off the street. There was no reason he should have been able to find it without already being a member, but in he strode, head held high. He was brought before the Father, and fixed him with an even gaze. 

“My name is Alexander Skelm Malvolo, former chaplain, current apostle of Bartzabel. I seek ministry within your church, serving as is necessary.” He spoke clearly, plainly. His clothes were very well maintained, and it was easy to see that there was no lie in his words. His hair was cropped close to his head, and his clothes were pressed perfectly. He held his hand out for the Father to shake, unbothered by the Ghoul fretting behind him. 

“It will be a pleasure to serve you.” 

#cassocktwirl #MAMA MIA HERE WE GO AGAIN

[meteredescotche]

This image was captured by Mandla 2013 in Marcus Garvey, Cape Town. Scotche's Angel Field General DAB: Gonna sit here like a lady waiting for a skelm. Our website is www.meteredescotche.net Every Sunday at the Maboneng Street Market. #knits #kun_fu #knitting #meteredescotche #HOW2BPRETTY #style #fashion #maboneng #yarn #threads #township #prettyrichy #mascotche #igpringle #mzansi_artist #scotchemusic #morobena #taunyane #wordsmith #artshole Metere deScotche "our kun-fu is just better"

#meteredescotche #kun_fu #township #maboneng #yarn #igpringle #mzansi_artist #taunyane #mascotche #morobena #threads #scotchemusic #how2bpretty #artshole #knits #knitting #wordsmith #prettyrichy #style #fashion

[tempypushaz-blog]

Long line Tee (Black) Greatfull for the love the streets are showing.. #clothgod #skelm #skelmofthecloth #streetwear #summer #design_elements

#summer #design_elements #skelmofthecloth #clothgod #skelm #streetwear