Victor Brauner, Painter of Ruin (3.5e Vestige)
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Victor Brauner, Painter of Ruin[edit]
Victor Brauner was once an ordinary man, living an ordinary life, until a massive war claimed the lives of his daughters. Cursing the destructiveness of humanity, Brauner simultaneously became a vampire and embraced the power of the Art Flow, then used that power, along with the restless dead from another war, to summon the legendary Castlevania. Brauner then used it as his base of operations for a grandiose scheme to claim revenge against humanity, until he was put down by a pair of plucky heroes.
Level: 8th
Binding DC: 36
Special Requirement: Yes
Legend[edit]
Victor Brauner was a painter who lived in the early 20th century. He lived a happy life with his two daughters, until they were killed in World War I. Driven mad with grief and desiring revenge on humanity, Brauner discovered that he had the ability to tap into the dimension of art, the Art Flow. He could have gone on a maniacal rampage and killed thousands of people with this power alone, but Brauner decided that it was not enough — he wanted to make sure that humanity suffered and faced extinction. So, he sought the secrets of undeath and became a vampire. Wielding both the power of the Art Flow and the Negative Energy Plane, he bided his time for a chance to wage war on humanity. That chance came during the global conflict known as World War II, as the collective anguish from the Nazis' genocidal crusade against the Jews, Slavs, and Roma inadvertently summoned the demonic castle Castlevania — home of Count Dracula, the greatest and most powerful vampire to ever know undeath. Brauner wasted no time in infiltrating Castlevania and establishing a series of magical portraits to impede Dracula's resurrection and claim the Dark Lord's power for himself, then began to build an army. He was interrupted by the investigation of the Lecarde family of vampire hunters, but Brauner was able to catch their patriarch, Eric, off-guard and mortally wound him. When Eric's daughters, Stella and Loretta, tried to intervene, Brauner was taken aback by their resemblance to his own deceased daughters. Deciding that the young women must be his own daughters reincarnated, Brauner promptly attacked them and sired them into vampires, embracing them into his family. The trio then resumed preparations to destroy humanity, only to be interrupted again by another pair of vampire hunters — Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin. Despite Brauner's attempts to stop them, Jonathan and Charlotte were able to disable his portraits one by one, free the Lecarde sisters from his undead grasp with the Purifying Sanctuary spell, and ultimately challenge and defeat Brauner in a climactic showdown. As Brauner lay helpless on the floor, struggling to regain his strength, wondering how his plans fell apart, and cursing humanity for taking his daughters, he was attacked from out of nowhere by the Grim Reaper, who was none too happy about what Brauner had done to Dracula. Death, determined to free his master and make sure Brauner would never make a fool out of Dracula again, imbued all of his power into his scythe and rent Brauner's soul asunder with a single slash. The cursed painter was torn out of existence and tumbled into the void between the planes, where he continues to lament the loss of his family and plots the final destruction of humanity.
Special summoning[edit]
Brauner refuses to make pacts with humans. (You can trick him by polymorphing into something else before making the pact, but as soon as the polymorph expires and the jig is up, Brauner will be extremely displeased, and the pact will automatically become bad if it was good; if the pact was already bad, being revealed as human counts as an influence violation with five times the usual penalty.)
Manifestation[edit]
As you complete the summoning ritual, a painting swirls down from the heavens, and a sharp-dressed vampire emerges from it.
Sign[edit]
Your body takes on a paler appearance and your teeth elongate and sharpen.
Influence[edit]
Brauner's hatred of humanity clouds your heart. Whenever you are in conflict with a human, you must resolve the conflict as violently as possible — preferably with the human's death, but merely wounding them will suffice if murder is infeasible. Furthermore, if you bind Brauner within 2 hours' travel distance of a human settlement, you must, at some point during the pact, travel to that settlement and either inflict damage upon the town equal to at least 15% of its economic value (destroying buildings, disrupting marketplaces, upending streets, robbing banks, etc.) or slaughter at least 1/6 of the human population. If you have not done so within 12 hours of making the pact, you take a −3 penalty to attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks until the pact ends or you have made that human settlement a worse place to live.
Granted Abilities[edit]
Vampire Traits[edit]
While bound to Brauner, you temporarily become a vampire, with most of the strengths and weaknesses that entails. You gain the undead type, though you keep your Constitution score, you still age normally, and your Hit Dice and hit points do not change. You gain a slam attack with damage according to your size, which inflicts one negative level on a successful hit. See the Vampire page for more details on the abilities you gain. However, you do not gain a vulnerability to sunlight; you're much too powerful for that. But the combination of being a vampire and an Art Flow User makes water an utter anathema to you; being immersed in running water for 1 round is sufficient to kill you outright.
Power of the Art Flow[edit]
While bound to Brauner, the Art Flow fills your body and spirit. You gain the [Paint] subtype, regeneration equal to ½ your effective binder level, which is bypassed by water and cold damage (the latter of which is less problematic than you might think, due to cold resistance being an inherent quality of vampires), and rapid healing equal to 1/5 your effective binder level. Lethal damage converted to nonlethal damage by your regeneration is accumulated normally, though it is also cured normally by your aforementioned regeneration. You also gain the ability to use paint shot, much like an Art Flow User, with a caster level equal to ½ your effective binder level, and you gain the ability to freely fly at a speed of 10 feet plus 5 feet per 2 effective binder levels, with good maneuverability. You lose all of these abilities if you are soaked or frozen, and do not regain them until you are completely dry.
Esquisse of Violence[edit]
While bound to Brauner, you delight in the suffering of humans. You treat humans as a favored enemy, gaining a +8 bonus to attack and damage rolls against them and a +4 bonus to the save DCs of effects you subject them to.
Bloodart Technique[edit]
As a standard action which provokes attacks of opportunity, you may mix the powers of the Art Flow and Negative Energy Plane to sketch a pattern in the air, which is then traced in grotesque blood in the space before you. This takes the form of a stream of toxic blood which covers 4 squares per effective binder level, starting from any square within close range (25 feet + 5 feet per 2 effective binder levels), twisting, turning, climbing, and diving as though it could fly with average maneuverability. All creatures in the path of the blood stream take damage and are subject to poison as though hit with your paint shot, and also gain 2 negative levels; however, they are entitled to a Reflex save to halve the damage taken, gain a +4 bonus to the Fortitude save against your poison, and avoid the negative levels outright (they take a −4 penalty to this Reflex save if they elected to make an attack of opportunity against you). Once you have used this ability, you may not use it again for 5 rounds.
A Painting of the Soul![edit]
As a standard action, you may conjure a swarm of skulls, a gruesome green wheel demon, or a pair of slime-like gargoyles and sic them on your enemies. The monster or monsters charges forward, hitting everything in a 60-foot line, 30 feet wide, after which they vanish. Each monster deals 1d6 damage per effective binder level, with a Reflex save for half damage and a +4 bonus to a secondary save against a status effect; the skulls curse creatures in their path as Greater bestow curse with a Will save to negate, the green wheel demon poisons targets like your paint shot with a Fortitude save to negate, and the gargoyles petrify creatures in their path as flesh to stone (but with a duration of only 1 round) with a Fortitude save to negate. Each of the three monsters may only be conjured once per 5 rounds.
This Is Art![edit]
While bound to Brauner, you may create a painting that contains a demiplane linked to the Art Flow; the demiplane can be entered by passing through the surface of the painting, which serves as a portal into and out of the demiplane. It takes two hours to create such a painting. You decide the geography and planar traits of the demiplane as you create it, and may summon any number and type of creatures to inhabit it, no one of which may have a CR greater than 5/6 your effective binder level (rounded down), and their total CR may be no greater than four times your effective binder level. These paintings can allow you to redirect and control the magic of a magical site (such as an enchanted temple or castle), effectively sealing the powers of its owner and bending the location to your control. Your paintings may be weakened to loosen your control by overcoming a challenge, which you must designate as you create the painting; locating and slaying the strongest monster in the painting is a good example of such a challenge.
I'll Make You My Masterpiece![edit]
As a standard action which provokes attacks of opportunity, you may encase yourself in a painting and lunge directly at your opponents. You gain the ability to trample creatures you collide with while flying, dealing 1d8 bludgeoning damage per effective binder level, Reflex save for half. Your size category also increases by 1 (for example, from Medium to Large), but your maneuverability is reduced by 1 step (from good to average). On the downside, you lose the use of your limbs, so slamming into enemies is pretty much all you can do physically. You may remain in painting form for up to 1 round per 3 effective binder levels. Exiting painting form voluntarily is a move action. Once you exit painting form, you may not use this ability again for 5 rounds.
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