A Compulsive Liar Who Has Betrayed Every Single Person He Has Ever Had Any Dealings With

This is old(ish), but it seemed appropriate to post it now.

PREVARICATOR

Philosophers claim that Prevaricators arise when someone lies again and again and is never found out, so that reality shapes itself to fit the falsehoods and the liar becomes a twisted monster. As examples, they point to how a jury can define someone as a criminal even if they did nothing, or how what was a planet yesterday is a dwarf planet today. Philosophers are dangerous idiots and this origin story is nonsense, but what is true is that whatever a Prevaricator says is believed by anyone that hears it.

Prevaricators are weak, and look and smell horrible, but even so are often found at the heart of communities or organisations, bleeding them of resources until the whole socio-political structure collapses and then the nasty thing at the centre of the whole mess slinks off to start afresh somewhere else. Even if discovered the wretches are difficult to root out because they almost always convince their persecutors that there’s nothing to see here, nope, but there is something over in the next village that needs urgent investigation.

PREVARICATOR: Armour 12, Move 120’, 8* Hit Dice, 36hp, Ragged Claw 1d4, Morale 7.

The baby-faced monstrosity has a smooth voice, like honey, with a hint of the upper classes to it. The things it says are often not true but listeners believe them to be so, which is good enough. Be creative with the lies. Have fun. That’s what the Prevaricator does! The cherubic abomination understands and speaks all languages, even those of animals, fungi, and plants.

Characters can save versus Magic to disbelieve the Prevaricator’s words, but only if there is good reason to do so. If the creature tells them that quite a lot of treasure is in a cart that left not two minutes ago and if they go now they can catch it, then they probably won’t get a saving throw. If the statement is demonstrably false -- “You can’t see me” for example -- then a saving throw is appropriate.

Of course, a save versus Magic is of no use if the thing has already told fifty armed villagers that the characters are here to take all their children and sell them to a Duvan’Ku cult. You can’t disbelieve your way out of a stabbing.

Spells and abilities that interfere with the creature’s capability to speak or an audience’s capability to listen, such as Confusion or Silence, will be effective against the thing. Spells like Heal and Remove Curse can make a victim unbelieve what the Prevaricator has told them.

Prevaricator brains are in high demand by alchemists and wizards for use in magical research into speech and language. Mash a brain up with some rosewater and paprika, for example, give it a shake, and you’ve got a potion of Comprehend Languages.

Why the bastarding thing has the face of a child, no one knows. Maybe the philosophers have an idea.

WHAT THE HORRIBLE, BUT ODDLY PERSUASIVE, THING WANTS (1d8)

1. Food! It’s hungry or greedy or both, and wants to be fed.
2. Worship! It speaks like a god, so why should it not be treated like one?
3. Sex! If it was human once then it maybe still has sex organs. I don’t want to think about it, to be honest.
4. Money! Money buys anything and opens every door. It is also shiny and makes a pleasant clinky noise.
5. Power! Being able to tell people what to do and how to feel is thrilling, like a drug!
6. Drugs! Also like a drug. Obviously.
7. Chaos! It’s quite fun seeing everything fall apart and the little people panicking.
8. Friends. Horrible monsters can be lonely too.

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I created this monster for LotFP's GenCon catalogue in 2019 -- which now feels a lot longer ago than it was -- so if you weren't there, you're getting a bit of an exclusive. At the time there was a bit of a fuss because some people got the idea in their heads that the Prevaricator was some sort of defence of Zak S. In fact it's a parody of Boris Johnson, which I would have thought was obvious; I even tried drawing the thing with his hair. Oh well.