Avatar of Fate - Star
The avatars of fate can be a dire, fearsomely destructive sort sometimes, but even at the highest tiers, not all are so grim as that. The Star, in particular, is responsible for banishing despair and oppression; a shining figure, sometimes literally, whose existence is devoted to raising up those who have been pushed down. Don’t be entirely fooled, though; even if the Star is in charge of uplifting the weak, it is no less fearsome than its avatar peers.
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The Star
When all seems lost and the world feels as if it is collapsing around your very ears, what you need more than anything else is faith. Faith that things will get better again, no matter how hard they have become—pure, unbridled optimism. This defiant, inspirational hope is the realm of the star.
Guiding Light. Avatars of the star appear to the despondent and the oppressed, looking to bring them a sense of purpose. Perhaps the star will appear before a retreating army that has just suffered a horrific defeat, or to a lost group wandering hostile wilds. So long as circumstances are dire and morale is at its lowest point, the avatar of the star may not be far away.
Heavenly Inspiration. It takes a particular kind of enigmatic figure to lift the spirits and motivate the masses. Avatars of the star tend to take the form of mythic heroes, prophets, or even strong-backed farmers who refuse to back down from the most difficult of challenges. While avatars of the star prefer to inspire others to act, they can intervene when necessary with swords of ethereal starlight, embodying unyielding confidence in their strikes.
The Star
Medium Celestial (Avatar), Typically Neutral
Armor Class 17 (half plate)
Hit Points 187 (22d8 + 88)
Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (hover)
STR 20 (+5)
DEX 16 (+3)
CON 18 (+4)
INT 17 (+3)
WIS 18 (+4)
CHA 20 (+5)
Saving Throws Dex +9, Int + 9, Wis +10, Cha +11
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities psychic, radiant
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened
Senses truesight 120 ft., passive Perception 14
Languages All, telepathy 120 ft.
Challenge 17 (18,000 XP) Proficiency Bonus +6
Fateseer. The avatar has advantage on initiative rolls and cannot be surprised.
Guiding Star. If the avatar hits an attack with advantage, the attack deals an additional 9 (2d8) force damage.
Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the avatar fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Magic Resistance. The avatar has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Magic Weapons. The avatar’s weapon attacks are magical.
Actions
Multiattack. The avatar makes a Shooting Star attack or two Longsword attacks.
Longsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (1d10 + 5) slashing damage plus 9 (2d8) force damage.
Shooting Star. Ranged Spell Attack: +11 to hit, range 120 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (4d6) radiant damage plus 5 (1d8) force damage. The avatar has advantage to hit the target until the end of the avatar’s next turn.
Legendary Actions
The avatar can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. The avatar regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Fly. The avatar can move up to its movement speed. This movement does not provoke opportunity attacks.
Longsword. The avatar makes a longsword attack.
Starlight (Costs 2 Actions). The avatar causes a blast of radiant energy with a radius of 20 feet to erupt from a point within 60 feet of it. Creatures of the avatar’s choice within the radius must succeed on a DC 19 Charisma saving throw or take 14 (4d6) radiant damage and begin glowing a bright aura of starlight. All attacks have advantage against creatures glowing in this way for 1 minute. On a success, the creature takes half damage and does not glow.
Avatars of Fate
Scholars posit that history repeats itself—that life follows a cyclical pattern called fate. While the interpretation of ‘fate’ can take many different forms, it is often understood through archetypal figures and familiar tales. This collective understanding manifests itself as the trials of fate.
These trials, which exist on the boundaries of the astral and the upper planes, are as much primal forces of the multiverse as they are distinct agents within it. They are not gods, for they have no will of their own. Instead, they represent the self-fulfilling expectations that thinking beings have ascribed to fate.
Beings with natures so alien as the trials are impossible for one mind to comprehend. The only consistent, discernable purpose that a trial demonstrates is the preservation and resolution of fate itself. When such a purpose requires direct intervention, the trials form the avatars of fate—corporeal beings that ensure the sanctity of fate.
Agents of the Trials. Avatars can manifest anywhere that thinking beings exist. Each trials’ avatar fulfills a different role in the preservation of fate, embodying a different stage in the cyclical nature of fate’s progress through time. Unlike the abstract trials from which they are born, avatars are fully aware of their surroundings and possess unique personalities.
Each avatar takes on a single form that allows it to blend in amongst the beings it influences. These forms are appropriate to the context of where they appear, taking on the cultural signifiers of the time and people they occupy. Some avatars are entirely mundane, while others take on otherworldly or even mythical qualities in their appearance, such as wings or the heads of animals.
Driven by Purpose. An avatar instinctively knows what it must do to fulfill its purpose. It acts with a self-assured confidence in this purpose, refusing to abandon its goals. The fruits of an avatar’s work might come quickly or after many lifetimes, after which it returns to the astral sea from which it came.
To oppose an avatar is to take on the arduous task of opposing fate itself. The avatars are not infallible, however. A particularly clever individual might be able to bend an avatar’s beliefs to suit their desires. This is no easy task, however, as avatars have a shrewd understanding of the world and its workings.
Composites of Belief. While they can’t directly see the future, avatars are innately attuned to the ongoing beliefs of sentient life. Through this connection, the avatars maintain an abstract understanding of history and time, synthesized from the wills of beings across the multiverse’s past, present, and future.
Though they might not directly recall events of the past, they predict the future using allegories and fables drawn from vague memories of past events. Thus, to debate an avatar is to debate the beliefs of countless minds who have been and have yet to be.
Worldly Influencers. An avatar will never be the one who decides fate. Instead, they present the circumstances, opportunities, and challenges by which others must do so. The material world can bend to an avatar’s needs in small ways, but their existence never directly rewrites history.
Instead, avatars often appear to figures of influence such as political leaders, adventurers, or those destined for greatness. They might even infiltrate whole organizations or communities. Whatever the case, those who an avatar appears before are inextricably linked to events of great importance.
How to Run an Avatar of Fate
Avatars of fate are embodiments of particular ideas and characters. They can be run as a single encounter, or as an ongoing tie in with a broader campaign narrative. Whatever your method of inclusion, consider the following when you include an avatar in your game.
Narrative Role. What will the avatar’s relationship be with the player characters? Are they a challenge for the party to overcome? Are they a mentor meant to guide the party to fulfill their destiny? Or, are they perhaps a companion meant to accompany the party? Whatever you decide, you should have an idea of how the avatar will interact with the party based on its feelings and desires towards the player characters.
Prior Bonds. Avatars often acquire wealth and power to meet their ends; consider what bonds and arrangements the avatar has made ahead of the party encountering it. Perhaps it has established itself as a particularly notable member of a community, or perhaps it has been terrorizing a group of people that have goals opposed to its own. Establishing this will allow the avatar to feel like a facet of the world instead of a simple combat encounter.
Appearance and Personality. How has this avatar embodied the concept from which it came? Does it emulate a particular archetypal figure? What cultural signifiers has it taken on? Avatars can be otherworldly and strange or mundane and ordinary, depending on how they integrate into a setting. Deciding this will help you flesh out the avatar’s character and decide on a tone for how you present it to the players.
