Unflinching Evil

Now that's what I call an Undead.

Really cool. And frightening.

But, I really would like to see some interesting non-evil undead too. It sounds like they're definitely going to be a no-show though. :( The pale rider certainly sounds cool, I just wish it didn't get pushed as having to be evil.

Here's hoping for some darkness-themed/ugly/weird/alien-looking celestials at least.

wow, nice... I love this this!

Light to Dark (Su)!!!

I plan to steal this ability and splice it onto some heinous undead foes in the future. I like this beastie! (though I confess, I haven't the slightest idea how to pronounce its name)

My absolute favorite monster from Bestiary 3, and that's sayin' something because there are a lot (I mean *a lot*) of cool real-world inspired monsters in there.
He's dreamy! ...In an apocalyptic, world-ending, nightmare sort of way.

From the sound of the name and the look of the illustration, I'm guessing this comes from Aztek / Mayan myth?

Maybe this is obvious and I'm just not getting it..

With Light to Dark: Let's say a cleric channels energy in the vicinity of the Tzitzimitl to heal her party, which means it isn't harming the Tzitzimitl. Light to Dark changes that into negative energy and damages the party? I assume that if the energy was channeled to harm undead, the Tzitzimitl would change it into negative and heal all affected undead instead.

Also, OW if the cleric is careless and includes the thing in a Mass Heal. That would sting a bit...

(Though I confess, I haven't the slightest idea how to pronounce its name)

Most of the sources I've seen go with something like: tsee-tsee'-mee-tl or zee-zee-meel.

From the sound of the name and the look of the illustration, I'm guessing this comes from Aztek / Mayan myth?

Aztec. Throw the name into Google. You'll get a healthy bit of real-world background.

From the sound of the name and the look of the illustration, I'm guessing this comes from Aztek / Mayan myth?

Aztec, if I'm remembering correctly.

Maybe this is obvious and I'm just not getting it..

With Light to Dark: Let's say a cleric channels energy in the vicinity of the Tzitzimitl to heal her party, which means it isn't harming the Tzitzimitl. Light to Dark changes that into negative energy and damages the party? I assume that if the energy was channeled to harm undead, the Tzitzimitl would change it into negative and heal all affected undead instead.

Also, OW if the cleric is careless and includes the thing in a Mass Heal. That would sting a bit...

Yes and yes.

bestow curse at will, ... that's even more versatile than evil eye, too bad its CR is so high I can't run a few of those against a normal group.

pronounciation, I would go with german: a bit like tseetseemittle (like see and little)
ninjaed by Mr. Schneider, I was close tough :)

I looked it up on wikipedia and it says they are female skeletal dieties of the stars.

Oh, my sweet dead Aztec gods... This is freaking SWEET! This has now brightened (darkened) by day :)

Zhangar wrote:

Maybe this is obvious and I'm just not getting it..

With Light to Dark: Let's say a cleric channels energy in the vicinity of the Tzitzimitl to heal her party, which means it isn't harming the Tzitzimitl. Light to Dark changes that into negative energy and damages the party?

Yes and yes.

I may also have missed something, then, because it sounds as though Light to Dark couldn't be used to make that change:

...a tzitzimitl can convert a positive energy effect that affects it into negative energy.

(Emphasis added.) In Zhangar's example, the positive energy effect does not affect the tzitzimitl, and would thus not be susceptible to Light to Dark.

(Emphasis added.) In Zhangar's example, the positive energy effect does not affect the tzitzimitl, and would thus not be susceptible to Light to Dark.

I caught on to that as well.

I looked it up on wikipedia and it says they are female skeletal dieties of the stars.

I got the same wiki page as well, though if you keep reading the article there is definitely a good portion about sun-eating and eclipses as well.

I like how the Aztec mythology has a duel aspect which almost seems to conflict with itself. The creatures are deities of women and childbirth, but yet also attack the sun. That already seems like a great impetus for a campaign. "This evil guy is going to make an artificial eclipse that will turn the normally benevolent Tzitzimitl into giant hate machines!"

Really cool. I'm a sucker for cool undead (who isn't?) and this fits the bill.

But what has me even more excited is the little teaser about the pale stranger. SO. MUCH. POTENTIAL AWESOME.

He is pretty cool.

Fellahs like him are like the tarrasque. They could be the subject of their very own Adventure Path.

(Or a trio of linked modules...)

That Light to Dark ability is so awesome thematically that I'm tempted make it even more powerful via houserules.... by allowing it to convert a smite evil into a smite good ;)

Of course, I'd have to allow the poor paladin to expend an additional smite on his next round to get around the ability.

An internet cookie to he or she who tells me how to pronounce the name of this behemoth!

The valiant heroes defeat the evil cultists. No longer will good people have their hearts ripped out of their chests and offered up to the evil sun demon. Unfortunately, deprived of of his power, the sun demon can no longer keep the tzitzimitl at bay. They flood into world of light and start destroying the sun. A few heathen sacrifices don't seem so bad now, do they?

From the sound of the name and the look of the illustration, I'm guessing this comes from Aztek / Mayan myth?

I think this was inspired by the Tzitzime, the Star Demons, who were winged women with skull-like faces and massive fanged jaws who descended to Earth during eclipses to devour humans.

I hope that one day we get to see a monster version of Tezcatlipoca as the Haunter of Graveyards, in which form he was a giant, headless skeleton, his viscera dripping blood and gore, and with his ribs hanging open to reveal his rotted but still-beating heart. The only way to defeat him was to walk up to him fearlessly and snatch the heart from his chest. Oh, and try not to get killed in the process.

Yowza! This thing looks like it could be an undead titan.

I think this was inspired by the Tzitzime, the Star Demons, who were winged women with skull-like faces and massive fanged jaws who descended to Earth during eclipses to devour humans.

I hope that one day we get to see a monster version of Tezcatlipoca as the Haunter of Graveyards, in which form he was a giant, headless skeleton, his viscera dripping blood and gore, and with his ribs hanging open to reveal his rotted but still-beating heart. The only way to defeat him was to walk up to him fearlessly and snatch the heart from his chest. Oh, and try not to get killed in the process.

Sounds somewhat similar to a mohrg. The heart thing is definitely way cooler, thematically.

Excited for B3, but I am hoping there will be a diversity of CR. Is it pretty varied, or are the creatures generally CR 10+ ?

Holy Huitzilopochtli Batman! Get some Clerics and Inquisitors of Sarenrae on that beast double quick! And I thought the Nightshades were nasty.

--Jingle Bell Vrock

preordered! I'm going to kill me some PC's }:->

Sounds somewhat similar to a mohrg. The heart thing is definitely way cooler, thematically.

Excited for B3, but I am hoping there will be a diversity of CR. Is it pretty varied, or are the creatures generally CR 10+ ?

It's pretty similar in CR spread to Bestiary 2—keeping these books with a nice spread of CRs is something we've been focused on.

Liz Courts wrote:
Zhangar wrote:
Maybe this is obvious and I'm just not getting it..

With Light to Dark: Let's say a cleric channels energy in the vicinity of the Tzitzimitl to heal her party, which means it isn't harming the Tzitzimitl. Light to Dark changes that into negative energy and damages the party?

Yes and yes.
I may also have missed something, then, because it sounds as though Light to Dark couldn't be used to make that change:

(Emphasis added.) In Zhangar's example, the positive energy effect does not affect the tzitzimitl, and would thus not be susceptible to Light to Dark.

I think the bit that is in question is at the end

My take is that when it is in the area of a positive channel, used to heal others then it can convert it using Light to Dark.

This would make a very nice addition as a future Pathfinder Battles model. It is mean, has a deviously atypical power, and is gargantuan; hard to go wrong with that combination. Strong table-shock value, too.

Yet another reason to have your party healer pick the selective channeling feat.

A cleric who used the Selective Channel feat to avoid hitting this monster with channeled energy would have nothing to fear. But if the cleric just assumed since it was undead he didn't have to worry and let a channeled energy "affect" the critter... even though the tzitzimitl gains no benefit from the energy if it's being used to heal allies, the energy still "affects" it, and thus the monster would be able to use Light to Dark to make it so that the energy would do negative energy damage to the cleric's allies. Effectively, this changes the cleric's channeled energy option from "use positive energy to heal living creatures" to "use negative energy to harm living creatures." The tzitzimitl would NOT gain healing in this case. It would gain healing if the cleric attempted to harm it with positive energy, though, and the monster then used Light to Dark to change that to negative energy.

Cool critter.
Looks like that almost-forgotten death god from an Hellblazer story ("All his engines"), and seems on par with the scary factor.

Awww...My little baby made the blog. It makes a designer proud.

Awww...My little baby made the blog. It makes a designer proud.

I salute your evil critter-makin' skillz.

Whoa. Can it Vital Strike its eye beams?

Whoa. Can it Vital Strike its eye beams?

Isn't Vital Strike for melee attacks only? Edit: Apparently not the case, as it implies ranged attacks as well (not sure about laser eyes of death attacks). Duly noted.

Ravingdork wrote:

Whoa. Can it Vital Strike its eye beams?

Isn't Vital Strike for melee attacks only? Edit: Apparently not the case. Duly noted.

Ravingdork is my hero;

40D6 damage, half of it Force damage. I'm gonna need a box to roll that with.

Let's go murder us some PC's. <evil Laugh>

The eyebeam is a Supernatural attack. Vital Strike only affects weapon/physical attacks. The Eyebeam can no more use vital strike then a dragon's breath weapon.

==Aelryinth

GM: The attack roll lands and you take 20d6 damage from his eye ray.

Player: Hah! I laugh in the face of a mere 20d6 damage!

GM: Alright then, on its next turn the tzitzimitl, seeing that you are far tougher than it originally anticipated, shoots TWO death rays from BOTH eyes for 40d6 damage.

Player: *jaw drops, stares wide eyed*

Party Cleric: Don't worry, I got your back! *casts mass heal on party and tzitzimitl*

GM: *steeples fingers, smiling wickedly*

Very cool beast! Worthy of its CR! :D

The eyebeam is a Supernatural attack. Vital Strike only affects weapon/physical attacks. The Eyebeam can no more use vital strike then a dragon's breath weapon.

==Aelryinth

Funny. I see no such restriction under Vital Strike. The eye beams look like a natural weapon to me. Can you not vital strike with natural weapons? They are considered weapons after all. (Also, just because it is supernatural ability doesn't mean it is not also a natural weapon.)

I don't think Huitzilopochtli is going to like this guy at all... It's good to see some Aztec monsters. :D

Aelryinth wrote:

The eyebeam is a Supernatural attack. Vital Strike only affects weapon/physical attacks. The Eyebeam can no more use vital strike then a dragon's breath weapon.

==Aelryinth

Funny. I see no such restriction under Vital Strike. The eye beams look like a natural weapon to me. Can you not vital strike with natural weapons? They are considered weapons after all. (Also, just because it is supernatural ability doesn't mean it is not also a natural weapon.)

Actually the Jabberwork has eye beams and can use vital strike on them.

My question is where is the representation of the fertility aspect of them?

An internet cookie to he or she who tells me how to pronounce the name of this behemoth!

the best I can find by searching is the following

tsee-tsee'-mee-tl

Golden-Esque wrote:

An internet cookie to he or she who tells me how to pronounce the name of this behemoth!

the best I can find by searching is the following

tsee-tsee'-mee-tl

I would have to say it would be:

Edit: Actually if you compare it to how you would say Quetzalcoatl (ket-salkoat-el) it would be like Mr. Green stated with the tz sound.

GM: The attack roll lands and you take 20d6 damage from his eye ray.

Player: Hah! I laugh in the face of a mere 20d6 damage!

GM: Alright then, on its next turn the tzitzimitl, seeing that you are far tougher than it originally anticipated, shoots TWO death rays from BOTH eyes for 40d6 damage.

Player: *jaw drops, stares wide eyed*

Party Cleric: Don't worry, I got your back! *casts mass heal on party and tzitzimitl*

GM: *steeples fingers, smiling wickedly*

Very cool beast! Worthy of its CR! :D

Dude, no offense, but it only gets ONE EYE RAY ATTACK PER ROUND! DM's that make up rules just to kill off their PC's aren't cool dude!

Quote:

GM: The attack roll lands and you take 20d6 damage from his eye ray.

Player: Hah! I laugh in the face of a mere 20d6 damage!

GM: Alright then, on its next turn the tzitzimitl, seeing that you are far tougher than it originally anticipated, shoots TWO death rays from BOTH eyes for 40d6 damage.

Player: *jaw drops, stares wide eyed*

Party Cleric: Don't worry, I got your back! *casts mass heal on party and tzitzimitl*

GM: *steeples fingers, smiling wickedly*

Very cool beast! Worthy of its CR! :D

Dude, no offense, but it only gets ONE EYE RAY ATTACK PER ROUND! DM's that make up rules just to kill off their PC's aren't cool dude!

He is talking about using the feat Vital Strike as it essentially doubles the damage done, thematically this could be described as shooting a ray out of both eyes rather than just one super ray out of one eye. He wasn't making up any rules, he was using his imagination to describe a feats application.

Golden-Esque wrote:

An internet cookie to he or she who tells me how to pronounce the name of this behemoth!

the best I can find by searching is the following

tsee-tsee'-mee-tl

Nahuatl is a weird language. This guide is helpful.

Vital Strike won't work on the eye beam because of that pesky "when you use the attack action..." wording. The eye beam ability is its own separate action; it isn't an attack action. Same with the Jabberwock's eye rays.

Thanks Fozbek. Have a cookie. (hands Fozbek cookie)

Correct. The monster's eye beams can't be enhanced by Vital Strike because using them requires a standard action. Since vital strike requires an attack action (a specific KIND of standard action, and not the one used by this monster to activate its eye beams—see the entry for eye beams under its special attacks), it can't be used at the same time the monster uses a standard action instead to use its eye beams.

It's a hazy distinction, and one that even we editors/developers took a bit to figure out, which is why we've said (erroneously, in my opinion) things like the Jabberwock COULD use Vital Strike on its eye beams.

Honestly, I wish we'd just errata the Vital Strike feat to specifically limit it to attacks with weapons. The "common sense" solution (that a monster's high-damage unusual attack does average damage more or less for it's CR indicating that doubling that just because it has Vital Strike is not the intent of the monster) doesn't seem to work.