Which creatures would you add to a not overly survivable level five MEATGRINDER?


Advice


Hey, so I have a small group of players, all of whom are old school gamers (and I mean most of them had never seen a WotC D&D sourcebook; the player who'd played D&D most recently had been in a Spring 1997 AD&D campaign), and all of whom who have been begging me (BEGGING ME!) for two years now to get a new D&D campaign going. I decided to go with a PFRPG game, but didn't want to go with an adventure path. I started them on kobolds, and the like for the first five levels, and they all screamed at me for a REAL challenge...

I have been playing a continuous d20 Star Wars campaign with these players for seven years, and have watched them always rise to any challenge I've thrown at them with quick thinking, preternatural tenacity, and dice bags FULL of sheer DUMB LUCK! And let me tell you, I have gone above and beyond to test the wills of these amazing players as they truly RELISHED the constant (and at times palpable) feeling that their characters were in real mortal danger!

As for PFRPG, when I finally caved and said I'd run this for them they told me, in no uncertain terms, that they don't want any punches pulled and would love to be run through a great series of meat grinder type adventures, just to test their mettle, seriously! I have long wondered, since they ran this idea past me, and begged me NOT to go easy on them, what other GMs would do given carte blanche of this type... I originally asked on the boards what modules people would run, and I downloaded a few of the promising candidates, but honestly, for my group the only one which rang true was The Seven Swords of Sin, which I've decided to place in the campaign at seventh level, where it's meant to be... I'm allowing them to stick with their current fifth characters, or rebuild a new fifth level character (including in their options the classes from the APG and a few select third party products, which weren't out or hadn't been purchased when they'd originally built their characters), and knowing these guys and the lengths they go to in over thinking I know I can expect an IMPECABLY balanced party...

I've decided to build a complex, trap laden, skill testing, homespun dungeon for their characters to dive, playing to their strengths as players (not as characters!), and I'm going to want to populate said dungeon with a few well chosen, and if at all possible, cohesively themed, monsters. I want the monster encounters to be memorable and ultimately just this side of unsurvivable, even if it's going to require near perfect playing to be survivable! I need this dungeon to carry them all the way through fifth and sixth levels, and I don't want to toss hoards of monsters at them, lest I be cracked over the head with a ruler for being a lazy DM! I'd rather have one long single monster encounter here and there, than many small encounters... All in all, I seriously only need a few monsters, and once again, I'd really like there to be SOME kind of theme between them, though I don't really care what that theme is...

Alright, so all of the above was to go about asking these three simple questions: What would you throw at them? Why? Where can I find said monster?

Thanks for all the help everyone! And SERIOUSLY, I'm sorry for my tendency to ramble, I just hope it was coherent!


Ghouls paralyze and have 3 natural attacks a round.
Ghasts do the same(better) and have revulsion/stench.

Orcs with a few barbarian levels, rage. (crit with axe = ugly)
Ogres can offer up a beating due to 10' reach.


You said something about kobolds. I think of Hydras when I hear kobolds. Of course the hydras are charmed minions of a young adult bard Dragon probably red, could be blue. I like running desert campaigns.

Good luck.

Sovereign Court

Theme
Dracula

Location
crumbling castle, poor downtrodden peasants, yadda yadda

Monsters
Werewolves
Vampire Spawn
Ghouls/Ghasts/Dread Ghasts
Vampire
Shadows
Golems
Evil fey

The evil fey and werewolves are in the creepy woods outside.
The golem is the vampire's 'pet'
The shadows inhabit the crypt
Vampire Spawn are mostly lascivious ladies
Ghouls/Ghasts are the undead serveants of the household (dressed up like butlers, maids, etc.)

Hooks
PCs find the deeds to this spooky old castle
Only lord of this castle knows where the mcguffin is.
PC or special NPC contracts a disease, only cure is a moss growing in the crypt of this castle.


Hmmm......

Picture a dungeon in the shape of a ring. One big loop. at each of the cardinal points is a pit trap, and at 45 degrees to each pit trap is an 'encounter zone'. I like crypts (as a general rule anyway) and the ghouls as listed works well.

The pit traps lead to a central shaft (greased thanks)which dump into a main chamber with something that should not be done. Off the top of my head a zombie hydra sounds applicable. The skum and slime that the ghouls keep dropping down here make the terrain difficult all the way through.

for those parties that seem to pit trap resistant (I'm looking at you miscellaneous rogue), leave some secret door that leads down, into a corridoor (and trap that too) that leads into zombie-hydra town.

as for getting in and out.......

The circular dungeon rotates. The opening opens once every three hours, and only for 20 minutes at a time. Given the nature of the inhabitants, it goes in some epic cemetery (which is where you can leverage the lesser undead into some pre dungeon play)Terrain being the hallmark of a good fight, some towering tombstones to hamper vision and line of effect sound about right, and some ledges for undead to scramble across allows you to execute some 'death from above' scenarios.

Batts

Liberty's Edge

Grappling. Needs more grappling. Otyughs and the like have a tendency to make life miserable by holding on and just hugging. Automatic damage makes the High AC types cry, and spellcasting is a b+*#~.


really, this just as a generic piece of advice:

Trap them somewhere. No matter how, but have them trapped. Old fortress? Cave? Demi-Plane? Whatever.

Then have some kind of weak "generic monster" be omnipresent courtesy of being "generated". In a demi-plane, the area itself may be leaking small fire elementals into existance.
See further down.

Nothing too challenging.

But the big part of a meatgrinder should be that they feel the attrition. That they are being worn down. They should know every spell used is one that possibly won't come back until they can flee.

Basically make sure they know they will eventually be overwhelmed if they don't act, and resting is not an option.

As for an idea, i was considering an ancient golem manufactory.
The omnipresent creatures would use the statblock for small animated objects. Skittering around the walls, following the party. Only taking a shot if they are preoccupied with another battle or try resting.

Obviously, constructs/clockwork versions of all sorts fit well here, which also have many immunities and bonus HP.

But that alone would be boring. So why was the Manufactory abandoned?
Possibly the central heart of the manufactory is a relic that attracted attention? Maybe it's undead(shadows and spectres)? Which hang around but can't really do something to the constructs?
Maybe they are only near the "center" of the place. On the outlying parts, there could be a hive of army ants using the broken subterranean building as part of their lair and not too happy about intruders. If they are truly old-school, make it a hive-mind.

Basically, the combination of swarms, constructs and undead in a somewhat reasonable setting(maybe it's their "job" to destroy the necromantic "heart" of the facility) is hard to deal with, and with no rest available, will eventuall wear them down so they struggle for their very lives.

If they DO run out of resources too early, you can always throw them some consumables, nothing else in the place has reasonable use for potions of cure moderate wounds or scrolls or whatever. :)


Will o Wisps

Dark Archive

Make the Dungeon a Temple to one of the old Gods, like Cthulhu. Give a Mindflayer( yea yea 3.5 but I love em!) the Divine Guardian template from Green Ronin's Advanced Bestiary. Aslong as it is in the temple, it gets a speed increase, fast healing Dimension door at will, and some other spell like abilities. Its goal is not to kill them out right, but slowly hit and run them untill they go crazy. Also fill the temple with Mind effecting traps, horror stuff to beat the PC's minds into mush, before they are Sacrificed to He who sleeps!

Over all a Mind flayer is a CR8,the Template will add +1 for a total of CR9, but I just tossed a normal one up vs my group of 5th lvl PF players, wizard, pally, fighter, cleric, and they all made the saves a few times in a row. The DC for the mindblast seems too low. this is prob due to PF characters being a bit more hardy that 3.5 ones.

Liberty's Edge

Solarious wrote:
Over all a Mind flayer is a CR8,the Template will add +1 for a total of CR9, but I just tossed a normal one up vs my group of 5th lvl PF players, wizard, pally, fighter, cleric, and they all made the saves a few times in a row. The DC for the mindblast seems too low. this is prob due to PF characters being a bit more hardy that 3.5 ones.

Standard practice is to subtract 1 from the CR for 3.5 monsters for that very reason.


When I DMed the Shackled City AP, one encounter that was truly awe-inspiringly difficult was in the 5th-level adventure, the Erinyes archer with a magic bow, in a huge room with plenty of space to maneuver. She was CR 9, I think, but honestly played she would grind most parties down quickly. It's not just her bow damage, though it's impressive, it's also her flight, her DR, her immunities/resistances and her telepathy. Most 5th level parties are at a considerable disadvantage at range, against a flying monster.

I would also say that adding height and hostile environments to a dungeon usually makes things far more difficult - say, slippery stairs, anti-magic fields to drop fliers, portcullises splitting the party before an assault. Even difficult terrain helps a lot to ramp up the difficulty.

For monsters, multiple swarms usually do a good job, and stirges are far more dangerous than people believe. For single monsters, try imps and quasits, or even a dragon with a few class levels. Monk is usually good. Also remember to give the enemies good single-use equipment, such as thunderstones and tanglefoot bags, but also minor magic items of limited charges. Further, if you really want to frustrate players, there is nothing quite as difficult as keeping a suicidally brave young nobleman without combat ability alive through a few encounters with enemy wizards.

Fair? Not really. Fun? Oh yesssss. =)

Lantern Lodge

I hate to be a party pooper, but just pick an AP. Any AP. It's perfect for grindsmen, but they still have excellent stories for those that live to tell them


Goblin cleric with trickery domain. Cast disguise self to look like a halfing [or a child].

Mr. Fishy is famous for the switcharoo. Attack a "innocent" and the sucker really is. Let the sucker passed and it's an enemy in disguise. [Hee hee]

Give the Goblin some real halfings or children to confuse things. Add pets like rats and a small tunnel system that the rats and goblins can use to move thought the area quickly and unseen and Ta Da. Goblin guerilla warfare with a noncombatant twist for the paladins and heroes in the game.

Or the zombie plague in a sealed off town, that was fun. Giant zombie shark on the docks.


Almighty Watashi wrote:
I hate to be a party pooper, but just pick an AP. Any AP. It's perfect for grindsmen, but they still have excellent stories for those that live to tell them

I was going to suggest Rappan Athuk Reloaded.


I've never seen so many PCs die as they have in "Seven Swords of Sin". In one night, we lost 9 PCs (used all 11 of the 7th level Iconic's character sheets for the PCs), and for another group, 5 more were slain. Not the greatest dungeon story wise, but the encounters are one meat-grinder after another. If you're looking to kill PCs in humorous ways, this is a good module to do it in.
Meat-grinder modules of the APS:
#3) Hook Mountain Massacre (but #2 Skinsaw Murders also works well as a moody and potentially deadly one-shotter)
#11) Skeletons of Scarwall
#18) Descent into Midnight (This is IMO the point in the path where the difficulty jumps from easy to very hard; lots of unique, nasty bad guys)
Honestly, I don't think anything in 'Legacy' is difficult to comprise a "meat-grinder"; 'House of the Beast' comes close. Council of Thieves also seems less difficult overall than earlier paths, at least in terms of meat-grinder encounters

Dark Archive

hogarth wrote:
Almighty Watashi wrote:
I hate to be a party pooper, but just pick an AP. Any AP. It's perfect for grindsmen, but they still have excellent stories for those that live to tell them
I was going to suggest Rappan Athuk Reloaded.

Old school suicide mission, the box set is great if you can find it and even the low level/early stuff shows no mercy - none.

Here is one with a little old school feel and can be brutal (somewhat within your set challenge range).

Decent sized cavern or worked passage - basically a tall hallway, guarded by an Animated Statue (CR 5) (Bestiary pg 14) made out of stone (CP1) with Extra Attack (CP1) and Grab (CP1) or Increased Speed (CP1).
Another complication is the green slime (Core pg 416) which covers parts of the cavern ceiling. So they can turn tail and run, or try to fight their way through while getting random green slime drops on their heads during the fight in the choke point.

The statue isn't really tough by itself, and shouldn't animate until near the midpoint. Maybe be part of a set of statues which line the hall. The slime will start to drop after the first round of combat or if the party lingers too long in the hallway. You would have to figure out the "how to" on the slime's chance of hitting targets below - luckily the Animated stone statue is immune to their effects.


I really like the idea of golems, constructs, and animated objects... all with tortured, but innocent souls (aka good aligned, but forced to do evil things) being manufactured by what seems to be a religious zealot, again seemingly intent on causing chaos and destruction, but is actually a cleric of some good aligned deity being forced to do all of this by an artifact, the artifact being the entire building, which is sentient. I could see it being a factory type of setting, or being more natural, with caverns and such, and the sentient artifact is an ancient temple as long as it doesn't stand out as such. All sorts of golems and constructs could be used without flooding the encounters full of creatures, as well as any other aberrations that you think an evil artifact could create. Finally, there would be a number of Class leveled NPCs that have gone insane that they would find along the way, former group members of the cleric that have been cast off by the artifact as useless. They could provide the means to neutralize the artifact (through knowledge or items), or think they are providing such when in fact the artifact will somehow benefit. The last bit of exp would be given just for getting away alive after strengthening the artifact further. .... I'm just typing as I think it up, this might suck :P

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber

Tarrasque.


Tucker Kobolds:
http://www.tuckerskobolds.com/

Just throw hundreds of kobolds with clever tactics, and some clever traps and you are set. If you feel like destroying your PCs self esteem, switch the kobolds for mites.


gibbering mouthers


Monkeys hopped up on acid.

Silver Crusade

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
RabeiUsura wrote:

Tucker Kobolds:

http://www.tuckerskobolds.com/

Just throw hundreds of kobolds with clever tactics, and some clever traps and you are set. If you feel like destroying your PCs self esteem, switch the kobolds for mites.

+1.

Fire is the great equaliser. (Alchemist's fire is a touch attack, and running through flame-lit squares is auto-damage). Murder-Holes mean Flat-Footed ACs.

Then you add kobolds with class-levels - they look just like regular kobolds, but deal obscene amounts of Sneak Attack damage thanks to flanking. >:)


I would add the following to the above listing.

Toss a mcmuffin about needing a map to someplace the PC's have a need to reach. Said map was last seen inside of a pyramid deep in the Osirin wastes, and was sealed in with the pharoah which held said map.

To get into the pyramid, the PC's have to travel several days through a wide expanse of desert. Don't forget to add the problems with being in a heated environment, as well as the possible encounters of snakes, scorpions, and other vermin that might live in said desert wastes. A blue dragon could also swing by, looking for a quick snack. :)

Upon reaching the pyramid, the PC's have to find a way inside. Discovering such an entrance, however you want them to do so, like digging down several feet to expose a set of doors might be easily done. Provided they pick the right side of the pyramid face to try digging on.

Inside, they discover quite a few minor rooms, with murals painted on the walls, leading to the discovery that the pharoah was a harsh ruler. He turned his political enemies into undead servants, like zombies, in order to serve as his personal guard. This will no doubt cause your clerics and paladins to look nervously about for any sort of undead.

Going down via long stairs or ramps, lead the PC's to a region about mid-way, where they find a medium sized room. The room has more murals, but no mummies or other undead. By now, the PC's will be very nervous at seeing no sort of monster to fight, and be fidgeting for something to happen.

Another passage leads lower yet, this time to an area where small sections of the floor is covered only lightly in water. This part of the pyramid is actually at or just under the water table, dozens of feet below the sands above them.

While looking about, have the party discover one room which is about 40' square. Each corner has the typical mummy coffin in it, and in the middle of the room, a section of stone rises just an inch short of the water level. Atop the stone section can be seen a small multitude of lizards, tiny ones, laying down as if asleep. A set of stone steps lead down to the water's edge, and down yet more til a player must walk across the room in two feet of water.

The surprise?

The lizards are actually shocker lizards, sleeping under a spell that preserves them until they are awakened. If the party walked into the room, the increased water rise will cause the shocker lizards to awaken. They will unleash their lightning attacks, damaging every person within reach, due to the conductivity of the water.

As an added bonus, after two rounds of combat, each of the coffins will swing open, revealing what appear to be zombies who march forth with great swords. The PC's will expend their turn undead attempts, only to realize with renewed horror, the 'undead' are actually flesh golems who recover hit points from the shocking lizard's lighting attacks.

To finish out the pyramid, allow a passage past this point to reach the royal crypt. Maybe up a short series of steps. There they discover the jackpot. The actual Pharoah's tomb. But if the PC's leave him alone, they discover the map is actually a huge painting, which covers one wall of the tomb. If they make a copy and leave, let them know they succeeded in their quest.

However, we all know someone's GOT to open that coffin, right?

As a last surprise, three rounds after the coffin is opened, and the players are looking over the body for what magic or other valuable items the pharoah was buried with, they hear a creaking nose from the mural. As it falls into the actual tomb, imagine their horror as they realize the whole Royal guard are on the other side, moving forward to deal with the intruders and desecrators of their master. I's say four or five dozen zombies would do just about nicely for a finishing touch. :)


Demogorgon. He makes every campaign better.


Mr.Fishy wrote:
Monkeys hopped up on acid.

fiendish monkeys. So they can have acid resistence.


Mr.Fishy wrote:
Monkeys hopped up on acid.

Acid doesn't really "hop you up". You're thinking of meth. Or crank.

Dark Archive

rg wrote:
Alright, so all of the above was to go about asking these three simple questions: What would you throw at them? Why? Where can I find said monster?

I like dragons. I'd sic a bunch of kobolds and half-dragons on their asses, with an evil dragon waiting as the Big Bad.

Here's the difference, though. All the small fry get at least one hero point (from the Advance Players Guide) each, with the lieutenants each getting a number equal to half the party's number (round up). The dragon, of course, gets equal to the party's number in hero points.


If you're feeling mean, Anti-Magic field and a CR way less than the party level, like a Grey Render, Black Pudding, or even an Owlbear. Nothing is worse than getting grappled by something stronger with no means of magical aid, espeically when the killer monster in question is something the party can normally handle in less than 2 rounds.

RPG Superstar 2015 Top 8

The CR6 half-fiend minotaur looks like he might shape up into a nice boss fight for a level 5 party (unholy blight to start, fly and charge the party; he's got good attacks; may need a boost to AC and saves), and you could do the classic theme of having him at the center of a labyrinth (which is where all your traps and puzzles could go on their way there). Equip him with a really cool magic greataxe for some added oomph for him and a nice treasure for the party when they beat him.

Note, they may want some single-monster boss fights and that's cool, but generally it is a bigger and better challenge to attack them with a group of monsters rather than a single one--that way the fight isn't over with a single lucky critical hit or failed save on a save-or-suck spell. For example, 2-3 Shadows (CR3 creature by itself, about CR 5 for 2 of them) may well be a nastier fight than a solo CR 5-6 fight. I'm also picturing the party in a T intersection of a 10x10 set of corridors, with 3 gelatinous cubes blocking the way in each direction.

Many of the above suggestions are awesome and far more creative than mine; just trying to think of some simple things to prepare for that would still be fun and challenging.

Dark Archive

Given the party make up then it looks like CR10 is probably at the barely survivable stage. Also challenges have to be tactically diverse so you are probably looking at an NPC party or intelligent spell casting or multi-powered monsters. And the GM needs several thought out tactical encounters and a list of standard tactics to employ to fall back on.

Joela beat me to it, but I would also suggest dragons and kobolds, actually a _family_ of black dragons. You can have CR10 black dragon young adult siblings doing strike and fade, trying to outdo each other for bragging rights on their cruelty the way siblings do. Eventually leading them onto mummy in the middle. With a few allies along the way, possibly Kobolds with NPC levels.


Have a large bugbear tribe, that is summoning demons.
The characters fight their way to the evil altar through some Babaus and Vrocks. By spilling bugbear blood on the altar, they summon a Glabrezu with some barbarian levels.
The lair should be rife with secret passageways, arrow slits, and murder holes. The secret passageways open only into the evil temple.


Sissyl wrote:

When I DMed the Shackled City AP, one encounter that was truly awe-inspiringly difficult was in the 5th-level adventure, the Erinyes archer with a magic bow, in a huge room with plenty of space to maneuver. She was CR 9, I think, but honestly played she would grind most parties down quickly. It's not just her bow damage, though it's impressive, it's also her flight, her DR, her immunities/resistances and her telepathy. Most 5th level parties are at a considerable disadvantage at range, against a flying monster.

I would also say that adding height and hostile environments to a dungeon usually makes things far more difficult - say, slippery stairs, anti-magic fields to drop fliers, portcullises splitting the party before an assault. Even difficult terrain helps a lot to ramp up the difficulty.

For monsters, multiple swarms usually do a good job, and stirges are far more dangerous than people believe. For single monsters, try imps and quasits, or even a dragon with a few class levels. Monk is usually good. Also remember to give the enemies good single-use equipment, such as thunderstones and tanglefoot bags, but also minor magic items of limited charges. Further, if you really want to frustrate players, there is nothing quite as difficult as keeping a suicidally brave young nobleman without combat ability alive through a few encounters with enemy wizards.

Fair? Not really. Fun? Oh yesssss. =)

Holy crap that Erinyes (and her friends)!

Shackled City:
We encountered her, the high priest, some subpriests, an assassin, and a dragon all in the same fight after killing the rest of the dungeon, and we barely made it out of that alive. We honestly couldn't defeat her before she could just flee and use guerilla tactics, but I think she was tied to the statue or something and couldn't leave, so we hightailed it out of there.


meatrace wrote:
Mr.Fishy wrote:
Monkeys hopped up on acid.
Acid doesn't really "hop you up". You're thinking of meth. Or crank.

Mr. Fishy has Guppies. Children are like monkeys on acid. Screaming, howling, throwing things, seeing and talking to invisible fishys and then shooting them.

Huh... gamers are like that to.

Scarab Sages

I recommend using the final encounter from Rise of the Runelords book 2, perhaps with a few minions to help. Very nasty fight.

Liberty's Edge

Terrain makes all the difference. Once you decide on a monster, look at what that monster does well and capitalize on it. A minotaur that charges for damage? Not that scary. A minotaur that bull-rushes characters through the reach of a fire giant with combat reflexes? Now that is nasty.

Hydras are one of my favorites for hard encounters, because any encounter with any hydra is already hard. It has better action economy than any party without help at all, and they can be placed in very inconvenient spots. Not to mention that if the local evil magician uses this hydra as a guard dog, he'll probably cast 'resist acid' and 'resist fire' on it at the first opportunity.


Thanks for all the help so far guys! Seriously, some of these ideas are so up my alley! Still figuring EXACTLY what to use, but I still have a few days, and enough idea of where I'd like the story to go...

BTW, party make up...

1 TWF (Improved Unarmed & Shield) Armiger
1 TWF (Bastard Sword & Short Sword) Martial Artist
1 Par for the course Healer Cleric
1 Par for the course Ice Wizard

I like the idea of letting the non-combat section of the dive take it's toll!

I LOVE the idea of demoralizing harassment!

And I love the thought of tossing them some Aberrations, just have to figure out what the final encounter is going to be...

I mean, why is this place overrun with Rust Monsters, Otyughs, Chokers and Gibbering Mouthers?

And What would be a good low level harassment monster if I went with Aberrations?

I may actually use constructs or something... Just have to figure it out!


And What would be a good low level harassment monster if I went with Aberrations?

Oogler Buds!
Ooglers
Also known as Aberrant Eyeballs, Lost Lookers, the Unblinking Ones, or Iris.
This floating eyeball has an iris with a swirling pattern.

Usual power: Charm person beam. Will save or trust thoughts it puts in target’s head.
Name: Tiny Oogler Bud CR: ½

Type: Aberration Terrain: Any air Climate: Not Arctic

XP: 200

Alignment: LE Size: Tiny Type(Subtype): Aberration

Init: +4 ; Senses darkvision 60 ft Perception +4
___________________________________________________________________________ ______________________
Defense
___________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________

AC 17 Touch 17 Flat footed 17 ;( 15+size adjustment )
Acid reflex- Any natural or non-magical weapon must fort save or take acid damage if it hits the
white of the eye.
Acid Immunity

Hp 5 ( 1d8 + 1 ) [1D4 if attached]

Fort +0 ,Ref +0 ,Will +2

___________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________
Offense
___________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________

Speed 30 (Flying only)

Melee Acid touch (1D4)

Space N/A Reach N/A

Spell-Like Abilities: Constant Mage Hand and Fly.

___________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________
Statistics
___________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________

Str 6 ,Dex 10 ,Con 10 ,Int 18 ,Wis 16 ,Cha 16

Base Atk. +2 ;CMB 0 ;CMD 0

Feats Improved initiative

Skills Fly: 5 Intimidate 5 Knowledge(The Planes): 5 Perception: 5
Stealth 5 Survival 5

Languages Common, undercommon, Dragon, Goblinoid (Can't speak itself)
Telepathic (100 feet)

___________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________
Ecology
___________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________

Environment any (far realm)

Organization Solitary or gang, usually charmed minions.
Treasure Armor, small tools, special lenses, ioun stones, etc.

___________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________
Special Abilities
___________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________

Usual power: Charm beam. Will save or trust thoughts it puts in target’s head. Range 50 feet + 10ft per dice. Save DC 15 (14+dice) Will. Works on anything intelligence 1 or higher and not immune.
Internal gas bag. Will drift if unconscious.
Race memory: Will know everything parent knows but may not be able to use everything till they grow larger.
Inflate/Deflate: Can grow or shrink 2 size categories without changing hits or abilities. AC will change as normal.
If attached; All saves are as parent body, Hit points are 1D4, and does not think for itself. Dice dependent things, like eye beam saves and range are as parent body.
If unattached: Usually eats bugs and tries to grow larger.

General. All ooglers have internal gas bags and strange ring shaped brains behind their iris.
These strange brains generate their eye beam, their telepathy, their flight, and their mage hand.
The flight and mage hand are both telekinetically based. Aside from the brain and iris the thing is amorphous, allowing it to shrink or blow up like a balloon. This also allows it to instantly repair minor punctures so it won't pop like a balloon unless dead. They claim to have invented Ioun Stones.
Eye powers: Range 50ft + 10ft per dice. Save DC 14+dice
01: Charm Monster: Will save or trust thoughts it puts in target’s head. Range 100 feet. Save DC 15 (14+dice) Will. It works on anything intelligence 1 or higher and not immune. Duration 1 hour per hit dice, then they get another save.
02: Dispel Ray. Acts as Dispel magic except as noted. Hit dice is caster level for checks. It dispels one magical effect for each 2 levels. It has to be at least 10th level to swap for Antimagic Field.
03: Sleep Ray: Hit dice is maximum hit dice affected by sleep.
04: Healing: For slaves and each other: Normally heals 1D8 per 2 levels. At 10th level and above can be swapped for Heal.
05: Scorching ray: 1D6 per hit die. Spell resistance, yes.
06: Lightning beam: 1D6 per hit dice ref save for half. No spell resistance.
07: Freeze ray: 1D6 per hit dice ref save for half.
80: Vibro ray: 1D6 per hit dice ref. save for half. Failed save includes deafness for 1D6 minutes.
09:: Negative Energy: Heals Undead. Normally does 1D8 per 2 levels. At 10th level and above can be swapped for Slay Living (Fort save to instead take 3D6+1 per level).
10: Fear: Will negates:
11: Disintegrate: Destroys unattended object about the Ooglers mass, or does 2D6 per level on a ranged touch. A fort save means it takes half damage. A thing reduced to 0 or less hits it suffers disintegration as described.
12: Polymorph: If target fails their fort save they become an aberration selected. The Oogler can also turn a servant into a humanoid for a spy mission.
13: Flesh to Stone: Fort save negates. GM must rule on whether a Flesh Golem gets temporary stoneskin.
14: Stone to Flesh: Restores petrified creatures, but turns a statue into a perfect vacant body for a lost soul.
15: Slow: Will negates or 1D10 rounds.
16: Curse: Will negates or 1D10 rounds. -4 to everything.
17: Hold Person: Will negates or 1D10 rounds.
18: Illusion: Can be used to communicate. Will negates, but can still be seen faintly.
19: Force: Magic missile 1 a round.
20: Telekinetic: 25 pounds per level. Concentration means each eye can try to move only one thing at a time. Will negates to resist by a creature or to keep an attended item still.

Have them lair in holes in the walls and shoot at intruders.

Liberty's Edge

Shouldn't that be ogler? And not Oogler?


ogler means someone who stares amorously or impertinently.
Oogler is a weird, alien, floating eyeball.
Is the spelling a deal breaker here? Because Oogler sounded better in my head.

Liberty's Edge

If I use it, I'm changing the spelling. But dragons are notorious grammar nazis, and I may well be a statistically insignificant outlier as far as everyone else is concerned.


Actually, that's great!
Dragons pronounce it like au.
Otherwise it's like the double oo in boot.

RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16

I once had an enclave of troglodytes who kept corralled rust monsters, and had set up "traps" which were just one tunnel gate dropping while another opened; close off the party's escape, and release the hounds! Trogs mostly use pointy rocks, which are immune; so if there's a fair traffic of adventurers, why not level the playing field? (And of course there was big mama rusty, advanced to double-digit HD!)

Mimics are tons of fun. Screw treasure chests: find a nice archway and play door. Or a wide open room, and sit in the middle looking like a statue with an obvious lever-arm.

Review the various molds and slimes, apply liberally.

Don't forget oozes! (When evaluating the ochre jelly, remember: morningstars do piercing damage too.)

If you want to primarily do an aberration theme, an underground lake housing an aboleth mastermind is a good way to bind it all together.


Does anyone know if the above party would be equipped for the final single encounter to be against the Organ Grinder from The Book of Unremitting Horror (properly "fantasied" up, of course)?


I figured I'd have an Aboleth mastermind botch a summoning as the players reach him, and end up summoning the Organ Grinder, who will promptly slaughter the Aboleth, and turns his attentions to the players...


Hiya i am a little new to this version of the game ,and I don't know if I can add much, but if you need a simple trap with real teeth here is what i have to offer.
The Pickle jar with one pickle , willpower negates/ dc 20-ish / moderate enchantment aura .
players who fail the save get hungry reach in with their main hand and grab the pickle, making a fist. They refuse to let the pickle go, and thus now have a hand trapped in a nearly unbreakable jar. The trap is mostly a compulsion/suggestive type spell.
This significantly hinders most player because they lose their main hand and may have great difficulty fighting, casting and doing anything physical. (try leaving more than one in a store room.)
the jar can be removed with a remove curse spell or by breaking it ( shatter spells will work , but the jar has special construction making it extremely tough to sunder( I leave that up to what the campaign group can do ) . The afflicted player will also be resistant to the idea because he might drop the pickle and it would get dirty. Retest the save to get the afflicted player to go along with the idea per attempt.
if you are feeling extremely wicked the jar could be a constant source of annoyance imposing a -2 penalty on initiative and perception checks because the afflicted player cant stop messing with the jar.
since introducing these magical traps into my campaign the rouges take a little more time slowly searching a area or chest.

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder First Edition / Advice / Which creatures would you add to a not overly survivable level five MEATGRINDER? All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.