Doresh's page

I've some questions regarding a monster without official Pathfinder-stats (the Azlanti Carrion Beetle) and a monster variant from the Almanach of Classic Monsters (the Lizardking).

1. Would you tunr the Carrion Beetle into a Magical Beast? I know they are Vermin in 3.5, but it just doesn't feel right: they have intelligence, and they have a hypnotic carapace that used to fire rainbowy death on enemies. And it generally seems to be a artifically created "warmachine". And even if not, all those magical abilities and the high intelligence sound definitely more like Magical Beast.

2. What's the CR for a Lizardking? It's nowhere in the Almanach. I tried to check this nice "HD-CR"-Table for the Bestiary, but that didn't work for the Flinds, either. D20pfsrd suggests a CR of 3, but that sounds a bit low considering a HD boost from 2 to 5 and a size increase.

I'm wondering why NPCs from Adventure Modules (like Namdrin Quinn from "Carnival of Tears" or Merlokrep from "Throne of the Kobold King") have so high ability scores in general. Whenever I calculate their point costs (minus bonuses from equipment, race and level, of course), I usually end up with a total cost of 25+!

Is the typical Pathfinder Adventure Module made for Epic Fantasy? Where these scores simply rolled? Or are they so high in purpose to give the party a challenge should they fight the NPC in question?

I've just wondered: what happens if a burning skeleton wields a flaming weapon? Does the 1D6 fire damage from both "sources" add up to 2D6, or is it still just 1D6 (since it can't be any more "flamy")?
Or even more confusing: what if that burning skeleton is wielding a frost weapon? Will the weapon deal both fire and ice damage? Do they cancel each other out? Can you only use one element per round?

I've recently finished my personal Pathfinder-conversions of the encounters in D0 and D1.5 (for the great Kobold King saga - Merlokrep 4 president XD ! ).

Some conversion were a bit tricky, but I solved them elegantly: the chariot beetle has been turned into a Magical Beast (since it has magical abilities and wouldn't benefit from the mindless Vermin traits anyways), and Pinch-Pinch is currently "just" a normal scorpion (luckily, it has the same amount of HD as a normal companion). And then there's this "Advanced Megaraptor Skeleton"...

First, there are two ways to create the Megaraptor out of a Deinonychus: either improve the HD or add templates. Both are more or less equal, but the skeleton template is one of those templates that are heavily based on HD. Just treating the Megaraptor as an "Advanced Giant Deinonychus" would create a skeleton that's A LOT more powerful than its puny CR would suggest.

To keep it balanced, I'd take the more complex "HD-Improvement" route. But then there's still the other Advanced template. The whole name of this undead creature can be interpreted in 2 ways:

1. (Advanced Megaraptor) Skeleton

2. Advanced (Megaraptor Skeleton)

The first doesn't look quite right. It'll boost the final creature's abilities without influencing the CR. The second even gives a nice HP boost, taking more advantage of the template.

Of course, you could also make a Deinonychus skeleton which is then turned into a twice-Advanced, Giant creature. Sounds rather fair - especially if you want to create a Velociraptor skeleton, which is then treated like a Deinonychus skeleton with the Young template. Otherwise, you'd just make a weak Deinonychus skeleton that has still the same CR as a normal one.
Sadly, I don't really know how to handle the WIS and CHA scores of this creature. Should I ignore the increases from the first Advanced and the Giant template because those theoretically took place before the creature being turned into a skeleton (even though I applied it afterwards for the proper CR value)?

How would you do it?

For my first d20 monster ever, I chose something crazy. Soo, here's what happens if you modify an Iron Golem, pick some Anime influences and adapt all that into a typical Fantasy setting:

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Walking Armor Maduke CR 15

XP 51,200

N Gargantuan construct

Init –2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +0

DEFENSE

AC 31, touch 4, flat-footed 31 (–2 Dex, +27 natural, –4 size)
or
AC 33, touch 4, flat-footed 33 (–2 Dex, +27 natural, +2 shield, –4 size)

hp 170 (20d10+60)

Fort +6, Ref +4, Will +6

DR 15/adamantine; Immune construct traits, magic

OFFENSE

Speed 20 ft.

Melee 2 slams +35 (2d10+19) or +1 flaming longsword +36/+31/+26/+21

Space 20 ft.; Reach 20 ft.

Special Attacks breath weapon (120-ft. line, 20d6 fire damage, DC 20 half, usable every 1d4 rounds)

STATISTICS

Str 48, Dex 7, Con —, Int —, Wis 11, Cha 1

Base Atk +20; CMB +43; CMD 51

ECOLOGY

Environment any

Organization solitary or gang (2–4)

Treasure none (maybe the sword and the shield, but they are too big for medium creatures anyway XD )

Immunity to Magic (Ex) A Walking Armor is immune to spells or spell-like abilities that allow spell resistance. Certain spells and effects function differently against it, as noted below.

* A magical attack that deals electricity damage slows a Walking Armor (as the slow spell) for 3 rounds, with no saving throw.
* A magical attack that deals fire damage breaks any slow effect on the golem and heals 1 point of damage for each 3 points of damage the attack would otherwise deal. If the amount of healing would cause the golem to exceed its full normal hit points, it gains any excess as temporary hit points. A Walking Armor gets no saving throw against fire effects.
* A Walking Armor is affected normally by rust attacks, such as those of a rust monster or a rusting grasp spell.

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Walking Armors (also known a "Maduke" since that name is carved in Azlanti on most found constructs of that type) are an especially rare kind of Iron Golem: towering giants with a height of around 48 ft. that can breath a strangely solid line of fire. Most Madukes also carry a large shield and a sword that's constantly ablaze (which might increase the CR a bit, since this sword gives quite a boost of damage).

From what pathfinder chroniclers could find in old Azlanti ruins, these golems where created by the ancient Azlanti (probably with a bit of Aboleth help). Old texts tell that they were mainly used in a war against a foe not native to Golarion. Connections between this enemy and the Silver Mount of Numeria might be possible, but are still highly speculative.

Most of these golems where destroyed along with Azlant (or where they salvaged by Aboleth?), but some do still exist in some Azlant ruins, attacking everything that might pose a threat.

Strangely, all the documents found referred to these golems as a piece of "armor", and studies on inactive Madukes revealed that they have some kind of chair inside their torso, often with a skeleton sitting inside...

Here's a quick question: If you have a monster PC, does that monster get this +4, +4, +2, +2, +0, –2 ability score bonus a normal monster with PC class levels would get?

I'm slightly irritated by the bestiary's treasure rules: the treasure of NPCs depends on their CR, but monsters and other creatures without a class have their treasure being decided by the party's average level.

Soo... why does monsters get more treasure as time goes on, even though the monster itself doesn't get stronger? What's even stranger is that every monster with "Standard" treasure gives the party as much gold as a whole encounter for their average level is supposed to give. And that's for EACH monster.

By this rule, a simple barghest (CR 4) would give a party with APL 4 1,150 gp. Fast forward to the same group with APL 8, and the next barghest has 3,350 gp. But since the barghest isn's scary any more, let's give him 3 buddies - increasing the treasure to 13,400 gp. That's enough for 4 encounters!

I presume I'm just supposed to spread the 3,350 gp among all of the barghest. But what happens if a creature with "Double" treasure joins the mix? How will that affect this encounter's treasure? Do I just pick the biggest treasure, in this case, "Double"?

Hello, everyone!

After resisting the mighty d20 for quite some time, Pathfinder finally managed to convert me ^^

So anyways: I'm currently studying the bestiary, and I have a few questions regarding some demons:

1. Does a Nabasu keeps his growth points when maturing? I think yes, because a former monster with those points - the Bargehst - specifically mentions that it'll lose its points when upgrading

2. I'm slightly confused about the Glabrezu's pincers: they are more powerful than ordinary huge pincers (without the Glabrezu having a feat like "Improved Natural Attack"), and they they seem to be primary attacks, despite the fact that the Glabrezu also has claws and a bite attack. So are these "pincers" entirely unique weapons for him?

3. Marilith's stats make me scratch my head: Her normal attack bonus would be +16 (BAB) -1 (Size) +7 (Str) = +22. Add in her +1 longswords and her Weapon Focus, and you have +24. That's fine so far. But why does she treat her natural weapons like the +2 bonus from her weapons apply to them? Her tail slap and slams are both too high Oo !