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The Whispering Cairn (first adventure in the Age of Worms) in Dungeon 124 is my favorite low level adventure. My group finished it in 5 sessions, so it may be a bit long for what you're looking for. This could be shortened by cutting some of the side quest material.

Classic dungeon delve with side quests. Traps, and puzzles, and monsters. It's easily mutable to give as much or as little roleplaying as you want. It's 3.5, so you will have to do some conversions.

Like Charlie Bell said above about Everflame, if your fiancee likes it, it could serve as an awesome intro into a long running campaign, or you could drop all references to things that come later in Age of Worms and just run it as a one-shot dungeon delve.

The fights can be a bit brutal, especially if your players just run in to attack. This is the adventure where a player turned to me and said, "You're not messing around anymore, are you?"

Hopefully others can learn from my mistakes. Hopefully I can learn from my mistakes. Hopefully...nope. That's all the hopefully I've got right now.

Cragsman‘s Climbing Gloves
Aura moderate transmutation; CL 5th
Slot hands; Price 5000 gp; Weight -
Description
These lightweight leather gloves are insulated with animal fur and bear a single dwarven rune on each palm. While climbing a natural rock wall, the wearer may activate the gloves causing them to gently mold the rock around the glove. This creates small, permanent handholds that reduce the Climb DC of the wall by 5 for creatures of the same size as the one who made the handholds. Creatures within one size category of the gloves’ wearer may also use these handholds, but the Climb DC is only reduced by 2, since the size and positioning of the holes are not as effective for larger and smaller creatures. Creatures more than one size category away from the wearer gain no benefit from the handholds. Climbing while creating these handholds is a full round action.

In addition, three times per day, the wearer may violently displace the matter comprising any creature or object made primarily of stone by making a touch attack. On a successful hit, the gloves deal 5d6 points of damage. This damage bypasses hardness and damage reduction. Creatures, magic items, and attended items that succeed on a Fortitude saving throw (DC 14) reduce this damage by half.

The wearer may use the molding property of the gloves to burrow slowly through unworked stone. The wearer can fully displace a 5 foot cube of stone in 8 hours.

Both gloves must be worn for the magic to be effective, and at least one hand must be free to take advantage of the magic.

Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, stone shape; Cost 2500 gp

Your name was the first that I saw on the list, and I thought, "I hope Tom wins it this year so someone else can get a chance at the top 32." :)

I really dig this item. It's one that I'd like to put on a villain, because giving the description of breathing out memory erasing fog onto the party would be so much fun as a GM. And I can easily see the party fighting over who got the crown.

It's creepy, it's got mojo, it makes for some fun tactics (since you can see through the fog and no one else can) and it was made by Tom Phillips whose work I have always enjoyed. Good luck, bud.

MendedWall had some great points. I will touch on and expound on them.

Contrary to what you may think, your awesomeness at eliciting roleplay dialogue will have very little to do with your group's willingness to do it.

Every player is at the table for a different reason. Some like the story, some like the action, some are just there to hang out with their friends. The true art of GMing is juggling the personalities of the people at your table while also playing the game that you want to play.

Most of the times that I am the GM, I sit down with the players away from the rest of the group (or send out an email) and ask them simple questions. "What is your name?" Where are you from?" Why are you adventuring?" "What is your alignment? And why?" That last "and why?" can give more insight into a character than almost any question on the list. I don't let them into the game until I have received answers to these questions.

When I send out a questionnaire instead of sitting down with the players, I've found that the more role-playing minded group tend to come up with interesting ways to answer the questions. Journal entries, hand written letters to home, etc. The less role-playing minded group just answers the questions as briefly as possible.

And this is fine. Don't take it as comment on your GMing style. Everyone is there for something different. The people who want to role-play will role-play. Those who don't will drift off during the role-playing bits. The time to worry comes when players from one camp are making the game not fun for the players of the other camp.

IME, this usually comes when a non-role-player gets bored with the role-playing at the table. S/he looks around with an expression on their face that says, "When do we get to fight something?" Soon, that expression turns to actually saying, "So are we fighting something, yet?" And then jumping into the role-playing that's going on and trying to just get to the point. The point of "when do we fight?"

If you have role-players who understand that sometimes we fight things, and roll-players (gods, I hate that term) that understand that sometimes we talk to things, then you are okay. You should only really worry when one camp is infringing on the gameplay of the other camp.

Unfortunately, the difference in game styles can lead to letting a player go. I tend to go as far as I can with those players, let them know that everyone at the table is trying to do something different, hoping that they understand that, and telling them to just sit back when there is gameplay that doesn't interest them. Sometimes it works. Sometimes you need to cut them out.

Now, if that doesn't fit with your particular play style, and you feel you can't adjust, then perhaps you should either look for a different group (if the local talent-pool allows) or let someone else take the helm of this group.

The biggest thing to keep in mind is that your one true job is to make sure that the other players have fun. If the players want to ignore the dungeon that you've detailed to chase after the king's assassin, you need to run with that. If your political machination storyline goes off the rails when the characters decide to open a magic store in town, you need to run with that. If the players' choices do not contour with a game that you feel comfortable running, it's time to walk away. You can always find new players, and your old players will be much happier playing with a GM who doesn't force them into a story that they are not interested in playing.

Now, you can subtly push people to play the way you want. If someone completes a personal quest and receives an awesome weapon as a reward, everyone else around the table will probably look up and say, "If I complete my personal quest, I might get a sweet reward, too." I find that positive reinforcement works far better than negative reinforcement.

And finally,

In the end remember that the player's willingness to do anything is not a reflection on you. Whether or not they are having fun is a reflection on you. It is your number one job to make sure everyone at the table is having fun (this does include yourself).

There are not enough +1's in the world for this statement.

OT

Sean K Reynolds wrote:

As a guy who can sing decently, but not well enough to be a professional...

I'd like to request a youtube video verifying this :P

I second this.

And I'm glad I caught myself on that, because I almost submitted with the wrong format (2 000 000 gp, for example, a ridiculous price so that it bears no relation to my actual submission), but spent about 10 minutes comparing mine to ones from previous Top 32 entries that had no comments on formatting errors. I unfortunately left all my Pathfinder books back at home aside from the GameMastery Guide when I came up to stay with my parents for Christmas, so I couldn't actually crack open the Core Rulebook to compare to those, or I would have.

Don't let not having the Core Rulebook on hand trip you up. If you have access to the internet, you have access to the Pathfinder rules.

I was browsing the Core wondrous items on a break at work and ran across an item that had mechanics that were very similar to the one I was building for this year.

Back to the drawing board. But, I probably would have missed it if the PRD wasn't so easily accessible.

After making your wondrous item, show it to a gamer friend and ask, "How could you abuse this?" They will find things that you would not even think of. Most of the time, a simple rewording will take out much of the wiggle room.

Some cool ideas in here, but I have a couple of questions.

Why would Pegleg pass the murder-picture on to someone else? What is his plan?

Why would Pegleg call the heroes if the murder-picture is part of his plan?

How does Andaegu show the picture to people without ever seeing it himself? If all it takes is a glance to summon the monster to kill you, how has he not been attacked?

What happens when the monster is slain? Once the PCs defeat Andaegu and search his body, they will find the picture. They should be attacked 1d6 days later. Once they kill the monster, is that the end? Or is the picture summoning new Hounds each time someone views it?

IMO, the best part of this is the room changing mansion. Especially if the layout of the mansion changes each time the mechanism "clicks." You could have some fun with the PCs opening a door into a completely different area of the mansion.

I don't have an issue with the rules change. These kinds of things are what adventures are built on.

Just the things that popped into my head on a first read.

OT

"A character can carefully administer a potion to an unconscious creature as a full-round action, trickling the liquid down the creature's throat."

Link

But I've always houseruled it as a standard action, myself.

OT

First campaign I ever ran was a "The gods walk the earth and the good gods have choosen their champions and will pit them against the evil gods' champions" campaign.

I made this known pretty early in the campaign and told the characters that they were the most important people in the world. Also, the idea of killing a character terrified me as a new GM("How will they have fun if I kill them?). This led to the PCs turning to the gods every time they ran into trouble.

Me: Where are you heading?
PCs: Someone go pray and find out where we're supposed to go next.

Me: That's 135 points of damage in one hit. You're dead.
PC: No prob. I'm the champion of a god. He'll resurrect me. I need to be at the final battle. The GM said so.
ME:*Sigh*

PC: Do you honestly think that my god would let me be cut down by a kobold in the middle of nowhere?
Me: You worship the god of "Death by Random Encounters"
PC: Yeah, but I didn't think he meant me.
Me: Uhh...It's the highest honor that a priest of Deewonhundred could hope for.
PC: You have no idea what you're doing, do you?
Me: *Grabs moster book* Roll for initiative.

I like to think that I've grown since then.

OT

What happened to the neh-thalggu? Back in the Dungeon mag (and maybe other sources) they were crazy metamagic fiends with a constantly changing spell list, an absolute blast to run. Now they're...physically buff sorcerers. Unless I'm missing something, they seem to have lost their jazz without the ability to absorb the brains to power spells.

Paizo offices are closed down for a week, and you have tons of free time on your hands. What do you do? How long until you go stir crazy?

Sorry if either of these has been asked already. This thread is monter long.

I am sorry for your loss. The love you exude in these posts shows just how lucky she truly was.

Stay strong, Black Bard. I hope that we can all be blessed with someone who loves us as much as you love Kaiya.

OT

Because of how rapidly the judges are sorting the items, we pretty much look for a reason to stop reading...i.e., a reason to Reject. So, sometimes, our commentary might not delve into all the reasons we would reject it. Don't assume just because we didn't bring up some other flaw in your design that it wouldn't have also been a reason to reject it.

That is the reason that these "Critique My Item" threads are so useful. I can see the problems with my item (and I completely agree with the assessment), but I won't be submitting that item next year. So I need to see where other people tripped up, so I can avoid those mistakes in the future.

Neil, thank you for dropping my critiques in this thread. Judges, thank you for ripping apart my item. It truly helps me learn.

And competitors. WOW. There is some awesome stuff in here. I hope to see you around next year. Read the comments, design with them in your mind, and you will break through the pack. Give it time, take your lumps, and it will happen.

Good luck in the future.

TM

/facepalm

I've been reading this thread for a while now and it just hit me that I never submitted my item for critique.

Spell Shifting Butterfly
Aura moderate evocation and transmutation; CL 11th
Slot -; Price 3000 gp; Weight -
Description
A spell shifting butterfly is a small statuette of a monarch butterfly with a porcelain body and diaphanous gossamer wings. As part of the action of casting a spell, a user may activate the butterfly causing it to store the spell and animate. The butterfly then flies to any point within 60 feet in the user’s line of effect and releases the spell from that position as if the user himself were there.
Casting the spell to activate the butterfly provokes an attack of opportunity as normal, but the butterfly does not provoke an attack when it discharges the spell. All of the spell’s numerical values are based on the user’s level and ability scores (caster level, saving throw DCs, attack rolls, etc.), while the butterfly’s position determines line of sight and line of effect. If the butterfly targets a creature or object that the user cannot see, the butterfly must make a Perception check (+0 bonus) to locate and target that creature or object.
The butterfly is quite fragile and can only hold a spell for a short time. At the end of the round in which it was activated, the butterfly is destroyed even if it has not released its spell (as in the case of a missed touch attack).

Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, animate objects, imbue with spell like ability; Cost 1500 gp

Red Hand of Doom is also one of the best written modules out there, in my opinion.

True story.

TM

Probably the best "Designer Notes" I've seen are in the 3.5 Red Hand of Doom. Like Hydro noted, they are fairly infrequent, yet give SO MUCH insight into what makes (and possibly breaks) the encounters. Seriously, pick that book up just for the notes.

TM

It was a lot harder to hit submit this year than it was last year. But, it's in and I'm happy with it.

This is my favorite time of the year. Good luck to all.

TM

As a submitter and voter, I'm of two minds on this.

First mind says, "I could have taken an existing item and tweaked it. But that is boring. It's not very Superstar to me."

Second mind says, "If you can take an existing item and make me sit up and say, 'Wow!' then that could be Superstar."

I think I side with the second mind. I'd have no problem with it if you completely blew me away with the execution. So, I wouldn't count this against the item as long as the item in question was perfectly brilliant. Otherwise, I'd avoid.

TM

Boombox of the Lonely Island
Aura strong enchantment; CL 16th
Slot -; Price 242,400 gp; Weight 13 lbs.
Description
”A boombox is not a toy.”
A boombox of the lonely island is a metal box with many dials and switches on its face. The boombox is activated when the user raises it above his head. The boombox emits a loud song that forces all creatures within 60 feet that can hear it to begin dancing as if affected by irresistible dance if they fail a DC 19 Will save. This effect is usable three times per day.
When the user flips the switch labeled “Turbo Bass” the boombox sends forth a shockwave of low frequency that forces all creatures within 60 feet to be filled with intense sexual energy (Will 18 negates). Creatures of old age or older take a -4 penalty on this save. Any affected creature must strip off all armor and clothing, and then grapple the nearest creature. Affected creatures must attempt to maintain the grapple as long as the user holds the boombox over his head. If the grapple is broken, affected creatures must attempt to grapple the next nearest creature. The “Turbo Bass” function may only be used once. Once the “Turbo Bass” function is used, the boombox still retains the irresistible dance ability.
Both of the effects are mind affecting, sonic effects.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, mass charm person, irresistible dance; Cost 121,200 gp

Violations
1: Spell in a Can
2: Swiss Army Knife (kind of)
7: Obvious Pricing Errors (don’t actually know on this one; I didn’t check)
9 The Intellectual Property Violation (watch here (NSFWish: language and implied elderly sexual situations))
10: Item isn’t Spell-Checked or Proofread (I didn’t)
11: The In-Character Quote
12: Item is a Joke
14: Item is something we can't advertise due to mature or offensive content
16: Item’s name is a real-world item name
17: Item is modern technology presented as magic
19: Item Involves Vomit (heh)

I can’t wait to run this one next session. Unfortunately, it’s going to be a couple of weeks while we wait for everyone to come back from vacations.

My players recruited Perlivash and Tyg-Tigger-Tut to play the biggest prank possible on the forces of the Stag Lord. The fey split them into two teams and each of them is working with a team to set up as many traps and pranks as possible outside and inside of the fort (if they’re stealthy enough, of course). Points are scored for every time a bandit runs into a prank, and the winners get bragging rights over the losers.

Meanwhile, another player will be leading a small group of Sootscales as a diversionary tactic, in the hopes of pulling the bandits out of the fortress and into the mine field of booby-traps set by the two teams. She’s well aware that the kobolds have had their eyes on the fortress for some time, so she may have to deal with crazy kobolds who change their minds mid-battle and decide to take the fortress for themselves.

I can’t wait to see what kind of traps they come up with, but I guarantee it will ridiculously fun, no matter what happens.

OT

bacon salt

my mind reels at the thought that vegetarians would want everything to taste like bacon.

A good friend gave me some Bacon Salt a couple of years ago. It is perfect for those meals where you think, "This is good, but it would be better with a little bacon."

In other words, every meal.

OT

He loves...he loves San Dimas.

My votes went to:

Deathleech Puppeteer
Chymick
Slithering Horror
Skintaker

Good luck to all of the 32. I loved what I saw. I am looking forward to the next round.

TM

Does it grab me visually: Big dragonfly-hornet. Not really grabbing me here. However the flecks of metal glinting in the sunlight as one of these comes swooping in? I like that.

Would I use it in game: Deals with intelligent creatures. Not really sure how they communicate, but I believe I could work with that. The healing creating a swarm thing is where my big reservations come in.

Would my players enjoy an encounter with it: Depends on the encounter. If a couple of the PCs were infected with eggs and the cleric dropped a channel energy burst on them, now they’re dealing with a couple of swarms of wasps. This would frustrate my players much more than it would excite them.

Does it grab me visually: “Dog-sized larva” gives me the creeps (although it does bring up the question, what type of dog). I like the idea of the sands starting to churn as the PCs enter its area.

Would I use it in game: If I had some information on adult prismwings, yes. As it stands, it would be an interesting encounter, but I think the real meat of this monster would be seeing what the adult version does.

Would my players enjoy an encounter with it: Yes. Especially after the battle where they dig up other bodies that had been attacked by the prismwing.

Does it grab me visually: Not really. It poses as magical armor, and subtly pushes the wearer to sins. I want it to be more subtle and not look like evil twisted armor.

Would I use it in game: It could be interesting to get this onto a paladin and watch as the devil slowly corrupts him, but I don’t think I could convince a paladin to strap on something so evil looking. Otherwise, it just seems a like another way to boost the power of an “end boss”

Would my players enjoy an encounter with it: Probably not. I think they would find it anticlimactic after the big fight with the bad guy. “Oh, his armor was evil, too? But it can’t do anything unless it’s connected to a host? Then let’s melt it down and be done with it.”

Does it grab me visually: Yes! Beautiful and deadly, a swarm of these would be terrifying. Attacking glass is odd, but I like it. The thing that really grabs me about this one, is there is an actual reason for someone to build these: “chymick essence is highly prized for its uses in alchemy, poison-making, and the brewing of potions and oils.” That definitely grabs me for this one.

Would I use it in game:Yes. I’m already thinking of ways to introduce these into my game. Attacking potion bottles (which I don’t think I’ve ever done before) would be a interesting twist on a battle. Glassblowers would hire adventurers to take these out. Many, many uses for these.

Would my players enjoy an encounter with it: Yes. They always enjoy fights with swarms, because it forces you to employ different tactics. And they would go wild on creatures that were attacking their precious potions.

Does it grab me visually: Yes. This is a horrific description. The artwork for this would give me nightmares. A manifestation of the forest’s wrath was a little weak for me. I don’t like the forest protecting itself from the pain of mankind’s advances with something that sounds like it is constantly in pain. It just doesn’t mesh for me.

Would I use it in game: Maybe. I’m not really sure where to throw this in. I could see an adventure where the PCs kill one of these, then realize that it was trying to protect the forest. Now the PCs have to make things right. I’ll have to think on this one.

Would my players enjoy an encounter with it: I think so. Could lead to some interesting role playing with druids and rangers killing one of these because it is looks like a undead, tortured beast, and then realizing that it was actually trying to protect the natural world.

Does it grab me visually: Yes. Transparent humans with mephitis inside. Pretty cool mental picture there.

Would I use it in game: Yes. I like that they keep small memories of their past life. This could lead to interesting adventures where the PCs rescue friends who have been taken by the janni, leading to a final battle with the janni who started all of this.

Would my players enjoy an encounter with it: Yes. Different abilities from different mephitis mean that my players will always be on their toes with each new encounter with these. And they will have fun trying to guess what new abilities a salt mephit grants over a water mephit.

Does it grab me visually: The two heads talking simultaneously is awesome. Haruspicy
= wonderful visual.

Would I use it in game: Once. It would make for a very cool plot device. And then, you have to wonder if the information the haga gave you was in your best interest, or the haga’s. As a combat encounter, there are some problems. This creature knows the time of its own death. Would it even fight back against the PCs? Or is its future changeable?

Would my players enjoy an encounter with it: Yes. Although the whole time they would be sure that they were being double crossed. Plus, I’m sure that they would talk about the two headed eagle oracle for years to come.

Does it grab me visually: Yes. Brown mold in their fur is very cool, and would reward PCs who notice it and know not to throw fire at it.

Would I use it in game: Probably not. There just seems to be too much going on with this creature. I like the brown mold mixed with a creature, it makes for interesting tactical decisions. But then the mind control aspect completely throws me off. I’m just not sure what to do with these passive creatures that control frost giants.

Would my players enjoy an encounter with it: Yes, but it would frustrate them. When the wizard strengthens them by throwing fire at them, there will be many laughs around the table. But they will be confused by a herd of these with magical mental powers running away from them.

Does it grab me visually: I love attacking the victim’s senses. If played right, it could make for some very tense moments. But I don’t like that when the monster is finally revealed, it’s just a big bug.,

Would I use it in game: Yes. I’m a big fan of making PCs think that they’re crazy.

Would my players enjoy an encounter with it: Yes and no. They would love the lead up to combat with all of the sensory attacks. However, they would become very frustrated when they could not find the source of the mental assault. And when the beetle is finally revealed, I think that they would be let down a little and a bit mad that a beetle gave them so much trouble.

Does it grab me visually: Yes. It flies around even though it has gnawed stumps for wings-I want to know more about that. It’s creepy looking, and the line about persuading a tyrant to take a bite of his enemies gives me chills.

Would I use it in game: If I had the rest of the “set” of sin-fallen angels, yes. I like the idea of fallen angels for each of the sins. And if this was a template to be added to any angel, I would get a lot of use out of it.

Would my players enjoy an encounter with it: On it’s own, probably not. In a group of other sin-fallen angels, very much so.

Does it grab me visually: Somewhat. The description is interesting (especially the missing wing membrane) but I don’t like that when dragons of different types fail to develop in the egg, they all produce something with the same abilities. I would like some discussion on what separates a blue wyrmhiri from a silver one. I do like the gem-vomit breath weapon.

Would I use it in game: Probably not. There are already so many creatures that can fill the niche of a “dragon encounter without actually fighting a dragon.”

Would my players enjoy an encounter with it: I think my players would feel sorry for it, once they knew what it was. It could lead to some interesting role playing, but I think they would just kill it to put it out of its misery.

Does it grab me visually: Creepy! The unmasking of this creature would certainly startle the PCs. And finding water full is egg laden slime is extremely gross and has convinced my to buy a water filter.

Would I use it in game: Probably not. The life cycle is pretty complex, and there are already plenty of creatures that are super creepy but masquerade as humanoids.

Would my players enjoy an encounter with it: Yes, depending on what part of the reproduction cycle they met one of these. If a PC was infected with Wanderlust Fever, I would have a hard time convincing him that he has a burning need to get eaten by a bear. However, if they were the ones to kill a predator or found a corpse with maturing fluke worms, then they would become very invested in destroying the tremagguan.

Does it grab me visually: I like small golems, that’s interesting. It’s made of caltrops…I can see it. I’m not sure what you mean by dropping pieces of itself to create hazards for assailants. Is it dropping whole limbs? Getting grappled by this thing would hurt.

Would I use it in game: Probably. I like golems because they force players to revise tactics, especially to combat the magic immunity. I would really like to know what spells can affect this golem.

Would my players enjoy an encounter with it: Yes. One of my players loves using caltrops, so this monster would be all of his dreams come true.

Does it grab me visually: Something dropping from the ceiling and burrowing into my skin is one of my phobias. You’ve managed to creep me out from the start.

Would I use it in game: No. It seems way to heavy handed to drop one of these near-impossible to see beasts on a PC and tell them, “Now it’s eating you from the inside. You can’t fight it.”

Would my players enjoy an encounter with it: No. They would be very mad at me if I threw these at them and there was no way to get it out because they don't have magic.

Does it grab me visually: I love the imagery of shifting from ice to water. Stalking by heat in snowstorms makes perfect sense. The stinger tail kind of threw me, but the poison effect sounds interesting and I’d love to see it in play.

Would I use it in game: Yes. A very nicely designed snow predator. Hunting the heat of prey makes this a terrifying monster.

Would my players enjoy an encounter with it: They would be freaked out, certainly. And using the environment against them during a snowstorm while a crazy ice cat stalked them? They would eat this right up.

Does it grab me visually: Oh, god, yes it does. This is disgusting and pathetic. I love that they gain vitality from the stolen skin. I love that the process may be reversible. I love that the stolen flesh erodes over time. This one is stuck in my brain.

Would I use it in game: Yes. I’m already trying to work these guys in. I’m a fan of intellect devourers, so I like a lower level into to them. While I don’t really need more horrific creatures that masquerade as humanoids, I love that the disguise is far from perfect.

Would my players enjoy an encounter with it: Yes. And the story that comes with the creature pretty much guarantees that my players will hunt down the intellect devourers to make things right.

Does it grab me visually: Bunch of damaged body parts flying around in a stinky cloud=I like it.

Would I use it in game: I would use it if I needed one more encounter in a necromancer’s lair. Otherwise, its lack of intelligence makes it pretty difficult to find this anywhere else.

Would my players enjoy an encounter with it: They would freak out when the body parts started flying around, but beyond that, I don’t think it would stand out. It would probably make them think that the necromancer himself was pretty sick and twisted and amp them up for that battle.

Does it grab me visually: Yeah. It’s weird asymmetrical body and twitching crab legs made me perk up and say, I want to see this. Love the touch about landing in the polar ice caps because of their draw to magnetism.

Would I use it in game: Probably not. My games tend to ignore that there is anything at all in outer space (although this creature is making me think that I should reconsider that). If I played more of a sci-fi/fantasy hybrid, I would totally throw this in.

Would my players enjoy an encounter with it: Someone in full plate would soil themselves when they found out what it can do. An astrumal would strike terror into the hearts of players with its creepy description and powers. They would love it.

Does it grab me visually: No. I’m having trouble seeing this one. It’s a tail with a head and centipede legs. It seems way too strange for me.

Would I use it in game: No. The visual image and the skill sucking power turn me off from this one. And I don’t really know where to put it into the game if it isn’t malevolent and seeking out the healthy and strong (the PCs).

Would my players enjoy an encounter with it: No. Suck away a players hard earned skills and abilities and they get very mad. Can they get those sills and abilities back?

Does it grab me visually: A walking exploding cyst, of course I like it. The mercy killing thing grabs me. I can see them running around battlegrounds and plague filled cities, putting people out of their misery. Creepy and cool.

Would I use it in game: I’d love to put these into a plague adventure. It would be fun to build up stories about them from NPCs, especially with the mercy killing aspect.

Would my players enjoy an encounter with it: They would be completely confused by it. It attacks, infects and runs away. It doesn’t attack when they’re hurt. Then it goes out of its way to kill someone on the brink of death. I don’t think they would know what to do with it.

Does it grab me visually: My first question was, “why does it have two heads?” It seemed really out of place with the rest of the creature. But the rest of the description was cool. I love that the dirty, flea ridden , 6 foot long rat longs to live in luxury. The mental attacks also seem out of place.

Would I use it in game: Low level boss monster are lots of fun. I could see building an adventure with one of these controlling a city full of rats and wererats. And the surprise at the end, when the PCs discover that a massive six legged rat is controlling them=priceless.

Would my players enjoy an encounter with it: This would be a shock to players. They would love taking down the king of the rats. Especially if he started calling in all of his rat minions during the battle.

Does it grab me visually: I like that the golem itself looks fairly generic, just a statue with some runes on it and a skull head; it helps hide the big ability. Not really a fan of the eye beams. I can never describe them properly without it sounding like Cyclops from X-Men.

Would I use it in game: Yes. The undead trap could easily fit into many different scenarios, and could still be fresh with a different undead baddie inside.

Would my players enjoy an encounter with it: Yes. I’ve noticed that after players kill a golem, the spellcasters can’t wait to fight something that is affected by their spells. And the ossuary golem gives them the perfect opportunity to vent their frustration.

Does it grab me visually: The creature’s cry is a striking mental image, especially as the pack closes in and the players realize that the “mother” they were going to help isn’t a damsel in distress at all. My brain has trouble putting together the image of a canine head on a feline body.

Would I use it in game: Yes. Attacking charisma makes me happy. And the rest of the creature’s abilities put this all into a nice tight package that I would love to run.

Would my players enjoy an encounter with it: Yes. There would be a very tense table as soon as the first character lost some Charisma. Half of the players would realize that they will lose their abilities and the other half would realize that Charisma shouldn’t have been their dump stat.

Does it grab me visually: “Pries open cracks from the material plane to harvest the living,” is a great line. Using light to attack is nice; I don’t see that very often. I’m unsure of how this thing attacks, though. Just focusing on the creature’s trap allows it to steal your mind. I’m not following the mechanics here.

Would I use it in game: Probably not. It comes across to me as “jump in, steal mind, run.” No real chance for interaction with PCs.

Would my players enjoy an encounter with it: No. I’m not really sure how they fight back. And sitting there while a character has his mind sucked away, with nothing but dancing light to clue them in, will be very frustrating to players.

Does it grab me visually: Nice backstory for the creature! The visual on this one is very weird, especially with the different colored teeth. I love the idea of his slaves dancing around him and crying out against reality.

Would I use it in game: Maybe. I would really have to work on describing this to my players without them all thinking of the Cheshire Cat. However, the pack of insane thralls behind it could help with that. I don’t know. I like what it does and where it comes from, but a floating mouth monster just doesn’t really do it for me.

Would my players enjoy an encounter with it: They would love dealing with the thralls after killing the liesinger. I love that you make the slaves happy about learning the “truth.” It makes them much more fun to deal with.

Does it grab me visually: I am much more drawn to the adventure that comes with this monster than the monster itself. Unexplained, horrendous acts that don’t stop even when the culprits are caught. That’s fun. But the ultimate villain is a plant. I have trouble with that.

Would I use it in game: I love what this creature does, I just need a more horrifying creature to do it. But you have me thinking of other ways to do something similar, that’s a plus.

Would my players enjoy an encounter with it: They would love tracking down the true villain. Then they would be disappointed when they fought a plant hiding in a pile of brush.

Does it grab me visually: Love it. Combat with this monster would stick in players minds.

Would I use it in game: Yes. It’s abilities and tactics make for a very interesting battle. Using its splors to heal itself gives it more to do in combat that just hit people. This would be very fun to run.

Would my players enjoy an encounter with it: My players would love it, make jokes about it, and talk about it for years to come.