Okay, so I have some questions about the various monsters. First up, the Kyuss Knights - they have some abilities listed and I'm not sure if the bonuses have already been added to their stat blocks or not. Dark Blessing gives Cha mod bonus to all saving throws - is that already added or do I have to do it. It's a 16 HD creature, but has saves of Fort +10, Ref +10, Will +17. Now with a Charisma of 20 (+5), that would give it pretty low scores if the +5 is already added. Okay, on to the second ability - Gifts of Kyuss which states "Each Kyuss Knight possesses two unique gifts . . . . " but which two (is it really supposed to be two?!?). It's obvious which one each gets as the gifts are named, but which other one do they each get? Is it DM choice? Third, is the Martial Calling already added - gain half HD as an attack bonus? How about Unholy Toughness which adds to it's hit points - this one seems to have been added in already as the creature has 184 hit points but a Con of only 10.
I did notice in some of the other creatures that it would say if the effect was added, but this one didn't and some of the bonus don't appear to have been added. Thanks for any help.
Okay, one more question. In regards to the Overworm - the stat block gives it a +21 to hit, but mentions that a 10 point power attack is included in that. However, a 20 HD magical beast has a BAB equal to it's HD as a fighter, or +20 in this case. The overworm has a Strength of 40 giving it a +15 to it's attack, which comes to +35, minus 10 for power attack should give it a +25. Right? Am I missing something (which is totally possible). Also, does the fact that it gets only one attack reflected in the CR? A 20th level fighter would get 4 attacks every round, but this beastie only gets one.
Okay, one more question. In regards to the Overworm - the stat block gives it a +21 to hit, but mentions that a 10 point power attack is included in that. However, a 20 HD magical beast has a BAB equal to it's HD as a fighter, or +20 in this case. The overworm has a Strength of 40 giving it a +15 to it's attack, which comes to +35, minus 10 for power attack should give it a +25. Right? Am I missing something (which is totally possible). Also, does the fact that it gets only one attack reflected in the CR? A 20th level fighter would get 4 attacks every round, but this beastie only gets one.
As a gargantuan creature, the overworm has a -4 size penalty to all attack rolls and AC. Also, the lower number of attacks is somewhat taken into account. It is a 20 HD creature with a lower CR than 20, after all. Besides which, the CR = level for NPCs formula is fairly well contested, but that's a different rant for a different thread...
As a gargantuan creature, the overworm has a -4 size penalty to all attack rolls and AC. Also, the lower number of attacks is somewhat taken into account. It is a 20 HD creature with a lower CR than 20, after all. Besides which, the CR = level for NPCs formula is fairly well contested, but that's a different rant for a different thread...
Okay, that's what I forgot - the size modifier for a gargantuan creature. Actually, I didn't realize that there was one (my bad). I knew there was one for AC, which sort of makes sense, but being penalized to hit because you're bigger is kind of counter-intuitive. I mean, do we find it harder to hit an ant becuase it's so small (especially with a natural weapon)? You'd think that when you swing that gargantuan paw that you wouldn't have to be that acurate, it's gonna hit everything in it's path regardless of size!! However, we're not going to debate the rules here. Thanks Demiurge.
Okay, so I have some questions about the various monsters. First up, the Kyuss Knights - they have some abilities listed and I'm not sure if the bonuses have already been added to their stat blocks or not. Dark Blessing gives Cha mod bonus to all saving throws - is that already added or do I have to do it. It's a 16 HD creature, but has saves of Fort +10, Ref +10, Will +17. Now with a Charisma of 20 (+5), that would give it pretty low scores if the +5 is already added.
The Dark Blessing bonuses are included. As a 16HD Undead creature, a Kyuss Knight's base save bonuses would be +5 Fort, +5 Ref, +10 Will (see pg. 290 of the MM). Adding in no Con modifier (the creatures should have Con -, not Con 10; I suspect that was a misprint), +0 Dex modifier, and +2 Wisdom modifier, this raises their saves to +5 Fort, +5 Ref, +12 Will. Then, adding in a +5 Cha modifier to each save, you get +10 Fort, +10 Ref, +17 Will.
Okay, on to the second ability - Gifts of Kyuss which states "Each Kyuss Knight possesses two unique gifts . . . . " but which two (is it really supposed to be two?!?). It's obvious which one each gets as the gifts are named, but which other one do they each get? Is it DM choice?
If you read carefully, you'll note that each named Kyuss Knight *is* listed as having two unique abilities.
Nezzarin has 1) True Seeing and 2) +20 insight bonus to Search and Spot.
Barnos has the ephemeral shadow that can 1) use one of Barnos's spell-like abilities and/or 2) invoke visions of the worm.
Kardic has 1) the "transform a weapon into shadow" ability 3/day and 2) "slip into shadow form" ability 3/day.
Markath has 1) the targeted Greater Dispel Magic effect on crit hits and 2) the greater Intelligence damage on bite attacks.
Third, is the Martial Calling already added - gain half HD as an attack bonus?
Yes, it is already added. As a 16HD Undead creature, the Kyuss Knight would have a BAB of +8 (again, see pg. 290 of the MM). Its total attack bonus is calculated as follows: +8(BAB) +8(Martial Calling profane bonus) +9(Str) +0 (size) +1(enhancement) +1(Weapon Focus)= +27. Subtract 5 for a 5-point Power Attack, and you've got the listed +22/+17.
How about Unholy Toughness which adds to it's hit points - this one seems to have been added in already as the creature has 184 hit points but a Con of only 10.
Actually, the Con should be -, as noted above ('cuz it's Undead). But, yes, the Unholy Toughness has been added. Without it, a Kyuss Knight would have 104hp (6.5 x 16HD). Add in Unholy Toughness (+5 Cha modifier x 16HD=80) and you've got the listed 184.
If you read carefully, you'll note that each named Kyuss Knight *is* listed as having two unique abilities.
Nezzarin has 1) True Seeing and 2) +20 insight bonus to Search and Spot.
Barnos has the ephemeral shadow that can 1) use one of Barnos's spell-like abilities and/or 2) invoke visions of the worm.
Kardic has 1) the "transform a weapon into shadow" ability 3/day and 2) "slip into shadow form" ability 3/day.
Markath has 1) the targeted Greater Dispel Magic effect on crit hits and 2) the greater Intelligence damage on bite attacks.
Okay, I was thinking that each got two of the named abilities (that's the way it reads, to me anyway) - it is obvious what each named ability does for the knight. Thanks for the help.
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To stray a little from the topic, the Kyuss Knights are far and away my favorite new creatures presented in the "Age of Worms", due in no small part to the fantastic worm-eyed artistic rendering of 'em! Their unique abilities make them especially cool. It's a long, LONG ways off, but I'm already eager to see the players grimace as their characters first see them, and squirm even more when combat ensues.