RPG Superstar 2009 Top 4
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Sartel Bollen, Mistress of the Headless Caravan
Female green hag fighter 1/ sorcerer 9
Description
Long ago an escaped slave and gladiator named Sartel fled Sedeq and entered the jungles of the Zho Mountains. In the wilderness, through starvation and ignorance, she consumed poisonous Blackworm berries. As she lay dying, Blackworm sickness burrowing through her organs, snakes approached her and began to speak - they offered life in exchange for favors met. Sartel accepted their offer and serpent fangs pierced her flesh, their venom curing her and filling her mind with forgotten knowledge. That information led her through overgrown ruins and caverns deep within the mountains. There, she found the serpent head of Ydersius, and her will was bent to his. With promises of revenge against her old masters, she would help him bring the serpentfolk race back to their former supremacy.
Over months of bonding with Ydersius, Sartel's body has changed. Her youthful beauty is still present, but twisted: her yellow eyes hide under a veil of knotted, greasy locks; a hag's blackened teeth taints her smile; she is adorned with filth, trinkets, and small skulls. Her ragged gladiator armor has broken and grown into her skin, and the thick iron gorget is rusted and pockmarked. She often pats her rusty war razor against her thigh.
Mounted sidesaddle on a headless zebra, she is followed by hordes of decapitated servants, an army she has gathered to escort the god-head to its body. Heads of scholars hang from her saddle ready to supply knowledge and offer council. Rhinos, jackals, and rats march with men and ogres. Crows flock with vultures in the hundreds. None bear a head, but all are compelled by Ydersius to serve Sartel. The stench of rot is overwhelming and with no mouths everything is eerily quiet.
Motivations
Sartel's overall goal is to deliver Ydersius' head to his body and she has many cunning plans in place to distract all opposing forces. She collects the heads of scholars of the darklands to consume their knowledge. Sartel also uses her new found power to punish the Qadiran slave trade, hating complacent slaves as much as their masters.
Plot Hooks
A score of decapitated monkeys deliver an ultimatum from Sartel to Xerbystes II. She demands the head of the Mouthpiece of Gurat (last of the oracles and prophets) or he forfeits the villages lining the Zho Mountains. Outraged, Xerbystes contacts heroes to apprehend this brazen villain.
Snakefolk clerics of Ydersius, searching for Sartel, are encountered by the PCs. Needing their presence above the darklands to remain secret, the zealots try to slay the PCs. After the battle the PCs discover journals telling of the discovery of Ydersius' head and the impending doom of the world once it's reattached to his body.
One of the PCs stops by their childhood home to find the village full of headless zombies. A path, trampled by thousands of shuffling feet, leads away from the village and into the mountains.
SARTEL BOLLEN CR 10
CE Medium monstrous humanoid
Init +6 ; Senses darkvision 90'; Perception +0
===== Defense =====
AC 31, touch 13, flat-footed 29; (deflection +1, dex +2, natural +14 , shield +4)
hp 157 (1d10+9d8+9d6+79 )
Fort +11 , Ref +11 , Will +12
Defensive Abilities unusual anatomy; SR 18
===== Offense =====
Spd 30 ft., swim 30 ft.
Melee war razor +20/+15/+10 (1d4+6 /18-20) and claw +14 (1d4+2) or
2 claws +19 (1d4+5) or
weakness +19 (2d4 strength)
Ranged acidic ray +16 (1d6+4)
Special Attacks acidic ray, weakness
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 9th)
At will--dancing lights, disguise self, ghost sound (DC 15 ), invisibility, pass without trace, tongues, water breathing
Spells Known (SORCERER CL 9th)
4th (5/day )--animate dead, black tentacles (CL 11th , +16 CMB ), confusion (DC 21 )
3rd (7/day )--haste, hold person (DC 20 ), tongues (CL 11th ), vampiric touch
2nd (5/day )--ghoul touch (DC 17 ), glitterdust (DC 17 ), mirror image, see invisibility (CL 11th ), web (DC 17 )
1st (6/day )--alarm, enlarge person (CL 11th , DC 16 ), grease, ray of enfeeblement, shield, shocking grasp
0th (at will)--arcane mark, detect magic, mage hand, prestidigitation, ray of frost, read magic, resistance, touch of fatigue (DC 15 )
===== Tactics =====
Before Combat Sartel casts alarm at the entrance to her lair every morning and maintains invisibility on herself nearly at all times. As soon as she is alerted to the PCs' presence, she casts shield, mirror image, and see invisibility. If she has time, she will proceed to use invisibility on any minions with her, starting with the strongest.
During Combat When the first PC enters her sight, Sartel casts haste on herself and as many of her minions as she can. She then tries to keep as much space as possible between herself and the PCs, casting web, glitterdust, hold person, black tentacles, and confusion to separate and weaken the party. Sartel tries to attack from a distance with her long limbs and weakness abilities, preferring to let her minions do most of the serious fighting. The first time a PC dies, Sartel casts animate dead on the corpse and sends it to attack its former companions.
Morale Sartel gathers up Ydersius's head and attempts to flee if she is ever reduced below 50 hit points, or if fewer than three of her minions remain to guard her. If she has the chance, she will drink her potion of fly and flee to water, trusting her natural swim speed and her water breathing spell-like ability to give her the advantage in an underwater environment. If she escapes, she retreats to the caverns beneath the Zho Mountains and attempts to rebuild her power base.
Base Statistics AC 27
===== Statistics =====
Str 21 , Dex 14 , Con 16 , Int 12 , Wis 10 , Cha 21
Base Atk +14 ; CMB +19
Feats Improved Initiative, Toughness, Improved Natural Armor x3, Leadership (cohort Melora Ulak, a lamia matriarch ), Eschew Materials, Spell Focus (enchantment), Greater Spell Focus (enchantment), Silent Spell, Ability Focus (weakness), Arcane Poison (strength)
Skills Intimidate +27 , Profession (gladiator) +4 , Ride +16 , Spellcraft +19 , Swim +5 (+13 to perform special actions or avoid hazards), Use Magic Device +19
Languages Common, Giant, Undercommon
SQ long limbs, mimicry
Combat Gear potion of cure serious wounds x2, potion of cure moderate wounds x4, potion of cure light wounds[i] x2, [i]potion of fly Other Gear +1 war razor, ring of protection +1, headband of alluring charisma +2, wand of speak with dead (19 charges), ancestral reliquary (aberrant) , hungry decapitant , 400gp onyx (for animate dead)
===== Ecology =====
Environment Any
Organization Always encountered with the Headless Caravan (100-400 zombies, 20-80 ogre zombies, 20-80 advanced mount variant carrion golems , 11-20 advanced ghouls, 3-8 advanced flesh golems, Melora Ulak, and Sartel herself)
Treasure Standard coins, double goods, and standard items. Products of a god of nobility, Sartel's minions are compelled to hoard luxury items in the caravan as a form of offering to the master.
===== Special Abilities =====
Acidic Ray (Su) Sartel can fire an acidic ray as a standard action, targeting any foe within 30 feet as a ranged touch attack. The acidic ray deals 1d6+4 damage.
Long Limbs (Ex) Sartel's reach is 10 feet when making a melee touch attack. This does not increase her threatened area.
Mimicry (Ex) Sartel can mimic the sounds of any animal found along the path of the Headless Caravan.
Unusual Anatomy (Ex) There is a 25% chance that Sartel will ignore any critical hit or sneak attack directed at her.
Weakness (Su) Sartel can weaken a foe by making a melee touch attack as a standard action. If she hits, the foe must make a DC 21 Fortitude save or take 2d4 points of Strength damage.
Arcane Poison (Metamagic)
You can imbue your damaging spells with a deadly arcane venom.
Benefit: Upon gaining this feat choose one ability score (strength, dexterity, etc.). Any creature taking damage from an arcane poison spell takes 1d4 points of temporary ability score damage to the chosen ability immediately and another 1d4 points of temporary ability score damage 1 minute later. Each instance of damage can be negated by making a Fortitude save (DC equal to 10 + base spell level + spellcasting ability score modifier). Spells that do not deal damage are not affected by arcane poison. Creatures that are immune to poison are immune to the arcane poison. An arcane poison spell uses up a spell slot one level higher than the spell's actual level.
Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new ability score. You can, however, apply arcane poison multiple times to the same spell, so long as each application affects a separate ability score.
Director of Games
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Sartel has a fun backstory that is tied in to the world of Golarion. Although a bit epic in scope, this can be forgiven. Looking down at the stat block is interesting. It appears that Sartel was a human, but has been transformed into a green hag, using the green hag as a sort of template. Although a bit unorthodox (normally we would just assume a green hag and add Sartel's old class abilities to the hag, which would mean applying the elite array bonuses to her ability scores, as opposed to starting with elite array scores and then adding the racial bonuses), it appears to have been done competently.
Looking at the stat block itself, there are some simple formating errors, but nothing too serious. The hag's weakness attack is listed incorrectly (it should read: melee touch attack +19 (weakness)). Her bloodline is aberrant, but that is not listed anywhere. All of these are relatively small problems. Sartel has the correct number of spells per day and spells known, including those from her bloodline. Skills and feats appear to be correct.
As for the new rules element, this is an okay feat. I would have preferred to see the poison use the new rules, but this was not a strict requirement. I am not 100% convinced that a +1 spell level is enough for this feat, as you could easily make cantrips into first level spells that deal ability damage, which is a bit rough.
If I were developing this monster for an adventure or product, I do not think I would need to do too much work to get it up and running.
My Grade (on a 1-10 scale) is a 8.
Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer
Paizo Publishing
Matthew, I think you missed a chance to refine your villain. I liked the concept. But it seems like you changed only a word or two. Listen, there were only 3 or 4 villains that the judges really raved over. I liked yours, yes. But my praise was hardly universal. It should have been clear that you had some real room for improvement. I'm not sure you took that chance. I dont like that you played it safe from a concept standpoint. That said, Sartel is still a cool villain.
I really like the feat alot. It is right in keeping with the theme and concept of your villain.
I must admit, though, I was expecting to see the head detailed as an item. I mean, I was REALLY expecting that. I'm going to give you a pass and presume the reason you did that is because the head is more like an artifact and not a wondrous item so you felt you couldnt design it for this round. I know you cant comment on your choices, but I thought I'd toss that out for any who, like me, were wanting to see the head. I'm not sure that the intent of the round 3 rules were to limit you to a wondrous item (since we said "magic item" not "wondrous item") but I understand your reluctance.
This is a good villain to start with. And you gave me a real good stat block. I'm not sure you got the most out of this round. I think Sartel could have benefited from some extra focus and shaping. But there is nothing about this submission that now makes me want to not recommend it. So I do recommend it for advancement.
Description:
Looks about the same as before.
Stat Block:
Looks clean.
Rule Element:
This probably should be more than +1 level, as ability damage is serious business and I wouldn't want someone throwing out poison-like effects with metamagicked 0- or 1st-level spells.
Rec: advance
Kobold Press
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Not quite 1800 words, and an interesting mix of melee and arcane power (as hags should be). The concept still doesn’t do that much for me, and yet it’s stronger here than it was in the prior round. There’s more Golarion-specific hooks and more concrete, physical description. You’ve made some good revisions and shown growth from round to round; that’s a big plus in RPG Superstar.
The Arcane Poison is the first feat I’m really excited about. It’s a good spin on metamagic, but the Special provisions aren't enough to keep it from being immediately overpowered and broken. It’s much too good because the feat has no prerequisites: any caster I know would probably take this at 1st level, since the effect is essentially a free ray of enfeeblement (or equivalent) with every casting. It gets worse for area spells; sleep or fireball that also does ability damage? Yow! So, a major balance problem here, which would require setting up major prerequisites and some playtest to fix.
Recommendation The lack of balance in that feat sort of kills this one for me. Not recommended to advance.
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Sartel may or may not get one of my votes for this round. I havn't gone through everyone else's submissions thoroughly yet, and you didn't show as much improvement from round 2 to round 3 as you did from 1 to 2, but you're on the short list.
You showed decent growth in the high concept portion, by addressing the mis-formatting from last round and tieing up a few of the loose ends, but that part of your entry really can't compare to the growth shown by some of the others (Hecataeus, Vashkar, Malgana). Still, you didn't entirely rest on your laurels, and you didn't backslide like some of the others, so you get a passing grade there. I do like how you answered the "why is she using armor?" question.
The stat block is solid. I certainly didn't see any mistakes other than a couple errant words ("maintains invisibility on herself nearly at all times" is awkward), and it looks like the judges agreed. Her spell selection is interesting. Usually hags are a bit more in-your-face, and for an ex-gladiator she's surprisingly melee-light, but you did a good job of combining her spells, spell-like abilities, class features, and presumed minions. The tactics section is one of the better ones in this round: you clearly lay out her combat style using specific examples, but you don't get too detailed and you don't include things that don't belong in the tactics block. There's plenty of guidance for DMs to run her with, without restricting the options DMs have too much.
I really like the new feat. It's very thematic for her, reasonably balanced (although it could probably use with a very slight nerf), solid mechanically, and it's something that I can see players actually using, which is always nice.
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Meta-comments:
I don't think Arcane Poison is that bad, Wolfgang. For one thing, it won't work on sleep - sleep doesn't deal damage. For another, it's a fairly minor amount of ability damage, all things told. Compare it to the 3rd level Druid spell, poison, which is 1d10 con/1d10 con. That's 3 die sizes up from Arcane Poison, which sounds about right to me. It's balanced against ray of enfeeblement, too; an arcane strength poison ray of frost would be a ranged touch attack to deal 1d3 damage and have a DC 10+stat Fort save for 1d4 strength damage, while an arcane strength poison magic missile (say that 5 times fast!) would be an auto-hit 1d4+1(*caster level/2 rounded up, max *5) damage and have a DC 11+stat Fort save for 1d4 strength damage; ray of enfeeblement is a ranged touch attack to deal 1d6+(1/2 caster level, max +5) strength damage with no save. Ray of frost deals an insignificant amount of actual damage and less strength damage, plus it requires both an attack roll and a save vs the strength damage. Magic missile deals a small amount of actual damage and less strength damage, and requires a save vs the strength damage, though it doesn't require an attack roll. Ray of enfeeblement deals significantly more strength damage than either, and doesn't require a save vs the strength damage. Arcane Poison's use on AOE spells doesn't seem that overly-powerful, either, to me. With a choice between dealing 1d4 con damage that may or may not even land thanks to a Fort save (and most monsters have good Fort saves either through racial HD or high con) or 150% damage, I'd generally choose Empower even with the extra level adjustment.
As for not using the Afflictions mechanic for poisons, Jason: yeah, that would have been cool. Still, it uses the same wording as the spell poison, so I can't really ding it any for that. Poison was clearly its inspiration. It could probably use the same text ray of enfeeblement has about being unable to reduce ability scores below 1, though. I think at +2 it'd be much too weak; I'd very nearly always prefer Empower Spell to Arcane Poison at that point. +2 would also lessen the cool multi-poison aspect, because who's going to spend +4 on a spell to have it deal 1d4 ability damage to two different scores? At +1 there's a little room for fiddling with that.
It could probably use some prereqs... but what? I guess caster level could be one. Maybe Spell Focus (any) or Spell Penetration? I actually kinda like Spell Penetration; it works well with the mental imagery of fangs piercing skin to deliver poison. Ranks in Profession: Alchemist or Craft: Poison? Alchemy and Craft: Poison don't really fit with Sartel's character, and this feat is, after all, designed for her to use. You don't want to use spell prereqs because those will limit which classes can even take the feat, and I can't think of any metamagics that are class-limited. Although, I suppose with the name it wouldn't be horrible to limit divine spellcasters from taking it.
I assume the Head of Ydersius wasn't used as the new rule for one of two reasons: either it's artifact-level in power and Matt didn't feel he could do justice to it in 300 words, or he was afraid of stepping on too many Paizo toes by essentially statting out the powers of a piece of a diety. I can sympathize with either reason. If Sartel advances, we'd better see something about the head in her lair, though!
A transformed ex-gladiator who now rules a horde of headless zombies! And she's buff enough for CR10. Nothing not to like. 8/10 and one of my votes.
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Besides the comment over cantrips (acid splash for almost at will ability damage, against low Fort. save enemies) I'm seeing stacking it with magic missile and the maximize spell feat for tactical use. I would concur that the feat ought to be at least +2 caster levels.
Are you really going to cast a 5th level magic missile to deal 5*missiles damage and an (insanely low for a 5th level slot) 11+stat save for 1d4 ability damage? That's seriously, seriously weak. Even a min-maxed wizard is only going to have a DC 19 (10 base, +1 spell level, +8 intelligence) Fort save for that ability damage at level 9 when they can first cast a maximized arcane poison magic missile. The average CR 9 critter from the MM that isn't immune to poison has a +12.65 Fort save. Only 2 had less than a +10; one was a giant squid and the other was a spirit naga. Even with a +10, they still have a 60% chance to make the save - and let's face it, the initial save is the only one that matters. Combats don't last long enough for the 1 minute secondary damage to kick in. Furthermore, 28.5% of all CR 9 monsters in the MM are totally immune to poison, and that number climbs steadily higher as you go up the CR chart.
Additionally, Maximize doesn't maximize anything but the spell's damage. Damage that doesn't come from the spell (Arcane Poison; fire damage from a burning web caused by a maximized fireball, etc) isn't maximized. This is borne out with the description of Maximize Spell, because, as it states, a Maximized Empowered fireball doesn't deal 9*caster level damage. It deals 6*caster level + (Xd6 * 50%, where X = caster level) damage.
And, again, arcane poison acid splash is significantly weaker than ray of enfeeblement - less ability damage, still requires an attack roll, and also requires a save. Sure, there's no equivalent for non-Strength stats in the SRD, but they are out there and it's certainly a viable spell research target. It's hard to object (given the existence of the original spell) to a ray of enfeeblement for anything else but Con, and again it'd be stronger than either arcane poison acid splash or arcane poison magic missile.
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damnable real life... I meant:
but as Clark I really really would have liked to see the
the stats for the skull... ok that might have been something mayor... we are talking about the skull of anot so dead god who is trying to return to hisbody to wreck death to the surface...
what could be more cool than that?
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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Besides the comment over cantrips (acid splash for almost at will ability damage, against low Fort. save enemies) I'm seeing stacking it with magic missile and the maximize spell feat for tactical use. I would concur that the feat ought to be at least +2 caster levels.Are you really going to cast a 5th level magic missile to deal 5*missiles damage and an (insanely low for a 5th level slot) 11+stat save for 1d4 ability damage? That's seriously, seriously weak.
It's true. Maximizing it would be silly, especially for one target. However, I think you're looking at it the wrong way. You don't shoot ONE person with Arcane Poison MM, you shoot and auto-hit multiple people with it. A 3rd level wizard could cast RoE at a target, requiring a ranged touch attack and doing a 1d6+1 penalty to STR, no save. Or could cast an AP-MM at two targets, auto-hitting for 1d4+1 damage plus save or 1d4 STR damage (which does not come back in a few rounds and is not dispellable) to EACH.
Plus, should they live so long, another save a minute later or more damage. True, this will not come up in a typical battle, but a creature that has this ability, if it were smart, would not fight in typical fashion. It would attack from ambush, drop the poisonous spell on the target, and then retreat for a minute, coming back for another ambush snot and retreat. Rinse. Repeat. Once the PCs have expended resources dealing with the poison and ability damage, then move in for the kill.
If the feat were restricted to affecting a single creature, no big deal, but slapping this feat onto a fireball or wall of fire (which inflicts damage up to 20 feet away as well as to creatures actually passing through it) is a potentially massive increase. If I were the caster, I would probably have it attack CON instead of STR, both to suck away hit points and to soften up their Fort saves.
Anyway, as to the villain, I liked her okay last round and I still like her. I think the feat is overpowered for the level adjustment but it doesn't make me have kittens, and I do like the theme of it. I like the epic scale of the villain and her backstory is still good.
All in all, it is good, solid stuff. I'll think about her for a vote.
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Those are good points, Jason. You're right, I had completely forgotten that you could target each bolt of a magic missile separately, and that does make it a little stronger relative to ray of enfeeblement. I don't know that it makes it 3rd-level stronger, though, as the save still exists and is still pretty low, as is the 2.5 average ability score damage. Anyway, I do agree that it could probably use some revision and a little bit of nerfing. I don't think that +2 spell levels is the right nerf, though.
I loved the imagery last round, and it's still there, but so are all my questions. Everyone but Sartel is headless (which makes the vulture a bit moot, eh?) ... why? Is the Cohort headless? Do the followers once they join up get the chop? By the description, the answer is yes, but I still don't know why!
I, also, wanted more about the god's head ... I can see that there wasn't space to give it anything, but it is one more big ol' question mark.
I'm confused on how a level 10 is able to have so many undead followers even with the Leadership feat. Zombies and such might not normally count, but the ghouls are usually considered intelligent undead (though if they've lost their heads, are they actually zombies?), and just roughly looking, ghouls are level onr and a level 10 with Sartel's charisma should be a Leadership score of 15 or so (not knowing whatever pluses/minuses there should be) ... which means 20 level one followers which covers the ghouls but none of the rest? Plus, I haven't checked on how much higher advanced bumps them ...
Okay, how do you figure the CR bump for an advanced monster? I see the bump up on HD, but am not sure how much that affects the CR.
Also I remember Charles comments from round one, about concerns of the party being a speed bump for this villain and her massive horde. I definitely do not know how to add up 100-400 CR½ + 20-80 CR3 + 20-80 CR4 (maybe higher) + 11-20 CR1 (maybe higher) + 3-8 CR7 (maybe higher) + the Cohort (I don't know her level, I'm a player in RoRL) + Sartel CR10 ... but I'm seeing some major nasty numbers here. Sartel may be a CR10, but the EL of this mother is not something for the faint of heart.
Imagery is wonderful, but I needed some questions answered, and I just am not seeing what I need to be able to run this. A shame, too, because the stat block does look tight.
Sorry.
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I'm confused on how a level 10 is able to have so many undead followers even with the Leadership feat.
Who said they were followers? Animate dead allows for caster level * 4 HD in undead, and mindless undead, such as zombies, would presumably continue their last command when "released" by exceeding the HD limit (last command would, presumably, either be the mission she sent them on or "guard the caravan"). I believe that's the answer given by WotC's FAQ, anyway. She has a cohort and an (un-detailed, but obviously related) artifact that can contribute as well, plus the plot hooks hint at the possibility of serpentfolk priests helping her. Clerics get animate dead even earlier than arcanists do.
a level 10 with Sartel's charisma should be a Leadership score of 15 or so (not knowing whatever pluses/minuses there should be) ... which means 20 level one followers which covers the ghouls but none of the rest?
Ah, but she's not a level 10. She's a level 19. Or, at least, monster race hit die count for levels for everything else that counts (skill ranks, feats, ability score boosts, etc). That gives her something on the order of 110 level 1s, 11 levels 2s, 6 level 3s, 3 level 4s, 2 level 5s, and 1 level 6 follower. It would also allow her to have a level 17 cohort, but presumably the cohort was voluntarily reduced to the lamia matriarch to keep things sane.
Okay, how do you figure the CR bump for an advanced monster? I see the bump up on HD, but am not sure how much that affects the CR.
What are you talking about? She's not advanced. Green hags have 9 hit dice. Monsters are only "advanced" if they have more hit die than the MM entry default.
Also I remember Charles comments from round one, about concerns of the party being a speed bump for this villain and her massive horde. I definitely do not know how to add up 100-400 CR½ + 20-80 CR3 + 20-80 CR4 (maybe higher) + 11-20 CR1 (maybe higher) + 3-8 CR7 (maybe higher) + the Cohort (I don't know her level, I'm a player in RoRL) + Sartel CR10 ... but I'm seeing some major nasty numbers here. Sartel may be a CR10, but the EL of this mother is not something for the faint of heart.
The Organization line is NOT "she will be encountered with <this, this, this, and this>". It is "her organization/group/community includes <this, this, this, and this>". It's basically a heads-up to DMs that these are the kinds of resources involved in running this monster. For example, green hags are listed as "solitary or covey (3 hags of any kind plus 1-8 ogres and 1-4 evil giants)", which is a far, far cry from a simple CR 5 critter. Including the Headless Caravan in detail doesn't mean the PCs will encounter the entire thing in one fight; obviously that would be utterly unplayable. Instead it's telling you that the Headless Caravan consists of this many creatures. It doesn't state that they're all WITH the Caravan at any given time; some could be patrolling, out on missions (like the monkeys in the plot hook, for example), and so on.
Also note that there was confusion in the rules about the Ecology section even being included in the stat blocks; it is NEVER included in NPC stat blocks, and the FAQ for this round specifically said "do not include treasure", but the format given to the contestants (which you can view for yourself off the round 3 rules page) includes it and the rules state that the contestants should stick entirely to the given format. Not all the contestants included the Ecology section. None of the judges dinged them for that; from this, I'm forced to assume that the Ecology section was included in the format in error, and thus any entries that mistakenly included it should be given a pass on the contents.
Okay, how do you figure the CR bump for an advanced monster? I see the bump up on HD, but am not sure how much that affects the CR.What are you talking about? She's not advanced. Green hags have 9 hit dice. Monsters are only "advanced" if they have more hit die than the MM entry default.
I am talking about the mass amounts of undead. Three of them are listed as Advanced So and So.
And I still feel this is one mother of an EL, and haven't the knowhow on how to figure it out ... it just seems huge to me. And in the description, these folks are with her, so I do have to take them into account.
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And I still feel this is one mother of an EL, and haven't the knowhow on how to figure it out ... it just seems huge to me. And in the description, these folks are with her, so I do have to take them into account.
I'm at a loss. You're stubbornly insisting that everything in the Organization section - which was mistakenly included in the required format - MUST AT ALL COSTS be included when the PCs encounter the villain. Despite the fact that this is clearly, observably false, given even a very brief reading of the Monster Manual to see how the Organization section is used. Despite the fact that, without the Organization section which shouldn't even be present in an NPC stat block, you have no idea just how many undead the caravan has with it nor how strong they are. And yet you insist that it's "one mother of an EL". Seriously, other entries include their minions in the description. Do you count off Hecataeus for having all those golems? Vashkar for the vampiric rakshasa and sucubbus blackguard 10 (!!!) that are listed in HIS organization section? I guarantee that a few vampiric rakshasa and a CR 17 flying demonic antipaladin raise the EL more than any number of zombies. Or how about the Burning Khan? He's described as leading a literal Mongol Horde. Did you count that against him?
Sartel Bollen
Mounted sidesaddle on a headless zebra, she is followed by hordes of decapitated servants, an army she has gathered to escort the god-head to its body.
Gee, William, maybe because of the description, which I've snipped above? And the specific numbers given in the organization?
And yes, I am looking at those others, because I'll expect to see them in the lairs of their villains, if they write up the lair of the villain submitted this round (not sure yet if that's a req or not).
Bottom line, you don't have problems with Sartel, but I do, and your argumentative tone with me is not going to change my mind.
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It's not your mind I'm trying to change. I'm using your arguments as object lessons for other people who aren't as set in their votes.
EDIT: re-reading this post, it sounds a lot more snarky than I intended. Please, accept that I don't mean to antagonize anyone about this. I accept that we don't see eye-to-eye on this issue. However, on the theory that there are always silent observers to every forum argument on both sides of the fence, I outline my objections to your statements anyway, in the hopes of swaying others.
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In response to the argument about how dangerous this villain would be to encounter, I have to refer back to one of my posts during the 2nd round. Even if this character were to only be encountered with these monsters, (not saying that she would have to be, GMs do get to decide certain things)the PCs don't have to attack head on or alone. They could enlist the help of a kingdom that is in the path of the caravan or use guerrilla tactics. And before someone says that guerrilla tactics would be ineffective, most of her army is undead. A few high level clerics could cause utter devastation (well they could probably do that even if it wasn't undead) among her ranks. In fact, I wouldn't even try an army, I would enlist the help of a church to fight her.
But that on the side, the stat block looks good and I feel that if you were wanting to use her in a campaign, then you wouldn't have any problems.
The magic missile objection's already been brought up, I see. It should be restricted to targeted spells and to one subject per spell. 'Cause combining this with Chain Spell makes things dicey indeed.
GamerGirrl: It works like this: "So long as my god has a head, nobody gets one! Except me, of course."
I'd like an adventure hook requiring her to create her own covey.
This put the god back together adventure path idea has never really sat well with me. It's still not really my thing. Good luck, though.
GamerGirrl: It works like this: "So long as my god has a head, nobody gets one! Except me, of course."
::chuckle:: I like that :) But it still leaves me wondering about the ghouls and others that are flocking to the cause :)
This is another submission where the mental image -- an army of headless undead led by a corrupted ex gladiator with her armor rusting into her body -- stuck with me. I love this contest mostly for the ideas that it breeds.
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I am talking about the mass amounts of undead. Three of them are listed as Advanced So and So.
And I still feel this is one mother of an EL, and haven't the knowhow on how to figure it out ... it just seems huge to me. And in the description, these folks are with her, so I do have to take them into account.
You'd just advance the followers according to the MM, so +1 per four HD, +1 for a size increase, associated vs nonassociated class levels, etc.
However, the ecology or any other section doesn't explain what an encounter would be like, or the EL of that encounter. You get from those sections what kinds of things might be in the lair or in an encounter if you caught her off guard. Then you choose, say, advanced owl bear zombies. Then you decide on the CR you want, add her, terrain, and enough advanced owl bear zombies to satisfy the math (and the EL you were looking for.)
You start with the EL you want for my players. Everything else has to follow that, right?
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Congratulations on Superstar '09 Top 16!
Growth
I barely gave you my last vote in rd 2. Back me up!
The hooks seem tightened...I like them more than I did last time. Most of the rest seems to be the same, which is a strange decision. If I were in this contest still, I would have been scouring my feedback. I would be looking over the "exit poll' thread. If I only had three public votes going into the third page, I would assume it's time to kick it up a notch. Or several.
Mechanics
-I get CR 8. 5 hag + 1 ftr + 4 sorc -2 for class levels.
-With Perception as a class skill, your hag has no ranks? What'd you do with, essentially, the 8 free ranks she starts with?
-I get 160 hp...which brings to mind the question. Are we giving NPCs the same max Hp bonus that PCs get? That's been mentioned, but I don't know when I start doing that.
-The attack section should read like this: +1 war razor +20+15+10 (1d4+6/18-20).
-Your stat block isn't exactly killer. It's a fair set of abilities and strategies, and seems mostly accurate. But nothing, outside the old chestnut "animate the barbarian", seems like a real pigsticker during combat. Nothing buffs the war razor, though delivering ghoul touch with the claw attacks combines nicely.
-It seems, to me, a foregone conclusion that Sartel would carry scrolls of desecrate with her reliance on undead, strategy for animating PC corpses, and high Use Magic Device skill.
New Hotness
Arcane Poison is sexy...but like so many things, that doesn't mean I should approve. The level bump for the spell isn't hgh enough, and it needs to be clear that multiple applications of the feat (if possible) make it even higher in level. Also...it's still broken. If I meteor swarm 20 enemies, they take damage and have to save against poison. Not like most poisons, which wouldn't matter against high CR enemies. But the same save DC as the meteor swarm. Is there an evoker anywhere that wouldn't take this? It's a neat idea, but it needs hardcore balancing. Multiple spell levels added as a cost to memorize, a limit to one kind of poison per spell cast (though multiple feats let's you choose which ones to apply when memorizing), some kind of difficult prerequisite. At least those things. Otherwise, a contest full of evil druids will kill everyone with poisonous mass poison spells.
Overall
Well, Houston. We have a problem. The stuff you started with is still strong. But you didn't add much. You blew off tighter writing and concept development. You missed the point that weaker entries were getting a second chance. You gave an uninspired stat block. And you clearly failed to think for a few minutes before you submitted a poorly designed feat. A little attention to those details and you would have a strong case for one of my votes. As it is, you're likely to lose at least one vote that you had last round.
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-I get CR 8. 5 hag + 1 ftr + 4 sorc -2 for class levels.Also...it's still broken. If I meteor swarm 20 enemies, they take damage and have to save against poison.
Otherwise, a contest full of evil druids will kill everyone with poisonous mass poison spells.
The -2 CR doesn't apply to NPCs with racial hit dice.
How are you applying any metamagics to a meteor swarm? That's a 9th level spell, and you have no 10th level or higher spell slots.
Mass poison doesn't deal damage, and is thus not a valid spell to apply Arcane Poison to.
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I don't think Arcane Poison is that bad, Wolfgang. For one thing, it won't work on sleep - sleep doesn't deal damage. For another, it's a fairly minor amount of ability damage, all things told. Compare it to the 3rd level Druid spell, poison, which is 1d10...
This feat is awful as printed. It doesn't work on spells that don't deal damage, sure. But a first level acid spray deals 1d3 acid plus 1d4 Con? No good.
Expand that to area-effect or multiple target spells. From forever away, you deal 10d6 damage plus 1d4 Con damage. At 10th level, you could fireball a unit of charging soldiers in plate mail, and the round they get to you, they are making their second save. Which is actually a pretty funny scene, dudes dropping right in front of you while you give yourself a manicure. If you prefer, you deal Dex damage instead, and impact their saves hen you do it again next round, until everyone is dead or paralyzed. One riot = one sorcerer. Or one cleric. Mass inflict serious wounds affects 15 targets for 3d8+15+1d4 ability (meaning Con, for the extra hp damage).
Expand it to other fun uses: I'll attach it to ice storm, so there's no save. Now I can reduce the Dex of folks with evasion for later troubles. Or horrid wilting, which will do massive amounts of damage by forcing two Fort saves and resolving half damage if one is successful, plus another save in one minute. Of course, Arcane Poison poison spells would be awful, as would cloudkill or even chill touch.
Finally, expand that to the larger game, since backwards compatibility is a main focus of Pathfinder. We could list dozens of spells that do some damage and require a save for a secondary effect. How about night's caress? This spell already excites me in ways I can't talk about. Now it's a minimum of 9d6 damage, plus 1d4 Con, plus 1d6+2 Con. Plus 1d4 Con a round later. Fort save DC 17,at least.
I note, at least it's not at the exact same DC as the spell, or Spell Focus and such might come into play. Even then, there's extra bookkeepping involved for DCs.
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But a first level acid spray deals 1d3 acid plus 1d4 Con? No good.
Why? The save is hideously low (10+stat), so you can't use it on anything but low-level enemies, and con damage is actually WORSE than hit point damage to low-level enemies. If you use it on any other stat, it compares horribly to ray of enfeeblement.
At 10th level, you could fireball a unit of charging soldiers in plate mail, and the round they get to you, they are making their second save.
Or you could just cast cloudkill and they all die on the spot.
Expand it to other fun uses: I'll attach it to ice storm, so there's no save. Now I can reduce the Dex of folks with evasion for later troubles.
So now you're wasting an action by casting a 5th level spell to deal 5d6 damage and 1d4 dex damage, the latter of which has a 14+stat save? Why not just cast solid fog? That's far more likely to be useful, and it's a level lower.
Of course, Arcane Poison poison spells would be awful, as would cloudkill or even chill touch.
Only chill touch is valid, of these.
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The -2 CR doesn't apply to NPCs with racial hit dice.
Good call.
How are you applying any metamagics to a meteor swarm? That's a 9th level spell, and you have no 10th level or higher spell slots.
Many, many ways. There's a huge list of meta-metamagic feats out there for all spellcasting classes. Use up bardic music. Reduce the cost of combined metamagic feats (mmm...enlarged poison fireballs). Reduce feats used for your special school. Blow turn/rebuke attempts. Metamagic rods. Here's one: epic characters with Improved Spell Capacity.
Mass poison doesn't deal damage, and is thus not a valid spell to apply Arcane Poison to.
Ability damage is damage. If the feat said 'takes hp damage', I'd feel...exactly the same. My spell is an example of what's wrong with the feat. I could throw out poison and add any other spell and it's still broken.
Name a spell that causes hp damage, that I can't break with this feat as printed. I challenge thee.
throws down glove...
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Many, many ways. There's a huge list of meta-metamagic feats out there for all spellcasting classes. Use up bardic music. Reduce the cost of combined metamagic feats (mmm...enlarged poison fireballs). Reduce feats used for your special school. Blow turn/rebuke attempts. Metamagic rods. Here's one: epic characters with Improved Spell Capacity.
Ah. See, now you're talking about broken feats and Epic level rules that will not apply to Pathfinder because Pathfinder is developing its own set of Epic level rules.
I submit that broken feats and broken rules are not a valid argument for why an unrelated feat is broken.
Name a spell that causes hp damage, that I can't break with this feat as printed. I challenge thee.
throws down glove...
Ah, but is your challenge "name a spell that causes hp damage and I'll apply Arcane Poison to it and call it broken regardless of whether it actually is"? Or is it "name a spell that causes hp damage and I'll actually truly break it, citing examples of usage rather than just leaving it as it stands"?
I strongly suspect the first. Because, frankly, I cannot find any circumstance under which Arcane Poison acid splash is broken, and you've already said it is.
Regardless: explosive runes.
Here's what kinda bugs me about Ms. Sartel and her skull friend. She reminds me of decapitated Sertrous and the angel, from Elder Evils.
Decapitated snake god, blasphemous whispers, corruption of the innocent (as far as that goes for a gladiator...)
There's a side of me that doesn't want to vote for this because it seems a bit too much like a pastiche of one of James Jacob's (wonderful) works. Does anyone want to talk me out of this? Maybe I should think of it as an homage, or an archetype.
The entry does have lovely imagery, I'm fond of hags, the stat block is solid as a granite brick, and I have one vote left teetering on the edge.
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Why? The save is hideously low (10+stat), so you can't use it on anything but low-level enemies, and con damage is actually WORSE than hit point damage to low-level enemies. If you use it on any other stat, it compares horribly to ray of enfeeblement.
Nope. Ray of enfeeblement only provides a hefty penalty to Strength. This feat let's you choose a different ability score, and cause up to 2d4 ability damage. The ability damage doesn't go away at the spell's end, the feat allows you to deal the damage and still sneak attack, and has the same save difficulties of any other spell, and will generally be applied to folks with equally hideous save bonuses. It has more versatile tactical uses.
Or you could just cast cloudkill and they all die on the spot.
Strange. Your level 5 spell deals up to 1d4 points of Con damage. My level 4 spell deals 10d6 fire plus up to 2d4 points of Con damage. Grant, if your adversaries stay in the cloud on purpose, it might kill them. But then they had bigger problems than you.
Also, try to consider the whole strategy. Cloudkill is range medium and only requires one save. My fireball gives you time to pick the lint off your robes, and forces 3 saves, in differing categories.
So now you're wasting an action by casting a 5th level spell to deal 5d6 damage and 1d4 dex damage, the latter of which has a 14+stat save? Why not just cast solid fog? That's far more likely to be useful, and it's a level lower.
Did you get that I require a Fort save of the rogues, to reduce their Dexterity? The Wpn Finesse types hit less, the next lightning bolt is more effective against evasion, their ACs and Initiative score drop. And those effects donit end when they get out of the cloud.
Oh...and they take damage this way. No solid fog spell ever killed a ninja.
Only chill touch is valid, of these.
Not much of a refutation. In addition to the disagreement regarding what constitutes 'damage', there are dozens and dozens of spells that will murderfy NPCs with the addition of this feat.
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Nope. Ray of enfeeblement only provides a hefty penalty to Strength. This feat let's you choose a different ability score, and cause up to 2d4 ability damage. The ability damage doesn't go away at the spell's end, the feat allows you to deal the damage and still sneak attack, and has the same save difficulties of any other spell, and will generally be applied to folks with equally hideous save bonuses. It has more versatile tactical uses.
Ray of enfeeblement deals 1d6+5 strength damage with no save at level 10, which seems to be your default test argument. That's better than 1d4 with a save for none followed 1 entire minute later by 1d4 with another save for none. Sure, the potential 2d4 doesn't go away at spell's end, but if you can't kill a creature that's lost 8 average points of strength in 10 rounds, you're hopelessly out of your depth.
And the feat is no more versatile than ray is. You seem to be ignoring the fact that you have to take the feat multiple times to be able to apply it to different ability scores. It's one score per feat. So, if you want to pick-and-choose which ability score you're going to damage, you have to spend 6 feats on it and you have to be a sorcerer or bard that can apply metamagics on the fly. Wizards, clerics, and druids have to apply it when they prepare spells.
Strange. Your level 5 spell deals up to 1d4 points of Con damage. My level 4 spell deals 10d6 fire plus up to 2d4 points of Con damage. Grant, if your adversaries stay in the cloud on purpose, it might kill them. But then they had bigger problems than you.
Err.... cloudkill is no save but still die for creatures of 3HD or less, save or die for creatures up to 6HD, and save or suffer the same ability damage as Arcane Poison (Constitution) for anything over that. And the save is higher.
Your example was an entire unit of soldiers charging a single 10th level caster. That's not a valid encounter unless the soldiers are low level. You also assumed that the soldiers failed both of their fortitude saves. In those exact same circumstances, the soldiers die automatically with no save allowed from cloudkill.
If the soldiers are higher than 6th level, such that they don't risk outright death from cloudkill, their Fort saves are going to be at least +5, and likely in the +7 to +8 range. The Fort save for the Arcane Poison fireball is going to be DC19 at most. The chance of any single soldier failing both DC19 saves is 49% at a +5 Fort save and 25% at +8 Fort. The entire unit failing both saves is a minuscule chance, regardless of whether we're talking +5 or +8.
Did you get that I require a Fort save of the rogues, to reduce their Dexterity? The Wpn Finesse types hit less, the next lightning bolt is more effective against evasion, their ACs and Initiative score drop. And those effects donit end when they get out of the cloud.
Yes, you require a Fort save for them to, on average, lose 1 point of Dex bonus and deal an average of 17 damage. Wow. What an amazing use of a 5th level spell and your standard action for the round. I'd rather use dominate person. Or hold monster. Or wall of force. Or transmute rock to mud followed by transmute mud to rock (you get follow up spells, so why can't I?). Or, hell, Quickened magic missile.
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Here's what kinda bugs me about Ms. Sartel and her skull friend. She reminds me of decapitated Sertrous and the angel, from Elder Evils.
Decapitated snake god, blasphemous whispers, corruption of the innocent (as far as that goes for a gladiator...)
There's a side of me that doesn't want to vote for this because it seems a bit too much like a pastiche of one of James Jacob's (wonderful) works. Does anyone want to talk me out of this? Maybe I should think of it as an homage, or an archetype.
The entry does have lovely imagery, I'm fond of hags, the stat block is solid as a granite brick, and I have one vote left teetering on the edge.
Honestly, I don't even know what this "Elder Evils" is. Can you give me a link?
The decapitated deity is straight out of the Pathfinder campaign setting (Golarion), as are all the personalities and place names except for Sartel and her cohort. So, if it's an homage, it's one fully supported by the setting.
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Ah. See, now you're talking about broken feats and Epic level rules that will not apply to Pathfinder because Pathfinder is developing its own set of Epic level rules.
I submit that broken feats and broken rules are not a valid argument for why an unrelated feat is broken.
I mentioned that there are many ways of reducing the level adjustment to the spell. The only one you choose to respond to is the epic rule. Do you not think the Pathfinder game will have an epic level feat or mechanic that will reduce metamagic, or allow higher level spells to be cast? That's a pretty small corner to back into.
I submit that only refuting the smallest portion of an argument is not much of a refutation. A point I wouldn't bother to make if I didn't feel you were just arguing with me instead of discussing the actual feat.
With less snark (difficult, at this point), I also submit that labeling rules that have already been playtested and published as broken, in an attempt to prove a rule isn't broken, is poor reasoning. Paying good money for a metamagic rod is not broken. Paying for a broken metamagic feat in a rod is.
Still, we've covered devastating uses for many spells, and you're hung up on the epic thing.
Ah, but is your challenge "name a spell that causes hp damage and I'll apply Arcane Poison to it and call it broken regardless of whether it actually is"? Or is it "name a spell that causes hp damage and I'll actually truly break it, citing examples of usage rather than just leaving it as it stands"?
I strongly suspect the first. Because, frankly, I cannot find any circumstance under which Arcane Poison acid splash is broken, and you've already said it is.
My responses here will conclude this debate. I am sure no one wants to hear another word from either of us about it, and I'm trying not to be offended by the above paragraph. I could smugly say you are afraid to admit you're wrong in the face of fifty examples, and will label any spell broken to prove the feat is not, but I didn't say that. I gave examples compared to spells not modified by the feat. You offered cloudkill and the vast superiority of the lower level spell was made immediately evident.
I don't know what your second possibility even means. "...Citing examples of usage rather than just leaving it as it stands"? I'm not going to give you examples of spells that are read about rather than cast in combat. I think you're reaching for an argument and there isn't one there. I haven't exactly gone 'min-maxing' (I hate the term) to find the most broken use of the spell possible. Do fireballs not get cast at range? Do folks not wish they could do something about evasion? I think you are reading spells out of a book, and I am playing this game.
Looking for a first level spell that can do up to 2d4 Con damage. Comparing 5 (2d4) to 5.5 (1d10), this first level spell matches up nicely with poison, and can be effective at range.
Regardless: explosive runes.
Any spell that requires a save gains huge benefit from this feat. All you have to do is choose a save category that exacerbates the situation, or complicates the subject's ability to escape the situation unscathed. Fighters might have a poor Reflex save, so you double up for explosive runes. Maybe they make their Fort save (twice) and maybe they don't, but if the take Dex damage after already failing the Ref save, their situation is exacerbated. Who reads explosive runes? A rogue might blow the Fort save and then everything he does suffers. A cleric has a weak Ref save, so they take fire damage and then have to save vs poison or maybe take more hp damage from Con loss. A wizard or sorcerer might be screwed. 6d6 fire damage with no save, plus a Fort save for more Con damage? All for a 3rd level spell that is permanent until discharged.
In any event, I am looking for 4th level spells that force multiple saves and can cause damage on the order of 6d6 fire plus 2d4 ability.
Nope. Don't see one.
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My bad, all. This won't end unless I shut up. If you're a tactically minded player, you get me. If your enemies stand inside the cloudkill for several turns in a row, and your 9th level sorcerer only fights 3 hd dudes...then to you I am wrong, and I can live with that.
On to the otyugh.
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You offered cloudkill and the vast superiority of the lower level spell was made immediately evident.
How is 3 saves for 10d6 damage and 1d4 con damage and 1d4 con damage a minute later "vastly superior" to no save and automatic death or save or die?!?!
Looking for a first level spell that can do up to 2d4 Con damage. Comparing 5 (2d4) to 5.5 (1d10), this first level spell matches up nicely with poison, and can be effective at range.
THIS is what I meant by not supporting your statements. If Arcane Poison gets to last the full 1 minute and thus get both doses of its effect, so does the spell poison. You very conveniently ignored that poison has the exact same secondary save that Arcane Poison does, the same way you claim that cloudkill only deals 1d4 con damage and the same way you're treating Arcane Poison as if you didn't have to spend 6 feats on it to be able to apply it to any ability score.
THAT is what I was talking about. You blast the entrant for "not pausing a moment to think about it", when you're making hideously obvious errors left and right in your attacks on the feat.
On to the otyugh.
Yaaay! I think...
Nah, I don't have to think. I look forward to the feedback.
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I've already said that I think Arcane Poison needs a little nerfing, for the record. Just thought I'd throw that out there again :)
I think that +2 is overdoing it, though. At that point, it loses its niche as the only offensive +1 metamagic in core, and now it's directly competing with Empower Spell. I don't think it fares well in direct comparison with Empower.
I think all it needs as far as nerfage goes is the "can't reduce below 1" text that ray of enfeeblement has, and some kind of multi-target restriction. I dunno that restricting it to only 1 target is the right fix, and honestly I'm swayed more by the Arcane Poison magic missile auto-hitting 5 separate targets than fireball (let alone ice storm, which is about as lousy a spell as exists), but it should probably have some kind of restriction. No more than 1 target per spell level? /shrug
Here's what kinda bugs me about Ms. Sartel and her skull friend. She reminds me of decapitated Sertrous and the angel, from Elder Evils.
Decapitated snake god, blasphemous whispers, corruption of the innocent (as far as that goes for a gladiator...)
There's a side of me that doesn't want to vote for this because it seems a bit too much like a pastiche of one of James Jacob's (wonderful) works. Does anyone want to talk me out of this? Maybe I should think of it as an homage, or an archetype.
Yserdius as a severed whispering snake head is completely canon. And written by James Jacobs. It's auto-pastiche.
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I want to risk coming back to that thread like I wanted the stimulus bill to pass, but I do have to own my mistake. In the dozen or so examples of spells that gain too much power with the new feat, I did compare an augmented acid splash favorably to poison and neglected to mention the second part of poison's.
So...my bad. The fact that the zero level spell almost deals the same damage as the 3rd or 4th level spell, and is tactically more useful in different situations is therefore disproved. I can promise I won't be back for this kind of 'debate' in this thread or any other. Sorry if you folks got bored.
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The Charisma appears to be too low, if you have applied 'green hag' as a template. The race modifier in such a case should be +4. Wherever it was allocated, the human race modifier seems to have vanished; I presume that this was a result of the transformation process.
Where are you getting +4 for a green hag's charisma modifier? They have 14 charisma. That's a +2.
There are too few feats. 19 HD = 10 Feats. 1 fighter level = 1 bonus feat. 9 sorcerer levels = 2 bonus feats (levels 1 & 7).
Even not figuring into the equation the Human bonus feat which Sartel would have had (assume for the sake of argument it was lost due to the mind-bending effects of the transformation process), this still makes 13 feats, and I see only 12 listed.
Monster HD don't grant feats like class levels do. Monster HD still grant 1 feat per 3 HD.