|
I am likely to hear these have come up countless times and I should just look through the posts on the boards, but here they are anyway. If you have a reference page number from the core rulebook, bestiary or errata, please let me know. I will welcome any precedent given, from any Pathfinder related publication by Paizo or a recent/current third-party publisher. Please, thanks, and best wishes to you all.
1) In 3.5, if a creature had a Swim base speed, they would often also gain a bonus to swim checks, and it was almost always stated in the descriptions (especially if it were an aquatic player race, where it would be listed in the racial traits): "gains a # racial bonus to swim checks, may make checks even while threatened, and can perform the run action if moving in a straight line and performs no other actions, etc., etc." Does a creature - player or monster - with a Fly or Swim Speed gain a bonus to Fly/Swim checks, and is there anything stated about the standards of their motion? Can Climb base speeds be possible for anything, and is there any precedent for that?
2) In 3.5, the Warbeast Template allowed you to train and bard an animal, and allowed vermin as warbeasts then stated that they couldn't be trained to wear armor because they do not have an Intelligence score, and so cannot learn how to wear it. First off, is there any precedent for saddling and armoring a giant spider, etc.? Also, since I am revising the creature template and considering augmenting the vermin by adding an Intelligence of 1 and changing type to Animal (augmented vermin), is this taboo? Would they simply be Magical Beasts at that point? Is there any precedent for this?
3) I want to make a template for a creature that is really only applicable to creatures of another template type - is this taboo? Is there any precedent for it? When developing a creature template's CR adjustment, are there any really good big things to consider when assigning a score before playtesting begins, just to keep realism? And, what kinds of things should be considered when applying a template to a templated creature, and especially for its CR adjustment?
4) I know is lame and amateur of me to ask: Do creatures without classes get a +3 bonus for applying skill ranks to skills they have access to by racial/type/subtype traits as if they were class skills?
5) A creature has access to a spell list as if it were a caster, like a rakshasa, who casts sorcerer spells like his ECL caster level would allow. If a creature has spell-like abilities, are there any stipulations, restrictions, or considerations in also giving them access to spell slots like this? I would like to make a rakshasa with cleric spells - would/could that include domain use, and would the creature automatically gain or be restricted from bonus domain spells per day? Could a higher-CR rakshasa-related creature have access to both SLAs and spell slots without too much hassle? If it is given access to cleric spells, how far should that go in comparison to giving it SLAs as well? A rakshasa is a CR10 and 10HD creature, but is has a caster level of 7th - what kind of considerations line up with this decision?
6) I want to create a creature that has one smaller head inside one larger head - both with attacks, the smaller shark head has a bite (1d8) and the larger warthog head has a gore (2d8). I want to give this thing grab and rend so that one bite could become two very quickly and so forth... Is taking the larger of the two damages and adding 1-1/2 Str mod to it as normal an acceptable choice for method on Rend (Ex)? Is there some other method or consideration I should be taking?
-will
1. Yes. The Skills section in the Core Rulebook lists the bonus modifiers for having a climb speed, fly speed or swim speed, as well as actions that can be taken:
Climb
Fly
Swim
4. Yes.
5. How about just giving the Rakshasa cleric levels? If you just give it some cleric spells as spell-like abilities, or cleric spellcasting instead of or in addition to sorcerer spellcasting, it will not get domain spells or domain abilities, just like it doesn't have sorcerer bloodlines.
I see no reason to not use the [url=http://www.d20pfsrd.com/skills/handle-animal]Handle Animal skill rules "Train an Animal for a Purpose." As a spider has no Intelligence technically it can't learn any tricks so I would probably increase DC by another +5 and only have it learn the Riding Package.[/spoiler]
|
1.) Yes, though the creature with the movement speed should have a description as to how it works.
2.) I suggest that you just make it a special prestige class that provides the benefits you wanted from the template. Giving the creature class levels will bump its stats up by +4 +4 +2 +2 +0 -2, placed to best improve the creature.
Alternatively, the real issue you have is with unintelligent vermin. In the rules for creature creation, intelligence scores are pretty much left to dm fiat. There shouldn't be an issue upping it by a point or two.
Going from vermin to animal gets you:
An additional good save, reflex
Class skills *and the int to get skill points*
Loss of darkvision, gain low-light vision
neutral alignment
Also, it changes what spells the creature can be affected by.
3.) If you want to apply multiple templates, generally what you should do is advance the monster with hit dice.
Applying a specific template to creatures of another template - just make it a specialized race of creatures and apply the first template. Have the abilities you wanted to add from the second template to the base creature.
Remember at the end of this to compare the creatures statistics to table 1-1 on page 291 of the bestiary. It's ok for one section of the table to be higher, but more than that and you should do some tweaking to balance it out.
4.) They sure do.
5.) I'd suggest advancing the creature through class levels. Give it cleric levels. If you're reallys et on the sla's, you're basically stuck in evaluation mode. Consider even going scrolls. Just adding sla's requires some significant evaluation, and it basically falls down to *do you think it's powerful enough to knock it up a cr?*. Since you're wanting all the benefits from clerical casting, that seems to be the easiest way to go anyhow. SLA's are more for adding two or three specific spells to a creature.
6.) For the particular creature you're talking about - head inside another head- the shark would bite, and if it hit would deal damage and get a free grapple. Then the boar would gore. Then next round the shark would let go and bite again, establishing grapple and allowing the boar to attack again.
To rend with this creature, you'd be looking more at a creature with two bite attacks *from two separate heads*, and two claw attacks. The claw attacks would trigger the rend bonus damage if they both hit. I'd imagine it'd go Small head/large head/claw/claw
small head grapples, large head bites, claws attack, if both hit then rend damage.
table 3-1 for natural attacks by size.
Small head 1d6 + str(grab)/Large head 1d8 + str/claw 1d6 + 1/2str/claw 1d6 + 1/2str
Special abilities:
Rend (Ex): (2 claws, 1d8 +1.5 str)
|
|
Excellent - this has all been very helpful. Thank you for the input on all accounts.
I am going to try and elaborate a little on a few items to try and help see what kind of information I am actually trying to glean for my projects, plus I have one more new question which might be a bit easier to find out:
7) If a creature is given NPC class levels (CR-2) and character class levels (CR-1), what is the final CR for a creature NPC of this type?
I want to elaborate on this first: the concept of a template on a templated creature. The requirement for one is that the creature has the other - the Warbeast template (yes, from D&D Monster Manual II for sake of simplicity) allows a creature to be given another template later using the same Handle Animal training rules, and the Greater Omarkan Warbeast template must be added to a Warbeast or any equivalent creature (war horses, etc. receive the difference between their standard stats and the template itself - primarily only the SA, Combative Mount). Is this still kosher if it is intended, and builds upon a central basis or theme?
I am trying not to reveal too many details about my projects, but I do really need the input, so please feel free to ask me questions about where I am going with it too if it will help. I can be contacted by email as well: xidoraven(a)yahoo(dot)com.
For #5): I don't want to give a creature class levels in order to accomplish a creature with divine spellcasting abilities; I just want to know if there is some standard or precedent to which creature are given or held against that will keep me from messing up a creature's CR by adding on spellcasting abilities, such as the Rakshasas spells known. Now that I have gotten the answer about no domains or bloodlines, that will help too. Basically, I am creating a rakshasa-like creature with a different body type and theme and instead of giving it arcane spellcaster levels/casting, I wanted it to have a cleric caster ability instead. Since rakshasas are outsiders, I didn't figure it was a far cry, but I still would like to try and stay within the boundaries of the standard Pathfinder CR system that allows me to create a bigger creature with more HD based on the same rules as the little guy but without making him overpowered or wimpy.
I think I know what to do now with my two-headed underwater warthog/shark rakshasa. It will not be rend. Thanks. ;)
Does anyone have The Great Beyond, so they can tell me the Agathion subtype traits? I am DYING to know what they are. Has Paizo ever put out stats for an animal, the Seal?
You've been very helpful, everyone - thank you.
-will
|
|
Giant spider in barding is just too cool for school. +500 XPs for originality, and this GM would allow it.
Yay! *dances* You are really going to enjoy my campaign setting material then. I am a one-man army on this project right now, but give me a few years and the Nymian Beastlands will be a PF-compatible CS that should do its best to knock your socks off with great material. ;)
If you like Tengu, you should also check out the Ecology article I did for Kobold Quarterly (summer, issue #14) which will be out in time for GenCon this year. I did good work on it for people who - like me - enjoy the cool little bits that get snuck in for flavor and style. Plus, I did some really good research on the tengu from mythology to make sure I did the original creature justice as well. ;)
Be patient with me, and you will see results. My first book out is going to be a creature book because they sell the best - after that a player's guide and Races of Nym guidebook, a second creature book, a CS Guide (Storyteller's Guide to Nym) and the capstone, Secrets of Nym and the third creature book which will build on a lot of the 'Secrets of...' aspects of the material. More to come... ;)