So my group was looking for a mummy template because, let's be honest, it's silly that it isn't a template to begin with. I'm pretty sure that almost all undead should be templates, but I digress.
I found the Osirion Mummy template from Pathfinder GameMastery Module - J1 - Entombed With The Pharaohs. Does anyone know how balanced this is?
It seems good to me, with the exception of this:
Melee: An Osirion mummy retains all the attacks of the base creature and also gains a slam attack if it did not already have one. This attack deals damage as a creature one size larger. If the base creature can use weapons, the mummy retains that ability. In addition, all of the mummy’s attacks are treated as magical for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Feats: An Osirion gains Improved Natural Attack for each natural attack the creature has as a bonus feat. If the creature previously had a slam attack before adding the template, the creature’s new slam attack also gains the Improved Natural Attack feat.
Emphasis mine.
So natural attacks get a size boost and improved natural attack? Essentially a double boost.
Has anyone used this template or is familiar enough with monster creation to help me out?
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As a matter of fact, I am currently reviewing this exact template as one of my players just got hit with the curse.
I think it's just a hair off-balance and needs just a little tweaking. The reason I do not think it is balanced has nothing to do with the improved unarmed attack feat and the melee damage increase (which means most players will just hit a 1D6 anyway). It can get pretty nasty though for larger creatures (just check out the stats on the
My biggest problem with the template has to do with the enormously high natural armor bonus and the damage reduction also granted by the template. Those two are enormous benefits, especially when you consider that a lot of the classes will see a pretty significant hit-point boost when they switch from D6 to D8's (thank goodness it's no longer D12's on undead). The class also gets the "Surge of Vengeance" ability which is pretty nasty all things considered. Don't forget to add in the simple benefits of being undead (no breathing, immunity to poison/disease, etc.) I don't think that the fact that positive energy hurts you is that huge (especially since you can be healed by a cheap wand of cause light wounds) and the vulnerability is really that not significant in comparison to the benefits.
I do like the template thematically though, so I think that a lot of this should be handled by some additional penalties to the template rather than the elimination of what they already have.
What I'm thinking is adding in a penalty to charisma based skill checks (due to the fact that you're a freakin' undead). I also think that strength boost/dexterity penalty is a legitimate possibility. While that would do little to waylay your concerns about the melee damage, it would fix mine about the monstrous AC boost. I'm open to other ideas though, I have about a week to make these decisions myself.
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I stand corrected by myself on my own post. I didn't make it past the energy vulnerabilities when reading the template. There ARE a bunch of nasty features of the template:
Speed decreases by 10 feet (which is tough for medium creatures and even tougher for small creatures), and Strength increases by +4, while Int gets a -2 penalty (I still don't think this is enough due to that HUGE +5 Natural Armor bonus).
One thing to note though is that the template does provide a +3 Level Adjustment which back in 3.5 was pretty significant. For Pathfinder play, where Level Adjustments don't exist anymore, you'll need to reduce features/add penalties to bring that level adjustment lower if you're not comfortable with a stronger PC/NPC due to the template.
The conversion I'm looking at gives it a +3 CR adjustment, the same way all templates effect CR, so it works pretty well in that regard.
I agree that the benefits are pretty strong, but a +5 increase in armor is actually what one should expect by increasing the CR of the average creature by 3.
I'm using this conversion which might be different than the one printed in the original module.
I'd personally drop the Sudden Burst of Vengeance ability and maybe give them the ability listed in the Melee entry but not the bonus feats (allowing them to take the feats if they want). Otherwise I think it's pretty good. Just wanting some other opinions before I started using it extensively.
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I agree that the benefits are pretty strong, but a +5 increase in armor is actually what one should expect by increasing the CR of the average creature by 3.
I would agree with you if the +5 natural armor bonus weren't also combined with a net +2 Stat increase, Sudden Burst of Vengeance, darkvision, improved melee abilities, and undead traits (immunity to poison, disease, need to breathe).
I'm using this conversion which might be different than the one printed in the original module.
Yup, same as what's in the module. Just checked it out.
I'd personally drop the Sudden Burst of Vengeance ability and maybe give them the ability listed in the Melee entry but not the bonus feats (allowing them to take the feats if they want). Otherwise I think it's pretty good. Just wanting some other opinions before I started using it extensively.
I don't think the addition of improved natural attack is all that big of a deal. In doing so, they've made it so that medium humanoids get a respectable slam attack. Out of everything provided, I find it almost the least offensive.
Compare to the Half-Fiend template, which is between a +1 and +3 CR.
+1 NA, +18 net stat increase (all stats are boosted), darkvision 60 feet; immunity to poison; acid, cold, electricity, and fire resistance 10; DR 5/magic (if HD 11 or less) or 10/magic (if HD 12 or more); and SR equal to creature's CR + 11 (maximum 35), smite good and a host of SLAs dependent on HD. Oh, and they gain 3 natural attacks and flight. Along with outsider traits (not that those are particularly awesome, but not bad).
Here's my deal with the way that the natural attacks are run with this template. I'd planned to actually apply the template to a sphynx. If I'm reading the entry right (and I think I am) each claw deals 2d8 damage normally. This is already out of line with the normal large creature's claw dealing 1d6. Since 2d6 is the listed damage for a gargantuan creature's claws, I up that to a colossal creature's claw damage of 2d8. Applying INA to that takes it to 4d6. So, 4d6 damage with each claw and having the ability to pounce, means (at CR 11) this creature makes four attacks on a (flying) charge at +21 that deal 4d6+8 each. Oh, and add the slam attack (which it inexplicably gets) at +21, 1d8+8.
A full attack against AC 25 (bestiary expected AC for a level 11 group), deals an average of about 227 damage. That will kill anything in a level 11 party. Maybe two or three times over. My level 12 caster only has about 100 hp and an AC of 18. He's toast. More so if that slam attack hits, because then he's also dust.
You mentioned stacking the template on a dragon, which would be terrifying. And this isn't even bothering with optimizing a humanoid (the mummy would retain class levels since it has an intelligence score).