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I've built this new critter, but I'm not sure if it's balanced much yet. Any help/suggestions would be great.
Gytrash, Phase Devil CR 16
This huge caniform devil seems to peer with flame red eyes from the void. As suddenly as it appears, so it disappears; often leaving little but death in its wake.
LE Huge Outsider (devil, evil, extraplanar, lawful)
Init +4; Senses Darkvision (60 feet), Low-Light Vision, Scent, See in Darkness; Perception +17
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DEFENSE
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AC 20, touch 12, flat-footed 16. . (+4 Dex, -2 size, +8 natural)
hp 155 (3d10+99)
Fort +16, Ref +11, Will +8
DR 10/chaotic and good Immune fire, poison; Resist acid 15, cold 15, electricity 10; SR 26
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OFFENSE
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Spd 40 ft., Flight (80 feet, Good)
Melee Bite +19 (4d6+10/20/x2) and
Claw x2 +19 (3d6+10/20/x2)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks Ethereal Penetration, Punish Chaos (1/day), Punish Good (1/day), Undermining Touch
Spell-Like Abilities
Constant - Blink
At-Will - Dimension Door (quickened; self only)
3/day - Darkness, Poison (DC 20)
1/day - Blasphemy (DC 23), Contagion (DC 20), Desecrate, Unholy Blight (DC 20)
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STATISTICS
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Str 30, Dex 18, Con 28, Int 14, Wis 16, Cha 22
Base Atk +11; CMB +23; CMD 37 (41 vs. Trip)
Feats Combat Reflexes (5 AoO/round), Improved Iron Will, Flyby Attack, Hover, Iron Will, Skill Focus: Diplomacy
Skills Acrobatics +18, Appraise +13, Diplomacy +13, Fly +15, Intimidate +17, Perception +17, Sense Motive +12, Stealth +10, Survival +4, Use Magic Device +17 Modifiers +4 to Survival when tracking by Scent
Languages Celestial, Draconic, Infernal; telepathy 100 ft
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SPECIAL ABILITIES
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Ethereal Penetration (Sp) A phase demon can make attacks with its natural attacks and supernatural abilities from the ethereal plane without any miss chance. Attacks from manufactured weapons do not benefit from this ability.
Punish Good (Su) As a swift action, a phase demon may choose to add its Charisma modifier to damage on a successful attack against a good target.
Punish Chaos(Su) As a swift action, a phase demon may choose to add its Charisma modifier to damage on a successful attack against a chaotic target.
Undermining Touch (Su) A phase demon may make a melee touch attack which causes a creature to become shaken for a number of rounds equal to the phase demon's Charisma modifier. This attack may be used in place of a claw attack. As long as the creature is shaken from this ability, it radiates an aura of either good or chaos (chosen by the phase demon at the time of the attack). A successful Will save (DC 23) reduces this effect to one round. Whether or not the save is successful, a creature cannot be the target of this ability again for 1 day. A phase demon may use this ability a number of times per day equal to its Charisma modifier. The DC of the save is Charisma-based.
These massive infernal hounds serve as guard dogs in the halls of the archdevils of Hell. Standing nearly 15 feet at the shoulder and weighing over 20,000 pounds, these massive canines command fear even from among the greater devils that seek audience with the archdevils. The phase demon exists partially in the ethereal plane at all times, giving its massive form a haunting translucency. From this veil, the phase demon can strike mercilessly at its foes while they flail hopelessly at its ethereal form.
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I'm not seeing how the etherealness is represented defensively. Is the creature naturally incorporeal, but still able to strike into the material plane?
It should have some sort of resistance / immunity to physical attacks, and to pass through solid obstructions, which, to avoid re-inventing that particular wheel, would probably be best dealt with by just giving it the incorporeal subtype...
I'm not seeing how the etherealness is represented defensively. Is the creature naturally incorporeal, but still able to strike into the material plane?
It should have some sort of resistance / immunity to physical attacks, and to pass through solid obstructions, which, to avoid re-inventing that particular wheel, would probably be best dealt with by just giving it the incorporeal subtype...
Check the spell like abilities. It as blink as a constant. The Ethereal Penentration ability was to offset the penalty of constantly blinking, but not remove it entirely.
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Check the spell like abilities. It as blink as a constant. The Ethereal Penentration ability was to offset the penalty of constantly blinking, but not remove it entirely.
See, that's totally my bad. I haven't used blink since 1st edition, and didn't know that it now provided a slightly inferior version of incorporealness.
So, neat!
Are there any limits to their uses of Punish Chaos and Punish Good? Their AC and hp also seem really, really bad for a CR 16.
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Like it! Haven't done a "stat analysis" yet but a few things spring to mind considering it's CR16.
- How about air walk at speed 80 instead of fly? Might need to swap flyby for spring attack but hey...
- How about just permanently adding Cha modifier to damage against good/ chaotic targets? 6 points once a day at that level... not worth two lines in the statblock :-)
- It's called a phase devil and it phases a bit. Why not really go to town in that direction? A poison that dumps you on the Ethereal plane until you save twice... and if it sees you there its gaze sets you on fire. Let's say 12d6 ranged touch fire beam gaze?
More soon, got to go eat!
@Set: No worries. It's a bit hidden, being pretty much a single word embedded in the middle of the stat block.
@Demiurge: His AC and HP are low because, well, he essentially has a constant miss chance of at least 20%, often 50%. Giving him CR appropriate AC and HP and essentially greater blinking would be too much, in my opinion. Blinking was important to the monster and so I reduced the AC and HP to fit.
@carborundum: I like winged flight for this guy. He's got big leathery devil wings to make him morphically similar to other devils.
The 1/day on Punish X is an artifact of an earlier version when it was a free action which lasted for CHA mod rounds. It should be usable at-will, but requiring a swift action each round.
Being able to force another target to start blinking too could be cool. I'd have to include something that ensured that the target of "Induced Phasing" or whatever it would be called could be struck without a miss chance by a gytrash.
@Everyone: What do you think of giving it a constant true seeing as well?
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Ah, okay, didn't realize it had wings. Sounds really cool :-)
True seeing? Sure! Bring on the pain! This bad boy is CR16 - that's Ancient Black Dragon or Wyrm White Dragon territory. That's Horned Devil territory!
AC in the mid 30s, many attacks with atk bonuses in the high 30s... it should be tough :-)
I'd change your Punish ability to stun and dimensional anchor Good/Chaos for 1 round (Fort negates, Fire immunity gives a bonus to the save) with every hit. Have the thing phase in with a swift action and out on a move action... and also on an immediate action if it feels like it. Give it about 16 points of deflection AC bonus to complement its miss chance. At that level the party will arrange some sort of true seeing ability very quickly. Or just dimensional anchor/lock the fiend :-)
Maybe give him more dimensional spell-likes: 3/daily maze, 1/daily imprisonment (but on the ethereal plane), phantasmal web (APG), Deflection (APG), anything except the usual unholy blight and [/i]darkness[i]. No offense :-)
If you really want a threat - get Turin the Mad to stumble on this thread :-)
Interesting concept, Mauril - infernal guard dawg with wings that whomps mightily on the nosy buggers seeking to liberate the souls of the damned. And are pretty smart to go with it.
A few questions as regards the group it (or they) are expected to guard against: how close to 'normal' are they. 'Normal' is 15 point buy, 4 or 5 characters, WBL close to spot-on for the party's averaged level.
Are you expecting one of these to be on duty or a pair or a pack ? This matters too... ^_^
I'm hoping to include these guys in some adventure paths I hope to be writing soon, so I'm hoping to balance them around as typical a party as can be created.
As far as groupings go, I was thinking something like: single, pair, pack (2d4+1) or war party (3d6, plus sundry devils).
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I'm hoping to include these guys in some adventure paths I hope to be writing soon, so I'm hoping to balance them around as typical a party as can be created.
As far as groupings go, I was thinking something like: single, pair, pack (2d4+1) or war party (3d6, plus sundry devils).
The simplest solution is a CR 14 bumped one size up and another +1 for the Ethereal creature template for a total of 16. Lemme see what I can come up with.
EDIT:
CR 16
LE Huge Outsider (devil, evil, lawful, outsider)
Space 15 ft / Reach 10 ft
Senses: darkvision 60', ethersight, low-light vision, scent, see in darkness, true seeing: Perception +33, Survival +25
Speed: 50 ft, fly 60 ft (average); Acrobatics +30 (+38 jumps), Fly +12
Hit Points: 231 (77 {14d10 outisder HD} +154 Con bonus); DR 10/good; Immune: fire, poisons, sleep; Resist acid 10, cold 10, electricity 10; SR 27
AC: 29, 26 flat-footed (touch +18 natural armor); Touch AC: 11, 8 ff
CMD 42 (46 vs trip)
Fort +20, Reflex +7, Will +19, +27 vs mind-affecting
Base Attack +14
- Melee +25 bite (4d6+22 plus trip)
- CMB +29 (+33 trip)
- Power Attack bite +21 (4d6+38 plus trip @ +29)
SA: Anchoring Bite (those their bite deals damage to are dimensionally anchored for 8 rounds without saving throw), powerful bite
Feats: Improved Critical (bite), Improved Initiative, Improved Natural Weapon (bite), Improved Vital Strike/Vital Strike, Iron Will, Power Attack (-4 attack = +12 damage)
Spell-like Abilities: (CL 14th, concentration +22)
- Constant: mind blank, true seeing
- At Will: cure serious wounds (3d8+14, DC 21), dispel magic (+14), dismissal (DC 23), banishment (DC 24), ethereal jaunt (free action to move from ethereal plane into regular plane, move action to return to the ethereal)
36 Str, 17 Dex, 33 Con, 24 Int, 26 Wis, 27 Cha
Skills: Spellcraft +24; 112 remaining skill ranks to assign as you see fit - already have 14 ranks each in Acrobatics, Fly, Perception, Spellcraft and Survival; +8 racial bonus on Perception checks; remaining skill points are sufficient for an additional 6 skills at 14 ranks each.
Languages: Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Daemonic, Draconic, Infernal, Protean, two others of choice; telepathy
Tactics are pretty straightforward: bite, dim-anchor, trip is a bonus, move from ethereal, bite with improved vital strike (12d6+26, 16d6+52 on a confirmed crit - Power Attack is as above, just note the much higher damage pool thanks to Improved Vital Strike), move action back to ethereal. Move as necessary to maul thoroughly. Ideally they are encountered in even pairs to maximize maulings and 'rotate' which ones are 'exposed' and which are not.
Whaddya think?
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Good grief, Turin! You've outdone yourself mate :-)
Phase in, bite for 12d6+26 and phase back out, leaving your opponnt tripped and dimension-locked?
Muhahahahaha! That bad boy is going in my STAP file for sure :-)
Mad that you reskinned a stoopid pig-demon to get an awesome, monster flaming devil-dog. Thanks mate :-)
Mauril, what do you think? Mauril? Mauril?
Turin, do you have any smelling salts?
Good grief, Turin! You've outdone yourself mate :-)
Phase in, bite for 12d6+26 and phase back out, leaving your opponnt tripped and dimension-locked?Muhahahahaha! That bad boy is going in my STAP file for sure :-)
Mad that you reskinned a stoopid pig-demon to get an awesome, monster flaming devil-dog. Thanks mate :-)
Mauril, what do you think? Mauril? Mauril?
Turin, do you have any smelling salts?
breaks out the vial labelled "diminutive green slime", reads it, puts it back and snaps some smelling salts beneath Mauril's nose
If these don't wake him up, I'll use the first vial instead.
Just reflavor the alignment to chaotic and change the devil subtype to demon, you're ready to rock n roll! Keep the immunities and whatnot as is ... all the better to deepen the rudeness of the surprise. I recommend a base Knowledge (planes) DC of 26 or 31 for 'em too. <grins evilly>
A pack of 4 would make an excellent guardian for a certain General's tent I'm thinking. ^_^
I especially enjoy that they can patch themselves up PDQ between fights with gatecrashers without having to graft on fast healing or regeneration.
I like it. What would you think about still including the Undermining Touch and Punish X abilities?
I gather that you've replaced blink with at-will ethereal jaunt to give a similar, if more powerful, effect. However, as it requires a move action to go into the Ether, doesn't it completely negate it as an AoO threat?
Also, does this thing need plane shift or does ethereal jaunt allow it to get from Hell to the Prime? I'm not clear on where the Outer Planes attach to the Ethereal Plane, or if you have to go through the Astral Plane first.
I'm thinking at-will healing is a bit much for a critter from hell. Maybe mark that (self-only) so that our devil isn't able to apply that healing to anything else. That would seem very out of character.
I assume "ethersight" is basically the ability to see into the Material Plane from the Ether without it being all "grey and ephemeral". I would also assume that the "true seeing" ability is from a constant true sight, which should probably be listed in its SLAs.
I really like Dimensional Anchor on a successful bite. It makes for interesting planar kiting tactics, especially when combined with the Vital Strike chain.
Mauril: at-will CSW was meant to be personal, I forgot to append it accordingly.
Ethereal creatures, per the template I used, percieve at full faculty both into and out of the Ethereal plane. true seeing is the name listed in the base stat block, so that is unchanged. Guess I didn't list it as a constant SLA, although I thought I had. Oh well!
Their movement from the Ethereal to whatever plane they're "adjacent" to is a free action, leaving them their full suite of actions to take once they're there. Generally, if they don't need to maneuver much against a target, this means free action materialize within reach of target, improved vital strike bite, move action back to ethereal. In the case of this template, their ethersight and etherealness abilities are supernatural, not spell-like, so there's no disrupting there moving back and forth.
For moving to and from Hell, I figure they are either called in or move from Hell through the Ethereal to where ever they're doing. It's easy enough to swap plane shift for the dismissal, and probably should be.
Makes it a two-round affair for one to escape being mazed, for example! :)
mind blank provides that delicious immunity to divination effects - if you can't see them on your own accord, they're guaranteed a surprise round when they appear and start nomming on targets!
Where are you getting the interpretation that returning from the ethereal plane is a free action and getting into it is a move action?
Text from ethereal jaunt
An ethereal creature is invisible, insubstantial, and capable of moving in any direction, even up or down, albeit at half normal speed. As an insubstantial creature, you can move through solid objects, including living creatures. An ethereal creature can see and hear on the Material Plane, but everything looks gray and ephemeral. Sight and hearing onto the Material Plane are limited to 60 feet.
Force effects and abjurations affect an ethereal creature normally. Their effects extend onto the Ethereal Plane from the Material Plane, but not vice versa. An ethereal creature can't attack material creatures, and spells you cast while ethereal affect only other ethereal things. Certain material creatures or objects have attacks or effects that work on the Ethereal Plane.
Treat other ethereal creatures and ethereal objects as if they were material.
If you end the spell and become material while inside a material object (such as a solid wall), you are shunted off to the nearest open space and take 1d6 points of damage per 5 feet that you so travel.
If the free/move transition is supposed to be a special rule for the gytrash (which I like), it might be clearer to make it into a special ability for the devil. Something like:
Ether Step (Sp) As a move action, a gytrash may move into the ethereal plane. Treat this as the spell ethereal jaunt. As a free action, a gytrash may return to its previous plane. This ability works even when on planes not coterminous with the ethereal plane. In those places, treat ether step as plane shift, but self-only and only into and out of the ethereal plane.
It also solves the problem of getting from Hell to the Ether and back. Might need to include something about still being able to see into the plane they left from, so that they can be ethereal and still guard gates in Hell.
Where are you getting the interpretation that returning from the ethereal plane is a free action and getting into it is a move action?
Text from ethereal jaunt
** spoiler omitted **
Book of Templates, Deluxe Edition, page 133 (Ethereal template):
"Ethereal Jaunt (su): An ethereal creature can shift from the Ethereal Plane to the Material Plane as a free action, and shift back as a move action. The ability is otherwise identical to ethereal jaunt with an unlimited duration.
"Ethersight (su): while on the Material Plane, an ethereal creature can still see creatures on and features of the Ethereal Plane."
Ethersight is not quite as good as I remembered it, but I'd certainly allow the upgrade at a base creature of CR 11+ to include clearly seeing creatures on and features of the Material Plane while on the Material Plane.
How does this look as a cleaned up stat block? (I preferred my Ether Step to the template's Ethereal Jaunt, but that's just me. Also, I was unsure what "powerful bite" was supposed to do, so I removed it for the time being.)
Phase Devil (Gytrash) CR 16
This huge caniform devil seems to peer with flame red eyes from the void. As suddenly as it appears, so it disappears; often leaving little but death in its wake.
XP 76,800
LE Huge Outsider (devil, evil, lawful, extraplanar)
Init +7; Senses darkvision 60', ethersight, low-light vision, scent, see in darkness, true seeing: Perception +33
DEFENSE
AC 29, touch 11, flat-footed 26 (+3 Dex, +18 natural, -2 size)
hp 231 (14d10+154)
Fort +20, Ref +7, Will +19, +27 vs. mind-affecting
DR 10/good; Immune fire, poisons, sleep; Resist acid 10, cold 10, electricity 10; SR 27
OFFENSE
Speed 50 ft., fly 60 ft. (average)
Melee +25 bite (2d6+19 19-20/x2 plus trip and anchoring bite)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Spell-like Abilities (CL 14th, concentration +22)
Constant - mind blank, true seeing
At Will - cure serious wounds (self-only), dispel magic (+14), dismissal (DC 23), banishment (DC 24)
STATISTICS
Str 36, Dex 17, Con 33, Int 24, Wis 26, Cha 27
Base Attack +14; CMB +29 (+33 trip); CMD 42 (46 vs. trip)
Feats Improved Critical (bite), Improved Initiative, Improved Natural Weapon (bite), Improved Vital Strike, Iron Will, Power Attack, Vital Strike
Special Attacks Anchoring Bite
Skills Acrobatics +20 (+28 jump), Bluff +25, Fly +16, Intimidate +22, Knowledge (Arcana) +21, Knowledge (Local) +21 Knowledge (Planes) +24, Perception +33, Sense Motive +25, Spellcraft +24, Survival +25;Racial Modifiers +8 Perception
Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Daemonic, Draconic, Infernal, Protean; telepathy 100 ft.
ECOLOGY
Environment any (Hell)
Organization single, pair, pack (3-9) or war party (3-9, plus 1 horned devil, 1-4 bone devils)
Treasure standard
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Anchoring Bite (Su) When a gytrash successfully deals damage with a bite attack, the target is affected by dimensional anchor.
Ethersight (Su) While on the Material Plane, an ethereal creature can still see creatures on and features of the Ethereal Plane. While on the Ethereal Plane, an ethereal creature can perceive clearly into the Material Plane.
Ether Step (Su) As a move action, a gytrash may move into the ethereal plane. Treat this as the spell ethereal jaunt. As a free action, a gytrash may return to its previous plane. This ability works even when on planes not coterminous with the ethereal plane. In those places, treat ether step as plane shift, but self-only and only into and out of the ethereal plane.
Tactics: As much as possible, a gytrash tries to stay in the ethereal plane using its ether step ability, especially when moving. In combat, a gytrash will use its ethersight and true seeing abilities to detect combatants while it is still in the ethereal plane. Once in attack position, it will leave the ethereal plane as a free action, use improved vital strike to bite (dimensionally anchoring and tripping its target), and then using its move action to return to the ethereal plane. When it can, it uses power attack to boost its damage. (Using power attack and improved vital strike, its melee attack is +21 and its damage is 6d6+19.)
Ideally they are encountered in even pairs to maximize maulings and 'rotate' which are 'exposed' and which are not. When encountered in a war party, gytrash like to attack opponents already in combat with other devils, to gain a flanking bonus on their attacks.
What are thoughts on adding the Undermining Touch and Punish X abilities back in? Would that alter its CR? If so, what would need to be removed to keep the CR at 16?
What are thoughts on adding the Undermining Touch and Punish X abilities back in? Would that alter its CR? If so, what would need to be removed to keep the CR at 16?
It's your critter, do what you like. :)
The stat block looks nice - powerful bite is why the critter's bite does so much damage (double Strength bonus instead of x1.5) and helps offset the lack of multiple natural weapon attacks the base critter had.
The undermining touch and smite X abilities seem redundant (since all undermine does is qualify it for being smiteable). Instead, I suggest:
Punishment (su, 2/day, swift action): Add its Charisma bonus on attack rolls and its total hit dice as a damage bonus on its bite attacks against the target declared with the swift action used to activate this ability. The target's typed damage reduction does not apply against the damage dealt by its bite attacks. Regeneration does apply.
These bonuses persist until the target has been destroyed/slain or the creature sufficiently rests to regain its spell-like abilities, whichever occurs first.
The advantage of making punish and undermine separate abilities is when in a war party. The weapon-using devils could equip unholy or axiomatic weapons and be assured that the extra damage would apply. I know teamwork isn't a common devil trait, but in the name of inflicting more pain on those that oppose them, I think an exception would new made.