Mrgh....
Star Voter Season 6
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I think this entry is one of the few that really creates a terrifying image - something that the PCs will truly remember. To me, that is what makes a really great monster. I could see building entire adventures around these phasic ravagers. To me, a Superstar monster isn't some wandering dungeon-dweller; it is something that has strong motives, possesses dangerous abilities, and has a memorable appearance and feel, and ties them all together in a comprehensive package. Well done, Mike.
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Well Mike, with an hour and a half to go before the end of voting you got my 2nd-to-last possible vote. It would take me too long to comment on it as my computer is acting up, but I just wanted you to know. It's kind of a bummer that I was not happy (and not unhappy) with your wondrous item, and I was very much not happy with your organization, but you've really turned this competition around for yourself in my eyes.
And for this, my fellow Paizonaut, I salute you! (...and also you get a vote this round...)
On my end, Mike, it was the first time I was excited about the name you'd given your submission. Maybe being almost wholly ignorant of Magic:tG makes one happier?
Well done. Keep up the good work.
Well, first congratulations on top 8, I'm happy I decided to vote for you last round, for this thing definitely shows the kind of promise I was hoping for. Reality means I'm busy lately, so I won't be able to give you much more than this for now:
Best of luck in the next round - keep it up this way!
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This preternatural humanoid's body parts fade in and out randomly, dripping gore and revealing its bizarre anatomy. A broken blade juts out at an angle in place of the creature’s shinbone. Its demented grin reveals animal fangs, rocks, and glass shards for teeth. The creature’s disturbingly mismatched eyes gleam maliciously.
Phasic Ravager CR 7
You should know the drill by now, but in case you (somehow) missed it so far, Ask A RPGSupersuccubus is posting from the point of view of a (very advanced) CE aligned succubus:
Maths is Important. How many points is the name worth, and does it successfully ‘Scrabble’ around for extra points?
Well it would ordinarily be worth only twenty four points, but I'll give you a double letter on the 's' for 25.
Would a specimen of this creature look good on the cream and scarlet paisley pattern sofa I have in my Druman villa?
Err no, it would go straight through the sofa, on account of being incorporeal.
What place does this have at a dinner party?
Hah, now this is an easy one. If you can prepare this sort of creature just right (although that takes a highly skilled chef) this sort of creature makes a delicious joint.
Other comments?
Oooh, it's a daemon chew-toy. You know, one of those things really powerful daemons use to chew up groups of naive wet-behind-the-ears new adventurers - soon to be dead adventurers.
Rating:
If this creature were a crime, what sort of crime would it be ?
The cleric of the prince of flies, with the ectoplasm glob, in the scullery.
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012
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Star Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Star Voter Season 9
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A very belated thank you to everyone who commented on the phased ravager and especially those who voted for it!
Tels, Isaac, Luthia, and Darkjoy, I'm delighted that my monster lived up to your expectations. I hope I can continue to do so in the next round.
Wolfthulhu, Celestial Healer, Set, Paris, Ambrosia Slaad, newly-minted Paizo staffer Adam Daigle, Saint Trickery, Moon glum, Mothman, Aberzombie, Craig, Apostle of Gygax, Patieck, feytharn, Moorluck, Eric, Urizen, Nathan, Power Word Unzip, RonarsCorruption, Solnes, Kirth, Demiurge, Pact Stone GM, Severed Ronin, Phloid, Blackrose, Ian, Thomas, and Mairkurion--thank you all for your kind comments as well as your criticism. (if I left anyone off, it was not intentional)
Eric (Bailey and Morton), thank you for your detailed review of the phasic ravager. The insight you provided will help me as a designer.
One thing I instantly realized I could have improved upon was the size of objects the phasic ravager could steal. My description left things wide open for interpretation.
I thought up the origins for the monster (catastrophic arcane failure "mutating" the participants) first, and that led me to choose aberration, especially since the ravagers were still alive. I looked briefly at giving them a blink ability, but I wanted to steer clear of comparisons to other monsters with that capability, so I settled on making them incorporeal. My intent was to have them draw flesh and blood or physical items into their collective bodies, which meant they could not wield items, but could benefit from effects inherent to magical items (so, a ravager couldn't use a sword, staff or wand (other than to heal itself), but could benefit from a brooch of shielding). That didn't come across as well as I had hoped. Additionally, I wanted to temporarily remove items from an encounter, through the ravager's phasing steal, because I know how unfun it is to permanently take items away. Since it could take away a character's verra nice sword, I wanted to ensure it could be hit by non-magical weapons.
If you have any questions about the ravager, I'll be happy to answer them.
Thank you all again! I sincerely hope you like what I've put together for the encounter being unveiled tomorrow.
I enjoy the notion of creatures that steal things in order to merge them with their bodies and heal themselves. I'm not as keen on the notion they have to do that at least once every 24 hours. I think you could have scaled it back so that they can use that ability to heal damage they've taken in battle. Otherwise, let them go into torpor or something similar to a vampire if they haven't maintained their wasting bodies. That would help give these guys lasting credibility as a sustainable (if warped) species.
Humans do not do well if we don't eat and drink on a daily basis. Should this be "scaled back?" Keep in mind that they don't have to steal and integrate objects, feeding off creatures counts.
Wow, some of the judge comments on this one really, really irritate me.
It has no strength score because it is an incorporeal creature ("It has no Strength score, so its Dexterity modifier applies to its melee attacks, ranged attacks, and CMB").
It flies because it is an incorporeal creature (not explicitly a rule, but every incorporeal creature flies; in fact, they all have flight as their only form of movement). I would wager a guess that this thing has non-flying movement, and non-perfect flight, because it isn't fully incorporeal. You should have been questioning that, not flight.
Incorporeal creatures (normally) take no damage from nonmagical attacks, not have a 50% miss chance ("It is immune to all nonmagical attack forms"), so no, partial corporeality is in fact a weakness. Normal incorporeal: immune to non-magic attacks. Partially corporeal: 50% miss chance and 50% damage from non-magic attacks.
Seriously, I know incorporeal isn't the most common special quality, but it's not like no common creatures are incorporeal. Shadow demons (also CR 7, incidentally, and quite a bit nastier than these things), shadows, ghosts. It's pretty bad to not even know the rules for them. I can forgive flight because, again, it's not explicitly stated; the other two are just egregious, especially coming from the Pathfinder Rules Guru.