RPG Superstar 2012 Top 8
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Dedicated Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7, Star Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
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This enormous globular plant seeps sparkling resin as it trundles across the forest floor on a dozen root-like tendrils, its two thorn-filled mouths darting about on thick, flexible stalks to snap up any creature that strays within reach.
Ravenous Gorgewort CR 7
XP 3,200
N Huge plant
Init +4; Senses low-light vision, Perception +15
----- Defense -----
AC 21, touch 9, flat-footed 20 (+1 dex, +12 natural, -2 size)
hp 85 (10d8+40)
Fort +10, Ref +5, Will +6
Defensive Abilities resinous sap; Immune plant traits
----- Offense -----
Speed 20 ft., Climb 10 ft.
Melee 2 bites +14 (2d6+6 plus grab)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
Special Attacks disgorge, swallow whole (4d6 acid, AC 16, 8 hp), vacuum swallow
----- Statistics -----
Str 23, Dex 12, Con 19, Int 3, Wis 10, Cha 7
Base Atk +7; CMB +14 (+18 on grapple); CMD 24 (can’t be tripped)
Feats Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative, Improved Natural Armor, Skill Focus (Perception), Weapon Focus (bite)
Skills Perception +15, Stealth -7; Racial Modifiers +16 Stealth in thick vegetation
Languages Sylvan (cannot speak)
SQ arcane digestion, engorge
----- Ecology -----
Environment any forest
Organization solitary
Treasure standard
----- Special Abilities -----
Arcane Digestion (Su) When a gorgewort begins its turn containing another creature, the gorgewort can attempt to strip away one spell affecting that creature and apply it to itself, as if using the spell arcana theft. The caster level for this effect is equal to the gorgewort’s hit dice. Regardless of how many creatures a gorgewort contains, it can only digest one spell per round.
Disgorge (Ex) A gorgewort can rapidly compress its digestive cavity to forcefully expel up to two swallowed creatures as a standard action. The gorgewort can deposit these creatures on any surface within its reach. Disgorged creatures take 1d6 damage and land prone.
Engorge (Ex) A gorgewort can expand its body to accommodate up to four swallowed creatures. For every creature it contains beyond the first, its movement decreases by 5 ft. and it takes a -2 cumulative penalty to AC.
Resinous Sap (Ex) A gorgewort’s body constantly seeps a viscous, adhesive sap. Any weapon that strikes the gorgewort becomes stuck unless its wielder succeeds at a DC 17 Reflex saving throw. Such a stuck weapon can be wrenched free with a successful DC 15 Strength check. A weapon coated in universal solvent or alchemical solvent does not risk becoming stuck in this manner.
Vacuum Swallow (Ex) A gorgewort’s body acts as a massive bellows, contracting and expanding to vacuum prey into its digestive sack in the blink of an eye. This ability works like fast swallow, but the gorgewort can only use it once every 1d4 rounds.
A ravenous gorgewort is composed of a mottled green, globular body topped by two thick, flexible stalks ending in gaping, thorn-filled mouths. When fully grown it can reach twelve feet in diameter, though its size varies depending on its current state of engorgement. The plant is completely carnivorous and drags itself along the forest floor on a dozen root-like tendrils in search of prey. Ravenous gorgeworts are opportunistic feeders and will inflate their bodies with a horrible gasp to inhale almost anything, disgorging it later if it turns out to be indigestible. Aside from the alchemical reagents that can be derived from a gorgewort, older individuals may have valuable weapons lodged in their congealed sap. Though possessing little more than animal intelligence, they understand sylvan and are sometimes kept as pets by powerful fey, leading scholars to believe the species originated in the first world.
Hey, Sam...welcome to Round 3. This carousel doesn't end until you either fall out of the competition or win the whole thing. Your stuff has been pretty darn strong so far. So, let's see what you've got for us now.
Wall of Text:
First off, going into monster design, a freelance designer has to recognize certain basic elements of the game...the give-and-take of all the variables upon which it's mechanically founded. The most important defining characteristic (which has a trickle down effect) in monster design is its Challenge Rating (CR). The rules for Round 3 already told you what that would be...i.e., CR 7. Thus, the "test" for this round isn't just determining if you can cook up a really great idea for a monster. It's also to see how well you can interpret what a CR 7 monster is meant to have, mechanically-speaking, that distinguishes it from a CR 6 or a CR 8 monster.
So, what are the trickle down effects you need to know for a CR 7 creature? In general, its AC should be around 20. Its hit points should be around 85. Its best saving throws should be around +10 and its weaker saving throws should still be around +6. The damage curve potential for a combat-focused CR 7 monster should be around a +13 attack inflicting an average of 22-30 points of damage per round if all its attacks manage to hit an opponent. Even a less combat-focused CR 7 monster should still have around a +10 attack and the DCs for any special abilities or SLAs should be a DC 17 for a primary power and a DC 12 for a lesser power. There's still wiggle room within these numbers, but typically, if you make one of those things higher or lower, you want to offset it with a variation in one of the other statistics above.
Additionally, monsters should be built around the non-standard array for their ability scores (i.e., 11, 11, 11, 10, 10, 10) before applying racial adjustments. These adjustments should always come in even-numbered increments (i.e., +2, +4, +6, etc.). That means for a basic monster design, you should end up with three odd-numbered ability score values and three even-numbered ability score values.
Okay. With all that serving as your baseline, let's see where you've taken us...
Creativity Factor:
A nasty plant with an appetite for magical digestion (and anything else it can cram in its maw). And its got some sticky sap for taking away a PC's weapon. Lots of fun potential here.
Very good read-aloud text.
Vacuum swallow, swallow whole, and disgorge?! LOL. I'm in!
Arcane digestion to strip away a spell effect from one of its victims and apply it to itself? That's some strong mojo. Of course, like the arcana theft ability, this could prove a weakness as well if it snaps up someone suffering from a debilitating effect. There are also some spell effects that simply might not function on it, unless they can specifically affect plants, too. Regardless, it's a very unique spin. I like it.
Slowing the creature down when it becomes engorged with victims is also a nice design touch. Other creatures that rely on swallow whole don't suffer this problem, however. So, you're potentially introducing something that works differently than the baseline assumptions for this kind of thing in the game. Additionally, this creature already has a pretty slow movement rate. Most parties could outrun it. So, fattening it up with summoned creatures or sacrificial lambs could make for an interesting retreat strategy.
Improved Natural Armor is kind of a throwaway feat in most monster designs. You can just as easily ratchet up your natural armor however you see fit to ensure it meets the design guidelines for a specific CR. I don't think the addition of it (though somewhat thematically-appropriate for a plant) added much to the design. A typical CR 7 creature has an AC 20, so using this feat to bump it up to AC 21 was kind of unnecessary. I think you could have saved that feat and spent it on something else more in the wheelhouse of this particular beastie. Maybe the Snatch feat would be a good fit? However, once I got into the mechanical assessment of your creature (see below), I discovered you may have overspent on feats, so maybe you should just discard this one entirely and leave it at that?
I'd have liked to see the plant's arcane digestion ability played up as a key reason in why it hunts intelligent prey. Just a sentence or two to have it seek out spellcasters or creatures carrying items with strong magical auras would have sold this even better.
Mechanical Considerations:
Just because I'm OCD, I did a very quick number crunching of your design using the spreadsheet Paizo provides us as freelancers. I thought it was important to do that just to give some kind of assessment on your technical skills. Oddly enough, I ran into some things that seemed off to me. You might want to go back and double-check the following:
- I'm showing the Initiative stat for this guy should be +5...i.e., +1 for Dex, +4 for Improved Initiative. No penalty for size.
- The saving throws seem off. I came up with Fort +11, Ref +4, Will +3. Those latter two are a bit low for a typical CR 7 creature, but this is a plant with plant traits which offer up some other benefits. So, no biggie.
- Looks like the bite attacks didn't account for the creature's -2 size modifier for being Huge. They should be +12 attacks, which is one lower than the average CR 7 creature, but still in the ballpark. Additionally, when a creature has only a single natural attack form (like a bite), it usually gets 1.5 times its Str mod on damage. So, I think you could have given it 2d6+9 for those bite attacks.
- Looks like you went with something other than the non-standard array for ability scores. The introduction to monsters in the Bestiary, has an entry discussing ability scores where it tells you: "Unless otherwise indicated, a creature's ability scores represent the baseline of its racial modifiers applied to scores of 10 or 11." And, if you check any other monster entry in the Bestiary (or trace back the roots of this design rule to 3.5), you'll find they always use the non-standard array of 11, 11, 11, 10, 10, 10. You got most of this right, but you included one more point in there for an additional 11 in your base scores. At first, I thought maybe you'd done an ability score increase, but that shouldn't be applicable unless you were advancing a monster's Hit Dice or giving it class levels.
- I came up with different CMB score of +14 (+18 on grapple) and CMD 26 (can't be tripped).
- Looks like you spent one more feat than the creature should have. If one of them is a bonus feat, that needs to be indicated with (B) next to it.
- I had one more skill point left over from what you seemingly spent. Additionally, because the creature has a Climb speed, it should list a Climb value of +14 in the skill listing for easy reference.
Presentation:
Pretty good here. Followed the template pretty accurately. Some small missteps here or there, but nothing too egregious. You needed to capitalize "Dex" in your AC breakdown...and some other very minor things like that. I actually appreciate the attention-to-detail in trying to make it look as close as possible to an actual monster entry from the Bestiary. Good job.
Bottom Line:
I like the design space you selected. Plants ought to come in at least as many (or more!) varieties as other creatures in the game. I like their interest in digesting magical emanations. I think the creativity you put into this monster's abilities could be surprising and fun at the game table. I think, mechanically, you still need a bit of work on ironing out some stuff. The spreadsheet Paizo provides to its freelancers helps catch a lot of that, though, and it guides you through the process of monster creation. So, it's not something I'll hold too strongly against your design. My exhaustive comments above are only there to educate, not overly criticize.
Given all that, I DO RECOMMEND this monster to carry you through to Round 4. I'd be interested in seeing what kind of encounter you can cook up for us.
In addition, your moonlight flute of the ghost hunter and organization for the Riders of the Black Steppe have consistently demonstrated some really good design mojo. I think you're taking this contest by storm and you're a force to be reckoned with in the competition. Just don't take your foot off the gas...and keep your eye on the prize. Best of luck in the voting.
Sam, good job advancing to Round 3!
What I am looking for:I’m a big picture guy more than a minute details guy. I don’t think just seeing if you crunched out the rules properly is the right way to judge a good entry for this round. Of course you need to execute the stat block properly. Luckily, Sean, Neil and others are way more qualified than I am to talk about the nit picks and issues with the stat block so I will leave that to them. My comments to you will be more “big picture.” For me, I want to see a monster that is fun and playable—a monster that leaps of the page and makes me find a way to incorporate it at the game table. That, to me, is a superstar monster. So here we go…
Initial Impression: Seems like everything is barfing out its innards this round, and I like it!
The Concept (name, overall design choices, design niche, playability/usability, challenge): A+
Another cool plant. Interesting. Oh man, arcane digestion is great. I can see putting several of these things in a creature's lair. This is great stuff, Sam! Very good initial hook description. That shows you know what that is for. You aren’t just describing the monster, you are actually hooking the GM—you are trying to grab him or her and force them by the power of your writing to use your monster in an adventure. That is more than just good writing, it is selling.
Execution (quality of writing, organization, Golarion-specific, use of proper format, quality of content—description, summary of powers, rules execution, mechanics innovation): A
I’ll leave it to the experts to nitpick, but your submission is exactly what I would expect from a freelancer (who didn’t have the paizo spreadsheet). But as I’ve said, superstar execution of a so so monster doesn’t get the job done. You have a superstar monster with freelancer appropriate execution. Is it perfect, no. But that is what guys like Sean are for. What they can’t do is what you did—come up with an awesome monster for you. That is why this is superstar. I know why you didn’t give it fast swallow, you were afraid it would be criticized for being too powerful. So then you don’t do it and someone thinks it is missing. I think it says more that you used restraint. We can always give you notes to “change to fast swallow.”
Tilt (did it grab me, do I want to use one in an adventure?, mojo, just plain fun factor): A+
As Monte said, if an RPG is a gun, monsters are the bullets. This thing makes me want to lock and load.
Overall: A
Gobble up the wizards and magic-buffed fighters, suck off their magic, spit them out. Nasty. I love it.
Recommendation: I DO RECOMMEND voters consider this monster to advance to the Top 8. This is one of my favorites of the round.
I was hesitant about your flute. I admit, I wasn’t feeling it at first. But then your Riders came along and I knew we were on to something with you. This entry confirms that you are here and you are playing to win. I hope you hear what I am saying. The string of entries you have put together for each round is the kind of stuff put together by people who win this thing. Nice job! Keep it up.
You have done a great job and I wish you the best of luck!
Welcome to Round 3! I'm posting this little blurb at the top of my reply for everyone. FYI, I'm not going to crunch all the math in your stat block, for several reasons. One, I don't have an hour for each monster. :) Two, I'm sure you've been very diligent about this and if anything is wrong, it's probably only off by a little bit. Three, if you were writing this for publication in a Paizo book, you'd be using our stat block spreadsheet, which takes care of the math for you--your job is to understand the rules and bring the mojo. Four, Neil's going to scrutinize that stuff because he is a machine. :) My focus in this review is on the overall coolness and balance of your monster, with an eye on how efficiently you put it together and a spot-check of stat block elements that catch my eye.
So, another plant creature... cool!
I like the idea of this one... kind of a flytrap on steroids, crystal meth, and ipecac.
Arcane digestion is harmful to the swallowed target, so it should go in Special Attacks, not SQ.
I don't think disgorge needs to deal damage unless you mean that the compression and expulsion causes this damage rather than the fall from its mouth to the ground.
Universal solvent is a magic item and should always be italicized.
I don't think you need the vacuum swallow ability, just give it fast swallow. The 1d4 rounds limitation means either (1) it's going to be able to use it two rounds in a row, or (2) it's going to die before it gets a chance to swallow a second creature. Since this thing's schtick is swallowing and regurgitating a lot of stuff, go ahead and let it have the normal fast swallow ability. That also saves you about 40 words that you could use for its description.
I'd avoid ever giving a new monster the Improved Natural Armor feat... it's really just in the game for monsters you're advancing who need a "filler" feat. If you want a monster to have natural armor +X and its final AC is appropriate for its CR, just give it that natural armor value and save the feat for something else.
Sylvan and First World are proper names and should be capitalized.
I like this monster and I can imagine myself using it. I think you did a good job with the concept, the stat block, and with choosing appropriate monster abilities--just make sure that when you're thinking about tweaking a UMR to something new, it really needs to be something new instead of the existing UMR.
It's a walking stomach that tries to eat spellcasters and then gain the benefits of the victim's enchantments.
I'm not sure how well a critter with Int 3 is going to be at identifying the spellcasters in a party. I guess that gives the GM some outs for not being too vicious if there's a risk of a TPK.
The featured ability of this monster is Arcane Digestion. This is a clever use of a bunch of mechanics without the designer having to actually create new rules from scratch. The use of arcana theft is really well done. With this ability and some luck, this monster could swell into something incredibly fearsome very quickly. Imagine what happens when it gets embued with righteous might!
Appropriate for the CR, mechanically solid, fantastically well done imagery and concept.
I give this submission an A.
I recommend that you vote for this designer.
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Arcane Digestion (Su) When a gorgewort begins its turn containing another creature, the gorgewort can attempt to strip away one spell affecting that creature and apply it to itself, as if using the spell
This ability alone gets my vote. It's clearly what you started with, and then the rest of the monster was built around that. That's not a problem as the execution of wrapping this ability into the rest of the monster is pretty much perfect.
Creativity + Execution = Win.
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I like this creature, at first glance, and then I get stuck in the resin and can't escape. So far this is the second plant creature I've seen, and while I liked the other one, I felt it was a bit too powerful. This one feels just right.
However, I would like to see what would happen if the Pyrebloom and Ravenous Gorgewort cross pollenated >:)
Flaming Resin!
Another plant creature. And nice one too!
It's arcane digestion ability and Neil comment about it being possible weakness if the victim is under debilitating magic effect reminded me of hunting for kurdles.
I must confess, I was instantly leery of this entry upon seeing its name. "Adjective compound-noun" names immediately put me in mind of 4e monster naming conventions, which put me in a bit of a sour mood. Fortunately, this monster is able to escape that trap handily, being creative and mechanically interesting. The read-aloud text is very good. I immediately have a mental image of this beastie. I like the little exceptions to its swallow abilities (fast swallow sometimes plus slowed when engorged). The arcana theft is clearly the star attraction of this creature, and it works nicely. I want to use one in a game.
Now, there are mechanical glitches. I grind my teeth whenever I see Improved Natural Armor or Natural Attack in a baseline monster entry. You made it: you can set those values however you choose! However, the gorgewort is sitting at one feat too many, so those problems cancel each other out, in a weird way. The issues with its saves and initiative are less easily forgiven (why do so many people want to give initiative penalties for size? Is it a relic of weapon speed?)
Despite those issues, the gorgewort rises high. It's flavorful, interesting and perfectly usable in a game. I will be voting for this entry, and I wish you the best of luck!
Dedicated Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 8
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This is my favourite entry this round - clearly a winning entry.
There's a very old school name that invokes terror and curiosity. Every adventurer would love to tell a story of being attacked by a Ravenous Gorgewort.
The giant eating plant thing has been done, but the idea of a giant eating plant that DIGESTS YOUR MAGIC and then pukes you out is incredible! I can see the fear on the heroes faces as they get puked out, only to face a creature that now has Shield and Stoneskin active! Run for the hills!
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This is amazing. In addition, it made the judges say the following things:
I like the idea of this one... kind of a flytrap on steroids, crystal meth, and ipecac.
Seems like everything is barfing out its innards this round, and I like it!
Vacuum swallow, swallow whole, and disgorge?! LOL. I'm in!
That quote from C.P. is probably the quote of the competition so far, so I'm voting for you even though I clearly won't need to. :-)
Coolest method ever for de-buffing the party. vote #4
Great name, great monster! My favourite so far (ok, it's only the 2nd one I've read).
The only things I'm not sure about are the perception and initiative. It's a plant, so I don't think it merits them and I'm not sure why it needs them.
I like the Arcane Digestion thing, which is really the main hook.
But I'm confused about a couple of things...
Why would it disgorge players? It's neat to imagine it going around debuffing the party and spitting them out, but why doesn't it keep them once it's got them?
It's "completely carnivorous", and while it says that it disgorges what it finds indigestible, I don't see any sign that players would be indigestible. In fact, they seem like they'd be Grade A Prime meat.
So wouldn't it just keep whoever it caught inside for digestive purposes?
I forgot to say, with your strength over all 3 rounds so far, I think you're becoming the competitor that everyone is going to have to work hard to beat.
@Clouds Without Water - my take on that is that it would disgorge players to increase its movement speed, or to allow it to swallow other players and their tasty magic.
My criteria for deeming a monster voteworthy:
1. Can I drop this into my home campaign and still do something interesting with it outside of Golarion? Absolutely. This thing is a great way to drain resources from arcane casters.
2. Does this monster inspire me to design an encounter just for the purpose of featuring it? Yes. I love carnivorous plants. And I can imagine this thing having some interesting synergy with other monsters that can control plants, especially by knocking PCs prone when it spits them up.
3. Will my players think the monster's physical description is cool, or will they laugh it off of the table? They'll like it. The thorny mouth is the first bad sign for them, but that trail of sparkly resin is what will really make them think twice...
Additional Thoughts: I do agree that penalizing this creature's speed while it has engulfed a target is a bad idea. I don't want to make it too easy for my players to run away from this thing!
Another "killer" plant creature, literally. I do like the idea of the arcane-theft, but I am curious to see how some clever adventurers will address combating these if they cast a spell upon themselves that can potentially be aversive to the gorgewort.
I also enjoy the flair of your writing style. This plant, along with your organization, should propel you into the next round. Good job, Sam!
What's with really slow monsters this round? That's more than a little bit of a problem with challenge when nearly any PC can outrun them 100% of the time.
Also, you probably could have just gone with "Gorgewort", adding ravenous to the name is a little repetitive.
Can you see these are my biggest concerns with this monster? I like how it can steal buffs from targets it eats, and spit them out, and stuff like that. And it's a cool plant monster besides.
This entry proves your Riders were no fluke. I can't wait to see what you bring to the finals. There is no question in my mind you will get there.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 4
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Star Voter Season 6
aka raidou
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Sam, you had me at "trundles."
Here's what I like:
- a mobile, magic-hunting giant flytrap. I like that it uses an established spell (arcana theft) rather than trying to figure out unique mechanics for this. Cleverly done.
- Plug-and-play. I can use this monster anywhere, with little prep. I need to know how Arcane Theft works, but not much else needs looking up mid-combat.
Here's what I don't like:
- this monster needs some way to identify which targets to attack and strip magic from.
- Engorge - this particular vulnerability seems somewhat fiddly and ill-defined. Can its gullet hold four swallowed creatures of any size? Why is there a penalty directly to AC instead of to its DEX for being slowed down? I think both this and the Vacuum Swallow abilities could be cut for clarity and to give you more wordcount elsewhere.
- Throwaway feats like Improved Natural Armor don't do anything for a newly created monster. Just set its AC and use your available feats to better define the monster's role and abilities.
No question, this is great. First your Raiders, now this, I think you have great talent and I do hope to see you published one way or the other. You have my vote.
Indeed, you must be the favourite at this stage and it would be a crying shame if you didn't follow this up with an awesome encounter and cruise into the finals.
I love this monster.
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This is awesome. Although their organization is solitary, I would love using about 7 of these in a First World encounter for the current campaign I am running (average party level is 12th, so they would probably be minions to some other nasty CR 12-13 creature that is using them as guards) and having the PCs being hawked in and spit out all over the battle map... HA!
Another vote from me. The only thing you've done so far that I didn't dig 100% is your item; your Round Two and Round Three entries are (this is a good thing).
Sam, you had me at "trundles."
- this monster needs some way to identify which targets to attack and strip magic from.
Yes, I meant to comment on this. I think I'd have put in Detect Magic and removed Improved Initiative.
I really enjoyed this creature and don't see detect magic as a necessity. I picture this creature just traveling around picking up people indiscriminately, spitting out one morsel and seeing if another is tastier.
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Imho detect magic would not have fitted thematically. This beast is an "opportunistic feeder" with 3 Int that sucks in every creature it comes about and tries to digest them with their stomach acid. If a creature happens to have a magic aura on, it makes a nice sidecourse, but that does not mean that it will actively hunt for such auras. Makes perfect sense to me.
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My favorite entry (again) this round comes from you. This thing is a fun concept that has never been done before (to my knowledge) and still works exceptionally well mechanics wise.
Very good job!
That's two plants in a row now that have caught my eye. Is this the year for vegetation love? I can imagine this thing sucking players up... and then spitting them out 15 feet away! That sounds like fun!
There's a lot of love for Arcane Digestion. To me, it feels out of place. I think it needs to be built more into the monster's description and purpose. Maybe take Sean's suggestion and replace vacuum swallow with fast swallow to buy the word count. The description suggests this creature likes to eat food, not magical abilities. I just need a 'why'.
I could see an alternate version that drew more on the resinous sap. The gorgewort could cover its victims in a layer of acidic resin when disgorging them, leaving them entangled and suffering slow acid damage. Easier to digest the remains later. :)
Wow. Not only did you have me imagining an encounter, you had me designing a variant - one I'd also like to use. Awesome!
Ravenous Gorgewort CR 7
Alrighty. So, another plant monster. My first impression after reading it over: it feels like a plant monster. You've got a central theme and you build on it nicely. defensive sap and it likes to eat. The abilities are built about these ideas. It works. Very well done.
If this were submitted to me, I'd make sure this got in my next monster book and it would probably be one of the monsters featured in the book.
This was one of my three favorites. A number of fun and innovative mechanics. Cool theme. I kind of would have liked to have seen disgorged characters stuck in the sap sort of like a tanglefoot bag, but that could have been too much. I usually use plant monsters sparingly in my games, but this one has some cool factors. Heck, some of these mechanics could be ported to a huge magical beast just as easy, and I voted for the abilities here more than anything. Great Job!
Star Voter Season 6
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Wow, not sure how I missed this on my first go around. Looks like I have five votes instead of the original four and looking through your entry it looks like this is my top vote. Not much for me to say that hasn't already been said to you. I was a huge fan of your Riders while your flute fell to a low vote for me. However, it has been good to see your skill increase the further into the contest you get.
Keep up the good work.
Vote #5 and top vote goes to you, good sir.
OK, for the first time since they started the contest, I've actually voted for an entry -- this one. Out of all the "contestants," this monster had the tightest focus, the clearest vision of what exactly at the table it would do, and the most seamless wedding of mechanics to flavor. Even the name had a nice pseudo-Greyhawk feel that fits well in Golarion. Nicely done, Sam, and here's wishing you the best in the contest. Also, I hope to use your monster in my game some time!
As a monster designer, I look forward to this phase of the contest most..so lets see..
Oh yessss. I like this one, a lot. Vaguely annoyed I didn't think of it myself, actually.
Great concept, great feel, love the abilities for the most part. I agree that just fast swallow would have been a better choice. My only major issue is with engorge. The standard is that a creature of a specific size can swallow a set number of creatures of smaller sizes (2 Large, 4 Medium, etc). I like the idea of engorge, but as it stands it should already be able to swallow 4 members of your standard PC races. A retweak of doubling the amount of creatures per size would do the trick.
In the end..I really love this creature, and can't wait to have it swallow some players in my home game! I have not decided on my votes yet, but this will be one of them.
This is one of my three favorites for this round. I love the basic concept--a monster who swallows you, absorbs your magic effects, and then spits you back out. That's tactically dynamic and really fun to play. Brilliant! "Arcane Digestion" FTW! I have no doubt you'll advance to the next round. Good job!
This was the first monster that i voted for. The Vaccum swallow is my favorite part :)
I hope to see you in round 4!
This enormous globular plant seeps sparkling resin as it trundles across the forest floor on a dozen root-like tendrils, its two thorn-filled mouths darting about on thick, flexible stalks to snap up any creature that strays within reach.
Ravenous Gorgewort 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?
25 points, but I'll give it a triple word score for a total of 75 points. Nice name.
Would a specimen of this creature look good on the cream and scarlet paisley pattern sofa I have in my Druman villa?
No indication is given of the colouration of this plant, so I am unable to determine if the colours would clash hideously or not. However it is a little on the large side for my sofa...
What place does this have at a dinner party?
Pot plant, in the corner. If the sap could be kept from dripping all over the carpet and it could be kept still that is, although it would be handy to feed anyone to who commits an unforgiveable social faux pas (such as using their fish-knife to butter their bread with)...
Other comments?
It's big. It's mean. It's really, really green. Well perhaps not the latter, as no indication of its colour scheme is indicated, but nonetheless this is entertaining.
Rating:
If this creature were a crime, what sort of crime would it be ?
Chuffley Elsivorga the great wyrm green dragon, with the trowel, in the dining room. (No, it's not a good idea to ask how she would fit in if you value your hairstyle...)