I decided to stat out my ideal vision of a Wumpus for an upcoming campaign I'm running. I never built a creature for PF before, so I could use some extra eyes on this, make sure I haven't built something too powerful or weak for its CR.
AC and HP aren't really justified; I got them from the stat table for a CR 8 critter from the Bestiary.
Lookswise, it's a round monster with stubby little flipper legs and a gigantic mouth. Sort of like a great big amphibious pac-man, but with sharp teeth. Slightly reddish skin, but this will be almost undetectable when in a swamp, where the Wumpus will keep its dry portions coated with mud. I'm thinking that its skin acts like one giant ear. The skin is sensitive to tremors, but this also renders it vulnerable to sonic attacks, if one can get through the shield of silence.
Wumpus
CR 8
N Large Aberration (Amphibious)
Init +1
Senses: Tremorsense 90 feet Perception +12
Defense
HP 100
AC 22
Will 10 Reflex 5 Fort 7
DR 5/Sound
Vulnerable to Sonic
Amphibious
Offense
Speed 20 ft. Swim 30 ft.
Swamp Stride (Ex) A Wumpus can move through difficult terrain at its normal speed while within a swamp. Magically altered terrain affects a Wumpus normally
Melee 2 tongues +15 (d8+6 plus grab), bite +15 (d8+6) plus Poison, DC 15 (paralysis)
Special Attacks
Swallow Whole
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 10th)
At-Will – Silence, centered on self
Statistics
Str 22
Dex 12
Con 16
Int 2
Wis 14
Cha 10
Base attack +9
CMB +16 (+20 grapple) CMD +26
Feats: Stealthy, Improved Natural Armor, Improved Natural Attack, Lunge, Alertness, Combat Reflexes
Skills: Perception +12, Stealth +12 (plus Silence?), Swim +11
SQ: Amphibious
Ecology
Environment:Swamps, Bogs, and Moist areas of Dungeons
Organization: Solitary, extremely territorial
Treasure:
A Wumpus hunts by keeping most of its body submerged while stealthing up on its prey. The Wumpus generates a 20 radius of Silence from an antenna on top of its head. Severing this antenna will negate the Wumpus's ability to generate silence and render it vulnerable to Sonic attacks.
While employing the antenna of silence, the Wumpus emits a foul odor. At distance of thirty feet, even a partially submerged Wumpus can be detected with a DC 10 Perception.
Anyone? Anyone?
Dotting...
It this based on a monster from a certain video game out in the early 80's?
It this based on a monster from a certain video game out in the early 80's?
Technically the 70's, but yes.
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Hunt the Wumpus! Cool deal! Link to WIKI. Hunt the Wumpus was a decent game for the TI99/4a(and other Texas Instruments computers).
You used to narrow down where the Wumpus was by it's stench. So maybe have that in there also, kinda like a troglodyte's stench or something. Neat idea. I approve whole heartedly.
I played the cartridge quite a bit on my Texas Instruments.
I started on a breakdown to analyze your math but erased it as one important piece of information is missing. How many hit dice does the monster have? I couldn't make a conclusive deduction.
It's an Aberration with a BAB of +9 and six feats. That would make it HD 12d8+36.
Am I right? I'm right, right? Do I win something now?
So only 60 HP for a CR 9? Seems a little weak, but okay. I was kind of thinking that it's slow speed and only having two tongues would limit it somewhat, but I guess 100 is a bit much.
AC is also way too high by the numbers. Should be 10+Dex1-Size1+Nat Armor1=11?
That's terrible. Even if we give the beastie partial cover for having half of it's body in the muck and trade Combat Reflexes in for Dodge, that's still only 14. Yeck. Better to trade CR for Toughness, maybe?
Maybe Stench would be a good idea...
hit dice and cr aren't an exact science. Don't be afraid of a strong natural ac. Don't be afraid of increasing the constitution of a sturdy monster. Keep in mind though that even if the hit dice stays the same, this might increase the challenge rating. If you want to go a different direction than con and nat ac, you could add damage reduction. I think DR 5/piercing or high hit points and vulnerability to piercing damage would be thematically fun.
I also wanted to add something else. If I recall the gameplay correctly (Its been almost 30 years) the archer character dies immediately if he walks into the wumpus's chamber. To simulate that I wanted to suggest a high initiative and pounce, so that it could charge an opponent at unawares and get a full attack. Also, the Stench ability would be cool, where a nearby opponent makes a save or becomes nauseated. :)
But again, I don't know what your CR would end up as. That might take some play testing. A Hunt the Wumpus solo dungeon might be fun.
hit dice and cr aren't an exact science. Don't be afraid of a strong natural ac. Don't be afraid of increasing the constitution of a sturdy monster. Keep in mind though that even if the hit dice stays the same, this might increase the challenge rating. If you want to go a different direction than con and nat ac, you could add damage reduction. I think DR 5/piercing or high hit points and vulnerability to piercing damage would be thematically fun.
I also wanted to add something else. If I recall the gameplay correctly (Its been almost 30 years) the archer character dies immediately if he walks into the wumpus's chamber. To simulate that I wanted to suggest a high initiative and pounce, so that it could charge an opponent at unawares and get a full attack. Also, the Stench ability would be cool, where a nearby opponent makes a save or becomes nauseated. :)
But again, I don't know what your CR would end up as. That might take some play testing. A Hunt the Wumpus solo dungeon might be fun.
Interesting. I think the Pounce/Initiative would be a less tanky version that creeps in Dungeons. The one I'm building is relying on Silence to sneak up on the hero in a swamp.
But you're right. I think I'll next build a slightly different specie of Wumpus. Cave Wumpus. A Medium version that moves faster, has a pounce attack, high Dex and Weapon Finesse. Maybe some claws. And maybe that one should get the poison and this one should lose it.
This guy already has DR 5/Sonic, and the antenna provides a nice shield against sound based attacks. So, now I guess I need to figure out what the AC is for just attacking the Silence Antenna. What would the formula be for figuring something like that out? Called shot rules from UC?
Also, doesn't Silence provide a bonus to Stealth? I'm thinking something like +10 sounds right.
The encounter I'm building should also have some Dire Bats that snatch up party members and drop them at random points in the swamp.
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The 100HP you gave it is pretty close to what I figured actually (provided you're giving it 4(half a d8)+1 hp for every HD after the first.)
That works out to 8+(5x11)+36=99hp
As far as attacking the antennamabobber goes, here's what I'd do...
1. Drop DR5/Sonic. There's no such thing as a weapon that does sonic damage as its base damage type. If you meant it has Energy Resistance of some type, that's different.
2. Instead, give it DR5 or 10/slashing. I don't know anything about this creature, but it sounds like it might be spongy and blubbery so attacking it will be like attacking a Nerf ball. Bludgeons bounce off because they have too wide a striking surface and Piercing weapons just absorb into it because the striking surface is too tiny. However, Slashing weapons are just right because they make a nice solid stroke across the beast.
3. Give the thing a special vulnerability to Slashing critical hits. Just add in a special quality that any critical hit with a slashing weapon is automatically assumed to strike the antenna, disabling it or lopping it off until the thing can heal or grow a new one a week later.
D&D 3.5 and earlier editions gave monsters like Beholders and Hydra specific ACs and Hp for certain body parts like eyestalks and necks, but Pathfinder moved away from that.
The 100HP you gave it is pretty close to what I figured actually (provided you're giving it 4(half a d8)+1 hp for every HD after the first.)
That works out to 8+(5x11)+36=99hp
As far as attacking the antennamabobber goes, here's what I'd do...
1. Drop DR5/Sonic. There's no such thing as a weapon that does sonic damage as its base damage type. If you meant it has Energy Resistance of some type, that's different.
2. Instead, give it DR5 or 10/slashing. I don't know anything about this creature, but it sounds like it might be spongy and blubbery so attacking it will be like attacking a Nerf ball. Bludgeons bounce off because they have too wide a striking surface and Piercing weapons just absorb into it because the striking surface is too tiny. However, Slashing weapons are just right because they make a nice solid stroke across the beast.
3. Give the thing a special vulnerability to Slashing critical hits. Just add in a special quality that any critical hit with a slashing weapon is automatically assumed to strike the antenna, disabling it or lopping it off until the thing can heal or grow a new one a week later.
D&D 3.5 and earlier editions gave monsters like Beholders and Hydra specific ACs and Hp for certain body parts like eyestalks and necks, but Pathfinder moved away from that.
1. But there are spells that do sonic damage. And I might just decide to give them a "Singing Sword" or some such that deals extra sonic damage...
... but then again, since I kind of dropped the "it's skin is like a big eardrum" thing and decided to simply give it tremorsense, maybe it's better to go with #2.2. Blubbery and spongy sounds about right. BUT, arrows are what's used to defeat a Wumpus in every version of the (video) game, and I wouldn't want to NOT reward a player for remembering that fact. And some of my players skew a little old, so they just might. Is there such a thing as DRX/Piercing? Eh, maybe I'll just make it DR 12/P/S, since P/S isn't too hard to come by. Sorry, Monks and Warhammers.
3. This sounds like a good idea, and I'll play with it. I think I'd like to pull out the called shot rules for this one, though, and call it a Tricky Shot (-5).
btw, y'all do realize that the TI Version (which I also grew up with) was actually a Port, right?
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I've never actually even heard of the thing or the game it's from. I've just made a lot of monsters for Pathfinder so I figured I'd offer some help.
There are spells that do sonic damage, yeah, but DR is what's used for weapons and materials. Unless your campaign has weapons made from solid sound, Sonic falls under energy, which uses energy resistance. You could still give it Sonic vulnerability though. Creatures with energy vulnerability take x1.5 rolled damage when hit with the proper energy type.
If the creature is vulnerable to Piercing weapons in the video game, swap out Slashing for Piercing or give it DR X/Slashing & Piercing. Maybe it's more balloon-like so anything swung at it tends to bounce while straight-on attacks puncture it.
I only suggested the Vulnerable to slashing criticals thing because Called Shots are an optional rule I never use. No reason you couldn't have both or one or the other. Alternately, you could just give the antenna an AC based on its size and the creature's DEX and Natural Armor. It's a large creature so its antenna might be about the size of a short sword. I'd call that a small object so maybe around a +4 size bonus. You end up with around AC 25 to hit the antenna (+4 size, +10 natural, +1 DEX.) If that seems too high, maybe drop the natural or cut it in half. For hit points, I'd say give it 1/10th the creature's normal maximum.