Just hoping for some feedback. I'm converting Age of Worms to Pathfinder. Looking at the basic Spawn of Kyuss, I felt that they clearly were not CR 5, even with a fear aura, fast healing and their worm attack. Comparing Spawn to a Mummy, also CR 5, they seem woefully under-powered (AC 20 vs 11, hp 60 vs 30, DR 5/- vs fast healing 5, fear aura vs fear aura).
I lowered the Spawn of Kyuss' CR to 4 and upped their AC to 15 (+1 Dex, +4 natural) to make them a slightly more reasonable challenge. But since I had made them relatively tougher, I also wanted to outline some more detailed options for dealing with their worm attack. So here is the stat block I came up with.
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SPAWN OF KYUSS
CR 4; Know religion DC 19; CE, medium, undead; Init +1; Senses darkvision 60ft, Perception +5; Aura fear
DEFENCE
AC 15, touch 11, flat 14 (+1 Dex, +4 natural); HD 4d8+12; hp 30 (fast healing 5); Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +4; +2 vs channel energy; Immune bleed, death effects, disease, mind-affecting effects, paralysis, poison, sleep-effects, stunning, undead traits; Weakness curative transformation; Defensive Abilities channel resistance +2
OFFENSE
Spd 30ft; Melee slam +8 (1d6+6 plus worm plus Kyuss’ gift) OR melee touch +7 touch (worm); Ranged worm +4 ranged touch (worm); Space/Reach 5ft/5ft; Special Attacks create spawn
STATISTICS
Abilities Str 18, Dex 12, Con -, Int 6, Wis 11, Cha 15
Base Attack +3; CMB +7 (+8 with slam); CMD 18
Feats – Toughness, Weapon Focus (slam)
Skills – Acrobatics +1 (+9 jump), Climb +10, Perception +5, Stealth +7; Racial Modifiers - +8 Acrobatics when jumping; Languages - Common
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Create Spawn (Su) – creature killed by Intelligence damage rise as Spawn of Kyuss 1d6+4 rounds later (tiny creatures die, huge creatures become zombies); spawn not controlled by progenitor
Curative Transformation (Ex) – remove curse and remove disease (and similar effects) turn spawn into zombie on DC 14 caster level check
Fear Aura (Su) – continuous 40ft-radius effect; as fear spell (panicked); Will DC 14 negates; save also renders you immune to aura for 24 hours; CL 7th
Kyuss’ Gift (Su) – disease – slam; save Fort DC 14; onset 1 day; frequency 1/day; effect 1d6 Con and 1d4 Wis (rotting flesh and dementia); cure 2 consecutive saves; healing magic has only half effect on victim (remove disease works normally)
Worm (Ex) - worm (fine vermin, AC 10, 1 hp, leap 10ft, killed by touch of silver); on spawn’s next turn worm burrows into target (if target has +5 natural armour they are immune); before burrowing they may be killed normally; cause 1 hp damage/round for 1d4+1 rounds to reach brain; then inflict 1d2 Intelligence damage per round until victim dies at 0 intelligence; natural attacks and unarmed strikes expose attacker to 1d4 worms
Spells - worm destroyed by remove curse or remove disease (auto success); dispel evil or neutralise poison delay progress for 10d6 minutes; spells affect all worms in victim
Area-effect Spells - effective only before worm reaches brain; if target forgoes or fails saving throw cumulative 5% chance of killing each worm for each point of damage inflicted; if target succeeds saving throw chance of success is halved
Surgery - only effective before worm reaches brain; standard action; heal check with DC determined by tool used; success kills 1 worm plus 1 additional worm (if present) if every 5 points the check exceeds the DC; light piercing or slashing DC 15; one handed piercing or slashing or light bludgeoning DC 20; two handed piercing or slashing or one handed bludgeoning DC 25; two handed bludgeoning DC 30; surgery inflicts 1 point of damage (cannot be reduced or avoided); for each additional point of damage inflicted gain +2 bonus on heal check; you can only inflict damage up to the weapon's maximum base damage plus enhancement (no Strength or precision-based damage); +5 on check if patient also readies standard action; +10 on check if both surgeon and patient spend full-round action; +5 on check if using silver tool; +2 on check for each size category of surgeon smaller than victim; -2 on check for each size category of surgeon larger than victim
Torch and Fire - only effective before worm reaches brain; DC 20 heal check; success kills 1 worm plus 1 additional worm (if present) if every 5 points the check exceeds the DC; inflicts normal torch damage (1 point of fire); +2 on check for each extra point of fire damage inflicted for larger fires, alchemist fire etc
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So I may have gone a bit overboard on the details, but I liked the idea of the players getting masterwork silver scalpels specially made. Also, as they play such a significant part of the whole adventure path, I thought they should be fairly detailed.
Anyway so what do people think? Should Spawn of Kyuss be CR 5 or 4? Have I made it overpowered? And have I gone a bit nuts on the whole surgery thing?
