Okay, brief intro, so a few years back I was running a seafaring campaign pre-Pathfinder, and I came up with something that I thought was hilarious and fun to fight. After encountering it, all my players agreed it was one of the most interesting encounters they'd ever faced.
Now in the realm of Pathfinder, I'd like to pull it back out to surprise them with a "remember this guy? Heeee's baaaaack!"
The base would be a sea serpent/loch ness monster type creature, Huge sized (for swampy terrain, also more amphibious) or Gargantuan (for aquatic terrain). It's unique trick though is it's "breath weapon", where it rears up over the deck of the ship, pulls back its head and then pukes out a small pack of screaming goblins that swarm the deck.
The creature lives in a symbiotic relationship with a tribe of goblins that have evolved to live inside its stomach. They are immune to the acids and the creature has evolved away from having such "crushing" force in its gullet so as not to harm its passengers. The goblins would climb up the throat and gather in the mouth (giving the breath weapon the standard 1d4 rounds to recharge) and then the creature literally pukes them out. Damage wise it would only be like 2d6 acid in a 40ft cone, very short range and small damage. But every time it "breathes" it spits out 1d4+2 goblins that swarm the deck. After killing everyone, the goblins haul the corpses back down the creatures throat and toss them into the stomach acid, feeding the creature while swiping all the shinies for themselves.
In general I'm looking for advice because I've never created a monster all on my own from scratch before, and unlike the first time when I just "winged it" for the party, I'd like to have solid numbers crunched and out there for others to enjoy surprising their parties with. As the goblins would be small sized, a Gargantuan sized creature should be large enough to hold quite a few in its belly and mouth. I would ask people not to quote similar sized and type creatures and how many they could fit with a "swallow whole" mechanic, as this creature will have evolved in such a way that it has more room than others like it within its belly.
The Huge version would be a lower CR (thinking something like 6-8 for the huge, 12-14 for the gargantuan), and instead of being a "younger" form of the gargantuan, it is a different breed that evolved in the swamps instead of the ocean, so it's size was more restricted. Since it is smaller, the number of goblins it could have living in it would be less, also attributing to a lower CR.
So, what are peoples thoughts on it, do they like it, interested in seeing it at full build etc. All feedback is appreciated!
Neat concept. Here are some pre-existing monsters that you could use as a frame to create your Goblin-spewing beasties:
The Elasmosaurus is a Huge, CR 7 aquatic dinosaur. Depending on how effective you're planning on making the goblins it spits out, you may want to remove a feat to keep it under CR 9.
The Kronosaurus is a Gargantuan, CR 10 aquatic dinosaur. Adding the Advanced template and giving it its breath weapon should bring you pretty much to what you're looking for. The Kronosaurus doesn't have extra reach like the Elasmosaurus, so lowering its swim speed by 10' should keep that balanced if you think it's necessary.
Hope this helps!
Cuup wrote: Neat concept. Here are some pre-existing monsters that you could use as a frame to create your Goblin-spewing beasties:
The Elasmosaurus is a Huge, CR 7 aquatic dinosaur. Depending on how effective you're planning on making the goblins it spits out, you may want to remove a feat to keep it under CR 9.
The Kronosaurus is a Gargantuan, CR 10 aquatic dinosaur. Adding the Advanced template and giving it its breath weapon should bring you pretty much to what you're looking for. The Kronosaurus doesn't have extra reach like the Elasmosaurus, so lowering its swim speed by 10' should keep that balanced if you think it's necessary.
Hope this helps!
Hehe, yeah I was actually looking at the elasmosaurus and the Sea Serpent entry as I was working on them for the past couple hours. I have them mostly "done" now I think, However the main issue that I'm running into is trying to balance having multiple creatures withing a single CR block. I think I'll have to make the main creature its own CR and just add to the encounter based on the number of gobbies that get spat out.
The primary concern is keeping the monsters CR low enough that adding 8-14 cr 1 goblins to the fight wont make it an obscene amount of exp, but at the same time keeping the monsters CR high enough so that it still poses a modicum of a threat on its own.
Here's what I have so far for the Swamp versions
Goblin Carrier CR5
XP 1600
N Huge Animal
Init +3 Senses Low-light Vision, Keen Scent
Defense
AC 20 touch 5 flatfooted 20 (+23 natural -2size -1 Dex)
HP 63 (7d8+28)
Fort 9 Ref 4 Will 3
Resist Fire 10
Offense
Speed 20ft, swim 50ft
Melee Bite +12 (2d8+12 plus grab), Tail Slap +6 (2d6+4)
Space 15ft Reach 10ft
Special Attacks Breath Weapon (40 ft cone, DC 17, 2d6 acid plus 1d4+1 goblins) Grab, Swallow Whole
Statistics
Str 26 Dex 8 Con 18 Int 2 Wis 13 Cha 8
Base Attack +5 CMB +14 (+18 grapple) CMD 24 (cannot be tripped)
Feats Improved Natural Attack (bite), Improved Initiative, Skill Focus (stealth), Weapon Focus (bite)
Skills Perception +11, Stealth +12, Swim +25
SQ Amphibious
Special Abilities
Breath Weapon - While not so much a true “breath weapon”, the creature rears back and convulses its stomach and gullet, puking forth a small rush of caustic stomach acids, along with as many goblins as could gather in its mouth at the time.
Swamp Goblin CR 1
XP 400
NE Small Humanoid (goblinoid)
Init +3 Senses Darkvision 60ft
Defense
AC 17, touch 14, flatfooted 15 (+1 natural +2 armor +1size +3 Dex)
HP 14 (2d8+2)
Fort +3 Ref +3 Will -1
Immune Acid
Offense
Speed 30ft, swim 40ft
Melee Short Sword +3 (1d4+1/19-20x2)
Ranged Blowgun +5 (1+1d3 acid plus poison)
Special Attacks Poison Darts
Statistics
Str 12 Dex 16 Con 12 Int 10 Wis 8 Cha 6
Base Attack +1 CMB +1 CMD 11
Feats Improved Initiative
Skills Climb +10, Stealth +15, Swim +13 (racial +4 climb and stealth)
SQ Amphibious
Special Abilities
Poison Darts - The darts the goblins fire from their blowguns are coated in a special compound harvested from a gland within the creature. Once introduced into a creatures bloodstream, it will slow their movements and eventually paralyze them completely. (Injury DC 14 1/rnd for 4 rounds, 1d4 dex, cure 1 save)
And for the Sea Version
Goblin Carrier CR10
XP 9600
N Gargantuan Magical Beast (aquatic)
Init +4 Senses Darkvision 120ft, Low-light Vision, Keen Scent
Defense
AC 24, touch 6, flatfooted 24 (+28 natural -4size)
HP 180 (15d10+90)
Fort 15, Ref 9, Will 7
Immune Cold; Resist Fire 20
Offense
Speed 20ft, swim 70ft
Melee Bite +20 (4d6+30 plus grab), Tail Slap +15 (2d8+10 plus grab)
Space 20ft Reach 20ft
Special Attacks Breath Weapon (60 ft cone, DC 23, 3d6 acid plus 2d4 goblins), Constrict (2d8+10) Grab, Swallow Whole, Capsize
Statistics
Str 34 Dex 10 Con 22 Int 2 Wis 13 Cha 8
Base Attack +15 CMB +31 (+35 grapple or bullrush) CMD 41 (45 bullrush, cannot be tripped)
Feats Improved Natural Attack (bite), Improved Initiative, Skill Focus (stealth), Weapon Focus (bite), Power Attack, Improved Bullrush, Iron Will, Ability Focus (Frightful Presence)
Skills Perception +19, Stealth +12, Swim +38
SQ Frightful Presence (60ft, DC 18)
Special Abilities
Breath Weapon - While not so much a true “breath weapon”, the creature rears back and convulses its stomach and gullet, puking forth a small rush of caustic stomach acids, along with as many goblins as could gather in its mouth at the time.
Sea Goblin CR 3
XP 800
NE Small Humanoid (goblinoid)
Init +4 Senses Darkvision 60ft
Defense
AC 20, touch 15, flatfooted 17 (+2 natural +3 armor +1size +4 Dex)
HP 28 (4d8+4)
Fort +5 Ref +5 Will 0
Immune Acid
Offense
Speed 30ft, swim 40ft
Melee Short Sword +7 (1d4+2/19-20x2)
Ranged Blowgun +7 (1+1d6 acid plus poison)
Special Attacks Poison Darts
Statistics
Str 14 Dex 18 Con 12 Int 10 Wis 8 Cha 6
Base Attack +3 CMB +1 CMD 11
Feats Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse
Skills Climb +12, Stealth +16, Swim +14 (racial +4 climb and stealth)
SQ Amphibious
Special Abilities
Poison Darts - The darts the goblins fire from their blowguns are coated in a special compound harvested from a gland within the creature. Once introduced into a creatures bloodstream, it will slow their movements and eventually paralyze them completely. (Injury DC 17 1/rnd for 6 rounds, 1d6 dex, cure 2 save)
Hmm have you considered making the Goblins into a swarm? It could simplify combat (if left unchecked, periodically adding 1d4+1 goblins to combat could bog it down very quickly), and give you much more control over the CR of the monster itself. Take a look at Monkey Swarm for the Swamp Monster, and consider upping the Distraction DC by 2 and applying the Poison Dart ability for the Sea Monster.
Cuup wrote: Hmm have you considered making the Goblins into a swarm? It could simplify combat (if left unchecked, periodically adding 1d4+1 goblins to combat could bog it down very quickly), and give you much more control over the CR of the monster itself. Take a look at Monkey Swarm for the Swamp Monster, and consider upping the Distraction DC by 2 and applying the Poison Dart ability for the Sea Monster. I had actually considered making them a swarm, but I'm not sure on it. I like the idea of them being independent creatures and moving around freely as combatants.
As for bogging down combat, I didn't write it into the entry but each monster would contain a finite number of goblins in its gullet. Say 8-12 for the huge and 10-16 for the gargantuan. That way if the fight got dragged out eventually it would exhaust its number of goblins it could add to the battle.
The swarm idea is solid though, would make them dangerous without having to go into the specifics on each and every goblin, just say it spits up a swarm of them every 1d4 rounds. Or could go with it spits out a swarm and 1 goblin swarmleader, a single mob with stats like i listed that "controls" the swarm of weaker ones. Say if he dies the swarm looses the "Coordinated Swarm" ability or something.
Herp derp, I feel dumb. Just realized how horribly I screwed up the ac entries for the carriers themselves. Forgot to factor in the 10 base ac, so drop their natural armor by 10. Oddly I remembered it for the goblins themselves, and the final acs are correct.
Swamp should only have 13 natural for a total of 20, sea should have 18 natural for a total of 24. Sorry for any confusion that may have caused! ^^
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