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All the fun of RPG SS Season 9 has me inspired, so I decided to make some monsters of my own, which I'll now release into the wilds (mwahaha!!!). Please feel free to critique and post your own monster ideas. I figure any CR is fine, let's just practice what we've learned from Season 9.
My first monster is kind of a poor mans homunculus...
Spider like mechanical legs and a needle sharp probe jut out from the rim of a glass jar. Within the liquid, a single eye swims about.
Eye in a Jar CR 1/2
XP 200
Any alignment (same as creator) Tiny construct
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +1
----- Defense -----
AC 14, touch 14, flat-footed 12 (+2 Dex, +2 size)
hp 10 (1d10+0);
Fort +0, Ref +2, Will +1
Defensive Abilities construct traits;
----- Offense -----
Speed 30 ft., climb 20 ft.
Melee probe +3 (1d6 plus poison)
Space 2-1/2 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
----- Statistics -----
Str 2, Dex 14, Con —, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 5
Base Atk +1; CMB +1; CMD 7 (11 vs. trip)
Feats Weapon Finesse
Skills Climb +5, Perception +1, Stealth +10; Racial Modifiers +8 Climb
Languages Common (cannot speak);
----- Ecology -----
Environment any land
Organization solitary
Treasure none
----- Special Abilities -----
Poison (Ex) Stab—injury; save Fort DC 13; frequency 1/minute for 60 minutes; effect sleep for 1 minute; cure 1 save. The save DC is Constitution-based and includes a +2 racial bonus.
Eye of the Creator (Su) The eye within an eye in a jar maintains a magical link with its donor, if he or she still lives, allowing them to see anything the eye in a jar sees.
Many a suspicious mage has constructed an eye in a jar to watch over his lieutenants, sacrificing one of his own eyes for the ability to keep a constant watch on his affairs. Shrewder mages, however, prefer to use the eyes of trusted subordinates, or even monstrous allies, to ensure a constant vigil over their domain. A common punishment for a hapless watchman who neglects his duty is the removal of both eyes to be placed in separate jars. Should the unwilling donor die in the process of removing the eyes, the eye in a jar, although much less useful, can still be used as a sentry, in which case they are often instructed to trigger traps against any intruder.
Consummate spies, an eye in a jar is the perfect substitute for a casting of arcane eye, due to their longevity and their ability to travel to other planes of existence while maintaining the magical link to their donor.
Eye in a jar. For a second, I was thinking this would be an aberration based on Yu-gi-Oh's Jar of Greed card. But this works even better-it sounds like a perfect familiar for one crazy (and bold) wizard. Great job!
Good idea. And you are most welcome
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Here's my next one. Not that I really have the time, but I'd love to work my way through the CRs.
This creature is similar to some existing creatures, but I like that it provides a variation on existing concepts at a lower CR.
A dreadful hum of buzzing wings emanates from a dark cloud of flying insects.
Plague Fly Swarm CR 1
XP 400
CE Fine vermin (swarm)
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., scent; Perception +8
----- Defense -----
AC 22, touch 22, flat-footed 10 (+4 Dex, +8 size)
hp 16 (2d8);
Fort +2, Ref +6, Will +0
Defensive Abilities swarm traits; Immune mind-affecting effects, weapon damage;
----- Offense -----
Speed 5 ft., fly 40 ft. (good)
Melee swarm (1d4)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks distraction (DC 10), infest corpse, rapid multiplication
----- Statistics -----
Str 1, Dex 18, Con 8, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 9
Base Atk +1; CMB —; CMD —
Feats Lightning Reflexes
Skills Fly +5, Perception +8; Racial Modifiers +8 Perception
SQ swarm traits, vermin traits
----- Ecology -----
Environment any temperate or tropical and underground
Organization solitary, plague (2–4 swarms plus 2–7 plague fly zombies)
Treasure none
----- Special Abilities -----
Infest Corpse (Ex/Sp/Su) As a full round action, a plague fly swarm can infest a freshly deceased corpse of size Small or Medium. Larger corpses can be infested by multiple swarms, double the number of swarms for each size increment above Medium. In the following round, the corpse rises as a zombie. If the zombie is killed within a week, the swarm is also destroyed.
Rapid Multiplication (Ex/Sp/Su) A plague fly swarm multiplies quickly. After 1 week within a corpse, the swarm regains its full strength, including full hit points. After two weeks the corpse contains two swarms. After three weeks, the corpse contains four swarms. If the zombie host is destroyed, as a standard action, these swarms burst free of the corpse. After four weeks, the zombie corpse can no longer hold the swarms within it and bursts open, releasing four swarms. Swarms move as one but infest corpses independently.
Plague flies were likely a foul byproduct of long standing necrotic manifestations and the meddling of powerful necromancers. Individually, the flies are a nuisance, ever present where death lingers. When left unchecked, however, swarms of plague flies can quickly bring nations to their knees. More than one conquering militia has had their victory soured as legions of their enemies arose once more to do battle, surrounded by a roiling black cloud of flies.
Plague Fly Zombie
A plague fly zombie is a rotting creature infested with tiny flies that roil beneath its skin. Treat a plague fly zombie as a standard zombie, although it must contain an infestation of plague flies, which multiply as per the Rapid Multiplication ability, as described above. A randomly encountered plague fly zombie contains 1d4 plague fly swarms.
Awesome! I like this variant fly swarm-really something I can also imagine in that same mad wizards lab!
Imagine two of these just exploding out of a Plague Fly Ogre Zombie...
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Eye in a Jar:
- Since 'probe' is not defined under natural attacks, you need to specify what kind of attack it is and which kind of damage it deals. The poison entry says 'stab' as delivery method, but there is no stab attack listed.
- For an eye-based monster, I'd expect a racial bonus to Perception. Perhaps even a gaze or sight-based attack in place of a poison effect, though that would probably raise the creature's CR. And it's an easy design mistake to go with an option that is too obvious.
Plague Fly Swarm:
- Here I would have expected the ability to spread diseases, maybe even zombie rot.
- I'm also not sure why the swarms multiply - I would have thought that more flies equals a bigger swarm, not more swarms.
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Eye in a Jar:
- Since 'probe' is not defined under natural attacks, you need to specify what kind of attack it is and which kind of damage it deals. The poison entry says 'stab' as delivery method, but there is no stab attack listed.
- For an eye-based monster, I'd expect a racial bonus to Perception. Perhaps even a gaze or sight-based attack in place of a poison effect, though that would probably raise the creature's CR. And it's an easy design mistake to go with an option that is too obvious.
Thank you so much! I wasn't quite sure how to word the main attack or where to find more info, now I do.
Racial bonuses confuse me a little. I assume I just decide what racial bonuses to add in and write them up? How should I go about calculating this?
I really like the sight-based attack as an extension to this concept, something I’ll keep in mind.
Plague Fly Swarm:
- Here I would have expected the ability to spread diseases, maybe even zombie rot.
- I'm also not sure why the swarms multiply - I would have thought that more flies equals a bigger swarm, not more swarms.
Ha, expect the unexpected. Seriously though, I suppose the name is misleading. Maybe Brain Fly Swarm…? I’ll have to think about it.
Mechanically, many swarms act as one big one, or at least that’s what I understand from the line in the swarm subtype:
“Larger swarms are represented by multiples of single swarms."
Thanks again, this was very useful feedback!
Racial bonuses to skills usually range from +2 to +8 (mostly +4 or +8, though +2 and +6 exist as well). They are great way to complement a creature's lack of skills and you can use them to drive home a certain theme. In some cases it is spelled out under special abilities (dryad), but usually, it only appears in the stat block. Note that racial bonuses from movement (climb, fly, or swim speed) don't appear in the stat block under racial bonuses. Check out some existing monsters for comparison.
You are correct regarding swarms. I never liked that rule - it doesn't make a lot of sense and it raises some issues (How do the individual creatures know to which swarm they belong? How do I know which swarm I'm attacking if two or more share the same square?).
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it doesn't make a lot of sense and it raises some issues (How do the individual creatures know to which swarm they belong? How do I know which swarm I'm attacking if two or more share the same square?).
I see it as a necessary abstraction, I usually keep my swarms adjacent to each other to make them one whole, and never in the same square (something I'll have to address specifically too). But the D&D Boardgame handles things a little differently, using one miniature, even a medium sized one, to represent a swarm that fills a 4 x 4 inch tile (YAY, spiders swarms in the Legend of Drizzt), so certainly your point is valid.
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Another monster approaches!
I'm wondering about its special abilities and weaknesses. My concept is that it's an ooze that grows stronger from aggression. For weaknesses I thought good or mithril would be great, but too hard to come by at a low level, so I went silver and sonic instead.
Viscous slime forms disparate shapes within its semitransparent green mass.
Seething Slime CR 3
XP 800
N Medium ooze
Init +0; Senses blindsight 30 ft.; Perception -3
----- Defense -----
AC 12, touch 10, flat-footed 12 (+0 Dex, +2 natural)
hp 25 (4d8+8);
Fort +3 , Ref +1, Will -2
Defensive Abilities amorphous; Immune acid, bludgeoning and piercing damage, ooze traits;
Weaknesses silver, sonic
----- Offense -----
Speed 20 ft., climb 10 ft., swim 40 ft.
Melee slam +4 (1d6+1 plus 1d6 acid)
Ranged spit +3 (1d4 acid)
----- Statistics -----
Str 12, Dex 10, Con 14, Int —, Wis 4, Cha 4
Base Atk +3; CMB +4; CMD 14 (can't be tripped)
Skills Climb +11, Swim +11
SQ consume aggression, amphibious, consume rage
----- Ecology -----
Environment any
Organization solitary or infestation (2–20)
Treasure none
----- Special Abilities -----
Consume Aggression (Sp) seething slime feeds off the aggression of its assailants. When hit by a melee attack, a seething slime magically heals 1d4 hit points. An attacking creature can attempt a DC 14 Will save to prevent this healing, effectively calming their emotions enough to prevent this ability from triggering. When this effect is active, the seething slime turns a darker shade of green.
Consume Rage (Sp) seething slime feeds off the rage of those around it. If a creature within 40 feet of a seething slime is in rage, the seething slime gains a +4 magical bonus to its Strength and Constitution, as well as a +2 morale bonus on Will saves. The increase to Constitution grants the seething slime 2 hit points per Hit Dice, but these disappear when the seething slime is no longer in range of a raging creature and are not lost first like temporary hit points. When this effect is active, the seething slime turns a darker shade of green.
Spit (Ex) seething slime can spit acidic saliva to a maximum range of 40 feet.
Seething slimes seek out the violent and hateful places of the world, feeding off the ire of those around them.
It is tough to make oozes interesting.
You could have mentioned how these creatures came into existence and how they reproduce.
You say they feed on aggression--shouldn't that make their victims less aggressive? How do the creature's abilities interact with calm emotions?
I'm not sure I get the weaknesses thematically. Maybe make the creature vulnerable to emotion effects and calm emotions specifically?
The consume rage ability would make more sense if the creature had the ability to make its victims enraged.
Make sure that the abilities in the stat block are in the correct alphabetical order and remove the semicolon at the line end.
I suppose it is meant to say 'vulnerability to sonic'. 'Silver' is not a weakness, that has to be renamed and explained under special abilities.
"The save DC is Constitution-based."
Consume rage should say what qualifies as rage for the purpose of this ability ("such as...").
What's a "magical bonus"?
Oozes are immune to morale effects.
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Thanks again Amanuensis! That enraged template is great.
I combined the two consume powers into one, which I think makes loads more sense and is more in line with my original concept:
Seething Aggression (Sp) a seething slime is empowered by the aggression of others. When a creature within 30 feet of a seething slime attempts an attack, uses the barbarian's rage ability, makes an Intimidate check or otherwise acts in a hostile manner, the seething slime gains 2 temporary hit points. For every 10 hit points gained this way, even if they are subsequently lost, the seething slime gains a +1 bonus to its Strength and Constitution. For every 2 points of Constitution gained, the seething slime gains 2 hit points per Hit Dice. A creature can attempt to calm their emotions by making a DC 14 Will save once per round, preventing this ability from triggering. Attempting this save also ends a barbarian's rage. The spell calm emotions removes all bonuses gained from seething aggression and represses this ability for the duration of the spell, but does not otherwise affect the seething slime.
I posted an updated version of the seething slime on the blog at www.risingphoenixgames.com/blog. Happy blog carnival!
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Well well well, we decided to put together a book of monsters with improved versions of the ones shown here and a bunch more. But the thing is, we need monster wranglers (play testers), to help us bring the best of the best to print.
If you're interested in being a monster wrangler (play tester GM), here's the lowdown:
- I'm looking for 5 GMs who are comfortable running a Pathfinder game (you're here right, so you probably are).
- You'll need to build an encounter for your players, using some or all of the monsters we provide.
- Run the monsters as written, then give our play test lead indepth feedback.
- GMs will be required to sign a NDA (can't let those monsters out just yet).
- For your efforts, GMs will receive a mention in the play tester credits of the book, get a free PDF copy and heavily discounted copies for their players.
PM me if you're interested.