So I came up with basically one mechanic that I would think would be cool to build a monster around, and I was hoping we could all build off of it and make one together! Any ideas you guys have are welcome.
It's entirely possible that i'm not the first person to this idea, but i've not been through the entire bestiary so please tell me if it exists.
Basically the core mechanic of the creature would be this:
-every time the creature scores a successful attack against another creature, they deal damage normally, but for any amount of damage the attacked creature sustains, the attacked creature gains back the same amount of temporary hit points that last 1d4 hours. (I think it would be beneficial to track each attack's timer individually so that hit points drop off in a semi-random fashion after combat )
Two mechanics to make it especially nasty:
- it takes a decent perception or will save to notice that this is happening. (perhaps the creature's attacks come off as silly, non threatening or are stealthed in some way)
- the creature bestows a secondary effect upon a failed will save of the attacked creature that blocks conjuration (healing) effects (perhaps for 1d4 hours?).
This is just an inkling of an idea, and I really don't know how to build this creature out from here, but I think there is something really interesting here. How would you make this creature work, from lore to mechanics?
I have a few questions or points to consider. It's an interesting concept, it just needs some refinement.
So the creature only takes the damage 1d4 hours later? Is that the intended effect?
How would you describe this to the players from their character's perspective? Just describing terrible wounds opening in their sides? How do you make it clear it was the monster and not some new effect?
Can the temporary hit points be dispelled or disrupted in some fashion? If so, could the monster really do damage by dispelling the granted hit points to do huge damage in one hit?
It sounds like this monster should be based around manipulating life force. Would it have healing spells for example? Be undead? Deal negative energy damage?
Tracking hits individually might work for you, but as a GM that sounds like too much work for me. Consider coming up with a simpler optional system for the lazy people. Perhaps also not rely on random durations, or make the durations closer together. Maybe 4d6 x 10 minutes (~140 with a bell curve)?
What does the perception check notice fluff wise? I don't think a will save makes sense here.
What good would blocking healing effects be if the party isn't taking damage apart from making the next few fights difficult?
How does this creature survive in the wild? Does it feed off negative energy with each hit, and flee when full? Is it undead/construct and doesn't need to eat or reproduce/reproduces through the spawn ability? Does it attack, flee, and then follow it's prey until they drop? Does it hunt in a pack?
How big is it?
And most importantly: what is the target CR?
I have a few questions or points to consider. It's an interesting concept, it just needs some refinement.
So the creature only takes the damage 1d4 hours later? Is that the intended effect?
How would you describe this to the players from their character's perspective? Just describing terrible wounds opening in their sides? How do you make it clear it was the monster and not some new effect?
Can the temporary hit points be dispelled or disrupted in some fashion? If so, could the monster really do damage by dispelling the granted hit points to do huge damage in one hit?
It sounds like this monster should be based around manipulating life force. Would it have healing spells for example? Be undead? Deal negative energy damage?
Tracking hits individually might work for you, but as a GM that sounds like too much work for me. Consider coming up with a simpler optional system for the lazy people. Perhaps also not rely on random durations, or make the durations closer together. Maybe 4d6 x 10 minutes (~140 with a bell curve)?
What does the perception check notice fluff wise? I don't think a will save makes sense here.
What good would blocking healing effects be if the party isn't taking damage apart from making the next few fights difficult?
How does this creature survive in the wild? Does it feed off negative energy with each hit, and flee when full? Is it undead/construct and doesn't need to eat or reproduce/reproduces through the spawn ability? Does it attack, flee, and then follow it's prey until they drop? Does it hunt in a pack?
How big is it?
And most importantly: what is the target CR?
Whoo, quite a few critiques, but good questions to ask. Ill answer in order.
1.) So technically the party already took the damage they were going to take, but yes it would appear as if they were taking damage from an unknown source 1d4 hours later.
2.)That's a good point, which would have to be written into the monster's abilities description. There are two ways to go on this one, either yes it can do a ton of damage at once if it's dispelled or disrupted, or maybe if the temporary hit points are disrupted the damage becomes nonlethal? Otherwise, if it's dispelled, perhaps you simply just get your hit points back. I'm not sure. My gut is that perhaps there are two variety of this monster, one which is much more dangerous and has the ability to cancel the temporary hit points all at once as a full round action (or multi round action) that provokes attacks of opportunity and requires concentration.
3.) I don't really have a good explanation for what this creature is, it's really more in the realm of a game mechanic than a fleshed out creature at the moment. Though I really like the idea of a teddy golem, I feel like the creature should be physically attacking the party members for reasons i'll explain next.
4.) A laziness option sounds good to me, I just think it would be really cool if the party starts to realize that all the attacks they took from that lame creature earlier are starting to affect them now. (Say the creature is some sort of extraplanar or ghost swordsman, and all the cuts you described them taking, which seemed harmless enough in the previous battle start appearing on them later)
5.) So maybe in battle with this creature they are only feeling split second aches, but the more perceptive characters can feel a pain masked by a warm numbness. A good sense motive check will probably reveal that it seems hungry and that it's looking at you like you are food. I think a heal check would result in the realization that this temporary well being won't last for long.
6.) That would be one issue, but also to make the party scramble once they've realized what's been done to them, and that they can't heal up the way that they normally do because this creature is still working it's ability on them, waiting for them to die from afar.
7.) All good explanations in question form. Like I said earlier, I don't really have a great explanation for this. There's likely a good reason it needs to resort to this sort of duplicity to be effective. My gut instinct is telling me that it feeds upon every strike, and unless something has starved it or manipulated it in some way it usually will just do a few points of damage here and there to passing strangers instead of going for an outright kill. An alternate explanation is that it's some sort of guardian of the threshold type creature, and it's simply preparing you for it's master.
8.) literally no idea. I will defer to others judgement on this one.
That was a little harsher than I meant for, I couldn't find a better way to word it. Mostly good answers, except for the last one. I do think having a weaker and stronger version sounds like a good idea. Thoughts on the CR gap between them?
Picking a target CR is really helpful when building a monster. If you really don't want to pick, I think 5-10 sounds like a good range for this monster but I encourage you to decide because it's your monster. The flexibility of making it not for a specific role in your campaign is that you can change the target later.
If you pick a CR and unify the image (Ghost swordsman or teddy bear or something else), we can start on the stat block. Take your time and remember that it can always be changed later.