The Old Man of the Mountain

[RJ Dalton 89]

Do people think the CR of this is appropriate? Also, any suggestions are welcome.

The Old Man of the Mountain
CR 11
XP 12,800
CN Large fey
Init +4; Senses low-light vision; Perception +20

DEFENSE
AC 25, touch 13, flat-footed 21 (+4 Dex, +12 natural, -1 size)
hp 147 (12d6+84+12)
Fort +13, Ref +12, Will +13
DR 10/cold iron;

OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft.
Melee 2 slams +14 (1d8+7), staff +13/+8 (1d8+7)
Ranged rock +11/+6 (2d8+10)

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 12th)
constant— speak with animals
at will— charm animals (DC 16)
3/day— magic boulder, spike stones
1/day— wall of stone
1/week— earthquake

STATISTICS
Str 25, Dex 18, Con 24, Int 10, Wis 21, Cha 12
Base Atk +6; CMB +15 (+17 grapple/bull rush); CMD 22 (24 grapple/bull rush)
Feats Great Fortitude, Improved Bullrush, Improved Grapple, Power Attack, Self-Sufficient, Toughness, Weapon Focus (slam)
Skills climb +17, heal +11, knowledge (geography and nature) +13, perform (dance and sing) +13, perception +20, sense motive +20, survival +18
Languages Common, Druidic, Dwarvish, Giant, Sylvan, Terran
Special Attacks: Spit Lightning, Summon Earth Elementals, Rock Throwing

Spit Lighting
Once per hour, the old man of the mountain can spit a small bolt of lightning as a ranged touch attack that deals 4d6 damage if it hits.

Summon Earth Elementals
Once per day, the old man of the mountain can use his staff to summon 1d4 medium-sized earth elementals. This functions as a summon nature’s ally spell cast as a 12 level druid.

Environment Any mountains
Organization solitary
Treasure half standard
——

With his long white beard and a crooked staff
He tramps along while the folks all laugh;
With a twinkle in his eye, he passes them by;
The Old Man of the Mountain

The old man of the mountain is an ancient being of the mountains. He stands 9 1/2 feet tall, with long, white hair and a beard that goes down to his waist. Dressing in only bear-hide loincloth, he is often mistaken for a giant, but he is actually a fey creature.
The old man of the mountain is a carefree wanderer, living in total contentment in his mountain home. Fond of music and dancing, he is often seen capering over mountain paths to a hummed tune. While not exactly evil, poems and songs describe him as a randy fellow - “mad as an old march hare” - and prone to taking young women he finds on the road back to his cave. Such women always return with tales of amusing songs and dances that end in thrilling, if somewhat frightening, midnight chases. Occasionally these women give birth to hardy children with magic powers.
The old man of the mountain is not prone to violence, nor is he bothered by visitors to his home, but if forced to defend himself, he is fierce in combat, hurling boulders and laying into his foes with his fists and staff. If especially pressed, he can even create earthquakes to send his foes toppling off narrow mountain trails into the ravines below, where they will shortly find boulders rolling down from above if they survive the fall.
If met on friendlier terms, the old man of the mountain knows his mountains well and can help lost travelers, providing them with directions and provisions, as well as a little entertainment. He usually asks for little in return for his aid, though female travelers should be wary of the twinkle in his eye; it may mean he’s taken a fancy to them.

[Dasrak]

His defenses look perfectly on point for a CR 11 monster, but his offensive capabilities are basically non-existent and his spellcasting options aren't sufficient to make up the difference. I would give him actual druid spellcasting to compensate, rather than just a couple spell-like abilities he has now. Perhaps the casting power of a 10th level druid?

[RJ Dalton 89]

Dasrak wrote:

His defenses look perfectly on point for a CR 11 monster, but his offensive capabilities are basically non-existent and his spellcasting options aren't sufficient to make up the difference. I would give him actual druid spellcasting to compensate, rather than just a couple spell-like abilities he has now. Perhaps the casting power of a 10th level druid?

I'm torn on that. I initially considered giving him druid spells, but I wanted to go for a more physical combatant with some magical backup. But it seems the fey's base attack bonus just doesn't want go there and his strength is already as high as I would be willing to put it. I suppose I could bump his HD up to boost his attack, maybe add Improved Natural Attack on his slams to give them more damage, add a few more spell-like abilities, make the elementals he summons large instead of medium.

[Cavall]

You could make his spit every 1d4 rounds swift action and that would boost his offense more than enough.

[Dasrak]

RJ Dalton 89 wrote:

But it seems the fey's base attack bonus just doesn't want go there and his strength is already as high as I would be willing to put it.

Yeah, it is an unfortunate problem with the fey creature type that makes it a complete pain to work around.

You can sometimes solve the problem by increasing the HD of the creature and lower its Con (which should keep its HP and Fort save about where you want it) but this can over-do it on Will and Reflex saves.

Alternately, you could give him an ability to help him out. Stuff like letting him treat a staff as a +5 weapon, giving him haste, or an on-attack effect would all help. Cavall's suggestion of making the lightning breath swift action would certainly help.

[RJ Dalton 89]

New Stats
In addition to a couple of additions to his spells, I also realized that the quarterstaff is a two-handed weapon. I decided to just have him two-hand it, which adds 3 to his attack and damage, and changed his weapon focus to it (after all, his staff is mentioned specifically in the song this creature is based on, so why not focus on it? This song: https://youtu.be/etj46q2rYu4). I also noticed I'd forgotten to factor in his size to his attack and CMB/CMD, so I adjusted that accordingly.

With his spells, I'm aiming for theme. Stone was originally what I went for, but mountains are also known for crazy weather, so I added some weather themed spells, as well as entangle because why not? Also added goodberry to show he can be helpful as well.

Followed the suggestion for his spit lightning attack. I also added bull's strength, but I wonder if that might be overkill now that he can use his lightning attack more often. Also increased the size of his earth elementals. I'm not sure if that's overdoing it, too, though. I mean, a large earth elemental is only CR 5, so they're more of a nuisance than a threat for an 11th level party, but they can get in the way and give the old man the chance to flank, or put enemies between himself and the players to slow them down for a round or two.

I do wonder now, though, should I even bother keeping the rock throwing thing? He's far less likely to hit with rocks than his Spit Lightning attack, so there's not much reason to bother with rocks. I only put it in because I wanted it to seem easier to confuse the creature with a common giant.

The Old Man of the Mountain
CR 11
XP 12,800
CN Large fey
Init +4; Senses low-light vision; Perception +20

DEFENSE
AC 25, touch 13, flat-footed 21 (+4 Dex, +12 natural, -1 size)
hp 147 (12d6+84+12)
Fort +13, Ref +12, Will +13
DR 10/cold iron;

OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft.
Melee 2 slams +12 (1d8+7), quarterstaff +16/+11 (1d8+10)
Ranged rock +11/+6 (2d8+10)

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 12th)
constant— speak with animals
at will— charm animals (DC 16), commune with birds,
3/day— magic boulder, spike stones, entangle (DC 16), goodberry, thunderstomp, gust of wind
1/day— wall of stone, greater aggressive thundercloud (DC 19), bull’s strength (self only)
1/week— earthquake, control weather

STATISTICS
Str 25, Dex 18, Con 24, Int 10, Wis 21, Cha 12
Base Atk +6; CMB +14 (+16 grapple/bull rush); CMD 28 (30 grapple/bull rush)
Feats Great Fortitude, Improved Bullrush, Improved Grapple, Power Attack, Self-Sufficient, Toughness, Weapon Focus (quarterstaff)
Skills climb +17, heal +11, knowledge (geography and nature) +13, perform (dance and sing) +13, perception +20, sense motive +20, survival +18
Languages Common, Druidic, Dwarvish, Giant, Sylvan, Terran
Special Attacks: Spit Lightning, Summon Earth Elementals, Rock Throwing

Spit Lighting
As a swift action, the old man of the mountain can spit a small bolt of lightning as a ranged touch attack that deals 4d6 damage if it hits once every 1d4 rounds. This attack has a range of 100 feet.

Summon Earth Elementals
Once per day, the old man of the mountain can use his staff to summon 1d4 large earth elementals. This functions as a summon nature’s ally spell, caster level 12.