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MetalKelt
2006-08-12, 08:55 PM
My brother, a couple friends, and myself are slowly working on a full blown campaign world. I'll be occaisionally posting different things we have developed here. Hopefully others can make use of some of what we come up with and we can get some feedback. Here's one of the creatures we are working on, the Shadow Feeder.

Shadow Feeder

Small Aberration

Hit Dice: 4d8+4 (22 hp)

Initiative: +4

Speed: 50 ft. (10 squares)

Armor Class: 15 (+4 Dex, +1 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 11

Base Attack / Grapple: +3 / -1

Attack: Tentacle +8 melee (1d3)

Full Attack: 2 tentacles +8 melee (1d3)

Space / Reach: 5 ft. / 5 ft.

Special Attacks: Mind drain

Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft.

Saves: Fort +2, Ref +5, Will +4

Abilities: Str 10, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 6, Wis 13, Cha 10

Skills: Climb +4, Hide +8, Move Silently +6

Feats: Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (tentacle)

Environment: Underground

Organization: 1-10

Challenge Rating: 3

Treasure: None

Alignment: Usually neutral evil

Advancement: 5 HD (Small)

Level Adjustment: -



This creature is about four feet high when standing on its four
tentacle legs.The body of the creature is almost entirely head.It has
a dark brown / grayish scale-like skin.Two additional tentacles wave
menacingly in front of it.Its face has two eyes with a vestigial mouth
below.



Shadow feeders inhabit dark and shadowy locations, frequently
underground, but can also be found in dungeons, sewers and other
similarly dark and infrequently traveled spaces.

A shadow feeder lives off of the mental energy of its
victims.Typically found in small groups, but occasionally solitary,
shadow feeders prefer to ambush their prey as is passes by rather than
actively stalking it.

Many villages have been terrorized by packs of shadow feeders that have
taken up residence and attacked the citizens after dark.



Combat

A shadow feeder will hide in the darker shadows or hang from above,
waiting to pounce on its victim.Being somewhat intelligent, multiple
shadow feeders will often cooperate.Several shadow feeders may grapple
a foe while the others attempt to feed.

Mind Drain (Ex): The feeder obtains sustenance from the mental energies
of other creatures.Whenever a shadow feeder criticals, instead of hit
point damage, it does 1d3 points of ability damage to Intelligence,
Wisdom and Charisma.This effect also occurs when a shadow feeder’s
attack hit while its target is unconscious or helpless. A shadow
feeder’s mind drain cannot reduce any ability score below 1.

chaiyo
2006-08-13, 02:07 PM
This looks like a remarkable variety of stalker. I can picture now a campaign derived from some brain-draining creatures invading some sort of aristocracy. "I say, I seem to have had my charisma score lowered to make me even more obnoxious!" But seriously, this is a well-done creature that I only have a few remarks about.

1) You seem to have forgotten about Weapon Focus or size bonuses, one of the two, when calculating the tentacle attack bonus. It should be +9.

2) The will save is one point short of what it should be.

3) You have one more skill point to add to skills.

4) Organization is normally listed "Single, pair [not normally for Aberrations], Group [or some other name, normally between 2-4 or 2-6], Bigger Group [this would be what goes up to 10].

Minor things, really.

MetalKelt
2006-08-14, 07:39 PM
Thanks for spotting those things. Missed the size modifiers in a couple places and made a few mistakes adding things up (doh!). Here's the updated version:

Shadow Feeder

Small Aberration
Hit Dice: 4d8+4 (22 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 50 ft. (10 squares)
Armor Class: 16 (+4 Dex, +1 size, +1 natural), touch 15, flat-footed 12
Base Attack / Grapple: +3 / -1
Attack: Tentacle +9 melee (1d3)
Full Attack: 2 tentacles +9 melee (1d3)
Space / Reach: 5 ft. / 5 ft.
Special Attacks: Mind drain
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft.
Saves: Fort +2, Ref +5, Will +5
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 6, Wis 13, Cha 10
Skills: Climb +4, Hide +8, Move Silently +7
Feats: Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (tentacle)
Environment: Underground
Organization: Solitary, Pair, Group (2-8)
Challenge Rating: 3
Treasure: None
Alignment: Usually neutral evil
Advancement: 5 HD (Small)
Level Adjustment: -

This creature is about four feet high when standing on its four
tentacle legs.The body of the creature is almost entirely head.It has
a dark brown / grayish scale-like skin.Two additional tentacles wave
menacingly in front of it.Its face has two eyes with a vestigial mouth
below.


Shadow feeders inhabit dark and shadowy locations, frequently
underground, but can also be found in dungeons, sewers and other
similarly dark and infrequently traveled spaces.

A shadow feeder lives off of the mental energy of its
victims.Typically found in small groups, but occasionally solitary,
shadow feeders prefer to ambush their prey as is passes by rather than
actively stalking it.

Many villages have been terrorized by packs of shadow feeders that have
taken up residence and attacked the citizens after dark.

Combat

A shadow feeder will hide in the darker shadows or hang from above,
waiting to pounce on its victim.Being somewhat intelligent, multiple
shadow feeders will often cooperate.Several shadow feeders may grapple
a foe while the others attempt to feed.

Mind Drain (Ex): The feeder obtains sustenance from the mental energies
of other creatures.Whenever a shadow feeder criticals, instead of hit
point damage, it does 1d3 points of ability damage to Intelligence,
Wisdom and Charisma.This effect also occurs when a shadow feeder’s
attack hit while its target is unconscious or helpless. A shadow
feeder’s mind drain cannot reduce any ability score below 1.

I_Got_This_Name
2006-08-14, 07:51 PM
Mind Drain should be supernatural, and probably be listed as Mind-Affecting; extraordinary abilities don't mess with minds except through the brain (or chemical damage, from poisons)

MetalKelt
2006-08-14, 08:53 PM
Hmm... good point. I'll have to update that. Thanks for pointing that out.