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View Full Version : Cold themed/Madness style monsters.



Seatbelt
2009-04-27, 09:57 PM
I'm running a oneshot campaign for some of my friends, around 14th level. The party has a Wiz/Argent Savant, a Paladin/Ftr/Pious Templar or something heinous, and a Fighter/Wizard/Abjurant Champion (fighter focus) and a Wiz/Druid/Arcane Heirophant.

The general theme of the thing is a quest through an elvish city destroyed by an ice age, and then into a "Mountains of Madness" style trek to destroy Father Lymic from the Elder Evils book. I was just wondering if the playground had any especially interesting suggestions ice-themed monsters, either mundane or "things that should not be."


My party is pretty nuts when it comes to power levels and it takes a lot of specific optimization to counter them. So pretty much any CR monsters are fair game, as long as they don't have something insurmountable like DR Epic or SR where a nat. 20 is required.

Draken
2009-04-27, 10:18 PM
There is the shivadh from Frostburn, and the other aberration that resembles a rust monster from the same book.

I would throw a pseudonatural (epic) cryohydra just for the lulz factor. Or a pseudonatural kraken/giant squid, for tentacled goodness.

Applying the Cold Elemental and Insectile templates to anything could make for an interesting creature related to father Llymic (using a smart creature for this works better, while using the brood template is a better option for big, fat, dumb bruisers).

A room with a floor made of white puddings would be just mean. :smalltongue:

AslanCross
2009-04-27, 10:24 PM
The Frostwind Virago is a high-CR Fey that specializes in cold. (MM V) You could advance her with some class levels. The Chraal from MMIII is only CR 6, but I guess you could advance it until it hits Huge size.

Apart from that---Pseudonatural white dragon?

RTGoodman
2009-04-27, 10:46 PM
I would think ice devils (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/devil.htm#iceDevilGelugon) could work pretty well - they're insectile AND cold. Two of them would be CR 15, a slightly challenging encounter for your party.

Frostburn probably has a few things for you, too, but I'll have to take a look at it to figure out what.

Thurbane
2009-04-27, 10:52 PM
Advanced/templated Remorhaz?

bosssmiley
2009-04-28, 04:36 AM
You want to put your players up against this kind of power (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJOLwy7un3U)? Sick. :smalleek:

Ellye
2009-04-28, 05:14 AM
I saw the thread title and came here to reply: "try Book of the Elder Evils, especially the chapter about Father Lymic". It turns out that that's the point of your adventure already. :smallbiggrin:

I'm in the middle of a campaign that also involves him, and I'm using quite a bit of homebrew. People here already suggested almost everything that I could in official monsters. Specially the templating suggestion.

Thurbane
2009-04-28, 05:30 AM
Advanced, half-farspawn remorhaz would be pretty "cool", pardon the pun.

Also, the bleakborn from Libris Mortis, in sufficient numbers, would be nice, too...

Biffoniacus_Furiou
2009-04-28, 05:35 AM
They'll definitely have some sort of immunity to cold spells on everyone, and that's just fine. Include a cavern or other underground area that's flooded that they'll have to swim through, maybe put a Cryohydra in there as a speedbump. Their clothes will become soaked with frigid water, which they'll probably disregard though it will force them to make Fortitude saves against cold effects at +10 DC (Frostburn page 10). Throw in one or more enemy spellcasters, whether a white dragon or an Ak'chazar Rakshasa or a Yeti Sorcerer, give them Snowcasting (Frostburn) and every spell they cast will have the cold subtype. Blindness/Deafness will be cast at +10 DC, Stinking Cloud will be cast at +10 DC, Flesh to Ice will be cast at +10 DC! Another good spell to use is Blood Snow (Frostburn), especially combined with Web or Entangle. Blindness/Deafness can be used with (a Lesser Rod of) Chain Spell to hit everyone in the party, though that may be a little bit too mean.

I'd include some Yetis and/or Abominable Yetis (Frostburn) with class levels. Make some Yeti Sorcerers, put some Yeti Fighter/Occult Slayers in front of them, include a few Abominable Yeti Hulking Hurlers and you'll have a some challenging encounters.

An advanced Frost Salamander from MM2 could be a decent challenge. Advance it to 18 HD at CR 10 and put them against two at a time. Max out their Hide and Move Silently skills and leave them buried under loose snow waiting to ambush. Give them Improved Rapidstrike from the Draconomicon and they'll get four attacks with each of their four claws. Tundra Landwyrm in the Draconomicon is CR 14, and it's good at scaring up a group and carrying one target away, burrowing into the snow to make its escape.

Edit: If you're going to use any sort of Hyrda, throw out the usual feats and give it Snatch, Improved Snatch, Multisnatch, Improved Toughness, and Rapidstrike. It's also not a bad idea to add the elite array (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8) for another +1 CR, putting a 12-headed Cryohydra at CR 14.

kamikasei
2009-04-28, 05:55 AM
Where are Wendigo from - MM2? Fiend Folio? Cold-themed fey who drive their prey to madness and paranoia.

Tengu_temp
2009-04-28, 05:58 AM
Half-white dragon penguins.