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The Vorpal Tribble
2009-11-10, 01:26 PM
Coalblack ****

http://th09.deviantart.net/fs33/300W/f/2008/239/9/7/EGG_by_Conteart.jpg

Tiny Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 3d10+6 (22 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 60 ft. (6 squares), fly 60 ft. (clumsy)
Armor Class: 21 (+4 dex, +1 dodge, +4 natural, +2 size), touch 17, flat-footed 17
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/-6
Attack: Flurry +10 melee (1d4-2)
Full Attack: Flurry x2 +10 melee (1d4-2)
Space/Reach: 0 ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks: Crawling touch, ferocity, pounce, rake, sneak attack 2d6, shadowswift
Special Qualities: Crow at midnight, darkvision 120 ft., dual existence, low-light vision
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +8, Will +4
Abilities: Str 6, Dex 18, Con 14, Wis 12, Int 2, Cha 12
Skills: Balance +8, Bluff +5, Escape Artist +8, Hide +22, Intimidate +5, Spot +5, Survival +5
Feats: Dodge, Iron Will, Weapon Finesse (flurry)(B)
Environment: Any land
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 3
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 4-7 HD (Tiny)
Level Adjustment: -

Coalblack cockerels are creatures of great rarity. They are born to mothers who die in the effort of egg laying upon unhallowed ground. The heat of decomposition warms the egg until the chick hatches. It feeds off the maggots of her corpse, growing rapidly. Within a week it has reached full bantie size. Witches are known to produce the required conditions and raise the **** for their own purposes. They are an evil mockery of the rooster's normal symbol of the sun, light and life.

They are more than black, and even in the darkest cave, they can be seen as an even deeper darkness. They shun the day, but if forced into sunlight appear as a normal bantam rooster, albeit one with feathers completely hiding it's face. It's feathers are alike to tar-dripped spider webs, the lacing forming grotesque patterns in the wind. It's hackles are permanently raised in battle readiness. The legs are of bone-like paleness and it's beak full of razor, pin-like teeth. From it's beak there always seems to issue a vague shadow of many, long, writhing worms.


Combat
In spite of their humble stature coalblack ***** are vicious and deadly killers. They lie in wait from a hidden locale and spring at their prey, in complete silence.

Crawling Touch (Ex): Any wound that a coalblack **** deals with its natural weapons does not heal naturally, but festers, attracting flies. Every day the wounds remain unhealed by magical means the damage increases by 1. Maggots infest the wound, which the **** feeds on in the night if it successfully sneaks within. Wounds from multiple attacks stack.

Crow at Midnight (Su): A coalblack **** that crows does not produce sound, but an intense silence. This acts as a Silence spell by a 10th level caster. The **** can continue the crow, and thus the silence, as a standard action, and can continue for a number of rounds equal to it's Constitution modifier.

Dual Existence (Ex): A coalblack **** exists both as spirit and flesh. As such it's natural weapons act as Ghost Touched. Death sense detects it as dead, while spells that detect life also register it as living. It takes only half damage from negative energy effects, and only heals half the amount from healing spells.

Ferocity (Ex): A coalblack **** is such a tenacious combatant that it continues to fight without penalty even while disabled or dying.

Pounce (Ex): If a coalblack **** charges a foe, it can make a full attack, including two rake attacks.

Rake (Ex): Attack bonus +10 melee, damage 1d4-2.

Sneak Attack: As Rogue ability. 2d6 damage.

Shadowswift (Su): A coalblack cockerel is considered to be continuously under the effect of a Haste spell. Bonuses have been added to the stats above.

Skills: Coalblack ***** have a +4 racial bonus on intimidate and bluff checks, a +4 bonus to balance, escape artist, hide and spot checks, and a +6 bonus to survival checks. While in tall undergrowth this hide bonus increases to +6.

Golden-Esque
2009-11-10, 01:36 PM
They have always neutral, but are an evil mockery of life and light? That seems kinda . . . contradictory.

The Vorpal Tribble
2009-11-10, 01:54 PM
They have always neutral, but are an evil mockery of life and light? That seems kinda . . . contradictory.
It's creation is evil, not the creature's alignment itself. It doesn't even have sentience to be evil with.

Crafting a knife to kill with is evil, but the knife isn't.

sigurd
2009-11-10, 02:35 PM
They have always neutral, but are an evil mockery of life and light? That seems kinda . . . contradictory.

I really like that its contradictory. It shows a bias for the describer. Perhaps it makes the monster a little more confusing but I think its also more realistic.

These would make classic evil familiars.

I think there should be some sort of evil ritual that murders a human mother to make one.

S

DracoDei
2009-11-10, 02:58 PM
If I had to guess I would say this is something you either dashed off REALLY quick or have had sitting around a while?

The underlying design is up to your usual standards (although it is hardly your most detailed design), but isn't the usual format "2 Flurries +10 melee (1d4-2)" not "Flurry x2 +10 melee (1d4-2)"?

Also, I would personally have marked this (3.0) somewhere if you are going to be using Weapon Finesse to be specific to the weapon type, but that I could see either way...

I could MAYBE see arguments for Neutral Evil, for similar reason to why skeletons and zombies get that, but since it is a thinking creature, if only on an animal level, I will trust your judgment.

The Vorpal Tribble
2009-11-10, 03:24 PM
If I had to guess I would say this is something you either dashed off REALLY quick or have had sitting around a while?
I have like a list of dozens of monsters I've never done... so I picked one and spent like 5 minutes on it to get it off the list :smallwink:


The underlying design is up to your usual standards (although it is hardly your most detailed design), but isn't the usual format "2 Flurries +10 melee (1d4-2)" not "Flurry x2 +10 melee (1d4-2)"?
Well, basically it has two flurries because of being hasted. So it's not 2 flurries, but a single flurry done twice as fast.


Also, I would personally have marked this (3.0) somewhere if you are going to be using Weapon Finesse to be specific to the weapon type, but that I could see either way...
I had recently read another monster entry that had it specific to a weapon and didn't even think about it and did the same. Removing it.

I'm starting to worry my continuous work schedule is dulling my touch.

DracoDei
2009-11-10, 03:40 PM
Keep up the underlying quality(as you have), and I don't think ANYONE is going to get too annoyed about a few technical errors.

Rainbownaga
2009-11-10, 03:42 PM
Coalblack ****

Crow at Midnight(Ex): A coalblack **** that crows does not produce sound, but an intense silence. This acts as a Silence spell by a 10th level caster. The **** can continue the crow as a standard action, and can continue for a number of rounds equal to it's Constitution modifier.


Do you mean start to crow instead of continue? Otherwise I'm confused about what this actually means.

The Vorpal Tribble
2009-11-11, 07:44 AM
Do you mean start to crow instead of continue? Otherwise I'm confused about what this actually means.
Nope, it can continue crowing, i.e. continuing the silence effect.

I've heard roosters crow for quite awhile before. They just draw it out.

Debihuman
2009-11-18, 04:33 AM
Crow at Midnight (Ex): A coalblack **** that crows does not produce sound, but an intense silence. This acts as a Silence spell by a 10th level caster. The **** can continue the crow as a standard action, and can continue for a number of rounds equal to it's Constitution modifier.

This really should be a spell-like ability; it should be a Standard Action; and it should be limited to a number of times per day. A silence spell cast by a 10th level caster lasts 10 minutes so why does the crow need to continue to crow? It doesn't have to maintain the spell. Rather, it should be able to use this ability 2 times per day (since you already based it on Con 14).

Debby

The Vorpal Tribble
2009-11-18, 04:47 AM
This really should be a spell-like ability; it should be a Standard Action; and it should be limited to a number of times per day. A silence spell cast by a 10th level caster lasts 10 minutes so why does the crow need to continue to crow? It doesn't have to maintain the spell. Rather, it should be able to use this ability 2 times per day (since you already based it on Con 14).

Debby
It does have to maintain the crow, because it's not casting. It has an ability that 'duplicates' the effects, i.e. the area of silence while it makes a specific action, but does not 'cast'.

I only gave it a 10th level caster level for the purposes of spells that remove silence.

Debihuman
2009-11-18, 09:19 AM
Well when a special ability "acts" like a spell of a certain level then it simply mimics the spell. Otherwise, you have to change the way the special ability works. If the silence only lasts as long as the crowing does, then you need to say the ability works like the spell except that its duration is for a long as the crowing lasts and you need to put time limit in place. How long can it crow for? Does 1d4+1 rounds sound sufficient?

Debby

The Vorpal Tribble
2009-11-18, 09:30 AM
Well when a special ability "acts" like a spell of a certain level then it simply mimics the spell. Otherwise, you have to change the way the special ability works. If the silence only lasts as long as the crowing does, then you need to say the ability works like the spell except that its duration is for a long as the crowing lasts and you need to put time limit in place.
How long can it crow for? Does 1d4+1 rounds sound sufficient?
You did read the ability, right? That's all mentioned and included.