Weird Monsters: show your homebrews

[Dvandemon]

So basically this is not a contest. This is just so everyone can post their homebrewed monsters and get help making abilities, calculating stats, etc. Just to show:

The Candlemaker:
An undead dragon lumbers out of the shadows. As you gaze in awe it appears to be crowned with a massive chandelier. You fail to realize that the "candles" are actually wands. Before you can act you are incinerated by a maximized fireball.

So I had this idea for a while. The level it can be created can be low enough until its a "candelabra" baby dragon. You need certain magical crafting feats, including crafting weapons for undead. Can anyone help me calculate its stats? I also think that you should get a circumstance bonus/penalty depending on whether the wands have spells from your chosen/banned school/domain.

[deuxhero]

Fairly sure being in a banned school disables wands all the way.

Now, how to stats a Personal Space Invader? A grapple that 1. uses absolute value of size mods 2.halfs movement (rather then binds) the grappled target (and adds the invader's weight to incumberance) seems like a good start.

[DracoDei]

A LOT more information would be helpful for that first one... it is an undead dragon with a bunch of wands in a metal thing on its head? Is that all you have to it? If so that should be enough for people to work with it, but it seems to me there is probably some more to your idea you are forgetting to mention. Why a dragon specifically? Why make it undead in the first place, rather than doing a construct? Given the power of Quicken Spell that is going to be a very high level monster in most cases. Can the wands be replaced when they run out? What about before that?

[Dvandemon]

Yes, wands are replaceable you can apply any feats you want but high level feats require an small XP cost. My idea was a sorcerer that wanted his undead dragon to still have spell abilities. I kind of got it from Xykon's dragon that seemed to only have a bite attack. To me a construct wasn't the first thing I thought of (anyways wouldn't the materials for something that size be really expensive?) and I wanted people to recycle the dragon corpse they spent like 3 sessions fighting.

@^:For the stuff i'm missing, thats what this forum is for. So people having trouble can discuss it and make edits until their satisfied.

[DracoDei]

Ah... see, for that I would create a new type of undead template that is lower powered, but keeps the SLAs, and leave the wands out of it. That may just be me though.

[Dvandemon]

I've heard of a template like that, it was called Spell Stitched. I forgot the specifics though... The wands were mainly for aesthetic effect but now that I think about it, would be a dead giveaway if you wanted to surprise someone

[Lysander]

Well, here's a weird (and pretty stupid) idea of mine:

Reverse Zombie
Reverse Zombie is a template that can be applied to any creature. It functions exactly like the Zombie template with two exceptions:

1. Reverse Zombies are non-violent and do not move to attack any creature.
2. Anything that sees a Reverse Zombie has a Suggestion spell like ability (CL20) cast on it, suggesting that they eat the delicious zombie in front of them. A person who makes their save is not affected by the Reverse Zombie's suggestion ability for 24 hours. The zombie makes no attempt to resist being eaten. Eating rotten flesh is not good for living creatures and they must make a DC30 fortitude save or be sickened.

[DracoDei]

FWIW, Spell-stitched was in the Monster Manual II in 3.0 I believe, not sure where it was in 3.5.

[dsmiles]

Have you statted these out yet?

[Dvandemon]

No, thats why I posted this thread

[Harperfan7]

I made a weird homebrew monster (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135124).

[DracoDei]

Quick and dirty method:
Dragon.
Apply skeletal template.
Change INT to 6
Change CHA to 10+Highest spell level it had in life.
Give back spell casting abilities.
CR +2
Requires at least Create Undead, perhaps the Greater version.

[Dvandemon]

I believe it should require Greater Undead. Great job
So heres a new one
Blur Hawks
Medium Magical Beast
HP: 3d6+4
Init: +3 (dex)
Movement: 10 ft, Flight 40 ft.
AC: 15 (+3 dex, +2 Natural)
Attack: Scratch +4 (1d6) Peck +1 (2d4)
Special: Blur, darkvision 60 ft., Prestidigation, Passerby, low-light vision
Saves: REF +7, WIL +4, FORT +4
Abilities: STR 12, DEX 16, CON 10, INT 3, WIS 10, CHA 2
Skills: Listen +10, Spot +12, Move Silently +4, Hide +11
Feats: Iron Will, Flyby Attack, Snatch
CR: 2

[Debihuman]

I'm rather confused by this thread. Are you requesting that we make a homebrew for you, or that we critique one that you post? If you are making a request for a homebrew, that belongs in a different thread [the "Request a Homebrew" thread, which is stickied in the first post]. If you want us to critique one that you post, then you have to at least stat it out as best you can.

Debby

[Dvandemon]

Yes and no for the latter. I'm asking you to post any homebrews you're having trouble with. Here you can brainstorm with others to get a fair and balanced homebrewed monster. I'm rather a n00b at D&D and this is for any other n00bs who want to homebrew.

@V::smalleek:Well now I feel bad for taking up server space:smallfrown:

[Debihuman]

Unfortunately, nobody has posted even a partly statted out monster yet.

Also, if you are having problems creating a monster, I recommend that you look at the stickied threads in the first post. There is an excellent guide to homebrewing there.

Debby

[Threeshades]

Only homebrew monster I made:

Dire Hamster
Medium sized Animal
HP: 3d8+3
Init: +3 (dex)
Movement: 40 ft, Burrow 20 ft.
AC: 15 (+3 dex, +2 Natural)
Attack: Bite +4 (1d6+2)
Special Attacks: Tear (After biting its enemy the dire hamster, tears out a chunk of flesh, instead of simply letting off. After a successful attack may make an additional attack, that always uses the STR Modifier for the attack roll (even with weapon finesse) and deals 1d4 damage)
Special Qualities: Scent
Saves: REF +5, WIL +4, FORT +3
Abilities: STR 14, DEX 16, CON 13, INT 1, WIS 14, CHA 2
Skills: Listen +10, Spot +10, Move Silently +6, Hide +11
Feats: Weapon Finesse
Environment: Temparate Plains, usually near acres
Organization: Solitary, or group (2-10 unorganized, usually just solitaries that happen to be in the same place at the same time)
Challenge Rating: 2
Treasure: None
Alignment: Neutral
Level Adjustment: N/A

[Debihuman]

To help everyone out here's the statblock that Vorpal Tribble uses in his contests. I find it makes things easy to PEACH so I recommend that this be used over Fax's design (sorry Fax).

Name

<Size> <Type>
Hit Dice:
Initiative:
Speed: (# squares)
Armor Class: (), touch, flat-footed
Base Attack/Grapple:
Attack:
Full Attack:
Space/Reach:
Special Attacks:
Special Qualities:
Saves: Fort +, Ref +, Will +
Abilities: Str , Dex , Con , Int , Wis , Cha
Skills:
Feats:
Environment:
Organization:
Challenge Rating:
Treasure:
Alignment:
Advancement:
Level Adjustment:

Description/background/characteristics

Combat

Ability descriptions

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

- Optional -

Lore

Plot Hook/Story if any

[Dvandemon]

Aw, crap NINJA'ED:smallannoyed:
I really should have put more focus into this Debby, but I was distracted by school. So heres a revamp
Candlemaker
Medium - Colossal Undead
HP: 7d12+14(59) - 40d12+400(660)
Init: +5
Movement: 40 ft., fly 150 ft. (poor) - 40 ft., fly 200 ft. (clumsy)
AC: 16 (+6 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 16 - 41 (–8 size, +39 natural), touch 2, flat-footed 41
Attack: Bite +5 (3d8+2), Slam +5 (2d6+3)
Specials: Any SLA's the Dragon had in life
Saves: varies
Abilities: STR varies, DEX varies, CON __, INT varies, WIS varies, CHA varies
Skills: Listen +10, Spot +10, Move Silently +6, Hide +11
Feats: Alertness, Blind Fight
CR: 4-26
I think its total crap but there you go. Can anyone help me fill in the holes?

[DracoDei]

Technically, the server space you are taking up is incrediably cheap... if anything, I think this shows that too few people read the links in the stickied thread.

[Debihuman]

Since the Dire Hamster is edited and up first, I'll take a go at this. First, it is missing its hit points. I'll make my corrections in red and show the math underneath.

Dire Hamster
Medium sized Animal
HD: 3d8+3 (16 hp)
The average hit points on a d8 is 4.5. 3x4.5+3=16.5. You ALWAYS round down.

Initiative: +3 (Dex)
Movement: 40 ft. (8 squares), Burrow 20 ft.

You always list the number of squares for the first movement type.

Armor Class: 15 (+3 dex, +2 Natural), touch 13, flat-footed 12

Touch is without armor bonuses (except deflection) and flat-footed is without dex bonus

BAB/Grapple: +2/+4

BAB is listed under Type in the online SRD and you can look it up. Animals use the same BAB as clerics. Grapple is listed under Combat in the online SRD as well. Grapple is BAB + Str modifier + special size modifier. If a BAB shows 2 or more numbers remember that monsters do not get the second number. Monsters do not get additional attacks with their natural weapons based on BAB.

Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d6+3) plus tear +4 melee (1d4)
Full Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d6+3) plus tear +4 melee (1d4)

Full Attack should list all the attacks the creature can make at one time.
Usually this is bite and claws. If a creature only has one attack, it gets 1.5 times its Str bonus. Attacks are listed as melee or ranged. Melee attacks are BAB + Str bonus + size modifier. Ranged attacks are BAB + Dex bonus + special size modifier. Since it has weapon finesse, it uses its Dex bonus instead of Str bonus for melee attacks.

Also, additional damage is listed in both of the attack lines . In this case it can make a tear attack for an additional 1d4 points of damage.

Special Attacks: Tear

The SRD has a list of Special Abilities. Check there first to see if there is something similiar that you can use. This text is not listed in the stat block but in separate text below in the Combat section.


Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent

All Animals have low-light vision see Animal Type.

Saves: Fort +6, Ref +4, Will +3

Although it doesn't really matter what order you put these in, the standard order is Fort, Ref, Will see SRD. Animals have good Fort + Ref. Good saves are at +3 and poor saves are at +1. You apply Con modifier to Fort, Dex modifier to Ref and Wis modifier to Will.

Abilities: STR 14, DEX 16, CON 13, INT 1, WIS 14, CHA 2
Skills: Listen +10, Spot +10, Move Silently +6, Hide +11

Without knowing what skills get racial bonuses, it's kinda hard to figure out skills here. Because of its Int, it has 6 skills total; the dire hamster gets 4 skills for its first hit die and 1 skill for each add'l HD. You assign skills and then add your ability modifier. For example, Listen and Spot both use Wisdom. If there are racial bonuses to skills, you list them at the end of the Combat section. In this case the racial bonuses are too high for a 3 HD creature.

I added the alertness feat, which gives this creature +2 to spot and listen.

Listen +2 ranks +2 Wis +2 alertness feat: Listen +6
Spot +2 ranks +2 Wis +2 alertness feat: Spot +6
Move Silently: +1 rank +3 Dex: Move Silently +4
Hide: +1 rank + +3 Dex: Hide +4.

All the additional numbers have to come from racial bonuses. +4 Listen, +4 Spot, +2 move Silently and +7 Hide.

Feats: Alertness, Weapon Finesse

Creatures gain feats the same way PCs gain feats at 1st, 3rd, 6th, 9th... It should have 2 feats. Many animals have Alertness as a feat so this makes a lot of sense (especially considering which skills it has).

Environment: Temparate Plains, usually near acres
Organization: Solitary, or group (2-10 unorganized, usually just solitaries that happen to be in the same place at the same time)
Challenge Rating: 1

With only a bite attack, 4 first level PCs should be able to defeat this creature without a problem. If they can attack from range, they won't even take any damage. Of course, it has a very nasty bite, but it's no more powerful than a horse which is CR 1.

Treasure: None
Alignment: Neutral
Level Adjustment: N/A

Combat

Tear (Ex): After biting its enemy, the dire hamster tears out a chunk of flesh instead of simply letting off. After a successful attack, it may make an additional attack that always uses the STR Modifier for the attack roll (even with weapon finesse) and deals 1d4 points of damage.


Skills: Dire hamsters have the following racial bonuses: +4 Listen, +4 Spot, +2 Move Silently and +7 Hide.
All in all, not bad.

Debby

[lightningcat]

Bulicox
Large Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 12d10+87 (153 hp)
Initiative: +2 (+2 Dexterity)
Speed: 30' (6 squares)
Armor Class: 18 (-1 size, +2 Dex, +7 natural) touch 11, flat-footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +12/+29
Attack: Claws +24 melee (1d8+13)
Full Attack: 2 claws +24 melee (1d8+13) and bite +22 (1d8+13)
Space/Reach: 10'/10'
Special Attacks: Trample (1d8+19)
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60', Low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +15, Reflex +10, Will +6
Abilities: Str 36, Dex 15, Con 25, Int 2, Wis 15, Chr 7
Skills: Listen +10, Spot +10, Survival +8
Feats: Alertness, Endurance, Multiattack, Toughness, Power Attack,
Environment: Warm forests
Organization: Solitary, pair, or company (3-5)
Challenge Rating: 6
Treasure: None
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Advancement: 13 – 18 (Large); 19 – 36 (Huge)
Level Adjustment: –
Big, tough, mean, and stupid. These describes these omnivorous monsters, they'll eat everything in the vicinity before moving on, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. Built like a centaur made from the cross between a gorilla and a rhinoceros, but with none of their redeeming traits. Bolicoxes have a thick grey hide covered with a sparse layer of fur, and are an average 7' tall and 9' long and weigh up to 7000 pounds. Centaurs take an especially dim view of bulicoxes, and go out of the way to destroy them. Occasionally, they are trained as shock troops of an evil army.
Scent (Ex): Bulicox can detect opponents within 30' by sense of smell. If the opponent is upwind, the range increases to 60'; if downwind, it drops to 15'. Strong scents, such as smoke or rotting garbage, can be detected at twice the ranges noted above. Overpowering scents, such as skunk musk or troglodyte stench, can be detected at triple the normal range.
When a bulicox detects a scent, the exact location is not revealed – only its presence somewhere within range. The bulicox can take a move action to note the direction of the scent. Whenever the bulicox comes within 5' of the source, the bulicox pinpoints the source's location.
Trample (Ex): Reflex half DC 29. The save DC is Strength based.

[Debihuman]

Aw, crap NINJA'ED:smallannoyed:
I really should have put more focus into this Debby, but I was distracted by school. So heres a revamp
Candlemaker
Medium - Colossal Undead
HP: 7d12+14(59) - 40d12+400(660)
Init: +5
Movement: 40 ft., fly 150 ft. (poor) - 40 ft., fly 200 ft. (clumsy)
AC: 16 (+6 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 16 - 41 (–8 size, +39 natural), touch 2, flat-footed 41
Attack: Bite +5 (3d8+2), Slam +5 (2d6+3)
Specials: Any SLA's the Dragon had in life
Saves: varies
Abilities: STR varies, DEX varies, CON __, INT varies, WIS varies, CHA varies
Skills: Listen +10, Spot +10, Move Silently +6, Hide +11
Feats: Alertness, Blind Fight
CR: 4-26
I think its total crap but there you go. Can anyone help me fill in the holes?


I recommend that you make up a sample creature using whatever base dragon you want. Candlemaker looks more like a template the way you are working on this and it is far to complicated this way to try to edit correctly.

Debby

[Debihuman]

The bulicox looks quite good except for a few errors. I particularly liked your description of them: "Built like a centaur made from the cross between a gorilla and a rhinoceros, but with none of their redeeming traits." It may not be a grammatically correct sentence, but it was certainly evocative; very nice. However, I recommend changing the plural of the name to bulicoxes. It looks more standard that way.

Magical beasts have BAB like fighters. BAB is +12. Magical Beasts use d10 not d8 so your hit dice and hit points are wrong. Should be 12d10 +87 (153 hp). 12 x 5.5 + 87 = 153.

Grapple is BAB [+12] + Str modifier [+13] + Special size modifier [+4] so its grapple should be +29.

Also, you should use the creature's Str bonus for damage bonus for the claw and the bite and 1 and 1/2 times for the creature's trample attack. More on this later.

More importantly, you never figure in bonuses to Power Attack in the attack lines. This made your numbers look entirely off. As a monster designer, it is not your job to tell a DM how to run a monster. Power Attack is solely in the hands of the DM running the monster and to suggest otherwise steps on the toes of the DM.

To compound the problem, you presented Power Attack incorrectly. Power Attack allows you to subtract points from your melee attack and add them to the damage. You added points to melee.

Delete the following sentence: "Bulicoxs prefer to deal as much damage as they can with their attack, and typically use 4 points of power attack to do so, this is already figured into the stats presented above." However, You can state that bulicoxes rely on their power attack in a combat section, just leave the details up the individual DM.

Combat for melee is BAB + Str bonus + size modifier. In this case the number for melee is +24 (+12, +13, -1).

Improved Natural Attack (misnamed Improved Attack in your feat list) isn't a feat that I recommend for base creatures. This is the kind of feat you give an an advanced creature, when you can add more feats. The additional 2 points of damage it can do is rather a waste of a feat, especially since it automatically hits with 13 bonus points of damage. It would be better served by having the Multiattack feat.

Here is how your creature looks with the Multiattack feat swapped out for Improved Natural attack:
Attack: Claws +24 melee (1d8+13)
Full Attack: 2 claws +24 melee (1d8+13) and bite +22 melee (1d6+13)

Trample does 1 and 1/2 times Str damage so your damage for trample should be (1d8+19).

Otherwise, this is a very good monster.

Debby

[lightningcat]

The bulicox looks quite good except for a few errors. I particularly liked your description of them: "Built like a centaur made from the cross between a gorilla and a rhinoceros, but with none of their redeeming traits." It may not be a grammatically correct sentence, but it was certainly evocative; very nice. However, I recommend changing the plural of the name to bulicoxes. It looks more standard that way.
I never was great with grammer (or spelling for that matter), but I do try for evocative descriptions.


Magical beasts have BAB like fighters. BAB is +12. Magical Beasts use d10 not d8 so your hit dice and hit points are wrong. Should be 12d10 +87 (153 hp). 12 x 5.5 + 87 = 153.

Grapple is BAB [+12] + Str modifier [+13] + Special size modifier [+4] so its grapple should be +29.
I think most of that came from forgetting to change the numbers from animal to magical beast when I applied the "tuaric template", which required a bit of changing to make work.


More importantly, you never figure in bonuses to Power Attack in the attack lines. This made your numbers look entirely off. As a monster designer, it is not your job to tell a DM how to run a monster. Power Attack is solely in the hands of the DM running the monster and to suggest otherwise steps on the toes of the DM.
I think that I uses a direct quote from an official source when I wrote that, but it could have just been a note to myself.


Otherwise, this is a very good monster.
Thank you, I try to please.