[3.5 Monster] Chull Necronaught (feedback please) (now with lore)

[Chainsaw Hobbit]

This is my idea for a 3.5 monster, I made it to be easy to use and fun to fight.
(Sorry for any stat flaws, I'm a little dusty on 3.5 mechanics)

Out of the swamp rises the rotting undead corpse of a giant lobster creature with tiny, flailing tentacles. It's exo-skeleton is torn and damaged and vile slime seeps out of the wounds.

Stats:
Chull Necronaught CR 12
Always Neutral Evil Huge Undead
Init +2

AC 25 FF 23 Touch 10
(-2 size, +2 Dex , +15 natural)
HD 44
HP 341 (44d12 + 45)
Fort +9 Ref +11 Will +15

Speed 8 squares (40 ft), swim 6 squares (30 ft)
Base Atk +11; Grp +31
Attack Slam +26; 3d6 + 20
Attack claw +26; 2d6 + 16 + poison
Full Attack 2 claws +26; 2d6 + 16 + poison

Space 3 squares (huge, 15 ft) Reach 2 squares (10 ft)
Abilities Str 34(+12) Dex 14(+2) Con -- Int 3(-4) Wis 10(+0) Cha 1(-5)
Total Feats 15
Feats Toughness x15
Gear --
Total Cost of Gear 0gp

Undead Traits (EX)

Damage Reduction (Ex)
10/-

Poison (SU)
Fort DC 32
Initial Effect: 1d2 Str and Con
Ongoing Effect (after 1 min.) 1d4 Str and Con

Tactics:
The Chull Necronaught attempts to poison as many targets as possible, it than fights to the death.

Info:
The Chull Necronaught is a bizarre undead created by an Illithid necromancer. They are now popular as bodyguards among the mind-flayers and are ofen used to protect lairs.

Lore:
Knolage (Arcana) 19 Chull Necronaughts are bizarre undead ofen created by Illithids as guardians.
Knolage (Arcana) 24 Chull Necronaughts carry a deadly poison in their claws which weakens the recipient and drains their life-energy.
Knolage (Arcana) 29 Chull Necronaughts are bad at dogging attacks but make up for this with the ability to soak up copious amounts of damage.

[Eldan]

Sorry, but, like that, without any hefty special abilities and much better stats, that's never CR 12.

It has a lot of hit points, true. But it also has AC 14. A normal level 12 fighter has, what... +20 to attack? At least. So he can hit it on a 2+ both his attacks. He can power attack for almost maximum and just hack into it. It's slam attack is no real threat, even though it will often hit, it doesn't deal enough damage.
A wizard on those levels has spells with DCs of over twenty in his highest slots, and your Dreadnaught has a good chance to fail a fortitude save against a disintegrate or a reflex save against just about anything.

And that is before the party gets even a little creative. It can't do anything against flying creatures, or a hasted party just shooting it from out of it's range.

I would start by giving it a much better natural armour, some damage reduction and... I don't know. It needs better attack and defences.

[Chainsaw Hobbit]

I just powered it up.

[Chainsaw Hobbit]

Now fixed (unless it has other flaws).

[Volthawk]

First of all, what's the DC on the poison? Normally, it's 10+1/2 HD+Con mod. It has - Con, which is +0, so you can ignore that bit. I get a DC of 32.

I was originally concerned about the very weak poison, but seeing the DC, I think maybe it's fine.

I'm no expert, though.

[Mulletmanalive]

This thing has 44 Undead HD, meaning that it will have a grand total BAB of +22. That means ALL of your numbers for the attack column, grapple etc are off by 11.

It is also 24 HD into the epic bracket so that you can score a cool 8 copies of Epic Toughness increasing the bonus hp to +261, which is much more respectable. Or use those feats on making it tougher in other ways...

Knockback [Races of Stone] with its prerequisites would make the creature much more able to defend itself with pushback effects and adding Stomp from Savage Species/Draconomicon would spice up its attack routine some.

Without a physical description, its hard to come up with any other suggestions, but considering the real world has a prawn that uses plasma as a weapon, i'm sure that we can some up with some kind of "screw you" for flying enemies, even if its just setting its environment to underground and giving it Tunnelfighting [Races of Stone again].

[Chainsaw Hobbit]

Without a physical description, its hard to come up with any other suggestions, but considering the real world has a prawn that uses plasma as a weapon, i'm sure that we can some up with some kind of "screw you" for flying enemies, even if its just setting its environment to underground and giving it Tunnelfighting [Races of Stone again].

I now have one.

[Obrysii]

Can you post it in a regular format? I don't know about others, but the regular one (ie, MM 3.5) is far easier to digest and much easier to look at - especially when you're trying to review a new monster.

That said, is there a reason you just gave it Toughness 15 times?

Also, just having something tough and durable with no real features does not make for a "fun and interesting" fight - it makes for a long and tedious one.

[Debihuman]

Is this an Undead Advanced Chuul or something like it?

The main reason for using the Standard Format in the SRD instead of this one is because it is easier to critique.

It's spelled "Chuul" not "Chull." They only have 2 claws and no slam attack. They also have a paralytic tentacle.

You forgot the size modifier on grapple and attack. You apply your Str bonus to claw damage.

Since you are advancing the chuul by size you should add those modifiers too. For example, instead of 2d6 damage which is what a Large Chuul does, it should be 3d6.

I'm not sure why the undead chuul doesn't have skills since it has an Int score. Only mindless undead don't get skills. It should have 47 skill points to use. I gave it 12 ranks in Hide, Listen and Spot and 11 in Swim and then adjusted for abilities and size. Huge creatures have a -8 to Hide.

I am not sure why you hamstrung it with Toughnessx15 as its feats. The standard chuul has Alertness, Blind-Fight,Combat Reflexes, and Improved Initiative as its feats. I recommend giving it the following feats: Alertness, Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Toughness x4, Epic ToughnessX8.

This gives it +2 to Spot and Listen, and increases bonus hit points to 252 instead of 45 and increases it's Initiative by +4.

Here is how I think it should look in standard format. I've give it all the standard chuul abilities (and updated for Str, Size, etc.). Since it is Undead, it doesn't need to breathe and loses the Amphibious quality. I advanced all the damage it can do by 2 steps to account for new size.

Also, Lore checks [see Knowledge skill] are 10 + Creature's HD.

Using VT's CR estimator I get a CR of 34.

June 13 Edits: Fixed stat block to reflect that it increased by Size from Large to Huge although really this should be Gargantuan according to the normal advancement of a chuul. It seems that it's undead state is slightly smaller than would be expected so that can be explained. I corrected the amount of damage for going from Large to Huge and factored in the Str bonus to damage where it applies (Claw, Constrict, Paralytic Tentacles). I forgot the Initiative in the stat block too so that's corrected with update for new feats. I also added the feats where appropriate and updated skills. I think it is all done now but you might want to recheck it to see if I missed anything.

One more thing: I changed around the lore section. It would be easier to figure out that chuuls are bad at dodging attacks than it would be to figure out their poisonous tentacles. Also, the tentacles are poisonous not the claws as per the chuul entry. The Lore should be revealed as either Arcana (for a standard chuul) or Religion since it is now Undead. Lore checks also updated to reflect proper DCs based on HD.

Here is the Updated Chuul Necronaught:

Chuul Necronaught
Huge Undead
Hit Dice: 44d12+252 (538 hp)
Initiative: +6
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares), Swim 30 ft.
Armor Class: 25 (-2 size, +2 Dex , +15 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 23
BAB/Grapple: +22/+44
Attack: Claw +32 melee (3d6+12)
Full Attack: 2 Claws +32 melee (3d6+12)
Space/Reach: 15 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Constrict 4d6+12, improved grab, paralytic tentacles
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., immunity to poison, undead traits
Saves: Fort +14, Reflex +16 Will +24
Abilities: Str 34 (+12), Dex 14 (+2), Con —, Int 3 (-4), Wis 10 (+0), Cha 1 (-5)
Skills: Hide +6, Listen +14, Spot +14, Swim +23
Feats: Alertness, Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Toughness x4, Epic Toughness x8
Environment: Temperate marshes
Organization: Solitary, pair, or pack (3-5)
Challenge Rating: 34
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral evil
Advancement: —
Level Adjustment: —

Combat

A chuul prefers to wait by the shore, submerged in murky water, until it hears nearby prey (in or out of the water) that it can attack with surprise. A chuul grabs with its claws and constricts its foe, then passes the opponent to its paralytic tentacles. It tries to always have one claw free, so if it faces a large number of opponents, it drops a paralyzed or dead victim and continues attempting to grab, constrict, and paralyze the rest.

Constrict (Ex): On a successful grapple check, a chuul deals 4d6+12 points of damage.

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a chuul must hit with a claw attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can constrict or on its next turn transfer a grabbed opponent to its tentacles.

Paralytic Tentacles (Ex): A chuul can transfer grabbed victims from a claw to its tentacles as a move action. The tentacles grapple with the same strength as the claw but deal no damage. However, they exude a paralytic secretion. Anyone held in the tentacles must succeed on a DC 32 Fortitude save each round on the chuul’s turn or be paralyzed for 6 rounds. The save DC is Constitution-based. While held in the tentacles, paralyzed or not, a victim automatically takes 2d6+6 points of damage each round from the creature’s mandibles.

Skills: A chuul has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight line.

Lore
A successful Knowledge (Arcana) or Knowledge (Religion) reveals the following information:

DC 54: Chuul Necronaughts are bizarre undead often created by Illithids as guardians.

DC 59: Chuul Necronaughts are bad at dodging attacks but make up for this with the ability to soak up copious amounts of damage.

DC 64: Chuul Necronaughts exude a paralytic poison in their tentacles.

Debby