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channingman
2011-09-27, 01:36 AM
Working on an idea for a monster. It's a demon that looks like a fey. Pixie-like wings and appearance, yet demonic in nature. Additionally, I have a unique spell for them, listed at the end of the post.

I don't have a good CR for them (Likely close to 6-7) or a level adjustment that would be appropriate (+4?).


Appearance: The pseudofey stands little taller than the average man. With leathery tough, light gray skin and translucent green wings, it appears to be a large pixie at first glance. Constant blinking into and out of existence make further inspection difficult, but after a few minutes of observation will reveal several rows of razor sharp teeth and wicked claws and a pair of light purple eyes that burn with deep hatred.

The Pseudofey

Medium Outsider (Evil, Native)
Hit Dice: 6d8 (27 hp)
Initiative: +6
Speed: 40 ft, fly 60 ft (good)
Armor Class: 21 (+6 dex, +5 nat armor), touch 16, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +6/+11
Attack: Claw +11 melee (1d6+5)
Full Attack: 2 claws +11 melee (1d6+5), Bite + 6 melee (1d6+2)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: SLA
Special Qualities: Blink, Darkvision 60, alter self at will, Damage Reduction 5/cold iron or good, Resistance to fire 5, Spell Resistance 17
Saves: Fort +5; Ref +11; Will +6
Abilities: Str 20, Dex 22, Con 10, Int 8, Wis 12, Cha 16
Skills: Hide +15, Move Silently +15, Spot +10, Listen +10, Jump +14, Bluff +12, Disguise +12
Feats: Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack, Flyby Attack [b]
Environment: Any
Organization: Solitary or mob (5-8)
Challenge Rating: ?
Treasure: ?
Alignment: Any Evil
Advancement: 5-8 HD (medium), or by character class
Level Adjustment: ?


A pseudofey stands about 5-1/2 feet tall and weighs about 130 pounds.

Pseudofey speak Abyssal and Common, and may know other languages as well.

COMBAT

Vicious and temperamental, a Pseudofey will attack any who they feel threaten them. They prefer to track down their foes, appearing as non-threatening animals or cretures of their enemy's type. Once they have a sure advantage, they strike first with their SLA, then wade in, relying on their constant blinking and tough hide to keep them safe. If they are hit even once, they usually try to escape.

Blink (Su): A pseudofey can use blink as the spell (caster level 6th), and can evoke or end the effect as a free action. The bonuses to attack from blink are not in the stat block.

Spell-Like Abilities: At Will - Alter Self. 3/day - Eviscerate Caster Level 6th, DC 16). DC's are Charisma-based.


Eviscerate
Necromancy [evil]
Level: 4
Components: S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Targets: One living creature
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fort half
Spell Resistance: Yes

With a single gesture, you cause the targeted creature to explode from inside with negative energy. This attack deals 1d8 vile damage per caster level (max 10d8). Should this attack reduce a creature to fewer than 0 hit points, it requires a DC 20 heal check to stabilize the creature (although the creature may stabilize itself).

Debihuman
2011-09-27, 06:55 AM
Working on an idea for a monster. It's a demon that looks like a fey. Fey-like wings and appearance, yet demonic in nature. Additionally, I have a unique spell for them, listed at the end of the post.

I don't have a good CR for them (Likely close to 6-7) or a level adjustment that would be appropriate (+4?).

The idea is good but I think your description is too bland for it. Fey don't all look alike so perhaps you should be more specific. I mean do we need another creature that looks exactly like an elf with wings? I am sure you can think of something with a little more pizzazz.

As for the numbers, it isn't a good balance for CR 6 or 7. A party at that level can attack at range so even flight 60 ft isn't much of a challenge. Because it only has 4 HD, the party will easily overcome its measly 18 hit points. One magic missile has the potential to do 15 points of damage. One successful scorching ray does 4d6 and could easily kill it. Blinking gives the attacker a 50% change of the spell failing but that's not really a good risk for this creature. It does far more damage than it can withstand. It is overpowered for its HD.

Rather than weakening it, I actually recommend that you make it a 6 HD monster with a caster level equal to its HD. The fact that it has 3 feats leads me to believe it started with 6 HD, and then you changed your mind and made it 4. It should have 3 feats for 6 HD but only 2 for 4 HD.

It's a good stat block except for a couple of picky details. Type and Subtype.

Medium Outsider (Evil, Native)

Since blink dogs are open content, this is how Blink should look:

Blink (Su): A pseudofey can use blink as the spell (caster level 6th), and can evoke or end the effect as a free action.

The eviscerate spell needs a little tweaking. Unless you have a Monstrous Domain that this spell is part of, the descriptor should probably be Evil. Also, the damage you describe is almost identical to Vile damage from the BoVD so perhaps, you should reference it. Vile damage can only be healed by magic cast within the area of a consecrate or hallow spell. (See BoVD, page 34). For a spell that does 1d8 per caster level, allowing no magical healing at all is grossly unfair.

If the spell only requires a single gesture in the text, the stat block should reflect that.

Eviscerate
Necromancy [Evil]
Level: 2
Components: S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Target: One living creature
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fort half
Spell Resistance: Yes

With a single gesture, you cause the targeted creature to explode from inside with negative energy. This attack deals 1d8 points of Vile damage per caster level (max 10d8). Should this attack reduce a creature to fewer than 0 hit points, it requires a DC 20 Heal check to stabilize the creature (although the creature may stabilize itself).

Debby

channingman
2011-09-27, 07:26 AM
Thanks for the advice! I have an idea for what it looks like in my head - I'm just trying to work out how exactly to describe it so I know the fluff isn't all there yet.

Otherwise, I think 4th level for the spell is fair. With the added hit dice (And added BAB/Saves), I think it approaches much closer to the proper CR.

Having blink and a high AC makes it hard to even hit him, so he can survive with lower hp.

jiriku
2011-09-27, 08:46 AM
I'd say you are looking at about a CR 6.

I'd recommend you use these monsters in packs, though, rather than as solo creatures. As a solo monster, it's a bad challenge for an EL 4-5 party because the party may not be able to heal vile damage at all, and its "glass cannon" design means that it could easily drop a PC or be killed itself in the first round depending on how the dice go. Either way, the fight would surely be a short one. In a group, however, a pack of 3-4 of these would be a considerable irritation to an EL 8-10 party, and glass cannons work more consistently in small packs.

If you're aiming for a solo monster, you usually want the monster to have strong controller/defender aspects, with lots of abilities that give it staying power in a fight when 4-6 creatures are all beating on it at once.

Debihuman
2011-09-29, 08:45 PM
The problem with making eviscerate a 4th level spell is that is very weak compared to ice storm, which is also 4th level but deals 3d6 points of bludgeoning damage and 2d6 points of cold damage to every creature in the area.

Scorching ray, another 2nd levels spell, does 4d6 but only adds one add additional ray for every 4 levels and is maxed out by 11th level. However, you can attack multiple targets with scorching ray.

While eviscerate does 1d8 damage per level, it only targets one creature. I'd put it squarely as a 2nd level spell for that reason.

CR for the pseudofey is probably a high 3 or a low 4. The party definitely has the advantage if they can make use of the see invisibility spell. It is a 2nd level spell that allows the party to see it even when it blinks and allows them to attack even when it goes ethereal. Blinking is not that useful against anything above 2nd level. This is why the blink dog has a CR of 2.

On the other hand, SR 17 is a nice challenge. At 4th level, the party wizard/sorcerer would have to roll 13 or better on a caster level check to overcome the SR.

Debby

jiriku
2011-09-29, 08:49 PM
Cough, cough! DEFINITELY not CR 3. Unless your yardstick is a certain infamous crab (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fw/20040221a).

Debihuman
2011-09-29, 09:00 PM
Really, you don't think a decent group of 3rd level PCs could handle the pseudofey? It isn't nearly that powerful.

As a solitary creature, it is challenging but not excessively so. Vile damage is still better than not allowing any magical healing, which is how this creature was first designed.

I totally fail to see the relevance of the brine crab in this discussion.

Also, you are couching all your terminology in 4th edition terms which mean absolutely nothing in 3.5.

Debby

jiriku
2011-09-30, 12:31 PM
I'm extending faith and assuming that readers can transfer their understanding of the terms to different contexts. After all, you just did. :smallsmile:

A typical EL3 party could probably handle a pseudofey. I wouldn't argue that with you. But handle it without expending more than 25% of their daily resources? Not an average party. No way, no how. :smallconfused: It does have low hp, I'll give you that. But its AC and saves are extremely high for an EL3 party, and its AC could be improved substantially if it uses its alter self to assume a form like, say, a juvenile arrowhawk, juvenile tojanida or a minor xorn. It has damage reduction and spell resistance that an EL3 party would have trouble bypassing. Contrary to your assessment, see invisibility doesn't allow a party to harm ethereal creatures, nor does it provide any benefit at all to anyone other than the caster (although the caster would get a more favorable miss chance vs. the pseudofey). Thus, I think blink deserves far more credit than you're giving it. It's an excellent defense, and since it can be raised or lowered as a free action, it doesn't even interfere with attacking, spellcasting, or movement as blink normally would. The pseudofey flies and hovers, even without alter self. It can thus outfly, outswim, or outdig most anyone in a typical EL3 party, and that kind of maneuverability is useful in combat. :smallwink: Further, it can deal decent vile damage at modest range and the DC 16 is a tough save DC for an EL3 party. Its full attack deals an average of 22 damage (or 30-35 in an alternate form with 4 or 5 natural weapons), which is enough to kill outright most of the more fragile characters in an EL3 party, and would be a significant injury to even a stout 3rd-level character. :smalleek: Further, its shapechanging ability and extremely solid Bluff, Disguise, Hide, and Move Silently skills give it excellent odds of ambushing a party. Its stated tactic of fleeing when injured works well, since it deals damage that can't easily be healed and can use stealth and misdirection to repeatedly ambush even a wary party. It's a wicked good skirmisher.

In sum, while an EL3 party can probably beat it because it's so fragile, it could easily kill one or more PCs, especially if it targets its eviscerate against the scrawny-looking fellows and uses its maneuverability to avoid melee until it's run out of eviscerates (which is its stated tactic). A lot of the encounter would come down to the luck of whether the miss chance from blink rolled in the party's favor or the monster's favor. The pseudofey would be a godawful terror if its feats were better chosen. If it had something like Ability Focus (eviscerate), Flyby Attack, and Improved Toughness, it would only need favorable terrain to be able to consistently TPK an EL3 party. :smallamused:

Debihuman
2011-10-02, 05:42 PM
The question is what is the most appropriate CR for this critter? If you think it would be too difficult for 3, then 4 makes the most sense. I was just pointing out that it was definitely not a CR 6 or 7 monster.

Treasure should probably just be Standard.

Debby

jiriku
2011-10-03, 04:24 AM
The Monster Manual section on making monsters has some guidelines for target attack bonuses, saves, AC and such that I generally use when figuring CR, along with some yardsticks based on my own experience.

It suggests:
Best attack bonus should be (CR * 1.5) + 2
AC should be CR +13
Saving throws should be = CR (for weak saves) or = CR * 1.5 for strong saves
Save DCs for special abilities should be 10 + CR

For monsters that aren't special-ability users, I also use a rough figure that it should be able to deal CR * 6 damage to a single target in a round, and/or CR * 3 damage to three or more targets in one round.
Spell resistance for a monster that has it should be CR +5 (weak) or CR +10 (average) or CR +15 (strong)


Based on these guidelines,
Attack bonus suggests CR 6
AC suggests CR 8
Saves suggest CR 5-7
Save DCs suggest CR 6
Damage output suggests CR 3-5
Spell resistance suggests CR 6-7 (assuming its intended to be average)

I'd tend to regard AC as a high outlier since the monster has low hit points, and damage output as a low outlier since it is intended to be a tricky, maneuverable ambusher. Discarding those two and averaging the remainder... well, I suppose we simply come to different conclusions from the same source. It happens.