crittens
2014-01-05, 11:28 PM
I've decided to try my hand at making monsters. I think I've got all the mechanical bits right, but I'm not sure. Could some more experienced eye give it a once-over? Thanks!
I've started out easy with a simple, low CR, modified beaver. Quake in fear at the approach of the brzgah-psh, the Teeth in the Dark!:
This moderately sized animal at first appears to be, of all things, a beaver. Although, one does not generally see five-inch claws and a foot-wide head on a beaver, especially not when one is 500 feet below the surface.
Brzgah-psh, the Teeth in the Dark CR 1/2
XP 300
N Small animal
Init +1; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +4
DEFENSE
AC 13; Touch 12; Flat-Footed 12; (+2 natural, +1 size)
HP 5 (1d8+1)
Fort +3; Ref +4; Will +1
OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft, climb 10 ft, swim 40 ft
Space 5 ft; Reach 1 ft
Melee claw +0 (1d4), Iron Bite +0 (1d6), tail slam +0 (1d4)
Special Attacks stoneweb (-2 ranged, DC 10, 10 hp)
TACTICS
Brzgah-psh is a predator but orcs are the biggest meal it hunts, and then only in isolation and when caught unawares. However, a gnome or halfling, lagging behind the group can seem worth the effort. Brzgah-psh is direct and to the point, attacking with teeth and claws and will use its most powerful asset, its bite, at the first opportunity. As an animal seeking only to survive, it is quick to recognize an untenable situation and bid a hasty retreat. It will often attempt to slow its pursuers by spraying stoneweb juice behind it as it flees. If given the chance to prepare it will try to drop on its intended prey from above.
STATISTICS
Str 8, Dex 12, Con 10, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 5
Base Attack 1; CMB -1; CMD 8
Feats Alertness, Weapon Finesse (Iron Bite, Stoneweb)
Skills Climb +5, Perception +4, Swim +6;
SQ low-light vision, scent, stoneweb
Special Abilities
Iron Bite (Ex)
Brzgah-psh’s jaws and teeth, used to chew stone from the walls, are its preferred weapon. It is quite capable of punching through leather armor with little effort and possibly through metal (DC 8 plus total Armor Bonus) and leaving a three inch hole.
Stoneweb (Ex)
By slowly mixing pulverized rock, chewed from the rock walls with their powerful teeth, and stoneweb juice, a sticky substance ejected from glands near the base of their tail, Brzgah-psh fashion a tough spider-silk-like paste which they use to make a messy, sticky, very tough sheet-like material, Stoneweb. This they spread over surfaces and hang down from the ceiling in thick columns to catch passing creatures. Like a spider, they will sit in hiding, waiting for something to blunder into their web, which they sense as with the Web ability.
Once per round, a Brzgah-psh can eject a spray (5ft cone) of stoneweb juice at an opponent. Treat as a Web net attack with 20ft range. Given the location of the stoneweb glands, it must often be facing away from the target to make use of the ability.
ECOLOGY
Environment subterranean lakes and rivers
Organization solitary, pair, or family (2 adults, 0-8 young)
Treasure incidental plus pelt (2 GP), stoneweb juice (10 GP), and teeth (1 GP each).
Not all things Above remain so. Some, through happenstance, deliberation or force, go down into the depths and, despite the odds, survive and thrive. How beavers came to occupy a predatory niche in the dark places Below is not known, but that they are there cannot be denied, especially by their favorite meal, orcs, from whence they get their name, Brzgah-psh, literally ‘the teeth in the dark’.
About twice the mass of an aboveground beaver, at a glance they appear little different but a closer look reveals a much larger head and fearsome teeth as well as significant claws, which they use for climbing the rock walls of their hunting range. It is often conjectured that the Brzgah-psh spent some time among the Drow, for they have developed the ability and penchant for producing a kind of web. By slowly mixing pulverized rock, chewed from the rock walls with their powerful teeth, and a sticky substance ejected from glands near the base of their tail, Brzgah-psh fashion a tough spider-silk-like substance which they use to make a messy, sticky, sheet-like material. This they spread over surfaces and hang down from the ceiling to catch passing creatures. Like a spider, they will sit in hiding waiting for something to blunder into their web, which they sense as with the Web ability.
Brzgah-psh pelts are as prized as beaver pelts. In addition, with sufficient skill, it is possible to fashion each of the two front teeth (5in long including root) into a short dagger of exceptional hardness (Hardness 15, HP 5). Finally, each Brzgah-psh will yield enough stoneweb juice to fashion 1d2 stoneweb juice potions (5ft area, 5 HP, half that of actual stoneweb due to the missing stone).
Like their less fearsome cousins, brzgah-psh build dams and lodges, though with stoneweb. The lodge will be a safe distance into water, if possible, with an entrance below the surface.
I've started out easy with a simple, low CR, modified beaver. Quake in fear at the approach of the brzgah-psh, the Teeth in the Dark!:
This moderately sized animal at first appears to be, of all things, a beaver. Although, one does not generally see five-inch claws and a foot-wide head on a beaver, especially not when one is 500 feet below the surface.
Brzgah-psh, the Teeth in the Dark CR 1/2
XP 300
N Small animal
Init +1; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +4
DEFENSE
AC 13; Touch 12; Flat-Footed 12; (+2 natural, +1 size)
HP 5 (1d8+1)
Fort +3; Ref +4; Will +1
OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft, climb 10 ft, swim 40 ft
Space 5 ft; Reach 1 ft
Melee claw +0 (1d4), Iron Bite +0 (1d6), tail slam +0 (1d4)
Special Attacks stoneweb (-2 ranged, DC 10, 10 hp)
TACTICS
Brzgah-psh is a predator but orcs are the biggest meal it hunts, and then only in isolation and when caught unawares. However, a gnome or halfling, lagging behind the group can seem worth the effort. Brzgah-psh is direct and to the point, attacking with teeth and claws and will use its most powerful asset, its bite, at the first opportunity. As an animal seeking only to survive, it is quick to recognize an untenable situation and bid a hasty retreat. It will often attempt to slow its pursuers by spraying stoneweb juice behind it as it flees. If given the chance to prepare it will try to drop on its intended prey from above.
STATISTICS
Str 8, Dex 12, Con 10, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 5
Base Attack 1; CMB -1; CMD 8
Feats Alertness, Weapon Finesse (Iron Bite, Stoneweb)
Skills Climb +5, Perception +4, Swim +6;
SQ low-light vision, scent, stoneweb
Special Abilities
Iron Bite (Ex)
Brzgah-psh’s jaws and teeth, used to chew stone from the walls, are its preferred weapon. It is quite capable of punching through leather armor with little effort and possibly through metal (DC 8 plus total Armor Bonus) and leaving a three inch hole.
Stoneweb (Ex)
By slowly mixing pulverized rock, chewed from the rock walls with their powerful teeth, and stoneweb juice, a sticky substance ejected from glands near the base of their tail, Brzgah-psh fashion a tough spider-silk-like paste which they use to make a messy, sticky, very tough sheet-like material, Stoneweb. This they spread over surfaces and hang down from the ceiling in thick columns to catch passing creatures. Like a spider, they will sit in hiding, waiting for something to blunder into their web, which they sense as with the Web ability.
Once per round, a Brzgah-psh can eject a spray (5ft cone) of stoneweb juice at an opponent. Treat as a Web net attack with 20ft range. Given the location of the stoneweb glands, it must often be facing away from the target to make use of the ability.
ECOLOGY
Environment subterranean lakes and rivers
Organization solitary, pair, or family (2 adults, 0-8 young)
Treasure incidental plus pelt (2 GP), stoneweb juice (10 GP), and teeth (1 GP each).
Not all things Above remain so. Some, through happenstance, deliberation or force, go down into the depths and, despite the odds, survive and thrive. How beavers came to occupy a predatory niche in the dark places Below is not known, but that they are there cannot be denied, especially by their favorite meal, orcs, from whence they get their name, Brzgah-psh, literally ‘the teeth in the dark’.
About twice the mass of an aboveground beaver, at a glance they appear little different but a closer look reveals a much larger head and fearsome teeth as well as significant claws, which they use for climbing the rock walls of their hunting range. It is often conjectured that the Brzgah-psh spent some time among the Drow, for they have developed the ability and penchant for producing a kind of web. By slowly mixing pulverized rock, chewed from the rock walls with their powerful teeth, and a sticky substance ejected from glands near the base of their tail, Brzgah-psh fashion a tough spider-silk-like substance which they use to make a messy, sticky, sheet-like material. This they spread over surfaces and hang down from the ceiling to catch passing creatures. Like a spider, they will sit in hiding waiting for something to blunder into their web, which they sense as with the Web ability.
Brzgah-psh pelts are as prized as beaver pelts. In addition, with sufficient skill, it is possible to fashion each of the two front teeth (5in long including root) into a short dagger of exceptional hardness (Hardness 15, HP 5). Finally, each Brzgah-psh will yield enough stoneweb juice to fashion 1d2 stoneweb juice potions (5ft area, 5 HP, half that of actual stoneweb due to the missing stone).
Like their less fearsome cousins, brzgah-psh build dams and lodges, though with stoneweb. The lodge will be a safe distance into water, if possible, with an entrance below the surface.