Brzgah-psh, PF PEACH

[crittens]

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.

[Debihuman]

Which attacks are primary and which are secondary? Secondary attacks have a -5 penalty to hit.

Natural attacks have to show the strength penalty on damage.

Weapon Finesse applies to all natural weapons since all natural weapons are considered light weapons. It does not apply to special abilities. Attack with weapon finesse is BAB + Dex modifier + size modifier. Small creatures have a size modifier of +1. Melee is 0 +1 +1 or +2 for the creature's primary attack and +2 -5 or -3 for secondary attacks.

Ranged attacks are always dexterity based not strength based so ranged attacks are +2 as well.

The creature's bite and claw should be its primary attacks and its other attack would be secondary. Note that the damage on all has to include it's strength penalty. A strength of 8 has a -1 modifier. [edited for correct number]

A tail slam should be renamed as a tail slap since slams are specific attacks.

Melee: Bite+2 (1d4-1), claw +2 (1d4-1), tail slap -3 (1d4-1)
Special Attacks: stoneweb (+2 ranged, DC 10, 10 hp)

Feats: Alertness(B), Weapon Finesse

Note: weapon finesse applies to bite, claw and tail slap. It does not apply to stoneweb. Also stoneweb is a ranged attack so it wouldn't be necessary to apply it there. Ranged attacks are dexterity based already.

Stone web text is missing the information on the DC. DC is 10 + 1/2 creature's HD + ability modifier. What does the 10 hp indicate? See the mechanics below. Shooting a stoneweb should be a full round action rather than a standard action. It cannot attack with its natural weapons when it is using its special ability. This is necessary to prevent the creature from being too powerful.

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 as a full-round action, a Brzgah-psh can eject a spray (5-foot cone) of stoneweb juice at an opponent. Treat as a web net attack with 20-foot range. Given the location of the stoneweb glands, it must often be facing away from the target to make use of the ability.

A successful Reflex save (DC 10) negates. The save is Constitution-based. If the save fails, the creature gains the grappled condition, but can break free by making a combat maneuver check or Escape Artist check as a standard action against DC 10. The entire area of the web is considered difficult terrain. Anyone moving through the webs must make a combat maneuver check or Escape Artist check as part of their move action, with a DC 10. Once the stoneweb has taken 10 hit points of damage, it is considered destroyed.

Iron Bite is also missing some game mechanics. There should be a limit to what the creature can bite through. Do the holes left from a bite have any affect on the integrity of the armor? Does the leather armor lose its +1 armor bonus until repaired?

Debby

Edit thanks for checking on my math.

[Dracomortis]

Which attacks are primary and which are secondary? Secondary attacks have a -5 penalty to hit.

*snip*

I'm going to guess that the creature's bite should be its most powerful attack so that should be the creature's primary attack and its other attacks would be secondary. Note that the damage on all has to include it's strength penalty. A strength of 8 has a -2 modifier.

In Pathfinder, an attack is either primary or secondary based solely on what kind of attack it is; the number of attacks a creature has is irrelevant. (The sole exception being that if a creature only has one kind of attack, and that attack is normally a secondary attack, then it is treated as a primary attack for that creature). Bite attacks and claw attacks are both primary, while tail slaps are secondary.

Also, Strength 8 is a -1 modifier, not -2.

[Dracomortis]

In addition to what Debi noted, there's a few more errors.


XP 300
CR 1/2 creatures are worth 200 XP.


AC 13; Touch 12; Flat-Footed 12; (+2 natural, +1 size)
Total AC should be 14 (+2 natural, +1 size, +1 Dex). Touch AC should be 12 (touch attacks ignore armor, natural armor, and shields), and flat-footed should be 13 (ignores Dexterity bonus).


Fort +3; Ref +4; Will +1
Fortitude save should be +2 (+2 base save, +0 Con) and Reflex should be +3 (+2 base save, +1 Dex).


Space 5 ft; Reach 1 ft
Reach is always measured in 5-foot increments. As a Small creature, this should have a reach of 5 feet.


Base Attack 1; CMB -1; CMD 8
As an Animal with 1 Hit Dice, it should have a base attack of +0. Its CMB should be -2 (+0 base attack bonus, -1 Strength, -1 size), and its CMD should be 9 (+0 base attack bonus, -1 Strength, +1 Dex, -1 size)


Feats Alertness, Weapon Finesse (Iron Bite, Stoneweb)
With 1 Hit Dice, this creature should only have one feat; I would recommend dropping Alertness. Weapon Finesse applies to all applicable attacks, which includes natural weapons, so it isn't necessary to denote the bite attack in parentheses. Also, because stoneweb is a ranged attack, it inherently uses the creature's Dexterity modifier to attack rolls and thus doesn't benefit in any way from Weapon Finesse.


Skills Climb +5, Perception +4, Swim +6
Creatures with a climb speed have a +8 bonus to Climb checks, and creatures with a swim speed have a +8 bonus to Swim checks. As an Animal with 1 Hit Dice, this creature only has a single skill point; assuming you put it in Perception and you dropped the Alertness feat, the creature's skill modifiers should be as follows: Climb +7 (-1 Str, +8 speed), Perception +5 (1 rank, +1 Wis, +3 class skill), Swim +7 (-1 Str, +8 speed). (Remember to also change the Perception modifier up in the Senses section.)


SQ low-light vision, scent, stoneweb
Stoneweb should be listed under Special Attacks, rather than Special Qualities (just like the Web ability). Low-light vision and scent don't need to be listed here, because they're listed under Senses.

[Debihuman]

Thanks for checking on my math. I am not as familiar with Pathfinder as I should be. I think Alertness should be a bonus feat.

Debby

[crittens]

Which attacks are primary and which are secondary? ...

Debby,

Thanks!

You and Dracomortis sure found a lot of problems. I guess I'll take comfort in the fact that I was right in my suspicion that I was wrong. :)

I see you have a monster making advice post and #0 is "Don't be embarrassed.". I felt almost scared to push the send button on the Teeth in the Dark. For some reason my subconscious put a lot of weight into being perfect out of the gate, which, after the fact, I can't help but wonder at.

Thanks again.

[crittens]

Thanks!


In addition to what Debi noted, there's a few more errors. ...

Apparently!



Reach is always measured in 5-foot increments. As a Small creature, this should have a reach of 5 feet. ...

The Bestiary has some things with non-5n-foot Reach/Space, e.g. bats, pseudodragons, etc. but not many, so it seems possible but uncommon.

But speaking of that, I now notice that many things have no Space or Reach. Some of them rather large (lizardfolk). Is one supposed to know what the answer is from some other place other than the statblock? I don't see it listed in the back under the various creature types.

Thanks again!

[Dracomortis]

The Bestiary has some things with non-5n-foot Reach/Space, e.g. bats, pseudodragons, etc. but not many, so it seems possible but uncommon.
0 is technically an increment of 5 (unless my knowledge of math is failing me at the moment, which is possible). A reach of 0 feet indicates that the creature cannot attack anything outside of its own square -- in other words, it has to enter an enemy's space in order to attack. Reach 0 is almost universally reserved for Tiny or smaller creatures. A reach of 1 foot has no mechanical meaning, because a creature can never be 1 foot away as far as the rules are concerned: it will either be at least 5 feet away (1 or more squares), or it will be 0 feet away (it is in the same square as you).


But speaking of that, I now notice that many things have no Space or Reach. Some of them rather large (lizardfolk). Is one supposed to know what the answer is from some other place other than the statblock? I don't see it listed in the back under the various creature types.
In the first Bestiary, monster statblocks omit the Space/Reach section if the creature has what the game assumes are "standard" statistics in those areas: 5 foot space and 5 foot reach. This was changed in later books so that Space/Reach is always listed even if it is standard.

[crittens]

0 is technically an increment of 5 (unless my knowledge of math is failing me at the moment, which is possible).

Mine fails me all the time and it's mostly my job. I usually plead that I used the arithmetic neural space to store differential equations but no one seems to accept that as a valid excuse. :)


... A reach of 1 foot has no mechanical meaning ...

I worried about that when I put the Teeth together but then I saw the pseudodragon, whose Space is 2.5ft. Looking some more, the poison frog has a 2.5 too, though all Reach values I've seen are 5n for n = 0, 1, 2, ... as you say. Familiars also have smaller Space stats, often 1ft. Taking up a 1ft space seems as mechanically difficult as a 1ft reach, so I don't know what to make of that.



In the first Bestiary ...

Ah, I thought it might be something like that but it wasn't clear to me that everything with an omitted stat ought to be 5ft.