Jergmo
2014-01-14, 05:13 AM
Loremdum beetles, and the mold they cultivate, are honestly something that happened completely at random while my PCs were exploring an underground cavern and I was winging it with local flora and fauna. I try to create custom creatures for my campaign setting whenever possible, and this time I created a creature that is accompanied by a dungeon hazard.
Any feedback would be appreciated and I support anything I've created being used by others in their own games.
Loremdum Beetle Swarm
Size/Type: Diminutive Vermin (Swarm)
Hit Dice: 3d8 (13 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), climb 20 ft.
Armor Class: 16 (+4 size, +2 Dex), touch 16, flat-footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/—
Attack: Swarm (1d6 plus 1 acid)
Full Attack: Swarm (1d6 plus 1 acid)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks: Distraction
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., immune to weapon damage, swarm traits, tremorsense 30 ft., vermin traits, resistance to acid 10, vulnerable to fire
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +1
Abilities: Str 1, Dex 15, Con 10, Int Ø, Wis 10, Cha 2
Skills: Climb +10, Hide +8, Spot +8
Environment: Underground
Organization:Solitary, tangle (2-4 swarms), or colony (7-12 swarms)
Challenge Rating: 2
Loremdum beetles are a special variety of beetles that live in deep cavern systems. They have rough and irregular brown shells, allowing them to blend in with stone and soil. Loremdum beetles are social insects and attack in swarms when threatened, allowing them to kill predators that would otherwise kill individual beetles with ease.
Loremdum beetles share a symbiotic relationship with a certain type of cave mold which stores nutrients from the soil to feed the moss over time and allow it to quickly spread should minerals in soil and stone deplete. When damaged, the mold releases spores in the air, causing surrounding creatures to breathe in the spores. The spores are highly corrosive, causing immediate coughing fits and nausea in creatures near the mold. Prolonged exposure and inhalation causes the creature's body to begin deteriorating, and should the creature die, the mold spreads through their body and depletes it of nutrients, leaving a dessicated shell.
However, loremdum beetles have developed unique physiological traits from prolonged exposure in their environment, allowing them to release pheromones that mimic the chemicals released by mold that has been damaged, allowing them to control the release of spores by surrounding mold colonies, as well as a resistance to the spores themselves. The beetles draw nutrients from the mold, and in this process they collect spores on their legs and underbellies, allowing them to help spread the mold to new areas.
Resourceful members of subterranean races such as dwarves, kobolds and goblins will use loremdum beetles and the mold they cultivate as a form of defense for the outskirts of their communities, and the mold can even be eaten safely if properly baked and fermented, resulting in a crumbly and bitter but filling and mineral-rich bread.
Combat
A loremdum beetle swarm seeks to surround and attack any living prey it encounters. A swarm deals 1d6 points of damage plus 1 point of acid damage to any creature whose space it occupies at the end of its move.
Distraction (Ex)
Any living creature that begins its turn with a loremdum beetle swarm in its space must succeed on a DC 11 Fortitude save or be nauseated for 1 round. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Skills
A loremdum beetle swarm has a +4 racial bonus on Hide and Spot checks and a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks. It uses its Dexterity modifier instead of its Strength modifier for Climb checks. It can always choose to take 10 on a Climb check, even if rushed or threatened.
Loremdum Mold (CR 3)
If disturbed, a 5-foot square of this mold bursts forth with a cloud of toxic spores. All living creatures within 10 feet of the mold become nauseous and suffer coughing fits, giving them a -20 penalty to Move Silently. A successful Fortitude save (DC 13) negates.
In addition, all creatures within 10 feet of the mold take 1d4 points of acid damage each round of exposure for the first four rounds (no save), followed by 2d4 points of acid damage per round for every subsequent round of exposure (no save). Exposure includes any nearby squares of loremdum mold.
Any creature which dies as a result of acid damage from loremdum mold becomes host to a number of 5-foot squares of loremdum mold equal to the amount of 5-foot squares the creature's space included. This occurs 1d4 minutes after the death of the creature and can be prevented by casting diminish plant on the corpse. Loremdum mold can be instantly destroyed by fire.
Any feedback would be appreciated and I support anything I've created being used by others in their own games.
Loremdum Beetle Swarm
Size/Type: Diminutive Vermin (Swarm)
Hit Dice: 3d8 (13 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), climb 20 ft.
Armor Class: 16 (+4 size, +2 Dex), touch 16, flat-footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/—
Attack: Swarm (1d6 plus 1 acid)
Full Attack: Swarm (1d6 plus 1 acid)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks: Distraction
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., immune to weapon damage, swarm traits, tremorsense 30 ft., vermin traits, resistance to acid 10, vulnerable to fire
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +1
Abilities: Str 1, Dex 15, Con 10, Int Ø, Wis 10, Cha 2
Skills: Climb +10, Hide +8, Spot +8
Environment: Underground
Organization:Solitary, tangle (2-4 swarms), or colony (7-12 swarms)
Challenge Rating: 2
Loremdum beetles are a special variety of beetles that live in deep cavern systems. They have rough and irregular brown shells, allowing them to blend in with stone and soil. Loremdum beetles are social insects and attack in swarms when threatened, allowing them to kill predators that would otherwise kill individual beetles with ease.
Loremdum beetles share a symbiotic relationship with a certain type of cave mold which stores nutrients from the soil to feed the moss over time and allow it to quickly spread should minerals in soil and stone deplete. When damaged, the mold releases spores in the air, causing surrounding creatures to breathe in the spores. The spores are highly corrosive, causing immediate coughing fits and nausea in creatures near the mold. Prolonged exposure and inhalation causes the creature's body to begin deteriorating, and should the creature die, the mold spreads through their body and depletes it of nutrients, leaving a dessicated shell.
However, loremdum beetles have developed unique physiological traits from prolonged exposure in their environment, allowing them to release pheromones that mimic the chemicals released by mold that has been damaged, allowing them to control the release of spores by surrounding mold colonies, as well as a resistance to the spores themselves. The beetles draw nutrients from the mold, and in this process they collect spores on their legs and underbellies, allowing them to help spread the mold to new areas.
Resourceful members of subterranean races such as dwarves, kobolds and goblins will use loremdum beetles and the mold they cultivate as a form of defense for the outskirts of their communities, and the mold can even be eaten safely if properly baked and fermented, resulting in a crumbly and bitter but filling and mineral-rich bread.
Combat
A loremdum beetle swarm seeks to surround and attack any living prey it encounters. A swarm deals 1d6 points of damage plus 1 point of acid damage to any creature whose space it occupies at the end of its move.
Distraction (Ex)
Any living creature that begins its turn with a loremdum beetle swarm in its space must succeed on a DC 11 Fortitude save or be nauseated for 1 round. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Skills
A loremdum beetle swarm has a +4 racial bonus on Hide and Spot checks and a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks. It uses its Dexterity modifier instead of its Strength modifier for Climb checks. It can always choose to take 10 on a Climb check, even if rushed or threatened.
Loremdum Mold (CR 3)
If disturbed, a 5-foot square of this mold bursts forth with a cloud of toxic spores. All living creatures within 10 feet of the mold become nauseous and suffer coughing fits, giving them a -20 penalty to Move Silently. A successful Fortitude save (DC 13) negates.
In addition, all creatures within 10 feet of the mold take 1d4 points of acid damage each round of exposure for the first four rounds (no save), followed by 2d4 points of acid damage per round for every subsequent round of exposure (no save). Exposure includes any nearby squares of loremdum mold.
Any creature which dies as a result of acid damage from loremdum mold becomes host to a number of 5-foot squares of loremdum mold equal to the amount of 5-foot squares the creature's space included. This occurs 1d4 minutes after the death of the creature and can be prevented by casting diminish plant on the corpse. Loremdum mold can be instantly destroyed by fire.