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View Full Version : Pathfinder Bone Nightmare [Shapeshifting Skeletal Collective] [Monster]



Admiral Squish
2014-07-20, 12:04 PM
Bone Nightmare

The first sign of its presence is a clattering sound, a dry, hollow clack of a thousand bones shifting and rolling over one another. The monster emerges from around a corner, a rolling pile of bones, a dozen skeleton‘s worth, surges around the corner. Eyeless sockets turn to regard you and as one the bones rise, rearranging and shifting around until a fearsome skeletal warrior looms over you.

Bone Nightmare CR 7
XP 3200
CE Large Undead (Subtype)
Init +3 ; Senses See in Darkness, Perception +12
____________
Defenses

AC 20, touch 12, flat-footed 17; ( +3 Dex, +8 Natural, -1 Size)
HP 8d8+24 (50 hp)
Fort +2 Ref +5 Will +7
Immune: Cold, Undead Traits
Defensive Abilities: All-Around Vision, DR 10/Bludgeoning
___________
Offenses

Speed 30 ft.
Melee Slam +9 (1d6+6)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks: Engulf (DC 18, 1d8+6 piercing)
____________
Statistics

Str 18(+4), Dex 16 (+3), Con -, Int 8 (-1), Wis 12 (+1), Cha 16 (+3)
Base Atk +6 CMB +11 (+13 grapple) CMD 24 ( 26 v. grapple, Cannot be Tripped)
Attack: Slam +9 Melee (1d6+6)
Full Attack: Slam +9 Melee (1d6+6)
Feats Improved Grapple (B), Stealthy, Nightstalker, Power Attack, Cornugon Smash
Skills Intimidate +14, Perception +12, Stealth +12 (+18 in shadowy illumination)
Languages None
SQ: Assimilate, Bone Weapons, Compression, Rearrange
____________________
Special Abilities

Assimilate: A bone nightmare’s most fearful ability is not an attack or defense, it is its capacity to grow. A bone nightmare grows by assimilating the skeletons of various creatures. Assimilating a skeleton requires a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity. Each new skeleton increases the power of the nightmare as a whole. A bone nightmare gains one HD when it assimilates a medum-sized skeleton, 2 HD when assimilating a large skeleton, 4 HD when assimilating a huge skeleton, 8 HD when assimilating a gargantuan skeleton, and 16 HD when assimilating a colossal skeleton. When assimilating a skeleton, they also heal slightly, regaining HP equal to their new HD. A bone nightmare can very quickly grow too large and dangerous to take on, and must be handled quickly when it arises. In addition to the normal benefits of HD increase, such as feats, improved BAB, and more HP, the bone nightmare gains additional bonuses as indicated on the table under advancement, and at a certain HD, the bone nightmare becomes the next larger form.

Bone Weapons: A bone nightmare’s natural attacks are all composed of bone spikes and points, no matter how they are used in combat, they are all the same weapons. If the bone nightmare is under some affect that would normally modify or enhance one natural weapon it possesses, it instead applies this bonus to any natural weapons it possesses, unless that weapon is ineligible to gain that effect (for example, an effect that applies the keen special ability would not apply to a slam attack). Even if it loses the original natural weapon the effect applied to initially, the effect applies to any natural weapons it possesses, as long as the effect’s duration lasts.

Compression: A bone nightmare can move through an area as small as one-quarter its space without squeezing, or one-eighth its space when squeezing.

Rearrange: A bone nightmare’s body is made of hundreds, thousands of bones, and the beast can rearrange them into almost any shape it desires. In its natural state, it takes the form of a rolling mass of bones, a avalanche of death, an amorphous mass. However, with a move action, the bone nightmare can rearrange itself. While any number of specific arrangements is possible, there are four general shapes that nightmares tend to use, detailed below.
Amorphous: A bone nightmare’s amorphous form is merely a shapeless pile of bones that rolls wherever it desires, and its abilities are detailed above.
Humanoid: A bone nightmare in humanoid form doesn’t resemble a large skeleton, they create the vague shape of a humanoid out of their many bones, often with many skulls perched on the shoulders or glaring out from a ribcage. While in humanoid form, a bone nightmare gains a second slam attack, and can use manufactured armor and weapons (it is considered proficient with simple and martial weapons, and light, medium, and heavy armor, but not shields). Its reach becomes that of a tall creature of its size. It loses the use of its engulf special attack as long as it remains in this form.
Quadruped: A bone nightmare in quadruped form may take the general shape of any animal, but substitutes bone shards for teeth and claws where necessary. The bone nightmare’s base speed increases by 10 feet, and it loses the use of its engulf special ability as long as it remains in this form. The bone nightmare loses its slam attacks, but gains one of the following natural attacks and an associated special ability: 2 claw attacks and the Pounce ability, a gore attack and the powerful charge special ability (dealing twice the gore’s base damage + 1.5 x the bone nightmare‘s strength modifier), or a bite attack with the grab special ability.
Serpentine: A bone nightmare in serpentine form does not resemble a snake so much as an enormous centipede, a long, slender body supported by many, many legs, sometimes literal legs, and sometimes bones repurposed into insect-like scrabbling points. The bone nightmare gains a climb speed equal to its base speed. It loses its slam attack, instead gaining two claw attacks and four rake attacks. It loses the use of its engulf special attack as long as it remains in this form.
_________
Ecology

Environment Any
Organization Solitary
Treasure Standard
Advancement 9-15 HD, See table; 16 HD,


New HD
Str
NA
Cha
Feats
CR


10
+2
+1

Improved Natural Attack
?


12
+4
+2
+2
Improved Natural Armor
?


14
+6
+3
+2
Improved Initiative
?



A bone nightmare is an amalgamation of many different skeletons, inhabited by negative energy and given the simple drive to grow. They arise in places where many skeletons are in contact, ossuaries, boneyards, and mass graves being some of the most common sources. Once they form, they constantly seek out more skeletons and bones to add to their own body. This typically means the bone nightmare will prowl around the area that created it, assimilating skeletons until it runs out of bones to add, then rampaging its way to a new source of bones. Some particularly wicked ones may kill creatures that come too close and peel their bones as much as possible, then lay them out for scavengers and maggots to consume the last of it, until they consider it clean enough. Bone nightmares must be dealt with quickly, once discovered, as their potential for growth is a terrifying prospect.

Bone nightmares are relatively simple-minded, but those who mistake them for simple beasts will find they have underestimated their foes. Bone nightmares are cunning monsters, and their ability to rearrange themselves allows them to adapt to many situations and employ highly unusual tactics against their pursuers. While a bone nightmare cannot speak, or make any sort of vocalization for that matter, they can understand common easily enough.

Bone nightmares aren't eager to fight in most cases, and will usually prioritize assimilating more skeletons over seeking out and attacking creatures. However, should they be hunted, bone nightmares are glad to attack their foes. They favor ambushes where possible, lurking around corners or on ceilings, then suddenly leaping from hiding to attack their foes with savage cruelty. They may also use terrain to their advantage, such as choosing tight spaces to fight in, allowing them to compress themselves freely while their enemies may struggle, or using hallways to limit how many enemies can engage them at once. Should a bone nightmare be seriously injured, they will flee, usually using some method of escape their pursuers cannot match, to go assimilate more skeletons and heal.

Admiral Squish
2014-07-20, 12:07 PM
So, this is my response to a challenge from my brother, the inspiration given being this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h03QBNVwX8Q), in particular the bone-composite creature near the end. In the end, I drew in inspiration from the bone monster (http://www.smackjeeves.com/images/uploaded/comics/d/5/d5f73ad82Hz4O.jpg) from Pawn (It’s a web comic, a little NSFW, but good), the Skull Reaper (http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140503111318/swordartonline/images/8/87/Skull_Reaper's_full_appearance.png) from SAO, the hungry skulls (http://thenerdrageblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/d11s02e13_wallpaper_15.jpg) from Dr. Who, and a few other sources.

I like to think the creature I've come up with here is a pretty terrifying critter, I certainly wouldn't like to meet it in a dark ossuary. I think the CR should be something like 6-8, but I would also like help with figuring out how the CR should scale with the advancement.

Originally, it had a few more abilities, but I ended up paring it down a bit. For example, I was going to have it so that it would split with a natural 20 on a bludgeoning attack, and another idea was to make it so it could spit out skeletons it had consumed as minions to be later reabsorbed, taking negative levels equal to the skeleton’s HD. I think it also had channel resistance, freeze, and a couple others, but I figured it was kinda cluttered.

Oh, and I decided to make it in PF because I need more practice working with that stat-block.


EDIT: Since my comp is in the shop for the moment, I'll be using spoilers in this post to hold onto my work while I doodle up stats for the bigger versions.


Amalgam Traits:




Bone Nightmare (Huge) CR
XP ???
CE Huge Undead
Init +7; Senses Perception +20
____________
DEFENSES

AC 25, touch 11, flat-footed 22; (+3 Dexterity, +14 Natural Armor, -2 Size)
HP 16d8+80 (144)
Fort +5, Ref +8, Will +11
Immune Cold, Undead Traits
DR All-Around Vision, DR 10/Bludgeoning and Magic
___________
OFFENSES

Speed 30 ft.
Melee Slam +18 melee (2d6+12)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks
____________
STATISTICS

Str 26 (+8), Dex 16 (+3), Con -, Int 8 (-1), Wis 12 (+1), Cha 20 (+5)
Base Atk +12; CMB +22; CMD 35
Attack : Slam +18 melee (2d6+12)
Full Attack : Slam +18 melee (2d6+12)
Feats Improved Grapple (B), Stealthy, Nightstalker, Power Attack, Cornugon Smash, Improved Natural Attack, Improved Natural Armor, Improved Initiative, Greater Grapple
Skills Intimidate +22, Perception +20, Stealth +20 (+26 in shadowy illumination)
Languages None
SQ Assimilate, Bone Weapons, Compression, Rearrange
____________________
SPECIAL ABILITIES

Assimilate: A bone nightmare’s most fearful ability is not an attack or defense, it is its capacity to grow. A bone nightmare grows by assimilating the skeletons of various creatures. Assimilating a skeleton requires a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity. Each new skeleton increases the power of the nightmare as a whole. A bone nightmare gains one HD when it assimilates a medum-sized skeleton, 2 HD when assimilating a large skeleton, 4 HD when assimilating a huge skeleton, 8 HD when assimilating a gargantuan skeleton, and 16 HD when assimilating a colossal skeleton. When assimilating a skeleton, they also heal slightly, regaining HP equal to their new HD. A bone nightmare can very quickly grow too large and dangerous to take on, and must be handled quickly when it arises. In addition to the normal benefits of HD increase, such as feats, improved BAB, and more HP, the bone nightmare gains additional bonuses as indicated on the table under advancement, and at a certain HD, the bone nightmare becomes the next larger form.

Bone Weapons: A bone nightmare’s natural attacks are all composed of bone spikes and points, no matter how they are used in combat, they are all the same weapons. If the bone nightmare is under some affect that would normally modify or enhance one natural weapon it possesses, it applies this effect to any natural weapons it possesses, unless that weapon is ineligible for that effect (for example, an effect that applies the keen weapon quality would not apply to a slam attack). Even if it loses the original natural weapon the effect applied to initially, the effect applies to any natural weapons it possesses, as long as the effect’s duration lasts.

Compression: A bone nightmare can move through an area as small as one-quarter its space without squeezing, or one-eighth its space when squeezing.

Rearrange: A bone nightmare’s body is made of hundreds, thousands of bones, and the beast can rearrange them into almost any shape it desires. In its natural state, it takes the form of a rolling mass of bones, a avalanche of death, an amorphous mass. However, with a move action, the bone nightmare can rearrange itself. While any number of specific arrangements is possible, there are four general shapes that nightmares tend to use, detailed below.
Amorphous: A bone nightmare’s amorphous form is merely a shapeless pile of bones that rolls wherever it desires, and its abilities are detailed above.
Humanoid: A bone nightmare in humanoid form doesn’t resemble a large skeleton, they create the vague shape of a humanoid out of their many bones, often with many skulls perched on the shoulders or glaring out from a ribcage. While in humanoid form, a bone nightmare gains a second slam attack, and can use manufactured armor and weapons (it is considered proficient with simple and martial weapons, and light, medium, and heavy armor, but not shields). Its reach becomes that of a tall creature of its size. It loses the use of its engulf special attack as long as it remains in this form.
Quadruped: A bone nightmare in quadruped form may take the general shape of any animal, but substitutes bone shards for teeth and claws where necessary. The bone nightmare’s base speed increases by 10 feet, and it loses the use of its engulf special ability as long as it remains in this form. The bone nightmare loses its slam attacks, but gains one of the following natural attacks and an associated special ability: 2 claw attacks and the Pounce ability, a gore attack and the powerful charge special ability (dealing twice the gore’s base damage + 1.5 x the bone nightmare‘s strength modifier), or a bite attack with the grab special ability.
Serpentine: A bone nightmare in serpentine form does not resemble a snake so much as an enormous centipede, a long, slender body supported by many, many legs, sometimes literal legs, and sometimes bones repurposed into insect-like scrabbling points. The bone nightmare gains a climb speed equal to its base speed. It loses its slam attack, instead gaining two claw attacks and four rake attacks. It loses the use of its engulf special attack as long as it remains in this form.
_________
ECOLOGY

Environment Any
Organization Solitary
Treasure Standard
Advancement 17-31 HD, See Below; 32 HD, ;


New HD
Str
NA
Cha
Feats
CR


20
+2
+1


?


24
+4
+2
+2

?


28
+6
+3
+2

?



Bone Nightmare (Gargantuan)[/size] CR
XP ???
CE Gargantuan Undead
Init +; Senses Perception +
____________
DEFENSES

AC , touch , flat-footed ; ()
HP 32d8+() ()
Fort +?, Ref +?, Will +?
Immune
DR
___________
OFFENSES

Speed ft.;
Melee + (d+)
Ranged + (d+)
Space ft.; Reach ft.
Spell-like Abilities
____________
STATISTICS

Str 34 (+12), Dex 16 (+3), Con -, Int 8 (-1), Wis 12 (+1), Cha 24 (+7)
Base Atk +; CMB +; CMD
Attack : + (d+)
Full Attack : + (d+)
Feats
Skills
Languages
SQ
____________________
SPECIAL ABILITIES


_________
ECOLOGY

Environment
Organization
Treasure
Advancement X-X HD, See Below, X Next





New HD
Str
NA
Cha
Feats
CR


40
+2
+1


?


48
+4
+2
+2

?


56
+6
+3
+2

?



CR
XP ???
Alignment Size Type (Subtype)
Init +; Senses Perception +
____________
DEFENSES

AC , touch , flat-footed ; ()
HP 64d8+() ()
Fort +?, Ref +?, Will +?
Immune
DR
___________
OFFENSES

Speed ft.;
Melee + (d+)
Ranged + (d+)
Space ft.; Reach ft.
Spell-like Abilities
____________
STATISTICS

Str 42 (+16), Dex 16 (+3), Con -, Int 8 (-1), Wis 12 (+1), Cha 28 (+9)
Base Atk +; CMB +; CMD
Attack : + (d+)
Full Attack : + (d+)
Feats
Skills
Languages
SQ
____________________
SPECIAL ABILITIES


_________
ECOLOGY

Environment
Organization
Treasure
Advancement

SuperDave
2014-07-23, 04:32 PM
I like to think the creature I’ve come up with here is a pretty terrifying critter, I certainly wouldn’t like to meet it in a dark ossuary.

I do not want to run into this thing in any kind of ossuary, regardless of lighting conditions. I do not want to run into any creature, living or dead, in any kind of ossuary.

BASICALLY, I JUST WANT TO NOT BE IN AN OSSUARY, EVER. ESPECIALLY THIS ONE (http://www.sedlecossuary.com/Photo-gallery.html).


I think the CR should be something like 6-8, but I would also like help with figuring out how the CR should scale with the advancement.

This is an awesome monster, bro. But I'm sorry, I just can't offer any advice on the CR. That level of the monster-making craft is a little beyond me still. But overall, I think you've already achieved what you set out to do: make an undead which is completely inhuman, with an utterly alien mindset and a whole slew of terrifying special abilities. I salute you, sir! I hope someone else, who's better at designing monsters than I am, can offer their opinion on how to adjust the CR.

Temotei
2014-07-23, 05:05 PM
I think it's probably on the low end of that range. Either 6 or 7 would be fine, I think.

Oh, and under assimilate, you say it provokes an attack of opportunity. It should probably just be "provokes attacks of opportunity," since a single reason for provoking can only provoke once per creature anyway and with the current wording the DM/players controlling it could say that a single AoO is all others get against it, regardless of how many peeps are actually around it.

Otherwise, yeah, sufficiently scary, both mechanically and in fluff.

Ilorin Lorati
2014-07-23, 05:17 PM
This is really all I have to say on the matter. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L05DElx9TJM)

Also, that I agree with Temotei on the base CR of this thing.

Admiral Squish
2014-07-23, 06:17 PM
Finally, sweet, sweet commentary!

Alright, I've written in the CR (7) and the appropriate XP, now it feels much more complete in my mind. I also changed the wording of assimilate as indicated.

I'm glad you all seem to like it, I was getting somewhat concerned by the silence of the forum on it.

Zombor, huh? Yet more evidence that this critter has valid sources!


I'm wondering if it would be better to write up stat blocks for the different sizes of bone nightmare. On one hand, it would make it easier for DMs to use advanced bone nightmares, and it would allow me to add in more abilities/advance existing abilities on the advanced versions that would make them more suitable to challenge high-level parties. On the other, it would be a good bit of work, and the table's relatively easy to use. I could just expand the table a bit to make it more comprehensive.

Coidzor
2014-07-23, 09:43 PM
I love this idea. :smallbiggrin: Thank you for taking a crack at it.

gr8artist
2014-07-23, 11:18 PM
Personally, I would prefer that it change form as a move action, and gains more grapple perks. Quadruped bite > grab. Standard to maintain, move to become serpentine and constrict. Next turn shift to amorphous and engulf the grappled creature.
Rather than losing engulf in other forms, just lower the size it can engulf.
Also, could you let it assimilate the skeleton of any creature that dies while engulfed?

I may be using this thing in the near future. I was planning to put a trap or puzzle in the room, but I like this.

Admiral Squish
2014-07-24, 02:50 PM
Thanks! I'm glad you like it!

I figured the rearrangement thing was a pretty complex procedure, hence the full-round action. But then, being a full-round action, it's unlikely it would end up being used in combat... I'll agree to shrink it to a move for the sake of seeing it used more often.
However, I don't think the engulf should work in the more solid forms. It works in the amorphous form because the bones aren't in any kind of arrangement and can flow around the subject, but while the other forms can move their bones, they are attached to one-another. It would at least require an action to do it. Maybe something like swallow whole, instead? Where the bone nightmare can pull a grabbed target into them?
I don't know about the assimilating the skeleton of whoever it kills with an engulf. It would have to be reduced to nothing but bones for that to work. I actually mentioned in ecology that they consider fleshy or bloody bones too dirty to assimilate, preferring to let scavengers clean the bones for them.
Overall, I didn't want to focus on grapple to the exclusion of all else, for the sake of keeping them relevant at levels where freedom of movement is available.

If you do end up using it, I'd love to hear how it went, feedback is always appreciated.

gr8artist
2014-07-24, 03:26 PM
Swallow Whole. Yes, that's the one I was thinking of. The thing that big carnivores can do.
I missed that in the Ecology section. I was thinking that the sharp and jagged bones could grind away the flesh, rendering the corpse as nothing but a skeleton after a minute or so, but they would still be bloody and messy.
What feat progression would you recommend for higher HD?
I'm thinking improved natural attack, ability focus, and improved natural armor.
Also, as they increase in size, what would you do to replace the increased Con? And are you aware that your creature's slam is a higher die than average for its size?

Lastly, on an interesting side-note, I had started to work on something similar to this a while back, though it was made from sundered weapons and armor, rather than bone. It healed when it sundered a weapon, and gained new attack properties as it absorbed better stuff (adamantine, magic, keen, etc.)

kinem
2014-07-24, 10:37 PM
A bone nightmare can very quickly grow too large and dangerous to take on, and must be handled quickly when it arises.

This can make for an interesting encounter, but what happens if it does grow too large to take on? Which, in a mass grave or the like, and especially given that they flee if hurt badly, could be a lot faster than the party can recuperate. It seems like a TPK waiting to happen, and not due to poor play or particularly unlikely bad luck.

The other problem is, if a necromancer can get control of one, he can let it grow and use it as a super-weapon.

Though I must admit, these kinds of game-breaking are fairly common among undead.


They arise in places where many skeletons are in contact, ossuaries, boneyards, and mass graves being some of the most common sources.

If this is not extremely rare, then people would avoid allowing such places to form at all costs throughout the campaign world, or there would be few humanoids left in a post-apocalyptic campaign.

I suggest requiring some highly unusual circumstances, such as the mass grave has to be right near a portal to the negative energy plane, and also a special ritual then needs to be performed.

Admiral Squish
2014-07-25, 02:21 PM
Swallow whole, aye. I'll try to work it in somewhere.

I suppose I could relax their cleanliness standards. It WOULD make it more important to catch and kill it if it had assimilated a teammate and you needed to kill it before they could be resurrected. And allowing it to use bloody bones would mean it could just target creatures to consume, rather than having to seek out graveyards and such.

Feat progression hadn't come to mind. I'll have to do that.

In PF, charisma is added to HP/HD rather than con, so the bonuses to cha increase the total HP.

I originally made it a unique natural weapon that could be treated as various different kinds of natural weapon depending on form, and forgot to fix the damage when I rewrote the bone weapons ability.

The sundered weapon thing sounds pretty awesome, honestly, I'd love to see it.

Well, the DM would have to keep control of things in order to make sure the nightmare wasn't too bad for the party to handle. However, I think the assimilation ability allows the DM some interesting options, such as letting the players engage a weak one, then have to pursue it into a crypt and fight the local undead before squaring off with the bone nightmare again, this time as a slightly-higher CR.

As to necromancers, I don't think the necromancer would be able to control it once it exceeds his HD limit.

As to their formation being a rare occurrence, I think it certainly would be. However, they would have no specific drive to target humanoids, their bones aren't just from humanoids. They can be from any kind of critter with a skeleton. And once they get big enough, they would most definitely get the attention of more powerful beings, adventurers, churches, even deities, possibly. The arising of such a creature would be rather rare, as rare as the formation of a non-magically-formed undead creature.

gr8artist
2014-07-26, 04:17 PM
Hmm... Do you think that other creatures with a similar design/structure could be considered the same subtype as this one? Something like "amalgamation" or "amalgam" that would indicate a collection of smaller parts capable of incorporating more into itself for extra health and stats.
I ask because I'm starting to work on that weapon fragment creature, and was wondering if you'd like to see it as a standalone or as a creature similar to yours.

Admiral Squish
2014-07-26, 07:41 PM
Hmm... I hadn't considered the possibility of a subtype. I could definitely see something like that, though... The question is, what traits would be part of the subtype and what would be unique to the creature in question. I will have to puzzle on it. By the by, saw the critter, looks very cool, I will definitely have to review it.

I've run into a bit of a snag making more stats for this thing. What do I call the bigger versions? I considered using bone X, replacing the X with various other names, like horror, terror, abomination, and such, but that seems like it would occupy too many names. Maybe I would just put the number of HD in parentheses? Or something like 'advanced/greater/horrid', but that might be confusing with templates...

...
2014-07-26, 08:32 PM
There is a similar (if with a higher CR) monster in LM called the Boneyard (If I remember correctly), you could use that for inspiration.

Admiral Squish
2014-07-26, 08:38 PM
There is a similar (if with a higher CR) monster in LM called the Boneyard (If I remember correctly), you could use that for inspiration.

Aww, nertz, thought I was being original. I'm unfortunately away from my books, but I'll definitely have to check it out. I vaguely remember something like that, now that you mention it.