PDA

View Full Version : D&D 3.x Other Meatdoll (construct)



Zaydos
2015-10-18, 07:54 PM
Meatdoll
Small Construct (Necroforged)
Hit Dice: 6d10+10 (32 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 30 ft (6 squares)
Armor Class: 17 (+1 size, +2 Dexterity, +4 natural), touch 13, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+4
Attack: Slam +9 melee (1d4+4) or arm-blade +11 melee (1d6+5 and vampirism 5; 19-20/x2) or thrown club +7 ranged (1d6+4, range increment 10 ft)
Full Attack: 2 Slams +9 melee (1d4+4) or 2 arm-blades +11 (1d6+5 and vampirism 5; 19-20/x2)
Space/Reach: 5 ft/5 ft
Special Attacks: Arm Blade, Vampirism.
Special Qualities: Construct traits, damage reduction 5/adamantine, darkvision 60 ft, guardian, low-light vision, necroforged subtype, Spell Resistance 22.
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +3
Abilities: Str 19, Dex 14, Con -, Int 7, Wis 10, Cha 7.
Skills: Bluff -2 (+10 to feint with arm-blade), Listen +8, Sense Motive +9, Spot +8
Feats: Combat Reflexes, Hold the LineXPH, Simple Weapon ProficiencyB, Weapon Focus (Arm Blade)
Environment: Any.
Organization: Solitary plus ward
Challenge Rating: 5
Treasure: None.
Alignment: Always Lawful Evil
Advancement: 7-12 HD (Small), 13-18 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: –

A meatdoll is a twisted construct made from the flesh and organs of the dead, bound into the shape of a ghastly doll, given to a child to act as its eternal protector and ‘friend’. Meatdoll’s are highly intelligent for constructs, retaining some measure of the intellect held within the brain and soul used to construct and animate them, but it is now bound purely to the protection of a child beloved by their creator. A meatdoll acts as guardian, friend, and occasionally murderous advisor to the child, helping raise it as the doll’s creator commands.

A meatdoll is in form a ghastly doll, made from the skin of children, and real hair, with dead eyes sewn into its patchwork face. It is stuffed with the viscera and organs of human(oid)s, with no bones to constrain its form. Two short swords are placed within its arms, giving its forearms a certain amount of rigidity, and are able to extend from its palms in times of danger. While most of its organs are whatever the creator can find lying about its brain and heart require more special attention, its heart must be constructed from the heart of a child dead in infancy stitched together with the heart of one who honestly cared for the child, and its brain must be constructed from the stem of a creature which cared for the child. Unlike a golem a meatdoll is animated not by an elemental spirit but by a fragment of the soul of the creature whose brain stem was used.

A meatdoll’s intelligence is enough for it to understand and speak a single language, though it will not speak to any creature other than its creator or ward. A meatdoll will in fact ignore the words of any other creature except as far as it pertains to protecting their ward, and hates and loathes all other creatures; a meatdoll is never more friendly than indifferent to any such creature and never more than unfriendly unless that creature has demonstrated a willingness to die for the meatdoll’s ward. A meatdoll will obey its ward as long as such orders would not put its ward in danger, and will obey its master in all things, but if an order would endanger its ward a meatdoll may seek to find some way to interpret it to its liking. A meatdoll can never attempt to directly harm its creator, and is incapable of desiring to harm its ward or acting to harm them directly even under magical force.

While most meatdoll’s look like human dolls, some meatdolls are stitched into the shape of anthropomorphic animals, fur or clothe added to cover their human(oid) skin. One particularly famous example was in the shape of a yellow furred bear, its nightly murders of anyone who could threaten its ward’s wellbeing led to its town’s generation without wizards as it killed children who could possibly grow to rival its ward in later life. In the eyes of its ward and creator it was a good bear.

Combat

A meatdoll’s main means of combat is to close into melee with an opponent striking with its vampiric blades. On occasion a meatdoll will grab an available simple weapon or carry one usually to take on a flying foe via ranged weapons. A meatdoll will eagerly sacrifice itself to save its ward if that is what is necessary to keep its ward safe. A meatdoll’s sole goal in combat is the preservation of its ward, though some are quite proactive in this going out at night to assassinate threats.

Arm-Blade (Ex): A meatdoll’s arm-blades remain hidden in its arms usually. As a swift action it may extend both and may make a feint attempt with a +12 bonus when they extend as a free action. Retracting them into its body requires a standard action. A meatdoll’s arm-blades have a +1 enhancement bonus to attack and damage per 4 HD of the meatdoll and count as magic weapons; this portion of the ability is Supernatural.

Guardian: A meatdoll is made to protect a single child, its ward. Its sole purpose in existence is protecting this creature and all other concerns are secondary to this. Even its creator cannot force a meatdoll to (knowingly) harm its ward, and magical control over the meatdoll treats this as an unacceptable command. A meatdoll does not have to obey its ward when doing so would put its ward into immediate danger. If a meatdoll’s ward is killed its purpose changes to one of vengeance and it lives only to extract vengeance on the creature(s) which killed its ward. If a meatdoll’s ward reaches adulthood a meatdoll begins to fade. It immediately gains 1 negative level and gains an additional negative level each year until it is dead. A meatdoll is able to sense its ward’s state as if with a Status spell at all times, and always knows the direction and distance to its ward as long as they are on the same plane, or which plane its ward is on if not; this portion of this ability is supernatural in nature.

Necroforged Subtype: A necroforged creature is an undead with an intensive construction which anchors it to unlife in a way more similar to a construct, or a construct with necromantic portions of its construction, or otherwise a creature in which the line between undead and construct is blurred. A necroforged creature can fulfill prerequisites as if a construct and an undead, and gain the beneficial effects associated with either type (such as being healed by negative energy, or gaining extra hp by being created in a desecrated area) but only suffers detrimental effects associated with its type (for example a construct with this subtype cannot be turned/rebuked and is immune to command undead, but is vulnerable to halt construct). If a necroforged creature’s type changes it loses Necroforged unless it gained the augmented subtype.

Vampirism (Su): Any creature harmed by negative energy hit by a meatdoll’s arm blade takes an additional 5 points of damage and the meatdoll gains this many temporary hit points which last 1 minute.

Construction

A meatdoll is constructed from the skin of at least 3 children of humanoid species sewn into a ~3’ tall doll. This doll is then stuffed with the organs of humanoid creatures until it is in full human shape. The hair and eyes are also made from humanoids. Of particular import is the heart which must be made from the heart of a humanoid infant sewn together with the heart of a creature which genuinely cares for the designated ward. The brainstem of such a creature (usually the same one) must also be added. This need not be a humanoid creature, a loyal pet’s heart and brain works just as well. Two masterwork small longswords must then be added, these are the only part of the body with a particular GP cost.

Assembling the body requires a DC 16 Craft (Sewing) check or Heal check.

CL 7th; Craft Construct, animate undead, bull’s strength, greater magic weapon, lesser geas, locate creature. Price 11,200 gp; Cost 5,600 gp + 400 XP.

As Familiars

A character which has created a meatdoll, or is its ward and has 6th or higher caster level, and has the Improved Familiar feat may take the meatdoll as their familiar. If the meatdoll has negative levels due to its ward's adulthood the minimum caster level required is reduced by 1 per negative level it possesses.

As Phylactery

Some liches particularly interested in the well being of their descendants will make a meatdoll from their own heart and brain stem and making it into their phylactery; a lich must personally create the meatdoll to do such. Such a meatdoll may have its ward changed, requiring 1 hour of concentration by the lich, and when the lich that created it is corporeally destroyed and in the process of reformation around its phylactery the lich possesses the doll and acts as if it had possessed it with Magic Jar except it is able to use its extraordinary and supernatural abilities. However the lich is bound by the restrictions in actions to harm its ward when in such a state and cannot change its ward.

Amechra
2015-10-18, 08:40 PM
Needs to be a way to get one as an Improved Familiar or "Animal" Companion.

Debihuman
2015-10-19, 06:11 AM
It's a gruesome creature to be sure but I find several problems with it. First is its size. Generally speaking, who is gong to give a child such a gruesome doll and one that is the size of a child? Wouldn't the eyes rot? There is a reason most dolls have glass eyes. It's one thing to hide the gruesome stuff in a doll that has an attractive outward appearance, but this doesn't do that. Maybe evil creatures give these to their children as playthings, but it's not likely to show up elsewhere.

If it is a doll in proportion, then a shortsword is too long to be contained in its arms unless it can't bend its arms or you have to break the sword. 15-24 inches is longer than the forearms of a Small creature. Heck adult humans don't usually have forearms that long. A dagger is far more reasonable.

Your introductory text rambles a bit and veers off course in several places. It has Int 7, which is NOT highly intelligent. How is this:


A meatdoll is a twisted construct made from the flesh and organs of Humanoid children. The skin is stuffed with the viscera and organs, with no bones to constrain its form. It has real hair and dead eyes sewn into its patchwork face. Its brain and heart require special attention. Its heart must be constructed from the heart of a child dead in infancy stitched together with the heart of one who honestly cared for the child (usually its mother or nursemaid). Its brain must also be constructed from the brain of one that cared for the child. Because they lack bones, masterwork daggers are hidden within its forearms to give it rigidity and to extend as weapons in time of danger.

While most meatdolls look like human dolls, some are shaped as anthropomorphic animals, with fur or cloth added to cover their skin. One particularly famous example was in the shape of a yellow furred bear. Its nightly murders of anyone who could threaten its ward’s wellbeing led to its town’s generation without wizards as it killed children who could possibly grow to rival its ward in later life. In the eyes of its ward and creator, it was a very good bear.

Meatdolls are bound to protect a child beloved by its creator. A meatdoll acts as guardian, friend, and occasionally murderous advisor to the child, helping raise it as the doll’s creator commands. A meatdoll will obey its ward as long as such orders would not put its ward in danger, and will obey its master in all things, but if an order would endanger its ward a meatdoll may seek to find some way to interpret it to its liking. A meatdoll can never attempt to directly harm its creator, and is incapable of desiring to harm its ward or acting to harm them directly even under magical force.

Unlike a golem, a meatdoll is animated not by an elemental spirit but by a fragment of the soul of the creature whose brain stem was used. As a result, meatdolls retain a modicum of intelligence. A meatdoll’s intelligence is enough for it to understand and speak a single language, though it will not speak to any creature other than its creator or ward. A meatdoll ignores the words of any other creature unless they pertain to protecting its ward.

A meatdoll hates and loathes all other creatures; it is never more friendly than indifferent, and never more than unfriendly unless that creature has demonstrated a willingness to die for the meatdoll’s ward.

Hit points are off. 6d10 = 6x5.5= 33 +10 = 43.

A Small creature should have a reduced speed of 20 ft. This is fast and that adds to CR.

Since the arm-blades are hidden in the small arms, daggers make a lot more sense than shortswords. Feinting is a standard action. Retracting them should be a swift action. There is no reason to give them a +1 enhancement (and if you do, add it to the cost of creation at the time of creation). Also, these need to be masterwork arm-blades to allow for magical enhancement later.

A small club does 1d4 points of damage. Range does not belong in stat block. Critical damage goes before special ability damage. x2 critical modifier is standard so you never put it in the stat block.

Small constructs should make a single slam attack using both arms at the same time not two separate slam attacks, especially since it has other weapon choices and it wouldn't qualify for 1 and 1/2 damage since it has other attacks so just +4 for damage.

Attack: Slam +9 melee (1d4+4) or mkw arm-blade +11 melee (1d3+4/19-20 and vampirism) or thrown club +7 ranged (1d4+4)

Full Attack: Slam +9 melee (1d4+4) or 2 mwk arm-blades +11 melee (1d3+4/19-20 and vampirism) or thrown club + 7 melee (1d4+4)

Arm-blades are written backwards for economy of action: Feinting is a standard action and retracting them should be the swift action. Since they're hidden, other creatures should have a chance to notice them with a Spot check. The feint skill belongs in its own section. I'd say allow other DMs more flexibility with these rather than constraining when the weapons can be enhanced. Basic meatdolls just need masterwork arm-blades.

Arm-Blade (Ex): A meatdoll’s arm-blades usually remain hidden. It takes a Spot check (DC 20) to notice them. As a standard action, a meatdoll can extend its arm-blades and use them in a Feint. A meatdoll can retract its arm-blades as a swift action. Its arm-blades are always masterwork daggers, appropriately sized for the meatdoll. Advanced meatdolls often have magically enhanced arm-blades with costs added at the time of their creation.

Guardian should be an Extraordinary and Supernatural ability; its designators are missing. Also, Constructs are immune to negative levels because they require a Fort save. You need to figure out some other method to destroy them. "Immunity to any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects, or is harmless)." It would be just as easy to say that when the ward reaches adulthood the meatdoll dies, becoming a real doll. Game mechanics are missing. Constructs are immune to mind-affecting effects so some of the text seems contradictory.

Guardian (Ex and Su): A meatdoll's goal to protect its ward combined with its immunity to mind-affecting effects means that it cannot be coerced into harming its ward. A meatdoll does not have to obey its ward or its creator when doing so would put its ward into immediate danger. A meatdoll is granted a save, even if one is not normally allowed, to avoid an action that would harm its ward. If a meatdoll’s ward is killed, its purpose changes to one of vengeance and it lives only to extract vengeance on the creature(s) which killed its ward. If a meatdoll’s ward reaches adulthood, the meatdoll dies, becoming a real doll.

A meatdoll is able to sense its ward’s state as if with a status spell at all times, and always knows the direction and distance to its ward as long as they are on the same plane, or which plane its ward is on if not; this portion of this ability is supernatural in nature.

SR is probably too high. I generally like the rule that SR is CR +11. CR 5 so that give it SR 16. [Note I still think this is CR 7 so 18]

It has a +12 bonus to make a feint? For CR 5 and 6 HD? That's ridiculously excessive. At best I see +8 and that should be noted in skill section a racial bonus rather than in arm-blades.

Skills: A meatdoll has a +8 racial bonus to Feint made with its Bluff skill.

It has 9 skill points it can use. Int 7 means it gets 4 skill for its first HD and 1 thereafter. It can have a maximum of 9 skill ranks in any skill. I am not sure why you didn't just put all its skill ranks into Bluff. You have assigned way too many skills to this creature. 9 -2 for charisma gives it Bluff +7, +8 for using it in a Feint gives it +15. That seems more reasonable.

Skills: Bluff +7 (+15 to Feint with arm-blade)

Generally creatures gain a size category when they double their HD. 7-12 HD should be Medium sized and 13-18 HD should be Large sized.

Construction should be Craft (sewing or taxonomy) or Profession (Tailor, Seamstress, or Taxonomist)

I get CR 7 for this. Don't forget the number of immunities that constructs and undead creatures get. All that adds to CR.

The way you have necroforged written, it can only be applied to Undead to act like Constructs and not to Constructs. "A necroforged creature is an undead...." It doesn't sound like it can apply to a Construct in the first place. Is this a homebrew or from another source?

If it is a homebrew it's probably easy to fix but you'll have to list ALL traits that apply to this subtype. BTW, being created in a desecrated area isn't a trait unless you are using supplemental material. What is the "Halt Construct" mentioned? Is it a spell? It's not a trait either. Please cite to it. Here's a list of both traits in spoiler for length, and note some abilities overlap so don't list them twice.

Undead Traits

No Constitution score.
Darkvision out to 60 feet.
Immunity to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects).
Immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, and death effects.
Not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability drain, or energy drain. Immune to damage to its physical ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution), as well as to fatigue and exhaustion effects.
Cannot heal damage on its own if it has no Intelligence score, although it can be healed. Negative energy (such as an inflict spell) can heal undead creatures. The fast healing special quality works regardless of the creature’s Intelligence score.
Immunity to any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects or is harmless).
Uses its Charisma modifier for Concentration checks.
Not at risk of death from massive damage, but when reduced to 0 hit points or less, it is immediately destroyed.
Not affected by raise dead and reincarnate spells or abilities. Resurrection and true resurrection can affect undead creatures. These spells turn undead creatures back into the living creatures they were before becoming undead.
Proficient with its natural weapons, all simple weapons, and any weapons mentioned in its entry.
Proficient with whatever type of armor (light, medium, or heavy) it is described as wearing, as well as all lighter types. Undead not indicated as wearing armor are not proficient with armor. Undead are proficient with shields if they are proficient with any form of armor.
Undead do not breathe, eat, or sleep.

Construct Traits

No Constitution score.
Low-light vision.
Darkvision out to 60 feet.
Immunity to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects).
Immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, and necromancy effects.
Cannot heal damage on their own, but often can be repaired by exposing them to a certain kind of effect (see the creature’s description for details) or through the use of the Craft Construct feat. A construct with the fast healing special quality still benefits from that quality.
Not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability damage, ability drain, fatigue, exhaustion, or energy drain.
Immunity to any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects, or is harmless).
Not at risk of death from massive damage. Immediately destroyed when reduced to 0 hit points or less.
Since it was never alive, a construct cannot be raised or resurrected.
Because its body is a mass of unliving matter, a construct is hard to destroy. It gains bonus hit points based on size.
Proficient with its natural weapons only, unless generally humanoid in form, in which case proficient with any weapon mentioned in its entry.
Proficient with no armor.
Constructs do not eat, sleep, or breathe.



You also need to change construction to show it it masterwork daggers now. In your introductory text is was magical shortsword, in construction it was masterwork longsword. I think it should be masterwork daggers. Even if you don't take my suggestion, you should be consistent.

As familiar, remove text about negative levels as Constructs are immune to them.

NOW it's everything. I hope I haven't made any egregious errors in my own calculations.

Debby