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View Full Version : D&D 3.x Other Bunch of random familiars (Grickling, Aircuttle, Nymphal Tentacle, etc.)



Aniikinis
2017-10-09, 10:46 AM
Familiar
Special


Aircuttle
Master gains a +4 to Escape Artist checks.


Giant Firefly
Master gains a +4 to Search checks.


Grickling
Master gains a +4 bonus on Knowledge (Dungeoneering) checks.


Jellightfish
Master gains a non-magical light spell that can be activated and deactivated at-will and lasts for as long as needed centered on the familiar.


Nymphal Tentacle1
Master gains a +8 to grapple checks and all-around vision.


Spark1
Master is under a constant effect of Endure Elements.


1: These familiars require the Improved Familiar feat. The CL required is noted in the creature's stat block.



Grickling
Size/Type:Tiny Aberration
Hit Dice:1/4d8 (1 hp)
Initiative:+4
Speed:15 ft. (3 squares), climb 10 ft.
Armor Class:18 (+4 Dex, +2 natural, +2 Size), touch 16, flat-footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple:+1/-11
Attack:Tentacle +5 melee (1d2-3)
Full Attack:4 tentacles +5 melee (1d2-3); bite +0 melee (1)
Space/Reach:2 1/2 ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks:—
Special Qualities:Damage reduction 2/magic, darkvision 60 ft., scent
Saves:Fort +0, Ref +4, Will +3
Abilities:Str 4, Dex 18, Con 11, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 2
Skills:Climb +11, Hide +15*, Listen +6, Spot +6
Feats:Weapon Finesse, Track
Environment:Underground
Organization:Solitary or cluster (2-4)
Challenge Rating:1/3
Alignment:Usually neutral
Level Adjustment:—

An adult grickling is about 1 1/2 feet long from the tips of its tentacles to the end of its body and weighs some 12 pounds. Its body coloration is uniformly dark, with a pale underbelly.

Combat: Gricklings attack when hungry or threatened. They hunt by holing up near high-traffic areas, using their natural coloration to blend into convenient shadows. When prey (virtually anything that moves) ventures near, they lash out with their tentacles. A grickling’s rubbery body seems to shed blows of any kind. Its jaws are relatively small and weak compared to its body mass, so rather than consume its kill immediately, a grick normally drags its victim back to its lair to be eaten at its leisure.

A grickling’s natural weapons are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Multiple gricklings do not fight in concert. Each attacks the prey closest to it, and breaks off the fight as soon as it can drag dead or unconscious prey away.

Skills: A grickling has a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks and can always choose to take 10 on a Climb check, even if rushed or threatened.

*Their coloration affords gricklings a +8 racial bonus on Hide checks when in natural rocky areas.

Familiar: Master gains a +4 bonus on Knowledge (Dungeoneering) checks. Characters can choose this as a familiar even without Improved Familiar.

Aircuttle
Size/Type:Tiny Animal (Air)
Hit Dice:1/4d8 (1 hp)
Initiative:+4
Speed:5 ft. (1 square), fly 20 ft. (perfect), jet 50 ft.
Armor Class:16 (+4 Dex, +2 Size), touch 16, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple:+1/-11
Attack:Tentacle +5 melee (1d2-3)
Full Attack:2 Tentacles +5 melee (1d2-3); bite +0 melee (1)
Space/Reach:2 1/2 ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks:Improved Grab
Special Qualities:Low-light vision, jet
Saves:Fort +2, Ref +5, Will +1
Abilities:Str 4, Dex 18, Con 11, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 2
Skills:Climb +11, Escape Artist +8, Hide +28, Listen +6, Spot +6
Feats:Weapon Finesse, Track
Environment:Underground
Organization:Solitary or cluster (2-4)
Challenge Rating:1/3
Alignment:Usually neutral
Level Adjustment:—

Aircuttle are secretive, solitary hunters, fairly slow fliers but peerless artists of disguise outside of the water. Like their aquatic cousins the cuttlefish, aircuttle can change colors at will, and even adjust the texture of their skin, but their abilities far surpass mere camouflage.

Aircuttle can alter their skin pigmentation at a cellular level, cycling through dozens of complex patterns with an instant's thought. An aircuttle can devise a palette of natural hues to perfectly match its background, or garish colors to express strong emotions, but unlike the cuttlefish they cannot create a strobing pattern to entrance a hapless target.

The aircuttle resembles the cuttlefish in most ways; it's head and mantle are little over a , and it reaches three feet with its hunting tentacles at full extent. A resident of rainforest canopies and swampy marshlands, the aircuttle preys on insects, small rodents and birds, and sometimes small reptiles, patiently stalking and then dazzling them with an eerie display before it strikes.

Aircuttles have the highest brain-to-body-mass ratio of any known above-water invertebrate; they are quick to make associations and handily learn basic tricks. Like most cephalopods, aircuttle live only a year or two, reproducing once at the end of their lives and then quickly dying. Despite their brief lives, aircuttle are inquisitive and often fearless creatures, relying on their speed and camouflage to keep them safe.

Improved Grab (Ex): An aircuttle strikes with its two hunting arms, which are held poised until its target is within range. If they connect, the aircuttle may attempt a grapple with its eight shorter tentacles as a free action, without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, the aircuttle draws its target back to its head and automatically deals bite damage.

Jet(Ex): As a move action, an aircuttle may jet at a speed of 30 ft. for up to three rounds every minute. Each subsequent round of jetting requires a DC 14 Fort save. If the aircuttle fails to make the save, it is briefly exhausted and must rest for one minute before it is able to jet again.

Skills: An aircuttle has direct neural control over its skin color at the cellular level, granting it a +16 racial bonus to Hide checks.
An aircuttle can shape and compress its body to a limited degree, granting a +4 racial bonus to Escape Artist checks.

Familiar: Master gains a +4 to Escape Artist checks. Characters can choose this as a familiar even without Improved Familiar.


Nymphal Tentacle
Size/Type: Tiny Aberration (aquatic, amphibious)
Hit Dice: 1/4d8 (1 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 15 ft. (3 squares), climb 10 ft., swim 20 ft.
Armor Class: 16 (+4 Dex, +2 Size), touch 16, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+1
Attack: Slam +5 or tentacle +5 melee (1d2-3)
Full Attack: 4 tentacles +5 melee (1d2-3), bite +0 melee (1d3-3), slam +5 melee (1d3-3), or stinger +5 melee (1d2-3 +Poison)
Space/Reach: 2 1/2 ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks: Improved Grab
Special Qualities: All-around vision, damage reduction 2/slashing, darkvision 60 ft., Increased Grapple, Poison
Saves: Fort +0, Ref +4, Will +3
Abilities: Str 4, Dex 18, Con 11, Int 3, Wis 12, Cha 2
Skills: Climb +11, Hide +15, Listen +6, Spot +6, Swim +5
Feats: Weapon Finesse, Ability Focus (Poison)
Environment: Marshes and forests or underground
Organization: Solitary or nest
Challenge Rating: 3
Alignment: Usually neutral
Advancement: 1-8 HD (Tiny), 9-10 HD (Small), 11-12 HD (Medium), 13-15 (Large), 16-20 (Huge), 21+ (Gargantuan)
Level Adjustment:—

Tentacles go through a very long and strange life cycle but this life cycle resembles an incomplete metamorphosis in the simplest form. They spend around 12 months in the larval stage gaining size and learning the basics of hunting. They then spend somewhere between 20-25 years in the nymphal stage and around 60 years in the adult stage before laying parasitic eggs in an amphibious creature and restarting the cycle all over again. Tentacles are so named for their most numerous limb and their form. Tentacles have varying numbers of limbs and gain more throughout their lives, slowly regrowing them over weeks or months in they are removed.

Tentacles are similar to octopi in movement and squids in form. Nymphal tentacles most notable resemble their namesake more so than any other form of the life cycle, the tip of their head and down their body to the location where their tentacles split off looks like a suckerless tentacle, radially symmetrical with each "side" of the creature having a single eye in the very center with a tentacle a few inches underneath. On the underside of the body of the nymphal tentacle, surrounded by the tentacles is a beak that is also radially symmetrical, having a number of jaws equal to the number of tentacles, as well as a small barb-like stinger on the tip of the tongue that is able to deliver a paralytic toxin to grappled prey. Nymphal tentacles commonly eat small fish, invertebrates, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Nymphal tentacles are also commonly known as "tree squids/octopi", "squid snakes", and "looking slugs."

All-Around Vision (Ex): A nymphal tentacle’s symmetrically placed eyes allow it to look in any direction, providing a +4 racial bonus on Spot and Search checks. A nymphal tentacle can’t be flanked.

Improved Grab (Ex): If a nymphal tentacle strikes with its tentacles, the nymphal tentacle may attempt a grapple with its other tentacles as a free action, without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, the nymphal tentacle draws its target towards its beak and automatically deals bite or sting damage.

Increased Grapple (Ex.): Due to the number of limbs, the nymphal tentacle gains a +12 bonus to grapple. In addition, whenever the nymphal tentacle grapples a creature that another creature is already grappling, the original grappler may also add this to their grapple check in addition to the +2 bonus provided by the additional grappler.

Poison(Ex.) Injury, Fortitude DC 10, initial damage 1d10 rounds of paralysis, secondary damage 2d10 Con. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Skills: A nymphal tentacle has dark colouration and gains a +8 racial bonus to Hide checks in dark and swampy areas. A nymphal tentacle has a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks and can always choose to take 10 on a Climb check, even if rushed or threatened. A nymphal tentacle has a +8 racial bonus on Swim checks and can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if rushed or threatened.

Familiar: Master gains a +8 to grapple checks and all-around vision. Characters may choose this as a familiar if they have the Improved Familiar feat and are spellcaster level 8 or higher.

Large Firefly
Size/Type:Tiny Vermin
Hit Dice:1/4d8 (1 hp)
Initiative:+2
Speed:10 ft. (1 square), fly 30 ft. (perfect)
Armor Class:16 (+2 Dex, +2 Natural, +2 Size), touch 14, flat-footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple:+1/-11
Attack:Bite +5 melee (1)
Full Attack:Bite +5 melee (1)
Space/Reach:2 1/2 ft./0 ft.
Special Qualities:Low-light vision, glow
Saves:Fort +2, Ref +5, Will +1
Abilities:Str 2, Dex 14, Con 11, Int 3, Wis 14, Cha 2
Skills: +2 Listen, +2 Spot
Feats:Weapon Finesse,
Environment:Underground
Organization:Solitary or swarm(4-20)
Challenge Rating:1/3
Alignment:Usually neutral
Level Adjustment:—

Glow (Ex.): 3/day as a swift action, Large Fireflies can shed light as a torch in a 30 ft. area.

Familiar: Master gains a +4 to Search checks. Characters can choose this as a familiar even without Improved Familiar.


Jellightfish
Size/Type:Tiny Vermin (Air)
Hit Dice:1/4d8-1 (1 hp)
Initiative:+4
Speed:5 ft. (1 square), fly 20 ft. (perfect)
Armor Class:16 (+4 Dex, +2 Size), touch 16, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple:+1/-11
Attack:Tentacle +5 melee (1d2-3+poison)
Full Attack:2 Tentacles +5 melee (1d2-3+poison)
Space/Reach:2 1/2 ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks:Improved Grab
Special Qualities:Low-light vision, glow, poison
Saves:Fort +0, Ref +5, Will +1
Abilities:Str 6, Dex 18, Con 8, Int 3, Wis 10, Cha 1
Skills: Listen +2, Spot +2
Feats:Weapon Finesse
Environment:Any tropical
Organization:Solitary or swarm (8-20)
Challenge Rating:1/3
Alignment:True Neutral
Level Adjustment:—

Jellightfish resemble aquatic jellyfish save that they float through the air.

Glow: At-will, as a swift action, a jellightfish may shed light as a torch out to 30 ft.

Improved Grab (Ex): If a jellightfish strikes with one of its' two longer tentacles, the jellightfish may attempt a grapple with its other tentacles as a free action, without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, the jellightfish draws its target towards its bell and automatically deals additional tentacle damage.

Poison(Ex.) Injury, Fortitude DC 9, initial damage 1d4 Dex, secondary damage 1d6 Dex. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Familiar: Master gains a non-magical light spell that can be activated and deactivated at-will and lasts for as long as needed centered on the familiar. Characters can choose this as a familiar even without Improved Familiar.


Spark
Size/Type:Tiny Elemental (Extraplanar, Fire)
Hit Dice:1d8-1 (3 hp)
Initiative:+6
Speed:15 ft., 30 ft. (Perfect)
Armor Class:14 (+2 dex, +2 size), touch 14, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple:+0/-10
Attack:Slam +4 melee (1d3-2 plus 1d3 fire, 20/x2)
Full Attack:Slam +4 melee (1d3-2 plus 1d3 fire, 20/x2)
Space/Reach:2 1/2 ft/0 ft
Special Attacks:Burn
Special Qualities:Darkvision 60 ft, Elemental Traits, Immunity to Fire, Vulnerability to Cold
Saves:Fort -1, Ref +4, Will +0
Abilities:Str 6, Dex 15, Con 9, Int 3, Wis 11, Cha 9
Skills:Listen +2, Spot +2
Feats:Weapon Finesse, Dodge
Environment:Elemental Plane of Fire
Organization:Solitary or pyre (12+)
Challenge Rating:1/2
Treasure:None
Alignment:True Neutral
Advancement: —
Level Adjustment:—

This extremely tiny fire elemental resembles a small spark of flame floating on the winds.

Burn (Ex): A tiny fire elemental’s slam attack deals bludgeoning damage plus fire damage from the elemental’s flaming body. Those hit by a fire elemental’s slam attack also must succeed on a Reflex save or catch on fire. The flame burns for 1d4 rounds. The save DC (DC 8) is Constitution-based.

Creatures hitting a fire elemental with natural weapons or unarmed attacks take fire damage as though hit by the elemental’s attack, and also catch on fire unless they succeed on a Reflex save.

Familiar: Master is under a constant effect of Endure Elements. Characters can choose this as a familiar with Improved Familiar at caster level 3

Will add more when I get more ideas.

rferries
2017-10-09, 03:40 PM
These are all great! CR is off (nymphal tentacles are deadly!) but the descriptions are very evocative and they're not so powerful that they couldn't be allowed as standard familiars. I love the tentacle/aberration them, and I look forward to other cute monster pets a la the grick/grickling.

Aniikinis
2017-10-09, 10:42 PM
These are all great! CR is off (nymphal tentacles are deadly!) but the descriptions are very evocative and they're not so powerful that they couldn't be allowed as standard familiars. I love the tentacle/aberration them, and I look forward to other cute monster pets a la the grick/grickling.

Yeah the tentacles are deadly, but I was hoping to make the DC super low in order to make it much less of a threat than it really is. I probably should put what's needed to get them a la improved familiar and the like.

rferries
2017-10-09, 10:57 PM
Yeah the tentacles are deadly, but I was hoping to make the DC super low in order to make it much less of a threat than it really is. I probably should put what's needed to get them a la improved familiar and the like.

Ah actually I was referring to their number of attacks - they put the infamous commoner-killing housecats to shame! :D

However, if you make any of these into Improved Familiars (as opposed to alternate starting familiar options), they could stand to be buffed. Compare the SLA's that you get from an imp, for example.

Aniikinis
2017-10-10, 03:39 AM
Ah actually I was referring to their number of attacks - they put the infamous commoner-killing housecats to shame! :D

However, if you make any of these into Improved Familiars (as opposed to alternate starting familiar options), they could stand to be buffed. Compare the SLA's that you get from an imp, for example.

Ahh gotcha, the only one of them so far is the nymphal tentacle for the improved familiar feat. I really should stat out the adult and "larval" form of the tentacle too...

rferries
2017-10-10, 07:43 PM
The nymphal tentacle could be more powerful if it's an Improved Familiar option. Technically the benefits your familiars give to their masters should be streamlined with the SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/sorcererWizard.htm#familiars)but that's not a big deal. n.b. how are the poison DCs calculated? Are you including a racial penalty?

Aniikinis
2017-10-11, 08:57 AM
The nymphal tentacle could be more powerful if it's an Improved Familiar option. Technically the benefits your familiars give to their masters should be streamlined with the SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/sorcererWizard.htm#familiars)but that's not a big deal. n.b. how are the poison DCs calculated? Are you including a racial penalty?

True, and I really should have done that to begin with. And no they're calculated normally I was just having a crappy math day and forgot to recheck it. Will fix those now.