Centichoro, the Elder centipede

[martixy]

So... I've been reading One Punch Man, and there is a great big beastie in that manga called Centichoro, which is a massive centipede, which supposedly went toe to toe with that universe's number one hero (apart from Saitama anyway).
Looks like this:

https://images2.imgbox.com/c0/5b/zUoKq6vF_o.jpg (http://imgbox.com/zUoKq6vF) https://images2.imgbox.com/a3/0b/PXuTIlVk_o.jpg (http://imgbox.com/PXuTIlVk)

Ever since I saw it in the manga, I've had it in the back of my mind as an encounter for my campaign.

Today I was perusing Monster Manual 2 and ran into the Megapede. And I'm like - oh look! A Centichoro, suitably high CR too - listed at 20.
Then I read the entry itself. Boy, what a let-down.
That thing is just a mindless bag of HP, with absolutely no distinguishing features!

It has DC 44 poison, SR 31, and DR 25/epic? (not sure if correct conversion to 3.5 DR).

Far from worth its listed CR 20.

Which is why I'm taking suggestions - what would you guys do to make it worth its 20 CR and live up to the beastie in the manga?
(Apart from inventing a couple new size categories that is... :smallbiggrin: )

[Eldariel]

Well, the first thing you need to do is apply templates to make it intelligent. Mindless threats aren't CR20 threats no matter what. It also needs some magic prowess. One could start by making it Fiendish. The bonuses are fairly redundant otherwise, but it grants it humanoid intellect (3), which opens up feats (yay!), skills (yay?) and other templates. Then you could build on top of that.

Note though, Centichoro is massive. Like, it's big enough to level cities. It's not some 60' long worm, I'd say it's closer to Leviathan from the Elder Evils. You'd have to homebrew the Molt ability either way, so I think you might as well just work from there.

[KillianHawkeye]

Is it... FLYING??? :smalleek:

[MisterKaws]

I made Carnage Kabuto as an Etomanothropic Devastation Beetle Incarnate Stone Colossus with a single level of warblade... but an Initiator Level of 97. And 65 feats.

And it's CR20. Thinking back, guess it's good I never finished it.

Well, my point is, you can do it on the same principle. Just don't throw a 5 thousand HP monstrosity with DR 50/Epic, SR 60 and level 9 combat maneuvers at your players.

Unless they want to rocket race you ;)

[DrMotives]

There's a couple of monster centipedes from 3.0 that fit thematically better. One is the spirit centipede from OA, although even the greater version is still a mere 5 HD, CR 2 creature. At least it has mental stats are 11 or 12, so it can plan & do things. It can breath a poison cloud & has alternate forms. Main problem is leveling it up a bunch.

Which brings us to the other example, one of the sample kaiju from the kaiju template in Dragon magazine #289. There's a half-fiend colossal kaiju centipede. It's not very bright, but the half-fiend template gives it a couple of claw attacks & enough brain power to have feats. A kaiju spirit centipede might be the hamburger helper version of what you're going for. The template adds 40 HD and brings the size to colossal, as well as giving a menu of (Su) powers to dress up your base monster with.

[martixy]

Well, the first thing you need to do is apply templates to make it intelligent. Mindless threats aren't CR20 threats no matter what. It also needs some magic prowess. One could start by making it Fiendish. The bonuses are fairly redundant otherwise, but it grants it humanoid intellect (3), which opens up feats (yay!), skills (yay?) and other templates. Then you could build on top of that.

Note though, Centichoro is massive. Like, it's big enough to level cities. It's not some 60' long worm, I'd say it's closer to Leviathan from the Elder Evils. You'd have to homebrew the Molt ability either way, so I think you might as well just work from there.

Yea, I know. One of the things I plan to do is make it measure up to the proper size.


Is it... FLYING??? :smalleek:

I think it's just so monumentally massive that you might as well consider it to be flying.
I have this thing for Shadow of the Colossus style fights in D&D...
Like, I imagine Centichoro is at least a couple of miles long, maybe more.


There's a couple of monster centipedes from 3.0 that fit thematically better. One is the spirit centipede from OA, although even the greater version is still a mere 5 HD, CR 2 creature. At least it has mental stats are 11 or 12, so it can plan & do things. It can breath a poison cloud & has alternate forms. Main problem is leveling it up a bunch.

Which brings us to the other example, one of the sample kaiju from the kaiju template in Dragon magazine #289. There's a half-fiend colossal kaiju centipede. It's not very bright, but the half-fiend template gives it a couple of claw attacks & enough brain power to have feats. A kaiju spirit centipede might be the hamburger helper version of what you're going for. The template adds 40 HD and brings the size to colossal, as well as giving a menu of (Su) powers to dress up your base monster with.

Oooh! Those are all good points.
Apart from the intelligence on the spirit one, both are just bags of HP and so completely interchangeable.

The kaiju template is awesome and fits perfectly for the purpose. I did not know it existed. I mean it is literally there to allow you make Godzilla. You can choose from special attacks like Ray Attacks and Shockwave.

I actually homebrewed a new size kategory for my game called kaiju, precisely for the purpose of doing absurdly huge monstrosities like this one (K was one of the few letters not taken by another size category - from the thesaurus, most synonyms of "huge" are either obscure or have this same problem - e.g. titanic clashes with tiny).

[Blue Jay]

I don't know the manga you're talking about, but there is a centipede-like aberration in Dungeon #144 called a bilewretch of Holashner. A few highlights:
Huge aberration, 18 HD, CR 13
Physical scores in the 20's, Int 5
4 tentacles 1d8 (acid, Improved Grab + Constrict) and a tail 2d8
weak acid breath weapon
SR 21
a few SLAs (confusion, poison, deeper darkness)
continuous air walk (can't be dispelled)
A substance called "black bile of the earth," which does... something. Extra acid damage, the bilewretch can swim through it, I'm sure if I actually read the adventure module, I'd know what it does.
Gargantuan at 28 HD, Colossal at 41


Maybe that would be a suitable starting point for your monster?

Here's what it looks like:
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/rythiae/images/f/fa/Bilewretch_of_Holashner.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20141226220616