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Stycotl
2008-07-29, 09:53 PM
Maprapnetra, the servitors of Seklas, the forgotten vestige of a god.
Archon of the Forsaken (Binder/Warlock) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4483757#post4483757)
Seklas, the Destroyer (Rompin-Stompin Vestige; 8th level) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4483827#post4483827)
Seklas, the Lost (Vestige of a Forgotten God; 3rd level) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4481506#post4481506)

Maprapnetra

http://fc02.deviantart.com/fs32/i/2008/194/5/6/R__lyeh_Earthworm_by_stycotl.jpg

Colossal Aberration
Hit Dice: 24d8+404 (512 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 40 feet (6 squares), burrow 20 feet, climb 20 feet, swim 20 feet
Armor Class: 45 (-8 size, +2 Dex, +45 natural, +6 profane), touch 10, flat-footed 43
Base Attack/Grapple: +18/+60
Attack: Bite +36 melee (4d8+20/18-20; x4), or large tentacle +36 melee (6d8+10/18-20; x4), or small tentacle +36 melee (2d8+10/18-20; x4), or tail slap +36 melee (6d8+30 damage/18-20; x4)
Full Attack: Bite +36 melee (4d8+20/18-20; x4), and two large tentacles +36 melee (6d8+10/18-20; x4), and eight small tentacles +36 melee (2d8+10/18-20; x4), and tail slap +36 melee (6d8+30/18-20; x4)
Space/Reach: 30 feet/20 feet (40 feet with large tentacles and tail slap)
Special Attacks: Aspect of the end times, breath weapon, constriction (10d6), disease, eldritch blast (6d6), improved grab, mind of destruction, poison, ravenous craw, rend, spells, spell-like abilities, swallow whole, tail slap
Special Qualities: Blindsight 120 feet, consume the essence, damage reduction 20/ cold iron and magic, darkvision 60 feet, energy resistances, eye of entropy, immunities, improved uncanny dodge, metabolism of the ancients, preternatural presence, regeneration 15, spell resistance 46, stability, tremorsense 120 feet
Saves: Fort +33, Reflex +16, Will +26 (+1 all saves vs. effects from good creatures)
Abilities: Str 51, Dex 14, Con 45, Int 14, Wis 16, Cha 23
Skills: Bluff +11, Climb +30, Concentrate +30, Diplomacy +5, Heal +13, Intimidate +14, Knowledge (arcane) +12, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) +12, Knowledge (nature) +12, Knowledge (the planes) +32, Knowledge (religion) +32, Knowledge (siegecraft)+12, Listen +13, Search +26, Sense Motive +21, Spellcraft +21, Spot +18, Swim +30, Use Magic Device +15
Feats: (B) Great Fortitude, (B) Potent Venom, (1) Fiendish Heritage, (3) Multiattack, (6) Improved Multiattack, (9) Ennervating Venom, (12) Rapidstrike (large tentacles), (15) Combat Reflexes, (18) Fiendish Power, (21) Draining Venom, (24) Improved Rapidstrike (large tentacles)
Environment: Any land or underground
Organization: Solitary, cabal (2-5), or Judgment (12-36, along with the Prophet, the archons, and legions of aberrations and undead)
Challenge Rating: 26
Treasure: Double Standard Items
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Advancement: 24-36 HD (Colossal); 37-50 HD (Colossal+)
Level Adjustment: +14

A giant worm rises above the toppled stone and rent ground, oblivious to the spine-wrenching earthquake that still jars the land around it. Dozens of feet in the air, it is still rising, still crawling out of the seizing earth. Towering nearly one hundred feet in the air, with half of its form still coiled within the concealing stone below, the worm turns its attention to those tiny forms that shake in frozen panic below. A deep rumble erupts from its interior, and dozens of squirming tentacles drop from below its jaws, reaching out in hungry anticipation of the bloody feast on which it will momentarily feed. Glistening fangs drip with acidic bile and potent venom, promising excruciating pain to any that do not escape its reach. Clusters of eyes are arranged at the top of the creature’s head, and smaller eyespots run the entire length of the beast, giving it superb, all-around vision.

Heralds of the Poison of the Gods, servants of the imprisoned Destroyer, the maprapnetra are Seklas’ greatest allies. There are very few of them, perhaps only a score or so throughout the multiverse, and they are scattered and mostly dormant for now, awaiting the awakening of their lord. The maprapnetra, the spirits of destruction, have been named after their lord, Seklas, and are said to have been spawned from the imprisoned god’s restless dreams. They are native to the Far Realms, though it is rumored that there are a few that have been hibernating within the inner and outer planes, or even the prime material plane.

Occasionally, one of the slumbering beasts is awakened, either by extreme hunger, by trespassers, or natural or unnatural cataclysm, and spends a few days on a rampage. But after it sates its ravenous desire for flesh, it will always go back to sleep, in order to wait.

When the time is right, and the archons of the forsaken god have located the goddess that is destined for sacrifice, the Prophet (the oldest and largest of the maprapnetra) will awaken and call the rest of his brethren to battle, and they, along with the archons, will fall upon their divine foes, destroying those that stand in their way, and incapacitating the goddess, to take her before their vengeful lord.

Maprapnetra speak their own language, rumored to be the language that Seklas, the Destroyer, speaks, as well as abyssal, celestial, common, draconic, infernal, and slaadi.

Combat

A maprapnetra is wily enough to set cunning traps and ambushes, and wise enough to know when to get backup. But the monsters are also very arrogant, and believe—usually correctly—that they can handle any threat. They have been known at times to bite off more than they can chew, even considering their enormous maws and stupendous guts. A maprapnetra will generally enter combat with either a wash of regurgitated bile, if it thinks that its enemies might pose a threat, or with spells and grapples, if it just wants to get into the chaotic destruction of the fray. Many of its favorite spells are ones that it can use with a natural attack, or ones that immolate multiple foes at a time. Rarely does a maprapnetra focus on damage-dealing spells, as their own natural attacks are preferred; they deal more with battlefield control-type spells, invocations, and effects. They put their summoning abilities to good use, preferring aberrations and the darkest and most alien of outsiders to others. Maprapnetra are surprisingly dexterous, and can manipulate even fragile, tiny, and complex objects in its smaller tentacles. They have even been known to wear rings on the appendages when they acquire one that sufficiently captures their interest.

Aspect of the End Times (Su): A maprapnetra can resolve one attack per round as a touch attack. One time per day per point of Charisma modifier, the maprapnetra can automatically empower or maximize any invocation or spell as it sees fit. This does not stack with any other metamagic-type ability that would create a similar effect, and cannot be applied to its spell-like abilities. Further, the maprapnetra’s melee attacks do quadruple damage against objects and ignore hardness, and have their critical threat ranges doubled twice (20 becomes 18-20), and their critical multipliers doubled twice (x2 becomes x4) against creatures.

Breath Weapon (Ex): A maprapnetra’s insides are a cauldron of boiling acids and poisons, harboring some of the nastiest microorganisms from the Far Realms. As a standard action, the monster can regurgitate large amounts of this poisoned, diseased bile at its foes. This breath weapon takes the form of a 100-foot cone of acid that does 24d6 damage (Reflex save DC 39 for half; Con based), and also exposes its victims to its poison and disease abilities. Once it has used its breath weapon, it must wait 1d4 rounds before it can be used again.

Channel the Destroyer (Su): When the maprapnetra drops a foe to -1 hit points or below with any attack, effect, or spell, on the round immediately following, it can turn its breath weapon into an eldritch blast shape as a standard action. The breath weapon then deals its normal damage, plus the eldritch blast damage, along with the bile’s disease and poison effects, and whatever eldritch essences are applied. This ability recharges the breath weapon for immediate use whether or not 1d4 rounds have passed since its last use. Note that this is a supernatural effect, and when denied the use of supernatural or spell-like effects, only its breath weapon would be useful here.

Constrict (Ex): Whenever a maprapnetra succeeds at a grapple check, it may constrict its foe for 10d6+30 points of damage. Constriction damage is in addition to weapon damage used to initiate the grapple with improved grab.

Disease (Ex): A foe hit by the maprapnetra’s bite or breath weapon must make a successful Fortitude save (DC 39; Con-based; contact) or become afflicted with a horrible, Far Realms variation of the Cackle Fever, with an incubation period of 2 days, and causing 1d6 points of Wisdom damage, as well as 1d4 points of Constitution damage, as it begins to suffer horrible hallucinations and visions about the destruction of the world and the death of all that they knew.

Frightful Presence (Su): Creatures within 10 feet/level of the maprapnetra when it attacks, charges, flies overhead, or casts harmful or offensive spells must make a successful Will save (DC 28; Charisma-based), or suffer 4d6 rounds of panic (if 4 or less hit dice), or 4d6 rounds of being shaken (if 5 or more hit dice).

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a maprapnetra must hit a colossal sized creature or smaller with its bite or tentacle attack, doing damage normally. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If the maprapnetra desires, it can use only its bite or tentacle in order to grapple its foe—instead of its whole body—but it takes a -20 penalty to the roll. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and—if using its bite to maintain the hold—can attempt to swallow the foe the following round. A successful hold does weapon damage (bite or tentacle) and constriction damage on consecutive successful grapple checks unless the foe is swallowed whole. When a maprapnetra gets a hold after an improved grab attack, it pulls the opponent into its space. This act does not provoke attacks of opportunity. It can even move (possibly carrying away the opponent), provided it can drag the opponent’s weight.

Invocations: A maprapnetra has the invoking ability of a warlock, with an invoker level equal to half of its hit dice.

Common Invocations (12th level invoker; 3 least/3 lesser/1 greater; invoked at 13th level ability; +1 DC saves): Least—all-seeing eyes, entropic warding, hideous blow; Lesser—the dead walk, flee the scene, relentless dispelling; Greater—caustic mire (as a 6th level effect).

Lay Low the Will (Su): A maprapnetra can use the Intimidate Foe action as a swift action once per round against any target within 30 feet. Any foe successfully intimidated by it (through any means, skill, spell, or otherwise) must make a successful Will save or take 1d6 points of Wisdom damage.

Mind of Destruction (Su): Known as Anjra Maniiu, or less formally as the Godkiller, this is one of the maprapnetras’ greatest secrets—other than their existence as a whole in the first place. The monsters draw strength from Seklas’ imbued essence and ready themselves for the coming conflict with a divine entity. A maprapnetra can utilize the power word kill spell three times per day as a spell-like ability; except that a maprapnetra can affect a creature of 10 hit points for every hit dice that it has (thus, the Prophet, a 40-HD monster, can affect a creature of 400 hit points with its power word kill, while a normal, 24-HD maprapnetra, can affect a creature with 240 hit points). For every point of Constitution damage that the maprapnetra is willing to take in sacrifice to Seklas, it can raise the caster level of the power word by +1, and affect a creature with 20 hit points over the normal limit (example: the Prophet sacrifices 20 points of Constitution damage in order to gain a +20 to its caster level of the spell-like ability, and enable it to affect a creature with 400 more hit points, for a total of 800 hit points). If the maprapnetra sacrifices more than half of its current Constitution in this way at one time, it must immediately make a Fortitude saving throw, using its new Constitution modifier (DC of 10+Charisma modifier+sacrificed Constitution points), or lapse into a coma with a duration equal to the time necessary to heal its first point of Constitution back. Nothing short of a wish or miracle can heal this sacrificed points of Constitution any faster than natural rest. The maprapnetra cannot sacrifice a number of Constitution points in this fashion greater than its current cleric caster level. Legend states that when multiple archons of the forsaken gather with one or more maprapnetra to enact a ritual with the power of the Anjra Maniiu, that they will be able to strike even a god to its knees. But this ritual is as lost to the planes as is their deity, and supposedly only the Prophet will know where to go in order to retrieve its potent secrets.

Poison (Ex): A maprapnetra delivers its poison (Fort DC 41 negates; Con-based; contact) with each successful bite attack or breath weapon. Initial and secondary damage are the same—2d6 Constitution, 14 negative energy damage, and 2 negative levels.

Venom Feats are found here. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65399)

Ravenous Craw (Ex): Anyone unlucky enough to be swallowed whole by the maprapnetra finds the disturbing fact that the monster’s entire digestive tract is filled with rending pincers and fangs. Every round that the victim remains within the maprapnetra’s stomachs, it is subject to multiple bite attacks (with the same disease and poison capabilities as normal), dependent upon its size—as well as the tremendous acid damage detailed in the swallowed whole ability. A medium or smaller creature is subject to 1 bite attack every round that it remains within the maprapnetra's gullet; a large creature is subject to 2 bite attacks every round; a huge creature is subject to 3 bite attacks every round; a gargantuan creature is subject to 4 bite attacks every round, and a colossal creature is subject to 5 bite attacks every round.

Spells: A maprapnetra casts spells as a cleric of half its hit dice. Seklas is its patron, and grants it the Destruction and Pact domains.

Commonly prepared spells (10th level cleric; 6/5+1/4+1/4+1/3+1/3+1/2+1; cast at 11th level ability; +1 DC saves): 0th—detect magic—2, guidance—2, read magic, resistance; 1st—command—2, doom, sacrificial skill, shield of faith—2;[/i] 2nd—eagle’s splendor, owl’s wisdom, shatter, silence, wave of grief; 3rd—briar web—2 (but shadowy tentacles instead; called the writhing nest), chain of eyes, lesser visage of the deity, speak with the dead; 4th—dimensional anchor, divination, doomtide, recitation; 5th—mass inflict light wounds, plane shift—2, subvert planar essence—2; 6th—blade barrier, geas/quest,and zealot pact.

Spell-like Abilities (Sp): At will—black tentacles, detect thoughts (as a 5th level spell), locate object, summon monster IV or lower; 1/hour—earthquake; 3/day—symbol of insanity, teleport without error; 1/day—greater planar binding, meteor swarm (called the wrath of the Destroyer). Caster level 24th. Charisma-based.

Swallow Whole (Ex): A maprapnetra can try to swallow a grabbed opponent by making a successful grapple check. Once inside, the foe is considered grappled—though the maprapnetra is not—and the foe takes 4d8+20 points of crushing damage from the worm’s gizzard, plus automatic breath weapon damage (including disease and poison) each round, and is subject to the monster’s internal mouths. A swallowed creature can cut its way out by using a light slashing or piercing weapon to deal 25 points of damage to the gizzard (AC 17). Once the creature exits, muscular action closes the hole; another swallowed creature must cut its own way out. A malprapnetra’s multiple stomachs are very large, and the monster itself flexible and capable of stretching itself out in order to accommodate large meals; a colossal specimen can swallow whole one colossal, two gargantuan, eight huge, 32 large, 128 medium, or 512 small or smaller creatures. Note that it is possible to be poisoned and diseased multiple times in one round from different bite attacks, but simple exposure to the acids inside of a maprapnetra’s stomachs can only poison and disease the same creature once per round.

Tail Slap (Ex): As part of any attack action, a maprapnetra can utilize a tail slap that receives a damage bonus equal to 1½ its Strength modifier.

Consume the Essence (Su): Whenever a maprapnetra shrugs off the effects of a spell with its spell resistance, it voraciously absorbs that magical energy and processes it into greater strength. For one round, the maprapnetra gains a bonus to its caster and invoker levels equal to the level of the highest-level spell or spell-like ability that it has absorbed. Further, it also gains a similar bonus to the saving throw DC of any of its spells and invocations for one round. These bonuses do not stack, but overlap. These bonuses last stack with any potential caster and invoker level increases caused by the death knell gained from being bound to Seklas, the Destroyer. The maprapnetra will not gain new spells, spells per day, or invocations with these higher caster and invoker levels, but its spells and invocations (including eldritch blast) will be cast at higher level, increasing level-dependent effects.

Energy Resistances (Ex): A maprapnetra has the following energy resistances: Cold 15, Lightning 10, and Sonic 10

Eye of Entropy (Su): A maprapnetra can tell the type and all subtypes of any creature that it gazes upon. Nothing short of epic magic can conceal this information from it.

Immunities (Ex): A maprapnetra is immune to Acid, Death effects, Disease, Exhaustion, Fatigue, Fear effects, Insanity effects, Negative Energy effects, and Poison.

Metabolism of the Ancients (Ex): A maprapnetra is an aberration, and requires nourishment, hydration, rest, and respiration. But it is an aberration of amazing power, born in the empty space of the deepest reaches of the Far Realms. Therefore, it can go without for long periods of time; a maprapnetra can literally go thousands of years without breathing, eating, or drinking, and only need make a Constitution check once every 100 years under such conditions. With this conditioning, some of the maprapnetra have actually crossed solar systems, hibernating within the heart of a circling comet, awaiting the time when it will be stirred from its slumber by some prying intruder, or by the voice of the Prophet. Though they spend their current days in periods of sleep that would drive an old dragon to restless boredom, the maprapnetra can easily go months, decades, or even centuries without needing to take a break; a maprapnetra is immune to Exhaustion and Fatigue effects, and can press on with the tireless strength of a construct—once the Prophet calls them, they will not rest until their lord has feasted upon the remains of the bound goddess and risen to take up the destruction and re-creation of the multiverse.

Preternatural Presence (Su): A maprapnetra radiates an aura of alien power, a shield of grotesque aberrant energy that grants it a profane bonus to its AC, attacks, spell resistance, and saving throws equal to its Charisma modifier.

Regeneration (Ex): All hit point damage done to a maprapnetra except from fire and good-aligned weapons of cold iron is converted into nonlethal damage instantly. A maprapnetra regenerates lost hit points at the rate of 15 per round. Regeneration does not restore hit points lost from starvation, thirst, or suffocation, but does allow a maprapnetra to regrow or reattach lost body parts.

Soul Bound (Su): A maprapnetra is permanently bound (as a binder of a level equal to its hit dice) to both Seklas, the Lost, and Seklas, the Destroyer, a third level and an eighth level vestige respectively. It does not show either of the signs of being bound to Seklas (the milky eyes or the fiendish wings), because the beast itself is a sign of the Destroyer. The maprapnetra cannot fly, therefore, unless it acquires the ability by some other means, and the vitriol gaze ability is subsumed into the maprapnetra's breath weapon, and does not feature in its abilities. All other benefits of the two vestiges are written into the maprapnetra’s description.

Stability (Ex): A maprapnetra is incredibly stable and cannot be tripped. It gains a +20 stability bonus on its Strength check to avoid being bull rushed or overrun.

Skills: All maprapnetra, because of their connection to Seklas, the Destroyer, enjoy a +8 racial bonus on Climb, Concentration, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Swim, and Use Magic Device checks, and can always choose to take 10 on Climb, Concentration, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Swim, and Use Magic Device checks, even if rushed or threatened. Furthermore, maprapnetra receive a +10 bonus to Intimidate checks.

Ecology

Maprapnetra are alien beings, entities from the darkest pits of the Far Realms, and thus have no natural role in the world. When one is loosed upon one of the planes, havoc is often the result. Most sentient creatures are unaware of the maprapnetras’ nature—if they are aware of their existence at all—or of their intelligence, loyalties, and apocalyptic goals. Some of the more powerful denizens of the Lower Planes have purposefully made way for a maprapnetra to wreak its violence.

Encounters

There have been rumored accounts even among the archons of Seklas that some of his maprapnetra have not been so sluggish for these many millennia as legend would suggest. Supposedly, one or two of the beasts, or maybe even more, are currently scouring the stars, recruiting aberrant minions, slaughtering worshippers of the mother goddess that was so divinely ashamed of her abominable offspring, and preparing the way for the ascension of their lord, the Destroyer. The archons are aware that these stories are more than likely false, but they keep an eye out as they journey throughout the planes, hoping to one day meet such formidable allies, and to begin the work in earnest. Those that would oppose the ascension of the Poison of the Gods and the obliteration and remaking of this world, would do well to foil such a union at all costs, were they in a position to do so.

JoshuaZ
2008-07-30, 07:15 PM
Me like. So when do we get the details about the Prophet?

Also, why so few ranks in knowledge(religion)? Given that these are supposed to combat deities or the followers of deities I would think they would have a lot of ranks in it. I certainly don't see why they have more ranks in engineering than religion.

I would also make for the Cackle Fever variant the need to make a second save or one point of wisdom damage becomes wisdom drain. Seeing visions of the end of the world should be more severe than just wisdom damage.

Stycotl
2008-07-31, 12:06 AM
they don't actually have any ranks in engineering. but their eye of entropy lets them use the knowledge without ranks, with a substantial bonus. religion only has 2 ranks in it, cuz it has some good bonuses, and i was balancing rank divisions; religion just ended up with less need. it is still certainly malleable though. planar knowledge was the most important to them, and the prophet will have uber knowledge skills; he'll orchestrate all of the rites and prayer circles and stuff when it comes down to it, and will probably finalize plans against the goddess as well.

ability drain. good idea. i'll think about that.

i have to give a disclaimer here: i know some of you are rolling your eyes and wondering what it is about me and 8-page creature descriptions. some of that is just my setting/fluff/flavor addiction, and some of it is my pet peeve that wizards has reduced so many of my favorite monsters to a creature with a 3-round personality, 3-round arsenal, and 3-round bag of tricks, just because the average combat encounter is short.

i hate that computer game mentality. i want creatures and npc's and prc's that have depth and capability--so i make them ridiculously long. i know some of you hate it, and most don't even take the time to read it all, but there are some out there that are like me, so i keep posting them.

aaron out.

EDIT: and the prophet? i am not sure that i am going to write up his stats any time soon. it took long enough to get this guy to presentable-rough draft mode. plus, i might want to use him in one of my pbp campaigns, so not for a while.

arguskos
2008-07-31, 12:12 AM
Dude, more fluff is win fluff. :D

Also, who or what is The Prophet? Also what the the Archons? I recall reading about the god somewhere on here (I think), but I don't recall the other two.

-argus

Stycotl
2008-07-31, 09:54 AM
Dude, more fluff is win fluff. :D

Also, who or what is The Prophet? Also what the the Archons? I recall reading about the god somewhere on here (I think), but I don't recall the other two.

-argus

for archons, check the top of the page, right above the picture. the archons is a prc n the first of the three links.

the prophet is the godfather of all the maprapnetra, seklas' right-hand man... er,worm. uber worm.

DracoDei
2008-07-31, 12:30 PM
I concur about long descriptions with lots of flavorful abilities being good. I tend that way myself often times.

Devin
2008-07-31, 01:54 PM
I enjoyed reading it.

Stycotl
2008-08-01, 12:20 AM
thanks. it is currently undergoing an extensive dissection on the wizards board:

http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=1067847

i am hoping to finalize it, fix its many problems, and then post the edited version here. its cr is going to have to go up quite a bit...

Stycotl
2008-08-01, 01:06 AM
edit #1

changed cr, hit dice, and a few of its abilites.

Stycotl
2008-08-04, 06:02 PM
this might actually be the final edit. fixed the errors in its melee bonuses, clarified some of the other points. hopefully it is usable now...

Eita
2008-08-06, 03:57 PM
The fact that you included an LA scares me very much, because now I just know that someone is going to play this in some campaign.

fangthane
2008-08-06, 05:25 PM
I almost hate to say it but I think the CR's a bit too high as written, though I may be missing a thing or two that really makes it harsh. It does a great deal of damage, potentially, but at this level immunity to acid, disease and poison isn't particularly difficult to get. Its attacks look fearsome until you realise that the party may well have fairly solid universal 30 resists as well as DR 20/- (or greater) thanks to epic resources and spellcasting capacity.
Things like its relentless dispelling might be a pain, however it's basically a matter of whether it can roll a 20 in its efforts to dispel, since it's got a level cap of 10 and will need the 20 to dispel anything from a level 19+ caster.

Aspect of the End Times should really be itemised better; ideally the abilities listed should be separate specials so that it's clearer what affects what (does the double crit only take when using the touch? Does the touch eat into the max/empower abilities?) Also, the crit range is increased twice, not doubled twice. Yes, wizards call two doublings a trebling (well, a tripling) but they're doubly wrong too. :)

The ability to resolve one attack (should probably be commuted to one tentacle attack) as touch is nice though.

Its SR is punctured easily by a level 25 wizard (needs to roll, give or take, a 4), and the party's fighter/barbarian will be hitting 3-4 times per round if he's in proximity, 3-5 with the right feats. Not everyone has a cold iron holy avenger, but a crit-specced half-orc with slashing flurry and a greataxe could take it down in a round if he was lucky. At that point it's all about readied actions until the party has torched the still-twitching corpse. Doesn't matter how nasty the breath+blast is if he's not conscious to use it.

I'd drop it to a 27, because I'd be a LOT more worried about a TPK throwing a LeShay (800+hp, touch AC almost as good as this guy's normal AC, SR 7 points higher, saves higher than this thing's DCs, etc) at the party than I would with this guy.

Also, I note that when you beefed your critter up from 20 HD to 24, you forgot to amend the Advancement to be 25+ rather than 21. :)

Finally, I also note that you've left no potential for escape when swallowed; while its guts may be lined with teeth, there needs to be some mechanism for escape, whether it be cutting or climbing out. I'd also tend to limit the small tentacle attacks to being able to improved-grab only Huge or smaller opponents. Still won't affect most parties, but it might be nice to show a qualitative difference between its big and small appendages.

Those are my thoughts, anyhow. Sad thing is I could probably throw this at my 4-person epic 26th level party and serve up Maprapnetra kabobs; the fighter is specced as noted above and I've seen him deal 300+ damage in a round twice now (though I've also seen him chuck the axe twice in consecutive combats), and the ranger/rogue/retriever can hit his sneak attack on a 2 roll against that AC to put it down. Meanwhile the wizard casts incendiary cloud and kicks in some scorching rays. Down in a round, two tops, dead in under 10. The bard would probably be singing to give the fighter 5 guaranteed hits and the retriever 2-3. This thing's definitely what I'd call a solid 26 CR, maybe 27 due to the potential 3 instakills per day.

A level 26 two-hander paladin build, or a fighter with the right weapon, could probably put this thing down to stay in a round or two. A 26 LG monk with the right build could own it hardcore with a little luck.

Lest you think I'm hacking on your critter mercilessly, I'd direct your attention to two things. One, my sig. Two, this sentence which indicates that your fluff is astoundingly well-developed and your overall monster concept is highly intriguing to me. :)

Stycotl
2008-08-06, 07:08 PM
The fact that you included an LA scares me very much, because now I just know that someone is going to play this in some campaign.

i stuck the LA in because i hate it when monsters don't have them; invariably, i always need to see the ecl of a monster, whether it is for cohorts, or a player wanting to play one, or whatever. so, yeah, high level games: go for it.


I almost hate to say it but I think the CR's a bit too high as written, though I may be missing a thing or two that really makes it harsh.

i originally had it at 20 hit dice, and 24 (if i remember right) cr, but people kept telling me that it was waaaaay too powerful.


It does a great deal of damage, potentially, but at this level immunity to acid, disease and poison isn't particularly difficult to get. Its attacks look fearsome until you realise that the party may well have fairly solid universal 30 resists as well as DR 20/- (or greater) thanks to epic resources and spellcasting capacity.
Things like its relentless dispelling might be a pain, however it's basically a matter of whether it can roll a 20 in its efforts to dispel, since it's got a level cap of 10 and will need the 20 to dispel anything from a level 19+ caster.

that reminds me; i never finished updating spellcasting and invoking info for the hit dice increase... also, the caster level is puny for a high-level creature, but it does get caster level increases from some of its abilities, and one of them is pretty hefty (+1/spell level negated). however, i had been contemplating buffing that a little more, either the base caster level, or going +2 caster level/spell level negated. preferences? you think it's good as is?


Aspect of the End Times should really be itemised better; ideally the abilities listed should be separate specials so that it's clearer what affects what (does the double crit only take when using the touch? Does the touch eat into the max/empower abilities?) Also, the crit range is increased twice, not doubled twice. Yes, wizards call two doublings a trebling (well, a tripling) but they're doubly wrong too. :)

yeah, i dunno why wizards decided that they needed to reinvent math, but there is going to be a whole generation of rpgers that will grow up without a basic understanding of multiplication.

whatever. still, i'm gonna leave that one alone. that is one ability that is granted by its perma-soul bind to seklas. cool. somewhat useful, but as you stated, not exactly game-breaking, especially at epic level.


The ability to resolve one attack (should probably be commuted to one tentacle attack) as touch is nice though.

Its SR is punctured easily by a level 25 wizard (needs to roll, give or take, a 4)...

hmm, maybe i'll bump it up by 5 or 6. that would make so that wizard would have to roll 10's, whioch is about right on.


...and the party's fighter/barbarian will be hitting 3-4 times per round if he's in proximity, 3-5 with the right feats. Not everyone has a cold iron holy avenger, but a crit-specced half-orc with slashing flurry and a greataxe could take it down in a round if he was lucky. At that point it's all about readied actions until the party has torched the still-twitching corpse. Doesn't matter how nasty the breath+blast is if he's not conscious to use it.

you think i should up the constitution score? i'll admit, when i think about it, i get the urge to do the evil-dm-laugh.


I'd drop it to a 27, because I'd be a LOT more worried about a TPK throwing a LeShay (800+hp, touch AC almost as good as this guy's normal AC, SR 7 points higher, saves higher than this thing's DCs, etc) at the party than I would with this guy.

Also, I note that when you beefed your critter up from 20 HD to 24, you forgot to amend the Advancement to be 25+ rather than 21. :)

Finally, I also note that you've left no potential for escape when swallowed;

yeah, in the 'swallow whole' description, it mentions cutting your way out.


while its guts may be lined with teeth, there needs to be some mechanism for escape, whether it be cutting or climbing out. I'd also tend to limit the small tentacle attacks to being able to improved-grab only Huge or smaller opponents. Still won't affect most parties, but it might be nice to show a qualitative difference between its big and small appendages.

in the fluff text, it mentions that the maprap has dozens of tentacles, and only two of them are overly large. i figure that it can therefore grapple colossal creatures with its dozens of smaller ones. for game purposes, i only gave it a few smaller tentacle attacks every round, but the rest of them can still be doing something. maybe i ought to give this guy a circumstantial bonus to grapples for that.


Those are my thoughts, anyhow. Sad thing is I could probably throw this at my 4-person epic 26th level party and serve up Maprapnetra kabobs; the fighter is specced as noted above and I've seen him deal 300+ damage in a round twice now (though I've also seen him chuck the axe twice in consecutive combats), and the ranger/rogue/retriever can hit his sneak attack on a 2 roll against that AC to put it down. Meanwhile the wizard casts incendiary cloud and kicks in some scorching rays. Down in a round, two tops, dead in under 10. The bard would probably be singing to give the fighter 5 guaranteed hits and the retriever 2-3. This thing's definitely what I'd call a solid 26 CR, maybe 27 due to the potential 3 instakills per day.

you definitely showed me some weak points in its construction. remember, however, that monsters are built for the average party, not the average optimized party. i don't know for sure if that accurately describes your group or not, because i didn't see what level you are. and certainly, if you are talking epic characters dealing 300 damage, when some of the char-op *reasonable* builds are doing that by level 12, then you are not abusing any systems that i know of. but i do feel that there is a difference between the average party, and what little i have seen described as yours (or just about anyone else's here for that matter).

just for the sake of honesty and stuff, i tend to run way more powerful groups. we are not super at opimization. but i am generous with feats and ritual magic, and gestalt levels (don't tell my current pbp group, but one of their enemies is triple-gestalt), etc. so i would probably run this monster past my group at level 20, give or take.


A level 26 two-hander paladin build, or a fighter with the right weapon, could probably put this thing down to stay in a round or two. A 26 LG monk with the right build could own it hardcore with a little luck.

Lest you think I'm hacking on your critter mercilessly, I'd direct your attention to two things. One, my sig. Two, this sentence which indicates that your fluff is astoundingly well-developed and your overall monster concept is highly intriguing to me. :)

by all means, i enjoy the critique. i like to hear what i can do to make this thing enjoyable to others. and if i can cover any gaps in its armor that i might have missed, that will be one less way that my group can one-shot it without my blessing.

i am glad to hear that you like it over all.

EDIT: oh yeah, so i am thinking a compromise. originally cr 24, now 28, one too low, one too high. how does 26 sound?

thanks. aaron out.

Devin
2008-08-06, 07:18 PM
You should include a favored class and a section on roleplaying one to go along with the LA. :smallbiggrin:

Stycotl
2008-08-07, 08:49 AM
maybe i should have made up a prc just for them too.

fangthane
2008-08-07, 01:29 PM
Trouble is that even with the spell level absorption, it's going to have caps on most of its usable spells which limit it to a 10th or (at best) 15th level effect. Some bare few will cap at 20, but the caster level boost isn't going to do all that much, and won't affect the DC of the spells at all. Perhaps allowing it to 'cash in' some of its absorbed levels (declared before casting) to raise the DC for a single spell by up to 5 points, or something similar, would work better?
Beefing its SLAs up to CLevel 24 would definitely be a step in the right direction too, but as a CR 28 I'd give it at least a 40 or so for its SR; 40-42 is definitely the ideal range. That way a tweaked-out caster has good odds of hitting it (28+6+1d20 vs 40 means he needs a 6 or better) but a caster with no penetration feats is nulled 60% of the time.

Stycotl
2008-08-07, 03:15 PM
ok, bumped the constitution up to 45, which affects hit points, fort saves, skills, and a few ability dc's.

adjusted his sr to his hit dice, and made the profane bonus from preternatural presence apply. total sr, 45, pretty decent.

made the temporary boosts to his caster and invoker levels also affect the dc's of his spells/invocations by the same increase. so, he absorbs a 5th level spell, then casts a 6th level spell, it is cast at 29th level, with a 25 dc instead of a 20 dc.

updated the advancement and spells.

those increases are all cool, but shouldn't kick it up another cr rank, i don't think. so, an even 26 sound good?

aaron out.