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View Full Version : Intelligent, scary monster in 4e??



Kiyona
2008-09-20, 04:07 AM
Hello all,

I am DMing first time next week and having a little trouble finding the type of monster I want to use. Thing is, I had the campaign planned in 3e, but my pkayers only want to play 4e since it came out. Sp I converted it. I must say, as i noob DM, the system is so much easier. :smallbiggrin:

Problem is, that some of my planned encounters is hard to transfer to 4ed.

One of the main monsters later on I want to as scary as possible, I want to send shivers up my players spines. :smallbiggrin:

But I havent found any monster to fit the role. I want a highly intelligent, preferably more so than humans, monster that looks as unsettling as possible, I dont want them to look like humans one bit, I want the realisation that they are more than animals to be creepy itself. And also if there are different kinds of them, like younglings and mature versions, even with different roles, that would be awesome. I want them to swarm their targets.

Any suggestions?? =)

Sstoopidtallkid
2008-09-20, 04:09 AM
Kobolds?..

Kiyona
2008-09-20, 04:16 AM
He, yeah, that do fit. But they arent that scary. ^^ Not even for first lvl characters. And dont know any adventurer that would be intimidated by kobolds...

But, maybe I could just call them something else. Give them a power boost and a makeover. :smallbiggrin: How would you do such a thing? The PC will probably be around lvl 7-8 when they meet them the first time.
Maybe I could make the needlefang swarm the younglings... and use kobolds for the adults. With different specialtys.

This could work =)

Quietus
2008-09-20, 04:34 AM
I find the easiest way to do this is to find a stat block that represents the abilities I want my monsters to have, then change the monster's appearance. For instance, look at a 3.5 monster, the Krenshar. If I'm running a jungle-based campaign, who's to say that they don't run into a monster with those exact stats, but that looks, say, like a bipedal gorilla, who scares people with his massive roar?

I suggest you do the same. Find something roughly in the power range you want to replicate, then give it a new skin. Ta-da, instant stat block, and you can describe it as creepily as you like.

BobVosh
2008-09-20, 04:41 AM
He, yeah, that do fit. But they arent that scary. ^^ Not even for first lvl characters. And dont know any adventurer that would be intimidated by kobolds...

But, maybe I could just call them something else. Give them a power boost and a makeover. :smallbiggrin: How would you do such a thing? The PC will probably be around lvl 7-8 when they meet them the first time.
Maybe I could make the needlefang swarm the younglings... and use kobolds for the adults. With different specialtys.

This could work =)

Make em bugs. Noone expects smart bugs.

These bugs are just like us. Just as smart as we are. They want to study us. They want to know what makes us tick. They want to know our likes and dislikes. In short: they want to know about us... so they can KILL US!

Rigon
2008-09-20, 05:23 AM
hmm. okay, i'm not familiar with 4th ed (BUT I ALREADY SAW THE BOOKS COVER! I SWEAR!)

how about you take a dragonborn (black dragon source - acid breath) give it a warlock/cleric/paladin class ... pump it some levels... and then just for the scaryness'o'meter you throw an undead template on it (well and undead paladin would be a blackguard i guess, but who cares).
describe it slowly and with all sorts of detail (lime green fluid oozes from the mouth... as a drop of the ooze reaches the ground it releases a hissing sound... ITS skin is somewhat parched with filthy gray and black areas...). if you do it right then the first idea of the players will be that it's a demon which is only delaying his own attacks so he can kill and eat the players' children first... possibly in front of the players...

Sylian
2008-09-20, 05:26 AM
What about a small dragon?

Baxbart
2008-09-20, 05:48 AM
Nah, I can top those all - Kythons.

Converted from the old 3.5 Book of Vile Darkness, these things are smart, cunning and should certainly give your party a run for their money.

Check the link in my Sig. I put quite a bit of work into them a few months back, so they should useable right off the bat. I've also tried to provide a range of levels, so that they can be used with varying party strength.

RebelRogue
2008-09-20, 06:26 AM
Mind Flayers might work here too.

greenknight
2008-09-20, 07:07 AM
I like the bugs idea. You could use spiders, even include them as part of your dungeon dressing - 'you see spiderwebs, some containing small spiders, draped over the corpses of those who have come before...' kind of thing. Characters who examine the spiders closely might make a Nature check to recognise they they aren't typical spiders, and with a high enough check they might even know something about the various stages these spiders go through. The youngest (newly hatched) spiders work as scouts, of no significant threat on their own except for information gathering, and as a swarm when you want them to attack. The second stage should represent a more serious threat, with poison which causes temporary paralysis. The final stage might be the largest, most intelligent spider (nearly always a female), who uses webs to entrap along with paralysis type attacks.

Kiyona
2008-09-20, 07:40 AM
Yeah, some kind of buglike creature was my first idea. But honestly, Kythons were just so perfect and awesome. Many thanks, baxbart, they are the perfect creatures for my campaign. :smallbiggrin:

Baxbart
2008-09-20, 08:18 AM
You're very welcome, I've quite enjoyed using them myself.

Erk
2008-09-20, 10:28 AM
My main villain is a rat with superhuman intelligence.

It doesn't have any other powers (well, it is learning magic now); it can't speak, except to other rats - and they are limited by their ratlike comprehension.

So far, my players are quite terrified of it.

Asbestos
2008-09-21, 11:23 AM
Swordwings would work if you have a real high-level campaign going. If you end up using the Kythons then the swordwings might still be useful later on. I mean, evil aberrant insectoid monsters with seemingly grafted on weaponry? Yep, sounds like both of them.

FoE
2008-09-21, 01:26 PM
Foulspawn?

erikun
2008-09-21, 04:34 PM
Something big, intelligent, and scary?


http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/xph_gallery/33177.jpg

Kizara
2008-09-21, 05:21 PM
Something big, intelligent, and scary?


http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/xph_gallery/33177.jpg


The heck IS that? Cool pic though.

Erk
2008-09-21, 05:27 PM
exposed brain seems like a poor evolutionary design...

Asbestos
2008-09-21, 06:09 PM
Its a Ceberilith, a psionic demon in the Expanded Psionics Handbook.
The problem is... he's 3.x, not 4e.
You could add Kruthiks to the equation as well, perhaps they are to Kythons what cockroaches are to us. Just vermin that you happen to come across from time to time... except these are reptilian bugs with spikes for legs. Or, perhaps, just use the kruthiks themselves, give them some sort of hive intelligence or something.

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/art_preview/20080506_114809_0.jpg

They seem darn creepy to me.

If only cloakers had made it to 4e :smallfrown:

Sstoopidtallkid
2008-09-21, 06:14 PM
I'm still wondering why Kobolds aren't scary.

Gralamin
2008-09-21, 06:15 PM
I'm still wondering why Kobolds aren't scary.

Because most people haven't fought Tucker's Kobolds?

Sstoopidtallkid
2008-09-21, 06:18 PM
Because most people haven't fought Tucker's Kobolds?The most dangerous CR1 encounter is a Kobold. Pun-Pun is a Kobold. Tucker's Kobolds are Kobolds. Dragonwrought is Kobold-specific. How many horrors must there be before people realize how dangerous the things are?