LA Assignment Thread X: New Year, New Management, Same Old Unplayable Monsters

[Debatra]

Crypt Chanter

Size & Type: Medium Undead (Incorporeal)
HD: 7
Speed: 30', Fly 30' (perfect) (...An incorporeal creature with a land speed? Okay WotC.)
Ability Scores: Str -, Dex +8, Con -, Int +4, Wis +4, Cha +10 - Net +26, no penalties
Natural Armor: 0 (Cha to Deflection)
Natural Weapons: Incorporeal Touch (1d8)
Skill List: Hide, Intimidate, Listen, Perform (Sing), Search, Spot
Body Shape: Humanoid
Speech (Languages): ...Sort of. See below. (Common, Abyssal)
CR: 7
WotC LA: -
Our LA: +1* (uncapped spawn ability)

First thing's first. It has an uncapped spawn ability. Any humanoid killed by its Draining Melody becomes a Crypt Chanter under the control of its creator in 1d4 rounds. Asterisk. Like the Bleakborn before it, this is both its own ability in the monster entry as well as a rider on Draining Melody, so I guess that's going to be a thing in this book. Good thing we established that we can indeed only partially remove abilities.

Second, the "sort of" I put for speech. I'm just going to quote the book here:

A crypt chanter never speaks directly, though it may give instructions or provide answers within the lyrics of its music (usually in Common, sometimes Abyssal).

So you could maybe interpret that as being able to speak for what needs it, or maybe not. I'll leave that for discussion.

Daylight Powerlessness and +2 Turn Resistance cap off a decent chassis, but we're dealing with a one-trick pony here. Draining Melody is a sonic, mind-affecting, compulsion ability. While you're singing, all creatures within 60' make a Cha-based will save or are dazed for as long as the music continues. Note that says "as long as the music continues". RAI would probably be "as long as they remain within 60 feet", or maybe even "as long as they can hear you sing". But by strict-but-silly RAW, you could daze someone and then just leave them there while you go adventuring. This isn't the Dysfunctional Rules thread though, and I don't think it would be beyond our scope to interpret this in a non-silly way.

The round after becoming dazed, victims must make a second save or become enthralled, as the spell. This is redundant, as they're still dazed. But anyone who becomes enthralled takes 1d2 negative levels per round. This part of the ability actually does specify needing to stay within range. Every time it inflicts negative levels, it gets five temporary HP for each one.

Creatures who make the initial save are immune to that Crypt Chanter's Draining Melody. Not for 24 hours like most abilities with this kind of text, but until the Chanter stops singing for at least a full round and starts again. This releases everything else that failed their saves though. At least this thing can actually turn off its "everything near me potentially dies" aura.

Mind-affecting, sonic, compulsion, negative levels, and the Enthrall spell is also language-dependent. (It says creatures who become enthralled take negative levels, not just that they have to fail the second save.) That's a lot of potential shut-downs for this pony's one trick. That said, language-dependency and negative energy protection won't turn off the dazing effect, so it's still a potent mass-save-or-lose. And the fact that you can keep it up constantly means you can just keep turning it off and on again at the dungeon entrance until your party all make their initial saves. This creates some additional risk for attempting to enthrall targets a second time if your allies aren't actually warded though.