Ashruff, Red Diver, Spark Leech (creatures) [EE]10 -12

[Icewalker]

Ashruff
Small Magical Beast (Fire, Extraplanar)
HD 1d10+4 (9)
Speed 20 ft. (4 squares)
Init: +1
AC 14; touch 12; flat-footed 13
(Size +1, Dex +1, Natural +2)
BAB/Grp +1/-3
Attack Bite +3 (1d6)
Full-Attack Bite +3 (1d6)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks Ashbomb, Pyral Transfer
Special Qualities Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision
Saves Fort +6 Ref +3 Will +5
Abilities Str 11, Dex 13, Con 18, Int 2, Wis 16, Cha 15
Skills Listen +9, Hide +9, Spot +5
Feats Alertness, Weapon Finesse (B)
Environment Sootfields on the Elemental Plane of Fire
Organization Solitary, pair, Ashuffle (5-10)
Challenge Rating 1/2
Alignment Neutral
Advancement -

The small fuzzy mammal stumbles forwards on stubby legs, its short snout sniveling through the ash for coalitts or maybe gray snappers. It's mottled black and gray fur is hard to see against the ash, but the when it raises its head the bright red nose stands out against the background.

The ashruff is one of the most docile creatures on the Elemental Plane of Fire. They spend their time ruffling through the ashes to find and eat coalitts and gray snappers, whilst keeping a wide ear out for prowling embercats. When they hear a predator, ashruffs are quick to use their pyral transfer ability to vanish in a puff of fire.

Ashbomb (Ex): Ashruff can spurt a tiny jet of fire from their mouth, sending a cloud of ash into the air to conceal them. At will as a standard action, Ashruffs can blow ash to do one of two things. They can provide themselves with concealment for one round, or they can blast an adjacent creature, forcing a DC 13 Reflex save or be blinded for a round.

Pyral Transfer (Su): Three times per day, ashruff can vanish in a ball of fire and reappear somewhere nearby in a puff of smoke. As a full round action ashruff can activate this ability and reappear anywhere within 200 ft.

[hr]
The ashruff is totally an ash wombat. Wombats are freakin awesome.

Now, the Red Diver is one of my more original creations (I'm trying to avoid just copying real animals). This is pretty good, initial inspiration was a lobster, but I wanted another midsize piece of prey for embercats.

...I think I need more prey animals. Right now we've really just got the ashruff and coalitt. Need some more midsized ones...

[hr]
Red Diver
Small Vermin (Fire, Extraplanar)
HD 1d8+4 (11 HP)
Speed 20 ft. (4 squares); Climb 20 ft.
Init: +1
AC 16; touch 12; flat-footed 15
(Size +1, Dex +1, Natural +4)
BAB/Grp +0/+3
Attack Bite +4 melee (1d4+3)
Full-Attack Bite +4 melee (1d4+3) and 2 claws -1 (1d3+3)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks Improved Grab, Rake
Special Qualities Safe drop, darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision
Saves Fort +6 Ref +1 Will +1
Abilities Str 17, Dex 13, Con 19, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 8
Skills Climb +15, Hide +5
Feats Toughness
Environment Sootfields and Obsidian Spires on the Elemental Plane of Fire
Organization Solitary, pair, firebombing (5-10)
Challenge Rating 1
Alignment Neutral
Advancement -

The brightly red notched carapace matches the sky of the plane almost perfectly, making it almost invisible hanging from the branch where it waits for its prey, the only thing signaling its presence the red lines over the branch that are its spindly legs holding it upside down in wait.

The red diver is one of the most fearsome predators in the plane considering its size. The sharp claws and vicious teeth will rend prey to bits as soon as it drops to assault them from its waiting perch up in the branches of obsidian spires.

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a red diver must hit with its bite attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can rake.

Rake (Ex): Attack bonus +4 melee, damage 1d3+3.

Safe Drop (Ex): The red diver's body is designed to drop safely from great heights onto its prey. Not only does a red diver take no damage for the first 20 ft. fallen, it may also count a drop of 10 ft. or more as a pouncing charge and land from such a drop with a full attack, including two rake attacks.

[hr]
Spark Leech
The spark leech is a minuscule ashen parasite that lives in the sootfields of the elemental plane of fire. These creatures hide in the ash until a bigger creature such as an embercat or ashruff comes by, occasionally latching onto sparkstreakers as well if they can catch them, and sucking the heat from them. The leeches draw the high temperature blood of the creatures, then after absorbing the heat they spit the blood back out. Ashruffs have been known to gather together and eat the spark leeches off of one another as a combination of cleaning and feeding, and there is one reported instance of a sparkstreaker climbing over an ashruff and eating the leeches.

[sigurd]

I'm enjoying these - good work.

Seems like you're really concentrating on the Cr1 and lower monsters.


Sigurd

[Debihuman]

I really like the ashruff. The ability to move through the ash seems to have its basis in the dimension door spell. Was that intentional?

The red diver sounds so much like a drop bear (i.e. the vicious koala).

Maybe the sparkleech could be set up as a hazard.

Debby

[Icewalker]

Originally, it wasn't based on dimension door, but as I wrote it up I realized it was very similar and considered it just being 'as dimension door with fluff' but decided not to.

Yeah, I'm focusing on low CR because it is intended to be the background wildlife for the most part, not encounter material. That's the project

[Icewalker]

Can't say I did, no. Good games though. Not sure which you're referencing, but the Red Diver seems very metroid reminiscent.

Maybe subconsciously? I dunno.

By the way, does anybody want to help me with art for this project? I put up a thread in the Arts and Crafts section. Any bits and pieces would be fantastic, I'm not looking for some single long term artist or anything, although I'd be happy to get multiple pictures in a consistent style.