GITP Monster Competition Chat Thread

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Ok, I've decided to extend the deadline until Wednesday.

That would be a positive sign I guess...

Yup, hope so. Going to print in a few days

[Silence]

Excuse me for my ignorance, but tell me about the magazine. I may pick up a copy.

[DracoDei]

You mean the 30th? Not tommorrow? Because I think that this months deadline was the 24th originally (probably to account for the PLANNED board outage).

[The Vorpal Tribble]

You mean the 30th? Not tommorrow? Because I think that this months deadline was the 24th originally (probably to account for the PLANNED board outage).

Umm... ok, yours truly has had a brain fart. I had thought I'd set it to the 21st, but you're right, it's the 24th and will remain so.

[Lappy9000]

I'm getting all in a tizzy from the excitement!

[Guyr Adamantine]

O.k., I added my stat block. Fluffiness is for later. Have fun tearing ti apart, guys.

[DracoDei]

Just remembered to mention this: The HD requirements for "Rich Diet" are easy to meet for any adventurer I should think... at worst, you can buy farm animals (up to and including (poorly) domesticated elephants depending on the setting). While keeping the requirement for flavor is fine, I also am less than sure about the balance of that feat in general...

[Guyr Adamantine]

The HD requirement really is for fluff only, and I pretty much agrre it isn't pretty balanced, but I wanted a size booster. I reduced the normal ability score augmentations, but any other idea?

[Bhu]

Well heck. I as going to add some fluff, but I'm not going to have time to do it right, and if I did do it right...well I might be banned from posting for a bit. The evilness of the Pembunuh makes it difficult to actually write about them without being offensive. Ah well.

I must say I love the other entries so far too.

[DracoDei]

Have finally filled in relations with Halflings. Also added something in skills section about Intimidate being added to the class skills list for Druids, Rangers, Paladins (dead evildoers can't be reformed, and being born with spray tends to make for that as a prefered option), and of course Monks.

Considering giving them a racial +1 to saves vs fear effects (same as Halflings have), but I don't know if that would overpower them. Opinions?
Edit: Never mind... The Good Will Save for their racial HD covers it.

Also on my possible to do list:
1.) Explain their philosophy of bloodlines even more clearly if possible, including how they make sure that other races don't get the wrong ideas about it.

2.) Fill out the fine details on the example characters a bit more. (Which ones do people think a GM would be most likely to want to use on the spur of the moment? Would individual backstories for at least one or two be important?)

[Guyr Adamantine]

I just expanded the Personality, Relations and Beliefs sections. Now I need to put a backstory for Quelp, and I'm done.

[DracoDei]

Have put some more "Polish" on the example characters of class levels 1 through 5, as well as the 12th level fighter.

Edit:
Here are some semi-randomly scattered edits/critiques for other people's entries.
Griddoll
General:
Still missing enough of an idea of how they decide between "food" and "friends" to run a first encounter with them I feel.

Under "Personality" (edits underlined):
Few of these delicious targets manage to live for more than a week after a hunt has started. They have limited attention spans and wit, somehow focusing only on subjects "that matters" in the immediate. Despite not being outright stupid, Gridolls won’t try to understand what is beyond their own limits, ignoring facts and realities that don't suit their present goal. No mortal beings can stop them <delete "in their tracks">, so driven and pig-headed they are. They are grounded in reality and are not be impaired by the chaos around them or dramatic events.

Under "Relationships":
travel -> travels
Lizardfolks -> Lizardfolk (multiple locations)
"to even know about them." - add "directly" at the end of this sentence.
Last paragraph of section change to:
"Lizardfolk, who share the Gridoll's territories, are wary of their terrible hunger and try to keep peace with the Gridoll at all time. The Lizardfolk probably wouldn't have any problem defeating them through sheer strength of numbers, but they all share a deep fear of the "Great Mouths"."

Under "Beleifs":
The last sentence is a bit awkward, but I am not sure how to fix it. For one thing it it Bahk-Us's gift of eating to them, or his infinitely long tongue that they are in awe of?

Under "Feats":
"Heartburns" -> "Heartburn"
"got heartburns" -> "has heartburn"
"crusing" -> "crushing"
"-3 penalty to all skills armor penalty affect" -> "-3 armor check penalty"
I would probably combine the "special" section of "Keradum Lord" into the main section of it, and DEFINITELY remove the line-break between the last two sentences.


Xintri
Under "Alignment":

However, there are quite a few lawful neutral Xintri which merely existing in their culture by adhering to the rules.

Grammer needs work.

Under Settlements:

capitol

Spelling

(Going to go ahead and post these edits, any further reviews/corrections I give will go in another post).

[DracoDei]

Just got word back from VT reassurring that he is getting to the reviews. He mentioned something about "The Grand Ole Opry" in relation to his magazine so that further reenforces the explanation.

Note also MY (extremely limited) reviews above...

[Sir Shadow]

um... thank you for pointing out the iffy grammar. but there's nothing wrong with "capitol".

if you mean it should be spelled "capital" then you're just mistaken. There is no Xin'tri "country" per se, because their cities are widely scattered, so there is definitely no capital. Not to mention that a constantly shifting capital would be insanely confusing, and these people are lawful. I meant to use "capitol" because I'm talking about the place/building where the Emperor and the Council of Seven meet. The Council of Seven come to the Emperor. So the capitol shifts depending on the Emperor.

[Guyr Adamantine]

Thanks again!

Under "Beleifs":
The last sentence is a bit awkward, but I am not sure how to fix it. For one thing it it Bahk-Us's gift of eating to them, or his infinitely long tongue that they are in awe of?

I meant his tongue.

I would probably combine the "special" section of "Keradum Lord" into the main section of it, and DEFINITELY remove the line-break between the last two sentences.

Done, but why DEFINITELY?

EDIT: I'm so excited!

[DracoDei]

Sir Shadow: I... don't think I have heard of that word then... my apologies, and kudos to you on your vocabulary.

Edit:
Gridoll: Does limb regeneration require 24 hours of complete bed rest or what? In other words, how long does it take? Can mere *Cure* spells speed the process? What about Heal checks?

Also: Does getting their tongue cut off in battle interfere with speech? What about command words or verbal spell components?

Ghost Folk
You say they are all male, then list the possibility of female names (the same as male but still...).
esier -> easier

[Guyr Adamantine]

Edit:
Gridoll: Does limb regeneration require 24 hours of complete bed rest or what? In other words, how long does it take? Can mere *Cure* spells speed the process? What about Heal checks?

It requires Complete bed Rest. I will rewrite the ability.

Also: Does getting their tongue cut off in battle interfere with speech? What about command words or verbal spell components?

I didn't think about this, thank you! I added penalties.

[Sir Shadow]

<_<;;; sorry I came off kinda harsh Draco. kinda tense today, family stuff *shudders* -_-

[DracoDei]

Sir Shadow: Actually it didn't strike me as harsh. As for family matters: I shall pray for the situation.

[Sir Shadow]

thanks I could use it :)

[Silence]

Ghost Folk
You say they are all male, then list the possibility of female names (the same as male but still...).
esier -> easier

Thanks, I'll do that.

[Guyr Adamantine]

Two hours left before midnight!

[DracoDei]

Yeah, but deadline for changes is midnight TOMMORROW....

Also, I added a paragraph at the end of the spoilered section explaining that clerics of Allurehn take pogroms against any non-evil race lethal or otherwise free-will-violating eugenics as an especial concern of theirs. (Edited since the paragraph really covers more than pogroms.)

[Guyr Adamantine]

I kinda missed an occasion to look bright...

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Ok, folks, know it's getting old, but as storms are taking out my power I'll comment in the morning. Anything you choose to adjust because of my suggestions however you can make at any time, so don't feel like there is a deadline for it.

[DracoDei]

That works... I would give supportive scritches... but I am a bit nervous about... you know... the teeth.

Ok, have gotten VT's feedback, and made some edits based on it.

The most important was that I explicitly specified the +0 level adjustment, explained why (based on my own play/GMing experiences with them), and then listed the +2 level adjustment (with no racial HD) for a group that actually doesn't strenuously object IC when the Mepholk tries to make the spray their staple lead-off attack. Obviously an intermediate group attitude would lead to an intermediate LA/racial HD situation... should I state that?

I also toned down the secondary saves/skill checks for the critical hits with the spray (since they always come with a -7 penalty to both due to the circumstances).

I clarified the spray formatting a bit too by splitting off the critical hits into a seperate paragraph... thinking of grabbing VT's simpler mechanics for skunk spray and putting them in as an alternative rule. If I am remembering them correctly this would probably go with a recommendation to drop the racial hit-die and/or scale back the LA.

Got rid of all the design notes I could find, other than ones covering optional rules.

Have TRIED to go through an update ALL the example characters with the modified spray DCs (including putting the (plain text) rules for spray on all the sheets))... please tell me if I missed any of them, since that sort of typographical edit IS allowed after the close of the contest (which is a seperate thing from the extension on edits he recommends that VT gave in the post above this one).

Stashing a bit of discussion I had a few days ago with someone here to perhaps do some edits based on later (probably not during the voting period). Along with Vorpal Tribble's old rules for skunk spray.

Spoiler

Show

[16:52] <Navier> is there any "pure" blood stigma?
[16:53] <DracoDei> Navier: You mean would someone who is straight mepholk for 4 generations back be treated any different than someone who was pure exogamy for that same number of generations?
[16:55] <DracoDei> Navier: The "Pure-Blood" MIGHT be suspected of coming from a very snooty family by other Mepholk...
[16:57] <Navier> what sort of culture achievments have they created?
[16:58] <DracoDei> Navier: Varies by campaign... probably about the same as humans in the areas of art and construction and philosophy and magic and such like...
[16:58] <Navier> how good are they at magic?
[16:59] <DracoDei> Navier: Well, their sorcerers and bards are a bit better... but since those are the sorts who contribute the most to the advancement of the state of the art for magic...
[16:59] <DracoDei> (+2 CHA remember?)
[17:00] <Navier> so what would be their worst class?
[17:02] <DracoDei> Navier: Ummm... I dunno... Wizard???
[17:02] <The_Lurking_Dragon> od... I was thinking wizards contribute more to the art of magic, seeing as they *have* to learn about it to do it at all.
[17:03] <Navier> how bad would a flame based attack be?
[17:05] <DracoDei> Navier: By the rules? No worse than against any other races... being fluffy isn't considered to make a big enough difference to your flamability to come up...

Spray (Ex): A skunk can release an offensively smelling liquid as a ranged touch attack at an opponent up to 15 feet away. The victim must succeed on a DC 12 fortitude save or be rendered sickened for the duration of the encounter plus 1d4 minutes. On a roll of 20 the skunk sprays into their victim's eyes if they possess them, blinding them as well as sickening them if they fail their save. Creatures that successfully save cannot be sickened by the same skunk's stench for 24 hours, but can still be blinded. The skunk may only use this ability up to five times a day, and then loses the ability for a week. The save DC is Constitution-based.

A delay poison or neutralize poison spell removes the effect from the sickened creature. Creatures with immunity to poison are unaffected, and creatures resistant to poison receive their normal bonus on their saving throws. Creatures who have been sprayed can be detected at twice the range of normal by scent, and creatures that possess the scent ability have the range of their smell decreased to 10 feet. Bathing does not normally remove this scent, though tomato juice and other concotions are known to. Skunks are not affected by their own spray in any way.

[DracoDei]

Discovered that LA was listed in two seperate places, fixed it. See also comments above.

Edit(s):
Bornura
Make it so they can chose to do their unarmed strike damage with their Crystal Edge if they take that feat. As it is they are losing out on a good percentage of their damage at low levels, in exchange for a change of damage type and an expanded crit. range... they are better off taking Improved Critical (of course they can't take that until later, but whatever...) or maybe even weilding a dagger if they aren't going to flurry...

Purples
Still getting the wrong vibe about how you have carried out your vision of these... for one thing they seem like they should be immune to poision and disease.
Also need Hieght(diameter)/weight (the later probably being zero or close to it). And aging rules if you didn't put that in...

[Syne]

Ah, such a shame the contest ends today. I wanted to write something up.

[Silence]

Only a matter of hours now.... I added some touches to the Ghostfolk, along with a new picture. Old one didn't make sense, as the person in it was female, and Ghostfolk can only be male.

[Guyr Adamantine]

Ah, such a shame the contest ends today. I wanted to write something up.

I sure hope VT makes other race-creation contests.

Only a matter of hours now.... I added some touches to the Ghostfolk, along with a new picture. Old one didn't make sense, as the person in it was female, and Ghostfolk can only be male.

I just took for granted they were highly efeminate.