GITP Monster Competition Chat Thread

[DracoDei]

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

So post something in its own thread then!
The contests are just to encourage people to rise to a challenge... they certainly shouldn't stop people from writing anything up.
He does a creature contest every (or almost every) month, but with a different theme each time (except that he repeated "Creatures of Legend"... but that one was a theme worth repeating... wish I could have thought of something for it...). The catagories could overlap (for instance someone could have entered a Tiny race in this months contest theoretically, which would have fit "Tiny but Tough").

[Syne]

Oh, I'm not going to let that stop me. It's still a shame, though.

[Guyr Adamantine]

I think there's a real advantage to the contests over normal posts, though. Among competitors, we really help each others, no matter the person. Regular posts are often ignored or do not last long enough to pick the majority of the problems associated with the subject.

We're a community! *Weeps*

I love you guys!

[Silence]

I think there's a real advantage to the contests over normal posts, though. Among competitors, we really help each others, no matter the person. Regular posts are often ignored or do not last long enough to pick the majority of the problems associated with the subject.

We're a community! *Weeps*

I love you guys!

I love you man.... like *hic* I love you....

*drinks another beer*

[Sir Shadow]

<_< yea me too Guyr... just don't get tears on me... :P

[The Vorpal Tribble]

I LOVE Y'ALL TOO!


*GROUP HUG*

*enslaves you all with the strategic touch attack*

[Silence]

I LOVE Y'ALL TOO!


*GROUP HUG*

*enslaves you all with the strategic touch attack*

What do master want.... I live to serve...

[Guyr Adamantine]

Must. Give all my savings. To The Vorpal Tribble.

Sexual favors too.

Lots of them.

[The Gilded Duke]

I LOVE Y'ALL TOO!
*enslaves you all with the strategic touch attack*

Once betrayed a party member by getting them to participate in a ritual where we all held hands. Then I harmed him. The group member holding his other hand then pulled him into a grapple and did the final few points of damage to knock him out. Then killed him in the next round. Then we made him into a vampire. All so if he plotted against us in the future I could rebuke undead him.

That is how you handle a disruptive player in an evil game.

[Silence]

Sexual favors too.

..................................................

Eh.

[Guyr Adamantine]

..................................................

Eh.

The Vorpal Tribble's orders. Work in mysterious ways.

Do not question. The master.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Your savings will be useful, but as for the favors, gonna have to turn you down.

No offense, it's not you, it's me.

[Sir Shadow]

<_<;;; what have you done, VT???

[Guyr Adamantine]

Too bad.

At least I got. One appropriate reaction.

[Silence]

<_<;;; what have you done, VT???

*robo voice* You have insulted my master.

*Beats you to death with a damp rag*

[Lappy9000]

Well, I'm sure glad I missed that group hug

Once betrayed a party member by getting them to participate in a ritual where we all held hands. Then I harmed him. The group member holding his other hand then pulled him into a grapple and did the final few points of damage to knock him out. Then killed him in the next round. Then we made him into a vampire. All so if he plotted against us in the future I could rebuke undead him.

That's awesome. I just brought my party through an adventuring site where they all gained "Shocking Grasp" 2/day as a supernatural ability. I am 100% sure this decision will come back to haunt me when the rogue or meatshield zaps some heavily armored BBEG or something.

[Silence]

Annoying that the contest ends at the exact same time as I need to leave my computer. Oh well.

[Guyr Adamantine]

Wooooooooooooooooh!

[Bhu]

Okay something was brought up to me: I'm told Alignment Subtypes cant be added to Humanoids. Is this true? Under the text it said they "usually" were used for Outsiders, but it didnt say I couldnt use them on humanoids, and a quick peek at one of the Monster Manuals shows them being used on Constructs, Elementals, Undead, magical Beasts etc.

[BisectedBrioche]

I've added some fire resistance to the mundaziers to justify the +2 LA.

[DracoDei]

Okay something was brought up to me: I'm told Alignment Subtypes cant be added to Humanoids. Is this true? Under the text it said they "usually" were used for Outsiders, but it didnt say I couldnt use them on humanoids, and a quick peek at one of the Monster Manuals shows them being used on Constructs, Elementals, Undead, magical Beasts etc.

Well, if they are used on constructs and magical beasts I personally don't see any problem with breaking the mold by extending it to humanoids in any case. Note that I am NOT saying that the rule exists, only that if it does that you have broken it "correctly". I think the major thing it actually matters for is bypassing damage reduction, correct?

In any case, it is too late to change it now for contest purposes I think (unless it was one of the things VT mentioned to you in which case you get the extension).

[Bhu]

It was the only thing VT mentioned to me.


Well the only thing regarding mechanics anyway.

On a side note: All of the names in the Pembunuh entry are in Indonesian. if you want some fun, find an english/indonesian dictionary on the web and type them in

[Guyr Adamantine]

Yay, I got a vote! From Bhu! Unexpected!


The money is taped under your car, thank you.

[Lappy9000]

So anyway, on the voting thread DracoDei mentioned wanting to know what people thought about his race in full, and I was wondering what people's thought's were on the bornura. Here's my opinions on some of the other races:

Mepholk: Thar be some great fluff in there, but the mechanics are a little confusing. Using the same format for racial traits as the PHB would help me read it alot better. However, DracoDei did a great job of delving into the biology, psychology, and culture of the Mepholk. I especially like the creative name, rather than skunk folk.

Gridolls: I've already stated just how much I like these guys. They're original, and the fluff and crunch is definitely solid. (And, c'mon. Quina. Blue Mages ftw)

Xintri: The rigid social hierarchy is constructed brilliantly and they're those characters who are such arrogant jerks that it's ironically hard not to like them. I just wish I knew anything about Incarnum . I definitely liked how Sir_Shadow included rules to use them in a campaign without incarnum. Unfortunatly, they're pretty useless then. If incarnum is anything like psionics, it may be a good idea to give them some innate incarnum spells, like the Kalashtar from Eberron.

Mundaizers: Mortal devils within the societiy of regular devils is certainly a cool idea. I like the names, and how good mundaizers are the ones who aren't trusted. The fluff is nice here, too.

Ghostfolk: Silence handled turning incorporeal very well for an ability that could so eaisly be abused under normal circumstances. The fluff is a touch lacking, but the crunch is good and the ectoplasm was the transparent icing on the cake.

Pembuhnuh: Crazy-awesome fluff and crunch, but they're just...too evil for my tastes. These guys eat cute and goodness for breakfast and regurgitate it into pure malice. This is one of those races that is good, but just doesn't appeal to me

Purples: Brilliant and very original ideas here. The fluff is really cool, especially the way The_Gilded_Duke chose to write it:

Purple?
Purple gained a soul.
And a mind.
And the ability to reproduce.
Purple was a people now.

However, I just can't seem to wrap my mind around how to run a game with someone playing a purple

...There you go! That's my opinion on the competition. Tune in next week at 7.

[Guyr Adamantine]

Man, this contest is good for my ego. Two guys voted for me, and two others simply love my race!
Quoters will be shot.
Woooooooooh!

[DracoDei]

So anyway, on the voting thread DracoDei mentioned wanting to know what people thought about his race in full

Actually, that wasn't QUITE what I said... I was looking form more info on what people liked, regardless of which entry the comments were about. I admit I WAS wondering in terms of comparing my own entry so I could continue to improve in the future, but even if Bhu hadn't have had mine in his "Top ~4" I would have still wanted to know about all the ones he DID like (although I might have PMed him for what he DIDN'T like about the Mepholk). Knowing what OTHER people did that was liked is important information.

Edit: Just remembered that it suddenly occured to me when I woke up about 20 minutes ago (going back to bed soon) that the Penumuh ALL doing the treachery thing as their rite of passage is a bit of a stretch for most campaign worlds... because word would TEND to get around sooner or later. They would have to be a VERY small race, and their children would have to travel VERY far (on average) before attempting to find someone to "befriend".

Also I just fixed a minor error (sentence that just sorta trailed off with no end) in the intro to the Mepholk.

[Bhu]

It actually came down to the Mepholk and the Gridoll. I damn near had to flip a coin. Will add more later.

[Sir Shadow]

Xintri: The rigid social hierarchy is constructed brilliantly and they're those characters who are such arrogant jerks that it's ironically hard not to like them. I just wish I knew anything about Incarnum . I definitely liked how Sir_Shadow included rules to use them in a campaign without incarnum. Unfortunatly, they're pretty useless then. If incarnum is anything like psionics, it may be a good idea to give them some innate incarnum spells, like the Kalashtar from Eberron.

Incarnum isn't like psionics at all, in fact there are no spells for it. Essentially, giving them an Essentia Pool (play on words not intended) along with their two racial abilities is about the same as giving a psionic race psionic spells.

As for the non-incarmun starts, they're just about as useless as any other core race. I mean look at elves, they're don't really have the bonus stats for being their favored class (wizard), they'd be better off being rogues. If someone used them in a non-incarnum campaign, it would probably be for flavor and its stat bonuses.

[DracoDei]

For neatnesses sake I decided to move this over here (also I suspect people might feel more free about responding to it here).

Not ready to vote yet, but in order to get there I need to organize my thoughts. Ok, in alphabetical order, and will be editing in things as I think of them:

Bonura:


Ghostfolk:
A market price for Ectoplasm MIGHT be good, but then be sure to list the materials cost of the rings both with and without it.

One or more Rings of Shifting is a bargain for any rogue high enough level to afford it... they can walk through most doors, and never need to pump their Move Silently Ranks again (And 1/3 the price of Armor of Silent Movement, Greater that "only" gives you +15)... Granted it takes 10 minutes to activate (Of course you can spend a measly 4,000 gp more and another ring slot and get it down to a minute, especially since when you aren't in the process of shifting one way or the other you can take the second one off and replace it with whatever you normally wear on that hand for a ring). With unlimited duration, you can stay as long as you need to.

One possible oversight (and one you MIGHT still be able to fix according to the rules (otherwise wait for the end of the contest before doing so) ) is that it seems they can cast spells to full effect while incorporeal (if I am reading the SRD right) and you don't list a -2 to attack under the incorporeal form. If this is correct, then and if they get the standard addition of their Charisma bonus as a deflection bonus to AC while incorporeal (you should explicitly specify if they don't), then they are looking like they might, indeed, make good sorcerers... perhaps TOO good, but that is a seperate question.

Another mistake you seemed to make is that with the contest descriptor of "the common folk" they don't fit well as near as I can tell because 1d6 of them appear over the entire world per week, and they aren't THAT long lived to become very common.

More "a day in the life of a ghostfolk" type stuff would be interesting, since they are unique enough that they probably wouldn't end up being very generic in the ways they go about their day-to-day lives. I can imagine a Xintri potter making china vases and being snooty about it... I can imagine a Gridoll heading out to catch something to feed his kids... I can OF COURSE imagin my mepholk doing almost any mundane job... and the same basically goes for the Bornura....but these guys? They take -2 to every Craft check unless they take a specific feat, and -4 strength, BUT they can go incorporeal... and that is the sort of thing that could have far-reaching implications for a setting if one chose to follow it through... sorry nobody thought to mention this (unless VT did) before the deadline...




Gridoll:
PC race with "Swallow Whole"... nice... the slight tendency to good alignment (well sorta...) just makes it even better. There ability to alter the colors of their gear with "Walking Moldy Hill" and the other such feat seems a bit out of place, but anything to keep the humanoid characters from benefiting from nudity (well, except the Pembunuh, but that is different)...


Mepholk:
(Probably not going to comment further on them here, please see my previous comments for why I treated "Intimidate" the way I did, and why ).

Mundaziers:
A sound enough concept, but too little fluff here to fire my imagination (except on the example character which had a reasonable hook, but very little if any personality). The idea of non-evil inhabitants that PCs adventuring on the lower planes can run across a whole town of has interesting possibilities, but I am not quite sure how to handle that, especially with their loyalty to the devils...
Wording on how often they can do Alter Self is garbled.
Making the Good Aligned ones the spies on the material plane is a really weird thought, since they can probably do MORE harm sending false information than they could causing unrest among their fellows on the lower plains. Even the fact that the Good ones are allowed to live with any freedom what-so-ever strikes me as a bit odd. If you wanted to allow for Good ones, just say that a lot of them (even somewhere around 50%) who get sent to the material plane "go native". Also if you had justified it by saying that the devils know that they will get little direct use out of the Good ones, so the TRUE purpose is as a smokescreen for the Neutral and Evil ones to hide among.
-2 Wisdom makes them worse at Sense Motive... not sure if that fits with the overall concept. Also affects Craft... which they are one of the few races on the lower planes I can see crafting more than armor, weapons, or magic items much.
The wings... seem out of place in that they give a power that is so far from their intended purpose that it seems out of place... then again I guess we could call it a "happy accident" and say that the "retractable" feature was found to be slightly easier to make happen then modifying them out of the race.

These just don't have enough depth or originality of feel to play one that I can see myself voting for them...


Pembunuh:
Interesting option for evil characters, don't know that I would want to play in any group that would allow a standard one of them as a PC... and really I think that might be one of their biggest assets, since Evil races are so rarely developed in as much depth (or maybe I don't own the right splat books?). You managed to really EXPLAIN a novel and very very evil society.
They get points for hermaphroditism too...


The Colors Purple:
A very ambitious idea, unfortunately degree of detail on handling mechanical and conceptual issues is much less than what I would see as needed to have it be consistant across DMs and many DMs and players would have trouble dealing with such issue I think. Also, the formatting for the feats is poor, and in some cases (Purple Companion, and Purple Animal) oddly contradictory (did you mean the lead-off sentences to be "Normal" lines?)
Also, the background seems a little... thin...
Not voting for this one.


Xintri:
WISH I knew more about Incarnum...
NOT speaking Common by default is a nice touch...
Really, doesn't seem THAT novel mechanically, given the existance of Shadow Dancers and the Soulknife class. Then again, giving both as RACIAL abilities could be fun... BTW, in considering a "slash and heal" cleric of this race, I realized that you have no rules for the weapon becoming other than a light one, even though the last feat you list mentioned two-handed weapons.

Providing the road to turn their racial abilities into feats for other Incarnum races was very thoughtful.

[Guyr Adamantine]

Gridoll:
PC race with "Swallow Whole"... nice... the slight tendency to good alignment (well sorta...) just makes it even better. There ability to alter the colors of their gear with "Walking Moldy Hill" and the other such feat seems a bit out of place, but anything to keep the humanoid characters from benefiting from nudity (well, except the Pembunuh, but that is different)...

I forgot to mention its a supernatural ability. I've put it there to replicate a chameleon's natural camouflage, as the Gridoll draw from more than one reptile.