New OOTS products from CafePress
New OOTS t-shirts, ornaments, mugs, bags, and more
Page 10 of 10 FirstFirst 12345678910
Results 271 to 291 of 291
  1. - Top - End - #271
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Devil

    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Germany
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Songbird race! (And other stuff.)

    Lowest stats of any creature. What a useless lump. Incidentally, You forgot the hp of Lump.

  2. - Top - End - #272
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    Metastachydium's Avatar

    Join Date
    Jul 2020

    Default Re: Songbird race! (And other stuff.)

    Quote Originally Posted by Tzardok View Post
    Incidentally, You forgot the hp of Lump.
    Oops. I fixed that one, thanks!

  3. - Top - End - #273
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    NecromancerGuy

    Join Date
    Feb 2021
    Location
    France
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Songbird race! (And other stuff.)

    Quote Originally Posted by Metastachydium View Post
    Bulging Lump
    Hmmm, 1 RHD, DLA-12, assuming Int 3. Would make a decent Master Inquisitive in DNLA with Open Minded and Nymph's Kiss. And yes, the nymph would have to be quite open minded to kiss that. The 24h immunity and Construct bonus HD helps a lot its viability. The party can just carry the lump and automatically have a chance to instantly beat any living creature. Seems competitive.

    Quote Originally Posted by Metastachydium View Post
    Sappa

    If it succeeds in establishing a hold, it can then choose to latch onto its opponents lower jaw and attempt to tear it off.
    That is... suprisingly gruesome for D&D. Killing in dozens of unique and specific ways is commonplace, but torture is generally nondescript, and maiming is basically nonexistent. Kinda hypocritical, I know, but there's a reason the cure for losing your jaw is "Regeneration, or regeneration". I like that it just despises people speaking, and that the fight basically has two stages, first the Sappa attacks, then it just goes away after breaking all jaws in sight. I would love to see one reacting to people communicating telepathically with it. "Speaking! But no jaw! But speaking! Where jaw!? If jaw, then break jaw, then no jaw! No more speaking! But now no jaw, and still speaking! Why speaking!"
    Last edited by Beni-Kujaku; 2024-03-19 at 05:49 PM.
    Resurrecting the Negative LA thread, comments and discussion are very welcome!

    Do you want to build monstrous characters with reasonable LA? Join the Monster Mash! Currently, round XII: One-Punch Monster!!! Come judge single-strike entries!
    Nice find! Have a cookie!
    Searchable spreadsheet of 3.5 monsters by abilities, now with all online monsters

    Quote Originally Posted by H_H_F_F View Post
    3.5 allows you to optimize into godhood, yes, but far more importantly, it lets you optimize weak, weird, and niche options into relevance.

  4. - Top - End - #274
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    Metastachydium's Avatar

    Join Date
    Jul 2020

    Default Re: Songbird race! (And other stuff.)

    Quote Originally Posted by Beni-Kujaku View Post
    Hmmm, 1 RHD, DLA-12, assuming Int 3. Would make a decent Master Inquisitive in DNLA with Open Minded and Nymph's Kiss. And yes, the nymph would have to be quite open minded to kiss that.
    Maybe they met in Unfriendly Auras Anonymous?

    The 24h immunity and Construct bonus HD helps a lot its viability. The party can just carry the lump and automatically have a chance to instantly beat any living creature. Seems competitive.
    Curses! The Shrieker triumphs again.

    That is... suprisingly gruesome for D&D. Killing in dozens of unique and specific ways is commonplace, but torture is generally nondescript, and maiming is basically nonexistent. Kinda hypocritical, I know, but there's a reason the cure for losing your jaw is "Regeneration, or regeneration".
    [Innocently.] Look, I just believe Regenerate deserves a valid use case!

    I like that it just despises people speaking, and that the fight basically has two stages, first the Sappa attacks, then it just goes away after breaking all jaws in sight. I would love to see one reacting to people communicating telepathically with it. "Speaking! But no jaw! But speaking! Where jaw!? If jaw, then break jaw, then no jaw! No more speaking! But now no jaw, and still speaking! Why speaking!"
    Heh. Depending on the opponents's temperament, that would likely end with either a coup de grace or everyone walking away in one piece as it quietly sobs in the corner.

  5. - Top - End - #275
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Bhu's Avatar

    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Hell itself (Ohio)
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Songbird race! (And other stuff.)

    I like the new critters!
    Revised avatar by Trixie, New avvie by Crisis21!
    Mah Fluffy Death Critters
    Orcs and Goblins
    Behold the Power of Kitteh!
    Backup threads available here

  6. - Top - End - #276
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    Metastachydium's Avatar

    Join Date
    Jul 2020

    Default Re: Songbird race! (And other stuff.)

    Quote Originally Posted by Bhu View Post
    I like the new critters!
    Thanks!


    And as I'm here anyway, ANNOUNCEMENTS time: I'm alive (a surprise to a very select few, I'll assume) and so is the thread; I just ran into this issue where I was working on a Deathless but suddenly found I don't want to do it anymore for reasosns, and it left me in something of a disarray schedule-wise. While I work on putting myself back together, have an arthropod of probably extraplanar origin that I kind had lying about:

    Pious Goblin
    Pious goblins bear the guise of a scrawny, mantled goblinoid creature of priestly demeanour, standing or ambling about with its hands clasped before its chest in areas commonly frequented by humanoids. What appear to be its hands, however, are in truth merely joints of a longer forelimb, with a long, clublike section full of wicked, clawlike hooks cleverly folded under and behind them. The mantle in its turn is a modified winglike structure, hiding two more clawed arms underneath and the angular chin a set of mandibles, one resting in the other.

    More baffling to scholars than these resourceful adaptations are the strange energies that seem to be woven into the forms of these large, predatory insects, traces of a force resembling the essence of the aligned planes, if more mutable and primitive. The leading theories not simply dismissing this as an anomaly suggest that these creatures must have once been extraplanar beings, from some old, neutrally aligned plane.

    A pious goblin appears to murmur some manner of religious mantra at all times. This is but a prayful mimicry, nevertheless; these beings are mindless and cannot speak.

    Size/Type: Medium Vermin
    Hit Dice: 4d8+12 (30 hp)
    Initiative: +3
    Speed: 30 feet (6 squares)
    Armor Class: 17 (+3 Dex, +4 natural), touch 13, flat-footed 14
    Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+6
    Attack: Foreclaw +6 melee (1d8+3)
    Full Attack: 2 foreclaws +6 melee (1d8+3), 2 claws +1 melee (1d4+1) and bite +1 melee (1d8+1)
    Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft. (10 ft. with foreclaws)
    Special Attacks: Rend (2d8+4)
    Special Qualities: Aligned aura, darkvision 60 ft., mindless
    Saves: Fort +6, Ref +3, Will -1
    Abilities: Str 17, Dex 17, Con 14, Int –, Wis 9, Cha 10
    Skills: Disguise +0 (+10 to mimic goblinoid creatures), Jump +7, Listen +3
    Feats: Improved ToughnessB
    Environment: Any land
    Organization: Solitary
    Challenge Rating: 3
    Alignment: Always neutral
    Advancement: 5–7 HD (Medium)
    Level Adjustment:

    Combat
    Pious goblins wait in plain view for prey to come by and let their unsuspecting foes-to-be come to them. Once a creature no larger than the pious goblin itself is within easy reach, it lashes out, aiming for a quick kill.

    Aligned Aura (Ex)
    An attempt to detect a pious goblin's alignment by any means automatically fails and the creature registers, instead, as possessing the alignment aura a 1st level cleric of a deity with the same alignment as the foe trying to discern the goblin's has.

    Rend (Ex)
    If a pious goblin hits with both its foreclaws, it
    latches onto the opponent’s body and tears the flesh. This attack
    automatically deals an additional 2d8+4 points of damage.

    Skills
    Pious goblins have a +4 racial bonus on Jump and Listen checks and a +10 racial bonus on Disguise checks made to look and act as though they were goblinoid creature.
    Last edited by Metastachydium; 2024-04-11 at 09:47 AM. Reason: Aligned Aura now Ex; skill bonuses and text added.

  7. - Top - End - #277
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    NecromancerGuy

    Join Date
    Feb 2021
    Location
    France
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Songbird race! (And other stuff.)

    I kinda like this one, but I wonder how often its aura will come into play. Not many parties immediately Detect Alignment whenever they encounter a new character.
    Resurrecting the Negative LA thread, comments and discussion are very welcome!

    Do you want to build monstrous characters with reasonable LA? Join the Monster Mash! Currently, round XII: One-Punch Monster!!! Come judge single-strike entries!
    Nice find! Have a cookie!
    Searchable spreadsheet of 3.5 monsters by abilities, now with all online monsters

    Quote Originally Posted by H_H_F_F View Post
    3.5 allows you to optimize into godhood, yes, but far more importantly, it lets you optimize weak, weird, and niche options into relevance.

  8. - Top - End - #278
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Devil

    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Germany
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Songbird race! (And other stuff.)

    I'm kinda iffy about a vermin with a supernatural ability. In most cases I'd argue that a vermin with an ability that isn't Ex should be a magical beast (though my forrays into Dark Sun made me more forgiving for psi-like abilities).

    I'd either make this creature a magical beast, or change the aura mimicry to Ex (alignment auras are Ex in general, and for some reason I can accept it much easier as a vermin with this changed label, though it won't actually have any difference in effect).

  9. - Top - End - #279
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    NecromancerGuy

    Join Date
    Feb 2021
    Location
    France
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Songbird race! (And other stuff.)

    Quote Originally Posted by Tzardok View Post
    I'm kinda iffy about a vermin with a supernatural ability. In most cases I'd argue that a vermin with an ability that isn't Ex should be a magical beast (though my forrays into Dark Sun made me more forgiving for psi-like abilities).

    I'd either make this creature a magical beast, or change the aura mimicry to Ex (alignment auras are Ex in general, and for some reason I can accept it much easier as a vermin with this changed label, though it won't actually have any difference in effect).
    I think the point was to make it mindless without having to justify it‚ which blocks any mind reading attempt (actually‚ no Magical Beast in the game is mindless‚ except the Ectoplasmic Swarm‚ which is a Psionic Beast only because the spiders composing it came from the Ethereal and not the Prime‚ so it definitively should have been a vermin as well. On the other hand‚ it's not unheard of to have Vermin with (Su) powers. Just look at the rapture locust swarm from FF‚ or the Knell Beetle. But I agree that auras are in general (Ex)‚ though this reflective aura might not.
    Resurrecting the Negative LA thread, comments and discussion are very welcome!

    Do you want to build monstrous characters with reasonable LA? Join the Monster Mash! Currently, round XII: One-Punch Monster!!! Come judge single-strike entries!
    Nice find! Have a cookie!
    Searchable spreadsheet of 3.5 monsters by abilities, now with all online monsters

    Quote Originally Posted by H_H_F_F View Post
    3.5 allows you to optimize into godhood, yes, but far more importantly, it lets you optimize weak, weird, and niche options into relevance.

  10. - Top - End - #280
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Devil

    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Germany
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Songbird race! (And other stuff.)

    I forgot about those two, though I need to look them up. Still, I'm pretty sure that there are mindless magical beasts, and even if there aren't any, there's no reason that they should be categorically impossible.

  11. - Top - End - #281
    Troll in the Playground
     
    PirateGirl

    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Elemental Plane of Purple
    Gender
    Female

    Default Re: Songbird race! (And other stuff.)

    Pious goblins are kinda a mess. Technically by the rules Goblinoid can only work with Humanoid and also they should be able to speak Goblin (which mindless creatures cannot). Technically, this is a "Creature that Cannot Be" as per the old WotC articles. Now, that the rules lawyers are satisfied; let's see what this creature does on instinct: nothing. Or to be more precise, you haven't given it anything TO do.

    What is considered "prey" for pious goblins? It makes no sense for them to attack anything larger that Small creatures. Any creature with a CR of 3 can take them as they are just too stupid to do anything but attack with their natural weapons which requires them to be at close range. Any creature with a ranged attack can take these out easy peasy. A 1/2 CR farmer with a sling, which has a range of 50 ft., can take this down as long as the farmer keeps 10 feet away. Granted it might take an hour, but it's not exactly a challenging critter to a level 2 party even with regular weapons. You can't even lure it with food unless the food is within 5 feet. Its prey can avoid these far too easily. if you see it and just walk 10 or more feet around it, it won't attack because nothing is in range. It is literally not in their nature to seek out food. As a species, they will likely starve to death naturally as they will have eaten everything that surrounds them in a 5-foot radius.

    I think the CR 3 is silly -- it is overpowered and underwhelming at the same time. Too many attacks and too many hit points for a creature that isn't worth it for a level 3 party.

    Debby
    P.E.A.C.H. Please Evaluate And Critique Honestly. Being nicer and kinder doesn't hurt either. Note I generally only critique 3.5 and Pathfinder material.
    Please, please, please when using non-core material, cite to the books. There are too many books to wade through to find the one with the feat, special ability or spell you use.
    my creations in homebrew signature thread

  12. - Top - End - #282
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    Metastachydium's Avatar

    Join Date
    Jul 2020

    Default Re: Songbird race! (And other stuff.)

    Quote Originally Posted by Beni-Kujaku View Post
    I kinda like this one, but I wonder how often its aura will come into play. Not many parties immediately Detect Alignment whenever they encounter a new character.
    I'm going to pretend Paladins still see play on occasion, okay?

    Quote Originally Posted by Tzardok View Post
    I'm kinda iffy about a vermin with a supernatural ability. In most cases I'd argue that a vermin with an ability that isn't Ex should be a magical beast (though my forrays into Dark Sun made me more forgiving for psi-like abilities).

    I'd either make this creature a magical beast, or change the aura mimicry to Ex (alignment auras are Ex in general, and for some reason I can accept it much easier as a vermin with this changed label, though it won't actually have any difference in effect).
    Well, if that's your one big issue, I'm amenable to complying! (I kinda forgot such auras are Ex; they have this Su feel about them, you know?)

    Quote Originally Posted by Debihuman View Post
    Pious goblins are kinda a mess. Technically by the rules Goblinoid can only work with Humanoid and also they should be able to speak Goblin (which mindless creatures cannot). Technically, this is a "Creature that Cannot Be" as per the old WotC articles.
    That's just the name. They are neither actual Goblins, nor in actual possession of the Goblinoid subtype (and they are not particularly pious either, for that matter); the thing is just a big insect that evolved to look like a Goblin when not in murder mode.

    What is considered "prey" for pious goblins? It makes no sense for them to attack anything larger that Small creatures.
    Well, it's kind alike a praying mantis that won a weird prize on the mimicry lottery. "Prey" is anything that looks edible and small enough to casually slaughter (and eat).

    Any creature with a CR of 3 can take them as they are just too stupid to do anything but attack with their natural weapons which requires them to be at close range. Any creature with a ranged attack can take these out easy peasy. A 1/2 CR farmer with a sling, which has a range of 50 ft., can take this down as long as the farmer keeps 10 feet away. Granted it might take an hour, but it's not exactly a challenging critter to a level 2 party even with regular weapons. You can't even lure it with food unless the food is within 5 feet. Its prey can avoid these far too easily. if you see it and just walk 10 or more feet around it, it won't attack because nothing is in range. It is literally not in their nature to seek out food. As a species, they will likely starve to death naturally as they will have eaten everything that surrounds them in a 5-foot radius.
    Um… The description explicitly has "standing or ambling about" and they have a 30' movement speed. They aren't glued to a spot by the road. The rest is just a fancy way of saying "this an ambush predator". It's about as likely to starve a death as any other ambush predator, and about as likely to let some filthy peasant sling it to death with a full hour's work as one.

    I think the CR 3 is silly -- it is overpowered and underwhelming at the same time. Too many attacks and too many hit points for a creature that isn't worth it for a level 3 party.
    Yeah, I struggled with the CR. It has four limbs and mandibles on account of being an insectlike thing that mostly moves about on its hindmost two legs, so the attack routine was kinda a given, but otherwise it's mostly a gimmick thing to creep out PCs and troll Paladins. I'm not sure how to fix the issue, though.

  13. - Top - End - #283
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    sandmote's Avatar

    Join Date
    Oct 2017
    Location
    US
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Songbird race! (And other stuff.)

    Quote Originally Posted by Metastachydium View Post
    Um… The description explicitly has "standing or ambling about" and they have a 30' movement speed. They aren't glued to a spot by the road. The rest is just a fancy way of saying "this an ambush predator". It's about as likely to starve a death as any other ambush predator, and about as likely to let some filthy peasant sling it to death with a full hour's work as one.
    I'd at least specify they seek out areas where they consistently encounter humanoids (much like army ants, praying mantises, and jumping spiders remain on the move) before settling in waiting for more to show up. Or maybe they settle in temporarily when raising young.

    I'm more bothered by how there doesn't really seem to be a way for pious goblins to maintain a goblin disguise for any length of time. The remains of what they kill isn't going to be mistaken for a raiding goblin, so the only way to do the old twist of "the goblins really were innocent" is to have one person see and escape from the pious goblin before it attacks. Which seems difficult to set up for a string of murders or anything else warranting the party investigate.

    Putting it into a mystery plot would also give the party Paladin more time to detect and worry about the pious goblin's aura and see there's something different about it. The SRD lists racial skills for some of the vermin, so maybe racial bonuses to disguise, escape artist, jump, and listen? No move silently, but those would probably also help it with finding prey and ambushing. I'm not sure what Ex or Su abilities could help with the disguise or complement the aura though.

  14. - Top - End - #284
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    Metastachydium's Avatar

    Join Date
    Jul 2020

    Default Re: Songbird race! (And other stuff.)

    Quote Originally Posted by sandmote View Post
    I'd at least specify they seek out areas where they consistently encounter humanoids (much like army ants, praying mantises, and jumping spiders remain on the move) before settling in waiting for more to show up. Or maybe they settle in temporarily when raising young.
    Fair. I'll try to work something like that in.

    I'm more bothered by how there doesn't really seem to be a way for pious goblins to maintain a goblin disguise for any length of time. The remains of what they kill isn't going to be mistaken for a raiding goblin, so the only way to do the old twist of "the goblins really were innocent" is to have one person see and escape from the pious goblin before it attacks. Which seems difficult to set up for a string of murders or anything else warranting the party investigate.
    Technically, there's a workaround in that one can go "people keep gettig horribly murdered on that trail, but the only creature consistently seen coming and going through the area is this weird Goblin hermit dude". The Pious Goblin scampers off when addressed, muttering its mantras and doesn't just attack people investigating the deaths because it fed recently and only cares about food.

    Or something like that.

    Putting it into a mystery plot would also give the party Paladin more time to detect and worry about the pious goblin's aura and see there's something different about it. The SRD lists racial skills for some of the vermin, so maybe racial bonuses to disguise, escape artist, jump, and listen? No move silently, but those would probably also help it with finding prey and ambushing. I'm not sure what Ex or Su abilities could help with the disguise or complement the aura though.
    But yes, that is entirely doable and the passably mediocre CHA score is an artifact of my considering that as an option (but tentatively dropping it). Now I'm strictly in favour, so thanks for the input (on this and all else).

  15. - Top - End - #285
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Bhu's Avatar

    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Hell itself (Ohio)
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Songbird race! (And other stuff.)

    I do love me a good ambush bug!
    Revised avatar by Trixie, New avvie by Crisis21!
    Mah Fluffy Death Critters
    Orcs and Goblins
    Behold the Power of Kitteh!
    Backup threads available here

  16. - Top - End - #286
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    Metastachydium's Avatar

    Join Date
    Jul 2020

    Default Re: Songbird race! (And other stuff.)

    A-and what's that there? Another update so soon that's not even complete filler?! It must be Monday!

    Khalybs
    Headless hulks of metal, as though a broad suit of segmented armour gained the power to walk and fight, khalybes are beings of solid steel no less than 10 feet tall. Their arms are long and heavy, covered in studs, barbs and straight blades sharp as a razor from the elbow to the tip of the thick fingers. Khalybes of a given size are remarkably similar, as though they were produced in the same mould, down to the arrangement of these wicked implements they bear.

    Not terribly personable but steadfast, khalybes leave their home plane rather more commonly than other elementals – but only so they can seek out wars to join. As such, they frequently venture onto Acheron, where they mix mostly with bladelings as spikers, seemingly believing they share some manner of kinship with these creatures. Sometimes they will offer their services to the rilmani as well, supplementing the might of the ferrumach, whose soldierly disposition they greatly respect, as massed infantry.

    Khalybes speak Terran, slowly grinding the words as though speaking through clenched teeth.

    Size/Type: Large Elemental [Earth, Extraplanar]
    Hit Dice: 8d8+32 (68 hp)
    Initiative: +0
    Speed: 20 feet (4 squares)
    Armor Class: 24 (-1 size, +15 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 24
    Base Attack/Grapple: +6/+17
    Attack: Iron arm +12 melee (2d8+7) or orc shotput +12 ranged (3d6+7, 19–20/×3)
    Full Attack: 2 iron arms +12 melee (2d8+7) or orc shotput +12/+7 ranged (3d6+7, 19–20/×3)
    Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft.
    Special Attacks: Iron arms, maneuvers
    Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., DR 10/adamantine, elemental traits, vulnerabilities
    Saves: Fort +12, Ref +2, Will +1
    Abilities: Str 24, Dex 11, Con 18, Int 11, Wis 8, Cha 5
    Skills: Climb +18, Martial Lore +11
    Feats: Brutal Throw, Great Fortitude, Power Attack
    Environment: Elemental Plane of Earth
    Organization: Solitary, troop (4–15), company (60–180), battalion (400–800) or regiment (1200–1500)
    Challenge Rating: 5
    Alignment: Often lawful neutral
    Advancement: 9–14 HD (Large), 15–24 HD (Huge)
    Level Adjustment:

    Combat
    Khalybes believe they exist to wage war. They push forward fearlessly and unrelenting, slamming and slashing their way through enemy ransk until their foes fall or break and rout.

    Iron Arms (Ex)
    The very arms of khalybes are versatile, deadly weapons. As a swift action, they can opt for their natural attacks to deal their choice of bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage. Once they make this choice, their attacks continue to deal the chosen damage type until they use another swift action to change it. Further, all natural attacks made by a khalybs count as cold iron for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

    Maneuvers
    A khalybs can use maneuvers from the Iron Heart and Stone Dragon disciplines as a warblade would, its initiator level being equal to its number of hit dice.

    Vulnerabilities (Ex)
    Rusting attacks deal double damage to a khalybs, and it receives a -2 penalty to saving throws against any spell or effect that specifically affects metal.

  17. - Top - End - #287
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    Metastachydium's Avatar

    Join Date
    Jul 2020

    Default Re: Songbird race! (And other stuff.)

    Bhu just gave me a horrible idea, and it fits like it was meant to be with the last entry. Behold the Enemy:

    Beaver
    Beavers are common aquatic rodents, known for the large and complex dams they build, as well as their uncanny ability to chew through wood. Plant creatures and the fey folk commonly consider them pests and often insist that they most likely came to be as just another one of the devils' tools designed for deployment in the Blood War. At any rate, they now run wild.

    Size/Type: Small Animal
    Hit Dice: 1d8+2 (6 hp)
    Initiative: +1
    Speed: 20 feet (4 squares), swim 30 feet
    Armor Class: 12 (+1 size, +1 Dex), touch 12, flat-footed 11
    Base Attack/Grapple: +0/+1
    Attack: Bite +2 melee (1d6+1)
    Full Attack: Bite +2 melee (1d6+1)
    Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
    Special Attacks: Irontooth
    Special Qualities: Low-light vision
    Saves: Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +2
    Abilities: Str 12, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 1, Wis 14, Cha 11
    Skills: Listen +4, Spot +4, Survival +4, Swim +11
    Feats: Alertness
    Environment: Temperate and cold forests
    Organization: Solitary or family (2–10)
    Challenge Rating: 1/4
    Alignment: Always neutral
    Advancement: 2–4 HD (Small)
    Level Adjustment:

    Combat
    Beavers have few natural predators capable of swimming. When attacked, they flee into water and if need be, retreat into their lodge.

    Irontooth (Ex)
    The large, orange-brown incisors of beavers have a sturdy enamel, hardened by the iron in it. A beaver's bite overcomes damage reduction as though it were a cold iron weapon and it has a +2 circumstance bonus to damage against wood (living or dead) as well as any object with a hardness of 9 or less.

    Skills
    A beaver has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight line.

  18. - Top - End - #288
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    NecromancerGuy

    Join Date
    Feb 2021
    Location
    France
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Songbird race! (And other stuff.)

    Thank you for your input, Meta, because the chain of inspiration did not stop. Thank you to Bhu as well for your Beaverfolk. I didn't read it beforehand, and yet I somehow still made this demonic beaver's bite act as if it had the whole Gnaw line of feats with it.


    The common beaver is actually initially a kind of aquatic tanar'ri demon, called Bihi-vurrs (meaning "double cleaver", in the abyssal tongue). Some of them were stranded on the Material Plane, and could never go back to the Abyss. The original beaver (called by some dire beaver, though it is not an animal, but instead an Outsider) had extremely sharp incisor teeth that never stopped growing and cut into souls as well as materials. The powerful residents of the Abyss and the devils of the Blood War make for souls resilient enough to wear these teeth down, but they were soon met with a lack of good souls to sink their teeth in on the Prime Material Plane. Most Bihi-vurrs quickly died as their teeth grew too long, rendering them mad enough to slaughter each other and finally try to bite their own soul out. Most of those who survived took on the traits of the Plane itself, slowly morphing into magical beast, then regular animals. But sometimes, an authentic Bihi-vurr emerges, having endured for years or more on the Material Plane. Having feasted on powerful dragons, or slaughtered many in its path, these creatures can be quite cunning when their teeth are relatively short, and often try to trick those they meet into giving up their souls, or into guiding them back towards the Abyss. They sometimes even propose their services to adventurers in order to defeat powerful creatures that will sate their craving for souls for days. However, when their teeth grow long, they change into little more than rampaging beasts, searching any powerful creature to bite to bring them back to a manageable length. At that point, there is no escape.

    Bihi-vurr

    Size/Type: Medium Outsider (Chaotic, Evil, Aquatic)
    Hit Dice: 10d8+30 (75 hp)
    Initiative: +4
    Speed: 40 feet (8 squares), swim 30 feet
    Armor Class: 23 (+4 Dex, +9 natural armor), touch 14, flat-footed 19
    Base Attack/Grapple: +10/+14
    Attack: Bite +14 melee 19-20/x3 (2d6+6 plus soul rending)
    Full Attack: Bite +14 melee or bite +14/+14 (overdrive hunger)
    Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
    Special Attacks: Overdrive hunger, soul-rending bite, augmented critical, soul dam, spell-like abilities
    Special Qualities: Low-light vision, Darkvision 60ft, Amphibious, SR 18, traits of the tanar'ri, evergrowing teeth, DR 5/cold iron, Telepathy
    Saves: Fort +10, Ref +11, Will +8
    Abilities: Str 18, Dex 19, Con 16, Int 13, Wis 12, Cha 15
    Skills:
    Bluff+15, Craft (any)+17, Concentration+16, Diplomacy+15, Intimidate+15, Listen +14, Spot +14, Survival +14, Swim +12, Use Magic Device+15
    Feats: Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Improved Natural Attack (bite), Quicken Spell-like Ability (Spike Growth)
    Environment: Temperate and cold forests and rivers or Infinite Layers of the Abyss (aquatic)
    Organization: Solitary or adventuring party (1-3 and 1-4 humanoids with 7 to 10 class levels)
    Challenge Rating: 12
    Alignment: Always chaotic evil
    Advancement: 11-15 HD (Medium), 16-25 HD (Large)
    Level Adjustment:

    The Bihi-vurr looks like a vaguely humanoid beaver, standing on two hairless scaly goat legs and a long flat tail trailing a weird blue-white smoke behind it. Its fur is brown with red and purple hues and seems to undulate eerily. Its eyes burn red with envy and two immense teeth grow out of its mouth, affecting its speech with a kind of lisp. Bihi-vurrs with intelligence above 3 speak Abyssal, Bihi-vurrs with intelligence above 6 also speak common.

    Combat
    A Bihi-vurr begins combat violently by casting a quickened Spike Growth at the most dangerous opponents before trying to bite a spellcaster. If things go south, it does not hesitate to overdrive its hunger in order to finish opponents off, but only if it is convinced killing its opponents is enough to snap it safely out of it.

    Evergrowing Teeth (Ex): Every day, a Bihi-vurr's teeth grow, becoming so sharp that they gain a cumulative +1 enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls. However, this also damages the Bihi-vurr's psyche, giving it a cumulative penalty of -1 to Int, Wis and Cha. The growth of a Bihi-vurr's teeth can only be halted by biting into powerful souls using its soul-rending bite. Killing creatures below 5 HD does not give enough resistance to slow the growth, killing a creature with 6 HD removes 1 point of penalty to the Bihi-vurr's mental stats and decreases the bite's enhancement bonus by one. More powerful creatures remove one more point of penalty and bonus per 2 HD above 6.

    Improved Critical (Ex): A Bihi-vurr's bite threatens a critical on a 19 or 20 and deals triple damage on a critical hit.

    Soul Rending Bite (Ex): A Bihi-vurr's teeth sink into one's soul, bypassing any living being's DR bypassed by a special material, dealing one negative levels with each successful bite and forcing a Fortitude save (DC 19) to avoid being stunned for 1 round (the DC is based on Strength). The negative level is multiplied on a critical hit, and lasts for 24 hours, after which affected creatures must make a Fortitude save (DC 17) or lose one level per negative level. A creature that dies from a Bihi-vurr's bite attack cannot be resurrected except by True Resurrection or similarly powerful magic.

    Soul dam (Su): Bihi-vurrs are master craftsmen and use the soul bits they bite off their enemies to create grandiose constructs. Once per day as a standard action, if the Bihi-vurr has already killed a creature using its soul-rending that day, it can create a soul dam, a blue-white wall of soulstuff acting as a Wall of Ectoplasm (ML 10), except it is permanent. Successful Bihi-vurrs often build castles out of soul, acting both as houses and as food supplies. Biting a soul dam dispels it, and counts as killing a 6 HD creatures for the purpose of trimming the Bihi-vurr's evergrowing teeth.

    Overdrive Hunger (Ex): In extreme situations, the Bihi-vurr can, once per day as a free action, enter a self-destructive fury. When activated and every round afterwards for one minute, the Bihi-vurr's teeth grow, increasing the enhancement bonus and mental stat penalty by one. During this fury, the Bihi-vurr becomes almost fully animalistic, walking on all four (its land and swim speed increase by 20ft), and can make another bite attack at its full attack bonus during a full attack. However, it cannot use its spell-like abilities or items anymore. At the end of the fury, if the Bihi-vurr is still conscious despite the ability score penalties, it is fatigued for an hour.

    Spell-like abilities (Sp): A Bihi-vurr with more than 8 Wis can cast the following spell-like abilities at CL 10:
    at-will : Detect Poison, Detect Magic, Greater Teleport (self+50lbs of objects), Wood Shape
    3/day : Cure Moderate Wounds, Inflict Moderate Wounds (DC 14), Undetectable Alignment, Spike Growth (DC 15)
    1/day Fabricate, Minor Creation

    Tanar'ri traits (Ex) : Immunity to electricity and poison. Resistance to acid 10, cold 10, and fire 10.

    Telepathy (Ex): A Bihi-vurr with Intelligence 10 or above can communicate with any creature with a language in a 100ft radius through thought.
    Last edited by Beni-Kujaku; Yesterday at 03:30 PM.
    Resurrecting the Negative LA thread, comments and discussion are very welcome!

    Do you want to build monstrous characters with reasonable LA? Join the Monster Mash! Currently, round XII: One-Punch Monster!!! Come judge single-strike entries!
    Nice find! Have a cookie!
    Searchable spreadsheet of 3.5 monsters by abilities, now with all online monsters

    Quote Originally Posted by H_H_F_F View Post
    3.5 allows you to optimize into godhood, yes, but far more importantly, it lets you optimize weak, weird, and niche options into relevance.

  19. - Top - End - #289
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    Metastachydium's Avatar

    Join Date
    Jul 2020

    Default Re: Songbird race! (And other stuff.)





    THE TREE-GNAWERS ARE EVIL, I KNEW IT!! (Also: Beni, this is beautiful.)

    Quote Originally Posted by Beni-Kujaku View Post
    and finally try to bite their own soul out.
    Chilling. I like it! (Can an Extraplanar Outsider do that, though, what with "body&soul, a single unit undivided"?)

    Bihi-vurr

    Size/Type: Medium Outsider (Chaotic, Evil, Aquatic)
    Speaking of… Are they Extraplanar? Did they go Native? "Not able to go back to the Abyss" would imply that much, but then, there are still some on the Abyss. Hm.

    Hit Dice: 10d8+2 (6 hp)
    10d8+30 (75 hp).

    Initiative: +1
    +4.

    Armor Class: 22 (-1 size, +4 Dex, +9 natural armor), touch 13, flat-footed 18
    AC 23, T 14, FF 19 (was the original draft Large?).

    Base Attack/Grapple: +10/+1
    Grp +14.

    Saves: Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +2
    Fort +10, Ref +11, Will +8.

    Feats: Improved Natural Attack (bite), Cleave, Quicken Spell-like Ability (Spike Growth), Combat Reflexes
    Doesn't qualify for Cleave (no Power Attack).

    Evergrowing Teeth (Ex): Every day, a Bihi-vurr's teeth grow, becoming so sharp that that gain a cumulative +1 enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls. However, this also damages the Bihi-vurr's psyche, giving it a cumulative penalty of -1 to Int, Wis and Cha. The growth of a Bihi-vurr's can only be halted by biting into powerful souls using its soul-rending bite. Killing creatures below 5 HD does not give enough resistance to slow the growth, killing a creature with 6 HD removes 1 point of penalty to the Bihi-vurr's mental stats and decreases the bite's enhancement bonus by one. More powerful creatures removes one more point of penalty and bonus per 2 HD above 6.
    A creature that is thoroughly Evil in the strictest sense but still has a very good reason to lashn out at every CR-appropriate opponent left and right? I can only applaud that.

    Soul Rending Bite (Ex): A Bihi-vurr's teeth sinks into one's soul, bypassing any living being's DR bypassed by a special material, dealing one negative levels with each successful bite and forcing a Fortitude save (DC 19) to avoid being stunned for 1 round (the DC is based on Strength). The negative level is multiplied on a critical hit, and lasts for 24 hours, after which creatures affected by them must make a Fortitude save (DC 17) or lose one level per negative level. A creature that dies from a Bihi-vurr's bite attack cannot be resurrected except by True Resurrection or similarly powerful magic.

    Soul dam (Su): Bihi-vurrs are master craftsman and use the soul bits they bite off their enemies to create grandiose constructs. Once per day as a standard action, if the Bihi-vurr has already killed a creature using its soul-rending that day, it can create a soul dam, a blue-white wall of soulstuff acting as a Wall of Ectoplasm (ML 10), except it is permanent. Successful Bihi-vurr often build castles out of soul, acting both as houses and as food supplies. Biting a soul dam dispels it, and counts as killing a 6 HD creatures for the purpose of trimming the Bihi-vurr's evergrowing teeth.
    C-R-E-E-P-Y (as it should be)!

    Spell-like abilities (Sp): A Bihi-vurr with more than 8 Wis can cast the following spell-like abilities at CL 10:
    at-will : Detect Poison, Detect Magic, Greater Teleport (self+50lbs of objects), Wood Shape
    3/day : Cure Moderate Wounds, Inflict Moderate Wounds (DC 15)
    Is that a 15 because it's based off the Druid version?


    Anyway, have another big thank you for giving us all a reason to kill and eat every beaver we see this contribution expanding the horizons of the demonology!

  20. - Top - End - #290
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    NecromancerGuy

    Join Date
    Feb 2021
    Location
    France
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Songbird race! (And other stuff.)

    Quote Originally Posted by Metastachydium View Post




    THE TREE-GNAWERS ARE EVIL, I KNEW IT!! (Also: Beni, this is beautiful.)
    Thanks! As soon as I read that fey and plant creatures considered them devilish, I wondered what they would look like as actual fiends, and why they would not be able to survive as is on the Material Plane to explain why they would evolve into regular beavers. The whole soul-rending came naturally from there.

    Quote Originally Posted by Metastachydium View Post
    Chilling. I like it! (Can an Extraplanar Outsider do that, though, what with "body&soul, a single unit undivided"?)
    They most certainly can try! Also, Bihi-vurrs do not have to rip the soul out, they just need to bite into it, so having the soul be one's body just makes it more exposed.

    Quote Originally Posted by Metastachydium View Post
    Speaking of… Are they Extraplanar? Did they go Native? "Not able to go back to the Abyss" would imply that much, but then, there are still some on the Abyss. Hm.
    I honestly don't know how that works here. I'd say the unaltered ones like the one presented are still extraplanar, but they became native shortly before not being Outsiders at all anymore.

    Quote Originally Posted by Metastachydium View Post
    10d8+30 (75 hp).
    +4.
    Grp +14.
    Fort +10, Ref +11, Will +8.

    AC 23, T 14, FF 19 (was the original draft Large?).
    Yes, I initially intended for them to be large, and to make an intermediary Magical Beast version be medium, but I finally decided against it. Maybe I'll make the Magical beaver one of these days. It is basically a shaman beaver, bigger and wiser than its brethren, organizing beavers in huge colonies to build dams much grander than they could otherwise, feeding their delusions of grandeur both figuratively and literally since they absorb the spirits of beavers below them to maintain their magic. One of them, maybe the last one left, absorbed the spirits of many other elders (given willingly) in a massive ritual when they noticed that their magic was running out, and thus does not fear losing his magic. He is depressed at the state of its race, and trying to bring them back to what they were through the use of Awaken and similar magic, but realizes beavers cannot come back to what they were, and maybe it wouldn't be good if they could, and he researches a ritual that could make Awaken transmissible from parents to children.

    Quote Originally Posted by Metastachydium View Post
    Doesn't qualify for Cleave (no Power Attack).
    Ah, damn, it would have fit. Replaced it with Blind-Fight, Also fits a creature that lives in the tarwater of the Styx.

    Quote Originally Posted by Metastachydium View Post
    A creature that is thoroughly Evil in the strictest sense but still has a very good reason to lashn out at every CR-appropriate opponent left and right? I can only applaud that.
    C-R-E-E-P-Y (as it should be)!
    Yeaah! I particularly like the Soul Dam ability, linking with both parts of the Bihi-vurr (beaver and soul-eating demon). One of my main concerns with demons is "what do these super-genius creatures with no bodily concern or society do with their free time?". Building castles and finding worthy opponents is not a mind flayer level of depth, but it's at least a good start of a personality.

    Quote Originally Posted by Metastachydium View Post
    Is that a 15 because it's based off the Druid version?
    The answer is absolutely yes (a faint link to nature is why it evolved into an Animal and not an Aberration in the first place), but I just noticed that druids have Cure Moderate Wounds as a 3rd level spell, but not Inflict Moderate Wounds. Changed to reflect the cleric version.

    Quote Originally Posted by Metastachydium View Post
    Anyway, have another big thank you for giving us all a reason to kill and eat every beaver we see this contribution expanding the horizons of the demonology!
    You're welcome! The next one is a bee-shaped Angel that acts both as Cupid with a love-inducing sting and as a pollinating insect accelerating the growth of plants in order to promote life of any kind on the Material Plane to increase the power of Positive Energy in the multiverse, thus empowering the clerics of the Good gods.
    Last edited by Beni-Kujaku; Yesterday at 04:35 PM.
    Resurrecting the Negative LA thread, comments and discussion are very welcome!

    Do you want to build monstrous characters with reasonable LA? Join the Monster Mash! Currently, round XII: One-Punch Monster!!! Come judge single-strike entries!
    Nice find! Have a cookie!
    Searchable spreadsheet of 3.5 monsters by abilities, now with all online monsters

    Quote Originally Posted by H_H_F_F View Post
    3.5 allows you to optimize into godhood, yes, but far more importantly, it lets you optimize weak, weird, and niche options into relevance.

  21. - Top - End - #291
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    Metastachydium's Avatar

    Join Date
    Jul 2020

    Default Re: Songbird race! (And other stuff.)

    Quote Originally Posted by Beni-Kujaku View Post
    They most certainly can try! Also, Bihi-vurrs do not have to rip the soul out, they just need to bite into it, so having the soul be one's body just makes it more exposed.
    Oh. That's quite convenient, actually, yeah.

    Yes, I initially intended for them to be large, and to make an intermediary Magical Beast version be medium, but I finally decided against it. Maybe I'll make the Magical beaver one of these days. It is basically a shaman beaver, bigger and wiser than its brethren, organizing beavers in huge colonies to build dams much grander than they could otherwise, feeding their delusions of grandeur both figuratively and literally since they absorb the spirits of beavers below them to maintain their magic. One of them, maybe the last one left, absorbed the spirits of many other elders (given willingly) in a massive ritual when they noticed that their magic was running out, and thus does not fear losing his magic. He is depressed at the state of its race, and trying to bring them back to what they were through the use of Awaken and similar magic, but realizes beavers cannot come back to what they were, and maybe it wouldn't be good if they could, and he researches a ritual that could make Awaken transmissible from parents to children.
    …and a partial success of this endeavour, ultimately Druidic of nature as forms of magic go, led to the accidental rise of the True Druidic Master Race, the Anthropomorphic Bat. (Don't experiment on bats, kids. It's mean and can lead to unfortunate consequences.)

    More seriously, that's sad in a way more wholesomely melancholy than what I'd expect of anything Demonspawn( or Beaver)-related. I'm all for it to be a thing!

    Yeaah! I particularly like the Soul Dam ability, linking with both parts of the Bihi-vurr (beaver and soul-eating demon). One of my main concerns with demons is "what do these super-genius creatures with no bodily concern or society do with their free time?". Building castles and finding worthy opponents is not a mind flayer level of depth, but it's at least a good start of a personality.
    Building castels from impossible substances and living to randomly fight stuff so as to avoid true madness are very Chaotic too, so bonus points for that.

    You're welcome! The next one is a bee-shaped Angel that acts both as Cupid with a love-inducing sting and as a pollinating insect accelerating the growth of plants in order to promote life of any kind on the Material Plane to increase the power of Positive Energy in the multiverse, thus empowering the clerics of the Good gods.
    REALLY?? [Starts bouncing up and down. Squees a lot.]

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •