[3.5]Improved Monster Classes- Still Alive, and taking requests!

[AustontheGreat1]

Those whose monsters are on the list below have a week to either respond or finish their creation, or I will finish it myself.

Phoelarch

I've made all the changes as addressed by the people here who critiqued. as far as I know it is complete. you might want to make one final look over and make sure there is nothing wrong with it.

On a side note, I'm also finished working on the water elemental. I made a post declaring that but It was small and was understandably overlooked. I finished it long before working on the phoelarch. It has yet to be checked so if your not busy you might want to.

If anything is wrong with either of them, let me know and I will fix it.

[Ishcumbeebeeda]

I was thinking that the Shadowperson from the Drangonlance campaign setting (round about page 227) looks kinda neat. Mostly because... well it looks kinda neat:

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If someone would want to fiddle with that I, for one, would be appreciative, though it's far from any kind of priority as I don't have a campaign in mind or anything...

[AugustNights]

I believe there's a Wereanything class that you can just plug stuff into. I think it's actually titled Werewhathaveyou and is under the Wererhino link in the lycanthrope spoiler.

The werewhathaveyou is not actually a finished class, it is a template for other Lycanthropy based races. And really it's just a suggestion to make it easier for the homebrewer. I imagine a Were(eberon raptor-thing) would be more appropriate by that template. It would eventually get as large as a Tyrannosaurus, and I imagine it would be more flavorful.
But by all means, if someone wants to brew up a weretyrannosaurus, I'd recommend more levels.

[Magicyop]

Gorgon, is Dream Larva okay now? Made all the changes you suggested.

[Kobold-Bard]

Lammasu


Class:

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Hit Dice: d10
{table]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special
1|+0|+2|+0|+0|Golden Body, Holy Shield, Stat Boost
2|+1|+3|+0|+0|Divine Connection, Damage reduction
3|+2|+3|+1|+1|Lammasu Magic, Rake
4|+3|+4|+1|+1|Flight, Energy Resistance
5|+3|+4|+1|+1|Growth, Smite Evil
6|+4|+5|+2|+2|Pounce, Spell Resistance
7|+5|+5|+2|+2|Shining Light, Breath Weapon
8|+6/+1|+6|+2|+2|Golden Protector, Greater Lamassu Magic[/table]
Skill Points: 4+Int Mod (x4 at first level) Concentration, Diplomacy, Knowledge (Arcana), Knowledge (Religion), Listen, Sense Motive, Spot

Proficiencies: Lammasu are proficient with their own natural weapons, no armour & no shields.

Class Features:

Golden Body (Ex): At first level the Lammasu loses all racial traits and features, and gains the Traits of a Magical Beast.
- It is a Medium Magical Beast with a base land speed of 30ft.
- It has two primary claw attacks that deal 1d4+Str damage each and a bite attack that deals 1d6+1/2 Str damage.
- It gains a Natural Armour bonus equal to it's Con Mod.
- Though it has wings they cannot yet sustain flight, though they do grant it a +4 bonus on jump checks.

Holy Shield (Su): The Lammasu benefits from a permanent Protection from Evil effect.

Stat Boosts (Ex): At first level the Lammasu gains +1 Str.
At each even Lammasu level it gains either +1 Str or +1 Wis, chosen at each level.

Divine Connection (Ex): Despite not being Outsiders, Lammasu have an innate connection to the Upper Planes. From second Level may cast spells as a Cleric of their class level-1, choosing their 2 Domains from the following: Good, Healing, Knowledge & Law. They do not gain any other Cleric abilities such as Turn Undead, and nor do they gain the special powers of their chosen Domains.

Lammasu are capable of fine manipulation and Lammasu levels stack with Cleric levels for spell progression & Caster Level, and may count as Cleric levels for the purpose of qualifying for PrCs.

Damage Reduction (Ex): From second level Lammasu benefit from DR equal to 1/2 their HD, that is overcome by magic weapons.

Lammasu Magic (Sp): From third level the Lammasu may duplicate an Invisibility spell 1/day for every 2HD it has.

Rake (Ex): At third level the Lammasu gains the Rake ability.

Flight (Ex): At fourth level the Lammasu's wings become strong enough to sustain flight. It gains a Fly speed of 30ft with average manoeuvrability.

Energy Resistance (Ex): From fourth level Lammasu gain resistance to Acid & Electricity equal to 1/2 their HD.

Growth (Ex): At fifth level the Lammasu grows to Large size, it's claws now deal 1d6+Str damage, it's bite deals 1d8+1/2 Str damage and it gains a +1 bonus to it's natural armour bonus.

Smite Evil (Su): At fifth level the Lammasu's divine connection begins to grant it new powers. 1/day for each 5HD the Lammasu has it may infuse a weapon with holy power. If this attack hits an Evil aligned creature it deals 1 point of extra damage/HD it has.

At the DM's discretion Evil aligned Lammasu may Smite Good instead.

Pounce (Ex): From sixth level, if a lammasu charges a foe, it can make a full attack, including two rake attacks.

Spell Resistance: At sixth level the Lammasu develops the power to resist magic. It gains SR 11+HD.

Shining Light (Su): At seventh level the Lammasu's Protection From Evil effect extends outwards, now functioning as a Magic Circle Against Evil.

Breath Weapon (Su): 1/day for each 5HD it has it may unleash a Draconic Breath Weapon. It is a 30ft cone that deals 1d6/2HD fire damage (Ref Save for 1/2 damage, DC10+1/2HD+Con Mod).

Golden Protector (Ex): At 8th level the Lammasu reaches the pinnacle of it's abilities. As the sun rises the day after it reaches 8th level the dawn light transforms it forever into a Golden Protector; the high kings of Lammasu kind.

It loses it's Magical Beast traits and features and gains the traits of both the Dragon & Outsider types shown below.

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Darkvision 60ft.
Low Light Vision.
Immunity to magic sleep effects and paralysis effects.

It is native to Celestia and gains the Extraplanar subtype when elsewhere.
It also gains the Fire subtype.
At all times it is treated as having whichever of those types is most beneficial to it at the time (eg. when subject to a banishment spell or a Bane/Favoured Enemy effect), though it's Extraplanar & Fire subtypes always remains. This means that when killed the Lammasu may consider itself a Dragon, meaning it can be resurrected as normal.

It's Fly speed increases to 60ft(P), and it gains a +2 racial bonus on spot checks.

Greater Lammasu Magic (Sp): At 8th Level the Lammasu's spell-like abilities grow stronger. They may now duplicate Greater Invisibility (though they may still use the normal Invisibility effect if they wish). They may also now use Dimension Door 1/day for each 8HD it has.

Comments:

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There's the Lammasu.

I added the Golden Protector stuff in as the capstone because I didn't feel the urge to make it into a PrC. Should I?

SLAs given at the level a Sorcerer would get them.

Nothing else especially shocking there. Thoughts?

[Hyudra]

Gorgon, is Dream Larva okay now? Made all the changes you suggested.

Cut Gorgon some slack. He's busy, has real life, with whatever work or school occupies his time. When it comes time for him to visit this thread, he faces a notable backlog of creatures waiting for revision, re-revision, commentary and ultimately approval. Even if he finishes or catches up (briefly) with all that, he may well want to create some stuff of his own.

Lammasu

• Base speed? Languages? Does it have fine manipulation (If one has to ask, it's worth clarifying.)
• Pretty weak at first level; 1d4 damage (two 1d4 attacks on a full attack), only Con to AC, and a defensive boost against evil creatures.
• Kind of treading on the Lantern Archon's feet here, with the ability progression of protections from evil extending out to a magic circle vs. evil.
• Under 'Rake', you need to provide numbers on the new attack.
• Golden Protector is really complicated as far as the types go. List the benefits of the types, so players have a better sense of it.
• Too much stuff packed into the capstone. I don't want to say it has little at earlier levels (it has casting), but there's a lot of levels with very little to offer, in contrast with 8th.
• Finally, I have to express mild consternation at the cleric casting. Very very, very powerful, especially considering domain benefits. I'm wondering if it should be based on class levels -1, not HD-1, lest we run into some real complications.

[Magicyop]

Cut Gorgon some slack. He's busy, has real life, with whatever work or school occupies his time. When it comes time for him to visit this thread, he faces a notable backlog of creatures waiting for revision, re-revision, commentary and ultimately approval. Even if he finishes or catches up (briefly) with all that, he may well want to create some stuff of his own.

Okay, sorry. Didn't mean to nag. I understand how hard managing this thread must be, I certainly didn't mean to make it any more stressful.

[TheGeckoKing]

Here I gooooooo......

Black Dragon

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HD:d12
{TABLE]Level | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Feature
1 | +1 | +2|+0 |+2 |Black Dragon body, Arcane blood
2| +2| +3|+0 |+3 | Keen senses, Acid Breath
3| +3| +3|+1| +3| Blindsense 60 feets, Con+2
4| +4| +4| +1|+4 | Wings, Home Conversion, +1 Str
5| +5| +4| +1| +4| Create/destroy water,
6| +6| +5|+2 |+5 | Darkness, +1 Str.
7| +7| +5| +2| +5| Caustic Arcana, +1 Cha, +1 Con
8| +8| +6| +2| +5| Tail slap, Growth
9| +9| +6|+3 |+6| Plant Growth, +1 Cha
10| +10| +7|+3 |+7 | Insect Plague, +1 Str, +1 Con
11| +11| +7| +3|+7 | Arcane Skin, Acidic Nightmare, +1 Cha
12| +12| +8| +4|+8 | Iron Scales, +1 Str, +1 Con
13| +13| +8| +4| +8| Grim Withering, Twisted Mind (WIS Damage), +1 Cha
14| +14| +9| +4| +9| Frightful presence, Crush.
15| +15| +9| +5| +9| One with the Depths, +1 Cha
16| +16| +10| +5| +10| Growth, Caustic Lord of Water, +1 Con, + 1 Str
17| +17| +10| +5|+10 | Drenched in Acid, + 1 Cha
18| +18| +11|+6 |+11 | Vicious Withering, Twisted Mind(WIS Drain), +1 Con
19| +19| +11| +6| +11| Acid Rain, The Acid Shall Not be Refused, +1 Str
20| +20| +12| +6| +12| Kaizer of the Murky Depths, +2 Con

[/TABLE]
4 Skill points+int per level, quadruple at 1st level. Class skills: Concentration, Climb, Jump, Spot, Listen, Appraise, Bluff, Hide, Move Silently, Intimidate, Knowledge(any), Spellcraft, Swim.

Proficiencies: A Black Dragon isn't proficient with any armor or weapons, besides his own natural weapons.


Features:
Black dragon Body: The Black Dragon loses all other racial bonuses, and gains Dragon traits, Water subtype, bite 1d8 damage, 2 claws attack for 1d6 damage each and 40 base speed, a swim speed equal to half his land speed and is medium sized. He can cast all spells, breath, and use his breath weapon while underwater indefinitly. The black dragon has wings, but they're too weak to do anything for now. His claws are capable of fine manipulation and can be used for somatic components of spellcasting or anything else a human hand could do.

The Black dragon also gets a natural armor bonus equal to his Con modifier. Whenever the blue dragon grows one size category, his natural armor increases by a further 1.

The black dragon is immune to acid. It has no particular vulnerablility.


Arcane Blood:A black dragon receives spells known and spells per day as a bard of same level, but he casts as a sorceror and takes his spells known from the sorceror/wizard spell list.


If it multiclasses as a bard it's spellcasting increases as a bard.
If it multiclasses as a sorceror it counts as already having sorceror casting depending on it's dragon level, as shown on the following table.

{table]Dragon level | Virtual sorceror casting
1|-
2|1
3|2
4|3
5|4
6|5
7|6
8|6
9|7
10|8
11|8
12|9
13|10
14|10
15|11
16|12
17|12
18|13
19|13
20|13
[/table]

So for example a dragon 2 who takes a level of sorceror would count as already having 1 level of sorceror and gains the spell slots and spells known that a sorceror gains when leveling from level 1 to 2, but not the spell slots and spells known from the 1st level of sorceror. He would get the familiar ability, but dragon levels wouldn't count for it.

A dragon 18 who takes a level of sorceror would count as having 14 levels of sorceror(13+1) and gain the spell slots and spells known that a sorceror gains when leveling from level 13 to 14, but not the spell slots and spells known that a sorceror gets from level 1 to 13. He would get the familiar ability, but dragon levels wouldn't count for it.

His Caster level remains equal to his full HD when multiclassing to sorceror.

If a dragon takes a casting prc, it may choose to advance his casting as that of a sorceror. So a dragon 10/loremaster 10 would cast as a 18th level sorceror (he would still receive spell slots and spells knowns from a bard 10 from the first 10 dragon levels and then the spell slots and spell knowns from a sorceror 11-18 for the loremaster levels)


Keen senses:The black dragon sees four times as well as a human in shadowy illumination and twice as well in normal light. It also has darkvision out to 120 feet.

Acid Breath: At 2nd level the black dragon can fire a line 60 feet dealing 1d6 acid damage/HD with DC ref of 10+1/2 HD+Con modifier for half every 1d4 turns. Line increases by 10 feets with each extra HD the player takes from here.

Blindsense:As the normal ability, range 60 feets.

Ability score increase: The black dragon ability scores increase by the shown amount.

{table]Level | Bonus gained
3| Con+2
4 | +1 Str
5| None
6|+1 Str,
7| +1 Cha, +1 Con
9| +1 Cha
10| +1 Str, +1 Con
11| +1 Cha
12| +1 Str, +1 Con
13| +1 Cha
15| +1 Cha
16| +1 str, +1 con
17| +1 Cha
18| +1 Con
19 | +1 Str
20| +2 Con

[/table]

Home Conversion (SLA): At 4th level, the Black Dragon, after long travelling (Or a wish to impove it's home), fgures out how to drag the swamp to it. As a standard action, CHA modifier times per day, a Black Dragon may all ground in a radius equal to (Highest level spell known via Arcane Blood*10) into either a marshy bog (Difficult Terrain that does not affect Black Dragons or anything with more HD than the Black Dragon), a pool of boggy water (Treat as a small pool 20ft deep), or you may summon a cloud of mist (Area noted instead becomes an area of shadowy illumination, and). If you use this ability to create a pool, you may use Acidic Nightmare on the entire pool instead of it's normal range, and the acid lasts for HD/4 rounds instead. You may also use Acidic Nightmare in an area of Shadowy Illumination or darker. If you do, all living creatures in the area (Bar Black Dragons) take 1d4 non-lethal damage for 3 rounds or until they leave the area as the acid clings to your skin and disorientates you.

Wings: At 4th level the Black Dragon becomes able to fly at the speed of 10 feets per HD, with poor maneuverability. The maneuverability doesn't increase, but players can take any feat that increases it. Each wing can also be now used to deliver a natural atack dealing 1d4 damage.

Create/Destroy Water (Sp)A black dragon of 5th level can use this ability three times per day. It works like the create water spell, except that the dragon can decide to destroy water instead of creating it, which automatically spoils unattended liquids containing water. Magic items (such as potions) and items in a creature’s possession must succeed on a Will save (DC equal to that of the dragon’s frightful presence) or be ruined. This ability is the equivalent of a 1st-level spell.


Black dragon SLAs: At 6th level Darkness 1/day for each 3 HD.

At 9th level Plant Growth 1/day for each 5 HD.

At 10th level Insect Plague 1/day for each 6HD.



Grim Withering (Ex): A black dragon's face withers over time, making it seem more skeletal. Although this doesn't affect the black dragon, it puts fear into all his enemies. Any enemies of the Black Dragon who attack the dragon take a -1 morale penalty to attack rolls for 5 rounds.

Twisted Mind (Ex): A Black Dragon tends to be a bit vicious, even for Chromatic Dragons. This is reflected in their minds, which are not pleasant to be read, or to be forced. If the Black Dragon is affected by a mind affecting, charm, or compulsion spell, the originator of the effect takes WIS Damage equal to the Black Dragon's Cha modifier. The spell still affects the Dragon, and he may elect to not do damage, if he so wishes his mind to be peered into. Also, as a full round action, the Black Dragon may force it's mind's images apon every living creature within 20ft. Everyone within the 20ft must make a will save (DC=10+Dragon's Cha Modifier)or take WIS damage as if they had tried to peer into the Black Dragon's mind. If you deal WIS damage in this way, you may not do so for 3 rounds. At 18th level, the WIS damage listed becomes WIS drain instead.

Caustic Arcana: At 7th and 16th levels the black dragon adds any spell with the [acid] descriptor of a level he can cast to his list of spells known.

Growth:At 8th level the black dragon grows to large size.
At 16th level the black dragon grows to huge size.

His AC, bonus to hit, base damage, grapple and skills change acordingly, but he doesn't get any ability score bonus or penalties.

Tail slap:The black dragon can now make a tail slap attack dealing 1d8 damage(already taking in acount large size).



Arcane skin: At 11th level the Black dragon gains SR equal to his HD+11.

Acidic Nightmare: The black dragon's magic allows it to turn water into a special, foul acid. At will, if a Black Dragon would use it's Create/Destroy Water ability, he may instead turn all water within it's range into a special acid that deals 2d6/2HD damage if partially exposed (instead of 1d6). The acid created by this effect turns into harmless water at the beginning of the next round. At 15th Level, the acid created by Acidic Nightmare affects creatures immune to acid for any reason (Conventional immunity, etheralness ect.), and stays acid instead of turning back to water next round.


Iron Scales: At 12th level the Black dragon gains DR/magic equal to half his HD.

Caustic Lord of Water: At 12th level the Black dragon gains +2 on the caster level of any spells with the [Acid] descriptor, and +1 on the caster level of any spells with the [Water] descriptor it casts and those spells ignore any limits on caster level they may have.


Crush: The dragon can make a crush attack dealing 2d8 damage base, already taking in acount huge size

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This special attack allows a flying or jumping dragon of at least Huge size to land on opponents as a standard action, using its whole body to crush them. Crush attacks are effective only against opponents three or more size categories smaller than the dragon (though it can attempt normal overrun or grapple attacks against larger opponents).

A crush attack affects as many creatures as can fit under the dragon’s body. Creatures in the affected area must succeed on a Reflex save (DC equal to that of the dragon’s breath weapon) or be pinned, automatically taking bludgeoning damage during the next round unless the dragon moves off them. If the dragon chooses to maintain the pin, treat it as a normal grapple attack. Pinned opponents take damage from the crush each round if they don’t escape.

A crush attack deals the indicated damage plus 1½ times the dragon’s Strength bonus (round down).

Frightful Presence:The ability takes effect automatically whenever the dragon attacks, charges, or flies overhead. Enemies within a radius of 30 feet × half the dragon's level are subject to the effect if they have fewer HD than the dragon. A potentially affected enemy that succeeds on a Will save (DC 10 + ½ dragon’s HD + dragon’s Cha modifier) remains immune to that dragon’s frightful presence for 24 hours. On a failure, enemies with 4 or less HD become panicked for 4d6 rounds and those with 5 or more HD become shaken for 4d6 rounds. Dragons ignore the frightful presence of other dragons.


One with the Black Waters: At 15th level the black dragon's scales can absorb the light in such a way it perfectly mimics the swampy depths it normally lives in. The Black Dragon gains the abilty to Hide in Plain Sight, but only underwater or in places of Shadowy Illumination or darker.


Drenched in Acid: At 17th level, the Black Dragon spews acidic ooze from evey pore. Anything or anyone touching the Black Dragon takes 2d4 Acid Damage (No save). The Black Dragon may supress or re/activate this ability as a swift action.

Vicious Withering: At 18th level, the Black Dragon's face withers even more, turning it into a bloodcurdling sight. Anyone who attacks the Black Dragon takes a -3 morale penalty to attack rolls (no save) for 5 rounds. This stacks with Grim Withering.

The Acid Shall Not Be Refused At 19th level, acid in the vicinity of the Black Dragon is beyond resistance, and beyond protection. Anytime the Black Dragon or any of it's allies within 20ft of the Dragon would deal Acid damage to anyone or anything, it may ignore resistance or immunity to acid from any source.

Kaizer's Acid Rain: Twice per day, a 20th level Black Dragon may taint the very skies at it's whims to spew poison like none other. As a standard action, the Black Dragon summons acidic clouds that cover all area within 100ft, centered at the Black Dragon (They stay where they are once summoned, however). Anyone who stays underneath these clouds for a whole round takes 50 acid damage (reflex save to halve), and anyone in the air (via magical flight, ect.) takes double damage. These clouds last for a number of rounds equal to it's HD-5 before dissapating.

Comments/Changelog

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Right, Mark III is up! I apologize for making it a bit weak, but I REALLY didn't want to make it OP'd, like a few Monster Classes (Bad Ethergaunt, BAD!). That and doing this kind of thing late at night is not clever. I've boosted a couple of things, sorted out the stat boosts a bit, and rewrote Drenched in Acid (It was a bit subpar). Enjoy!

EDIT: Nerfed Acid Rain (Blasted Typos), made Home Conversion easier to use, and ajusted things to work in Shadowy Illumination.

EDITEDIT: Made some edits, cleared up the tables, and ajusted order of abilities.

[Hyudra]

Okay, sorry. Didn't mean to nag. I understand how hard managing this thread must be, I certainly didn't mean to make it any more stressful.

No worries. I edited my post above while you posted, but I'll add it here: not targeting this at anyone in particular, but much of the workload is compounded when people decide to tackle epic level creatures. Such creatures are really tricky to do right, even for people who have been in the thread for a while. The amount of work on Gorgon's part when such comes up is no small potatoes. I don't mean in any way to discourage people from such, but Epic creatures are hard to do, novices are liable to make mistakes, and it adds up to much work and revision. Don't feel bad or offended at this - just perhaps keep it in mind and offer him the extra patience, in return.

Or, if you really want to help out, go the extra mile to revise other people's stuff, so Gorgon doesn't have to. Even if you don't consider yourself a maven of creature design, you can say stuff like "[creature feature] sounds good" or "I don't know how fun [ability] would be to play." Everyone here wants feedback, really.

Black Dragon Reposted (again?)

Could I ask that you remove the pic when quoting the creature post? People skimming the thread will often stop whenever they reach a pic, and too many needless images increases page load time for those of us with poor modems.

Right, Mark III is up! I apologize for making it a bit weak, but I REALLY didn't want to make it OP'd, like a few Monster Classes (Bad Ethergaunt, BAD!). That and doing this kind of thing late at night is not clever. I've boosted a couple of things, sorted out the stat boosts a bit, and rewrote Drenched in Acid (It was a bit subpar). Enjoy!

"Boosted a couple of things" -> What'd you boost? How?
"Sorted out the stats" -> I can't remember what the stats were. Not really sure what you did.
"rewrote Drenched in Acid (It was a bit subpar)" -> Much clearer.

A more detailed changelog helps people go through the monster and offer comments on changes without having to go over it from the start with a fine toothed comb. Since you haven't detailed what you changed ('a couple of things') I'm having to look over every ability as though it were a new creature (especially since I can't remember all the original comments, and can't be bothered to go back X pages to find all the comments).

Don't get me wrong - it's ok if you don't do the changelog, it's hardly obligatory. That said, you'll get more comments if you make it easy for people to review the stuff.

All that said... (skimming the creature):

• Acid rain is flat out ridiculous. Let's say you've got a 20th level Black Dragon. It casts Acid Rain...
  
  • 20d6 acid damage a round to everything in a 200' diameter circle, for 15 rounds.
  • Average damage a round, 70. Let's assume to the uppermost object in a given 5' square.
  • So a total of ~1050 damage.
  • You can melt the top 5 stories off a tower made of stone by the time the effect ends.
  • Naturally, a house will dissolve before the effect ends; There's enough room for two or three houses.
  • Trees won't last longer than 1 or 2 rounds.
  • Goes without saying, opponents can forget about having cover.
  • ~70 damage a round, no save, to opponents who will inevitably find themselves without cover. Dragon can fly above the battlefield casting spells, forcing opponents to face ~more~ damage if they want to pursue.
• Still not a fan of the no save gaze attack that penalizes attacks.
• Class still has a dependency on water.
• Home Conversion is a decent idea, but isn't liable to work for an adventurer who is constantly on the move. The dragon should be more versatile, rather than being a creature of dependence (constantly sacrificing spells to create pools to hide in).
  
  • Also, it may be a little too potent as a combat ability, given the ability to suddenly plunge enemies into a deep pool and/or just create difficult terrain over a sizeable area, without allowing saves.

[Duskranger]

Did anyone ever think about making a gargoyle class?

[Hyudra]

Did anyone ever think about making a gargoyle class?

Someone tried it a while back. They gave up when it became clear that it's really hard to make a gargoyle that doesn't have too many passive abilities (hardness, DR, etc).

[Duskranger]

Someone tried it a while back. They gave up when it became clear that it's really hard to make a gargoyle that doesn't have too many passive abilities (hardness, DR, etc).

Isn't the gargoyle the lord of passive abilities?

[Cogidubnus]

Made the changes, will post the Brass Golem in a little bit.

[Hyudra]

Isn't the gargoyle the lord of passive abilities?

Probably not, but it's certainly a prince.

Trouble is, as we make monster classes, we want to emphasize a player's options in combat, rather than just pile on a mess of passive stuff. Too many passive abilities just puts the DM in the position of having to find more ways to challenge the group. Active abilities puts the onus on the PC to find solutions to encounters.

Edit: And it's worth saying, a creature who is limited to 'attack, full attack, maneuvers' gets boring pretty fast.

Made the changes, will post the Brass Golem in a little bit.

Remember that Gorgon requested in the OP that people not post a new monster until their previous one is vetted & added to the list. We don't want to saddle the guy with a backlog.

[Cogidubnus]

Remember that Gorgon requested in the OP that people not post a new monster until their previous one is vetted & added to the list. We don't want to saddle the guy with a backlog.

Hence in a bit. He made 3 small suggestions (which I've done), so it shouldn't take him long to approve it now.

[TheGeckoKing]

20d6? Damn you, God of Typos! Damn you! I'm gonna try to edit the water dependant abilities to work in darkness as well, because if you can't somehow make the room darker *coughSpellscoughScrollscough*, your just not trying. Gorgon told me the stat boosts were a bit odd for a Black Dragon, so I ajusted them as best I could. And Gorg also told me a few of the abilites were weak, so I boosted them. I quote:

Black Dragon: State that grim withering is a mind-affecting fear effect. Also, it just needs to be redone- make it no save, flat penalty to anyone attacking the dragon.
Abilities should always come before ability score increases in the table.
I always thought of the Black Dragon as more con based than anything... I really don't think it should have the same strength increases as a red dragon, anyways.
Twisted Mind is just weak. I'd make it charisma modifier wisdom damage, no save, and for anyone trying to use a thought detecting spell OR a charm or compulsion. Then allow a save for anyone affected by the full-round action. You also need to state the DC.
Acidic Nightmare is weak. Just let it use Create/Destroy water uses, first and foremost. Then, I'd have it 1d6 damage/2 HD. Maybe let it pierce acid resistance/immunity at a later HD.
One With Black Waters is also weak; I'd give it a flat out hide in plain sight, usable only in shadowy illumination or underwater.
Drenched in acid is also also weak. Check out the monster of legend's raging blood & advancement.
Again, Acid Rain is weak. I think you overestimate 4d6 damage. That's an average of 14 damage. PATHETIC. Make it worth using!
Anyways, a good capstone ability would be piercing resistances/immunity to acid with spells, or abilities, or breath weapon, or whatever. Also, maybe give it some poison tagged onto the breath weapon at later levels? Or maybe even just a little con damage. Just some suggestions.

So, not to say "Blame Gorgon", but i'm just following orders. And as for the changelog, i'll do it from now on, but it'a a bit late to do all the past edits. My bad!

EDIT: It's all done. I now invite one and all to edit it as you wish it it ain't up to snuff, because I'm getting swamped by it all, to be honest *Ba dum tish*

[Niezck]

Shaedling... Well, you might as well say it was hit by a shatter spell, because it's broken, broken, broken. You do realize that with create shadow gossamer it can make 15 lbs of diamonds? Or, say, and adamantium weapon? Beyond that, the "reach of 10 feet" is even worse.
Also, check out the wyvern for flight at first level without being, y'know, flight at first level.
Anyways, sorry 'bout the Unholy scion, it's on the list now.

Now, I realize that we have a sizable backlog of creatures that haven't been totally finished. I'm not sure if the creator is just taking a break, or hasn't gotten to it, or doesn't realize it's not finished, but, well, it's not finished.

Those whose monsters are on the list below have a week to either respond or finish their creation, or I will finish it myself.
Ettin
Nimblewright
Soulspark
Phoelarch
Mineral Warrior
Awakened Cat

Taking a break. I've been hugely busy recently, so the Soulspark took a bit of a back seat. I'll get it finished later this week, as I'm off school.

[AustontheGreat1]

I was thinking that the Shadowperson from the Drangonlance campaign setting (round about page 227) looks kinda neat. Mostly because... well it looks kinda neat:

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If someone would want to fiddle with that I, for one, would be appreciative, though it's far from any kind of priority as I don't have a campaign in mind or anything...

Seems easy enough. I'll give it a shot

[monkman]

Shaedling... Well, you might as well say it was hit by a shatter spell, because it's broken, broken, broken. You do realize that with create shadow gossamer it can make 15 lbs of diamonds? Or, say, and adamantium weapon? Beyond that, the "reach of 10 feet" is even worse.

Would it work if i said that the items are made from a substance like steel(normal weapons) but they are black in color(cant abuse this ability) and expire after X rounds/Hd. THe reach will be tooken off.

also please give me a number for the X

[AustontheGreat1]

SHADOWPERSON (pg. 228 Dragonlance Campaign Setting)


Class

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Hit Die: d10

NAME OF CLASS
{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special

1st|

+0

|

+0

|

+2

|

+2

|Body of Shadow, Telepathy, Shadow

2nd|

+1

|

+0

|

+3

|

+3

|Telepathic Awareness, Glide[/table]
Class Skills: (4 + Intelligence Modifier) x 4 at first level. A shadowperson’s class skills are Concentration, Diplomacy, Escape Artist, Hide, Listen, Move Silently, and Sense Motive.

Class Features
Proficiencies: Shadowpeople are proficient with all simple and martial weapons. In addition, all shadow people treat shadowstaffs as martial weapons instead of exotic weapons. Shadowpeople are proficient with light armor, but not shields.

Body of Shadow: At fist level, the shadow person loses all racial bonuses, traits, and abilities and gains monstrous humanoid traits (essentially darkvision 60ft.) A shadowperson is a medium monstrous humanoid with a base land speed of 30ft. They speak common and may choose an additional language to speak for every point of its intelligence modifier, though most shadowpeople choose to communicate using their telepathy.

Shadowpeople are a subterranean species and therefore have become adapted to life in complete darkness. As such, shadowpeople have light sensitivity meaning that they are dazzled in bright sunlight or in the radius of a daylight spell; however they also possess the blindsense out to 30ft.

Lastly, shadowpeople have two claw attacks that deal 1d4 damage each.

Telepathy (Ex): All shadowpeople are naturally telepathic. At first level, shadowpeople can speak telepathically with any creature within a range of 10ft. for every HD they possess. When the shadowperson reaches his fifth hit die his telepathic powers increase to the point where it can infiltrate the mind of creatures near it. The Shadowperson may use detect thoughts as a spell-like ability at-will. The save DC to resist this effect is 10 + ½ the shadowperson’s HD + the shadowperson’s charisma modifier.

Shadow (Ex): Shadowpeople are adept and moving undetected in complete darkness. Shadow people receive +1 racial bonus to all hide and move silently checks for every 4 HD they possess.

Telepathic Awareness (Ex): The shadowperson’s telepathic connection allows them to catch brief glimpses into an opponent’s mind, giving him insight in battle. At second level, the shadowperson gains a bonus to his armor class equal to his intelligence modifier in the form of an insight bonus. This bonus increases by +1 for every 4 HD the shadowperson possesses. This bonus does not apply against creatures immune to mind-affecting abilities or creatures outside the range of its telepathy ability.

Glide (Ex): At second level, the membranes that extend from its limbs can be used to catch air and glide. A shadowperson takes no damage from falling regardless of the distance. In addition, it may also travel horizontally up to four times the vertical distance it descends.

Comments

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Simple enough monster. a race of telepathic subterranean cat people. abilities are pretty much straight from the original monster. Seems to be a little weak to me, but I'm just a newb. I've considered adding +2 Int and +2 Cha (+1 at each level.) but I'll wait and see what the people here say.

Here is a question. There is a weapon presented in the campaign setting and it seems to be the chosen weapon of the race. since it is mentioned in the monster class I'd like to have it here for convenience but I've received a slap on the wrist for posting copyrighted material before so I'm a little wary of posting it. Would it be okay to post the weapons statistic here?

[Hyudra]

SHADOWPERSON

• Giving page number for people wanting to look up the monster? I approve.
• 'Shadow' - it's a lot of bonus. +10 hide and +10 move silently by 20th level.
• The detect thoughts ability is confusing, since the spell progresses in the quality of feedback from a source as you spend time concentrating. How does that work when it is continual?
• I suppose if I have any complaints, it's that it's a rather weak class in combat, and a potentially overpowered class in, say, a game of intrigue. It can't do much to actually help its comrades win a fight.

[Zemro]

Been following this project for a while, and with the recent changes in the atmosphere around here, I think I'd like to start helping with some contribution.

If no one's already working on it, I think I'd like to see about doing something with the Arcadian Avenger from MMV.

[Temotei]

Changes have been made to the ettin and the nimblewright. If I still haven't covered what you'd like me to cover in the ettin's entry, I'd like you to spell it out for me. I'm trying to keep it as concise as possible without leaving too much out.

[Zemro]

Well, I looked around and didn't see anything so I went ahead and put this together:

Arcadian Avenger (MMV Pg 8)



Class

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Hit Die: d10

{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Abilities|Ability Boosts

1st|+1|+2|+2|+0|Body of Silver, Avenger's Armaments|+1 Str
2nd|+2|+3|+3|+0|Blade Rend|+1 Str
3rd|+3|+3|+3|+1|Chosen Implement|+1 Dex
4th|+4|+4|+4|+1|Arcadian Movement|+1 Str
5th|+5|+4|+4|+1|Elude Chance|+1 Str
6th|+6/+1|+5|+5|+2|Avenger's Wrath|+1 Dex[/table]

Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int Mod) x4
Skill Points at each additional Level: 4 + Int modifier

Class Skills: Balance (Dex), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (the planes) (Int), Listen (Wis), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis)

Proficiencies: Arcadian Avengers are proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with light and medium armour but not shields. They also gain proficiency with one light or one-handed exotic weapon of their choice.

Body of Silver: An Arcadian Avenger loses all other racial traits and becomes an outsider with the following characteristics:

• 30ft Base land speed
• Darkvision 60ft
• Proficiency with all simple and martial weapons
• Natural Armour bonus equal to her Con mod
• Automatic Languages: Celestial and Common

An Avenger has the Lawful subtype, and also recieves the extraplanar subtype while not on her native plane, The Peaceable Kingdoms of Arcadia.

Avenger's Armaments: An Avenger recieves Two-Weapon Fighting as a bonus feat at first level. Avengers with six levels in their racial class are granted Improved Two-Weapon Fighting as a bonus feat while those with both six levels in this class at as Base Attack Bonus of +11 or higher receive Greater Two-Weapon Fighting.

Additionally while wielding a slashing weapon in each hand she takes penalties for fighting with two weapons as though her off-hand weapon was light. She applies her full strength bonus to damage with her off-hand weapon rather then the normal one-half.

Beginning at third level any slashing weapon she wields is to be considered magic. Then at sixth they are considered aligned with an alignment matching her own.

Ability Boosts: An Arcadian Avenger increases her strength and dexterity scores as she gains class levels as indicated on the level table. At sixth level her ability bonuses total +4 Str and +2 Dex

Blade Rend (Ex): Starting at second level, an Arcadian Avenger who delivers a hit with both her main and offhand weapon can deliver a twist of her offhand weapon, dealing an additional 1d6+Str mod damage. This damage increases by 1d6 for each additional 3HD, reaching 7d6+Str mod damage at 20HD.

This may occur multiple times in the same attack round, but each iteration requires that she deliver a fresh hit with both her main weapon and her offhand weapon.

Chosen Implement (Ex): Upon reaching third level an Arcadian avenger chooses a single one-handed or light slashing weapon she is proficient with. While wielding this weapon in both your main and off hand you receive a shield bonus to your Armour Class equal to your HD/4 rounded down. If she has or later obtains the Two-Weapon Defence feat the shield bonus from this ability stacks with that received from the feat.

As she increases in power, her prowess with this chosen weapon increases. At 8HD the penalties for fighting with two of this weapon decreases to -1/-1, at 13HD the penalty disappears entirely.

Arcadian Movement (Ex): Upon reaching fourth level an Arcadian Avenger's wings finally become strong enough to bear her aloft. She gains a flight speed equal to her base land speed with good maneuverability.

The continued increase of her skills also provides her with a new tactical option on the battlefield. Whenever an enemy threatened by the avenger takes a 5ft-step, the avenger may use an immediate to take a 5ft-step as well.

Elude Chance (Su): Beginning at fifth level an Arcadian Avenger can avoid the uncertainty of chance by tapping directly into the power of law and her home plane. As an immediate action up to HD/2 times per day an Avenger can treat the result of her next melee attack or saving throw as if the result of the die roll was 10.

Alternatively she can spend two uses of this ability as an immediate action to treat a 1 on an attack roll or saving throw as though a 10 was rolled instead.

Avenger's Wrath (Ex): Avenger's of sixth level have learned to focus their rage and anger into a powerful force. Whenever she deals damage to a target with her Blade Rend ability, all following attacks made against that enemy have their threat range increased by 2. This bonus lasts until she attacks a different enemy, misses an attack against that enemy, or until the end of her next turn. Additional blade rends do not increase the threat range further, and this bonus to threat range is applied after any other modifiers to her threat range.

She also gains the pounce ability, allowing her to make a full-attack at the end of a charge (or dive).

Changelog

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October 20th, 2010

• Corrected spelling and grammar errors
• Adjusted Skill Points
• Changed Levels on Elude Chance and Avenger's Wrath
• Changed wording on Elude Chance and Avenger's Wrath
• Clarified Blade Rend
• Removed alignment requirements

October 21st

• Removed Bonus Feats
• Added a progression for awarding Improved and Greater TWF into Avenger's Armaments

October 29th

• Changed damage and scaling for Blade Rend

November 5th

• Scaling clarifications for Blade Rend
• Corrected listed level in the text for Elude Chance and Avenger's Wrath.

November 15th

• Changed exotic proficiency to make it more open.
• Completely changed Avenger's Wrath

November 29th

• Added Ability Score Boosts
• Tweaked Arcadian Movement
• Changed Avenger's Wrath, again

November 30th

• Reduced Ability Score Boosts
• Added additional function to Elude chance

April 2nd, 2011

• Moved some content around to upgrade the class to follow current formatting conventions.

Comments

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I found it easy enough to transfer the monster's abilities over into a class format like this. I really didn't know how to adjudicate ability score bonuses, so I focused mainly of the monster's special abilities. I've played around with monsters and templates for creating encounter while DMing, but we'll have to see how my eye for balance is.

Since the Arcadian Avenger is armed with a pair of longswords, which are referenced in the fluff as well I decided to focus on wielding slashing weapons (so that a player still had options). In addition the basic abilities aren't all weapon dependant, so if the character gets disarmed or has to use a different weapon they're not completely gimped.

[Hyudra]

Arcadian Avenger (MMV Pg 8)

• Grammar/spelling:
  
  • Spelling: 'loses all other racial traits and becomnes.'
  • Missing/extraneous word: (Arcadian Armaments) 'while wielding a one * slashing weapon'
  • Missing word: (Arcadian Armaments): "Beginning at third level any slashing * she wields"
  • Spelling: (Chosen Implement) 'optains'
  • Extraneous word: At 8HD then penalties for fighting...
• Too many skill points/skills, considering she's already a viable melee critter.
• Alignment restriction isn't so hot. Many players enjoy playing a good succubus. Why not a chaotic Arcadian Avenger?
• Blade Rend is a little confusing/awkwardly worded.
• To keep with the flavor, I'd make Avengers Wrath work only on spells allies failed saving throws against. It may need to be toned down, as it's rather powerful.
• In Elude Chance, state when the ability is available (it's in the table, but just general formatting
• Given that Elude Chance is kind of underwhelming, I think Avenger's Wrath should be the capstone ability, trading places with Elude Chance.

[Zemro]

• Grammar/spelling:
  
  • Spelling: 'loses all other racial traits and becomnes.'
  • Missing/extraneous word: (Arcadian Armaments) 'while wielding a one * slashing weapon'
  • Missing word: (Arcadian Armaments): "Beginning at third level any slashing * she wields"
  • Spelling: (Chosen Implement) 'optains'
  • Extraneous word: At 8HD then penalties for fighting...

Fixed, and while expected it's a bit embarrassing to me as caught a bunch of others in my read through.

• Too many skill points/skills, considering she's already a viable melee critter.

Yeah, I figured that might be the case. My original instinct was to go with 4+Int, so I've reduced it to that. The skills are almost all from what the monster itself had ranks in, with a couple extra added that fit the generally feel of the monster.

I could cut out balance and tumble, and possibly Know: Planes, but I think the rest are fairly solid.

• Alignment restriction isn't so hot. Many players enjoy playing a good succubus. Why not a chaotic Arcadian Avenger?

I was a bit unsure on that as well actually, I'm not the fondest of alignment restrictions myself, but it kinda fit here. Aside from Arcadia being a mildly Lawful aligned plane (though that could just be incentive for chaotic aligned folk to leave) the Avengers seemed to act like a general law/peacekeeping force and were very core to the plane, so being chaotic seemed a bit weird.

I could probably remove it, but with their ties to the plane and the Elude Chance ability opening up chaotic alignments doesn't quite sit right.

• Blade Rend is a little confusing/awkwardly worded.

Expected to hear that not sure how to word it though. The intent is something that works like this:

Say a high level Avenger has three main hand attacks and three offhand attacks. She makes a full attack and hits with two main hand attacks and three offhand attacks. She then gets to rend twice, as she has to pairs of hits between the main and off hands.

Three offhands hits wouldn't trigger a rend, and you'd only get a single rend if you hit with all three main hand attacks, but only hit once with your offhand.

• To keep with the flavor, I'd make Avengers Wrath work only on spells allies failed saving throws against. It may need to be toned down, as it's rather powerful.

Makes sense, and done. I could scale back the attack bonus, but I had wanted to make it enough of a difference to give a monster incentive to focus on her rather then squishier party members (damage aside).

• In Elude Chance, state when the ability is available (it's in the table, but just general formatting
• Given that Elude Chance is kind of underwhelming, I think Avenger's Wrath should be the capstone ability, trading places with Elude Chance.

Switched them around, the level of availability was already in there but I changed the wording around to make that more evident.

Any suggestions on making Elude Chance a bit more interesting? It was the base creature's most notable ability, so I wanted to keep it neat at least. Perhaps treating the result as 11? It's not much, but maybe different enough from standards to remain interesting?

[Hyudra]

I could cut out balance and tumble, and possibly Know: Planes, but I think the rest are fairly solid.

I like know: planes. Makes sense for a law enforcer to know their own homeland & to have a sense of the homeland of visitors.

I could probably remove it, but with their ties to the plane and the Elude Chance ability opening up chaotic alignments doesn't quite sit right.

One could make the same argument about the succubus' 'evil' flavor.

Expected to hear that not sure how to word it though. The intent is something that works like this:

Say a high level Avenger has three main hand attacks and three offhand attacks. She makes a full attack and hits with two main hand attacks and three offhand attacks. She then gets to rend twice, as she has to pairs of hits between the main and off hands.

While fighting with two weapons an Arcadian Avenger of second level or higher deals additional damage equal to her off-hand weapon's whenever she hits a target with both weapons in a single attack action.

She may deal this extra damage more then once in an attack action as long as she makes an additional pair of hits for each extra rend.

Three offhands hits wouldn't trigger a rend, and you'd only get a single rend if you hit with all three main hand attacks, but only hit once with your offhand.

Blade Rend (Ex): Starting at second level, an Arcadian Avenger who delivers a hit with both her main and offhand weapon can deliver a twist of her offhand weapon, dealing additional damage equivalent to another offhand strike.

This may occur multiple times in the same attack round, but each iteration requires that she deliver a fresh hit with both her main weapon and her offhand weapon.

Any suggestions on making Elude Chance a bit more interesting? It was the base creature's most notable ability, so I wanted to keep it neat at least. Perhaps treating the result as 11? It's not much, but maybe different enough from standards to remain interesting?

It's ok as is. It was just a little underwhelming as a capstone ability ("Finally, having taken the last level of the Arcadian Avenger class, I become... strictly average!").

[Betropper]

Sorry to rush but could you post the Purple Worm Hydrua?
I've got a deadline for a char and want to review it.

[Hyudra]

No can do. I'll PM it to you, though, with the warning that it's unreviewed & unrefined, so it's not finished work.

I've already got two creatures in the queue, and don't want to create too much of a backlog before Gorgon gets back.

PM sent.

[monkman]

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Shaedling

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{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special

1st|

+0

|

+0

|

+2

|

+2

|Fey body, Create Shadow Gossamer,+1 dex,+1 cha
2nd|

+1

|

+0

|

+3

|

+3

| Sleeping curse, Wall of darkness,+1 dex,+1 cha[/table]
HD =D8

Proficiencies : It gains Proficiencies with light armor, light sheild, simple and martial weapons.

Skills4+intel modfier (X4 at first level) Class Skills Bluff,Diplomacy,Escape Artist,Hide,Listen,Move silently,Spot,

Fey body:A shadeling loses all other racial bonus and gains fey traits(basically darkvision and low light vision). It is a medium sized fey with a base speed of 30ft.The shaedling has wings, but isn't initially able to fly

At 4th HD, it gains the ability to fly with a speed of 40ft+5/Hd with average maneuverability .

Create Shadow Gossamer A shaedling is able to create a non magic item of 15 pounds or lighter as a swift action.This substance is black in color and functions like steel. Shields that are from Shadow Gossamer have a 1 less on their armor check penalty. This ability last 5 rounds per hd.

Sleeping curse Once a per day per Hd a Shaedling is able to enchant a weapon with the sleep for 1 round, it is a swift action. If this hit the enemy must make a save(10+1/2Hd+Cha modifer) or fall asleep of 1d6 round. They cannot be woken up by anything but a remove curse spell.

Wall of darkness Once a per day per Hd a Shaedling can create a wall of darkness up yo 30 ft long.This blocks the ligne of sight of those who do not have darkvision.

tell me what you think and im not really sure about skills and profs(MM5)

i've done some changed on the shaedling,tell me if it's good.