Request a Homebrew

[Gorbash Kazdar]

This thread was suggested by Goats_o_Mjolnir, so direct thanks his way!

The purpose for the Request a Homebrew thread is for anyone to request the creation of a specific homebrewed game mechanic or concept - monsters, alternate class abilities, spells, etc. Every DM has been in the position where he or she needs an exciting new monster, unique magic item, or awe inspiring spell the PCs have never seen before, but find themselves lacking the time or inspiration to put it together themselves. Rather than go it alone, this thread's mission is to give everyone access to the fevered imaginations and creation prowess of Homebrew Design's denizens.

Below are some guidelines for this thread.

Your Request Should Be Specific: When making a request, the more detail the better. This is not a thread for very general requests - for example "I need a magic item" or "I need a CR 2 monster" would be inappropriate requests. An appropriate request would be more along the lines of "I need a CR 2 monster, non-intelligent but not mindless, for a tomb-raiding adventure in a desert environment (Egyptian influence a plus!). The party has been fighting undead a lot so far, and I'm really looking for something that they would initially think is undead to catch them off-guard. Preferably, it should have some interesting signature ability so it's not just a 'stand there and hammer each other' fight."

The Homebrew Should Be Fairly Small in Scope: Requests should be for homebrew that could be easily contained in one post - asking for a whole new base class or magic system would be a bit too much for this thread. The concept here is really for DMs to request something they expect to use in short order and don't have the time to develop themselves.

Keep it Short: While some discussion of created items posted to this thread is fine, try to keep it short and sweet. If a discussion is picking up and is going beyond about 8-9 posts (not including the request post and the post presenting the finished product), please move it over to it's own dedicated thread.

Don't Post Something Completed Looking for Feedback: Don't post something you've already made and ask for feedback on it or help with completing it. Such creations should be put into their own threads as normal.

Linking Completed Items: If you've seen something on the boards (or elsewhere) that you think would fit the needs of the poster making the request, feel free to provide a link to it. Please don't repost them entirely to the thread, though. Posting copyrighted material without permission is of course prohibited. (Claiming someone else's work as your own will result in Infractions or other penalties.)

Numbering: In order to keep things clear and cut down on excessive quoting of requests, please number requests (R.1, R.2, etc.), homebrewed up responses (H.1, H.2, etc) and comments (C.1, C.2, etc.).

If anyone has any questions about the thread itself, feel free to ask them here or send me a PM.

Let the Homebrewing begin!

[Gorbash Kazdar]

To get things started, let me toss up a request of my own. I've been banging my head against this for a while, and haven't been able to come up with anything I like.

R.1
I'm looking for an alternate class ability to replace trap sense for the barbarian. I find the ability kind of weak in general, and the barbarian in question is an NPC and I'd like to have something interesting that would actually get used. It should be something that scales up at more or less the same rate, and shouldn't be too powerful. The character is a stereoptypical half-orc barbarian using a big sword; he's also a mercenary.

[Danu]

H.1

I'm looking for an alternate class ability to replace trap sense for the barbarian. I find the ability kind of weak in general, and the barbarian in question is an NPC and I'd like to have something interesting that would actually get used.

The first thing that occurred to me was the trapkiller alternate class feature in Dungeonscape (page 8). It'd grant you trapfinding, but that still doesn't seem to fit your character. But upon examining the rogue's Penetrating Strike on page 13, I came up with a different idea.

Shatterstrike
You are capable to bringing such incredible force to bear with your critical hits, that you can pierce the innate immunity of those who normally ignore such damage. Your shatterstrike rends the metal of constructs, sends the protoplasmic material of oozes flying, and discorporates undead with a single mighty swing.
Level: 3rd.
Replaces: If you select this alternative class feature, you do not gain trap sense.
Benefit: Any time you strike a creature immune to critical hits, you have a 25% chance of ignoring their innate immunity and dealing your extra damage as normal. You roll this percentile after you receive a critical threat, but before you attempt the critical confirmation roll. At 9th level this ability improves, granting you a 50% chance to ignore a creature's immunity to critical hits. At 15th level it improves for the final time, granting a 75% chance to ignore a creature's immunity to critical hits.

[FlyMolo]

R.2
I need a CR 2 or 3 monster. Flying a must. My players are going to be fighting this beastie on the edge of the atmosphere, while trying to grab onto a cube of Walls of Force filled with vacuum to use as a balloon. So, Flying a Must. I'd hope to get a small flock of them, about a CR 4 total, maybe 5.

These things are in the employ of Asmodeus, so Fiendish influences are great. (Devilish?) I was considering just taking Red Caps and applying templates to them, but they didn't have the right flavor, the right abilities, or the right CR (they were too powerful. C'est la vie). I need a small swarm (4?) to be about appropriate for a 9 member party of ECL 2 characters. Yeah, 9 members. I'm a first time DM too. Not smart.

[Gorbash Kazdar]

C.1
I really like it. At first I thought the percentages might be a bit high, but then I remembered that you actually have to threaten a critical first, and you can still miss the confirmation. It fits the flavor of the barbarian very well, too. Thanks!

[Vaynor]

R.3

"I need a CR 2 monster, non-intelligent but not mindless, for a tomb-raiding adventure in a desert environment (Egyptian influence a plus!). The party has been fighting undead a lot so far, and I'm really looking for something that they would initially think is undead to catch them off-guard. Preferably, it should have some interesting signature ability so it's not just a 'stand there and hammer each other' fight."

Jeez, way to describe almost EXACTLY what I was going to ask for. All of that, but also include fiery influences to it's abilities, Large at the least. Kind of hulkish. Like a big damaging melee user with good spell resistances and a lot of interesting special abilities.

Oh yah, CR 14-16.

[Necromimesis]

H.3

Jeez, way to describe almost EXACTLY what I was going to ask for. All of that, but also include fiery influences to it's abilities, Large at the least. Kind of hulkish. Like a big damaging melee user with good spell resistances and a lot of interesting special abilities.

Oh yah, CR 14-16.

I think I can do this one for you...I got a great idea looking through a list of Egyptian Gods, and think it will work quite well.

EDIT: Here you go. Tell me what you think.


THE FIST OF ATEN

Long ago, a cult of worshipers decided to ignore the old sun gods. Their patron, a god known as Aten, used their belief to push back the ancient gods and usurp their power. Yet it did not last long, for the ancient ones brooded and planned until their power again grew, and together they threw Aten from the heavens and split his essence apart.

But gods are almost impossible to kill, and so Aten walks the world in pieces, each a part of the dying sun god. These pieces have a mind and will of their own...these are the Fists of Aten.

A Fist of Aten appears as a frighteningly tall, dessicated human with the head of a hawk. It's skin is blackened and charred, and it constantly smolders as if some dying fire burned inside it. It's eyes are glowing coals, and its crackles and snaps when it walks, as if it's flaky, charred skin were breaking and burning.


Fist of Aten
Size/Type: Large Outsider (Extraplanar, Fire)
Hit Dice: 22d8+110 (209 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 40ft
Armor Class: 28, touch 9, flat-footed 28 (-1 size, +19 natural)
Base Attack/Grapple: +22/+35
Attack: Slam +31 melee (2d8+13; 19-20/x2)
Full Attack: 2 Slams +31 melee (2d8+13; 19-20/x2)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Solar Radiance, Smolder, Dying Sun
Special Qualities: SR 29, DR 10/Cold Iron, Solar Immunity, Scorned by the Gods
Saves: Fort +17, Ref +13, Will +17
Abilities: Str 28, Dex 10, Con 19, Int 10, Wis 18, Cha 18
Skills: 200 skill points, assign as you see fit (I may get around to this later...)
Feats: Power Attack, Cleave, Awesome Blow, Great Cleave, Weapon Focus (Slam), Improved Critical (Slam), Improved Initiative, Improved Toughness
Enviroment: Desert
Organization: Solitary
Challange Rating: ~15 (I'm not the best judge, but it seems about right)
Treasure: Normal
Alignment: Any Evil
Advancement: Hit Dice
Level Adjustment: —

Scorned by the Gods: After Aten’s fall, the gods erased all memory of him from the heavens. As a result, his children walk the world unnoticed by all that is divine, and are treated as having unbeatable spell resistance against any and all divine spells.
Solar Immunity: Although their god is long dead, the Fists of Aten still connect to sun. They are immune to any effect that would blind or dazzle them through the use of light.
Solar Radiance: The light that once graced these creatures is gone, but the right spark may just ignite it. If a Fist of Aten is struck by a spell or object that would deal fire damage, its desiccated body erupts in a burst of otherworldly light. Everything within 60ft of the Fist takes 10d6 points of fire damage (Reflex save DC 25 for ½, Con based), and its fists deal an additional +2d6 points of fire damage for the next hour. Additionally, during that hour, any non-natural weapon that strikes the Fist must make a Fortitude check (DC 25, Con based) or melt instantly into useless slag, dealing no damage.
Smolder: The Fist of Aten’s body now smolders gently with the remnants of a once mighty blaze. Any creature grappling the Fist takes 4d6 points of fire damage a round.
Dying Sun: As a final tribute to their fallen lord, the Fists of Aten can, for a short time, extinguish the sun itself. 3/day, as a full round action, a Fist of Aten may cause the sun to darken to a hideous, blackened shade of red. Anyone who sees the change must make a DC 25 Will save (Charisma based) or be panicked for 4d6 rounds. A successful save reduces the effect to shaken. This has the additional effect of granting the Fist of Aten the sun’s light, and activates it’s Solar Radiance power as if it had taken fire damage. This ability has a radius of 1 mile; outside of the range, the sun still appears perfectly normal.

[Mal666]

C.1

I really like it. At first I thought the percentages might be a bit high, but then I remembered that you actually have to threaten a critical first, and you can still miss the confirmation. It fits the flavor of the barbarian very well, too. Thanks!

with an ooze, it would be more of a "splash Strike" hehe

[Caracol]

H.2

I need a CR 2 or 3 monster. Flying a must. My players are going to be fighting this beastie on the edge of the atmosphere, while trying to grab onto a cube of Walls of Force filled with vacuum to use as a balloon. So, Flying a Must. I'd hope to get a small flock of them, about a CR 4 total, maybe 5.

These things are in the employ of Asmodeus, so Fiendish influences are great. (Devilish?) I was considering just taking Red Caps and applying templates to them, but they didn't have the right flavor, the right abilities, or the right CR (they were too powerful. C'est la vie). I need a small swarm (4?) to be about appropriate for a 9 member party of ECL 2 characters. Yeah, 9 members. I'm a first time DM too. Not smart.

Here's one for you, hope it fits.

Yergil

Spoiler

Show

original art by Wen - M

Diminutive Outsider (Baatezu, Evil, Extraplanar, Lawful)
Hit Dice: 3d8+0 (13 hp)
Initiative: +7
Speed: fly 40ft. (good)
Armor Class: 18 (+3 Dex, +4 size, +1 natural), touch 13, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/-10
Attack: Claw +6 melee (1d2 -1/x2) or bite (1d3 -1/x2)
Full Attack: 2 claws +6 melee (1d2-1/x2) or bite (1d3 -1/x2)
Space/Reach: 1 ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks: Chilling Glance, Weakening Glance, Summon Devil
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., Eyes behind your back, Immunity to fire and poison, Resistance to acid 10 and cold 10, See in darkness, Spell-like abilities, Telepathy 100 ft.
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +5
Abilities: Str 8, Dex 16, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 16
Skills*: Escape Artist +9, Hide +19, Intimidate +7, Knowledge (any) +6, Listen +10, Move Silenty +8, Search +14, Sense Motive +7, Sleigh of Hands +8, Spot +18, Use Rope +8
Feats: Alertness, Improved Initiative
Enviroment: Any
Organization: Solitary, Group (2-5), Swarm (6-12)
Challange Rating: 3
Treasure: Normal
Alignment: Always Lawful Evil
Advancement: 4-8 HD (Diminutive), 9-12 HD (Tiny)
Level Adjustment: —

A small figure flies around you. You don't understand how it can see, but suddenly from its horrible wings red reptile-like eyes open wide.

Yergils are small devils with numerous eyes on the surface of their eyes. They are pesterous little beasts at Asmodeus's employ, used by the devil lord for minor tasks and issues. They usually guard sites of interests for Asmodeus, and rush on their opponent regardless their size. They look like really small humanoids, with pale or dark skin, and with no eyes on their faces. Their wings, however, are capable of gaze attacks.

COMBAT
Yergils are often found in groups, and if alone they try to summon more Yergils. They are noot good fighters, but their strength is in numbers and in their gaze attacks, which they use to weaken their opponentz, trying to scare them. They attack phisically only if forced.

Chilling Glance (Su): Once per round, a Yergil can make a gaze attack at a single opponent at a range of 20 ft. Any creature that falls the saving throw is slowed, as if he's subjected by the slow spell effects (Will negates, DC 14, the DC is Cha based)
Eyed Wings (Ex): The wings of a Yergil have eyes on their surface, and these eyes are capable make them do gaze attacks and see all their sorroundings. Because of this, a Yergil cannot be caught flat-footed by any opponent that does not have magical concealment.
Spell like abilities (Su): fear 1/day, DC 13, Cha based.
Summon Demon (Sp): Once per day a Yergil can attempt to summon 1d4 Yergils with a 50% chance of success. This ability is the equivalent of a 3rd-level spell.
Weakening Glance (Su): Once per round, a Yergil can make a gaze attack at a single opponent at a range of 20 ft. Any creature that falls the saving throw start to feel fear, as if he's subjected by the bane spell effects (Will negates, DC 14, the DC is Cha based)
Skills: The eyed wings of an Yergil give them a racial bonus of +8 to their Spot and Search checks.

[Vaynor]

C.3

THE FIST OF ATEN

Sweet thanks. :D

[Goats_o_Mjolnir]

Wow, awesome, I cant believe its actually up, big ups for hearing my suggestion Gorbash.

I have a request as well:

R.4
I want to give a villian a signature weapon, so I had this idea of a bladed yo-yo esque weapon. Similar to a normal yo-yo, but I drew inspiration from Rygar and God of War in that the yo-yo can be used up close and at range. Any relevant feats would be great as well :)
thanks

[Paragon Badger]

H.4

Wow, awesome, I cant believe its actually up, big ups for hearing my suggestion Gorbash.

I have a request as well:

I want to give a villian a signature weapon, so I had this idea of a bladed yo-yo esque weapon. Similar to a normal yo-yo, but I drew inspiration from Rygar and God of War in that the yo-yo can be used up close and at range. Any relevant feats would be great as well :)
thanks

~~~
1d8 Slashing (20/x2)
One-handed Reach Weapon
Weight: 6 lb.

You can use the Weapon Finesse feat to apply your Dexterity modifier (instead of your Strength modifier) to attack rolls with a ~~~ sized for you, even though it isn’t a light weapon.

Because a ~~~ can wrap around an enemy’s leg or other limb, you can make trip attacks with a it. You cannot drop the ~~~ to avoid being tripped in return.

A ~~~ is usually wrapped around an arm. Anyone equipped with a ~~~ in this fashion gets a +10 bonus to resist being disarmed.

Unlike most other weapons with reach, you can use a ~~~ against adjacent foes.

Vaguely based on the Divine Instrument, Rosary, which is based off of the rosaries from Okami. [shameless plug]Check it out.[/shameless plug]

[Proven_Paradox]

H.4

Wow, awesome, I cant believe its actually up, big ups for hearing my suggestion Gorbash.

I have a request as well:

I want to give a villian a signature weapon, so I had this idea of a bladed yo-yo esque weapon. Similar to a normal yo-yo, but I drew inspiration from Rygar and God of War in that the yo-yo can be used up close and at range. Any relevant feats would be great as well :)
thanks

I recommend a large spiked shield here. The shied part has bashing and whatever defensive abilities you like. The spikes have throwing and returning. If you want more range on it, take the Far Shot feat. Improved Shield Bash is a must. If you want to make it more like Rygar's shield, nix the spikes and give the edges a serrated blade, and make it slashing instead of piercing. That's the only bit of homebrew that's required. Your BBEG is now very powerful in both ranged and melee, and probably has good AC. Attach a chain to it from his wrist and you've got a really big serrated yoyo.

If you want something small and more yo-yo like, you can get a small shield instead, though you lose both damage and AC that way.

[Caracol]

H.4

Wow, awesome, I cant believe its actually up, big ups for hearing my suggestion Gorbash.

I have a request as well:

I want to give a villian a signature weapon, so I had this idea of a bladed yo-yo esque weapon. Similar to a normal yo-yo, but I drew inspiration from Rygar and God of War in that the yo-yo can be used up close and at range. Any relevant feats would be great as well :)
thanks

I made a Hooked Chain weapon. Here's the post. With slight modification, I think is the stuff you are looking for. Also, the new feats and builds for the style can be good for you villain.

[Dristin]

R.5
My friends and I are getting ready to start a new portion of an existing campaign. It involves high level characters but most of the pcs will be in a background role. One of the epic pcs currently controls a large army and we are getting ready to start some war style campaign. We want the pcs to only be commanders and not part of the attacking force until absolutely necessary or during the final battle. However we do not want to leave the battles up entirely to the DM to just tell us what happens and would like tactics to play a major part. We would like it to be set up like a normal encounter and would like a system for determining which side of an army will win a battle. I am asking for someone to develop that system for us. We currently have heroes of battle so some of the regiments and siege type engines are already laid out. We need a system that will let us determine what happens when two opposing squads/battalions meet. Please be specific and design it so that all factors such as morale and better equipment play a role.

[Paragon Badger]

C.5

My friends and I are getting ready to start a new portion of an existing campaign. It involves high level characters but most of the pcs will be in a background role. One of the epic pcs currently controls a large army and we are getting ready to start some war style campaign. We want the pcs to only be commanders and not part of the attacking force until absolutely necessary or during the final battle. However we do not want to leave the battles up entirely to the DM to just tell us what happens and would like tactics to play a major part. We would like it to be set up like a normal encounter and would like a system for determining which side of an army will win a battle. I am asking for someone to develop that system for us. We currently have heroes of battle so some of the regiments and siege type engines are already laid out. We need a system that will let us determine what happens when two opposing squads/battalions meet. Please be specific and design it so that all factors such as morale and better equipment play a role.

If you want it to be accurate... Well, trust me...You don't want it to be accurate. Accuracy involves including Terrain, Intelligence, Supplies, Training, Morale, Numbers, Leadership, Strategy, Mobility, Armor, and conditions such as fatigue. At the same time. :-P

Such an endeavor would take an entire thread, not one post.

Just ask your DM to come up with a bunch of scenarios, with the DM assigning an ammount of victory points to both sides in each foreseeable response.

For example:

GM: The worg batallion is flanking the elves, That's your army, Bob. what do you do?
Bob: I move north, into the hills.
GM: A stalemate, neither side inflicts many casualties on one another. The worg's don't pursue. You gain 1d6 victory points. The Worg unit gains 1d4 victory points.

[kite11355]

R.6
I'm trying to make a monster based off of the chamaira ant in Hunter X Hunter. If you don't know what they are, well basically they are ants that eat prey and recive some treats of the prey (in strength and appearance) but still look insect like. Can you please be precise in the mechanics of the gaining of treats of the prey.

[TacoClone]

R.7
Alright, I've been thinking about this for a while, but I'm not sure how to go about it, so I'm going to leave it up to one of you guys. I want a low CR/LA template that will turn creatures into aberrations. I'm thinking it'd give them tentacles or something. I'm thinking of making it available to add to a PC's class if they want it.

My campaign is based on magics in the world that run awry, so I want something that resembles that by changing creatures in close proximity to "wild magic" into aberrations, as they'd be altered and unnatural because of it.

I know I'm not being entirely specific, but that's just because I'm not sure how to make this in the first place. However, if any of you guys can make/find something in this vein, I'd be very grateful.

So, to recap, a template that makes its base creature an aberration, it should have a low to no change to CR/LA, and resemble a perverse effect caused by something like magic radiation. Also, possible tentacles.

Thanks in advance guys.

[Szilard]

C.5

My friends and I are getting ready to start a new portion of an existing campaign. It involves high level characters but most of the pcs will be in a background role. One of the epic pcs currently controls a large army and we are getting ready to start some war style campaign. We want the pcs to only be commanders and not part of the attacking force until absolutely necessary or during the final battle. However we do not want to leave the battles up entirely to the DM to just tell us what happens and would like tactics to play a major part. We would like it to be set up like a normal encounter and would like a system for determining which side of an army will win a battle. I am asking for someone to develop that system for us. We currently have heroes of battle so some of the regiments and siege type engines are already laid out. We need a system that will let us determine what happens when two opposing squads/battalions meet. Please be specific and design it so that all factors such as morale and better equipment play a role.

Play chess, come up with a system based on the game.

[Gorbash Kazdar]

H.7
How about...

ARCANOMUTANT
Arcanomutant is an acquired or inherited template that can be added to any living, corporeal creature (referred to hereafter as the base creature). An arcanomutant uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Size and Type
The creature’s type changes to aberration.

Attack
An arcanomutant with a stinger can make one stinger attack in addition to any other attacks the base creature could normally make. This attack is always a secondary natural attack and takes a -5 penalty to the attack roll and adds ½ Strength bonus on damage rolls. Arcanomutants with stingers and fighting without weapons typically use a preferred natural weapon to attack instead of the stinger, unless it does not have any other natural attacks. Arcanomutants that fight with weapons use the weapon attack instead.

An arcanomutant with tentacles can make two tentacle attacks in addition to any other attacks the base creature could normally make. An arcanomutant with tentacles and fighting without weapons use a tentacle when making an attack action, unless it has another natural attack it prefers. Arcanomutants that fight with weapons use the weapon attack instead.

Full Attack
An arcanomutant with a stinger uses it when making a full attack, in addition to any other natural or weapon attacks the base creature has.

An arcanomutant with tentacles and fighting without weapons uses both tentacles in a full attack action, plus any other natural attacks the base creature has. If armed with a weapon, it uses its weapon as its primary attack and its tentacles as secondary natural attacks (-5 penalty to the attack rolls, adds ½ Strength bonus on damage rolls).

Damage
An arcanomutant with a stinger or tentacles (see below) deals damage as shown in the table below; damage is piercing for a stinger and bludgeoning for a tentacle. An arcanomutant with a stinger also adds its poison (see below).

{table=head]Size |Stinger/Tentacle Damage |Reach
Fine |1 |0 ft.
Diminutive |1 |0 ft.
Tiny |1d2 |0 ft.
Small |1d3 |5 ft.
Medium |1d4 |5 ft.
Large |1d6 |10 ft.
Huge |1d8 |15 ft.
Gargantuan |2d6 |20 ft.
Colossal |3d6 |30 ft.[/table]
Special qualities

• Darkvision out to 60 feet.
• +2 to saves against poisons and diseases. This stacks with any other bonuses to these saves the base creature already has.
• Additionally, an arcanomutant gains one of the following traits (roll 1d6 to determine randomly). All of these abilities are considered Extraordinary.
  
  • Amorphous anatomy: The creature’s body becomes somewhat amorphous, with the functions of some internal organs being spread out through the body, making it harder for them to be severely damaged. The creature has a 10% chance to be immune to a critical hit, sneak attack, or similar ability based on precision damage.
  • Antennae: Two, or sometimes four, antennae grow from above the creature’s eyes, granting it additional senses. The appearance of the antennae usually resembles those of a moth, but other styles are common as well. The creature gains blindsight out to 5ft.
  • Chitinous skin: The creature grows a partial exoskeleton, usually of insect-like chitin, grainting a +2 bonus to natural armor.
  • Compound eyes: The creature’s eyes become like those of an insect. This grants a +2 bonus to Search and Spot checks and low-light vision. Additionally, the creature gains a +2 bonus to saves against gaze attacks.
  • Extra eyes: The creature grows additional eyes, usually on its head, but occasionally on other body parts as well. Attackers that flank the creature do not gain any bonus to their attack rolls against it, thought it is still considered flanked for other purposes. Additionally, the creature gains a +2 bonus to Spot checks, but takes a -2 penalty to saves against gaze attacks.
  • Stinger: The creature grows a tail that ends in a poisonous stinger. The stinger usually resembles that of a scorpion, but this varies greatly from creature to creature. The stinger can be used to make piercing attacks (see above), and to deliver a paralyzing poison. It deals initial and secondary damage of paralysis. The DC is 11 plus the creatures Constitution modifier. An arcanomutant produces enough poison to deliver one poisonous sting per day.
  • Tentacles: The creature grows two long, flexible tentacles. The location of these tentacles varies from arcanomutant to arcanomutant, as does color and general appearance, though most are squid-like. These tentacles can be used to pick up or hold objects, but not to wield weapons or hold the creature up (and thus do not aid in climbing, grappling, or similar actions). They can also be used to make bludgeoning attacks (see above).

Challenge Rating
3HD or less, as base creature +1; greater than 3HD, as base creature.

Level Adjustment
+1

[hr]
For PCs, or even to advance monsters, maybe including some feats to increase the power of the above abilities. For example, extra uses of the poison for the stinger, strong tentacles that grant a bonus to climb or grapple or similar checks, improved antennae that have a wider radius of blindsight, and so forth.

You might also want to try the half-farspawn and psuedonatural creature templates from Lords of Madness for more "advanced" mutants. The half-farspawn template in particular adds two tentacle attacks to the base creature, and both templates allows it to turn into a writing mass of tentacles 1/day. Psuedonatural creatures of 3HD or less have no CR adjustment, and from 4-11HD add +1 CR. It's not suitable for PCs, though. The half-farspawn template adds a number of other special abilities as well, so it adds a lot of LA (+4), but the CR increase is only +1 for 4HD or less, and +2 for 5-10HD. The template I have above started with the half-farspawn template for concept.

[TacoClone]

C.7
Thanks a lot Gorbash. I was thinking about making a list of things to be chosen from for the template, and those'll work nicely.

Also, if it's not very much trouble. Is there any idea of some sort of penalty that could be added that would even out the LA? I'm pretty sure it would make sense to give a 'mutant' a -2 Cha, but I'm not sure if a Cha penalty is enough to outweigh the abilities.

Then again, the bonuses aren't that great, so I think that might do.

It would make sense for them to take a penalty for a disguise check to appear like their original race, but I'm not sure how much that would be. It'd be larger than -2, I'd think. I was thinking -10, but that might be a bit much.

However, could the combined penalties out way the LA?

Finally, though, I want to thank you for your hard work, even if you don't feel like putting in your two coppers about what I just said. You've done a fine job and I can't wait to put this in my campaign world.

EDIT: Yeah, I just say that I'm suppose to letter and number the posts. Just as I went back to put it in this post, you'd already done it. You're quick, you are.

[Gorbash Kazdar]

C.7

Thanks a lot Gorbash. I was thinking about making a list of things to be chosen from for the template, and those'll work nicely.

Also, if it's not very much trouble. Is there any idea of some sort of penalty that could be added that would even out the LA? I'm pretty sure it would make sense to give a 'mutant' a -2 Cha, but I'm not sure if a Cha penalty is enough to outweigh the abilities.

Then again, the bonuses aren't that great, so I think that might do.

It would make sense for them to take a penalty for a disguise check to appear like their original race, but I'm not sure how much that would be. It'd be larger than -2, I'd think. I was thinking -10, but that might be a bit much.

However, could the combined penalties out way the LA?

The difficulty with balancing it down to an LA +0 actually comes primarily from the creature type, surprisingly enough. A -2 Cha penalty, and perhaps an additional penalty to Disguise (-5 seems reasonable) and/or other social skills (that would be lower, say -2) as people tend to fear arcanomutants would fit, and would probably even out the other template advantages. However, when the type change comes into effect, that becomes a big advantage for PCs. Any time a PC is of a type other than humanoid, they gain an inherent advantage as many spells (eg. hold person) and spell-like abilities no longer affect them. Still, you can probably get around this as well.

Finally, though, I want to thank you for your hard work, even if you don't feel like putting in your two coppers about what I just said. You've done a fine job and I can't wait to put this in my campaign world.

Happy to help! I was initially just going to refer to the half-farspawn template, but then I saw it did a bunch of extraneous things (and actually makes the base creature an outsider), so I decided to tweak it.

EDIT: Yeah, I just say that I'm suppose to letter and number the posts. Just as I went back to put it in this post, you'd already done it. You're quick, you are.

I actually just added that rule a few minutes ago, and added it to all the posts so far to keep things codified going forward. I didn't think it would be needed, but I was already getting confused trying to keep up with the thread myself!

[Gorbash Kazdar]

C.5 and C.6
I want to address these two quickly:

R.5
My friends and I are getting ready to start a new portion of an existing campaign. It involves high level characters but most of the pcs will be in a background role. One of the epic pcs currently controls a large army and we are getting ready to start some war style campaign. We want the pcs to only be commanders and not part of the attacking force until absolutely necessary or during the final battle. However we do not want to leave the battles up entirely to the DM to just tell us what happens and would like tactics to play a major part. We would like it to be set up like a normal encounter and would like a system for determining which side of an army will win a battle. I am asking for someone to develop that system for us. We currently have heroes of battle so some of the regiments and siege type engines are already laid out. We need a system that will let us determine what happens when two opposing squads/battalions meet. Please be specific and design it so that all factors such as morale and better equipment play a role.

This one definitely is too big for this thread. As mentioned in the rules, this thread is really for fairly small things - a template, a monster, a skill, a feat, etc. Something like this request requires building an entire new ruleset. As mentioned before, this really should be moved out to its own thread. We'll be happy to help out on it in that context, though!

R.6
I'm trying to make a monster based off of the chamaira ant in Hunter X Hunter. If you don't know what they are, well basically they are ants that eat prey and recive some treats of the prey (in strength and appearance) but still look insect like. Can you please be precise in the mechanics of the gaining of treats of the prey.

A request like this could use some more detail; not everyone is necessarily familiar with Hunter X Hunter, and without that familiarity, the information here is a little scanty to start building with. For example, how big are the chimera ants? Are they intelligent? In the manga, how does their ability to take on traits of their victims manifest? If you're requesting stats for something that exists in another media (anime, film, TV, book, video game, comic, what have you), a good idea would to link images or relevant web resources (eg. a Wikipedia page). Also, it's a good idea to give a CR range for monsters as that can make a big difference in how a designer would approach a particular problem.

[TacoClone]

C.7

The difficulty with balancing it down to an LA +0 actually comes primarily from the creature type, surprisingly enough. A -2 Cha penalty, and perhaps an additional penalty to Disguise (-5 seems reasonable) and/or other social skills (that would be lower, say -2) as people tend to fear arcanomutants would fit, and would probably even out the other template advantages. However, when the type change comes into effect, that becomes a big advantage for PCs. Any time a PC is of a type other than humanoid, they gain an inherent advantage as many spells (eg. hold person) and spell-like abilities no longer affect them. Still, you can probably get around this as well.

Hm, would it be reasonable to make it so that the "creature is still effected by spells as it's base class", no Cha penalty, but still the -5 to disguise and -2 to social skills (but a +2 to Intimidate).

I may be over complicating this in my attempt to make it a +0 LA. I just doubt any of my PCs would ever play it if it did have an LA.

[Gorbash Kazdar]

C.7

Hm, would it be reasonable to make it so that the "creature is still effected by spells as it's base class", no Cha penalty, but still the -5 to disguise and -2 to social skills (but a +2 to Intimidate).

I may be over complicating this in my attempt to make it a +0 LA. I just doubt any of my PCs would ever play it if it did have an LA.

Hm... maybe do the following when humanoids (or just PCs) take the template:

Type
If the base creature is humanoid, it retains this type - and any relevant subtypes - but is also considered to be an aberration for all effects dependent on creature type.

Now this is actually a disadvantage - a creature with two types, especially if one is humanoid, is vulnerable to a wider range of effects and spells. With this, its very close to LA +0. I would drop in the Cha penalty personally.

As for the feat idea mentioned above, a feat to get a new arcanomutant trait would be good as well, I think.

[TacoClone]

C.7

Hm... maybe do the following when humanoids (or just PCs) take the template:

Type
If the base creature is humanoid, it retains this type - and any relevant subtypes - but is also considered to be an aberration for all effects dependent on creature type.

Now this is actually a disadvantage - a creature with two types, especially if one is humanoid, is vulnerable to a wider range of effects and spells. With this, its very close to LA +0.

That wording confuses me. Is it basically saying that all things that effect humanoids still effect it, but also things that effect aberrations? Like, if a ranger had two favored enemies, one for humans and one for aberrations, a Human Arcanomutant would be effected by both favored enemies?

I would drop in the Cha penalty personally.

Do you mean also dropping the skill check penalties?

As for the feat idea mentioned above, a feat to get a new arcanomutant trait would be good as well, I think.

I agree, that's a good idea. I had actually begun to formulate plans for feat 'trees' (ie, base feats and then feats with prereqs) as well as at least one possible prestige class.

Man, I'm excited about this new template, but I'll have to remake it in four months.

You win some, you lose some.

[Gorbash Kazdar]

C.7

That wording confuses me. Is it basically saying that all things that effect humanoids still effect it, but also things that effect aberrations? Like, if a ranger had two favored enemies, one for humans and one for aberrations, a Human Arcanomutant would be effected by both favored enemies?

I'm not sure if it would trigger two separate favored enemy bonuses, actually... Perhaps make it so its a Humanoid with subtype of Aberration? That way anything that affects humanoids affects them, but they're no longer elves, goblins, orcs, etc. so it doesn't trigger a favored enemy or bane effect twice - just as an aberration. On the other hand, anything that says it affects aberrations will still also affect it.

Do you mean also dropping the skill check penalties?

My fault, should have been clearer. I meant to keep the -2 Cha penalty, and maybe a penalty to disguise, but no other inherent penalties.

[TacoClone]

C.7

That should do it for me. I'm completely satisfied.

You don't mind if I repost this template in the forums later when I come up with a set of feats and possibly a PrC, do you? I'll give credit for the initial creation of course.

And, thanks again for the help.

[Lady Tialait]

R.8

I have a specialist Diviner, he has some of the Unearthed Arcana variants, but I'm looking for a feat that will allow for something a little different. Something like the luck feats, and Action points, but not quite.

Basically he's so tied to his magic that he in battle has a small chance of activating his divination abilities. and getting random visions. but still I'm not really sure how best to make this without unbalancing the game. If this doesn't need to be home brewed then point me somewhere, but i'm looking for 1 maybe two feats. allowing him some 'fate demanded it' kinda effect. for his diviner.

[TacoClone]

C.8

I have a specialist Diviner, he has some of the Unearthed Arcana variants, but I'm looking for a feat that will allow for something a little different. Something like the luck feats, and Action points, but not quite.

Basically he's so tied to his magic that he in battle has a small chance of activating his divination abilities. and getting random visions. but still I'm not really sure how best to make this without unbalancing the game. If this doesn't need to be home brewed then point me somewhere, but i'm looking for 1 maybe two feats. allowing him some 'fate demanded it' kinda effect. for his diviner.

You mean, like seeing visions that would allow you to performing better in combat? Like, getting an AC bonus or a bonus to attack because of some divination magic? (basically, he sees it before it happens and can thus react better to it)

I'm pretty sure there's something out there similar to this, but I don't remember where. If no one's found it or create something for you by tomorrow, I'll see what I can do. However, I'm off for the night, sorry I couldn't be of more help.