Monster Old Otyugh Learns New Tricks

[MortalPlague]

I'm currently converting Sellswords of Punjar for use with my 4th level group. One of the early encounters features an 'Old Otyugh' in a trash pit, which is a scaled down (level 4) version of the regular level 7 soldier. The easy conversion would be to simply use the regular Otyugh stats from the Monster Manual, but the way things shaped up, the group polished off the guys in the encounter just outside without stumbling into it.

Since the Otyugh, if encountered, would be a solo encounter, I decided to give it a template and make it an elite.

He became an Otyugh Ranger.

I left the daily power out, instead boosting his bite attack a bit, and I added the at-will power as an immediate reaction to being hit (albeit with reduced damage). I also gave him a recharge for his encounter power (since I think encounter powers that happen once for a monster in a given fight are a bit lame). Accordingly, I bumped up the level by one without giving him the corresponding HP or defense boosts; this guy's worth more XP than your typical level 7 elite.

Let me know what you think!

Old Otyugh - Level 8 Elite Soldier
Large Natural Beast XP 700
Initiative +5 Senses Perception +16; darkvision
Otyugh Stench aura 1; living enemies in the aura take a -2 penalty to attack rolls.
HP 156; Bloodied 78
AC 23; Fortitude 23, Reflex 17, Will 19
Immune disease
Saving Throws +2
Speed 5, swim 5
Action Points 1

M Tentacle (standard; at-will)
Reach 3; +13 vs. AC; 1d8 + 6 damage, and the target is pulled 2 squares and grabbed (until escape).

m Diseased Bite (standard; at-will) * Disease
+13 vs. AC; 2d8 + 6 damage, and the target contracts filth fever.

m Sweeping Whirlwind (standard; recharge 5-6)
Close burst 1; +13 vs AC; 1d8+6 damage, and the target is pushed 2 and knocked prone.

m Tentacle Snap (immediate reaction, when damaged; at-will)
The Otyugh makes 2 attacks: Reach 3; +13 vs AC; 1d6 damage

Unbalancing Parry (immediate reaction, when missed with a melee attack; encounter)
Slide the enemy into a square adjacent to you and gain combat advantage against them until the end of your next turn.

Prime Shot
If no allies are closer than the Otyugh to the target, it gets +1 to hit on an attack. This bonus has been factored into its attack bonus.

Hunter’s Quarry
Once per round the Otyugh can designate the nearest enemy to be its quarry. Once per round, the Otyugh may deal an additional 1d6 damage on a successful attack against its quarry.

Spying Eye
An Otyugh can hide beneath murky waters or refuse, leaving only its eyestalk exposed. While doing so, it gains a +10 bonus to Stealth checks but is immobilized.

Alignment Unaligned Languages -
Skills Stealth +8 (+18 while using Spying Eye)
Str 22 (+9) Dex 11 (+3) Wis 16 (+6)
Con 18 (+7) Int 1 (-2) Cha 5 (+0)

[RangerWickett]

Looks cool and fun. But as a ranger, does it spend most of its day brooding on its dark heritage, and how it will never be accepted by society?

[LostSoul]

Looks very cool.

[Mesh Hong]

Thats pretty cool, and a bizarre concept, but there is nothing wrong with that.

I am not going to comment on any balance issues as you have already used him and got the results you were after. But here are a few thoughts:

Sweeping Whirlwind.
I would have probably made this a burst 3 as that is the creatures reach with its tenacles.

Diseased Bite.
I might have considered making this an attack against Reflex instead of AC to give it a slightly wider spread of attack options. I might also have added a secondary attack against fortitude to contract filth fevor.

Tenacle Snap.
I really like the danger from 2 attacks as an immediate reaction, I bet this gave your PCs a nasty shock the first time it did it.

Prime Shot.
This seems a little cheesey for a solo creature, it is always going to be the closest to its target.

anyway these are just my initial thoughts.

[Piratecat]

Originally Posted by RangerWickett

Looks cool and fun. But as a ranger, does it spend most of its day brooding on its dark heritage, and how it will never be accepted by society?

He needs lavender eyes and a pet alley cat.

Cool encounter!

[Nebulous]

Originally Posted by Piratecat

He needs lavender eyes and a pet alley cat.

Cool encounter!

And scimitar tentacles; only then will it be complete.

[LostSoul]

Originally Posted by Mesh Hong

Prime Shot.
This seems a little cheesey for a solo creature, it is always going to be the closest to its target.

Yeah, and it would be hard to keep track of.

It might be better to just up the damage of one of its other attacks - tentacle snap to 1d10, for example. (That increases the average from 3.5 to 5.5, which should average out to about the same amount per round as the Quarry.)

[MortalPlague]

Originally Posted by LostSoul

Yeah, and it would be hard to keep track of.

It might be better to just up the damage of one of its other attacks - tentacle snap to 1d10, for example. (That increases the average from 3.5 to 5.5, which should average out to about the same amount per round as the Quarry.)

In the stat block, I've already counted prime shot into all of its attacks since it will always be the closest creature. It's one of the abilities rangers get as per the template.

I originally had tentacle snap at 1d8 per hit, but since this ability triggers every time this thing is hit, I figured the damage would add up really quickly. The idea with the whirlwind is to knock anyone in melee with the beast to the edge of its tentacle reach, and an upgrade to burst 3 would really boost the power of that attack.

[LostSoul]

Ah, cool. Nice work!