Challenging my high-lvl group (NPCs and monsters; my players shouldn't read this!)

[Piratecat]

Which maps?

[Sidran]

Originally posted by Piratecat
Not that much water in most of the underdark, though!

Not true not true, gasping for air as I say it over and over again

the Seafarers Handbook in FFG's Legends and lairs brings the subject up quite proficiently.

They Called it Underdeep. They talk about it in Chapter three of the book Undersea Adventures. It includes example Adventure locations

They also have stats for Deep Drow ( or Aquatic Drow) Piratecat you gotta buy the book to understand. It is a usefull section. It has an example underdeep city named Silentdark, and a Ship example of mind flayer submercible

Adventuring through lost caves and sunken drow cities sounds fun to err scarry to me. I bought the book with high hopes, and while overall I am kinda disapointed with the quality I like its sections on Ports of Call, Ghost Ships, and The Underdeep.

It comes with a Template (Aquatic) and 4 new creatures The Abyssal Shark, the Coral Golem, The Drowned dead, and the Hippocampus. 27 new spells, New magic Items, New Domain Undersea, New equipment for undersea adventurers. 30 New feats, A new take on some old Aquatic races, and a single new PrC

[Sidran]

Could you please post your version of the True Ghoul Template the one that you tried to link to has gone away with the old boards stuff

[Sidran]

I dont have stats or anything, but last night our DM threw this nasty evil our way while dungeon crawling.

Basically it was a tube like giant worm that fits itself to the walls and ceilling of a coridor. When a character steps on its central sensor ( like a natural pressure plate) the create closes up and fills with an acidic liquid that quickly desolves clothing and non metal items ( as with Gelatanous Cube). Basically the main organism lives in the walls of a corridor and extends its "mouth" into the passage. Why we didnt see it until almost to late is because it had Chamillion skin ( on the mouth area) and it had what looks like mossy vines hanging from its roof near the wall. It looked damp but that wasn't out of the norm cuz the creature evidently lives near subterrainial bodies of water. To further hide it our DM gave it the ability to release Water vapor to further distill our visibilty.

Ill see if I can get the stats for the beasty if you want. It worked well and did a whole lot of damage, we got out with a fresh fear of deep delving and one of our characters nearly died in their.

He called it a Tunnel Growth, and said it was a Huge Plant
So if he doesn't have the stats for it I will write them up.

( It was like thirty feet long when open and it colapses into a ten foot bladder when closed with the natural pressure plate about midway through)

[Piratecat]

Originally posted by Sidran
Could you please post your version of the True Ghoul Template the one that you tried to link to has gone away with the old boards stuff

Woot!

http://home.gwi.net/~rdorman/frilond/rul/dm/ghoul.htm

[Piratecat]

Neat monster idea, by the way. I may steal it!

[Sidran]

If you do steal please post it here so I can see your stats (saves me from making mine by the rules) My DM wont give the stats to me so I can use them in my games. Dagnabit

[RingXero]

Hey PC!

Love the way you answered the question of "where do the children go?"

very nicely done.


RX

[Piratecat]

It must be my day to be slow. Which answer?

I suspect that instead of being turned into undead, most children in the underdark make tasty snacky-treats. Sad, but true.

Coming up at some point: stats for the marilith they're currently facing!

[RingXero]

Sorry,

I was referencing the previously stated problem of having a ghoul kingdom without having the sometimes(as you rightly pointed out before) cliched 'evil, undead children' thing.

When I read the story hour mentioning the undead prophecy and their mission to eradicate all children, I thought to myself, wow, 'nice handling' etc... etc...

an in campaign 'reason' to not show up with undead children, believable, requires basically no extra jumps of logic, and will probably not be thought of. I think the absense of it would have either made the missing children come up, or it wouldn't have bubbled into the surface thoughts of the players, but 'something' would have been 'off'.

OR I could vary well be the only player slighty bothered about not seeing/finding out what happens to the children/women when the white kingdom overruns towns and such, so no biggie.



make sense? or am I rambiling incoherently again, if so just slap me.


RX

[RingXero]

And speaking of this 'prophecy' and Kellharin's offer, will we be seeing living opponents for the Defenders, other adventures who have bought the White Kingdom's prophecy 'hook, line, and sinker?'

Not necromancers, or such, but some powerful adventuring types or individuals who think along the lines of 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend',

or who have already taken Kelharin's offer and designated a city to be saved somewhere else (ooh or maybe one of the PCs home towns/cities?)

These NPCs(or old friends of the PCs) would be pulled in via Kellharin basically by saying if you don't help us defeat the Defenders, the deal is off, and we will make your city the first target instead.


Just some random thoughts,


RX

[Piratecat]

You sure will! Fighting undead all the time is bo-rrrring. People need a chance to get their criticals now and then. Thus, I'll try to mix it up. That's the real reason behind the marilith, for instance; I wanted a badass opponent they could fight and get crits on!

[Evil Gnome]

and that can get crits on them right?

Well, the order of the day for spookiness seems to be children at one point or another.

how about some sort of shambling rotting monster with cords that hang about a foot bown from his arms and back, attached to each is the head of a small child. These "children" speak, and suck in that breathy, creepy, childs voice.

They can give the monster some singing abilities

nursey rimes=sleep
begin calling out not to hurt them, please save them = charm
call out random things, like each questioning the same hero=confusion

The possibilities are nigh endless

or you could make a "spire" of childrens heads, with the same singing abilities, but have hidden 12' necks so when someone gets close they are surrounded by these pleading childrens faces, and then possibly bitten.

rely on things people are already afriad of to make it more creepy. Spiders are a good bet usually, if you know what some character, or player goes to pieces over you could incorporate it.

eg; If velendo is afraid of insects, throw in a formorian colony that has sided with the ghouls, and maybe put some ants (big ones(not real, they're to hard to position)) on the battle mat.

--just my thoughts

[Ryan Koppenhaver]

Oh, come on. Evil, undead, monstrous children are such a cliché.

How about having the Defenders encounter a group of fairly normal, but still somehow creepy children?

For example, the Defenders take out a minor ghoul stronghold (perhaps a long-ago captured Dwarven outpost or something), and in one room, they discover a dozen human babies sitting around-- all of them totally identical. They appear normal to all mundane and magical investigation, but they don't need to eat or sleep, don't age, don't really repond to their environment much; they just sit there, occasionally crying softly.

And don't explain where they came from, or what they're there for. Ever.

(Of course, when the campaign winds down, and the players ask you "what about those babies?", you'd better be able to run real fast after you tell them "Oh, I just put them in to creep you out. There's no explanation.")

[Hammerhead]

Except that then they throw enough divinations at the weird children to figure out their condition. It's not as if the Defenders lack information gathering resources.

[Ryan Koppenhaver]

We'll just say that the divinations are mysteriously blocked. Not like that's happened overly much in the story hour form lately or anything.

[Sidran]

How about vampyric children or something similar Werechildren

or Incoporeal children, or a room full of children all in different poses turned to stone some in cages turned to stone that whe they are released via a pressure plate that casts dispell magic on them these peaceful looking kids are really demons who are very very evil and very very freaky like with green glowing eyes and rabid sharp teath

[Sidran]

Bone Naga
Gargantuan (long) Aberration
HD: 18d8 + 30 ( 174 hp)
Initiative: 3 (-Dex, + 4 Improved Initiative)
Speed: 10 Ft. 40 ft (surge)
AC: 20 ( -3 Size, -1 Dex, +18 Natural, +6 Deflection)
Attacks: Bite +16 melee
Damage: Bite 4d6+4 plus spittle
Face/Reach: 30 ft by 30 ft (coiled)/ 15ft
Special Attacks: Necromantic Spittle, Chilling Gaze, Spells
Special Qualities Undead Qualities, Surge, Immunities
Saves: Fort +8 Ref +8 Will+ 14
Abilities: Str 32 Dex 9 Con 26 Int 13 Wis 23 Cha 22
Skills: Bluff + 16, Concentration + 9, Intimidation + 12, Knowledge (Arcana) +6
Feats: Improved Initiative, Great Fortitude
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Climate/ Terrain: Subterranean, and cold terrain only
Organization:Solitary,2-5(String),5-20 (Nest),40-60 (Cabal)
Challenge Rating: 16
Treasure: Standard, Double Items
Alignment: Usually neutral evil
Advancement: 18-51 HD (Colossal), 54-78 HD (Titanic)

The Bone Naga is one of the Greater Naga’s, and is believed to have been created by the Reaper, Nerull when he once waded across in the Necromantic fires of the River Styx. They are the bearers of the disease of undeath, and their bite can cause festering wounds that carry darker more insidious effects, for the victims of the Bone Naga, once bit, will undergo a change and eventually turn into the Zombie-like Imladu. Targeted by the Hunters for the dead due to their vile abilities, these monsters have mostly retreated to the cold underground labyrinths, or to the frigid wastes in the far north.

Created in the Necromantic fires that flow in the river of the dead, and shaped into the hideous form that they now wear. The Bone Naga appears to be a rotting woman connected at her neck to a long serpentine body, bristling in an exoskeleton armor of bony white plates. They are numbered amoung the lumbering giants of the Naga species, but because of their habitats, few tales speak of these creatures. They have adapted to the cold corners of the world working out of the abandoned lairs of Ice worms, or in the dark crevices of the Mountains. Bone Naga’s are the offspring of Imladesh Daughter of Nerull.

When not hunting for food Bone Naga’s tend to laze about their chosen holds waiting for would be heroes to wander into their midst. They are devout worshipers of their First Mother, and revere her, not Nerull as their creator goddess.

Combat
Bone Naga’s like most other forms of the Naga’s species, are cunning, and dangerous creatures who find pleasure in tricking their pray, or watching as the victim crawls into their deviously plotted traps. Indeed Imladesh Is known to have lured unsuspecting Northerners into her lair in the guise of a golden haired woman, and then seduce them into moving close, and then use her Necromantic Spittle to turn them to her masters use.
Bone Naga’s prefer to lead their victims on a cat and mouse chase before surging out and using their otherworldly bite. In a fight they will single out and focus on the death of the most powerful of her opponents first.

Chilling gaze The spectral gaze of the Bone Naga causes those who stare into its eyes to experience the cold grip of death which can cause fear in the most steadfast of opponents. Anyone facing a Bone Naga within 40 ft must succeed at a Will save (DC 17) or be shaken for 1d6 minutes. This causes the victim to suffer a -2 morale penalty on all attack rolls, Weapon damage rolls, and saving throws.
Necromantic Spittle (Su): Wounds caused by the bite of the Bone Naga begin to fester after 1d4 hours. Anyone bitten by them must succeed at a Fortitude check (DC 19) or contact a terrible wasting disease. The Incubation period is one day, and the disease deals 1d4 points of temporary constitution damage until either they reach 0 and transform into the monstrous Imladu, or are treated. The spell remove poison can remove the effects of this ability if the spell is cast before the Character has lost one half of their constitution. If the disease has taken more than one half of the characters constitution, only a remove curse, wish, or similar spell can remove the ill effects of the disease.

Surge (Ex): Bone Naga’s have a natural talent for making great surges of speed. When attacking its victim, a Bone Naga can surge up to 40 ft to strike before the victim is aware. It can do this as a free action, and this ability does not draw an Attack of opportunity if done in sight of an opponent. Characters may roll a listen check (DC 19) to see if they can catch the sound of the creature as it sets to make its rush, a sound said to bring up the image of a large horde of skeletons.

Spells (Sp): Bone Nagas cast spells as 10th-level sorcerers. (Usually of the Necromantic school of magic)

Undead Qualities (Su): While not actually undead in the normal sense themselves. They are Creatures of the Necromantic fires which flow in the River of the dead, and as such have earned the immunities of undeath. Bone Naga’s are immune to poison, sleep, Paralyzation, stunning, disease, and necromantic effects. They are also immune to charms, compulsions, phantasms, and morale effects. They do, however still suffer critical hits, and attacks that require them to have a fortitude save.

Immunities (Ex): Bone Naga’s are immune to all forms of acid, and cold.

* Imladesh is the Nagan goddess of the Underworld, and is worshiped by the other species of Naga as well.

*Imladu appear to be either a ghoul, or zombie but in addition to their normal abilities gain the Necromantic spittle ability of the Bone Naga.

** Special Notes: As epic level creatures Bone Nagas gain the special ability to polymorph self as a free action, but are limited to the form of a beautiful young woman, or an old hag.

[Piratecat]

Yoink! I'm nabbing this, and I might be able to do something with the creepy children as well. Not sure what, exactly, yet - but I'm close.

Hey, as CR 16 beasties, why are bone nagas considered epic level creatures?

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I just linked this into my main story hour, so I'm providing spoiler space in case my players accidentally wander by. Go away, players, go away!














There we go.

[Piratecat]

A few things you've seen recently....

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Tentacle Wraith

These are nothing but advanced wraiths with two attacks, 10 ft. reach, and a nasty habit of attacking from cover thanks to their incorporeality. It made for a frustrating fight without a whole lot of fear once the PCs hid in sunlight. If I wanted to make this scarier, i'd have them drain 1 point of constitution even on a successful save.

Large-Size Undead (Incorporeal)
Hit Dice: 10d12 (64 hp)
Initiative: +7 (+3 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative)
Speed: 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (good)
AC: 15 (+3 Dex, +3 deflection)
Attacks: Incorporeal touch +9 melee
Damage: Incorporeal touch 1d4 and 1d6 permanent Constitution drain
Face/Reach: 10 ft. by 5 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Constitution drain, create spawn
Special Qualities: Undead, incorporeal, +2 turn resistance, unnatural aura, daylight powerlessness
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +9
Abilities: Str -, Dex 16, Con -, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 16
Skills: Hide +11, Intimidate +10, Intuit Direction +12, Listen +12, Search +10, Sense Motive +8, Spot +16
Feats: Alertness, Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes (3 AoO’s), Improved Initiative, weapon focus (touch)

Climate/Terrain: Any land and underground
Organization: Solitary, gang (2-5), or pack (6-11)
Challenge Rating: 9?
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always lawful evil
Advancement: 6-10 HD (Large-size) (already advanced)

Combat

Constitution Drain (Su): Living creatures hit by a wraith’s incorporeal touch attack must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC 18) or suffer 1d6 points of permanent Constitution drain.

Create Spawn (Su): Any humanoid slain by a tentacle wraith becomes a true ghoul in 1d4 rounds. Spawn are under the command of the tentacle wraith that created them and remain enslaved until its death. They do not possess any of the abilities they had in life.

Unnatural Aura (Su): Both wild and domesticated animals can sense the unnatural presence of a wraith at a distance of 30 feet. They will not willingly approach nearer than that and panic if forced to do so; they remain panicked as long as they are within that range.

Undead: Immune to mind-influencing effects, poison, sleep, paralysis, stunning, and disease. Not subject to critical hits, subdual damage, ability damage, energy drain, or death from massive damage.

Incorporeal: Can be harmed only by other incorporeal creatures, +1 or better magic weapons, or magic, with a 50% chance to ignore any damage from a corporeal source. Can pass through solid objects at will, and own attacks pass through armor. Always moves silently.

Daylight Powerlessness (Ex): Wraiths are utterly powerless in natural sunlight (not merely a daylight spell) and flee from it.