Plots & PlacesPost your PCs and NPCs for others to reference and enjoy. This is also an alternate location for long-term campaign and plot development. These can be system neutral or relate to any game or system.
Okay. I'll periodically post NPCs, monsters, and that sort of thing here! We'll see if anyone is interested.
Two rules: please don't post any conversation about these things on the story hour, and don't mention any of this stuff to any of my players in other threads. For this to work, I don't want them to feel like I'm (or you are) taunting them with hidden information. All specific conversation about these things should stay here.
Thanks!
__________________ - Piratecat, EN World Admin
Currently editing the 4e War of the Burning Sky adventure path. Support EN Publishing, get excellent modules!
We'll start off with the necropede. It's in the story hour somewhere around here, posted on 3/21/02.
The necropede was something I cobbled together at almost the last minute. I wanted a monster that could burrow, that was scary, and that the PCs wouldn't expect. I thought, "What about ghoulish umber hulks - nah - or purple worms? Damn, I'm not sure yet whether or not I want the true ghoul template to work on non-humanoids. But... they have creepy necromantic flesh-altering magics, right? And what if you made a purple worm FROM a bunch of ghouls? Oh yeah, that oughta work." The bit where the skin turns around and sprouts arms didn't actually occur to me until it was already in combat... I wanted to scare the people who WEREN'T swallowed, and my general rule of thumb is that even if it doesn't hurt them, they'll remember it if it looks scary and they don't really know what it is.
That's a good rule of thumb, actually; when it isn't immediately identifiable and classifiable, it's a lot creepier. I was at a con this weekend. An otherwise decent DM was describing a haunted, haggard NPC who was slowly dying of bad dreams and con loss. Then a PC made a knowledge: arcane check, and the DM said, "Oh, it's probably a night hag. Here's a picture of one. They live in the ethereal plane, and...." Well, there goes the excitement!
Because this was cobbled together, expect some errors. I took a purple worm, slapped a true ghoulish template on it, tossed the poison stinger, added some additional grappling abilities, and went from there. But it's creepy, eh?
Necropede (ghoulish conglomeration)
Gargantuan Undead
Hit Dice: 20d12 (130 hp)
Initiative: -2 (Dex)
Speed: 20 ft., burrow 20 ft., swim 10 ft.
AC: 19 (-4 size, -2 Dex, +15 natural)
Attacks: Bite +18 melee, grappling claws +11 melee
Damage: Bite 2d8+12 and paralyzation (DC 22)/1 pt strength drain, grappling claws 1d8+6 and paralyzation (DC 22)/1 pt strength drain
Face/Reach: 30 ft. by 30 ft. (coiled)/15_ft.
Special Attacks: Improved grab, swallow whole, strength drain, paralyzation
Special Qualities: Tremorsense, undead, turn resistance +4, resistant to blows
Saves: Fort +10 (immune), Ref +8, Will +4
Abilities: Str 35, Dex 6, Con --, Int 1, Wis 8, Cha 8
Skills: Climb +14
Roughly CR 16, I think.
Resistant to Blows (Ex): Physical attacks deal only half damage to true ghouls and ghoulish conglomerations. Apply this effect before damage reduction.
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.
A few comments:
A successful hit should do 1 point of strength drain; a creature grappled or swallowed loses one point per round, too. I actually forgot to do this in combat, so I decided that it only works when below ground. That way, when the PCs fight them in the underdark, I'll have a good rationale for it that doesn't involve me having to assign the PCs strength damage after the fact.
This type of ghoulish conglomeration requires several hundred true ghouls to create. Upon death, it splits apart to liberate approximately 80 true ghouls capable of attacks. All other true ghouls perish when the conglomeration perishes.
Everything else is pretty straight-forward, as per a purple worm. So, the question is... what would you have done differently? What other types of conglomerations should there be? *grin*
__________________ - Piratecat, EN World Admin
Currently editing the 4e War of the Burning Sky adventure path. Support EN Publishing, get excellent modules!
I particularly like the way that it bursts apart when you finally kill it.
As for future conglomerates, I'd say any form of creepy crawly would do. I sort of got stuck on the idea of a ghoul crab-- the hard exoskeleton is made of bones merged together, filled with flesh-merged ghouls inside that serve as the musculature. The exoskeleton would give it a nasty AC for natural armor, plus ghoul hands could reach out between the exoskeleton bones to claw and paralyze hapless PCs.
I like the crab or other crustcean idea. I've always liked creatures that come from the water to raid land and go back into the water. Adds an additional level of difficulty for the PCs.
I'm glad your're not my DM, because that thing is nasty. It was scary just reading it, i can imagine how those poor PC's fealt.
It's a shame you forgot the Strength drain, IMO nothing gets a player scared like the words ability drain. Although it will be cool to see them soil themselves the first time they fight one underground.
If the PC's ever end up in the water, a dire shark or whale version would be pretty cool. The pc's look over the ships rail and see the undulating mass of teeth, claws, and undead flesh speeding towards the ship just under the waters glassy surface.
I think that'd be cool.
Where can one find the True Ghoul template?
It sounds nasty, I'd love to torcher my group with something like the necropeed next time i DM.
It was originally a monster developed by Wolf Baur for his Dungeon adventure "The Kingdom of the Ghouls." I've made some changes in the template (and a LOT of changes in the module), but that's my starting point.
I note that Fajitas, who plays Shara in my game when he's not in California, is a well-qualified rat bastard. I like the crab idea! I like the whale concept, too. Not that much water in most of the underdark, though!
The next thing I'll show you here is Arballine, a ghoulish archer who's had a bad year. Later this week!
Originally posted by Piratecat The next thing I'll show you here is Arballine, a ghoulish archer who's had a bad year. Later this week!
Darn, so it is a Goulish Archer, I was thinking along the lines of an undead 'living' balista, firing arrows with arrowheads of pygmied undead heads screaming and slathering with little mouths.
But wait! it could still be a Goulish archer with a bow made from bone, grafted onto one of the arms.
hehe
BBQ Man
Last edited by BBQ Man; 24th March 2002 at 07:33 PM..
Perhaps the projectiles could be undead themselves. That could work with either the Balista or the archer. After the projectiles hit or even miss they animate and start attacking.....
I could see an emaciated mostly bony form with tiny arms and legs that branch out when a hit occurs. I did something similar with rangers using arrows that animated into twig creatures when they struck. Similar to twigblights.
probably would have to make them skeletons though, kinda makes more sense I think.
BBQ Man
Last edited by BBQ Man; 24th March 2002 at 07:46 PM..
I think I'm hiring you folk as executive consultants. WHY didn't I think of the ballistae idea myself? And the undead arrow idea is superb. I'll just stow that away for future use. But I don't think you'll be disappointed anyways! We'll find out in a few days.
Last edited by Piratecat; 24th March 2002 at 07:47 PM..
Personally, I like the twigblight idea for the Rangers. That goes great with a Canine race I use. Just one Deepwood Sniper a mile away that keeps firing these things. Who needs summoning spells? Same can be applied to the Undead or even Constructs. Places a bunch of tiny Iron Golems in a catapult and fire. Mighty expensive, but I think it could be quite efective.
Come to think of it, I remember that there were a bunch of 'living' weapons/tools/objects that were present on Athas, the halflings of a certain area used them, I think some of them would work wonderfully as 'Ghoulish' versions. Going to have to dig out that Dark Sun supplement.
Very nice, the best part of the worm is that the worm is actually much weaker than people will think. Looking at the stats compared to reading about it really shows how well you used to creature relative to its actual combat power.
Originally posted by Piratecat So, the question is... what would you have done differently? What other types of conglomerations should there be? *grin*
I'd post my "undying undead" template, but I'm pretty sure one of my players is reading this thread! It probably works best at lower levels, anyway...
__________________ When single shines the triple sun,
What was sundered and undone
Shall be whole, the two made one
By Gelfling hand, or else by none.
Will look over it and see if anything jumps out at me.
Oh, and as for tiny ghoulish men for arrows, now that I think of it, they would be better described as skeletons with their skin still on, stretched tight and tanned, flying through the air with their hands before them like a diver about to part the water's surface. (better aerodynamics)
The Twigblight arrows my players still hate, luckily (or unluckily) the knowledge for their creation is restricted to mad xenophobic elves in my campaign world. "Crossing the River" is a common saying along the border to denote doing unbelievably stupid things, usually bringing death or destruction to people and property.
Oh, is there a mechanic for the surviving ghouls in the necropede? something like '5d20' or is it DM choice?
Your players are going to hate this thread.
BBQ Man
Edit: Corrected saying, added definition.
Last edited by BBQ Man; 24th March 2002 at 09:36 PM..
You could give the living arrows flight ability, so any that miss fly on around for another chance to strike next round. While the ones that hit are grappling with their target. I think this would be a great high level encounter. You have to deal with the grappling living arrows, the flying arrows that are still trying to strike you, and the creature(s) firing these little bastards at you.
When you go to attack the Archers, they just throw their Quiver full of living arrows at you!
Well, this is an idea I have planned for my next game, and it's not ghoulish, but you might be able to adapt it.
I have an order of monk/psions (egoists) who gain their powers by briefly drawing on the soul of another creature. Training begins by learning how to tap into the physical soul which is bound up with the body. The monastery keeps caged bears, hawks, rats, and other standard creatures, and so some of the primary abilities the psions take are things like Claws of the Bear, Animal Affinity, Featherfall, and a few other shapechange abilities. More powerful members of the order can tap into more intellectual aspects of the soul, allowing them to gain skill ranks, feats, and also knowledge (a la telepathy).
When members of the order abuse their powers, they are cast out, and their souls are rended, leaving a soulless body with a mind, but no compassion. It is possible to recover your soul, however, and one of the PCs is going to try to do just that.
In the monastery, he'll have to pass several tests to prove his spirit, and there'll be some psychological delving, but the climax will come when he and the rest of the party come upon the last member who was cast out of the order. When this guy tried to pass the test, he came with his companions, but he failed the test, and in the process the group of them all lost the ability to pull their souls apart, and they created an amalgam of each person's body.
The creature resembles a giant head, with one large face on the front that is twisted in pain. Instead of a normal mouth, though, a dozen arms thrust out at different angles. Around the sides of the head are over a half-dozen other faces, all distinct as if they had been individuals before they became a piece of this monstrosity. The head floats in the air, the air around it filled with a cacophony of cries, songs, screams, and moans.
Where the giant head's ear should be, the shoulders, head, and one arm of a woman thust out, and she beckons for the group to approach, singing a lament. Near beside her is a face with flesh drawn tight across the skull, screaming in agony, its eyes rolled back. The other faces consist of an Elf woman who continually claws at the body around her with the one arm she can still control, a reptilian head that is half-caught in the flesh and puffs flame from its lips, a dark Elf from whose mouth spiders scramble and drop to the floor, an elderly man with a tear-streaked face, and the lolling head and neck of a blank-eyed woman. There might be more, but you can't see them clearly.
.
I basically needed a monster, and always wanted to use a nice beholder, but with a twist. The monastery is called the Temple of Echoed Souls, so I decided to make a sound-based Beholder, with various effects caused by song and screams. The arms can tear a person apart much like a bite attack could, and the central face still creates antimagic, but I shuffled the powers around.
A floating beholder-esque clump of ghoulish spellcasters might be a possibility. Each one could cast a different spell, or even have it's own complete spell list.
__________________ Ryan "RangerWickett" Nock
Author of the War of the Burning Sky serialized novel, free at EN World. Part Two, The Irons Have Tolled, now available.
On the crustaceans - what about skeletons - maybe something tougher with the Skeleton template from the WotC web site, with ghouls for its musculature? It seems to work a lot better visually IMO - something with an exoskeleton should have skeletons in it
btw PKitty - that fight rules, consider the necropede stolen . Any my players were bitching about the stuff in nightfang spire. Bwahahaha
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large skeleton creatures are cool, Sagiro used them in his campaign in a rather nice episode, but Piratecat probably wants to keep away from the similarity as much as possible.
All specific conversation about these things should stay here.
WHY didn't I think of the ballistae idea myself? And the undead arrow idea is superb. I'll just stow that away for future use. But I don't think you'll be disappointed anyways! We'll find out in a few days.
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