Newbie needs help! Want Cthulhoid beastie!

Hi,

I'm trying to create a monster to oppose a small number of low-level PCs (we're talking 4 ~or less~ 1st level heroes). I'm looking at a published adventure, and it uses kobolds. However, a different type of critter--something alien and disgusting, vaguely Cthulhu-esque--would suit the adventure much better. I was thinking of something that looks like a cross between giant maggots and humans (these creatures were once people). I'm thinking human-sized, with slow movement and a fear aura, as well as a piercing lamprey-like mouth... I'd prefer a CR of approx 1/4 to 1/2, so that I can swap out the kobolds in the adventure with my critters on a 1-to-1 basis. I figure that if the beasties are bigger, but slower and stupid (near-mindless) and have only one natural attack (bite), it'll be a fair "trade" for the smaller, smarter, physically weaker kobolds. Also, I want my players to be challenged, but not overwhelmed. They can, however, be utterly revolted and terrified of these things, hopefully by description alone!

I've never created a monster before, nor have I ever DM'ed using d20, so I don't know how powerful or weak to make these things. I looked in the "Creating a Monster" section of the MM 3.5, but I'm not confident that these maggoty abominations will be a reasonable challenge for my PCs.

I'd love help or advice. I'm also happy to type up some stats, etc, and have you all "rate" how good/bad I've done.

OK. Let's see. You'd probably want an aberration by the sound of it, with only 1 Hit Die. Bite 1d6+Str, 10ft speed. A fear aura might be really powerful for a CR 1/2-1 creature, so you might want to change it to cause fear as a spell-like ability.

One of them probably won't be a real challenge, especially if they see it at range and blast it with spells and arrows. A pack of these slavering horrors, each spending an action to cause fear, on the other hand...

Demiurge out.

I'm calling them Hideous Things (in hommage to Chaosium's monster naming conventions).

I'm with you on everything (except maybe Speed = 20; 10 seems just a wee tad too slow: I'd like the Hideous Things to be somewhat intimidating, but not arrow/spell fodder!).

And yes, the fear as spell-like ability is exactly what I was thinking.

Is there anything else I can do, aside from making them physically smaller, to lower the CR? I'm sticking to Medium size because I want them to be scary, without making them seem like "big worms" or snakes that can only crawl on the floor. I picture the Hideous Things being able to rear up to at least waist-height to attack. The module has kobolds that attack in small groups--as much as 5 at a time, a CR of approx 2--so that the adventurers don't get killed. I'd like to keep the same number of Hideous Things attacking them, thus my desire to keep the CR low (less than CR 1). I can't have 5 Hideous Things @ CR 1 attack a party of 2 or 3 characters, or the poor PCs'll get creamed, although I could have 3 Hideous Things @ CR 1 attack and give them a run for their money. Thus, if I drop their CR a bit, I can have more attack at once. Uh, you know?

If I give them Tremorsense, will that change the CR (and if Yes, up or down? and why)?

I'd like to hint & suggest, by their description to the players, that these were once humans that had been....changed.... The Hideous Things'll probably have a little intelligence (a bit better than animal), as well as some facial features--eyes & snoutlike nose, since their mouths are fanged lamprey-like suckers!

Is there anything else that I might be able to add (or remove--or even a vulnerability?) that would make the Hideous Things more "cool and well-rounded"? These things are going to be slithering around in caves that lead up to an underground vault (which was created by a worshipper of the Cthulhu Mythos). The module is The Lost Vault of Tsathzar Rho by Goodman Games, FYI.

Thank you for your ideas!

I meant cause fear, not fear. Cause fear is a level one spell, and it should work well enough for the purposes of the low-level module. Speed 20ft might work better than 10, true. Tremorsense would adjust the CR up, because it makes them harder to sneak attack (as hidden creatures touching the ground are no longer hidden).

I dunno about the CR, though. As they stand, it's probably a full 1. So you might want to reduce the amount of Hideous Things per encounter to 1-2, or 3 at most.

Demiurge out.

I'm thinking a sensitivity to light vulnerability would be appropriate (on several levels) for the Hideous Things (or HTs). I can "port" it directly from the kobold description, I think, and it'll add a bit of weakness to an already-weak creature.

I'm also reading Expeditious Retreat Press' Guide to Monster Statistics, and that's giving me some great pointers for creating a decent CR!