Inspired by Spoony Bard's post-game to create a character (the bald halfling barbarian/lawyer!), I thought it would be fun to collaboratively create a new monster.
Each poster can define one attribute (and change dependent attributes that are affected by the new attribute's value, such as Saves), using a standard value for that attribute chosen from existing monsters in the Core Rules. This restriction is to prevent people making up new, vastly unbalanced features.
Each poster must wait for another poster to define another attribute before they go again. Please avoid choosing a name or picture URL for this monster until all other attributes have been filled. A name or picture would have too much influence on the remaining attributes! Have I forgotten any interesting monster attributes below?
For the abilities scores, please use the following scores: 7, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16. For each ability score, I rolled 5d6 and threw out the high and low outliers. Monsters' abilities are not necessarily "elite" like PCs.
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MORRUSANT DESCRIPTION
Morrusants resemble stout ants with brownish-black exoskeletons. They form chaotic, nomadic hives of workers, scouts, and a queen. They never travel alone.
MORRUSANT SOCIETY
Because of their chaotic, nomadic nature, their hives are unable to grow much larger than 150-300 workers and 50-100 scouts. Morrusant hives string warm desert regions. Most are empty, abandoned as hives "leapfrog" from one hive to the next over a period of months. Once the queen and her caravan have moved into a new hive, scouts search for abandoned hives within 10 miles (the maximum range of the queen's telepathy). When a suitable new hive has been found, scouts and workers caravan to the new hive, caring for new morrusant larvae and pupae. Once the larvae and pupae have matured, the queen and her entourage will caravan to the new hive.
COMBAT
Morrusants are generally not aggressive. Morrusants only move into abandoned hives. They will not attempt to conquer another morrusant hive. Caravans route around potential problems in the desert, but will defend the hive and queen. They will not fight to the death, if given a chance to retreat and regroup. If necessary, they will evacuate the entire hive and try to relocate to the next hive.
Morrusants favored enemies are formians, the lawful "centaur ants" who enslave creatures to build formian hive-cities. As freedom-loving nomads, morrusants may invade a formian hive to free mentally-dominated conscripts, even non-morrusants.
WORKER
Morrusant workers are about 2 feet long and weigh about 60 pounds. Workers dig new hives, maintain the current hive, and serve the queen.
SCOUT
Morrusant scouts are about 4 feet long and weigh about 200 pounds. Scouts search for abandoned hives and lead worker teams. 2-10 scouts will lead teams of 20-30 workers.
QUEEN
A morrusant queen is about 16 feet long and weighs about 2 tons. She can move slowly, not climb. A queen takes special nutrients added to the second stage larvae, such as those found in a Barghest or Formian Myrmarch, the kind of things enterprising Morrusants would round up, before becoming a second stage proto-Hive Queen. At the center of the morrusant hive, the queen keeps (and crafts?) Decanters of Endless Water to supply the hive with water and defense. Queen can travel about, heading off the likely expansion paths of Formians and staying in touch with each other to concentrate their troops when needed.
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MORRUSANT WORKER
Size/Type: Small Magical Beast (Augmented Vermin)
Hit Dice: 3d10+3 (19 hp)
Initiative: +3 (+3 Dex)
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), climb 20 ft.
Armor Class: 20 (+1 size, +3 Dex, +6 natural), touch 14 (+1 size, +3 Dex), flat-footed 17 (+1 size, +6 natural)
Base Attack/Grapple: +3 (+2 BAB, +1 size) / +0 (+2 BAB, +2 Str, -4 size)
Attack: Claw +5 (+3 BA, +2 Str) melee (1d6+2)
Full Attack: 4 claws +5 (+3 BA, +2 Str) melee (1d6+2) and +3 (+3 BA, +2 Str, -2 multiattack) sting (1d3+1 plus poison)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Poison (Fort DC 12, 2d4), rend (2d6+3)
Special Qualities: 5' burrow, regeneration, stability, tremorsense 30 ft.
Saves: Fort +4 (+3 base, +1 Con), Ref +6 (+3 base, +3 Dex), Will +0 (+1 base, -1 Wis)
Abilities: Str 15, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 11, Wis 9, Cha 7
Skill points: (2 + 0 Int) x 2 HD = 6 ranks
Skills:
Climb +13 (+2 ranks, +3 Dex, +8 racial bonus)
Escape Artist +3 (+3 Dex)
Hide +9 (+3 Dex, +4 size)
Listen -1 (-1 Wis)
Move Silently +5 (+2 ranks, +3 Dex)
Search +0 (+0 Int)
Spot +1 (+2 ranks, -1 Wis)
Survival -1 (-1 Wis)
Feats: Improved Natural Attack, Multiattack
Environment: Warm desert
Organization: Scouts (2), Team (20-30), or Hive (200-400)
Challenge Rating: 2
Treasure: None
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Poison (Ex)
A morrusant has a poisonous sting. Injury, Fortitude DC 12, initial and secondary damage 2d4 Dex. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Regeneration (Ex)
A morrusant takes normal damage from cold iron weapons, Lawful-aligned weapons, and spells or effects with the Lawful alignment descriptor. A morrusant that loses a piece of its body regrows it in 2d6x10 minutes. Holding the severed member against the stump enables it to reattach instantly. A morrusant heals 2 nonlethal hits per round.
Rend (Ex)
If a morrusant hits with both claw attacks, it latches onto the opponent’s body and tears the flesh. This attack automatically deals an additional 2d6+3 points of damage.
Stability (Ex)
A morrusant gains a +4 bonus on ability checks made to resist being bull rushed or tripped when standing on the ground (but not when climbing, flying, riding, or otherwise not standing firmly on the ground). This is in addition to the +4 bonus for having 6 legs, which is counteracted by the -4 penalty for being small.
Tremorsense (Ex)
A morrusant can automatically sense the location of anything within 30 feet that is in contact with the ground.
Skills
A morrusant has a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks and can always take 10 on a Climb check, even in combat.
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MORRUSANT SCOUT
Size/Type: Medium Magical Beast (Augmented Vermin)
Hit Dice: 7d10+21 (59 hp)
Initiative: +6 (+2 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative)
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), climb 20 ft.
Armor Class: 18 (+2 Dex, +6 natural), touch 12 (+2 Dex), flat-footed 16 (+6 natural)
Base Attack/Grapple: +5 (+5 BAB) / +9 (+5 BAB, +4 Str)
Attack: Claw +9 (+5 BA, +4 Str) melee (1d8+4)
Full Attack: 4 claws +9 (+5 BA, +4 Str) melee (1d8+4) and +7 (+5 BA, +4 Str, -2 multiattack) sting (1d3+1 plus improved poison)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Poison (Fort DC 15, 2d4+2), rend (2d8+6), telepathic daze, telepathy
Special Qualities: Immunity to poison, regeneration, stability, tremorsense 30 ft.
Saves: Fort +7 (+5 base, +2 Con), Ref +7 (+5 base, +2 Dex), Will +1 (+2 base, -1 Wis)
Abilities: Str 19, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 11, Wis 9, Cha 7
Skill points: (2 + 0 Int) x 7 HD = 14 ranks
Skills:
Climb +11 (+2 ranks, +2 Dex, +8 racial bonus)
Escape Artist +2 (+2 Dex)
Hide +2 (+2 Dex)
Intimidate +0 (+2 ranks, -2 Cha)
Listen +1 (+2 ranks, -1 Wis)
Move Silently +4 (+2 ranks, +2 Dex)
Search +2 (+2 ranks, +0 Int)
Spot +3 (+4 ranks, -1 Wis)
Survival +0 (+0 Wis)
Feats: Improved Initiative, Improved Natural Attack, +5 Leadership (Morrusant), Multiattack
Challenge Rating: 6
Treasure: None
Telepathy (Su)
As a free action, a morrusant scout can communicate telepathically with other morrusants within 100 feet. As a full-round action, a scout can communicate telepathically with other morrusants within one mile.
Telepathic Daze (Su)
As a full-round action, a morrusant scout can use its telepathy against non-morrusants like a Daze Monster spell (Will Save DC 15). This enchantment clouds the mind of a living creature with 6 or fewer Hit Dice so that it takes no actions for one round. A dazed subject is not stunned, so attackers get no special advantage against it.
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MORRUSANT QUEEN
Size/Type: Huge Magical Beast (Augmented Vermin)
Hit Dice: 15d10+90 (172 hp)
Initiative: +5 (+1 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative)
Speed: 10 ft. (2 squares)
Armor Class: 15 (-2 size, +1 Dex, +6 natural), touch 9 (-2 size, +1 Dex), flat-footed 14 (-2 size, +6 natural)
Base Attack/Grapple: +9 (+11 BAB, -2 size) / +29 (+11 BAB, +10 Str, +8 size)
Attack: Claw +19 (+9 BA, +10 Str) melee (3d6+10)
Full Attack: 4 claws +19 (+9 BA, +10 Str) melee (3d6+10) and +9 (+9 BA, +10 Str, -2 multiattack) sting (1d3+1 plus improved poison)
Space/Reach: 15 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Improved telepathy, poison (Fort DC 23, 2d4+2), rend (6d6+15), spell-like abilities
Special Qualities: Immunity to poison, regeneration, stability, telepathic break enchantment (morrusant), tremorsense 30 ft.
Saves: Fort +15 (+9 base, +6 Con), Ref +8 (+9 base, +3 Dex), Will +5 (+5 base, +0 Wis)
Abilities: Str 31, Dex 12, Con 22, Int 11, Wis 10, Cha 8
Skill points: (2 + 0 Int) x 15 HD = 30 ranks
Skills:
Escape Artist +1 (+1 Dex)
Hide -5 (+3 Dex, -8 size)
Intimidate +8 (+10 ranks, -1 Cha)
Listen +8 (+8 ranks, +0 Wis)
Move Silently +3 (+2 ranks, +1 Dex)
Search +4 (+4 ranks, +0 Int)
Spot +6 (+6 ranks, +0 Wis)
Survival +0 (+0 Wis)
Feats: Improved Initiative, Improved Natural Attack, +14 Leadership (Morrusant), Multiattack
Challenge Rating: 17
Treasure: Shiny silver stuff (but no cold iron). 1 Decanter of Endless Water per 100 morrrusant in the hive. magic items?
Improved Telepathy (Su)
As a free action, a queen can communicate telepathically with other morrusants within one mile. As a full-round action, a queen can communicate telepathically with other morrusants within 10 miles.
Telepathic Break Enchantment (Morrusant) (Su)
Like the Break Enchantment spell, but casting time is one full-round action (instead of 1 minute) and the range is 500 feet (instead of 25 feet + 5 feet/2 levels). The queen can only use her Telepathic Break Enchantment (Morrusant) on scouts and workers from her hive.
Spell-Like Abilities: At will - Cure Light Wounds, Mass (Will DC 21); Glitterdust (Fort DC 18); Remove Fear (Will DC 17); Soften Earth and Stone, Stinking Cloud (Fort DC 19). Caster level 6.
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Each poster can define one attribute (and change dependent attributes that are affected by the new attribute's value, such as Saves), using a standard value for that attribute chosen from existing monsters in the Core Rules. This restriction is to prevent people making up new, vastly unbalanced features.
Each poster must wait for another poster to define another attribute before they go again. Please avoid choosing a name or picture URL for this monster until all other attributes have been filled. A name or picture would have too much influence on the remaining attributes! Have I forgotten any interesting monster attributes below?For the abilities scores, please use the following scores: 7, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16. For each ability score, I rolled 5d6 and threw out the high and low outliers. Monsters' abilities are not necessarily "elite" like PCs.
--
MORRUSANT DESCRIPTION
Morrusants resemble stout ants with brownish-black exoskeletons. They form chaotic, nomadic hives of workers, scouts, and a queen. They never travel alone.
MORRUSANT SOCIETY
Because of their chaotic, nomadic nature, their hives are unable to grow much larger than 150-300 workers and 50-100 scouts. Morrusant hives string warm desert regions. Most are empty, abandoned as hives "leapfrog" from one hive to the next over a period of months. Once the queen and her caravan have moved into a new hive, scouts search for abandoned hives within 10 miles (the maximum range of the queen's telepathy). When a suitable new hive has been found, scouts and workers caravan to the new hive, caring for new morrusant larvae and pupae. Once the larvae and pupae have matured, the queen and her entourage will caravan to the new hive.
COMBAT
Morrusants are generally not aggressive. Morrusants only move into abandoned hives. They will not attempt to conquer another morrusant hive. Caravans route around potential problems in the desert, but will defend the hive and queen. They will not fight to the death, if given a chance to retreat and regroup. If necessary, they will evacuate the entire hive and try to relocate to the next hive.
Morrusants favored enemies are formians, the lawful "centaur ants" who enslave creatures to build formian hive-cities. As freedom-loving nomads, morrusants may invade a formian hive to free mentally-dominated conscripts, even non-morrusants.
WORKER
Morrusant workers are about 2 feet long and weigh about 60 pounds. Workers dig new hives, maintain the current hive, and serve the queen.
SCOUT
Morrusant scouts are about 4 feet long and weigh about 200 pounds. Scouts search for abandoned hives and lead worker teams. 2-10 scouts will lead teams of 20-30 workers.
QUEEN
A morrusant queen is about 16 feet long and weighs about 2 tons. She can move slowly, not climb. A queen takes special nutrients added to the second stage larvae, such as those found in a Barghest or Formian Myrmarch, the kind of things enterprising Morrusants would round up, before becoming a second stage proto-Hive Queen. At the center of the morrusant hive, the queen keeps (and crafts?) Decanters of Endless Water to supply the hive with water and defense. Queen can travel about, heading off the likely expansion paths of Formians and staying in touch with each other to concentrate their troops when needed.
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MORRUSANT WORKER
Size/Type: Small Magical Beast (Augmented Vermin)
Hit Dice: 3d10+3 (19 hp)
Initiative: +3 (+3 Dex)
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), climb 20 ft.
Armor Class: 20 (+1 size, +3 Dex, +6 natural), touch 14 (+1 size, +3 Dex), flat-footed 17 (+1 size, +6 natural)
Base Attack/Grapple: +3 (+2 BAB, +1 size) / +0 (+2 BAB, +2 Str, -4 size)
Attack: Claw +5 (+3 BA, +2 Str) melee (1d6+2)
Full Attack: 4 claws +5 (+3 BA, +2 Str) melee (1d6+2) and +3 (+3 BA, +2 Str, -2 multiattack) sting (1d3+1 plus poison)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Poison (Fort DC 12, 2d4), rend (2d6+3)
Special Qualities: 5' burrow, regeneration, stability, tremorsense 30 ft.
Saves: Fort +4 (+3 base, +1 Con), Ref +6 (+3 base, +3 Dex), Will +0 (+1 base, -1 Wis)
Abilities: Str 15, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 11, Wis 9, Cha 7
Skill points: (2 + 0 Int) x 2 HD = 6 ranks
Skills:
Climb +13 (+2 ranks, +3 Dex, +8 racial bonus)
Escape Artist +3 (+3 Dex)
Hide +9 (+3 Dex, +4 size)
Listen -1 (-1 Wis)
Move Silently +5 (+2 ranks, +3 Dex)
Search +0 (+0 Int)
Spot +1 (+2 ranks, -1 Wis)
Survival -1 (-1 Wis)
Feats: Improved Natural Attack, Multiattack
Environment: Warm desert
Organization: Scouts (2), Team (20-30), or Hive (200-400)
Challenge Rating: 2
Treasure: None
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Poison (Ex)
A morrusant has a poisonous sting. Injury, Fortitude DC 12, initial and secondary damage 2d4 Dex. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Regeneration (Ex)
A morrusant takes normal damage from cold iron weapons, Lawful-aligned weapons, and spells or effects with the Lawful alignment descriptor. A morrusant that loses a piece of its body regrows it in 2d6x10 minutes. Holding the severed member against the stump enables it to reattach instantly. A morrusant heals 2 nonlethal hits per round.
Rend (Ex)
If a morrusant hits with both claw attacks, it latches onto the opponent’s body and tears the flesh. This attack automatically deals an additional 2d6+3 points of damage.
Stability (Ex)
A morrusant gains a +4 bonus on ability checks made to resist being bull rushed or tripped when standing on the ground (but not when climbing, flying, riding, or otherwise not standing firmly on the ground). This is in addition to the +4 bonus for having 6 legs, which is counteracted by the -4 penalty for being small.
Tremorsense (Ex)
A morrusant can automatically sense the location of anything within 30 feet that is in contact with the ground.
Skills
A morrusant has a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks and can always take 10 on a Climb check, even in combat.
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MORRUSANT SCOUT
Size/Type: Medium Magical Beast (Augmented Vermin)
Hit Dice: 7d10+21 (59 hp)
Initiative: +6 (+2 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative)
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), climb 20 ft.
Armor Class: 18 (+2 Dex, +6 natural), touch 12 (+2 Dex), flat-footed 16 (+6 natural)
Base Attack/Grapple: +5 (+5 BAB) / +9 (+5 BAB, +4 Str)
Attack: Claw +9 (+5 BA, +4 Str) melee (1d8+4)
Full Attack: 4 claws +9 (+5 BA, +4 Str) melee (1d8+4) and +7 (+5 BA, +4 Str, -2 multiattack) sting (1d3+1 plus improved poison)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Poison (Fort DC 15, 2d4+2), rend (2d8+6), telepathic daze, telepathy
Special Qualities: Immunity to poison, regeneration, stability, tremorsense 30 ft.
Saves: Fort +7 (+5 base, +2 Con), Ref +7 (+5 base, +2 Dex), Will +1 (+2 base, -1 Wis)
Abilities: Str 19, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 11, Wis 9, Cha 7
Skill points: (2 + 0 Int) x 7 HD = 14 ranks
Skills:
Climb +11 (+2 ranks, +2 Dex, +8 racial bonus)
Escape Artist +2 (+2 Dex)
Hide +2 (+2 Dex)
Intimidate +0 (+2 ranks, -2 Cha)
Listen +1 (+2 ranks, -1 Wis)
Move Silently +4 (+2 ranks, +2 Dex)
Search +2 (+2 ranks, +0 Int)
Spot +3 (+4 ranks, -1 Wis)
Survival +0 (+0 Wis)
Feats: Improved Initiative, Improved Natural Attack, +5 Leadership (Morrusant), Multiattack
Challenge Rating: 6
Treasure: None
Telepathy (Su)
As a free action, a morrusant scout can communicate telepathically with other morrusants within 100 feet. As a full-round action, a scout can communicate telepathically with other morrusants within one mile.
Telepathic Daze (Su)
As a full-round action, a morrusant scout can use its telepathy against non-morrusants like a Daze Monster spell (Will Save DC 15). This enchantment clouds the mind of a living creature with 6 or fewer Hit Dice so that it takes no actions for one round. A dazed subject is not stunned, so attackers get no special advantage against it.
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MORRUSANT QUEEN
Size/Type: Huge Magical Beast (Augmented Vermin)
Hit Dice: 15d10+90 (172 hp)
Initiative: +5 (+1 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative)
Speed: 10 ft. (2 squares)
Armor Class: 15 (-2 size, +1 Dex, +6 natural), touch 9 (-2 size, +1 Dex), flat-footed 14 (-2 size, +6 natural)
Base Attack/Grapple: +9 (+11 BAB, -2 size) / +29 (+11 BAB, +10 Str, +8 size)
Attack: Claw +19 (+9 BA, +10 Str) melee (3d6+10)
Full Attack: 4 claws +19 (+9 BA, +10 Str) melee (3d6+10) and +9 (+9 BA, +10 Str, -2 multiattack) sting (1d3+1 plus improved poison)
Space/Reach: 15 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Improved telepathy, poison (Fort DC 23, 2d4+2), rend (6d6+15), spell-like abilities
Special Qualities: Immunity to poison, regeneration, stability, telepathic break enchantment (morrusant), tremorsense 30 ft.
Saves: Fort +15 (+9 base, +6 Con), Ref +8 (+9 base, +3 Dex), Will +5 (+5 base, +0 Wis)
Abilities: Str 31, Dex 12, Con 22, Int 11, Wis 10, Cha 8
Skill points: (2 + 0 Int) x 15 HD = 30 ranks
Skills:
Escape Artist +1 (+1 Dex)
Hide -5 (+3 Dex, -8 size)
Intimidate +8 (+10 ranks, -1 Cha)
Listen +8 (+8 ranks, +0 Wis)
Move Silently +3 (+2 ranks, +1 Dex)
Search +4 (+4 ranks, +0 Int)
Spot +6 (+6 ranks, +0 Wis)
Survival +0 (+0 Wis)
Feats: Improved Initiative, Improved Natural Attack, +14 Leadership (Morrusant), Multiattack
Challenge Rating: 17
Treasure: Shiny silver stuff (but no cold iron). 1 Decanter of Endless Water per 100 morrrusant in the hive. magic items?
Improved Telepathy (Su)
As a free action, a queen can communicate telepathically with other morrusants within one mile. As a full-round action, a queen can communicate telepathically with other morrusants within 10 miles.
Telepathic Break Enchantment (Morrusant) (Su)
Like the Break Enchantment spell, but casting time is one full-round action (instead of 1 minute) and the range is 500 feet (instead of 25 feet + 5 feet/2 levels). The queen can only use her Telepathic Break Enchantment (Morrusant) on scouts and workers from her hive.
Spell-Like Abilities: At will - Cure Light Wounds, Mass (Will DC 21); Glitterdust (Fort DC 18); Remove Fear (Will DC 17); Soften Earth and Stone, Stinking Cloud (Fort DC 19). Caster level 6.
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