Inspired by PotC - Dead Man's Chest: Seaclaimed Creature template

[Shade]

Let me get this straight: a human gains an anchor attack that deals 2d4+str mod, and can strike opponents within a reach of 10 feet... right ?

Yep...too much? I figured the added damage one-handed would account for the heavy weight of the anchor, with the loss of an arm as a reasonable tradeoff. But I've been known to be wrong.

Too bad you lose an arm. It would have be nice to have an anchor "merged" to your wrist at bracer lenght and having the chain extends and retracts under the skin, much like the grappling vine plant graft from Magic of Eberron.

That could be an option as well.

 

[Dire Emu]

Yep...too much? I figured the added damage one-handed would account for the heavy weight of the anchor, with the loss of an arm as a reasonable tradeoff. But I've been known to be wrong.


That could be an option as well.

Though it might, it would seem less "curse-ish" if you got to keep the hand.

 

[JiCi]

Yep...too much? I figured the added damage one-handed would account for the heavy weight of the anchor, with the loss of an arm as a reasonable tradeoff. But I've been known to be wrong.

No, not at all, it's fine. Just wanted to make sure.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Yowza! Great material! Thanks, love it lots!

 

[Dragonbait]

woo, love the template. Great job so far. Lets see if I can get all my comments in and get the correct quotes on here.

Though it might, it would seem less "curse-ish" if you got to keep the hand.

Agreed. I say keep the anchor hand as it is. If the person can not wield a weapon or shield in that hand, however, is it really a LA+1? This is a question, not a gripe. It would seem to me that this would prevent a Seaclaimed from wielding either powerful 2-handed weapons or maybe a 1-handed weapon or shield, and they would not gain the magical benefits from such items later in levels. I will admit that I could be missing the whole point.

Coral Encrustation: Part of the creature's body is encased in coral. This provides a +4 bonus to Armor Class. Reduce the creature's Dexterity by 1d4.

Great idea, but shouldn't the stat loss be a set number, like -2 Dex or -4 Dex instead of a random loss? Nitpicking, I know. I still like it.

I really debated on a type change. Since I decided to allow giants as candidates, monstrous humanoid is ruled out (although a note could be listed that giants do not change types, I suppose). I think aberration is more appropriate than outsider. What do the rest of you think?

While you can have a large or huge monstrous humanoid, so I wouldn't rule that out as a possibility (or do they "beat" a Monstrous Humanoid in the Type totempole?), I think that Aberration is the most appropriate type.

 

[Dire Emu]

I think the point is that you are not choosing which curse elements you get. Yes, it might prohibit you from wielding powerful two-handed weapons but such are curses. Also, I hardly think building monsters, templates, etc based on how they can be used to make powerful combat monsters is not the way to go (personal taste/opinion). I think the very nature of this template is to reflect the dehumanizing, grotesque and not always wholey practical effects that such a curse would have on somebody.

My preference is still to the replacement of the afflicted arm.

 

[DnDChick]

Great idea, but shouldn't the stat loss be a set number, like -2 Dex or -4 Dex instead of a random loss? Nitpicking, I know. I still like it.

I thought about that, but if you go with a set amount of Dex loss you are also automatically cancelling out some of the AC bonus given by the coral encrustation. With a random Dex loss, the effect on AC would vary from creature to creature.

Alternately, we can just make the coral encrustation provide DR instead of an AC boost. In this case, I'd suggest DR 5/--.

Either way, AC or DR, I think that there should be some cost to Dexterity because of the weight and awkwardness of being partially encased in coral growth.

 

[Dragonbait]

Alternately, we can just make the coral encrustation provide DR instead of an AC boost. In this case, I'd suggest DR 5/--.

Agreed about the Dex loss. I only saw spongeflesh giving DR, but I did see other things that gave a Natural AC bonus. Perhaps, just for variety, this should be the flat DR?

Ok, my attempt at a contribution...
Blubber (Ex): The natural insulation of the massive amount of blubber on the Seaclaimed's body gives it an immunity to Cold-based damage. The leathery skin that holds the rolling frame grants a +4 natural Armor Class bonus. Reduce the creature's Dexterity by 4. CR +??, LA +??

Feel free to fix or ignore it.

 

[Shade]

Since it looks like most people favor losing the arm for the anchor, I'll leave it as is.

Re: coral encrustiation, I kinda prefer the armor bonus to DR. And I like the random Dex loss...it's range is small enough to not significantly affect the creature's CR or LA.

Dragonbait, I like the blubber ability and will add it soon.

 

[Olly]

Wikipedia has a page dedicated to the wretched souls in Davy Jones service... It might be a good resource to study if anybody is still interested.

I like the idea of a seaclaimed dwarf with a seaweed beard...