[3.5E] New Revision Spotlight - Mummy and Mummy Lord

[Technik4]

Likes:

Mummy Rot is cooler, makes it hard to heal one so cursed and incubation period went from 1 day to 1 minute! Also added some CHA damage.

Damage Reduction 5/-. I think it gets the point across that the mummy is "resistant to blows" better than the old version.

Higher Abilitiy Scores, AC, and Saving Throws.

Showing a version with some class levels is more clever than putting "Advancement: By Character Class", I think a LOT of monsters should get this treatment.


Dislikes:

No description for Fire Vulnerability.

Undead with Great Fortitude.

No tactics section.

Low DCs on the Mummy Lord for its special attacks.


Technik

 

[Shard O'Glase]

I'm sure there will be a tactics section. Well no sure, but aren't they giving more space for each mosnter that means to me they wont ditch sections like tactics.

 

[Schmoe]

Likes:

Mummy Rot is cooler, makes it hard to heal one so cursed and incubation period went from 1 day to 1 minute! Also added some CHA damage.

Damage Reduction 5/-. I think it gets the point across that the mummy is "resistant to blows" better than the old version.

These two additions are definitely bonuses. I like them a lot.

Higher Abilitiy Scores, AC, and Saving Throws.

Showing a version with some class levels is more clever than putting "Advancement: By Character Class", I think a LOT of monsters should get this treatment.

I agree. This would be great if they had the space and time to give us examples of NPC's of every creature that is advanced by class levels, but it seems more likely that there will only be a few scattered here and there.

Dislikes:

No description for Fire Vulnerability

Undead with Great Fortitude

No tactics section.

Low DCs on the Mummy Lord for its special attacks..

The fire vulnerability is probably just an omission. They're either still working out the details, or else Energy Vulnerability is now a major "ability" that is covered under another section.

The Great Fortitude seems like a flavor issue to me.

The tactics section, hopefully, is an omission. I loved the round-by-round tactics for the Pit Fiend, and I think it would make an excellent addition as a standard section for any monster write-up.

As far as the special ability DC's are concerned, that is just the way that the special abilities scale when class levels are added. The DC is based off of racial HD and an ability modifier, so adding class levels, while good for adding class abilities, will only rarely strengthen a creature's base abilities. That's the way the system currently works, so I don't see it as a problem with the upcoming revision.

If you think that special abilities should scale with CR, then use total HD to calculate the DC's, rather than racial HD. The exact formula is 10+(HD/2)+(Ability mod.). So the Mummy Lord's rot and fear aura would both have a DC of 10+(18/2)+3 = 22, which is considerably more difficult, even when matched against a character's strong save. That's what I do. Be careful, as this can have very deadly results. When your Bodak/Rogue 8 has TPK'd your party, you only have yourself to blame.

 

[Felon]

The fire vulnerability is probably just an omission. They're either still working out the details, or else Energy Vulnerability is now a major "ability" that is covered under another section.

Id does seem to make sense that "Energy vunlerability" would be detailed in the opening section along with "Energy resistance"

As far as the special ability DC's are concerned, that is just the way that the special abilities scale when class levels are added. The DC is based off of racial HD and an ability modifier, so adding class levels, while good for adding class abilities, will only rarely strengthen a creature's base abilities. That's the way the system currently works, so I don't see it as a problem with the upcoming revision.

Right, it's a consistent game mechanic. To complain about that is not unlike complaining that it's unimpressive for a 5th-level fighter/5th-level wizard to do only 5d6 of damage with his fireball because he's a 10th-level character. To get a higher DC, the mummy lord needs to take more mummy levels.

 

[Technik4]

To get a higher DC, the mummy lord needs to take more mummy levels.

Actually thats not the way to do it, and youre comparing the wrong things. Even a 5th level wizards fireball DC is equal to a 10th level wizards, if they have the same int. The way to raise the DC is NOT to take more wizard levels, its to take a feat like Spell Focus - Evocation or to raise your Int.

In the same way, I think the Mummy Lord should have a CHA-boosting item, or should have taken Ability Focus.

The mechanic is consistent, the monster is designed without addressing it, thats why the DC is low. Great Fortitude while flavorful, doesnt really do anything. It would be like giving a creature with an obscene amount of hp Toughness or a high HD animal alertness. Its redundant.

Do you force your PCs to take feats that are flavorful? Personally I try to find a mix of flavor and usefulness.

Technik

 

[Staffan]

Notice that it has a second level spell called "resist energy" though. Apparently in some places the word "elements" is being replaced by "energy" but not in others?

One can always hope that they're changing it so that "element" = {fire, earth, water, air} and "energy" = {fire, cold, sonic, electricity, acid}.

Though that doesn't match with "ring of minor elemental resistance"... hopefully, that's a typo.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

If it has a CR of 12 or higher, it's going to face Disintegrate. I can easily destroy any construct with a Disintegrate spell, since they have such terrible Fort saves.

 

[MerricB]

Correct. It gets a feat at 1 HD, at 3 HD, and at 6 HD. It gets a feat at Cleric 3, Cleric 6, and Cleric 9.

I don't have Savage Species to check, but is this right?

I thought it got one feat every three Hit Dice, no matter where they came from? So, a Cleric8/Rogue10 would have 7 feats.

Does it "reset" the HD count from monster HD to character HD? That seems to go in the face of making it simpler to create monsters. I guess it works... I must get SS when it next comes into my game store.

Cheers!

 

[MerricB]

I'm sure there will be a tactics section. Well no sure, but aren't they giving more space for each mosnter that means to me they wont ditch sections like tactics.

Well, the Mummy tactics are listed:
"In melee combat, a mummy delivers a powerful blow. Even if it had no other abilities, its great strength and grim determination would make it a formidable opponent."

Well, not strictly, I suppose... but it's not like it's a fighter of great finesse.

Hope they have more in the MM, though!

Cheers!

 

[JayOmega]

Correct. It gets a feat at 1 HD, at 3 HD, and at 6 HD. It gets a feat at Cleric 3, Cleric 6, and Cleric 9.

Not according to page 29 of Savage Species. It should have 7 total feats. One each for HD 1, 3, and 6 as a mummy, and one each at level 1, 4, 7, and 10 as a cleric (because these levels represent the creature's 9th, 12th, 15th, and 18th hit dice.) Just like a multiclassed character.

The greater mummy, as posted, is in error, unless they're (rather stupidly) changing the Savage Species feat rule.