Another Creature Catalog query for Dragon?

[Shade]

IIRC, Erik Mona refuses to print the rakasta unless they are well-done, and Mystara-rich. think the lupin article...

Actually, according to Mike McArtor, they want to do rakasta, but WotC continually says no. Mike would write up an article on 'em in a heartbeat, and would do a good job (he did the lupin article).

People need a little break from Tiamat... besides, firedrakes aren't evil, and I'd prefer to keep them that way. What tie to the githyanki were you thinking about exploiting?

I was thinking with the githyanki bond with red dragons, these little critters might make nice familiars for the nonpsionic gishes.

They already are more like elves than forest giants. they already had the +2 bonus vs. Enchantment, as well as +4 bonuses on Hide and move Silently in the forest. How shall we play up the elven nature? Just say that they have elven traits and elven blood?

Yeah. The elven blood opens up many options, like feats, prestige classes, etc. And more specifically, wood elven traits (which really just translates to better Str, low Int, and favored class ranger).

We could also make them waterbound, like the ToH version - that is, they take damage when out of water for too long.

I think the "crystal" nature comes more from the "crystal clear" aspect of its transparency.

There's something I didn't notice: it also paralyzes victims - sweet!

Sweet indeed! That makes for some good drowning options.

Since it doesn't corrode metal, I can see alot of sunken ships loaded with treasure with these thinks lurking within.

Habitat/Society: Pegataurs carve abodes in the sides of high mountains. These pegataur made caves, called tehir, are not dark and cramped, but are instead beautiful affairs with vaulted ceilings and intricately carved walls. Veins of rare crystals provide illumination at night.

Ecology: Pegataurs have been known to work with druids and phanatons to maintain the balance of nature in a given area. They also train pegasi mounts for ground dwellers.

These are some nice flavor bits.

 

[Aspect of BOZ]

I was thinking with the githyanki bond with red dragons, these little critters might make nice familiars for the nonpsionic gishes.

i was unaware of any special bond between githyanki and red dragons. i'm not sure how well that work with neutral-aligned creatures, so what other options are there?

 

[Conaill]

We could also make them waterbound, like the ToH version - that is, they take damage when out of water for too long.

I think the "crystal" nature comes more from the "crystal clear" aspect of its transparency.

From the Monstrous Manual:
This creature is a variety of gray ooze which has adapted to living in water. It is 75% invisible when immersed in its natural element. It is translucent, mostly glassy clear, with an occasional milky white swirl in its substance.

I had made my "watery ooze" Huge, completely shapeable, and invisible inside a body of water. If you restrict it to Environment: Underground, the invisibility isn't *too* nasty - most adventurers know not to go swimming in cave lakes (or expect Bad Stuff to happen when they do...).

For the acid... I'd prefer if they do dissolve metal as well. Otherwise, seeing a coat of mail and some buckles lying in a shallow pond is going to be a dead giveaway!

 

[Knightfall]

OK, finished up the last few. given that the writeups are spread out over the 1st page, i'm just reposting them all here. let's firm up the CRs where they are questionable, and make final decisions on creature types where needed. also, if you can think of any way to rephrase the description, or any aspect of the creature from the original text that i didn't use which would make it sound more appealing, this is your chance to speak up.

Cave Fisher
Rot Grub
Scarecrow
Tabaxi
Piercer
Hammer Golem
Crystal Ooze
Firedrake
Wolfwere
Mustard Jelly
Voadkyn (Wood Giant)
Magic Golem
Pegataur
Giant Troll
Urd
Duleep (Living Web)
Al-mi-raj
Baku
Guardian Familiar
Death Watch Beetle

That's an excellent list for a submission. Glad to see the scarecrow made it in.

You might have trouble getting the firedrake approved, as there is a Elemental "Fire Drake" in the Dracomonicon (pg 154).

 

[Knightfall]

will do.

i will consider any suggestions that would make the tabaxi, firedrake, or voadkyn more interesting, as long as they build upon what i posted in post #45 above...

when the creature doesn't sell itself, we sometimes need to be the ones selling it.

honestly, i think the crystal ooze needs a bit of spicing up too. all it really says is "aquatic gray ooze" to me right now.

While I don't have any suggestions for those three (or the crystal ooze) you should consider making an alternate version of the scarecrow based on the events in that Supernatural episode. Sort of a gothic horror greater version.

 

[Aspect of BOZ]

OK, i reworked many of them since i last posted. do any of these still need some work?

Cave Fisher
Magical Beast, CR 2
These large, cave-dwelling insectoid creatures resemble both spiders and lobsters. A hiding cave fisher can fire a strong, sticky filament that attaches to a creature due to its powerful adhesive. The cave fisher reels in the filament to get better attacks on its prey.
Originally found in Monster Manual II (1982)

Rot Grub
Vermin (swarm), CR 7
These little worm-like creatures hide in garbage, dung, or corpses, and attack any living creatures that wander too close. They burrow into a victim’s skin, dealing damage every round until the victim is dead. A remove disease spell kills the grubs, as would burning the cutting them out of the victim.
Originally found in Monster Manual (1977)

Scarecrow
Construct, CR 4
This creature is built to look like a humanoid with a gourd for a head. It looks like an actual scarecrow, and its creator will place it as a guardian to take care of tresspassers. Its attack allows it to fascinate foes, leaving them unable to act. A scarecrow is immune to cold, but vulnerable to fire.
Originally found in Fiend Folio (1981)

Tabaxi
Humanoid, CR 1
These CN feline humanoids have spotted coats, and resemble either upright leopards or jaguars. Tabaxi are strong and fast and excellent hunters, and use their markings to hide and ambush prey. They are savage, disdaining weapons and armor to attack with their sharp claws and teeth, though they sometimes use primitive weapons. They stalk through the tree tops ready to pounce on, disembowel and devour their unsuspecting prey.
Originally found in Fiend Folio (1981)

Piercer
Aberration, CR 1/4
These creatures resemble stalactites and hang from cavern ceilings. They drop down quickly to impale opponents, dealing significant damage on a critical hit. These mollusks also store water in the same way as cacti in the desert, making them important prey in the Underdark as well.
Originally found in Monster Manual (1977)

Hammer Golem
Construct, CR 11
These golems were built by dwarven priests to serve both as guards and miners. A hammer golem looks like an oversized dwarf made out of stone, and in place of one hand is a pick, and in place of the other is a hammer. It has an attack that works like the repulsion spell which also deals force damage.
Originally found in Dragon #193, "Live Statues and Stone Men: Golems of the Underdark" (1993)

Crystal Ooze
Ooze, CR 4
This aquatic ooze is translucent and clear, making it nearly invisible in water. Its touch carries paralyzing venom, allowing it to drown and devour victims without a fight. It doesn't corrode metal or stone, but does dissolve wood, cloth, and flesh. It is immune to acid, cold, and fire. If kept out of water for too long, it dries up and dies. A group of crystal oozes leaves shipwrecks behind with their treasures intact.
Originally found in S4 Lost Caverns of Tsjocanth (1982)

Firedrake
Dragon, CR 3
This small, neutrally-aligned creature resembles a young red dragon. It has a breath weapon, but otherwise lacks the special abilities common to dragons. Its blood is highly flammable, and any cuts the creature sustains cause the blood to ignite and burn the attacker. Firedrakes dwell in small families in hilly and mountainous regions.
Originally found in Fiend Folio (1981)

Wolfwere
Magical Beast (shapechanger), CR 4
This CE shapechanger can assume the form of a wolf (its true form), a humanoid, or a hybrid of the two. Wolfweres can slow other creatures that hear their song of lethargy, and eat any victims they can kill. Wolfweres are not lycanthropes, and do not pass on their abilities.
Originally found in S4 Lost Caverns of Tsjocanth (1982)

Mustard Jelly
Ooze, CR 7
This pile of goo is a translucent yellow-brown color and looks much like any other ooze. However, this ooze is intelligent, believed to be the result of a wizard’s magical mishap. It attacks with acid pseudopods like most oozes, and its vapors slow creatures who get too close. When it needs to move faster, the mustard jelly can split into two equal halves.
Originally found in Monster Manual II (1982)

Voadkyn (Wood Giant)
Giant, CR 5
These relatively small CG giants resemble oversized wood elves, usually armed with bows. They are masters at woodland camouflage, and can change form to resemble any humanoid creature. Voadkyn are said to have elven blood running through their veins, giving them a special kinship with the forest folk.
Originally found in Dragon #119, "Dragon's Bestiary: A Walk Through the Woods" (1987)

Magic Golem
Construct, CR 6
The magic golem is made of iridescent yellow energy in the shape of a humanoid, and is the amalgam of a human merged with wild magic. The Zhentarim discovered this method of turning a living being into pure magical energy. A magic golem can absorb magic and release it in a flare of wild magic.
Originally found in Ruins of Zhentil Keep (1995)

Pegataur
Monstrous Humanoid, CR 4
These NG relatives of the centaur have a more elvish appearance, and large wings like a pegasus. They live in beautifully-carved caves high in the sides of mountains. They are more aloof than either centaurs or pegasi, but work with druids and phanatons to maintain nature's balance, and sometimes work as mercenaries for the right price.
Originally found in M2 Vengeance of Alphaks (1986)

Giant Troll
Giant, CR 6
These creatures are the hideous result of trolls crossbreeding with hill giants. They look mostly like oversized pot-bellied trolls, with reddish-brown skin and red-rimmed eyes. They usually carry spiked clubs made from tree trunks. They have fast healing (rather than regeneration), and the rock throwing and catching abilities of giants. Giant trolls also have the ability to pick up opponents and use them as battering rams to bludgeon other opponents.
Originally found in Fiend Folio (1981)

Urd
Humanoid, CR 1/4
These small NE creatures have a pair of leathery bat-like wings that allow them to fly for long distances. These night hunters travel in great flocks, and use weapons called rock bombs which break into many pieces and spray shrapnel all about.
Originally found in Monstrous Compendium MC2 (1989)

Duleep (Living Web)
Ooze, CR 1
These creatures appear as ambulatory spider webs. They can fire an electricity ray, or shock with their touch. When damaged, they split into smaller creatures.
Originally found in Dragon Magazine 89 (1984)

Al-mi-raj
Magical Beast, CR 1
This creature resembles a large rabbit, with a long black horn like that of a unicorn. These unpredictable creatures can blink, and randomly pop from one place to another using dimension door (just as a blink dog). They are aggressive when threatened rather than timid, though a caster than can tame one will have a useful familiar.
Originally found in Fiend Folio (1981)

Baku
Outsider, CR 12
The baku is a powerful defender of Goodness. They have elephantine heads, trunks, and tusks; the forelimbs of a rhino and the rear legs of a lion; and their bodies and tail are short and reptilian, with scaled horny plates like a dragon. Baku have access to numerous psionic powers (including invisibility, astral projection, and etherealness), and their trumpeting roar deals damage to evil creatures and causes fear.
Originally found in Dragon #65 "Featured Creatures" (1982)

Guardian Familiar
(may require a name change to differentiate it from the very different creatures in Complete Warrior)
Outsider, CR 3-6
This small, black cat-like creature has the proverbial "nine-lives", coming back stronger every time it gets killed. A guardian familiar is usually summoned by a wizard looking for something to guard his valuable items.
Originally found in Fiend Folio (1981)

Death Watch Beetle
Magical Beast, CR 6
This giant, 5-foot-long dark green beetle covers itself in leaves, twigs, and other rubbish as camouflage to take its victims by surprise. By vibrating its carapace rapidly, the beetle deals often-fatal sonic damage to all creatures within 30-feet. The beetles chews up survivors with its huge mandibles.
Originally found in Monster Manual II (1982)

 

[Shade]

Fixed a couple typos:

Rot Grub
Vermin (swarm), CR 7
These little worm-like creatures hide in garbage, dung, or corpses, and attack any living creatures that wander too close. They burrow into a victim’s skin, dealing damage every round until the victim is dead. A remove disease spell kills the grubs, as would burning or cutting them out of the victim.
Originally found in Monster Manual (1977)

Mustard Jelly
Ooze, CR 7
This pile of goo is a translucent yellow-brown color and looks much like any other ooze. However, this ooze is intelligent, believed to be the result of a wizard’s magical mishap. It attacks with acidic pseudopods like most oozes, and its vapors slow creatures who get too close. When it needs to move faster, the mustard jelly can split into two equal halves.
Originally found in Monster Manual II (1982)

Made some suggested enhancements to the following:

Hammer Golem
Construct, CR 11
These golems were built by dwarven priests to serve both as guards and miners. A hammer golem looks like an oversized dwarf made out of stone and an adamantine breastplate and weapons, and in place of one hand is a pick, and in place of the other is a hammer. It has an attack that works like the repulsion spell which also deals force damage. Its weapons are adamantine, and thus overcome damage reduction and hardness.
Originally found in Dragon #193, "Live Statues and Stone Men: Golems of the Underdark" (1993)

Voadkyn (Wood Giant)
Giant, CR 5
These relatively small CG giants resemble oversized wood elves, usually armed with bows. They are masters at woodland camouflage, and can change form to resemble any humanoid creature. Voadkyn have elven blood running through their veins, giving them a special kinship with the forest folk, and the ability to take elven feats and prestige classes, use elven magic items, and so forth.
Originally found in Dragon #119, "Dragon's Bestiary: A Walk Through the Woods" (1987)

 

[Aspect of BOZ]

otherwise, we're good?

 

[BOZ]

we have two winners! appropriate threads will appear soon enough for the Cave Fisher and Scarecrow. hooray for the underappreciated classics!

this time out, we've been given specific guidelines to follow for format, so keep this in mind:

- Follow the most recent creature format used by Wotc, including all of the relevant sections such as ecology, strategy and tactics, and placement in FR and Eberron. This format can be found in Monster Manual IV.
- Do not include lairs or maps.
- Try to keep each creature to no more than 1,500 words (and depending upon complexity, this number might be lower).
- Please include a separate file showing all the math that went into the statblock.

also, these critters will be due in on January 22 due to time constraints, so time is of the essence! i will try to get things going and keep them going as much as possible.

 

[Shade]

Let's see how I did on this one:

Just for fun, I thought we could start odds on each creature's chances of acceptance. Here are my predictions:

Cave Fisher - 100 to 1 (might be too similar mechanically to the bonespear)
Scarecrow - 50 to 1

I think the mustard jelly, rot grubs, death watch beetle, hammer golem, magic golem, and living web have the best shots, in that order.

I'll eat this thread if the giant troll or piercer is picked.

I was pretty far off, but at least I don't have to eat this thread!