Creatures By Poll - Monster #2 Discussion


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glad you guys like it. :) it does need some editing though. i culled that description from various posts by all of you, and i tried to get everything relevant in there that still made sense. i think it flows together pretty well, but in rereading it i notice that a lot of words and phrases are repeated or reworded, so i'll have to cut it down by a few sentences. i don't think i will have time to do it at work today, so i'll have to work on it at home and post the final version either tonight or tomorrow!

in the meantime, any other comments? PLEASE look over this page 2 and see if there was something we missed that should be addressed before i go and put a bunch of work into this. ;)
 

FINAL DRAFT

ok folks, here you go. you have until friday afternoon to read this, and suggest any changes/corrections that you think need to be made. i'll also post this on the general discussion board tomorrow after i get some comments from you guys. FRIDAY we will start the naming process!! if you think this thing is fine as is, then give me a good compliment. ;)

enjoy!



The PLANTY-DUDE!!!!!
Large Outsider (Evil)
Hit Dice: 12d8+48 (102 hp)
Initiative: +5 (Dex, Improved Initiative)
Speed: 10 ft, burrow 30 ft, climb 20 ft
AC: 25 (-1 size, +1 Dex, +15 natural)
Attacks: 2 slams +9 melee
Damage: Slam 1d6-2
Face/Reach: 5 ft by 5 ft/10 ft
Special Attacks: Aura of plant growth, spell-like abilities, noxious growths, decomposition, incorporeal, possession, spells, summon plant creatures, death throes
Special Qualities: Plant qualities, plane shift, rootlets, regeneration 5, SR 19, fire resistance 20, damage reduction 10/+2, immune to disease, cold vulnerability
Saves: Fort +12, Ref +9, Will +13
Abilities: Str 7, Dex 13, Con 19, Int 18, Wis 20, Cha 17
Skills: Climb +11, Concentration +17, Hide +14, Intimidate +16, Knowledge (nature) +17, Knowledge (the planes) +17, Listen +20, Move Silently +14, Spellcraft +17, Spot +20, Wilderness Lore +19
Feats: Alertness, Combat Casting, Improved Initiative, Spell Penetration

Climate/Terrain: Temperate and warm forest, plains, and marsh and underground?
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating:
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral evil
Advancement: 13-24 HD (Large); 25-36 HD (Huge)

This powerful outsider is a fearsome loner that wanders the planes, heedless of the destruction it may cause. This primal force of nature moves slowly throughout the worlds, watching the universe flow past it. It has an irrational hatred of all ambulatory animal life, feeling that all life that moves on its own must die. This elemental monster hails from a plane of wood, where it is surrounded by unwholesome flora. Everywhere it goes, flowers bloom, vines thrive, and toadstools sprout – poisonous flowers, throttling vines, and deadly toadstools that is – on even the smallest barren patches of earth. On its home plane, this creature fills an ecological void similar to that of the genies on their various elemental planes.
This creature is composed of a tightly wound network of fibers that resemble withered mandrake root. Its true body resembles a vaguely humanoid shape composed of rotting, brown plant material covered in a thick bark that constantly grows and reshapes itself over old wounds. Most living creatures are repelled by the sight and smell of this creature instantly. Its true body is weak - but extremely tough and can take a lot of punishment, to those can get close enough to find out. This creature is methodical and relentless, though perhaps a little slow. It prefers to move at a leisurely pace, and is more than powerful enough to take its time with its foes.
Everywhere the creature ventures it remains surrounded by twisted, dark and deadly plants that spout, grow, wither and die with its passing - some in the space of a moment. To enter the sphere of influence of this creature and pass among these abominations is extremely unsettling and potentially dangerous due to the often poisonous and aggressive nature of these frightful creations. This magical circle of ever changing and rapidly mutating plant life is the creature’s primary defense. Much of the resulting life is ambulatory, poisonous, and aggressive or simply provides a thorny barrier if need be. The great majority of the time these plants pop up randomly, brought into being through the subconscious desire of the creature. Its strong mind allows it to see all the possibilities around it, and when confronted it can choose which plants will sprout and defend it.
This creature comes into being in a larval stage, which resembles a tiny little brown acorn with stubby limbs, which develops in a host-body. It springs forth when mature, though most meet their end quickly without reaching the powerful adult stage. As the larva grows, it assumes a skin of bark, and grows larger and larger until it achieves an almost humanoid form. This full-sized body is covered in pustules that contain spores for reproduction, which are attached to thorns that shoot out at its death, to continue the life cycle. Adults are able to become incorporeal, and leave their bodies behind to “hitch a ride” on plant-creatures or hide in normal plants. Thus, it can hide its real body from foes, while extending its power from wherever the body remains. From this body extend a series of incorporeal, invisible "rootlets" that extend outward from it over great distances.

COMBAT
In its true body, this creature is not a very powerful melee combatant, and prefers to use its powers against foes. Instead of fighting one-on-one, it focuses on keeping opponents at a distance, incapacitating them, or causing hindrances so it can take its time and distance to deal with intruders. It will only engage in combat with foes if they are weak, or if possessing a host plant. If such a fight goes badly for it, it will disengage from that host and either possess a new host, or return to its real body to plan revenge.
Around this creature’s true body as well as any other form it may inhabit, it constantly projects a powerful magical aura with a radius of 5 feet per Hit Die it has. Within this aura, three different effects may take place: plant growth, noxious growths, and decomposition. The aura may switch between plant growth and decomposition at will, but may only cause one of these effects in any given round. The noxious growths are created at all times, regardless, unless the creature consciously wills it to cease. The aura also affects any host body the creature is using, causing other plants to sprout from it and attack.

Aura of Plant Growth (Su): This power causes all normal plant life within the creature’s aura radius to grow, as the spell of the same name. This power is fiendish in nature, and causes plants to pulsate and warp, and become deadly to most creatures. If the planty-dude spends more than one week in the same area, the plants in that area grow thorns and become poisonous, and slowly transform into minor fiendish plant creatures. Fey, animals, beasts, magical beasts, and plant-based creatures that remain in this area must succeed at a Will save (DC 19) every day, or they turn evil and malignant (these creatures become Fiendish Creatures as per MM p 211, until this effect is broken).

Noxious Growths (Su): The monster continually causes random noxious plant growths to appear within its personal power range. This power causes a number of different effects, either determined randomly or chosen by the DM. Four different types of plants can sprout whole from the ground, developing from the following lists. In the first round, stages 1 will occur, being replaced by each subsequent effect as the plants grow. Normally, only one of these effects happens per minute, but the creature can concentrate to cause 1d4 of these growths per round. For example, this growth could occur this way: in one round stage 1 vines will start, then in the next round stage 2 vines and stage 1 toadstools, in the third round stage 3 vines, stage 1 trees, and stage 1 flowers, and in the fourth round stage 4 vines, stage 2 flowers, and stage 2 toadstools. All spell-like affects are as the spells cast by a 12th-level druid.
Vines: Vines seem to grow from every direction, from the trees, from the ground, and from inexplicable locations, within the monster’s personal aura. Stage 1: The vines entangle all creatures within, as the spell. Stage 2: The vines cause an effect similar to the web spell, with many tiny briar thorns that stick to creatures causing 1d3 points of damage per round. Stage 3: The vines progress to the wall of thorns spell. Stage 4: The vines, still causing wall of thorns, spread outward at a rate of 5 feet per round until stopped.
Flowers: Small roses bloom copiously within the monster’s personal aura, and spit a powerful poison at anything that moves. Stage 1: Flowers spit with a ranged touch attack +4 and can make a total of 4 attacks per round for 4 rounds. Contact poison, Fortitude save (DC 16); initial damage 1d4 temporary Intelligence, secondary damage 1d4 Intelligence. Stage 2: Ranged touch attack +8 and can make a total of 6 attacks per round for 6 rounds. Contact poison, Fortitude save (DC 20); initial damage 1d6 temporary Intelligence, secondary damage 1d6 Constitution. Stage 3: Ranged touch attack +10 and can make a total of 6 attacks per round for 8 rounds. Contact poison, Fortitude save (DC 25); initial damage 1d6 temporary Constitution, secondary damage 1d6 Constitution. Stage 4: As stage 3, but doubled, for a total of 8 rounds.
Toadstools: Deadly toadstools sprout all around within personal radius, and release deadly, disease carrying spores. Stage 1: Spores cause decomposition, as power above (DC 14). Stage 2: Spores now release slimy doom, as the contagion spell (DC 17). Stage 3: Spores now release devil chills (see DMG, pg 75) (DC 20). Stage 4: Spores cause devil chills, DC increases by +2 per round until stopped.
Trees: 1d4 saplings grow within the creature’s personal radius, as animated objects, and have 4 slam attacks per round. Stage 1: Trees are as Small size animated objects. Stage 2: Trees grow to Medium-Size. Stage 3: Trees grow to Large size. Stage 4: Large trees remain; new saplings sprout again starting at stage 1.

Spell-Like Abilities: 3/day - contagion (slimy doom), soften earth and stone, spike growth, warp wood; 1/day - antilife shell, command plants, commune with nature, disintegrate, harm, unholy blight. These abilities are as the spells cast by a 12th-level sorcerer.

Decomposition (Su): This effect causes wounds taken within the area of the creature’s aura to fester and decompose, causing 1 hp per round for a total duration of 12 rounds. Effected characters lose 1 hp per round, until the effect ends, a Heal check is applied to the character (DC 15), or he receives divine healing from a 3rd-level or higher spell. The monster usually only uses this power as a last-resort, activated when the thing is wounded.

Incorporeal (Su): At will, the creature is able to separate its spirit from whatever body it inhabits, but this is a full round action. It must be in its incorporeal form to remerge with its true body. In this form, it may take no action other than movement at its normal rate, or attempting to enter a plant lifeform. Its aura-based powers are still active, centered on its incorporeal form.

Possession (Su): The creature is able to possess and take over the bodies of ambulatory plant creatures by moving its incorporeal form into them. The victim must succeed at a Will save (DC 19) to prevent this from happening. While inside another plant lifeform, it has access to all of its powers and abilities, as well as those of its chosen form. Plants that do not move on their own receive no saving throw against this power.

Spells: casts divine spells as a 6th-level druid.

Summon Plant Creatures (Sp): Once per day, the creature has the ability to summon plant-based creatures, similar to summon nature’s ally IX. Summoned creatures cannot have more than half the Hit Dice of the planty-guy monster and must be of evil or neutral alignment.

Death Throes (Ex): This monster only reproduces when it dies, though it can end its own life to reproduce, if it so chooses. When it dies, the pustules covering its body will burst in a 60-foot radius (fiery death, disintegration, freezing, and total destruction of the creature’s true body will prevent this effect from happening). A nasty, fetid spore cloud belches out from the various orifices in the body created by the bursting pustules, as the thorns shoot outward. The thorns imbed in the flesh of the living and dead, cause 1d3 points of piercing damage, sticking into all creatures that fail a Reflex save (DC 17). All breathing creatures hit by the thorns must roll a Fort save (DC 20) or inhale the spores as they detach from the thorns. Infected creatures will lose 1 point of Constitution per day, dying when it reaches 0. One month after death, a flower blooms from the body, from which emerges an immature version of the monster.
Larvae automatically implant themselves into plant creatures (no saving throw) as well as fresh corpses. This new creature retains the memories of the victim (including ones who were already dead). Once the spores are in a creature’s system, this process of forming a new monster can only be stopped by a miracle or wish spell, although remove curse or remove disease will stop the loss of Constitution in a living victim.

Plant Qualities (Ex): Immune to mind-influencing effects, poison, sleep, paralysis, stunning, and polymorphing. Not subject to critical hits.

Plane Shift (Sp): This creature can enter any of the elemental planes, the Astral plane, or the Material plane. This ability transports the creature and up to six other creatures, provided they all link hands with the creature. It is otherwise similar to the spell of the same name.

Rootlets (Su): The creature’s true body has the ability to extend the influence of its powers using a series of invisible, incorporeal root-like organs. When the creature is at rest, or inhabiting another body, its true body takes roots and extends the range of its magical aura at a rate of one mile per hour, to a maximum range of 10 miles. When the creature moves its true body again, the rootlets retract instantly.

Regeneration (Ex): Cold, and holy or blessed weapons and items deal normal damage to this creature.

Cold Vulnerability (Ex): Cold and frost cause this creature’s physical body to wither and die. In addition to causing normal damage, all cold attacks deal an equal amount of subdual damage to the creature. Also, whenever this creature fails its saving throw against cold attacks, it becomes dormant for 1d4 rounds.
 


I just noticed something... there may be some unwanted interaction between the regeneration power and the cold vulnerability, but I can't quite put my finger on it...
 

i don't see it. cold defeats the regeneration altogether, doing normal damage, and then as in the description for the vulnerability, it causes extra effects. if you're seeing something that i don't, let me know quickly. ;)
 

Not really sure...

I think it's the extra subdual damage... regenerated too fast to be a real hindrance...

OK, not a real interaction, but I think that's what I saw...
 

ah, but, since the subdual damage is from cold, would the regeneration even work on it at all? and even if it didn't, the subdual damage might be enough to knock it out for at least a round before it recovered, depending on how well the opponents are doing.
 

BOZ said:
ah, but, since the subdual damage is from cold, would the regeneration even work on it at all?

I think so, at least...

and even if it didn't, the subdual damage might be enough to knock it out for at least a round before it recovered, depending on how well the opponents are doing.
Yes, spells would be a good tactic for that, magic weapon would be a bit less effective...

It's propably a minor thing, though, let's go to the naming part! ;)
 

ok, since the boards were down, i didn't get to post monster #2 on the General Discussion board yesterday, but i did do it just now. so go over there and see what comments people have for us before we get to the naming! if the boards hold up for me, i'll start the naming part before i leave for work tonight.

but, if people on the gen board wind up having a lot of useful comments, i might have to hold off a bit. ;)
 

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