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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Water Bob" data-source="post: 5808521" data-attributes="member: 92305">Stats for the Demon's BreathThis foe, although different in many ways, is somewhat inspired by the spell Marique throws in the new Conan The Barbarian movie when she blows the sand at Conan, and these sorcerous sand warriors arise from the ground to combat him. You can see the connection, yes?The other inspiration I had for this creature came from both the Scourge of the Howling Horde D&D adventure and from our last game session. During our last session, the PCs came to the kitchen door and found it locked. I was just ad-libbing, so when they banged on the door with their fists, I voiced a cry from the other side, "No! Go away!"The PCs preceded to break the door down (thus the splintered door to the kitchen mentioned above), but this noise brought all the baddies within ear-shot. So, we had the battle royale right outside the kitchen and ended the game just as the last foe fell.Now, normally, I'd leave the rest of the dungeon unpopulated and let the players benefit from such a job well done (defeating all those enemies I'd created for the place), and had I picked up the game the next week, I'm sure that's how it would have gone.But, in the mean time, all these months that we haven't played, I've thought up the Demon's Breath. It's cool. It's exciting. And, mostly, it's an exceptional way to alert the players that there's something supernatural going on--they're not just in a normal Blood Fued dispute trying to rescue a kidnapped clansmen. I want the players to feel as if they've definitely stumbled onto something.....big.I'm still rewarding the PCs. I'm raising them an entire level for their epic showing against the inhabitants of Howling Cave.Now....I see an opportunity to take the story a bit further.... That opportunity lies with the introduction of this new critter I've invented: The Demon's Breath.Besides that....the enemy is just...well...cool, man! Cool!For stats for the Demon's Breath, I took the lazy GM's approach. For example, the kitchen in the D&D adventure is supposed to have a goblin cook, a dire weasel, and a lesser gray ooze.Well, I'm still throwing out the ooze. That's not "Conan". And, the goblin cook and the dire weasel have become Demon's Breath #1 and #2.If I need stats for the Demon's Breath (unlikely), then I'll just use whatever the goblin or weasel have.For example, the goblin cook look like this...Goblin Cook11 HPNE Small humanoid (goblinoid)Init: +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +2, Spot +2Languages Goblin, CommonAC 15, touch 12, flat-footed 14Fort +3, Ref +1, Will -1Speed 30 ft.Melee handaxe +4 (1d4+1)Base Attack: +1; Grapple: -2Abilities STR 12, DEX 13, CON 12, INT 10, WIS 9, CHA 6Feats Weapon Focus (handaxe)Skills Hide +5, Listen +2, Move Silently +5, Ride +4, Spot +2Possessions leather armor light wooden shield, handaxe.Now, to turn this guy into a Demon's Breath, I just take some of the stats, like this....Demon's BreathAC 15HP 11Initiative +1Speed 30' (Gaseous)Melee +4 (1d4+1)I probably won't need more than those stats. The defense of a dense gaseous form, at least in this case, is more about how dense the gas is--how "formed" it is. Thus, the one AC is all I need (Demon's Breath does not dodge or parry). It's not a question of it the thing is hit. It is. The quest is if the thing was damaged with the hit.I gave it the same number of HP as the goblin. Initiative and Melee are the same (physical damage as the Demon's Breath runs into the victim), and I notated that the Speed is gaseous. Basically, the Demon's Breath can float and fly in all directions--like fog.If something unusual comes up during the game, I can always look at the goblin's other stats and do a quick interpretation as the game moves on.SPECIAL DEMON'S BREATH ABILITIES...3D MOVE: I've already noted that the creature's speed is gaseous. The creature moves in all directions like fog.VARIED STATS: The different Demon's Breath dense entities are definitely different from each other. So, instead of making up one Demon's Breath and cloning it for the adventure, I kept looking at the adventure scenario and translating the goblins, hobgoblins, bugbear...whatever...to a Demon's Breath. This way, different Demon's Breath have different AC's, different HP's, different Speed ratings, etc. The Demon's Breath are constantly reshaping balls of fog, and I didn't want the players to count on a certain stat (AC, number of HP, Speed rate...whatever). I want to give the players the impression that each Demon's Breath is unique.For example, the Demon's Breath that first appear before the PCs in the kitchen do different damage. I just lifted whatever bonus and melee damage the creature did in the D&D adventure. Thus, one of two first Demon Breaths encountered will do Melee +4 (1d4+1) physical attack and be AC 15, HP 13, Speed 30. That was the one taken from the goblin. The other is taken from the dire weasel, and thus, it will do Melee +6 (1d6+3), AC 16, HP 13, Speed 40.This also goes for tactics and intelligence. I plan on playing these first two Demon's Breath entities encountered as straight up--they just form and dive straight for the PCs in attack.Later, when I converted the hobgoblins to Demon's Breath, I decided that these specific Demon's Breath would show some intelligence in their moves. They'll try to flank and use tactics that protects themselves. They may even be stealthy or end up with Surprise on the PCs.SPECIAL ATTACK: As I note above, a successful attack means that the Demon's Breath not only contacts, but actually flow through the body to where the victim can feel his internal organ move with the force of the evil fog moving through him. Evil thoughts are stirred up, and the target feels sick to his stomach.Anytime a Demon's Breath makes a successful attack, the victim makes a Fort Save at a DC equal to the Demon's Breath AC. If successful, the sickening feeling is momentary--less than a second--and has no lasting effects. If the save is not successful, then the target is considered Sickened (-2 to all attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saving throws, skill checks and ability checks) for one hour. If the save is failed more than once from multiple attacks or later attacks, the effects do not stack except that the one hour effect period is measured from the last failed save. So, basically, when fighting the Demon's Breath, the PCs will feel sick to their stomachs unless the save is made--and the save must be made each time a Demon's Breath makes a successful melee attack.SPECIAL DEFENSE: Given the Demon's Breath is a gaseous entity, damage done to the Demon's Breath is dependent on how disrupted the creature becomes as the result of a successful attack by its foe.Piercing weapons do one point of damage per successful hit, regardless of the weapon's normal damage. Don't let the PC know this, though. Have him roll damage normally, but only mark off 1 HP of damage on the creature in secret.Blunt weapons do half damage vs. the gaseous Demon's Breath.Slashing weapons, like the blades of a fan, are best at disrupting the Demon's Breath. These weapons do full damage against the creature.OPTIONAL DEFENSE: I was thinking that the Demon's Breath are a challenge for low level characters, but even if higher level characters are pitted against them, the stats for the Demon's Breath should stay in the range I have described above. Once the Demon's Breath hits, though, it dissapates and meshes into the rest of the fog around the room. I described this above. The Demon's Breath can then re-form at the GM's whim. That, right there, makes the creature a little tougher than expected. Here's the optional part: Once the creature reforms, place it back at 100% hit points. This will make piercing weapons virtually ineffective against the creature and a challenge for higher level characters because the Demon's Breath will have to be destroyed in one round--in many situations, with one blow. A constantly re-appearing enemy that regains all damage in one round and can pop around to different places on the battlefield can be quite the challenge for even medium-level characters. If the challenge still needs to be harder, then simply add more Demon's Breath foes. That will keep even high level character busy for a bit.SANCTUARY: The one way to deal with Demon's Breath is to deal with the creatures as you would fog. In D&D, a spell that causes wind to blow will dissapate the Demon's Breath and keep it from re-forming.In the Conan game, the PCs most likely won't have spells that cause wind to blow the fog of the Demon's Breath apart. The GM should consider where this happens naturally in a game. For example, in the dungeon complex I set up, there are a few areas (the corridor right outside the kitchen, for example) where a natural wind tunnel is created. I'm not going to let the Demon's Breath form here. If you, as the GM, agrees, you can even use naturally windy areas to form barriers that will keep Demon's Breath from forming.Since my PCs are only 3rd level, I'm hoping that they put two-and-two together to realize that they can retreat to the windy corridor should the fight with the Demon's Breath go south and prove too much for them.OPTIONAL ATTACK: As I was converting the head hobgoblin from the D&D adventure into a Demon's Breath, I noticed that he not only had a better AC, HP, and damage, but he also had a ranged attack.Here, I decided to go a step further with the development of the Demon's Breath, thinking, in my mind's eye, that this one looks like a tiny tornado and electrical storm combined. It twirls around, in its man-shaped form, with lightning crackling inside it. Looks kinda cool in the dark--that lightning crackeling and popping in the dark.The hobgoblin had a bow, so I simply used the Ranged Attack stats and gave this Demon's Breath an electrical bolt that it can fire at an enemy some distance away (I'd use standard bow range with the usual penalties). So, in my game, this one Demon's Breath can do a ranged lightning attack +4 (1d8+1) from across the room.When the electrical bolt hits, the GM will determine a quick general hit location (I just use a d6 throw--nothing elaborate) and every piece of equipment that the character wears takes the same damage as if it had been subject to a Sunder attack.Cloth and leather will catch fire (doing fire damage starting on the next round), wood, iron, and steel items conduct the electricity and will blow apart when struck.This is a great way to make the otherwise weak Demon's Breath a pesky foe to be respected.</blockquote>

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