Fearsome Critters from Lumberjack Tales
- Thread starter Cleon
- Start date
demiurge1138
Inventor of Super-Toast
Slide is complicated, but I think it'd work a lot smoother in play. I might be willing to bump them up to CR 10, but I like these guys! I wasn't familiar with the legend, and they're very cool.
Cleon
Legend
Yup, Slide is complicated. As I mentioned before, I'm basically writing up an entire movement form (compare the amount of text for Fly, which it was based on). The text about how much slide-grease it's got is probably something I'd ignore in play, since it's got enough to travel several thousand feet and that sort of thing's fiddly to keep track off, so feel free to cut it out before use.
As for the Challenge Rating, I spent ages agonizing about it but decided that CR was about right based on a comparison with the Triceratops and the Purple Worm. Basically, the slide-rock bolter doesn't have very good Hide/Disguise/Move Silently bonuses, so most parties will Spot it coming and, if they have any sense, spread out before it hits them with a Gobbling Avalanche.
Not to mention that a lot of parties that level have access to magical flight, so would just soar out of its reach and murderate it from out of its reach, at no risk to themselves since it is both landbound and without a ranged attack. Of course, against some 9th level parties it would be devastating - such as fighter-centered parties with low Spot - but many monsters are deadly against the right (or, wrong) type of party, and all fighter parties are very rare.
Cleon
Legend
Thanks freyar, I liked the fluff too! To me, that's at least as important to making a memorable monster as cool powers.
Modified charge, eh? Hmm... something like it moves at double speed, or up to quintuple downhill, but can not move higher than its launch point or turn more than ninety degrees in a turn or 45 degrees in a square, and the Slide ends if it spends two consecutive rounds without moving to a higher or lower elevation?
No, I think most of the rules (starting slope, preparing for launch, stopping if it hits its original height again) are necessary to keep the flavour of the original critter. The only bit it doesn't really need is a slide-grease limit on distance travelled, and I think I'll leave that in for the time being.
Cleon
Legend
Here's the next beastie, the Tripodero.
Now here's a curious thing, all my previous critters - the slide-rock bolter, agropelter, silver cat, snoligoster, gumberoo and whirling whimpus were converted from another monster.
I'm sure you're familiar with the process. Say, I'm statting up the Snow Wasset, I may take a Dire Badger, change it to Magical Beast, increase the burrow speed and lower the land speed, remove the claw attacks and boost the bite, add tremorsense, cold resistance and a Special Attack to represent its undersnow ambush and bob's your uncle, a new monster!
Would anyone like to hazard a guess as to what beasties I used as the base creatures for the previous critters? They were all originally monsters from the D&D 3.5 System Reference Document before being altered.
The prize on offer is, em, you get praised for your perspicacity and can say what Lumberjack Critter I'll do after I finish releasing the ones I've got finished or nearly-completed.
Now here's a curious thing, all my previous critters - the slide-rock bolter, agropelter, silver cat, snoligoster, gumberoo and whirling whimpus were converted from another monster.
I'm sure you're familiar with the process. Say, I'm statting up the Snow Wasset, I may take a Dire Badger, change it to Magical Beast, increase the burrow speed and lower the land speed, remove the claw attacks and boost the bite, add tremorsense, cold resistance and a Special Attack to represent its undersnow ambush and bob's your uncle, a new monster!
Would anyone like to hazard a guess as to what beasties I used as the base creatures for the previous critters? They were all originally monsters from the D&D 3.5 System Reference Document before being altered.
The prize on offer is, em, you get praised for your perspicacity and can say what Lumberjack Critter I'll do after I finish releasing the ones I've got finished or nearly-completed.
Cleon
Legend
Fearsome Critters from Lumberjack Tales - The Tripodero
Tripodero
Medium Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 3d10+3 (19 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 16 (+3 Dex, +3 natural), touch 13, flat-footed 13
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+4
Attack: Spit +6 ranged (1d4+1) or kick +4 melee (1d4+1) or bite +4 melee (1d6)
Full Attack: Spit +6 ranged (1d4+1) or kick +4 melee (1d4+1) and bite -1 melee (1d6)
[Spit attack is +7 ranged (1d4+2) within 30' with Point Blank Shot, +5/+5 ranged (1d4+1) with Rapid Shot, +6/+6 (1d4+2) with both Point Blank Shot and Rapid Shot]
Space/Reach: 5 ft.(10 ft. in tower stance) / 5 ft.(10 ft. reach with kick, unless in tower stance)
Special Attacks: Spit pellet
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent, telescoping legs, telescoping vision
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +2
Abilities: Str 13, Dex 16, Con 13, Int 3, Wis 13, Cha 6
Skills: Hide +6*, Move Silently +9, Spot +7*
Feats: Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot
Environment: Temperate plains
Organization: Solitary, pair, mated trio or family (3-9)
Challenge Rating: 2
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 4-6 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: —
Rising up out of the undergrowth is an animal with a small but solid body supported by three walking limbs, giving it a resemble to a three-legged stool. Amazingly, its legs extend like the tripod of a painter's easel and the creature grows several feet taller! Its head is set above and before its left and right legs, with a third limb for a tail. The creature's face is dominated by a long tapering snout, set beneath a large pair of goggling eyes and tiny ears shaped like those of a hog's. The animal is covered in short, coarse fur of a grey-brown colour, marked with darker blotches and stripes, plus a boar-like ridge of bristles running down its back.
Tripoderos live in areas of dense undergrowth such as chaparral and overgrown prairie, hunting for the birds and other small animals that are its main source of food. They walk upon two legs, which end in bird-like feet, and a highly modified kangaroo-like tail, all three limbs have many joints which can slide within their neighbours like the segments of a spyglass, allowing a tripodero to swiftly vary its height between as short as a jackrabbit to as tall as a giraffe. Tripoderos have superb long-distance eyesight, their eyes can magnify like a good pair of binoculars.
A typical tripodero has a compact head and body about two feet long, not including the foot-long protrusion of its narrow snout, and is most comfortable standing between four to six feet in height. It can collapse down to as little as a foot tall, or elevate itself to sixteen feet in height with its legs at maximum extension. They weigh about 150 pounds.
The above is an example of the largest species of tripodero, Collapsofemuris geocatapeltes. There are lesser varieties about the height of a bar-chair or foot-stool (size Small or Tiny), but these are too small to pose much of a threat to anything larger than a prairie dog.
At maximum height, a tripodero can move at twice its normal speed by virtue of its enormous stride-length. However, they are very reluctant to do so, since they could suffer serious injuries falling from their fifteen foot legs if they should slip or, worse, step in a gopher hole and take a leg-snapping tumble. Furthermore, at full extension a tripodero's legs are easily entangled in the thick scrubland that is their favourite habitat.
The Tripodero hunts while roaming about chapparal or grasslands, periodically elongating its legs to tower above the shrubbery and scan around for prey, but pulling in its limbs when it needs to present a compact form for crowding through undergrowth. If the tripodero sights game within a range of ten rods or so (165 feet), it takes aim and blows a pebble or sun-dried quid of clay through its snout. They carry a supply of such ammunition in their left cheek and rarely miss. If the prey is too far off, or the tripodero has no clear line of sight, the animal contracts its legs to conceal itself within the bush, then stalks to a more advantageous position from which to shoot. After felling its prey, the tripodero contracts its legs and bores its way through the brush to its victim, which it devours using a small but sturdy set of jaws concealed below its snout, staying put until the last bone is cracked and eaten.
Adult tripoderos often form ménage à trois to perpetuate their kind, like the European dunnock, mated pairs being less successful breeders. The females always produce triplets, so a tripodero family may include one of two litters of three young, depending on whether the bigamist is polygynous or polyandous.
Combat
Tripoderos rarely attack opponents as large as themselves, unless they are defending young or desperate with hunger. They prefer to stalk around opponents and snipe from a distance, using the hunting stratagem described above, resorting to kicks and bites if the enemy closes. When threatened, a tripodero instinctively shrinks to its smallest size and tries to hide, fleeing if this tactic fails.
Spit Pellet (Ex)
A tripodero's blowgun snout can spit pellets as a ranged weapon with a 50 ft range increment, applying its full damage bonus from strength, giving this natural weapon the same statistics as a sling. Their left cheek can hold up to nine shots in reserve.
Telescoping Legs (Ex)
A tripodero's telescoping legs provide it with a number of benefits:
Firstly, a tripodero can change its height as a swift action, assuming any one of the following four stances, which cover its regular posture and three extraordinary altitudes:
Tower stance - -3 circumstance penalty to Hide checks, +30 ft speed.
Normal stance - no adjustment to Hide checks or speed.
Short stance - +3 circumstance bonus to Hide checks, -10 ft. speed.
Belly stance - +6 circumstance bonus to Hide checks, -20 ft. speed.
A tripodero in tower stance is considered one size category larger for purposes of what space it occupies and can squeeze through. A tripodero in short or belly stance is considered one size category smaller for the same criteria. If a tripodero in tower stance falls through accident or assault, it adds 1d6 to the falling damage it suffers, as if it fell an additional ten feet. Tripoderos in tower stance that take a Run action must succeed at a DC 10 Reflex or Balance check or fall prone, taking 2d6 falling damage. Difficult surfaces will increase this DC.
Secondly, tripoderos that deliberately jump down a drop can shoot out their limbs to cushion the landing, thus subtracting 1d6 from their falling damage.
Thirdly, a tripodero's telescoping legs give it a 10 foot reach with its kick attack, unless it is in tower stance, whereupon its kick attack has the standard 5 foot reach, as its legs are already at full extension.
Telescoping Vision (Ex)
A tripodero can spend a move action to halve the range penalties applied to a Spot check.
Skills
+3 racial bonus on Hide, Move Silently and Spot checks. *In areas of tall grass or heavy undergrowth, the Hide bonus improves to +6. They gain reduced range penalties to Spot checks when using their Telescoping Vision.
Lore Checks
DC 12 - Weird animals that walk about on all-threes, inhabiting terrain with thick, low-lying vegetation. These beasts have compact bodies and a head that is nearly all long, narrow snout. Tripoderos have a pair of forelegs, plus a tail-leg at their back end. They can telescope these limbs in-and-out to vary their height to anywhere from a jackrabbit's and a giraffe's, which allows them to easily creep through undergrowth in compact form, or elevate their bodies above the brush to scan their surroundings.
DC 17 - Tripoderos hunt creatures smaller than themselves by shooting mud-pellets or pebbles through their snouts, attacking prey at distances of fifty yards or more. They use their telescoping legs to shrink into the undergrowth and stalk up to prey, then elevate their heads above the brush to shoot.
DC 22 - A tripodero can shoot pellets from its blowpipe snout some ten times, using a supply of ammunition stashed in their left cheek. The bulbous eyes of a tripodero can magnify far-off objects just like a spyglass, making it easy for the creature to spot things at a distance.
[note Lumberwood Critters generally lack darkvision, unlike standard Magical Beasts]
Tripodero
Medium Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 3d10+3 (19 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 16 (+3 Dex, +3 natural), touch 13, flat-footed 13
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+4
Attack: Spit +6 ranged (1d4+1) or kick +4 melee (1d4+1) or bite +4 melee (1d6)
Full Attack: Spit +6 ranged (1d4+1) or kick +4 melee (1d4+1) and bite -1 melee (1d6)
[Spit attack is +7 ranged (1d4+2) within 30' with Point Blank Shot, +5/+5 ranged (1d4+1) with Rapid Shot, +6/+6 (1d4+2) with both Point Blank Shot and Rapid Shot]
Space/Reach: 5 ft.(10 ft. in tower stance) / 5 ft.(10 ft. reach with kick, unless in tower stance)
Special Attacks: Spit pellet
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent, telescoping legs, telescoping vision
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +2
Abilities: Str 13, Dex 16, Con 13, Int 3, Wis 13, Cha 6
Skills: Hide +6*, Move Silently +9, Spot +7*
Feats: Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot
Environment: Temperate plains
Organization: Solitary, pair, mated trio or family (3-9)
Challenge Rating: 2
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 4-6 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: —
Rising up out of the undergrowth is an animal with a small but solid body supported by three walking limbs, giving it a resemble to a three-legged stool. Amazingly, its legs extend like the tripod of a painter's easel and the creature grows several feet taller! Its head is set above and before its left and right legs, with a third limb for a tail. The creature's face is dominated by a long tapering snout, set beneath a large pair of goggling eyes and tiny ears shaped like those of a hog's. The animal is covered in short, coarse fur of a grey-brown colour, marked with darker blotches and stripes, plus a boar-like ridge of bristles running down its back.
Tripoderos live in areas of dense undergrowth such as chaparral and overgrown prairie, hunting for the birds and other small animals that are its main source of food. They walk upon two legs, which end in bird-like feet, and a highly modified kangaroo-like tail, all three limbs have many joints which can slide within their neighbours like the segments of a spyglass, allowing a tripodero to swiftly vary its height between as short as a jackrabbit to as tall as a giraffe. Tripoderos have superb long-distance eyesight, their eyes can magnify like a good pair of binoculars.
A typical tripodero has a compact head and body about two feet long, not including the foot-long protrusion of its narrow snout, and is most comfortable standing between four to six feet in height. It can collapse down to as little as a foot tall, or elevate itself to sixteen feet in height with its legs at maximum extension. They weigh about 150 pounds.
The above is an example of the largest species of tripodero, Collapsofemuris geocatapeltes. There are lesser varieties about the height of a bar-chair or foot-stool (size Small or Tiny), but these are too small to pose much of a threat to anything larger than a prairie dog.
At maximum height, a tripodero can move at twice its normal speed by virtue of its enormous stride-length. However, they are very reluctant to do so, since they could suffer serious injuries falling from their fifteen foot legs if they should slip or, worse, step in a gopher hole and take a leg-snapping tumble. Furthermore, at full extension a tripodero's legs are easily entangled in the thick scrubland that is their favourite habitat.
The Tripodero hunts while roaming about chapparal or grasslands, periodically elongating its legs to tower above the shrubbery and scan around for prey, but pulling in its limbs when it needs to present a compact form for crowding through undergrowth. If the tripodero sights game within a range of ten rods or so (165 feet), it takes aim and blows a pebble or sun-dried quid of clay through its snout. They carry a supply of such ammunition in their left cheek and rarely miss. If the prey is too far off, or the tripodero has no clear line of sight, the animal contracts its legs to conceal itself within the bush, then stalks to a more advantageous position from which to shoot. After felling its prey, the tripodero contracts its legs and bores its way through the brush to its victim, which it devours using a small but sturdy set of jaws concealed below its snout, staying put until the last bone is cracked and eaten.
Adult tripoderos often form ménage à trois to perpetuate their kind, like the European dunnock, mated pairs being less successful breeders. The females always produce triplets, so a tripodero family may include one of two litters of three young, depending on whether the bigamist is polygynous or polyandous.
Combat
Tripoderos rarely attack opponents as large as themselves, unless they are defending young or desperate with hunger. They prefer to stalk around opponents and snipe from a distance, using the hunting stratagem described above, resorting to kicks and bites if the enemy closes. When threatened, a tripodero instinctively shrinks to its smallest size and tries to hide, fleeing if this tactic fails.
Spit Pellet (Ex)
A tripodero's blowgun snout can spit pellets as a ranged weapon with a 50 ft range increment, applying its full damage bonus from strength, giving this natural weapon the same statistics as a sling. Their left cheek can hold up to nine shots in reserve.
Telescoping Legs (Ex)
A tripodero's telescoping legs provide it with a number of benefits:
Firstly, a tripodero can change its height as a swift action, assuming any one of the following four stances, which cover its regular posture and three extraordinary altitudes:
Tower stance - -3 circumstance penalty to Hide checks, +30 ft speed.
Normal stance - no adjustment to Hide checks or speed.
Short stance - +3 circumstance bonus to Hide checks, -10 ft. speed.
Belly stance - +6 circumstance bonus to Hide checks, -20 ft. speed.
A tripodero in tower stance is considered one size category larger for purposes of what space it occupies and can squeeze through. A tripodero in short or belly stance is considered one size category smaller for the same criteria. If a tripodero in tower stance falls through accident or assault, it adds 1d6 to the falling damage it suffers, as if it fell an additional ten feet. Tripoderos in tower stance that take a Run action must succeed at a DC 10 Reflex or Balance check or fall prone, taking 2d6 falling damage. Difficult surfaces will increase this DC.
Secondly, tripoderos that deliberately jump down a drop can shoot out their limbs to cushion the landing, thus subtracting 1d6 from their falling damage.
Thirdly, a tripodero's telescoping legs give it a 10 foot reach with its kick attack, unless it is in tower stance, whereupon its kick attack has the standard 5 foot reach, as its legs are already at full extension.
Telescoping Vision (Ex)
A tripodero can spend a move action to halve the range penalties applied to a Spot check.
Skills
+3 racial bonus on Hide, Move Silently and Spot checks. *In areas of tall grass or heavy undergrowth, the Hide bonus improves to +6. They gain reduced range penalties to Spot checks when using their Telescoping Vision.
Lore Checks
DC 12 - Weird animals that walk about on all-threes, inhabiting terrain with thick, low-lying vegetation. These beasts have compact bodies and a head that is nearly all long, narrow snout. Tripoderos have a pair of forelegs, plus a tail-leg at their back end. They can telescope these limbs in-and-out to vary their height to anywhere from a jackrabbit's and a giraffe's, which allows them to easily creep through undergrowth in compact form, or elevate their bodies above the brush to scan their surroundings.
DC 17 - Tripoderos hunt creatures smaller than themselves by shooting mud-pellets or pebbles through their snouts, attacking prey at distances of fifty yards or more. They use their telescoping legs to shrink into the undergrowth and stalk up to prey, then elevate their heads above the brush to shoot.
DC 22 - A tripodero can shoot pellets from its blowpipe snout some ten times, using a supply of ammunition stashed in their left cheek. The bulbous eyes of a tripodero can magnify far-off objects just like a spyglass, making it easy for the creature to spot things at a distance.
[note Lumberwood Critters generally lack darkvision, unlike standard Magical Beasts]
Cleon
Legend
Fearsome Critters from Lumberjack Tales - The Beeskeeter
Beeskeeter
Small Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 1d10+2 (7 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 10 ft. (2 squares), fly 60 ft. (good)
Armor Class: 14 (+1 size, +3 Dex), touch 14, flat-footed 11
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/-4 (+4 attached, +8 transfixed if foe Tiny+; else -4 & +0)
Attack: Nose-sting +5 melee (1d4-1 plus blood drain) or tail-sting +5 melee (1d4-1 plus poison)
Full Attack: Nose-sting +5 melee (1d4-1 plus blood drain) or tail-sting +5 melee (1d4-1 plus poison)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./ 5 ft. (10 ft. with extra-long sting)
Special Attacks: Attach, blood drain, poison, transfix
Special Qualities: Breakable stingers, darkvision 60 ft., exchange stinger, extra-long stinger, hip-purses of holding, low-light vision, scent, verminous varmint
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +1
Abilities: Str 9, Dex 17, Con 15, Int 3, Wis 13, Cha 6
Skills: Listen +2, Spot +6, Survival +3* (+7 to track prey or orient itself)
Feats: Track, Weapon FinesseB
Environment: Temperate or warm forests and marshes
Organization: Solitary, buzz (2-4), swarm (5-10) or pool (11-20)
Challenge Rating: 1
Treasure: No coins; ½ goods (honey only); no items
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 2 HD (Small); 3-4 HD (Medium); 5-8 HD (Large); 9-16 HD (Huge); 17-32 HD (Gargantuan); 33-64 HD (Colossal)
Level Adjustment: —
Buzzing towards you is a flying insect of unnatural size. It has the forequarters and piercing mouthparts of a giant mosquito and the black-and-yellow striped hindquarters of a bee, complete with sting.
A beeskeeter is a monstrous flying insect, a ghastly hybrid spawned from the interbreeding of giant bees and skeeters (see below for details of Skeeters). The above statistics are for a beeskeeter some 30" in length, not including its foot-long stingers fore and aft, weighing about twenty pounds.
In some parts of the country, a beeskeeter this size is considered a mere baby, for these monsters can grow to epic proportions. There are legends of beeskeeters so immense they can not find animals big enough to prey upon, so they needs must feed upon Mother Earth herself, by drilling their nose-stinger deep into the bedrock to sup upon the black blood of the earth.
Beeskeeters inhabit country with plenty of flowering plants and warm-blooded prey, both of which they need for their sustenance, for these critters feed with both the blood-sucking nose of a skeeter and the mouth of a giant bee. Beeskeeters make honey, which they store within hollow trees and rock crevices. Indeed, they produce a quantity and quality of honey superior to giant bees of the same size. This honey is prized for its magical properties as well as it superb taste, so commands a good price among alchemists, spellcasters and top-ranking cooks, as well as rich folk with a sweet tooth. A few evil folk tough enough to resist their stingers even raise beeskeeters for their honey, with the added bonuses that the monsters pollinate their crops and attack intruders.
On each 'hip', beeskeeters have a purse resembling the pollen-sac on a honeybees' thigh. Beeskeeters' have the uncanny trick of unscrewing their nose- or tail-stinger, reaching into their hip-purse for another one, then screwing that stinger into the vacated socket. If a victim's too far off to jab with its normal stinger, they simply screw on an extra-long one. Even more amazing, an ordinary sized beeskeeter can scabbard an eight-foot long stinger in a hip-purse as small as a halfling's belt pouch, for these hip-purses are supernatural containers whose insides are much larger than their outsides. Each hip-purse has scabbards for three extra stingers, two regulation length and one extra-long, plus stowage space for an ample supply of vittals. Because the interior is an extradimensional space, anything stowed inside doesn't weigh the beeskeeter down.
While beeskeeters are blessedly rare most of the time, they can breed in great numbers when conditions are right for them, becoming a terrible affliction to both man and beast. A group of beeskeeters finds a sheltered hollow and fills it with water carried hence in their hip-purses. Into the resulting pool they lay dozens of eggs, which hatch into aquatic larvae the parent beeskeeters feed with blood and honey. Nurtured on this rich diet, the larvae grow with great rapidity, becoming pupae after three weeks or so. The adults lift each pupa out of the water and conceals it somewhere nearby. This not only relieves crowding in the teeming larva pool, but helps the beeskeeter species survive harsh seasons, for beeskeeter pupae can hibernate for years, reviving when they feel the warm, wet weather beeskeeters prefer.
Combat
A beeskeeter is not a subtle or unenthusiastic combatant. The instant they sight potential victims they make a bee-line for them, eagerly buzzing for blood. Normally, they start with their nose-sting attack in a bid to attach and blood drain, trying to transfix their opponent with their tail sting on subsequent rounds. A big beeskeeter faced with multiple foes may attach itself to one victim and fight its other opponents with its tail sting, beeskeeters of Huge size or larger are most prone to this tactic, since they can fly while carrying the weight of most humanoid foes and have the Combat Reflexes feat for making multiple attacks of opportunity.
Beeskeeters who have tasted blood are far less likely to flee a fight than ones who haven't. A beeskeeter that takes more that 25% or so of its hit points in damage without successfully using its blood drain ability usually flies away, discouraged, while one that is busy draining blood typically fights to the death.
Attach (Ex)
If a beeskeeter hits with a stinger attack it can fasten onto its opponent, effectively grappling its victim. It can then Blood Drain with a nose-stinger, Poison with a tail-stinger and try to Transfix its victim. An attached beeskeeter loses its Dexterity bonus to AC, unless its size category and Strength are both higher than the victim it's attached itself to. An attached beeskeeter can be struck with a weapon or grappled itself. To remove an attached beeskeeter through grappling, an opponent must achieve a pin against the creature.
Beeskeeters have a +8 racial bonus on grapple checks when attached to creatures larger than one size category smaller than themselves (already figured into the Base Attack/Grapple entry above), provided they're using regular-length stingers.
Blood Drain (Ex)
A beeskeeter drains blood, dealing 1d3 points of Constitution damage in any round when it begins its turn attached to a victim via its nose-stinger. Once it has dealt 7 points of Constitution damage, it detaches and flies off to digest the meal. If its victim dies before the beeskeeter’s appetite has been sated, the beeskeeter detaches and seeks a new target.
Breakable Stingers (Ex)
The stingers of a beeskeeter can be targeted for sunder attacks. They are relatively fragile, being equivalent to a light hafted weapon of Small size, thus having hardness 5 and 1 hp. Alternatively, an opponent grappling a beeskeeter can try to snap one of its stingers off by sheer strength, this requires a DC 12 Strength check. This DC is Strength based and does not vary with the beeskeeter's Hit Dice. Damage to a stinger also applies to the beeskeeter's total hit points.
Exchange Stingers (Su)
A beeskeeter can swap out either its nose- or tail-stinger for a spare stored in a hip-purse (See below), by spending a move action, it can swap both its nose- and tail-stingers at the same time with a standard action. A beeskeeter can scabbard six spare stingers within its hip-purses, four regular and two extra-long. Stingers are living organs that die if detached from a beeskeeter's nose, tail or scabbards for more than two rounds. The scabbards, and the hip-purses they're within, are also formed of living flesh and chitin. A beeskeeter's scabbards can grow a replacement for a dead or destroyed stinger in three days, or fully heal a broken or damaged stinger in one day.
Extra-Long Stinger (Ex)
A beeskeeter can exchange its regular stinger for one of extraordinary length. Such a stinger has all the properties of a Reach weapon, including the inability to strike creatures that are too close. A beeskeeter can Attach itself to a victim with an extra-long nose-stinger, but it does not gain the normal +8 racial bonus to grappling when using an extra-long stinger and cannot Transfix opponents.
Hip-Purses of Holding (Su)
A beeskeeter has two hip-purses, one on each thigh, each comprised of three scabbards for holding stings (two regular and one extra-long scabbard in each pouch), plus a sac for general stowage. These hip-purses function similarly to bags of holding, being non-dimensional spaces whose contents do not count against the monster's encumbrance, the stowage-sac can hold any number, size and shape of objects up to its weight and volume limits. The sting-scabbards can only hold a beeskeeter's own stings, their non-dimensional interiors existing for no other objects, not even the stings of an otherwise identical beeskeeter.
Hip-purses are living organs that can not be removed from the beeskeeter's body without rupturing. If a hip-purse is ruptured, all the contents of its stowage sac will spill out into the material plane around the beeskeeter, but not any scabbarded stings. A hip-purse can not be sundered, as it is a normal part of the beeskeeter's body and not a carried of worn object, but it can be attacked from the inside. Each hip-purse has twice the hp of the beeskeeter's stingers, and an Armour Class of 10 plus half the beeskeeter's natural armour. A ruptured hip-purse regains its supernatural storage ability once it is fully healed, a process which takes a day of natural healing.
A beeskeeter's hip-purses can stow a weight up to the creature's light load, half in each purse. [Conveniently, a light load is also the maximum load a beeskeeter can carry outside its hip-purses whilst flying.] For every ten pounds of weight capacity its stowage-sacs have one and a half cubic feet of volume capacity. The hip-purse statistics of standard beeskeeters of all sizes is listed below:
Beeskeeter Hip-Purses Statistics
Tiny: AC 10; hp 1; Capacity: 8 lbs & 1 cu. ft. (each pouch 4 lb ½ cu')
Small: AC 10; hp 2; Capacity: 22 lbs & 3 cu. ft. (each pouch 11 lb 1½ cu')
Medium: AC 10; hp 4; Capacity: 50 lbs & 7 cu. ft. (each pouch 25 lb 3½ cu')
Large: AC 11; hp 8; Capacity: 172 lbs & 25 cu. ft. (each pouch 86 lb 12½ cu')
Huge: AC 12; hp 16; Capacity: 612 lbs & 90 cu. ft. (each pouch 306 lb 45 cu')
Gargantuan: AC 14; hp 32; Capacity: 2768 lbs & 400 cu. ft. (each pouch 1384 lb 200 cu')
Colossal: AC 17; hp 64; Capacity: 19200 lbs & 2880 cu. ft. (each pouch 9600 lb 1440 cu')
Poison (Ex)
If a beeskeeter hits with its tail-sting or start its round attached or transfixed to a victim via its tail-stinger it may inject a dose of poison with the following properties: Injury, Fortitude DC 12, initial and secondary damage 1d3 Str. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Transfix (Ex)
On a successful grapple check, a beeskeeter that is attached to a victim by one stinger can attach itself with the other stinger, doing normal sting damage and injecting poison if this is the tail-stinger. Both stingers remain transfixed in the victim, and the beeskeeter can drain blood and pump in another dose of venom on any round it begins its turn transfixing a victim. To remove the beeskeeter, an opponent must grapple it and achieve a pin against the creature and succeed in a Strength contest against the beeskeeter. If the strength contest fails, the opponent only succeeds in removing one stinger (opponent's choice), and the monster remains attached to its victim by the other stinger, but not transfixed.
A beeskeeter gets a +4 circumstance bonus to grappling checks against a transfixed victim. (noted in the Base Attack/Grapple entry above).
Beeskeeters cannot use Transfix when wearing an extra-long sting on either their nose or tail.
Verminous Varmint (Ex)
Any power that works on Vermin, such as the spells giant vermin and repel vermin, will fully affect a beeskeeter as if it was a creature of the Vermin type instead of being a Magical Beast.
Skills
Beeskeeters have a +4 racial bonus on Spot checks. *They also have a +4 racial bonus on Survival checks to orient themselves and to track prey.
Lore Checks
DC 11 - Beeskeeters, dey be 'orrible bugs with da' front-half of a blood-sucking moskeeter an' da tail-half of a bee. Dem varmints are a scourge to man an' beast, dey buzz through they air loik banshees to fasten demselves on with both nose- an' tail-stingers, shootin' in poison with one end while suckin' out der victim's blood wit' de other end, til thers naught left but a dried-out husk.
DC 15 - If ye break a beeskeeter's stinger, it jus screws on a new one. They's got special long stingers dey can screw on for stingin' out o' reach places. Beeskeeters make mighty fine honey, so it's worth yer time trakkin' dem to ther nest.
DC 21 - Beeskeeters keep der extra stingers in hip-pouches dat are bigger on the inside than on the outside. Tha worse thing about beeskeeters is the varmints won't stop growin'. I've heard tell of a beeskeeter as big as ten mammoths, with stingers big as a whitebark pine tree!
Advanced and Pygmy Beeskeeters
For your convenience, here are compact stat-blocks for beeskeeters of all available sizes. Note that their attributes do not increase with size following the standard Advancement scheme, in a similar fashion to such oversized vermin as Monstrous Spiders.
The following list shows the complete feat progression of an advanced beeskeeter. It is listed in the order in which the beeskeeter acquires them rather then alphabetically. Thus a 12 HD beeskeeter, which receives five feats from its HD, would be given the first five feats on the list, plus the bonus feat of Weapon Finesse, giving it the feats Weapon FinesseB, Track, Alertness, Weapon Focus (sting), Combat Reflexes and Iron Will in that order.
Feats: Weapon FinesseB, Track, Alertness, Weapon Focus (sting), Combat Reflexes, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Improved Critical (sting), Great Constitution, Epic Will, Great Constitution (×2), Epic Reflexes, Damage Reduction (DR 3/–), Improved Natural Attack (sting), Epic Fortitude, Great Strength, Great Constitution(×3), Damage Reduction(×2, DR 6/–), Great Dexterity, Great Constitution (×4), Damage Reduction(×3, DR 9/–), Great Constitution (×5), Damage Reduction (×4, DR 12/–)
Tiny Beeskeeter(Hit Dice: ½d10+2(4hp)(stingers 1hp break DC10); Init: +3; Speed: 10 ft., fly 60 ft(good); AC: 15(+2 size, +3 Dex) touch 15, flat-footed 12; Base Attack/Grapple: +1/-10(-2 attached, +2 transfixing if foe Diminutive+, else -10 & -6)*; Attacks: Nose-sting +6 melee (1d3-3 plus 1d3 Con blood drain, sated by 5 Con) or tail-sting +6 melee (1d3-3 plus DC10 1d3/1d3 Str poison); Space/Reach: 2½ ft./0 ft.(5 ft. with extra-long sting); Saves: Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +1; Abilities: Str 5, Dex 17, Con 15, Int 3, Wis 13, Cha 6; Skills: Listen +2, Spot +6, Survival +3* (+7 to track prey or orient itself); Feats: Track, Weapon Finesse[FONT="]B; CR: ½?)
Small Beeskeeter(Hit Dice: 1d10+2(7hp)(stingers 1hp break DC12); Init: +3; Speed: 10 ft., fly 60 ft(good); AC: 14(+1 size, +3 Dex) touch 14, flat-footed 11; Base Attack/Grapple: +1/-4(+4 attached, +8 transfixing if foe Tiny+, else -4 & +0)*; Attacks: Nose-sting +5 melee (1d4-1 plus 1d3 Con blood drain, sated by 7 Con) or tail-sting +5 melee (1d4-1 plus DC12 1d3/1d3 Str poison); Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.(10 ft. with extra-long sting); Saves: Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +1; Abilities: Str 9, Dex 17, Con 15, Int 3, Wis 13, Cha 6; Skills: Listen +2, Spot +6, Survival +3* (+7 to track prey or orient itself); Feats: Track, Weapon Finesse[FONT="]B[/FONT]; CR: 1?)
Medium Beeskeeter(Hit Dice: 3d10+9(25hp)(stingers 2hp break DC14); Init: +3; Speed: 20 ft., fly 60 ft(good); AC: 14(+3 Dex, +1 natural) touch 13, flat-footed 11; Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+4(+12 attached, +16 transfixing if foe Small+, else +4 & +8)*; Attacks: Nose-sting +6 melee (1d6+1 plus 1d4 Con blood drain, sated by 15 Con) or tail-sting +6 melee (1d6+1 plus DC14 1d4/1d4 Str poison); Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.(10 ft. with extra-long sting); Saves: Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +2; Abilities: Str 13, Dex 17, Con 17, Int 3, Wis 13, Cha 6; Skills: Listen +4, Spot +8, Survival +5* (+9 to track prey or orient itself); Feats: Alertness, Track, Weapon Finesse[FONT="]B[/FONT]; CR: 3?)
Large Beeskeeter(Hit Dice: 5d10+15(42hp)(stingers 4hp break DC16); Init: +3; Speed: 20 ft., fly 60 ft(good); AC: 14(-1 size, +3 Dex, +2 natural) touch 12, flat-footed 11; Base Attack/Grapple: +5/+12(+20 attached, +24 transfixing if foe Medium+, else +12 & +16)*; Attacks: Nose-sting +7 melee (1d8+3 plus 1d6 Con blood drain, sated by 25 Con) or tail-sting +7 melee (1d8+3 plus DC15 1d6/1d6 Str poison); Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft.(10 ft. with extra-long sting); Saves: Fort +7, Ref +7, Will +2; Abilities: Str 17, Dex 17, Con 17, Int 3, Wis 13, Cha 6; Skills: Listen +4, Spot +10, Survival +5* (+9 to track prey or orient itself); Feats: Alertness, Track, Weapon Finesse[FONT="]B[/FONT]; CR: 5?)
Huge Beeskeeter(Hit Dice: 9d10+36(85hp)(stingers 8hp break DC18); Init: +3; Speed: 20 ft., fly 60 ft(good); AC: 16(-2 size, +3 Dex, +5 natural) touch 11, flat-footed 13; Base Attack/Grapple: +9/+22(+22 attached, +26 transfixing, +30 & +34 if foe Large+)*; Attacks: Nose-sting +13 melee (2d6+5 plus 1d8 Con blood drain, sated by 40 Con) or tail-sting +13 melee (2d6+5 plus DC18 1d8/1d8 Str poison); Space/Reach: 15 ft./10 ft.(20 ft. with extra-long sting); Saves: Fort +10, Ref +9, Will +4; Abilities: Str 21, Dex 17, Con 19, Int 3, Wis 13, Cha 6; Skills: Listen +6, Spot +12, Survival +5* (+9 to track prey or orient itself); Feats: Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Track, Weapon Finesse[FONT="]B[/FONT], Weapon Focus (sting); CR: 7?)
Gargantuan Beeskeeter(Hit Dice: 17d10+ 68(161hp)(stingers 16hp break DC21); Init: +3; Speed: 20 ft., fly 60 ft(good); AC: 18(-4 size, +3 Dex, +9 natural) touch 9, flat-footed 15; Base Attack/Grapple: +17/+37(+37 attached, +41 transfixing, +45 & +49 if foe Huge+)*; Attacks: Nose-sting +22 melee (2d8+8 plus 1d10 Con blood drain, sated by 50 Con) or tail-sting +22 melee (2d8+8 plus DC22 1d10/1d10 Str poison); Space/Reach: 20 ft./15 ft.(30 ft. with extra-long sting); Saves: Fort +14, Ref +15, Will +8; Abilities: Str 27, Dex 17, Con 19, Int 3, Wis 13, Cha 6; Skills: Listen +8, Spot +16, Survival +7* (+11 to track prey or orient itself); Feats: Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Track, Weapon Finesse[FONT="]B[/FONT], Weapon Focus (sting); CR: 10?)
Colossal Beeskeeter(Hit Dice: 33d10+165(346hp)(stingers 32hp break DC 24); Init: +2; Speed: 20 ft., fly 60 ft(good); AC: 18(-8 size, +2 Dex, +14 natural) touch 4, flat-footed 16; Base Attack/Grapple: +33/+60(+60 attached, +64 transfixing, +72 & +76 if foe Gargantuan+)*; Attacks: Nose-sting +37 melee (2d10+11/19-20 plus 2d6 Con blood drain, sated by 60 Con) or tail-sting +37 melee (2d10+11/19-20 plus DC31 2d6/2d6 Str poison); Space/Reach: 40 ft./30 ft.(60 ft. with extra-long sting); Saves: Fort +23, Ref +26, Will +17; Abilities: Str 33, Dex 15, Con 21, Int 3, Wis 13, Cha 6; Skills: Listen +16, Spot +24, Survival +7*(+11 to track prey or orient itself); Feats: Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Damage Reduction (DR 3/–), Epic Reflexes, Epic Will, Great Constitution (×2), Improved Critical (sting), Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Track, Weapon Finesse[FONT="]B[/FONT], Weapon Focus (sting); CR: 18?)
A beeskeeter which is advanced to its maximum HD has the following stat-block:
Colossal Beeskeeter, Maximized(Hit Dice: 64d10+448(800hp)(stingers 32hp break DC 25); Init: +3; Speed: 20 ft., fly 60 ft(good); AC: 19(-8 size, +3 Dex, +14 natural) touch 5, flat-footed 16; Base Attack/Grapple: +64/+92(+92 attached, +96 transfixing, +100 & +104 if foe Gargantuan+)*; Attacks: Nose-sting +69 melee (4d6+12/19-20 plus 2d6 Con blood drain, sated by 60 Con) or tail-sting +69 melee (4d6+12/19-20 plus DC49 2d6/2d6 Str poison); Space/Reach: 40 ft./30 ft.(60 ft. with extra-long sting); Saves: Fort +45, Ref +43, Will +28; Abilities: Str 34, Dex 16, Con 24, Int 3, Wis 13, Cha 6; Skills: Listen +31, Spot +40, Survival +7*(+11 to track prey or orient itself); Feats: Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Damage Reduction (×4, DR 12/–), Epic Fortitude, Epic Reflexes, Epic Will, Great Constitution (×5), Great Dexterity, Great Strength, Improved Critical (sting), Improved Natural Attack (sting), Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Perfect Health, Track, Weapon FinesseB, Weapon Focus (sting); CR: 27?)
Feats: Weapon FinesseB, Track1, Alertness2, Weapon Focus (sting)3, Combat Reflexes4, Iron Will5, Lightning Reflexes6, Improved Critical (sting)7, Great Constitution8, Epic Will9, Great Constitution (×2)10, Epic Reflexes11, Damage Reduction (DR 3/–)12, Improved Natural Attack (sting)13, Epic Fortitude14, Great Strength15, Great Constitution(×3)16, Damage Reduction(×2, DR 6/–)17, Great Dexterity18, Great Constitution (×4)19, Damage Reduction(×3, DR 9/–)20, Great Constitution (×5)21, Damage Reduction (×4, DR 12/–)22
Skeeters
A skeeter is an unnaturally large magical relative of a mosquito. Skeeters are similar to beeskeeters, except they tote but one hip-purse and lack a bee's striped abdomen and tail-stings, nor any of the abilities associated with them. Use the same stats as beeskeeters, adjusted as follows:
Remove the tail-sting attack.
Note: Do not increase the strength bonus for nose-sting damage by 50%, despite this being the skeeter's sole attack.[This is just to make the statblock simpler, and it is in keeping with the stinger being equivalent to a light weapon.]
Remove the Poison and Transfix special attacks
Double the Con limit to the Blood Drain special attack. (so a small Skeeter can drain 14 Con)
Change Hip-Purses of Holding to Hip-Purse of Holding, with half the total carrying capacity, since skeeters only have one purse. Do not change the total number of scabbards, a skeeter's single hip-purse holds as many stingers as both of a beeskeeter's hip-purses (four regular & two extra-long stings).
Skeeters have no treasure, they do not make honey.
Challenge Rating becomes:
Tiny Skeeter: CR ¼
Small Skeeter: CR ½
Medium Skeeter: CR 2
Large Skeeter: CR 4
Huge Skeeter: CR 5
Gargantuan Skeeter: CR 8
Colossal Skeeter: CR 16
Colossal Skeeter, Maximized (64 HD): CR 24[/FONT]
Beeskeeter
Small Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 1d10+2 (7 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 10 ft. (2 squares), fly 60 ft. (good)
Armor Class: 14 (+1 size, +3 Dex), touch 14, flat-footed 11
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/-4 (+4 attached, +8 transfixed if foe Tiny+; else -4 & +0)
Attack: Nose-sting +5 melee (1d4-1 plus blood drain) or tail-sting +5 melee (1d4-1 plus poison)
Full Attack: Nose-sting +5 melee (1d4-1 plus blood drain) or tail-sting +5 melee (1d4-1 plus poison)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./ 5 ft. (10 ft. with extra-long sting)
Special Attacks: Attach, blood drain, poison, transfix
Special Qualities: Breakable stingers, darkvision 60 ft., exchange stinger, extra-long stinger, hip-purses of holding, low-light vision, scent, verminous varmint
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +1
Abilities: Str 9, Dex 17, Con 15, Int 3, Wis 13, Cha 6
Skills: Listen +2, Spot +6, Survival +3* (+7 to track prey or orient itself)
Feats: Track, Weapon FinesseB
Environment: Temperate or warm forests and marshes
Organization: Solitary, buzz (2-4), swarm (5-10) or pool (11-20)
Challenge Rating: 1
Treasure: No coins; ½ goods (honey only); no items
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 2 HD (Small); 3-4 HD (Medium); 5-8 HD (Large); 9-16 HD (Huge); 17-32 HD (Gargantuan); 33-64 HD (Colossal)
Level Adjustment: —
Buzzing towards you is a flying insect of unnatural size. It has the forequarters and piercing mouthparts of a giant mosquito and the black-and-yellow striped hindquarters of a bee, complete with sting.
A beeskeeter is a monstrous flying insect, a ghastly hybrid spawned from the interbreeding of giant bees and skeeters (see below for details of Skeeters). The above statistics are for a beeskeeter some 30" in length, not including its foot-long stingers fore and aft, weighing about twenty pounds.
In some parts of the country, a beeskeeter this size is considered a mere baby, for these monsters can grow to epic proportions. There are legends of beeskeeters so immense they can not find animals big enough to prey upon, so they needs must feed upon Mother Earth herself, by drilling their nose-stinger deep into the bedrock to sup upon the black blood of the earth.
Beeskeeters inhabit country with plenty of flowering plants and warm-blooded prey, both of which they need for their sustenance, for these critters feed with both the blood-sucking nose of a skeeter and the mouth of a giant bee. Beeskeeters make honey, which they store within hollow trees and rock crevices. Indeed, they produce a quantity and quality of honey superior to giant bees of the same size. This honey is prized for its magical properties as well as it superb taste, so commands a good price among alchemists, spellcasters and top-ranking cooks, as well as rich folk with a sweet tooth. A few evil folk tough enough to resist their stingers even raise beeskeeters for their honey, with the added bonuses that the monsters pollinate their crops and attack intruders.
On each 'hip', beeskeeters have a purse resembling the pollen-sac on a honeybees' thigh. Beeskeeters' have the uncanny trick of unscrewing their nose- or tail-stinger, reaching into their hip-purse for another one, then screwing that stinger into the vacated socket. If a victim's too far off to jab with its normal stinger, they simply screw on an extra-long one. Even more amazing, an ordinary sized beeskeeter can scabbard an eight-foot long stinger in a hip-purse as small as a halfling's belt pouch, for these hip-purses are supernatural containers whose insides are much larger than their outsides. Each hip-purse has scabbards for three extra stingers, two regulation length and one extra-long, plus stowage space for an ample supply of vittals. Because the interior is an extradimensional space, anything stowed inside doesn't weigh the beeskeeter down.
While beeskeeters are blessedly rare most of the time, they can breed in great numbers when conditions are right for them, becoming a terrible affliction to both man and beast. A group of beeskeeters finds a sheltered hollow and fills it with water carried hence in their hip-purses. Into the resulting pool they lay dozens of eggs, which hatch into aquatic larvae the parent beeskeeters feed with blood and honey. Nurtured on this rich diet, the larvae grow with great rapidity, becoming pupae after three weeks or so. The adults lift each pupa out of the water and conceals it somewhere nearby. This not only relieves crowding in the teeming larva pool, but helps the beeskeeter species survive harsh seasons, for beeskeeter pupae can hibernate for years, reviving when they feel the warm, wet weather beeskeeters prefer.
Combat
A beeskeeter is not a subtle or unenthusiastic combatant. The instant they sight potential victims they make a bee-line for them, eagerly buzzing for blood. Normally, they start with their nose-sting attack in a bid to attach and blood drain, trying to transfix their opponent with their tail sting on subsequent rounds. A big beeskeeter faced with multiple foes may attach itself to one victim and fight its other opponents with its tail sting, beeskeeters of Huge size or larger are most prone to this tactic, since they can fly while carrying the weight of most humanoid foes and have the Combat Reflexes feat for making multiple attacks of opportunity.
Beeskeeters who have tasted blood are far less likely to flee a fight than ones who haven't. A beeskeeter that takes more that 25% or so of its hit points in damage without successfully using its blood drain ability usually flies away, discouraged, while one that is busy draining blood typically fights to the death.
Attach (Ex)
If a beeskeeter hits with a stinger attack it can fasten onto its opponent, effectively grappling its victim. It can then Blood Drain with a nose-stinger, Poison with a tail-stinger and try to Transfix its victim. An attached beeskeeter loses its Dexterity bonus to AC, unless its size category and Strength are both higher than the victim it's attached itself to. An attached beeskeeter can be struck with a weapon or grappled itself. To remove an attached beeskeeter through grappling, an opponent must achieve a pin against the creature.
Beeskeeters have a +8 racial bonus on grapple checks when attached to creatures larger than one size category smaller than themselves (already figured into the Base Attack/Grapple entry above), provided they're using regular-length stingers.
Blood Drain (Ex)
A beeskeeter drains blood, dealing 1d3 points of Constitution damage in any round when it begins its turn attached to a victim via its nose-stinger. Once it has dealt 7 points of Constitution damage, it detaches and flies off to digest the meal. If its victim dies before the beeskeeter’s appetite has been sated, the beeskeeter detaches and seeks a new target.
Breakable Stingers (Ex)
The stingers of a beeskeeter can be targeted for sunder attacks. They are relatively fragile, being equivalent to a light hafted weapon of Small size, thus having hardness 5 and 1 hp. Alternatively, an opponent grappling a beeskeeter can try to snap one of its stingers off by sheer strength, this requires a DC 12 Strength check. This DC is Strength based and does not vary with the beeskeeter's Hit Dice. Damage to a stinger also applies to the beeskeeter's total hit points.
Exchange Stingers (Su)
A beeskeeter can swap out either its nose- or tail-stinger for a spare stored in a hip-purse (See below), by spending a move action, it can swap both its nose- and tail-stingers at the same time with a standard action. A beeskeeter can scabbard six spare stingers within its hip-purses, four regular and two extra-long. Stingers are living organs that die if detached from a beeskeeter's nose, tail or scabbards for more than two rounds. The scabbards, and the hip-purses they're within, are also formed of living flesh and chitin. A beeskeeter's scabbards can grow a replacement for a dead or destroyed stinger in three days, or fully heal a broken or damaged stinger in one day.
Extra-Long Stinger (Ex)
A beeskeeter can exchange its regular stinger for one of extraordinary length. Such a stinger has all the properties of a Reach weapon, including the inability to strike creatures that are too close. A beeskeeter can Attach itself to a victim with an extra-long nose-stinger, but it does not gain the normal +8 racial bonus to grappling when using an extra-long stinger and cannot Transfix opponents.
Hip-Purses of Holding (Su)
A beeskeeter has two hip-purses, one on each thigh, each comprised of three scabbards for holding stings (two regular and one extra-long scabbard in each pouch), plus a sac for general stowage. These hip-purses function similarly to bags of holding, being non-dimensional spaces whose contents do not count against the monster's encumbrance, the stowage-sac can hold any number, size and shape of objects up to its weight and volume limits. The sting-scabbards can only hold a beeskeeter's own stings, their non-dimensional interiors existing for no other objects, not even the stings of an otherwise identical beeskeeter.
Hip-purses are living organs that can not be removed from the beeskeeter's body without rupturing. If a hip-purse is ruptured, all the contents of its stowage sac will spill out into the material plane around the beeskeeter, but not any scabbarded stings. A hip-purse can not be sundered, as it is a normal part of the beeskeeter's body and not a carried of worn object, but it can be attacked from the inside. Each hip-purse has twice the hp of the beeskeeter's stingers, and an Armour Class of 10 plus half the beeskeeter's natural armour. A ruptured hip-purse regains its supernatural storage ability once it is fully healed, a process which takes a day of natural healing.
A beeskeeter's hip-purses can stow a weight up to the creature's light load, half in each purse. [Conveniently, a light load is also the maximum load a beeskeeter can carry outside its hip-purses whilst flying.] For every ten pounds of weight capacity its stowage-sacs have one and a half cubic feet of volume capacity. The hip-purse statistics of standard beeskeeters of all sizes is listed below:
Beeskeeter Hip-Purses Statistics
Tiny: AC 10; hp 1; Capacity: 8 lbs & 1 cu. ft. (each pouch 4 lb ½ cu')
Small: AC 10; hp 2; Capacity: 22 lbs & 3 cu. ft. (each pouch 11 lb 1½ cu')
Medium: AC 10; hp 4; Capacity: 50 lbs & 7 cu. ft. (each pouch 25 lb 3½ cu')
Large: AC 11; hp 8; Capacity: 172 lbs & 25 cu. ft. (each pouch 86 lb 12½ cu')
Huge: AC 12; hp 16; Capacity: 612 lbs & 90 cu. ft. (each pouch 306 lb 45 cu')
Gargantuan: AC 14; hp 32; Capacity: 2768 lbs & 400 cu. ft. (each pouch 1384 lb 200 cu')
Colossal: AC 17; hp 64; Capacity: 19200 lbs & 2880 cu. ft. (each pouch 9600 lb 1440 cu')
Poison (Ex)
If a beeskeeter hits with its tail-sting or start its round attached or transfixed to a victim via its tail-stinger it may inject a dose of poison with the following properties: Injury, Fortitude DC 12, initial and secondary damage 1d3 Str. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Transfix (Ex)
On a successful grapple check, a beeskeeter that is attached to a victim by one stinger can attach itself with the other stinger, doing normal sting damage and injecting poison if this is the tail-stinger. Both stingers remain transfixed in the victim, and the beeskeeter can drain blood and pump in another dose of venom on any round it begins its turn transfixing a victim. To remove the beeskeeter, an opponent must grapple it and achieve a pin against the creature and succeed in a Strength contest against the beeskeeter. If the strength contest fails, the opponent only succeeds in removing one stinger (opponent's choice), and the monster remains attached to its victim by the other stinger, but not transfixed.
A beeskeeter gets a +4 circumstance bonus to grappling checks against a transfixed victim. (noted in the Base Attack/Grapple entry above).
Beeskeeters cannot use Transfix when wearing an extra-long sting on either their nose or tail.
Verminous Varmint (Ex)
Any power that works on Vermin, such as the spells giant vermin and repel vermin, will fully affect a beeskeeter as if it was a creature of the Vermin type instead of being a Magical Beast.
Skills
Beeskeeters have a +4 racial bonus on Spot checks. *They also have a +4 racial bonus on Survival checks to orient themselves and to track prey.
Lore Checks
DC 11 - Beeskeeters, dey be 'orrible bugs with da' front-half of a blood-sucking moskeeter an' da tail-half of a bee. Dem varmints are a scourge to man an' beast, dey buzz through they air loik banshees to fasten demselves on with both nose- an' tail-stingers, shootin' in poison with one end while suckin' out der victim's blood wit' de other end, til thers naught left but a dried-out husk.
DC 15 - If ye break a beeskeeter's stinger, it jus screws on a new one. They's got special long stingers dey can screw on for stingin' out o' reach places. Beeskeeters make mighty fine honey, so it's worth yer time trakkin' dem to ther nest.
DC 21 - Beeskeeters keep der extra stingers in hip-pouches dat are bigger on the inside than on the outside. Tha worse thing about beeskeeters is the varmints won't stop growin'. I've heard tell of a beeskeeter as big as ten mammoths, with stingers big as a whitebark pine tree!
Advanced and Pygmy Beeskeeters
For your convenience, here are compact stat-blocks for beeskeeters of all available sizes. Note that their attributes do not increase with size following the standard Advancement scheme, in a similar fashion to such oversized vermin as Monstrous Spiders.
The following list shows the complete feat progression of an advanced beeskeeter. It is listed in the order in which the beeskeeter acquires them rather then alphabetically. Thus a 12 HD beeskeeter, which receives five feats from its HD, would be given the first five feats on the list, plus the bonus feat of Weapon Finesse, giving it the feats Weapon FinesseB, Track, Alertness, Weapon Focus (sting), Combat Reflexes and Iron Will in that order.
Feats: Weapon FinesseB, Track, Alertness, Weapon Focus (sting), Combat Reflexes, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Improved Critical (sting), Great Constitution, Epic Will, Great Constitution (×2), Epic Reflexes, Damage Reduction (DR 3/–), Improved Natural Attack (sting), Epic Fortitude, Great Strength, Great Constitution(×3), Damage Reduction(×2, DR 6/–), Great Dexterity, Great Constitution (×4), Damage Reduction(×3, DR 9/–), Great Constitution (×5), Damage Reduction (×4, DR 12/–)
Tiny Beeskeeter(Hit Dice: ½d10+2(4hp)(stingers 1hp break DC10); Init: +3; Speed: 10 ft., fly 60 ft(good); AC: 15(+2 size, +3 Dex) touch 15, flat-footed 12; Base Attack/Grapple: +1/-10(-2 attached, +2 transfixing if foe Diminutive+, else -10 & -6)*; Attacks: Nose-sting +6 melee (1d3-3 plus 1d3 Con blood drain, sated by 5 Con) or tail-sting +6 melee (1d3-3 plus DC10 1d3/1d3 Str poison); Space/Reach: 2½ ft./0 ft.(5 ft. with extra-long sting); Saves: Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +1; Abilities: Str 5, Dex 17, Con 15, Int 3, Wis 13, Cha 6; Skills: Listen +2, Spot +6, Survival +3* (+7 to track prey or orient itself); Feats: Track, Weapon Finesse[FONT="]B; CR: ½?)
Small Beeskeeter(Hit Dice: 1d10+2(7hp)(stingers 1hp break DC12); Init: +3; Speed: 10 ft., fly 60 ft(good); AC: 14(+1 size, +3 Dex) touch 14, flat-footed 11; Base Attack/Grapple: +1/-4(+4 attached, +8 transfixing if foe Tiny+, else -4 & +0)*; Attacks: Nose-sting +5 melee (1d4-1 plus 1d3 Con blood drain, sated by 7 Con) or tail-sting +5 melee (1d4-1 plus DC12 1d3/1d3 Str poison); Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.(10 ft. with extra-long sting); Saves: Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +1; Abilities: Str 9, Dex 17, Con 15, Int 3, Wis 13, Cha 6; Skills: Listen +2, Spot +6, Survival +3* (+7 to track prey or orient itself); Feats: Track, Weapon Finesse[FONT="]B[/FONT]; CR: 1?)
Medium Beeskeeter(Hit Dice: 3d10+9(25hp)(stingers 2hp break DC14); Init: +3; Speed: 20 ft., fly 60 ft(good); AC: 14(+3 Dex, +1 natural) touch 13, flat-footed 11; Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+4(+12 attached, +16 transfixing if foe Small+, else +4 & +8)*; Attacks: Nose-sting +6 melee (1d6+1 plus 1d4 Con blood drain, sated by 15 Con) or tail-sting +6 melee (1d6+1 plus DC14 1d4/1d4 Str poison); Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.(10 ft. with extra-long sting); Saves: Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +2; Abilities: Str 13, Dex 17, Con 17, Int 3, Wis 13, Cha 6; Skills: Listen +4, Spot +8, Survival +5* (+9 to track prey or orient itself); Feats: Alertness, Track, Weapon Finesse[FONT="]B[/FONT]; CR: 3?)
Large Beeskeeter(Hit Dice: 5d10+15(42hp)(stingers 4hp break DC16); Init: +3; Speed: 20 ft., fly 60 ft(good); AC: 14(-1 size, +3 Dex, +2 natural) touch 12, flat-footed 11; Base Attack/Grapple: +5/+12(+20 attached, +24 transfixing if foe Medium+, else +12 & +16)*; Attacks: Nose-sting +7 melee (1d8+3 plus 1d6 Con blood drain, sated by 25 Con) or tail-sting +7 melee (1d8+3 plus DC15 1d6/1d6 Str poison); Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft.(10 ft. with extra-long sting); Saves: Fort +7, Ref +7, Will +2; Abilities: Str 17, Dex 17, Con 17, Int 3, Wis 13, Cha 6; Skills: Listen +4, Spot +10, Survival +5* (+9 to track prey or orient itself); Feats: Alertness, Track, Weapon Finesse[FONT="]B[/FONT]; CR: 5?)
Huge Beeskeeter(Hit Dice: 9d10+36(85hp)(stingers 8hp break DC18); Init: +3; Speed: 20 ft., fly 60 ft(good); AC: 16(-2 size, +3 Dex, +5 natural) touch 11, flat-footed 13; Base Attack/Grapple: +9/+22(+22 attached, +26 transfixing, +30 & +34 if foe Large+)*; Attacks: Nose-sting +13 melee (2d6+5 plus 1d8 Con blood drain, sated by 40 Con) or tail-sting +13 melee (2d6+5 plus DC18 1d8/1d8 Str poison); Space/Reach: 15 ft./10 ft.(20 ft. with extra-long sting); Saves: Fort +10, Ref +9, Will +4; Abilities: Str 21, Dex 17, Con 19, Int 3, Wis 13, Cha 6; Skills: Listen +6, Spot +12, Survival +5* (+9 to track prey or orient itself); Feats: Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Track, Weapon Finesse[FONT="]B[/FONT], Weapon Focus (sting); CR: 7?)
Gargantuan Beeskeeter(Hit Dice: 17d10+ 68(161hp)(stingers 16hp break DC21); Init: +3; Speed: 20 ft., fly 60 ft(good); AC: 18(-4 size, +3 Dex, +9 natural) touch 9, flat-footed 15; Base Attack/Grapple: +17/+37(+37 attached, +41 transfixing, +45 & +49 if foe Huge+)*; Attacks: Nose-sting +22 melee (2d8+8 plus 1d10 Con blood drain, sated by 50 Con) or tail-sting +22 melee (2d8+8 plus DC22 1d10/1d10 Str poison); Space/Reach: 20 ft./15 ft.(30 ft. with extra-long sting); Saves: Fort +14, Ref +15, Will +8; Abilities: Str 27, Dex 17, Con 19, Int 3, Wis 13, Cha 6; Skills: Listen +8, Spot +16, Survival +7* (+11 to track prey or orient itself); Feats: Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Track, Weapon Finesse[FONT="]B[/FONT], Weapon Focus (sting); CR: 10?)
Colossal Beeskeeter(Hit Dice: 33d10+165(346hp)(stingers 32hp break DC 24); Init: +2; Speed: 20 ft., fly 60 ft(good); AC: 18(-8 size, +2 Dex, +14 natural) touch 4, flat-footed 16; Base Attack/Grapple: +33/+60(+60 attached, +64 transfixing, +72 & +76 if foe Gargantuan+)*; Attacks: Nose-sting +37 melee (2d10+11/19-20 plus 2d6 Con blood drain, sated by 60 Con) or tail-sting +37 melee (2d10+11/19-20 plus DC31 2d6/2d6 Str poison); Space/Reach: 40 ft./30 ft.(60 ft. with extra-long sting); Saves: Fort +23, Ref +26, Will +17; Abilities: Str 33, Dex 15, Con 21, Int 3, Wis 13, Cha 6; Skills: Listen +16, Spot +24, Survival +7*(+11 to track prey or orient itself); Feats: Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Damage Reduction (DR 3/–), Epic Reflexes, Epic Will, Great Constitution (×2), Improved Critical (sting), Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Track, Weapon Finesse[FONT="]B[/FONT], Weapon Focus (sting); CR: 18?)
A beeskeeter which is advanced to its maximum HD has the following stat-block:
Colossal Beeskeeter, Maximized(Hit Dice: 64d10+448(800hp)(stingers 32hp break DC 25); Init: +3; Speed: 20 ft., fly 60 ft(good); AC: 19(-8 size, +3 Dex, +14 natural) touch 5, flat-footed 16; Base Attack/Grapple: +64/+92(+92 attached, +96 transfixing, +100 & +104 if foe Gargantuan+)*; Attacks: Nose-sting +69 melee (4d6+12/19-20 plus 2d6 Con blood drain, sated by 60 Con) or tail-sting +69 melee (4d6+12/19-20 plus DC49 2d6/2d6 Str poison); Space/Reach: 40 ft./30 ft.(60 ft. with extra-long sting); Saves: Fort +45, Ref +43, Will +28; Abilities: Str 34, Dex 16, Con 24, Int 3, Wis 13, Cha 6; Skills: Listen +31, Spot +40, Survival +7*(+11 to track prey or orient itself); Feats: Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Damage Reduction (×4, DR 12/–), Epic Fortitude, Epic Reflexes, Epic Will, Great Constitution (×5), Great Dexterity, Great Strength, Improved Critical (sting), Improved Natural Attack (sting), Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Perfect Health, Track, Weapon FinesseB, Weapon Focus (sting); CR: 27?)
Feats: Weapon FinesseB, Track1, Alertness2, Weapon Focus (sting)3, Combat Reflexes4, Iron Will5, Lightning Reflexes6, Improved Critical (sting)7, Great Constitution8, Epic Will9, Great Constitution (×2)10, Epic Reflexes11, Damage Reduction (DR 3/–)12, Improved Natural Attack (sting)13, Epic Fortitude14, Great Strength15, Great Constitution(×3)16, Damage Reduction(×2, DR 6/–)17, Great Dexterity18, Great Constitution (×4)19, Damage Reduction(×3, DR 9/–)20, Great Constitution (×5)21, Damage Reduction (×4, DR 12/–)22
Skeeters
A skeeter is an unnaturally large magical relative of a mosquito. Skeeters are similar to beeskeeters, except they tote but one hip-purse and lack a bee's striped abdomen and tail-stings, nor any of the abilities associated with them. Use the same stats as beeskeeters, adjusted as follows:
Remove the tail-sting attack.
Note: Do not increase the strength bonus for nose-sting damage by 50%, despite this being the skeeter's sole attack.[This is just to make the statblock simpler, and it is in keeping with the stinger being equivalent to a light weapon.]
Remove the Poison and Transfix special attacks
Double the Con limit to the Blood Drain special attack. (so a small Skeeter can drain 14 Con)
Change Hip-Purses of Holding to Hip-Purse of Holding, with half the total carrying capacity, since skeeters only have one purse. Do not change the total number of scabbards, a skeeter's single hip-purse holds as many stingers as both of a beeskeeter's hip-purses (four regular & two extra-long stings).
Skeeters have no treasure, they do not make honey.
Challenge Rating becomes:
Tiny Skeeter: CR ¼
Small Skeeter: CR ½
Medium Skeeter: CR 2
Large Skeeter: CR 4
Huge Skeeter: CR 5
Gargantuan Skeeter: CR 8
Colossal Skeeter: CR 16
Colossal Skeeter, Maximized (64 HD): CR 24[/FONT]
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freyar
Extradimensional Explorer
Well, the main thing to say is keep them coming! 
These beeskeeters are hilarious. I can just imagine them stopping to change out their stings.
But are they smart enough to know when to do that? I'd give them Int 5 at least to know when to swap stings effectively, I think.
These beeskeeters are hilarious. I can just imagine them stopping to change out their stings.
But are they smart enough to know when to do that? I'd give them Int 5 at least to know when to swap stings effectively, I think.
Cleon
Legend
Well, the main thing to say is keep them coming!
These beeskeeters are hilarious. I can just imagine them stopping to change out their stings.
Thanks freyar, they were fun to right up. I found them hilarious too, they reminded me a lot of anold-fashioned cartoon with dancing anthropomorphic bugs.
I mashed together a lot of folk-tales about both Skeeters and Beeskeeters to get the final result, so they ended up quite complicated. I'm a bit unsure about the Challenge Rating of the Advanced versions, since I've very little experience with high-level D&D campaigns. I ended up basically guessing a number that felt right.
As for the Intelligence, I played with the idea of giving them Int 3, but felt it was reasonable to think an animal-level creatures would just know when to swap stingers by instinct. Still there's a case for bumping their Intelligence up a bit, although Int 5 seems a bit high to me. I read one folk-tale were a pair of skeeters have a conversation, but maybe they were awakened skeeters - what crazy druid would do that!
Oh what the heck, I'll bump it up to Int 3.
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