Funnel Worm, level 21 elite brute

[Mesh Hong]

My PCs have recently set out on a desert adventure, and no trek across the sandy wastes would be complete without sand worms!

Here are the stats for their first encounter. 4 Funnel Worms vs. 6 level 22 PCs with the added interest that they have to protect their level 11 guide (who is massively out of his depth facing Epic encounters).

Funnel Worm Level 21 Elite Brute
Huge Natural Beast (blind) XP 6,400

Initiative +14 Senses Perception +21, tremorsense 20
HP 442; Bloodied 221
Regeneration 10, necrotic stops regeneration on next turn
AC 33; Fortitude 35, Reflex 31, Will 33
Immune gaze; Vulnerable 10 poison
Saving Throws +2
Speed 5 (sandwalk), burrow 6
Action Points 1

Bite (Standard; at-will)
Reach 2; Attack +24 vs. AC; 3d6+9 damage; on hit target is grabbed
(escape ends), Funnel Worm may only use this attack if it is not currently
grabbing a creature

Slam (Standard; at-will)
Reach 2; attack +24 vs, AC; 3d8+9 damage; on hit target is pushed 2
squares and knocked prone

Double Attack (Standard; at-will)
Funnel Worm makes 2 basic attacks

Swallow Whole (Standard; at-will) ♦ grabbed target only
Grabbed target only; attack +22 vs. Fortitude or Reflex (which ever
higher); 4d10+9 damage; on hit target is swallowed (escape or death of
Worm ends); a swallowed target has no line of effect to non swallowed
creatures other than the Worm, and is dazed and takes 20 ongoing acid
damage, a swallowed creature may escape by making 2 DC35 athletics or
acrobatics checks, on escape also see Upset Stomach

Upset Stomach (Immediate Reaction; at-will) ♦ acid, swallowed
creature escapes
When any swallowed creature escapes from being swallowed; close blast
5; must include escaping creature in blast; attack +22 vs. Fortitude;
4d10+8 acid damage

Alignment Unaligned
Skills Endurance +23
Str 28 (+19) Dex 18 (+14) Wis 22 (+16)
Con 26 (+18) Int 3 (+6) Cha 3 (+6)

 

[Flipguarder]

I had the same thought over and over while reading this:

"That's a little off... no wait, ok never mind that's good. Kinda really good actually."

Good work as always.

Just one thought, have you thought about making it a lurker instead of a brute, i feel the desert landscape would have a distinct lack of lurkers and this could be a good place to put one.

 

[Mesh Hong]

Yes it could have been a lurker as it lies in wait under the sand then bursts forth to attack, but I felt that it was more brutish because once on the surface it relies on strength to feed itself.

When designing this creature I purposely kept it as simple as possible to run. I didn't give it any recharge or encounter powers to see how that effected the speed of combat. If the creature was a lurker instead of a brute it would need some way of disengaging and the entire combat would be more drawn out which was not what I was going for in this case.

In practice the encounter I ran worked out at about the level I wanted and I never felt that the creature was lacking an appropriate attack.

If I was to use them again the only thing I would have another look at is the Swallow Whole attack +22 vs. Fortitude or Reflex (which ever higher). It is maybe a little weak using the brute secondary attack value, but really this is compensated for by the scale of damage if it actually manages to swallow someone.

 

[Flipguarder]

My experience with powers only usable when grabbing a creature is that they are much harder to pull off then Wotc seems to give them credit for. Its much easier in this edition to escape than in previous editions.

 

[Mesh Hong]

agreed.

I held their action points until they had a target grabbed so that they could immediately try and swallow a target before it had a chance to act.

 

[Rachel]

Nice monster. A few things I thought of while checking it out:

1) Why a "Funnel" Worm. I don't see anything indicating a funnel-type ability, or perhaps a funnel-type dwelling. Just curious.
2) As a Huge creature, seems like it's missing a Reach entry. Reach 2 I would think, or perhaps 3. Threatening reach? It's your call.
3) An alternate way to do:
Double Attack (Standard; at-will)
Funnel Worm makes 2 basic attacks
-You could alter the Worm's SLAM attack to no pushback, but still knocks prone.
This would lead to:
Double Attack (Standard; at-will)
Funnel Worm makes a SLAM attack followed by a BITE attack.

In that case, the Worm bowls his enemy over then bites them while they are down, which I personally like better than a possible double Bite or double Slam.
Of course, if the Worm has Reach greater than 1 (see #2, above), then you could keep the SLAM's pushback (pushing the attacker back and still being in range to Bite it w/o a move action). Hope I have this right.

4) Upset Stomach: Are you saying the Worm *pukes* on everyone? That's gross, LOL! As an alternate to that, you could use the "explodes when they die" mechanic seen on a number of other monsters.
5) When I read your monster I thought of those big milipedes that attack you in the desert in FFIII (FFII in the U.S.) outside that one town where you find Rosa ill.

 

[Mesh Hong]

1) Why a "Funnel" Worm. I don't see anything indicating a funnel-type ability, or perhaps a funnel-type dwelling. Just curious.

Yeah one of my many failings is that I rarely post a creatures description, because I never write them down (for my own use).

This creature is a massive worm with a hard segmental body. It is named a funnel worm through its method of feeding. It has a large toothless mouth that it uses to grab its food, once it has done this a funnel like blanket of flesh and teeth shoot up its throat and attempts to surround its held captive to drag it down to its hungry stomach.

Hence the two stage grab and swallow whole mechanic, with the swallow whole being an attack against either Reflex or Fortitude as the victim can use either brute strength or nimble movements to oppose it.

2) As a Huge creature, seems like it's missing a Reach entry. Reach 2 I would think, or perhaps 3. Threatening reach? It's your call.

The creature has Reach 2 with its Bite and Slam attacks.

3) An alternate way to do:
Double Attack (Standard; at-will)
Funnel Worm makes 2 basic attacks
-You could alter the Worm's SLAM attack to no pushback, but still knocks prone.
This would lead to:
Double Attack (Standard; at-will)
Funnel Worm makes a SLAM attack followed by a BITE attack.

In that case, the Worm bowls his enemy over then bites them while they are down, which I personally like better than a possible double Bite or double Slam.
Of course, if the Worm has Reach greater than 1 (see #2, above), then you could keep the SLAM's pushback (pushing the attacker back and still being in range to Bite it w/o a move action). Hope I have this right.

The problem with specifying that the creature uses a Bite and a Slam attack is that it cannot use its Bite attack if it already has a target grabbed. This would reduce the creatures range of tactics.

The purpose of the Slam attacks push and knock prone is to give it a way of pushing secondary targets away so that it can move with less chance of opportunity attacks.

The creature is really only interested in grabbing a target and swallowing it. The Slam attack is its second choice, using the mechanic of choosing any 2 basic attacks gives the creature a greater chance of grabbing a target as if it misses with its first attempt it can try with its second, while still giving it a viable secondary attack if it is lucky enough to hit with its grab.

4) Upset Stomach: Are you saying the Worm *pukes* on everyone? That's gross, LOL! As an alternate to that, you could use the "explodes when they die" mechanic seen on a number of other monsters.

Yes I am very much saying that climbing out of the creatures throat is going to force it to gag and vomit. Its a nice surprise

You could use an explodes on death mechanic, but I don't really see this creature as doing that. Its a giant hard shelled worm, I think making it an exploding giant hard shelled worm might be going a step too far.

5) When I read your monster I thought of those big milipedes that attack you in the desert in FFIII (FFII in the U.S.) outside that one town where you find Rosa ill.

I was going for a more Dune like experience, but on a much smaller scale.

 

[Rachel]

Yeah one of my many failings is that I rarely post a creatures description, because I never write them down (for my own use).

This creature is a massive worm with a hard segmental body. It is named a funnel worm through its method of feeding. It has a large toothless mouth that it uses to grab its food, once it has done this a funnel like blanket of flesh and teeth shoot up its throat and attempts to surround its held captive to drag it down to its hungry stomach.

Hence the two stage grab and swallow whole mechanic, with the swallow whole being an attack against either Reflex or Fortitude as the victim can use either brute strength or nimble movements to oppose it.

This goes a long way to others understanding and appreciating your monster.

The creature has Reach 2 with its Bite and Slam attacks.

That's better. We all omit things now and then.

Yes I am very much saying that climbing out of the creatures throat is going to force it to gag and vomit. Its a nice surprise

I'll just cut my way out, tyvm!

You could use an explodes on death mechanic, but I don't really see this creature as doing that. Its a giant hard shelled worm, I think making it an exploding giant hard shelled worm might be going a step too far.

Just an idea.

I was going for a more Dune like experience, but on a much smaller scale.

Yah, right, like I've ever seen that. >.<
Can we just maybe say it's like the space worm from Star Wars: TESB??

 

[Rachel]

5) When I read your monster I thought of those big milipedes that attack you in the desert in FFIII (FFII in the U.S.) outside that one town where you find Rosa ill.

KAIPO! The town was called Kaipo! LOL