Joshua Randall
Legend
Whenever I would design 3e creatures (which I haven't done in years), I would look for a published monster with roughly the same shtick that I wanted my monster to do. And steal it.
So, if you want a monster that dominates others and controls them, I'd look for monsters that do that. What springs to mind is the 3e Vampire template.
You can flavor that however you want. Remove the "similar to a gaze attack" piece. Put different limitations on it, like the Gloomfetch has to be physically attached to the target.
Dominate person (the referenced spell) lasts 1 day per level, so that is plenty long for the Gloomfetch to start the process. Plus on day N-1 you can give a command like "don't resist my next dominate person" and then re-apply it.
For the un-attached Gloomfetch being camouflaged like an octopus, let's see what 3e's Giant Octopus has to say.
So the color-changing camouflage is being modeled by a +4 racial bonus to Hide checks. (And the Giant Octopus already has Hide+12, so +16 when it changes colors.) You also get some rules for how it can squeeze through places due to being a freaky slime blob with no internal organs.
There is no monster in 3e that does "attach to your head and drive you around like a puppet while you see through its eyes". But when I think of monsters that attach themselves to you, I think of the Stirge. So let's see how 3e models the bat-mosquito's tenaciousness.
Here we find the most evil of all possible monsters: the one that makes you look up the Grapple rules. Truly horrific. But jokes aside, the Stirge gets a giant +12 bonus to Grapple checks, so good luck getting that thing off unless you yourself are an expert Grappler and/or really, really strong.
Anyway that is how I would build a 3e monster, mechanically. Steal.
So, if you want a monster that dominates others and controls them, I'd look for monsters that do that. What springs to mind is the 3e Vampire template.
Dominate (Su): A vampire can crush an opponent’s will just by looking onto his or her eyes. This is similar to a gaze attack, except that the vampire must use a standard action, and those merely looking at it are not affected. Anyone the vampire targets must succeed on a Will save or fall instantly under the vampire’s influence as though by a dominate person spell (caster level 12th). The ability has a range of 30 feet.
You can flavor that however you want. Remove the "similar to a gaze attack" piece. Put different limitations on it, like the Gloomfetch has to be physically attached to the target.
Dominate person (the referenced spell) lasts 1 day per level, so that is plenty long for the Gloomfetch to start the process. Plus on day N-1 you can give a command like "don't resist my next dominate person" and then re-apply it.
For the un-attached Gloomfetch being camouflaged like an octopus, let's see what 3e's Giant Octopus has to say.
Skills: A giant octopus can change colors, giving it a +4 racial bonus on Hide checks. A giant octopus also can squeeze and contort its body, giving it a +10 racial bonus on Escape Artist checks. A giant octopus has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight line.
So the color-changing camouflage is being modeled by a +4 racial bonus to Hide checks. (And the Giant Octopus already has Hide+12, so +16 when it changes colors.) You also get some rules for how it can squeeze through places due to being a freaky slime blob with no internal organs.
There is no monster in 3e that does "attach to your head and drive you around like a puppet while you see through its eyes". But when I think of monsters that attach themselves to you, I think of the Stirge. So let's see how 3e models the bat-mosquito's tenaciousness.
Attach (Ex): If a stirge hits with a touch attack, it uses its eight pincers to latch onto the opponent’s body. An attached stirge is effectively grappling its prey. The stirge loses its Dexterity bonus to AC and has an AC of 12, but holds on with great tenacity. Stirges have a +12 racial bonus on grapple checks (already figured into the Base Attack/Grapple entry above).
An attached stirge can be struck with a weapon or grappled itself. To remove an attached stirge through grappling, the opponent must achieve a pin against the stirge.
Here we find the most evil of all possible monsters: the one that makes you look up the Grapple rules. Truly horrific. But jokes aside, the Stirge gets a giant +12 bonus to Grapple checks, so good luck getting that thing off unless you yourself are an expert Grappler and/or really, really strong.
Anyway that is how I would build a 3e monster, mechanically. Steal.