Post-game to collaboratively design a new monster: Morrusant

[Eloi]

Morrusant almost complete..

I see the baseline Con going up from 14 Con as a Medium, 7 HD creature to at least 22 Con as a Huge Hive Queen (+4 Con from Med to Large, +4 Con from Large to Huge), so we can safely give the Con bonus for a sample Queen as 6 per HD, so final HP looks like 15D + 90. {filled in the blank}

Only two blanks left: climb speed and treasure (advancement is already halfway assembled).

We could try another creature after that, if runtime is game for it - or if someone else wants to invest the time and care to coax a creature through to completion, hey, more power to you.

 

[JimAde]

The Morrusant has a Climb speed of 20 ft. They're not terribly fast, but they maintain the same speed all the time.

 

[catdragon]

Treasure is a bit harder. A singular morrusant probably has no need for treasure, unless it is part of his equipment -- even the stupidest kobold knows that being harder to hit is good so wear that armor if you can.

A nest might have a treasure/trophy chamber of "shinies and pretties."

Assuming that the queen or leader of the hive is smart enough and has the appropriate skills, scrolls, wands, and the like might be collected and horded. Additionally potions could be distributed to extraordinary morrisants or important morrisant, with the instructuions of "drink this if you are hurt" or "if you see things invading the nest, drink this and attack".

 

[JimAde]

We're missing one other thing as well. A creature with only 3 hit dice and a high Int should probably have a level adjustment.

 

[Corsair]

We're missing one other thing as well. A creature with only 3 hit dice and a high Int should probably have a level adjustment.

Except that it can't communicate via language (assuming it communicates with others of its kind through an assortment of claw clicks and pheremones), and has no opposable thumbs. Personally, I'd give it a ( - ) on that entry as unsuitable for a player race.

Also that CG is getting changed if these guys ever see use in my game.

 

[JimAde]

I missed that one. That's what I get for skimming.

 

[domino]

As an ambush hunter, would a burrowing ability/burrow speed be useful, or would that be too much with the climb speed as well?

 

[Eloi]

Given that a Morrusant is such a splendidly stable firing platform, I could see Decanters of Endless Water being a real boon to them. Woe to the creature that gets knocked down near a Morrusant, and tries to stand up - hello AoO! And since we actually have an insect that's smart enough to go into town and communicate without eating people, we can turn silver and assorted loot into goods the Hive Queen can use, and components to assemble more Decanters of Endless Water (in-Hive, and of course, it's a money maker if the Morrusants actually have surplus not earmarked for a new Hive). Between those, Field Provisions Boxes, and Magnificent Belts (pg. 42-43, Miniatures Handbook), there's always something enchanted to assemble for the good of the Hive.

The Medium 7 HD+ Morrusants have hands, so they might invest in magic weapons, bows, magic rings, and even bracers or gauntlets. Might even see (disturbing!) a Monk's Belt end up on a few of them. I could definitely see Rings of Invisibility being popular, and Bags of Holding.

Most of their treasure will be converted into useful commodities as soon as they visit a community or encounter a caravan. Charismatic PCs might find themselves with a job offer: negotiator and diplomat for the Hive, with certain commodities being eminently disposable (like all that nasty silver) and to be on the lookout for certain commodities (honey, spellbooks). Portability will always be a factor, this is a Hive on the move.

 

[Eloi]

Corsair brought up a very good point - might need to introduce Telepathy (short range, communication only), probably at the 7 HD Medium creature breakpoint.

Domino: Alas, Climb + Burrow is overkill here - would make them too versatile. Of course, if you adopt one at 7 HD, and decide "I always wanted to burrow", well, up to you..

JimAde: If you're in a monster campaign, we'd mostly look at CRs for comparison. If you want to bring them in with a semi-normal bunch of Elves, Humans, Dwarves and the like, I already suggested that the right time would be at 7 HD, when they would get hands. If you have a player who wants to invest 7 character levels into a human-sized magical bug, neat.

 

[runtime]

I updated the stat blocks for the increased medium and huge sizes (as per the SRD: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/improvingMonsters.htm#sizeIncreases). Do the scout and queen seem TOO powerful now?

I also gave the queen a "telepathic daze" special attack. Based on the Daze Monster spell, it only affects creatures of 6 or fewer HD, but would 6 HD/level 6 characters be too weak to even bother attacking the 15 HD queen? Does this make her telepathic daze pointless?

Telepathic Daze (Su)
As a standard action, a morrusant queen can use her telepathy against non-morrusants like a Daze Monster spell (Will Save DC 15). This enchantment clouds the mind of a living creature with 6 or fewer Hit Dice so that it takes no actions. A dazed subject is not stunned, so attackers get no special advantage against it.