[PR: STG] BoT Web Enhancement now available!

Frilf

Explorer
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

A FREE 20-page PDF web enhancement is now available for the purchasers of our Book of Templates product. It contains an additional eight templates, which, when combined with those in the product and the two free templates on our site, brings the total number of templates to 40! It is a password-protected download, but the password appears on the credits page of the Book of Templates. This is our way of saying "thanks" to everyone who has helped make this product such a success for us! Enjoy!

Cheers!
Ian
 

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Glad you liked it! For some real fun, try adding the apocalyptic template to these puny critters:

Kobold
Sprites (esp. Grigs)
Fine-Small Animals
Will O'Wisps

Or these not-so-puny ones:

Kraken
Pit Fiend
Solar
Great Wyrm
Tarrasque - ok, that one's just not funny! You may have to call in Odin to help out ;)

Feel free to experiment with them, though. The results can be pretty freaky. I think we figured an apocalyptic kobold could likely wipe out a pretty high-level *party* (4-6 characters of 7th-8th level). Don't quote me on that, as my memory pills haven't kicked in for the day. Golly! I just love beefed-up kobolds :)

Cheers!
Ian
 
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Question about the Necrovore- what is so "terribly wrong" about it? Besides the fact that they are scary looking, that is.

They eat undead, and don't hurt you unless you try and interfere. And the typical adventuring party doesn't go out of its way to protect undead.

Or did I read it too quick and skip over what makes it a bad thing for adventurers, too?
 

First things first, I worked on editing the BoT and the web enhancement, so my views may not be completely objective.

Cheiromancer, in re-reading the description, I see your point. Nothing is stated explicitly about what is so wrong with them. I read the description as the necrovores being an unintended consequence of experimentation, intended to create creatures which would be able to slay undead. Instead, we have creatures who consume undead. I would guess one of the things "terribly wrong" with the necrovore is that it consumes undead in the first place - a creature that lives to feed on undead flesh creeps me out as much as an undead creature feeding on living flesh. Certainly, any civilized creature turned into a necrovore would be tormented by its new nature, probably also becoming an outcast from its former society. Though the template doesn't specify an alignment change, one is certainly possible, especially with a base creature of good alignment.

BTW, while reading the description, it occurred to me that the template doesn't change the ability scores of the base creature, meaning an intelligent base creature becomes an intelligent necrovore. What do you suppose would happen to say, a hill giant, which has been perverted in this way? Most townships aren't going to appreciate having this thing hanging around their graveyards, so it can't be sure of its next meal, and a hill giant probably needs a lot of provender. One solution is for the hill giant to establish a working relationship with a mad wizard or necromancer. The hill giant necrovore provides protection, captives for experiments, and so on, and the wizard provides free meals. Everyone wins - except, of course, for the locals. If the party doesn't realize that they're dealing with more than a simple giant, they could be in for quite a surprise, given the necrovore's immunities (plus the buffing spells the wizard could cast on it).

Another possibility is for a very powerful creature turned into a necrovore to use its new-found abilities to dominate other undead, using them as its minions, consuming a few every now and then. I could easily see a yuan-ti cleric necrovore with the Death domain running a powerful group, with possibly even a vampire in its service. Of course, if the vampire only serves out of fear, it might provide clues for the pc's, hoping they'll take out the necrovore. The vampire then flees, the party thinks they've solved the problem, and the vampire returns later, when things have calmed down, to take over the necrovore's minions. Set this in the sewers of a large city and it could take the players a long time to catch on.

Just a couple ideas I had...
 
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That makes sense. I was thinking about it too, and I thought that while the necrovore prefers to eat the undead, it might eat the ordinary dead when undead aren't available. That would definitely make it unwelcome in graveyards!

And, perhaps, if there are insufficient numbers of rotting corpses around, the necrovore might start killing the living, and, after waiting a few days, devouring their remains. That would make them even less welcome around towns.


Another question, this one about the apocalyptic template. Why don't saving throws increase based on hit dice? The attack bonus does, the number of feats do- shouldn't Fortitude saves etc. increase too?

Or is this the "weak spot" that allows them to be defeated by supernatural abilities with really high DC's, such as deities possess?
 


Thanks. While you're at it, ask why Wail of the Banshee is maximized. It has no variable effects, and so does not benefit from the feat. Is it supposed to be Circle of Death, instead?
 

Second question first: Ignore the reference to Maximized. I should have caught that one - thanks.

Concerning the apocalytic template, the original intent wasn't to increase the saves, but after speaking with the author, he feels that it's more consistent to do so. For the example, change the saves to:
Fort +148
Ref +145
Will +147

A couple notes on this. We've simply extrapolated the saves from table 3-1 in the PH. I don't have the Epic Level Handbook, so if it uses different rules, you should feel free to use whichever you prefer.

In addition, your comment about having a weakness got me thinking. One way to use this template without completely trashing an existing campaign is to build into the creature a specific weakness. Some examples: "kryptonite" (Superman), it's True Name (from Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea stories), the love of a maiden (Beauty and the Beast). If a smart GM makes such a creature a part of the campaign world, creating legends and myths that the pc's hear about, the players could conceivably solve the riddle and save the world. Might be a great episode in a campaign. Of course, if they fail, they might end up fleeing to another dimension/world, starting over in a new campaign. It's up to the individual GM.

Thanks again for your questions - your help is much appreciated.
 

The updated web enhancement file is now available, with the tweaked apocalyptic template. I think the word of apocalypse ability is better defined now and the saves have also been improved. Again, thanks for the feedback.

Cheers!
Ian
 
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