freyar
Extradimensional Explorer
On second thought, this is probably a non-issue since it becomes a natural weapon.
Well, for Cleon's reasoning below, I'd still give it some kind of penalty.
A goop ghoul smart enough to hang around dino skeletons deserves the extra damage, I say!I stuck in the damage limitation (and only one attack) because I didn't really like the idea of a goop ghoul mounting a Deinonychus skeleton and getting a natural weapon more damaging (2d4 bite) than any simple weapon in the SRD, let alone multiple attacks including such weapons. I agree it's a bit of a niche circumstance, so can easily be left out.
Yeah, I basically agree with this.Good point, I didn't consider that. I'd say it can only use a Light or One Handed weapon as a limb since, it's only got "one arm's worth" of pseudo-muscle attached to it.
My rationale for it doing less damage with a battleaxe-arm than a skeleton arm wielding a battleaxe. Is that the battleaxe-arm won't articulate well, or have attachment sites & joint leverage like a skeleton-arm would so it seemed appropriate to reduce its damage. A simple damage penalty would be simpler though.
I guess I wouldn't object too much to it, say, being able to use battleaxes for arms for their default 1d8 damage with the -4 to hit for it only being proficient in simple weapons. The original description indicates its willing to incorporate more complicated weapons (i.e. the "walking pile of swords").
I was thinking that if its victim gains Acid Resistance then the goop ghoul's digestive juices won't work on it properly, so it just instinctively spits it out as inedible. But my main reason was so a low level spell caster can save its victim with a Resist Energy (Acid) spell.
Yeah, I can really go eithe rway on this.
Both look good to me. I'd put the growth bit in the Engulf description, but it's as good a fit in the Split write-up. I did originally have a size limitation in Engulf of up to one size category larger than itself, but left it out since the original description was a bit vague about whether a goop ghoul could digest a creature too big for it too envelop entirely (it seemed to imply it couldn’t engulf a creature larger than a man, but then it says it could eat an ogre).
Don't really mind where we put the growth bit.
Isn't this a bit of a problem? That means a goop-ghoul is better off walking around with a Great Axe for an arm and the rest of its body a regular skeleton than if it uses two skeleton-arms to wield that same axe. Not having that -4 non-proficiency penalty is quite an advantage for a 'built-in' weapon.
Hmm... that suggests a tactic we could add to the notes. A goop ghoul using sticks and weapons for an armature is too slow to chase down most prey, so it may lie on the ground until a victim comes close enough for it to stand up and attack them. Of course it could "play dead" as a skeleton too, but has less incentive. Not to mention that adventurers often mistrust fully articulated skeletons that just happen to be lying around.
Interesting tactic. I do prefer the penalty for two-handed weapons.