Kerrick
First Post
I thought I'd do up a swarm template - more of a guideline on how to quickly and easily make a swarm than an actual template. I ran into a few problems trying to reverse-engineer the templates from the MM - the centipede, locust, and spider swarms seem to have been randomly assigned HD, and the centipede and spider swarms should technically be Tiny, not Diminutive - but overall, I was able to come up with the following.
Swarm (Template)
Swarms are dense masses of Fine, Diminutive, or Tiny creatures that would not be particularly dangerous in small groups, but can be terrible foes when gathered in sufficient numbers. For game purposes a swarm is defined as a single creature with a space of 10 feet—gigantic hordes are actually composed of dozens of swarms in close proximity. A swarm has a single pool of Hit Dice and hit points, a single initiative modifier, a single speed, and a single Armor Class. It makes saving throws as a single creature.
A swarm of Tiny creatures consists of 300 nonflying creatures or 1,000 flying creatures. A swarm of Diminutive creatures consists of 1,500 nonflying creatures or 5,000 flying creatures. A swarm of Fine creatures consists of 10,000 creatures, whether they are flying or not. Swarms of nonflying creatures include many more creatures than could normally fit in a 10-foot square based on their normal space, because creatures in a swarm are packed tightly together and generally crawl over each other and their prey when moving or attacking. Larger swarms are represented by multiples of single swarms. A large swarm is completely shapeable, though it usually remains contiguous.
Creating a Swarm
"Swarm" is an acquired template that can be added to any Fine, Diminutive, or Tiny animal, magical beast, undead, or vermin (referred to hereafter as the "base creature").
A swarm uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.
Size and Type: Size and type remain unchanged. Skill points and feats are recalculated based on Hit Dice. The base creature gains the swarm subtype.
Hit Dice: A swarm's Hit Dice are based on the size of the base creature:
Fine: HD x8
Diminutive: HD x12
Tiny: HD x16
A modifier of 1 Hit Die per point of Con over 10 is added after the base Hit Dice are multiplied.
Speed: Same as the base creature.
Armor Class: Same as the base creature.
Attack: Swarms don’t make standard melee attacks. Instead, they deal automatic damage to any creature whose space they occupy at the end of their move, with no attack roll needed. Swarm attacks are not subject to a miss chance for concealment or cover. A swarm’s statistics block has “swarm” in the Attack and Full Attack entries, with no attack bonus given.
Full Attack: Same as attack.
Damage: The amount of damage a swarm deals is based on its Hit Dice, as shown in the table.
1-5 HD: 1d6
6-10 HD: 2d6
11-15 HD: 3d6
16-20 HD: 4d6
21+ HD: 5d6
Special Attacks: A swarm retains all the special attacks of the base creature and also gains those listed below.
Distraction (Ex): Any living creature vulnerable to a swarm’s damage that begins its turn with a swarm in its square is nauseated for 1 round; a Fort save (DC 10 + 1/2 swarm’s HD + swarm’s Con modifier) negates the effect. Spellcasting or concentrating on spells within the area of a swarm requires a Concentration check (DC 20 + spell level). Using skills that involve patience and concentration requires a DC 20 Concentration check.
Special Qualities: A swarm retains all the special qualities of the base creature and those listed below.
Swarm Traits (Ex): A swarm has no clear front or back and no discernable anatomy, so it is not subject to critical hits or flanking. A swarm made up of Tiny creatures takes half damage from slashing and piercing weapons. A swarm composed of Fine or Diminutive creatures is immune to all weapon damage.
Reducing a swarm to 0 hit points or lower causes it to break up, though damage taken until that point does not degrade its ability to attack or resist attack. Swarms are never staggered or reduced to a dying state by damage. They cannot be tripped, grappled, or bull rushed, and they cannot grapple an opponent.
A swarm is immune to any spell or effect that targets a specific number of creatures (including single-target spells such as disintegrate), with the exception of mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects) if the swarm has an Intelligence score and a hive mind. A swarm takes half again as much damage (+50%) from spells or effects that affect an area, such as splash weapons and many evocation spells.
Swarms made up of Diminutive or Fine creatures are susceptible to high winds such as that created by a gust of wind spell. For purposes of determining the effects of wind on a swarm, treat the swarm as a creature of the same size as its constituent creatures. A swarm rendered unconscious by means of nonlethal damage becomes disorganized and dispersed, and does not reform until its hit points exceed its nonlethal damage.
Saves: Same as the base creature.
Abilities: Same as the base creature.
Skills: Same as the base creature.
Feats: Same as the base creature.
Environment: Same as the base creature.
Organization: Solitary, group (2-4 swarms) or larger group (7-12 swarms)
Challenge Rating: Same as the base creature +7 (Dminutive or Fine) or +2 (Tiny)
Treasure: Nil
Alignment: Same as the base creature.
Advancement: Same as the base creature.
Level Adjustment: --
Vulnerabilities Of Swarms
Swarms are extremely difficult to fight with physical attacks. However, they have a few special vulnerabilities, as follows:
A lit torch swung as an improvised weapon deals 1d3 points of fire damage per hit.
A weapon with a special ability such as flaming or frost deals its full energy damage with each hit, even if the weapon’s normal damage can’t affect the swarm.
A lit lantern can be used as a thrown weapon, dealing 1d4 points of fire damage to all creatures in squares adjacent to where it breaks.
Swarm (Template)
Swarms are dense masses of Fine, Diminutive, or Tiny creatures that would not be particularly dangerous in small groups, but can be terrible foes when gathered in sufficient numbers. For game purposes a swarm is defined as a single creature with a space of 10 feet—gigantic hordes are actually composed of dozens of swarms in close proximity. A swarm has a single pool of Hit Dice and hit points, a single initiative modifier, a single speed, and a single Armor Class. It makes saving throws as a single creature.
A swarm of Tiny creatures consists of 300 nonflying creatures or 1,000 flying creatures. A swarm of Diminutive creatures consists of 1,500 nonflying creatures or 5,000 flying creatures. A swarm of Fine creatures consists of 10,000 creatures, whether they are flying or not. Swarms of nonflying creatures include many more creatures than could normally fit in a 10-foot square based on their normal space, because creatures in a swarm are packed tightly together and generally crawl over each other and their prey when moving or attacking. Larger swarms are represented by multiples of single swarms. A large swarm is completely shapeable, though it usually remains contiguous.
Creating a Swarm
"Swarm" is an acquired template that can be added to any Fine, Diminutive, or Tiny animal, magical beast, undead, or vermin (referred to hereafter as the "base creature").
A swarm uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.
Size and Type: Size and type remain unchanged. Skill points and feats are recalculated based on Hit Dice. The base creature gains the swarm subtype.
Hit Dice: A swarm's Hit Dice are based on the size of the base creature:
Fine: HD x8
Diminutive: HD x12
Tiny: HD x16
A modifier of 1 Hit Die per point of Con over 10 is added after the base Hit Dice are multiplied.
Speed: Same as the base creature.
Armor Class: Same as the base creature.
Attack: Swarms don’t make standard melee attacks. Instead, they deal automatic damage to any creature whose space they occupy at the end of their move, with no attack roll needed. Swarm attacks are not subject to a miss chance for concealment or cover. A swarm’s statistics block has “swarm” in the Attack and Full Attack entries, with no attack bonus given.
Full Attack: Same as attack.
Damage: The amount of damage a swarm deals is based on its Hit Dice, as shown in the table.
1-5 HD: 1d6
6-10 HD: 2d6
11-15 HD: 3d6
16-20 HD: 4d6
21+ HD: 5d6
Special Attacks: A swarm retains all the special attacks of the base creature and also gains those listed below.
Distraction (Ex): Any living creature vulnerable to a swarm’s damage that begins its turn with a swarm in its square is nauseated for 1 round; a Fort save (DC 10 + 1/2 swarm’s HD + swarm’s Con modifier) negates the effect. Spellcasting or concentrating on spells within the area of a swarm requires a Concentration check (DC 20 + spell level). Using skills that involve patience and concentration requires a DC 20 Concentration check.
Special Qualities: A swarm retains all the special qualities of the base creature and those listed below.
Swarm Traits (Ex): A swarm has no clear front or back and no discernable anatomy, so it is not subject to critical hits or flanking. A swarm made up of Tiny creatures takes half damage from slashing and piercing weapons. A swarm composed of Fine or Diminutive creatures is immune to all weapon damage.
Reducing a swarm to 0 hit points or lower causes it to break up, though damage taken until that point does not degrade its ability to attack or resist attack. Swarms are never staggered or reduced to a dying state by damage. They cannot be tripped, grappled, or bull rushed, and they cannot grapple an opponent.
A swarm is immune to any spell or effect that targets a specific number of creatures (including single-target spells such as disintegrate), with the exception of mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects) if the swarm has an Intelligence score and a hive mind. A swarm takes half again as much damage (+50%) from spells or effects that affect an area, such as splash weapons and many evocation spells.
Swarms made up of Diminutive or Fine creatures are susceptible to high winds such as that created by a gust of wind spell. For purposes of determining the effects of wind on a swarm, treat the swarm as a creature of the same size as its constituent creatures. A swarm rendered unconscious by means of nonlethal damage becomes disorganized and dispersed, and does not reform until its hit points exceed its nonlethal damage.
Saves: Same as the base creature.
Abilities: Same as the base creature.
Skills: Same as the base creature.
Feats: Same as the base creature.
Environment: Same as the base creature.
Organization: Solitary, group (2-4 swarms) or larger group (7-12 swarms)
Challenge Rating: Same as the base creature +7 (Dminutive or Fine) or +2 (Tiny)
Treasure: Nil
Alignment: Same as the base creature.
Advancement: Same as the base creature.
Level Adjustment: --
Vulnerabilities Of Swarms
Swarms are extremely difficult to fight with physical attacks. However, they have a few special vulnerabilities, as follows:
A lit torch swung as an improvised weapon deals 1d3 points of fire damage per hit.
A weapon with a special ability such as flaming or frost deals its full energy damage with each hit, even if the weapon’s normal damage can’t affect the swarm.
A lit lantern can be used as a thrown weapon, dealing 1d4 points of fire damage to all creatures in squares adjacent to where it breaks.
