The Gohlbrorn

[BOZ]

Gohlbrorn
CLIMATE /TERRAIN: Subterranean/Underdark
FREQUENCY: Rare
ORGANIZATION: Group
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Carnivorous
INTELLIGENCE: Average (8-10)
TREASURE: Nil
ALIGNMENT: Lawful Evil
NO. APPEARING: 3-6 (1d4+2)
ARMOR CLASS: 3
MOVEMENT: 9, Burrow 18
HIT DICE: 5
THAC0: 15
NO. ATTACKS: 2 + Special
DAMAGE / ATTACK: 2d6/3d6 and special
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Launch stones
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Natural Coloration
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: M (5'-7' long, 5' high)
MORALE: Elite (13-14)
XP VALUE: 975

The gohlbrorn, a relative of the fearsome bulette, hunts throughout the cavern complexes of the underdark. The gohlbrorn shares its cousin's bullet shape and thickly armored body, though it is considerably smaller and more intelligent than a bulette.

The creature's hindquarters range from dark blue to deep brown; its head, which takes up a considerable portion of its body, is a dark gray. The thick scales and plates of the gohlbrorn reflect the color of the surrounding stone and rock. This coloration allows it to blend in with its surroundings. It is indistinguishable from natural stone 45% of the time.

The gohlbrorn possesses an inner eyelid that filters all light brighter than candlelight. This nictitating lid protects the creature from the blinding effects of light spells and is an invaluable aid when it hunts close to the surface world.

Gohlbrorn have their own complicated language that sounds like distant rumbling to the untrained ear. It is not known whether these predators can reproduce the speech of other creatures; it is likely, however, that they can learn and understand other languages besides their own.

Combat: Gohlbrorn are extremely cunning fighters. A school of these predators often uses its natural coloring to observe its prey before attacking; gohlbrorn do not attack obviously powerful prey unless they believe the odds to be in their favor.

Whenever possible, they tunnel ahead of their intended victims and lie in ambush just below the surface of the cavern walls, ceilings, and floors. When their prey reach the ambush site, the gohlbrorn spring out from their tunnels, forcing all opponents to suffer a -3 penalty on surprise rolls.

Gohlbrorn fight in a highly organized manner; they concentrate their attacks on spellcasters before engaging other enemies. Often, gohlbrorn utilize 'bite and run" tactics; they assault an opponent, then dive back into their tunnel, only to attack again from a different position. Their favorite melee attack consists of a powerful claw, which inflicts 2-12 (2d6) points of damage, and a ferocious bite, which causes 3-18 (3d6) points of damage.

In addition to these awesome attacks, gohlbrorn can spew large rocks from their gullets. The missiles strike with tremendous force, inflicting 2-9 (1 d8+1) points of damage. The creatures store these rocks as they burrow through the earth; each gohlbrorn has 2-8 (2d4) available stones.

A school of gohlbrorn rarely stands its ground in a losing battle; the school quickly flees if overwhelmed. These intelligent predators have long memories, however, and it is not uncommon to see them flee a battle, only to return with greater numbers.

Habitat/Society: Gohlbrorn wander throughout the almost limitless expanse of the underdark, though they prefer to hunt around large populations of easy prey (such as grimlocks, quaggoth, and the like). They fear the illithid, who often use gohlbrorn in their communities, and find the svirfneblin, and their illusions, far too bothersome to hunt.

Although gohlbrorn have highly structured hunting groups with the strongest acting as leader, they rarely set up permanent lairs. Mated pairs set up temporary lairs to shelter I d6 eggs. The creatures defend their eggs to the death, although the parents abandon their hatchlings soon after the young emerge from their shells.

Ecology: Gohlbrorn are short-lived in comparison to other denizens of the underdark; they can actively hunt for about 20 years before age slows them down. Unlike many predators, however, gohlbrorn do not abandon older members of the hunting school. In fact, the younger hunters often catch prey for those creatures too frail to hunt for themselves.

Gohlbrorn eat just about any sort of prey. Drow, however, seem to be a much-sought-after food.

(stats originally from The Illithiad)





some preliminary stats for the gohlbrorn:

Gohlbrorn
Medium Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 5d10 (X hp)
Initiative: +X
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), burrow 50 ft.
Armor Class: 17 (+X Dex, +X natural), touch X, flat-footed X
Base Attack/Grapple: +5/+X
Attack:
Full Attack: Claw +X melee (2d6+X) and bite +X melee (3d6+X) and stone +X ranged (1d8+X)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: (leap?) stones
Special Qualities: coloration/camouflage, darkvision 60 ft., immunity to blinding, low-light vision (scent, tremorsense 60 ft.?)
Saves: Fort +X, Ref +X, Will +X
Abilities: Str X, Dex X, Con X, Int 9, Wis X, Cha X
Skills: 8
Feats: 2

Environment: Underground
Organization: School (3-6)
Challenge Rating: X
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always lawful evil
Advancement: 6-10 HD (Medium); 11-15 (Large)
Level Adjustment: ---

A gohlbrorn is 5 to 7 feet long and 5 feet high, and weighs X pounds.

COMBAT

Dragon Annual 1, Illithiad, MC Annual 4

 

[Shade]

I'd retain the leap, scent, and tremorsense of the bulette.

Reverse engineering the bulette's ability scores (Str 27, Dex 15, Con 20, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 6) from Huge to Medium yields Str 11, Dex 19, Con 12. The Gohlbrorn is considerable more intelligent, so I'd recommend boosting up Cha as well. Wis is already pretty good.

Instead of coloration/camouflage, I'd just go with...

Skills: *Gohlbrorns have a +X racial bonus on Hide checks when in rocky, underground environments. This bonus on Hide checks increases to +X when the gohlbrorn is immobile.

 

[BOZ]

I'd retain the leap, scent, and tremorsense of the bulette.

sounds good.

Reverse engineering the bulette's ability scores (Str 27, Dex 15, Con 20, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 6) from Huge to Medium yields Str 11, Dex 19, Con 12. The Gohlbrorn is considerable more intelligent, so I'd recommend boosting up Cha as well. Wis is already pretty good.

how about Str 12, Dex 19, Con 14, Int 9, Wis 13, Cha 11?

Instead of coloration/camouflage, I'd just go with...

Skills: *Gohlbrorns have a +X racial bonus on Hide checks when in rocky, underground environments. This bonus on Hide checks increases to +X when the gohlbrorn is immobile.

also sounds good. it had a 45% chance to hide against stone… if we’re giving it a decent Dex already, then maybe a +4 (increasing to +8) should do?

These guys are fairly simple. These are the only other things to write up:

The gohlbrorn possesses an inner eyelid that filters all light brighter than candlelight. This nictitating lid protects the creature from the blinding effects of light spells and is an invaluable aid when it hunts close to the surface world.

In addition to these awesome attacks, gohlbrorn can spew large rocks from their gullets. The missiles strike with tremendous force, inflicting 2-9 (1d8+1) points of damage. The creatures store these rocks as they burrow through the earth; each gohlbrorn has 2-8 (2d4) available stones.

 

[Knight Otu]

I agree with retaining leap, tremorsense and scent. The ability scores look good as well.

I'd suggest +4/+8 for the skill bonus.

Alignment-wise, I'd make the Usually LE instead of always. They sound as if they had some choice in their outlooks.

The eyelid is well represented already by the immunity to blinding. I'd only state that this is limited to blinding due to light.

Stones (Ex): 5 times per day, a gohlbrorn can spew large rocks from its gullet. The range increment for this attack is 50 feet, and it can spew the rocks up to five range increments.

 

[Shade]

I too agree with the +4/+8.

Good suggestion on "usually" lawful evil.

The stones entry should work nicely.

Whenever possible, they tunnel ahead of their intended victims and lie in ambush just below the surface of the cavern walls, ceilings, and floors. When their prey reach the ambush site, the gohlbrorn spring out from their tunnels, forcing all opponents to suffer a -3 penalty on surprise rolls.

Does this suggest Improved Initiative?

 

[BOZ]

The eyelid is well represented already by the immunity to blinding. I'd only state that this is limited to blinding due to light.

right. So, I think it needs a brief description:

Immunity to Blinding (Ex): A gohlbrorn has a inner eyelid that filters all light brighter than candlelight, which prevents it from being blinded by magical or natural light.

Stones (Ex): 5 times per day, a gohlbrorn can spew large rocks from its gullet. The range increment for this attack is 50 feet, and it can spew the rocks up to five range increments.

I don’t know that I would limit that to 5 times per day though. Where did you get the “up to five range increments” part?

Does this suggest Improved Initiative?

it’s good enough for me.

 

[Knight Otu]

I don’t know that I would limit that to 5 times per day though. Where did you get the “up to five range increments” part?

From thrown weapons - they are also limited to 5 range increments. Projectile weapons like bows are limited to 10 range increments.

 

[BOZ]

well... these aren't exactly thrown projectiles either. does it say anything for spitting things out of your mouth?

well they are actually projected even more forcefully than that - they must have some strong stomach muscles to launch a heavy object that way.

 

[Shade]

Here are a couple of (slightly) similar abilities for possible inspiration:

Spikes (Ex): When an adult kruthik raises the frill of plates on its back, its spines also stand erect. With a snap, the creature can loose one spike as a standard action or a volley of two as a full-round action (make an attack roll for each spike). This attack has a range of 100 feet with no range increment. If loosing a volley of spikes against two targets, the targets must be within 30 feet of each other. The creature can launch up to twelve spikes in any 24-hour period.

Spit Stones (Ex): Like all greater drakes, the ermalkankari has an expandable throat bladder that it uses to make attacks. The drake swallows a variety of small stones and keeps them stored in its bladder like a pelican stores fish. When desired, it can spit these stones out in a spray. The ermalkankari spits a cone of gravel with a range of 40 feet. Victims within the area must make a Reflex save (DC 19) for half damage; otherwise, they take 3d6 points of damage. The ermalkankari's throat bladder holds enough stones for three such uses of its spit stones ability. An ermalkankari that runs out of stones during combat continues the battle fighting with teeth, claws, and tail-club; it does not stop to "reload" until after combat is done.

Spit (Ex): A guardian naga can spit its venom up to 30 feet as a standard action. This is a ranged touch attack with no range increment. Opponents hit by this attack must make successful saves (see above) to avoid the effect.

Spittle (Ex): As a free action every round, a gibbering mouther fires a stream of spittle at one opponent within 30 feet. The mouther makes a ranged touch attack; if it hits, it deals 1d4 points of acid damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 18 Fortitude save or be blinded for 1d4 rounds. Eyeless creatures are immune to the blinding effect, but are still subject to the acid damage. The save DC is Constitution-based.

 

[BOZ]

Here are a couple of (slightly) similar abilities for possible inspiration:

Cool! actually, the greater drake has a lot of useful, similar text. Let me see what I can construct…

Spit Stones (Ex): A gohlbrorn swallows large rocks as it burrows through the earth, and stores them in its gullet. A gohlbrorn can spew these rocks with tremendous force at opponents up to 50 feet as a standard action. This is a ranged attack with no range increment. A gohlbrorn’s gullet may hold up to 8 stones, which may be launched one at a time. A gohlbrorn that runs out of stones during combat continues the battle fighting with teeth and claws; it does not stop to "reload" until after combat is done.