What monster should I use?

[der_kluge]

banshee...aka groaning spirit... aka elven ghost

Heh, yea he said no undead, plus you must have missed the part about the party being 7th level! Last I checked, a banshee was something like CR 19. That was my initial thought as well, but just wouldn't work for his group.


I think I'd be inclined to go with a medusae.

 

[PaulKemp]

I am sending my players into an ancient, abandoned Elven city. A 1000 years ago, the elves had firendly relations with the dwarves living nearby (the city is in a mountain valley), and the dwarves helped them carve their city into the mountainside. Well, now the city is nothing but lifeless stone, and all the trees that the elves planted have become petrified. So the environment is a large walled city, with lots of crumbling buildings and petrified trees giving it something of a maze-like feel. (The party, by the way, is level 7).

What I would like is some sort of monster to be stalking them amongst the ruins; a continuous threat that hampers their exploration of the city (but doesn't drive them away screaming) but that won't be just fought and dealt with all at once. I have overused undead at this point, so I need something of another type. Any suggestions from creative DMs would be extremely welcome!

Thanks,
R

Not sure if these have been converted to 3.5 yet, but the AD&D MMII had a low-powered creature called a "Vilstrak," basically stone-skineed, insectoid-looking creatures with clublike hands that could move through stone freely (IIRC). Now, you might have to advance them a bit to make them a challenge -- I believe they were 1HD creatures -- but that is easy enough to do with 3.5's monster advancement rules. Make a band of them 5HD or so, and have them appear suddenly out of the various stone structures/trees, attack to weaken the group (maybe even drag off the dead or unconscious), then dart out to their underground lair, accessible only through teleportation, dimension door, or stone-travelling magic.

True, vilstraks aren't particularly horrific, if that's the mood you're looking for, but they would serve admirably if you wanted some constant harrassment/tension.

 

[The_Gneech]

How about a hive of umber hulks? Individually, they're CR 7, so the party may be tempted to off the first one ... but then there's another one ... and another one...

-The Gneech

 

[Einan]

Why not just use a really, really old elf illusionist? That way you can have him half-mad, sending creepy monsters against the PCs with no way to defeat them. You could have whatever sent the elven city to ruin using him as a pawn, keeping him alive for its amusement. Or the elf could have had something to do with what happened and cannot die until it atones.

I'm a huge fan of illusionists. Throw a couple real monsters in there just to keep the PCs guessing.

EInan

 

[BiggusGeekus]

A pack of ten Kernshar is technical EL 6.6. Personally, I'd use 7 and call it a EL 7 encounter. Someone is going to blow their save.

 

[JimAde]

An abandoned city made out of rock is going to have trouble supporting large predators, so I think that's why undead keep being mentioned.

Maybe in addition to the city itself, the dwarves helped create guardians for it. I'm picturing semi-mechanical constructs built along spider-y lines that prowl the city. Of course in the absence of orders they might get a little overzealous in stopping trespassers.

If you have Complete Arcane you could make Effigy Monstrous Spiders in various sizes.

 

[mafisto]

Consider your options as whole categories - what would (or could) exist in a long dead city?

Undead
Constructs
Squatters
Scavengers

Undead don't work for you, and that's cool. Honestly, populating every forgotten ruin with undead gets monotonous.

Constructs could be a lot of fun - at 7th level, a simple city guardian like a stone golem could provide a great challenge. And since these are elves, why not make an unorthodox, more elegant version of a stone golem? Perhaps one in the shape of giant spider - quiet, quick and oh so deadly. I sure as hell wouldn't want something like that stalking me. You can tinker with DR and attacks to make it more level-appropriate.

Squatters would be easy. What self respecting goblin or kobold wouldn't love an abandoned city to live in? An elaborate series of traps, confusing dead-ends, maybe a city above the city where the goblins travel from rooftop to rooftop via ropes and webbing. Ambushes galore!

Scavengers could be anything from oozes, jellies, puddings to giant spiders and rats. The city could have a creepy disintegrating feel to it, with vast webs blocking alleys and the skeletons of devoured animals littering the streets.

HTH.

 

[griff_goodbeard]

I would definatly mix in some Living Spells. Reminants of long gone elvish magic, gone awry.

 

[The Edge]

Threes not a crowd

Something Ive found can work well is to put two (or maybe more) groups in the mix. Say you were useing the Etherial Marauder idea, how about haveing a band of goblins, orcs, bandits or something like that also exploreing the city and becomeing equaly paranoid. This way you can make the danger very apparent, haveing the goblins getting split up and picked off while the players watch the 'shadowy figure' from a window, or come through a door after hearing screaming, only to find a droped weapon and smear. Maybe some diplomacy could be worked with the gobblins, what are the little cretins more affraid of, and how trustworthy are they. Maybe the remaining goblins double cross the PCs and lock them in with the beast.

Try to play with their heads, if you can it would be cool to keep them guessing on what it is, only eventualy reavealing it. Ive got the great advantage of haveing the only monster manual, and players that have agreed not to look at it. They never know whats comeing and what to expect, which all makes it much more interesting.

Of course it doesnt have to be a marauder, but stealth and teleport stuff would work well i think.

By the way, Hi im new, im 'The Edge'.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

By the way, Hi im new, im 'The Edge'.

Welcome to the forums!