What new species have you created via templates?

Rystil said:
Frightful Presence (Ex): All creatures within 1080 ft. who see the Eldritch Beast attacking, charging, or flying overhead must succeed on a Will Save (DC 250) or become panicked for 12d6 rounds if they have 12 HD or less, or shaken for 12d6 rounds if they have 13-409 HD. Those with 410 or more HD are immune to this effect.

And paladins, of course. For all the good it will do them! :D
 

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Patryn of Elvenshae said:
And paladins, of course. For all the good it will do them! :D
Well yes, that goes without saying. :D

Of course, he'd probably be scarier if I bothered to give him any feats (too lazy). And even scarier (although ridiculous at this point) is my build that uses a Prismatic Dragon from the ELH as the base creature...In my campaign setting, the Prismatic one was destroyed 10,000 years ago by a powerful race of humanoid arcanists who also created the gods. The way they killed him was to insert a deadly crippling spell into their own arcane energies and then fight him until he absorbed them all, infecting himself. Then their creations (the gods), finished him off...
 
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*** Bicho-Mono (Tiny aberration, 0 ft. reach, 30 ft. move/climb)
*** 'Monkey-Bug'. Insectile Monkey (+ poison bite); hunts in troupes of 3-18.
*** Looks like a six-legged monkey with viscious fangs.
HD: 1d8 +2
-- Init +4 (Dex)
-- AC 18 (+4 Dex, +2 Natural, +2 Size), Flat 14, Touch 16
-- Fort +0, Ref +4, Will +3
-- Str 3, Dex 19, Con 10, Int 2, Wis 14, Cha 5
-- Darkvision 60 ft., Tremorsense 60 ft., Wide Vision (+4 Spot, Can't be flanked), Natural Armor +2, Poison Bite [DC 11, 1d4 Str]
-- Weapon Finesse (Bite)
-- Balance +12, Climb +15, Hide +15, Listen +5, Spot +9
-- BAB +0 / Grapple -12
-- Attack +6 (Bite 1 + Poison)
CR: 2

Tactics: Drop on victim, attack en masse.



*** Bicho-Vid (Large aberration, 10 ft. reach, 20 ft. move/climb)
*** Insectile Medium Viper; hunts alone (occasionally paired for mating).
*** 'Bug-Vine'. Looks like a snake with hundreds of tiny insectoid legs
*** -- almost a reptilian centipede.
HD: 3d8
-- Init +5 (Dex)
-- AC 19 (-1 Size, +5 Dex, +5 Natural), Flat 14, Touch 14
-- Fort +1, Ref +6, Will +5
-- Str 10, Dex 21, Con 11, Int 1, Wis 14, Cha 2
-- Darkvision 60 ft., Tremorsense 60 ft., Wide Vision (+4 Spot, Can't be flanked), Natural Armor +2, Poison Bite [DC 11, 1d6 Con], Scent
-- Weapon Finesse (Bite)
-- Balance +13, Climb +13, Hide +10, Listen +10, Spot +14
-- BAB +2 / Grapple +6
-- Attack +7 (Bite 1d4 + poison)
CR: 3

Tactics: Hide until victim comes near, then strike.




*** Pantera-Bicho (Medium aberration, 5 ft. reach, 40 ft. move/climb)
*** Insectile Panther; these six-legged cat-like creatures hunt alone
*** or in pairs. They emit a hissing growl when cornered. Their favored
*** tactic is to pounce on prey from a tree branch.
HD: 3d8 + 6
-- Init +6 (Dex)
-- AC 21, Touch 16, Flat 15
-- Fort +5, Ref +9, Will +3
-- BAB +2 / Grapple +5
-- SQ: Darkvision 60 ft., Tremorsense 60 ft., Wide Vision, Scent, Pounce
-- Feats: Improved Grab, Weapon Finesse (Bite, Claw)
-- Balance +14, Climb +11, Hide +11, Listen +7, Move Silently +11, Spot +7
-- Attack +8 (Bite 1d6+3), +3/+3 (Claw 1d4+1) and +8 (Rake 1d6+3)
CR: 3

Pounce: Pantera-Bicho can make a full attack as part of a charge action.

Wide Vision: Pantera-Bicho cannot be flanked.




*** Calamar del Hedor (Medium monstrous humanoid, 5 ft. reach, 60 ft. swim)
*** 'Stink Squid', Tauric Troglodyte / Squid. Hunt in packs (3-8) at night.
*** Looks like a Trog head & arms on a Squid body.
HD: 5d8
-- Init +3 (Dex)
-- AC 19 (+3 Dex, +6 Natural), 16 Flat, 13 Touch
-- Fort +1, Ref +7, Will +4
-- Str 14, Dex 17, Con 11, Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 10
-- Darkvision 90 ft., Ink Cloud, Jet, Improved Grab (Tentacle), Stench [DC 11, 1d6 Str for 10 rounds], Camoflage (+4 to Hide in rocky areas)
-- Multiattack, Weapon Focus (Longspear)
-- Hide +5 (+9 in rocky areas), Listen +5, Spot +5, Move Silently +5
-- BAB +5 / Grapple +7
-- Attack +7 (Weapon) or +7/+7 (Claw 1d4), +5 (Bite 1d4), +5x10 (Tentacle 0)
-- Attack +8 (Longspear 1d8+3 20/x3) 10 ft. reach
-- Attack +8 (Javelin 1d6+2 20/x2)
CR: 3

Tactics: Grapple surface foe & drag underwater.
 

Thumbs up on the Calamar del Hedor and Gorgotaur. :D

I know many people don't own Minions, but there are a few creatures in it that are among my most favorite for any game. Even though it has a silly name, the vapor bore is very cool- a big cat that drains the charisma from a being and then replaces it with a point of its own and thus gains control. The polar is another big cat* that sends out psionic like waves that can paralyse every round. So here are a few templates with using them as the base creatures:

Vapor Bore

amalgam with polar- this has to be one of the nastiest medium CR creatures out there.

amphibious- attacking those that come near the water, this creature does not have any terrestrial servants (for long). It does enslave nixes and other aquatics.

amorphous- an excellent BBEG that can travel almost anywhere and control almost anyone.

bipedal- for use in a horror game- an Urban Arcana nightmare.

plantform- see above. Of course altering its form to a topiary or just normal shrub or tree is a must.

necrovore- making some changes to the template, this would make an odd, but interesting leader of undead that controls through its charisma draining ability and its positive energy attacks.

puppeteer host- who controls the BBEG?

Polar

spirit- totally unfair, evil to the core monster that can affect people without much danger to itself. You have my blessing to TPK with it ;)

moon wilding- a good version that has an ace in its pocket when hunting werecreatures. I would allow it to turn the polarizing effect on and off.

clockwork- a creation gone wrong, its effect was to calm people.

monsterous lycanthrope- Why can the bandits defeat the watch so easily? The ones in human form are still immune to the effects.

*Funny since I don't like cats
 

I find that adding either the horrid animal or half-dragon templates to just about any creature can create something interesting, as long as you describe it well.
 

Let's see...
I added the fire element template to turn gek-a-geks (a semi-conversion from Imajica) into leytru, and updated them to 3.5 in the same shot. They were mean, sneak attacking, miss-chance having, flaming assassins for an evil organization of slaadi and firenewts.

Likewise, ogres got the insectile template, as per the sample in Savage Species, and became the tur-ruuk, a secretive race of cultists to the goddess of pain known as "big-bigs" to the kobolds.

The war machine template added to skum made the Amphibious Drilling Platform, with bandsaw teeth and drill-bit fingers. Very, very deadly, and a bit under CRed.

I added the half-fey template to dark creepers, cut off the wings and changed the description, and had Courtney Crumrin style-goblins.

And of course, nothing says fun like were-dilophosaur troglodytes.
Demiurge out.
 

demiurge1138 said:
The war machine template added to skum made the Amphibious Drilling Platform, with bandsaw teeth and drill-bit fingers. Very, very deadly, and a bit under CRed.

I never thought of using it on a humanoid, that is a cool idea.

die_kluge said:
I used non-euclidian phase spiders in my last campaign, too! Frighteningly effective, let me tell you.

They just go together like PB&J. The only other monsters I find should automatically have that template are CoC mythos critters.
 

Whizbang Dustyboots said:
I like these three. The manticore doesn't work well for me -- firing needles through branches and leaves seems like a very short evolutionary dead end.
*pats Whizbang Dustyboots hand*

It's a magical beast, silly! Not a scientific one! Next you'll say griffins and dragons can't fly with their wing size/weight ratio. ... or can they? www.dragonsarecoming.com
 

There is realism and then there is versimlatude (sp). But the best way to use giants in trees is to use the minature template. ;)

As much as it can make monstrosities, I think the best template in AB is amalgam. All the first creatures are from Minions 3.5:

Seeder+giant wasp- This is a creature of nightmares. Unlike parasitic wasps that need their larval food dead or alive and paralysed, this creature alters others to produce its offspring. It usually attacks drone giant bees (males), but it can affect any living egg layer. Lizard people have much to fear when their community is near one of these- males will not report if they were attacked and every hatching egg must be watched lest there be more creatures born.

shock beetle (or lizard)+shark- Instead of just using an electric sense to find food, these fish also use it to stun it. Varients can be freshwater fish like giant catfish and carp.

groundling+kuo toa- A dweller of mud found on the banks of large rivers, these citters are a major danger to travellers both on land and in the water.

mawgriff+grick- This is close to a monstrosity. The mawgriff is a large, carnivorous riding animal and doesn't mix well with the grick. But I can see them as mounts for illithid slaves and other underdark dwellers.

Yowl+frost worm- Nasty flying, inhabitants of the arctic. Almost like a tiny (new) Mothra, this creature has a couple ranged attack forms. When on glaciers, its ability to burrow can mean the death of pack animals.

Vore+elf- Created by powerful mages, these arborial warriors are used to destroy normal elven villages. Their ability to move through thick vegitation has forced elves to cut back the forest for protection. Might be good for Midnight.

Atlas' Fantasy Bestiary:

Seedkin+moonrat- Instead of breeding in the normal fashion, these critters use others as hosts. When the moon is full, they capture as many animals and humanoids as possible and then "seed" them. The gestation period is longer than a normal seedkin and usually takes 3-4 weeks. This usually ends in the death of the host.

Howling Kr'awn+giant crocodile- The main protectors of kr'awn communities.

Vrillisa+giant bee- When stronger help is needed, these good beings are called on. They retain the butterfly wings and magic abilites.

Navigator+nightmare- Planar horses that can find any thing and go anywhere. There is so much of a demand for them, they are rarely used for fear of theft. Those that are wild will fight to the death to be free after so many of their kind have been taken and because of that, they are rarely captured anymore (ie there is a large wild population that no one can use).

Opinions?
 

For the haunted forest:

Amorphous battlebriar- these creatures can break down into small vines to allow it to pass through just about anything.

Plantform siege crab- the way minions of the evil druid get back and forth from battle. Also useful for knocking down forts and terrorizing villages.

Woodling avalancher- using an extensive root system, these plants can bring down the hillside onto those it sees as enemies.

Arborial, minature half-humanoid vipers- tiny dwellers of the trees, these guys use poisoned arrows to hunt humanoids with. Their favorite food is orc. They can wrap themselves around tree limbs to hide and provide a vantage point for hunting.

Plague bearer rage drake- a favorite of some druids, this monster is used as a suicide attacker. After it dies, it still spreads disease if the parts of the drake are collected.
 

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