Wierding out / customizing your monsters

[Corsair]

One of the best ideas I'd ever seen was posted to this board some time ago.

When traveling through a graveyard, the party came across what were basically hot goth chicks. They had a tendency to disappear from sight, and reappear far away. Sometimes, they'd assume the shape of tombstones (an excellent way to ambush the party).

They also had a penchant for mind-affecting magic.

I wish I could find the original post that described them - it was magnificent.

So, what were they? Dryads with the serial numbers filed off, and cemetary-themed powers instead of tree-themed powers.

That is the kind of cool ideas I'm looking to steal... er... borrow.

 

[Dog Moon]

Here: Not by me.

For example, in my last game the group ended up in a large, abandoned graveyard. When inspecting a very large crypt, they found two very beautiful, but creepy goth chicks, that smelled of old death. They made cobwebs and dead grass spring from the ground and entangle the party. They tried to charm the party and were resistant to melee damage. When the fight started to go against them, the goths melted into nearby tombstones, only to step out of ones across the graveyard and continue the fight. At one point, one even "disappeared" by changing herself into a grave marker that looked like a statue of an angel. I had a table full of veteran players that had no idea what they were up against.

All I did was take a completely off the rack dryad and change the description -- all the abilities were pretty much the same. Entangle just produced dead vegetation and such instead of vines and grass. Tree stride let them move between headstones instead of trees. The power that let them change to look like trees let them look like grave statues instead. Instead of a tree, they were linked to the crypt the party found them in. Totall cosmetic changes -- all "new" monster.

 

[Dog Moon]

Oh yeah, here's another interesting thread. Has some cool stuff in it.

http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=106339

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Thanks, Dog Moon!

 

[Corsair]

Awesome thread Dog, thanks for finding it. I'll have to save that to my home computer.

 

[Dog Moon]

No problem guys. I had downloaded it a while ago, so fortunately I still had the information. Glad to be of help.

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

One of the best idea I saw (it's probably in the thread you linked), is basically taking the powers of a beholder, but instead of the creature being a bloated, multi-ocular bastard, it was described as a winged medusa (IIRC).

AR

 

[Psion]

There are lots of possibilities between Book of Templates and Advanced Bestiary.

One of my favorite new discoveries to the effect of what you speak is the "creature swarm". Basically, it makes a single creature into a hivemind of smaller versions. I used it to make a hivemind-swarm of sparkling gecko-sized versions of a sapphire dragon.

 

[demiurge1138]

Favorite way of customizing monsters now is Advanced Bestiary's amalgam template. Just last week, my PCs descended into a mysterious cave full of girallons controlled by an unnatural source. The controller? A half-girallon, half mind flayer. Much fun, and near consumption of brains, ensued.

Demiurge out.

 

[jerichothebard]

OK - the tomb dryads rock. Consider that idea stolen right now, and whoever came up with it, thank you!

jtb