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Frathe
2013-01-31, 03:55 PM
Mummy
Mummies are the undead remnants of long-dead creatures who strove for eternal life, or who were forced to prematurely join their masters in their tombs. Elaborate rituals of linen wrappings and the removal of organs were intended to let them live forever—and they did, in a twisted way.

Creating A Mummy
"Mummy" is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal creature (other than an undead) that has a skeletal system (referred to hereafter as the base creature).

Size and Type
The creature’s type changes to undead. Do not recalculate base attack bonus, saves, or skill points. Size is unchanged. The creature retains any subtypes except alignment subtypes and subtypes that indicate kind. It does not gain the augmented subtype. It uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Hit Dice
Increase all current and future Hit Dice to d12s.

Speed
If the base creature can fly, its maneuverability drops to clumsy. If its flight was not magical before, it now becomes a supernatural ability.

Armor Class
Natural armor bonus increases by a number based on the mummy’s size:
{table=head]Mummy Size|Natural Armor Bonus
Tiny or smaller|+0
Small|+1
Medium|+2
Large|+3
Huge|+4
Gargantuan|+7
Colossal|+11[/table]

Attacks
A mummy retains all the natural weapons, manufactured weapon attacks, and weapon proficiencies of the base creature. A mummy also gains a slam attack.

{table=head]Mummy Size|Slam Damage
Fine|1
Diminutive|1d2
Tiny|1d3
Small|1d4
Medium|1d6
Large|1d8
Huge|2d6
Gargantuan|2d8
Colossal|4d6[/table]

Damage
Natural and manufactured weapons deal damage normally. A slam attack deals damage depending on the mummy’s size. (Use the base creature’s slam damage if it’s better.)

Special Attacks
A mummy retains all of the base creature’s special attacks. A mummy also gains the following special attacks.

Despair (Su)
At the mere sight of a mummy, the viewer must succeed on a Will save or be paralyzed with fear for 1d4 rounds. Whether or not the save is successful, that creature cannot be affected again by the same mummy’s despair ability for 24 hours. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Mummy Rot (Su)
Supernatural disease—slam, Fortitude save, incubation period 1 minute; damage 1d6 Con and 1d6 Cha. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Unlike normal diseases, mummy rot continues until the victim reaches Constitution 0 (and dies) or is cured as described below.

Mummy rot is a powerful curse, not a natural disease. A character attempting to cast any conjuration (healing) spell on a creature afflicted with mummy rot must succeed on a DC 20 caster level check, or the spell has no effect on the afflicted character.

To eliminate mummy rot, the curse must first be broken with break enchantment or remove curse (requiring a DC 20 caster level check for either spell), after which a caster level check is no longer necessary to cast healing spells on the victim, and the mummy rot can be magically cured as any normal disease.

An afflicted creature who dies of mummy rot shrivels away into sand and dust that blow away into nothing at the first wind.

Spells
A mummy can cast any spells it could while alive.

Special Qualities
A mummy retains all the base creature's special qualities and gains the following special qualities.

Damage Reduction (Ex)
A mummy has damage reduction 5/-
Darkvision 60 ft.
Vulnerability to fire


Abilities
A mummy’s Strength increases by +8, it has no Constitution score, its Wisdom changes to 10, and its Charisma increases by +2.

Environment
Desert or underground.

Organization
Any.

Challenge Rating
Depends on Hit Dice, as follows:
{table=head]Hit Dice|Challenge Rating
6½|3
7|4
8-9|5
10-11|6
12-13|7
14-15|8
16-17|9
18-20|10
21-23|11
24-26|12[/table]

Treasure
Standard.

Alignment
Any evil.

Advancement
As base creature, but double Hit Dice (maximum 80), or — if the base creature advances by character class.

Level Adjustment
—.

Frathe
2013-01-31, 03:56 PM
Check out my other Egypt-themed thread here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269921)!

Frathe
2013-01-31, 04:29 PM
Mummified Cat
Size/Type:Tiny Undead
Hit Dice:7d12 (45 hp)
Initiative:+2
Speed:30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class:14 (+2 size, +2 Dex), touch 14, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple:+3/-9
Attack:Claw +7 melee (1d2)
Full Attack:2 claws +7 melee (1d2) and bite +2 melee (1d3) or slam +3 melee (1d3)
Space/Reach:2½ ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks:Despair, mummy rot
Special Qualities:Damage reduction 5/-, darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent, undead traits, vulnerability to fire
Saves:Fort +2, Ref +4, Will +5
Abilities:Str 11, Dex 15, Con Ø, Int 2, Wis 10, Cha 9
Skills:Balance +4, Climb +1, Hide +4, Jump +2, Listen +1, Move Silently +3, Spot +1
Feats:Toughness
Environment:Temperate plains
Organization:Any
Challenge Rating:4
Advancement:—
Level Adjustment:—

This bandage-swaddled cat surely used to be some pharaoh’s favorite feline friend. Now it hisses at you and bares its bony fangs, red eyes glowing behind rotting linen wrappings.

Combat
Despair (Su)
At the mere sight of a mummy, the viewer must succeed on a DC 12 Will save or be paralyzed with fear for 1d4 rounds. Whether or not the save is successful, that creature cannot be affected again by the same mummy’s despair ability for 24 hours. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Mummy Rot (Su)
Supernatural disease—slam, Fortitude DC 12, incubation period 1 minute; damage 1d6 Con and 1d6 Cha. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Unlike normal diseases, mummy rot continues until the victim reaches Constitution 0 (and dies) or is cured as described below.

Mummy rot is a powerful curse, not a natural disease. A character attempting to cast any conjuration (healing) spell on a creature afflicted with mummy rot must succeed on a DC 20 caster level check, or the spell has no effect on the afflicted character.

To eliminate mummy rot, the curse must first be broken with break enchantment or remove curse (requiring a DC 20 caster level check for either spell), after which a caster level check is no longer necessary to cast healing spells on the victim, and the mummy rot can be magically cured as any normal disease.

An afflicted creature who dies of mummy rot shrivels away into sand and dust that blow away into nothing at the first wind.

bobthe6th
2013-01-31, 05:42 PM
Umm... that cat isn't CR4. not by a long shot.

Frathe
2013-01-31, 05:56 PM
Umm... that cat isn't CR4. not by a long shot.

Sorry. What would you suggest?

Edit: Part of the problem would be that I forgot to change the Strength modifier on the attacks. I also wasn't sure how the Mummy Rot and Despair would affect things.

Debihuman
2013-02-01, 03:25 AM
Why aren't mummy rot and despair listed in the special attacks in the stat block of the mummy cat?

Saves are noted under creatures Type. Undead have Good Will saves. Do you recalculate the saves for mummies since a cat normally has good Fort and Reflex? That makes a difference.

Debby

Frathe
2013-02-01, 01:55 PM
Why aren't mummy rot and despair listed in the special attacks in the stat block of the mummy cat?
I just copied the cat entry and forgot to add those. Good call.



Saves are noted under creatures Type. Undead have Good Will saves. Do you recalculate the saves for mummies since a cat normally has good Fort and Reflex? That makes a difference.
I believe I did. Good base saves are 1/2 HD + 2, and poor saves are 1/3 HD, right? I did that because it's part of the template.

Frathe
2013-02-02, 01:00 PM
Does anyone have thoughts about the CR table for the template? Just as a baseline, it's currently spitting out CR 4 for the example mummy cat, and it would give CR 5 for its version of a human mummy.

Deaxsa
2013-02-02, 01:14 PM
wouldn't the DC's for despair and mummy rot be based off of charisma, not size? i mean, this is a direct quote fom the SRD, talking about mummy rot: "The save DC is Charisma-based." www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/mummy.htm

edit: ok, i see that you have the charisma-based clause too, but then why include the size table for dc's? and why does how big something is make a difference to how powerful it's supernatural abilities are? i mean, if that were the case, the DC would be based off of STR or CON or Natural armor or ONLY size or something, not charisma AND size..?


also, i would not give the template toughness, since A) it's not a bonus feat, and B) the cleric mummy in the SRD does not have toughness. in fact, that mummy got to keep all of his feats. why remove the feats? or do you get to choose new feats once you turn into a mummy? i don't want my character to gain 14 levels in cleric, find out the long and arduous process to become one of the undead, go through said process, and then lose a minimum of 5 feats. you're basically setting people up to only become mummies if they make their character that way(which is ridiculous, as mummification, under your own definition, is a type of mini-lichdom, and every mummy was once one of the living unless they were created by a spell or something.. and even those are not under the control of the creator, you have to cast it on a corpse). basically, what i'm getting at, is that like lichdom, becoming a mummy should NOT remove your feats. maybe establish a difference between mummies who retain previous knowledge, and mummies who don't?

also; what about mummies that had a flying ability in life? a mummy hawk; can it fly? i'd suggest allowing flight but it changes the ability to be supernatural in nature.

EDIT; to be clear, i like to treat monsters as characters who take levels in monster racial classes, not in real classes. that's why i'm treating the mummy template as if i were applying it to a PC.

Deaxsa
2013-02-02, 01:35 PM
also, i'm new to the forums, what does PEACH mean? i checked the faq but could not find it.

Sgt. Cookie
2013-02-02, 01:49 PM
Please Evaluate And Critique Honestly.


All in all, the template seems sound to me, although I agree that the Cat is a little strong for CR4, a DC 14 fort save isn't really the sort of thing a level 4 character is likely to be making consistantly.

Frathe
2013-02-02, 02:25 PM
wouldn't the DC's for despair and mummy rot be based off of charisma, not size? i mean, this is a direct quote fom the SRD, talking about mummy rot: "The save DC is Charisma-based." www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/mummy.htm

edit: ok, i see that you have the charisma-based clause too, but then why include the size table for dc's? and why does how big something is make a difference to how powerful it's supernatural abilities are? i mean, if that were the case, the DC would be based off of STR or CON or Natural armor or ONLY size or something, not charisma AND size..?


also, i would not give the template toughness, since A) it's not a bonus feat, and B) the cleric mummy in the SRD does not have toughness. in fact, that mummy got to keep all of his feats. why remove the feats? or do you get to choose new feats once you turn into a mummy? i don't want my character to gain 14 levels in cleric, find out the long and arduous process to become one of the undead, go through said process, and then lose a minimum of 5 feats. you're basically setting people up to only become mummies if they make their character that way(which is ridiculous, as mummification, under your own definition, is a type of mini-lichdom, and every mummy was once one of the living unless they were created by a spell or something.. and even those are not under the control of the creator, you have to cast it on a corpse). basically, what i'm getting at, is that like lichdom, becoming a mummy should NOT remove your feats. maybe establish a difference between mummies who retain previous knowledge, and mummies who don't?

also; what about mummies that had a flying ability in life? a mummy hawk; can it fly? i'd suggest allowing flight but it changes the ability to be supernatural in nature.

EDIT; to be clear, i like to treat monsters as characters who take levels in monster racial classes, not in real classes. that's why i'm treating the mummy template as if i were applying it to a PC.

Fair enough. I was basing this on the zombie template, and thinking of it as more of a monster; that's where I took the Toughness feat. I wasn't really considering its utility for PCs; that's why I didn't provide a Level Adjustment. I see your point about treating it more like a PC, though. I'll change that. I think I'll take a look at the lich template and make some change to make in more in line with that idea, such as not losing class levels (so they get to keep spellcasting and such).

Just to be clear, the table for despair and mummy rot is not "size" based, it's based on HD. That's different; it's an indication of health and has more to do with toughness than with size.

Considering how the mummy are sort of warped versions of their previous lives, I think I could go for supernatural flying ability. In that case, maybe I should retain all other non-combat special abilities as well (again, more like a lich).

Edit: If I'm going to make this more player friendly, I should probably figure out a Level Adjustment. I'll hold off on trying to figure that out until I make the other changes.

Deaxsa
2013-02-02, 02:30 PM
Fair enough. I was basing this on the zombie template, and thinking of it as more of a monster; that's where I took the Toughness feat. I wasn't really considering its utility for PCs; that's why I didn't provide a Level Adjustment. I see your point about treating it more like a PC, though. I'll change that. I think I'll take a look at the lich template and make some change to make in more in line with that idea, such as not losing class levels (so they get to keep spellcasting and such).

Just to be clear, the table for despair and mummy rot is not "size" based, it's based on HD. That's different; it's an indication of health and has more to do with toughness than with size.

Considering how the mummy are sort of warped versions of their previous lives, I think I could go for supernatural flying ability. In that case, maybe I should retain all other non-combat special abilities as well (again, more like a lich).

Ok, yea, but i'm still a bit confused about the DC table. is that your base, and then you add your CHA modifier to that?
And i think that part of the reason i like to treat it more like a pc is that, well, how AWESOME would it be to play a mummy character, or, as the reward to some dungeon, you get to become a powerful undead? (for the right characters, and only if you increase the difficulty of things, and the party doesnt become unbalanced because of this.. etc. there are a lot of ifs. but still!)

Frathe
2013-02-02, 02:40 PM
Ok, yea, but i'm still a bit confused about the DC table. is that your base, and then you add your CHA modifier to that?
And i think that part of the reason i like to treat it more like a pc is that, well, how AWESOME would it be to play a mummy character, or, as the reward to some dungeon, you get to become a powerful undead? (for the right characters, and only if you increase the difficulty of things, and the party doesnt become unbalanced because of this.. etc. there are a lot of ifs. but still!)

Yeah, that would be pretty cool.

As for the DC table, I did it wrong because I didn't understand how things were working, but I just figured it out. I thought the SRD Mummy entry was just pulling the number "16" out of thin air, but now that I actually read the SRD I see that:

The saving throw (if any) against a supernatural ability is:10 + ½ the creature’s HD + the creature’s ability modifier (usually Charisma).So I will correct my template accordingly. Yes, it should just be based on HD and Cha.

Frathe
2013-02-02, 02:56 PM
Okay, with other revisions in place, the mummy cat now just has DC 12 saves for the special attack. Does that seem reasonable for Level 4 characters to make, or should I adjust the CR table?

Another question: would it seem more PC-friendly to not recalculate base saves, BABs and skills? I think it probably would, but then I don't want this to get too far into intentional ritual lich-template territory.

Deaxsa
2013-02-02, 03:00 PM
Speaking of HD, i'm a bit confused about the way you've got it set up right now. first of all, it removes all class levels, which i can understand, because the cat probably won't remember those 13 levels in monk it took. on the other hand... why wouldn't it? Couldnt those class levels just become undead hit dice?(this also kind of negates the discussion about keeping feats, since i'm losing all my levels anyways.) also, what's with the weird formula? why not just make it "all hit dice become d12s, and all saves become high Will, low Reflex and Fortitude" as per being an undead. this way, something is close to it's base strength when it changes, and if you want to make it tougher, just give it more HD (but it can only take HD in Undead or class levels)

Frathe
2013-02-02, 03:08 PM
Speaking of HD, i'm a bit confused about the way you've got it set up right now. first of all, it removes all class levels, which i can understand, because the cat probably won't remember those 13 levels in monk it took. on the other hand... why wouldn't it? Couldnt those class levels just become undead hit dice?(this also kind of negates the discussion about keeping feats, since i'm losing all my levels anyways.) also, what's with the weird formula? why not just make it "all hit dice become d12s, and all saves become high Will, low Reflex and Fortitude" as per being an undead. this way, something is close to it's base strength when it changes, and if you want to make it tougher, just give it more HD (but it can only take HD in Undead or class levels)

If you look again, I already changed it so that class levels are not removed (again, on the basis of the lich). You're probably right about the weird formula not being necessary. How does it look as it is now?

Edit: And changing the saves has been part of the template this whole time. That's what the "Saves" section about 1/3 HD, 1/3 HD, 1/2 HD + 2 is about. Now that everything is being converted to undead HD, the HD there aren't necessary just racial HD anymore, so that section defines the changed saves to a good Will save (those are the formulas, if I'm not mistaken).

Deaxsa
2013-02-02, 03:11 PM
If you look again, I already changed it so that class levels are not removed (again, on the basis of the lich). You're probably right about the weird formula not being necessary. How does it look as it is now?
cool. i, personally, like it, can't speak for anyone else though.
edit: as for your edit, sorry to be redundant, but i think i'm sometimes writing these posts while you are editing the template, so i'll try and wait a bit before reponding from now on to have accurate info


Okay, with other revisions in place, the mummy cat now just has DC 12 saves for the special attack. Does that seem reasonable for Level 4 characters to make, or should I adjust the CR table?

Another question: would it seem more PC-friendly to not recalculate base saves, BABs and skills? I think it probably would, but then I don't want this to get too far into intentional ritual lich-template territory.

i think that, like other movement modes, the fact that the cat even HAS mummy rot makes it a bit ridiculous. but apart from that, yes, i think it makes the cat much more balanced to it's CR.

as for the 'getting into lichdom' territory, you have to answer a question: how much do these mummies remember? i think that if you make it so that mummies only remember their most pertinent goals in life, that solves the problem, because no PC is going to want to become something that makes him lose almost all sense of self, yet it makes for mummies raising undead armies to conquer the world (a mummified tyrant) a possibility. he doesn't really know WHY he's doing it, he just is. which brings me to the last bit of this whole memory issue: how many of class abilities/levels does he remember? that tyrant had many levels in life, maybe even the ability to cast spells. when he becomes a mummy, is he going to lose all of that? i really, really think he should keep it, so that you can HAVE mummies with class levels, which can make for some unique enemies (the big bad got mummified and is now a totally new type of trouble).

note: i might be a bit scatterbrained right now, sorry if I'm not making total sense.

Sgt. Cookie
2013-02-02, 03:15 PM
Hey, Frathe. Could you change that light brown colour to something a little darker? It's a little hard to read, is all. Style and all that.

Frathe
2013-02-02, 03:19 PM
If we want humanoid mummies with class levels who are gonna try to conquer the world, I think they'd better have a BAB based on the one they had in life (I probably just won't recalculate it) and keep, as well as class levels, all their skill points. It might be okay if saves change, though.

Frathe
2013-02-02, 03:20 PM
Hey, Frathe. Could you change that light brown colour to something a little darker? It's a little hard to read, is all. Style and all that.

Oh, yeah, I was afraid it might be. It was meant to be mummy-colored. Sure, I'll change it if it's hard to read.

lunar2
2013-02-02, 03:23 PM
Is there a reason you are making this template instead of using the mummified creature template from libris mortis?

Frathe
2013-02-02, 03:24 PM
Is there a reason you are making this template instead of using the mummified creature template from libris mortis?

...Because I didn't know about it. Dang it. :smallsigh:

Sgt. Cookie
2013-02-02, 03:39 PM
Oh, yeah, I was afraid it might be. It was meant to be mummy-colored. Sure, I'll change it if it's hard to read.

It's much, much better now. Thanks.

lunar2
2013-02-02, 04:20 PM
...Because I didn't know about it. Dang it. :smallsigh:

I'm not saying you can't make your own, or anything. i was just wondering if there was something about that one you didn't like.

that said, i have a couple of suggestions.

1. templates generally shouldn't override the BAB and saves of the base creature type.

2. change all references of HD in your template to RHD. you don't want a fighter getting stuck with a 1/2 bab and lose their good fortitude save (when you no longer have a Con score to boost it).

Frathe
2013-02-02, 04:30 PM
I'm not saying you can't make your own, or anything. i was just wondering if there was something about that one you didn't like.

that said, i have a couple of suggestions.

1. templates generally shouldn't override the BAB and saves of the base creature type.

2. change all references of HD in your template to RHD. you don't want a fighter getting stuck with a 1/2 bab and lose their good fortitude save (when you no longer have a Con score to boost it).

1. I already got rid of the BAB override, and now I've removed the override to saves.

2. Oh. I hadn't thought about (for example) Fighters losing their good Fortitude save. I was basing these new parts on the Lich template, which I now realize is much more aimed at spellcasters. However, if I change those references to RHD, 1 RHD humanoids (e.g., most PCs) won't get any boost to health (they swap out RHD for class HD).

lunar2
2013-02-02, 04:39 PM
low health is one of the dangers of being undead. there are, of course, ways around it.

being created by someone with the corpsecrafter feat chain. being created in a desecrated area. getting another ability score to HP. etc.

Frathe
2013-02-02, 05:40 PM
low health is one of the dangers of being undead. there are, of course, ways around it.

being created by someone with the corpsecrafter feat chain. being created in a desecrated area. getting another ability score to HP. etc.

Those seem like fair health-boosts. It especially seems like there'd be a fair chance of a mummy's tomb being a desecrated area. Never mind, it's not like it would last that long.

That said, what if I had all HD increased to d12s, but not all actually converted to undead HD? That way you'd get the health increase I want (for a tough enemy, which is how I originally envisioned this) without Fighters and other melee classes losing out on their class features. Or is that too weird, and should I just do the racial?

lunar2
2013-02-02, 05:51 PM
iirc vampires and liches both do that.

Frathe
2013-02-02, 06:25 PM
Okay, sounds good then. I'll just do that. If it's good enough for vampires and liches it's good enough for me. :smallbiggrin:

lunar2
2013-02-03, 02:34 PM
@desecrate. they don't have to stay in a desecrated area, they just have to be created in a desecrated area. also, attach a desecrate to an unhallow. it is now permanent.