Things that don't go bump in the night are worse than things that do... [MitP]

[Destro_Yersul]

Night Creeper

The Night Creeper is a creature of darkness that breeds in places full of fear and far from light. Each one looks different, though most have dark coloured scales and wicked curved claws. They must have some form of mouth as well, as victims are commonly found with gaping holes torn in their flesh.

Size/Type: Medium Aberration
Hit Dice: 2d12 (13 hp)
Initiative: +6
Speed: 40ft (8 squares)
Armour Class: 15 (+2 Dex, +3 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 13
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+2
Attack: Claw +2 melee (1d4+1)
Full Attack: 2 Claws +2 melee (1d4+1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Sneak Attack +1d6
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., light Sensitivity, Immunity to mind-affecting effects, sleep, and paralysis
Saves: Fort +0, Ref +2, Will +3
Abilities: Str 13, Dex 15, Con 10, Int 3, Wis 10, Cha 10
Skills: Hide +9, Listen +3, Move Silently +9, Spot +2
Feats: Improved Initiative, Stealthy
Environment: Any
Organization: Solitary or Pair
Challenge Rating: 1
Treasure: None

Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Advancement: 3-5 HD (medium); 6-9 HD (large)
Level Adjustment: -

One of the shadows nearby appears to shift. A strange creature throws itself out of the darkness towards you, clawed limbs held high.

Light Sensitivity (Ex): Night creepers are dazzled in bright sunlight, or in the radius of a Daylight spell.

Sneak Attack (Ex): If a night creeper can catch an opponent when he is unable to defend himself effectively from its attack, it can strike a vital spot for extra damage.

The night creeper's attack deals extra damage any time its target would be denied a Dexterity bonus to AC (whether the target actually has a Dexterity bonus or not), or when the night creeper flanks its target. Should the night creeper score a critical hit with a sneak attack, this extra damage is not multiplied.

A night creeper can sneak attack only living creatures with discernible anatomies—undead, constructs, oozes, plants, and incorporeal creatures lack vital areas to attack. Any creature that is immune to critical hits is not vulnerable to sneak attacks. The night creeper must be able to see the target well enough to pick out a vital spot and must be able to reach such a spot. A night creeper cannot sneak attack while striking a creature with concealment or striking the limbs of a creature whose vitals are beyond reach.

A night creeper's sneak attack bonus improves as its challenge rating goes up. For each increase in CR it gains an extra d6 sneak attack damage.

In combat night creepers are single minded, focusing entirely on one individual. When they have felled their chosen target they attempt to drag it off to feed, though they will attack if pressed.

Night creepers add a +5 racial bonus to Hide and Move Silently checks.

((Couldn't figure out how to add a poll. Sorry))

[Zeta Kai]

New polls are temporarily disabled. Double sorry.

[Destro_Yersul]

New polls are temporarily disabled. Double sorry.

Daayum... Well, how about the creature then? Any thoughts? Heck, you can vote fore MitP status in your post if you want...

[Lord Iames Osari]

Hmmm. Looks fairly solidly built, if a bit on the vanilla side.

Edit: Don't forget to submit this entry to the index, which is helpfully stickied at the top of the page.

[Destro_Yersul]

Thanks, I'll submit it now.

A note on the design: This was designed as a "lurker in the night" sort of thing. It's got low INT and only average CON, because it was not designed to take hits. It was designed to be all sneaky like, skulking around looking for victims.

It has a little higher than animal intelligence, so it at least knows to play to its strengths and when things are trouncing it horribly and should probably be killed first. It also knows that killing stuff causes it pain, but it does it anyways. Sure it eats some of what it kills, but it kills more than it needs, and it prefers humanoids. Hence the Evil alignment.

And it's my first attempt at actually creating a monster. :smallredface:

[ringsnake]

Apart from being an aberration instead of undead or outsider how is this monster any different in theme or concept from a Shadow or Shadow Mastiff from the monster manual pg 221.

The effects are different here and there, but otherwise it seems the same kind of thing. Why would a DM use this creature over one of those two?

[EndgamerAzari]

If I were to make a suggestion:

Perhaps adding some sneak attack damage might make this thing a little more unique and formidable.

[Destro_Yersul]

Apart from being an aberration instead of undead or outsider how is this monster any different in theme or concept from a Shadow or Shadow Mastiff from the monster manual pg 221.

The effects are different here and there, but otherwise it seems the same kind of thing. Why would a DM use this creature over one of those two?

Lower CR, for one. This kind of thing can be thrown at lower level characters without the same kind of problems being incorporeal or CR 5 cause. Would you throw a CR 5 at a group of level ones? Or an incorporeal creature at a party with no way to damage it at all? I wouldn't.

On sneak attack: hadn't thought of that. Rogues get it at lvl 1, so 1d6 sneak attack wouldn't be unbalancing. Fits the flavour too, as well as the skill selection. *changes*

Any other thoughts?

[Lord Iames Osari]

I give this a Yes.

[Maerok]

I like it. It's got my vote.

[Zherog]

Some feedback and comments. As with the others, I haven't read any of the comments from others so I might duplicate some things they say.


Night Creeper

Cool name. It conjures forth mental images of what the creature might be without reading stats or descriptions.


The Night Creeper is a creature of darkness that breeds in places full of fear and far from light. Every one looks different, though most have dark coloured scales and wicked curved claws. They must have some form of mouth as well, as victims are commonly found with gaping holes torn in their flesh.

I think the underlined text would "sound" better if you changed the word "every" to the word "each." Also, you spelled "color" wrong. :smalltongue:


Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., light Sensitivity, Immunity to mind-affecting effects, sleep, and paralysis

Rule of thumb: List vision types first, list "{creature type} traits" last, and cram everything else in between, in alphabetical order.


Saves: Fort +0, Ref +4, Will +0

Aberrations receive good Will saves, not Reflex. Your base saves for a 2 HD aberration should be 0/0/3. Then toss in ability mods of 0/2/0, and you get total save bonuses of 0/2/3.


Skills: Hide +7, Move Silently +7, Listen +3, Spot +2

List skill names alphabetically.

More importantly, I can't back into these numbers. A 2 HD aberration with a 3 Int should have a total of 5 skill points (4 from the first HD, and 1 from the second). So, if we remove the ability mods from your skills listed, we should get the ranks spent:

Hide +5, Listen +3, Move Silently +5, Spot +2

Add those up and we're spending 15 ranks. If they have racial modifiers to skills, you need to have a section at the very end that details that. So, this is one spot that needs some revision, to get those skills back where they should be.


Feats: Power Attack

This really doesn't strike me as the best feat choice for the creature; I mean, I understand why you picked it - they're ferocious predators and all that jazz. But, really, we're talking about a total of -1 attack/+1 damage. That's not really significant damage, and it's just going to make them miss more often. And with sneak attack, you really want to hit as often as possible.

If you really want a combat-focused feat, Blind-fight might make a good choice. Even though the creature has darkvision, this feat gives it even more ability to attack its foes, such as in fog or in magical darkness or whatever. You're going for a creepy sort of feel, so the ability to bit you in the ass (or wherever :smallwink: ) no matter what the conditions might add to that creepy feeling.

Another combat oriented feat that would make a lot of sense is Improved Initiative. These things are quick, and they strike from darkness. They want to get the drop on their foes, so that they can utilize their sneak attack. The other really good thing about Improved Init as a feat - there's nothing for the GM to do; the bonus is built into the stat block, and the GM doesn't need to remember anything (like he/she would with Power Attack or even Blind-fighting).

If you're not set on a combat feat, I think I'd take a serious look at Great Fortitude. A +0 Fort save is a huge weakness for your creature. And while a +2 isn't spectacular, it should help at a CR that low.

I think I'd also recommend you toss in either Alertness or Stealthy as a bonus feat; pick the one you think applies the best to how you envision your creature.


Alignment: Always chaotic evil

I'm personally not a fan of an "always" alignment on anything other than an outsider. That's not a rule, of course; just a personal preference.


As you walk by an alley, one of the shadows appears to shift. A strange creature hurls itself out of the darkness at you, flailing madly with its clawed hands.

You're making a few problems here.

First, you're assuming a setting ("As you walk by an alley..."). You should strive to make this flavor text as neutral as possible.

Second, you're assuming actions on the part of the PCs. Or, rather, you're assuming they failed Listen and Spot checks, and you're also assuming they failed Initiative, since the creature got the drop on them and is lunging at them with an attack. It's generally considered bad form in this text to assume actions from the PCs. I've still got bruises from when one of my developers beat me up about this. :smallwink:

***

Your abilities seem appropriate enough. You might want to consider adding a note to the sneak attack ability that allows an advanced version to have more sneak attack dice. I'd suggest tying it to the CR increase, though, rather than the HD increase.

As for your CR, I think you're pretty spot on. You might even be able to toss in a third Hit Die and still have a CR 1 critter - but I'd need to see how it actually played to figure that out.

Hope you found the comments useful.

[Destro_Yersul]

I think the underlined text would "sound" better if you changed the word "every" to the word "each." Also, you spelled "color" wrong. :smalltongue:

You're probably right there. I'm fairly sure I wrote that description when I was tired, and my grammar was probably off. As for the spelling.. Well, I'm Canadian. We spell it that way. :smallbiggrin:


Rule of thumb: List vision types first, list "{creature type} traits" last, and cram everything else in between, in alphabetical order.

Alright. I must remember this in the future. I figured the last bit, as a rather long string, probably fit at the end.


Aberrations receive good Will saves, not Reflex. Your base saves for a 2 HD aberration should be 0/0/3. Then toss in ability mods of 0/2/0, and you get total save bonuses of 0/2/3.

That's an easy enough fix. I should probably read the type description more closely in the future, shouldn't I? Well, live and learn. :smallsmile:


List skill names alphabetically.

More importantly, I can't back into these numbers. A 2 HD aberration with a 3 Int should have a total of 5 skill points (4 from the first HD, and 1 from the second). So, if we remove the ability mods from your skills listed, we should get the ranks spent:

Hide +5, Listen +3, Move Silently +5, Spot +2

Add those up and we're spending 15 ranks. If they have racial modifiers to skills, you need to have a section at the very end that details that. So, this is one spot that needs some revision, to get those skills back where they should be.

I intend for the Creeper to be pretty sneaky for a CR 1. I gave it some decent racial mods to the abilities to outline that, because INT 3 wasn't going to get it much of anywhere in the skill department. I'll add a section onto the end.


This really doesn't strike me as the best feat choice for the creature; I mean, I understand why you picked it - they're ferocious predators and all that jazz. But, really, we're talking about a total of -1 attack/+1 damage. That's not really significant damage, and it's just going to make them miss more often. And with sneak attack, you really want to hit as often as possible.

If you really want a combat-focused feat, Blind-fight might make a good choice. Even though the creature has darkvision, this feat gives it even more ability to attack its foes, such as in fog or in magical darkness or whatever. You're going for a creepy sort of feel, so the ability to bit you in the ass (or wherever :smallwink: ) no matter what the conditions might add to that creepy feeling.

Another combat oriented feat that would make a lot of sense is Improved Initiative. These things are quick, and they strike from darkness. They want to get the drop on their foes, so that they can utilize their sneak attack. The other really good thing about Improved Init as a feat - there's nothing for the GM to do; the bonus is built into the stat block, and the GM doesn't need to remember anything (like he/she would with Power Attack or even Blind-fighting).

If you're not set on a combat feat, I think I'd take a serious look at Great Fortitude. A +0 Fort save is a huge weakness for your creature. And while a +2 isn't spectacular, it should help at a CR that low. I think I'd also recommend you toss in either Alertness or Stealthy as a bonus feat; pick the one you think applies the best to how you envision your creature.

Yeah, Power attack probably isn't the best, is it? Fit the flavour too... Blind Fight could be good, though with the speedy sort of feel Improved Initiative is really more appropriate. The reason the Fort save is +0 (from a flavour perspective) is because the things aren't all that hardy. They don't need to be, because their speed and sneakiness helps make up for it. Stealthy as a bonus feat fits better. Listen and Spot are for locating prey-things. Sneakiness is for catching them.


You're making a few problems here.

First, you're assuming a setting ("As you walk by an alley..."). You should strive to make this flavor text as neutral as possible.

Second, you're assuming actions on the part of the PCs. Or, rather, you're assuming they failed Listen and Spot checks, and you're also assuming they failed Initiative, since the creature got the drop on them and is lunging at them with an attack. It's generally considered bad form in this text to assume actions from the PCs. I've still got bruises from when one of my developers beat me up about this. :smallwink:

I'm going to plead tiredness for this one. I didn't have a lot of time to think up decent text, because my brain was demanding sleep. That was the best I could do with what cognitive function I had. Again though, easy enough to fix.

***


Your abilities seem appropriate enough. You might want to consider adding a note to the sneak attack ability that allows an advanced version to have more sneak attack dice. I'd suggest tying it to the CR increase, though, rather than the HD increase.

As for your CR, I think you're pretty spot on. You might even be able to toss in a third Hit Die and still have a CR 1 critter - but I'd need to see how it actually played to figure that out.

Hope you found the comments useful.

Good idea. The sneak attack text was copy-pasted from the Rogue, with all references to Rogues changed to avoid confusion. I also removed the "Extra sneak attack per level" text, because that doesn't apply to this creature.

Thanks for the comments, I do appreciate it.

[Icewalker]

It's a good idea, and the name worried me for a tiny second because my Nocturne Lemur was originally entered under the name "Dusk Creeper" but it didn't sound right for a fluffy animal that lives in dark areas.

I like it. Excellent low level encounter material. I think I'd use this.
I can see them haunting ships, and I am making a ship-based campaign...


I vote yes.

[Zherog]

Rule of thumb: List vision types first, list "{creature type} traits" last, and cram everything else in between, in alphabetical order.

Alright. I must remember this in the future. I figured the last bit, as a rather long string, probably fit at the end.

Yeah, about that.

I did a little more research. And I'm confusing my styles. This "version" of the SQ abilities is not the WotC/SRD standard. It's a standard I had to use when working on a project for Sword and Sorcery Studios. So, don't make the change, eh? :smallwink:

[Destro_Yersul]

I saw your post in the other thread immediately after I posted that actually. It has remained unchanged. What do you think of the creature now?

[Zherog]

Looks good on a quick glance. Simple but creepy CR 1 stuff is good - lots of games rely on orcs and goblins and the like at the early levels.

[Destro_Yersul]

Good, that's what I was aiming for. Something interesting to throw at the players during low levels.

[DracoDei]

I cast a 'Yes' vote for this. (is that the official way to do it?)

[Destro_Yersul]

At least until the polls are back, it would seem.


Any other comments, anyone?

[Matthew]

I guess shall als vote yes via this Post... I would have liked to see a bit more attendent fluff.

[Maerok]

MitP Vote: Yes

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Very yes. Bloody 10 character limit.

[DragonTounge]

Aberations have a d8 hit dice, not a d12. Other than that great monster.

MitP Vote: Yes

[Matthew]

Just noticed that Spot 2(2) and Listen 3(3) should both be 2(2), since you only have 4 Skill Points [4 x (2 - 1)] and nothing appears to be adding to Listen.