GITP Monster Competition Chat Thread II

[Debihuman]

Since anyone eating the berries goes forward in time but rematerializes where she or he started, it's not as useful as you might think. How much can they accomplish in the time allotted? 1d6 rounds is long enough to down a potion, grab a weapon or whatever. 1d6 minutes would allow someone to search for secret doors and do a little reconnaissance. More than that, and any sense of urgency or timing can be thwarted. Furthermore, PCs can do a lot of damage when they think that the consequences won't really matter. As a DM, I know that the consequences should always matter.

Debby

[DracoDei]

Considering making The First Word female, just to make the the dichomtomy(sp) even more strong. Another advantage would be that having further unique characters be the child of these two is almost as good a character excuse as "illegitimate son of Zeus", and could go in as many interesting directions. One drawback is that some people might assume it to be some sort of commentary on the Male/Female conversational dynamic, which, despite the fact that they are called "Word"s they are not and most decidedly would not be.

[Sir Shadow]

@ Debbi

1) They won't be able to HURT anybody once the use Time Stop, since they have no spells that can do it, and physical attacks won't cut it. Time Stop becomes purely a battle-field control spell or an escape.

2) When they use Time Lapse, they (or anybody else for that matter) won't be able to hurt the creature effected. Also, the reason it is Ex is because it is BASED on the spell. It doesn't cast the spell when it hits, it just has the effects of the spell with the noted differences.

3) their only offensive capability is their slam attack, and once they hit Time Lapse goes off, so they probably won't get more than one attack on one opponent per round.

4) HD 7 is the lowest, look at their progression, they go into epic levels.

5) The monsters aren't hostile, even when provoked they will run. And when they do attack, they're pretty much only an annoyance.

6) One thing I'll concede, however, is that DR 20 may be too high, but they will usually be encountered on the Astral Plane where it has no effect. The DR 20 is for when it is summoned so it won't be beaten to a pulp. But like I said, it may be too high, I'll think about it.

7) Ultimately it depends on the DM's choices, they can do what they want with what I create, I'm just giving them the idea.

Trust me, I have actually given thought to this monster, I didn't just throw skills together hodge-podge.

[DracoDei]

One thing I have seen on a very few monsters is splitting CR up so that you list two different ones based on a variable. Usually this is some variation in the monster (Satyr with/without pipes or some such), but in at least one case I have seen it as a variation based on the terrain the creature is encountered in (shallow river, vs deep lake or some such). You might consider "On Astral Plane"/"On any other Plane" in this case since it is such a big change.

[BisectedBrioche]

OK, I've made the Thyme mindless, changed the price of the berries and added a note on how long it takes for them to spoil.

[Debihuman]

Sir Shadow, if an ability mimics a spell (doesn't have to cast it) , it is not a non-magical ability and thus is either supernatural or spell-like. See Special Abilities in SRD here:
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbi...turalAbilities.

If is has the effects of a spell, it's spell-like or supernatural not extraordinary. So yes, if you are basing an ability on a spell, then the effect is either spell-like or supernatural.

Secondly the number of hit dice and attacks weren't in question. Both of of those were well done. Nor did I mention advancement, but I should have because it should increase in size when it doubles its HD. That's fairly standard, so technically it would be: 8-14 (Large), 15-21 (Huge). That's a minor quibble.

I merely pointed out, that in a combat, regardless of the creature's temporal stasis effect, Recall, Phase Armor and the Astral Steel Exoskeleton taken together make it nearly impossible for a party of the appropriate level [i.e. the one rated in its challenge rating] to HIT. Sure, the creature will slam and then wait for temporal stais to end and then slam again. It's going to be a very prolonged battle....

Number 6 was my first beef. Frankly, it makes more sense for a creature like this to have Damage Reduction based on its hit dice. In that case, the creature would have DR 7/- [and the most advanced epic version would have DR 21/-]. DR 7/- for a CR 10 is fine. DR 20/- for CR 10 isn't.

My second beef, was your low Caster Level for tiime stop. It is 10 levels off. I don't have a problem with your choice of spells, only with the caster level.

The monsters aren't hostile, even when provoked they will run. And when they do attack, they're pretty much only an annoyance.

If that was your goal for these creatures, it might have been helpful if you had stated it up front. Also, for creatures that won't take a lot of damage, they're fairly cowardly if they run away when they are provoked.

Debby

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Go directly to vote. Do not pass go. Do not collect 200 gp.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

New contest up. Get it out of your systems...

[Sir Shadow]

o___o;;; um... this one is... interesting...

[Lappy9000]

*grins*

Let's say next month will be... entertaining.

....you weren't kidding.

Oh, and congrats to The Logman!

[Athaniar]

Am I to assume that the theme of the contest and the number of the contest are... related? Anyway, I think I'll make my monster-creating debut here.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Am I to assume that the theme of the contest and the number of the contest are... related?

Of... course not. It's just the warm glow of approaching Valentine's and all. Yeah, that's it...

[Lappy9000]

Of... course not. It's just the warm glow of approaching Valentine's and all. Yeah, that's it...

On a sad note, I've known that you've been planning this for months. On an awesome note; thanks for awarding me the VT Choice Award :D

[afroakuma]

It would happen. He probably plotted this from the beginning. Look at that sly, pointed grin.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to play this round. On the other hand, it would give me something to do for Valentine's Day.

[Bhu]

*peeks at contest theme...*




heheheheheheheheeheheheheheheehehehe!!

[Athaniar]

No creature posted yet? Then I will let mine serve as the first.

[Adumbration]

I... Have an idea...

[Athaniar]

Then do something with that idea. Unleash your (hopefully existant) creativity!

[TheLogman]

I have a few ideas, but most of them are angry winged ladies, like harpies but with some twist. I'd like to do a little more with a theme, maybe two monsters that compliment each other, or a male something for Pete's sake.

I guess I will just think more about it and do what comes to mind. I have a whole month.

[RTGoodman]

Hmm... I've actually got a couple of ideas for monsters this time around, unlike several recent months. Still don't know which I'm going with or how to implement them yet, but I think I'll actually have an entry this month...

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Been thinking, how many of you would be up to a 4th edition upgrade to the contest? I'd have to read up on it more and prefer 3rd ed but dunno if you all would rather keep with the times. How say you?

[Bhu]

I don't have any of the 4e books because my group refuses to play it.

[Sir Shadow]

I don't have any of the 4e books because my group refuses to play it.

<__< I knew there was sa reason I loved you Bhu...

4e is evil incarnate (and not the good kind [magic of incarnum])! I think I would explode into fiery death if I every touched a 4e book... just reading the content from afar is enough to make my spine tingle in anticipation of the thunderbolt that is aimed at me for such sacrilege...

<<;;; btw, that means I'm against upgrading the contest to 4e...

[RTGoodman]

Well, I personally LOVE 4E, so I'm all over that. I don't know about an "upgrade," though - there are still a LOT more 3.x homebrewers than 4E ones, so I thinking keeping the 3.x around is a better idea if you're just gonna run one contest a month. If you were to run one of each per month, though, I think that'd be awesome.

EDIT: Or if you didn't want to run it, I guess I (or someone else) could do them. Of course, if I did it it would mean I wouldn't be able to participate, but I guess I could take one for the team if I had to...

[Lappy9000]

Been thinking, how many of you would be up to a 4th edition upgrade to the contest? I'd have to read up on it more and prefer 3rd ed but dunno if you all would rather keep with the times. How say you?

I sincerely hope you don't upgrade. It would ruin any of my aspirations to win this competition one day. I'm knowledgeable enough to play a game of 4e but in no way enough so to stat anything up with it (nor do I have any interest doing so.)

Nutthin' against the edition; just not my thing.

[Athaniar]

While I have nothing against 4e itself, I have no experience in homebrewing with it. Plus, 3e has an online SRD, so no need to sit with three books in front of the computer. So I prefer 3.5e, possibly with a 4e contest as a separate enterprise.

Also, competition!

[DracoDei]

Been thinking, how many of you would be up to a 4th edition upgrade to the contest? I'd have to read up on it more and prefer 3rd ed but dunno if you all would rather keep with the times. How say you?

Personally I don't like 4E and since I don't have the books it would be hard to make stuff for it... BUT all that pales in comparison to the hatred I have for it because they didn't run it as a parallel line to 3.5 (4E for munchkin control and the more casual gamers, 3.5 for the more creative types who LIKE a sometimes bewildering array of options and combination) BUT MOST OF ALL because of the way they (tried to?) kept third party publishers from going going both ways. So on ethical grounds I must say please please don't do a 4E contest. It might be fun for the participants, but I would find it a fall from awesome and goodness on the part of your deadly fluffiness Sir Tribble.

Edit: Typo in Vaincloak shadow... unless the damage really is supposed to drop from 1d10 to 1d8 when it is making a full attack...



My entry is going to be a tree that performs weddings for star-crossed lovers and other tragic couples who can find it, then painlessly removes their essences from their bodies to grant them a "happily ever after to the end of their days" in a quasi-real pocket dimension inside itself. Tends to come back in a slightly different location as an incorporeal deathless (complete with deathless inhabitants in the pocket dimension) if destroyed, unless a succubus, incubus, or other such creature (probably Called in for the purpose) performs a depraved ritual involving the sexualized murders of at least three sapient beings. Yes, this bastion of True Love can only be defeated by sadism and snuff...

So, any suggestions on the idea?

Two major tricky spots come to mind with this thing...
1.) The advancent starts at Small and goes to Colossal, so I am wondering if a single advancement line is really the way to go, or if I ought to split it up into a table, the way monstrous scorpions, spiders, centipedes, and the four basic elementals are. It gets a FEW new abilities as it gains HD, but mostly of the "natural weapons now count as magic for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction" type.
2.) The inhabitants of the pocket-dimension (if any) can take control of some of its limbs to grant it extra attacks at their own BABs and number of attacks, and/or to cast spells. This makes the formula for increasing its CR rather tricky... consider the case of a Small 2 HD playing host to a Young Adult copper(male)/bronze(female) pairing, both with the multi-attack feat...
Full attack: Thorney slams +19/+18/+17/+17/+17/+17/+17/+16/+16/+16/+16/+16/+3/+3 melee (1d4+1) OR Launch Major Thorns +18/+17/+16/+16/+16/+16/+16/+15/+15/+15/+15/+15/+5/+5 Ranged (1d4+1 Range Increment 40 max range 400)
.
.
.
Maybe I should only give each inhabitant the ability to make one attack per round? OTOH a 3' tall piece of landscaping that can make more attacks per round than an Epic Level Monk with Haste may cross the line from "way to much of a glass cannon" into Rule of Cool...

[Debihuman]

Well, since I don't play 4e and don't intend to at any point, the idea of a 4e contest is rather moot for me.

Debby

[The Vorpal Tribble]

I'd say that's a pretty universal 'HELL, NO'! For this I am glad.

Now get back to your monster making! Does it look like she's swooning? Do it again!

[Stycotl]

i'm throwing my vote in a little late, siding with the overwhelming approval of sticking with 3.5.

that said, if you wanted to run a concurrent 4th ed contest--or recruit someone to run it for you--i don't think anyone would mind. i doubt it would get the same amount of participation, but...

and afroakuma, if you can't find your dreamgirl/boy to take on a valentine's date, then none of us would make fun of you for statting her/him up for the contest.