SpoooOOOOOOooooky contest!

[GreatWyrmGold]

While Haloween isn't around the corner, it's coming up. As such, I'm starting this contest.

Create a creature, template, or class that has something (flavorfully) to do with Haloween. Pumpkin Master? Candy Golem? Something I haven't thought of? Try to avoid duplicating the flavor/appearence of previous monsters/templates/classes; a Beast of Nightmare sounds cool, but be sure to make it different from the MMII Nightmare Beast.

All entries must be in by Oct. 22nd; All votes in by Oct. 29th; and I hope to have the winner in on Halloween.

(Incudently, this is 3.5 D&D.)

Scoring:
Makes a base class (20 levels): +5
Makes a prestige class (10+ levels): +4
Makes a prestige class (5-9 levels): +3
Makes a prestige class (1-4 levels): +2
Includes fear ability, resistance/immunity to fear (class only), etc: +2
Fear Factor (see below): Varies
Per Vote: +4

Fear Factor:

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I plan to, after voting starts, ask certain people on the board to rate descriptions of a member of the class or monster or sample monster, descriptions I will write if you do not. They will rate them on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being "about as scary as a kindergarden teacher" and 10 being "I peed my pants reading that!" (or similar). After averaging them out and rounding to the nearest tenth, I will compare them to this table:
{table]1|-20
1.1-2|-10
2.1-3|-5
3.1-4|-2
4.1-5|-1
5.1-6|0
6.1-7|+3
7.1-8|+6
8.1-9|+12
9.1-10|+24[/table]

Considered Fear-Factor Raters:

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Zeta Kai
Recaiden

Confirmed Raters:

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Me!

If you know someone who you think might make a good fear-factor rater, PM me.

[GreatWyrmGold]

One day left, and no one has even tried! Come on, playground! We can create classes cooler than WotC's (mostly because of flavor), but no one is willing to try to make a spooky monster/class?

[Zaydos]

Here's something for an old campaign of mine; it's not new but I never posted it so I'm not sure if it counts... the fluff is a little campaign specific, and I'd have to find the god they serve but:

Phobimagi of Deimos
Servants of the god of terror, the phobimagi serve Deimos. They are counted in his priesthood and serve in his temples but they are actually more akin to wizards and sorcerers, having been such in their life before joining the faith. They are masters of terror and fear, able to strike the strongest man weak with it. They relish in fear and feed on terror, waxing stronger when others succumb to their spells. Blessed by Deimos phobimagi are dangerous foes whose very presence unsettles those about them.

Becoming a Phobimagi:
All phobimagi are drawn from the followers of Deimos god of fear. Most were previously necromancers, whose powers over fear are renowned. Others were common wizards or sorcerers, and even some illusionists follow this path. Some dread necromancers follow it, but their lack of the higher echelons of fear means that few tread this way, those that do often have the most fearsome presence of any phobimagi but those with access to illusion and enchantments of fear tend to wax stronger in the long term.

Entry Requirements:
Intimidate 5 ranks
Knowledge (Religion) 5 ranks
Base Will Save +5
Feats: Spell Focus (Necromancy), Skill Focus (Intimidate)
Spells: Ability to cast Fear as an arcane spell.
Special: Must serve Deimos devoutly.
Alignment: Any evil.

Class Features:
HD: d4
BAB: Poor as wizard (+1/2 levels)
Good Saves: Will
Skills per level: 2 + Int
Class Skills: Bluff, Concentration, Craft, High Pnakostic, Intimidate, Knowledge (Arcana), Knowledge (the Planes), Knowledge (Religion), Profession, Speak Language (Infernal), Spellcraft.
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: A phobimagi gains no new weapon and armor proficiencies for entering this class.

Phobimagi
{table=head]Level|Base Attack<br>Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Spells

1st|

+0

|

+0

|

+0

|

+2

|Aura of Terror, Inured to Fear|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

2nd|

+1

|

+0

|

+0

|

+3

|Power of Terror|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

3rd|

+1

|

+1

|

+1

|

+3

|Blessing of Deimos|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

4th|

+2

|

+1

|

+1

|

+4

|Feed on Fear|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

5th|

+2

|

+1

|

+1

|

+4

|Greater Spell Focus (Necromancy)|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

6th|

+3

|

+2

|

+2

|

+5

|Aura of Menace|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

7th|

+3

|

+2

|

+2

|

+5

|Greater Power of Terror|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

8th|

+4

|

+2

|

+2

|

+6

|Lingering Fear|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

9th|

+4

|

+3

|

+3

|

+6

|Extended Fear|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

10th|

+5

|

+3

|

+3

|

+7

|Eyes of Fear, Immunity to Fear|+1 level of existing spellcasting class [/table]

Special:

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Aura of Terror (Su): Starting at 1st level phobimagi are continually surrounded by an Aura of Terror. This aura forces all foes (or creatures he doesn’t know are there) within 30-ft of a phobimagi that casts a spell to make a Will save (DC 10 + class level + Charisma modifier) or become shaken for 1d6+1 rounds; an already shaken does not become frightened (or frightened become panicked) but the duration does extend. A creature which successfully saves against this ability is immune to that phobimagi’s aura of terror for 24 hours. The effects of this aura are resolved before those of the spell being cast.
Inured to Fear (Ex): A phobimagi adds his class level to all saves versus fear effects.
Power of Terror (Ex): At 2nd level a phobimagi gains a +1 Caster Level when casting spells with the Fear descriptor.
Blessing of Deimos (Ex): Starting at 3rd level the save DC to resist a phobimagi’s fear descriptor spells increases by +1. This stacks with the bonus granted by Spell Focus.
Feed on Fear (Su): Starting at 4th level whenever a phobimagi casts a Fear descriptor spell (not spell-like ability) and his target fails their saving throw the phobimagi gains 3 temporary hit points per spell level. These temporary hit points fade after 10 minutes.
Greater Spell Focus (Necromancer): At 5th level a phobimagi gains Greater Spell Focus (Necromancy) as a bonus feat.
Aura of Menace (Su): Starting at 6th level all enemies within 30-ft of a phobimagi have a -2 penalty to AC, attack rolls, saving throws, and skill/ability checks. These penalties last for as long as they are within 30-ft of the phobimagi and 1 minute/class level longer or until they successfully damage the phobimagi, a creature which does so is then immune to the phobimagi’s Aura of Menace for 24 hours; a creature with immunity to fear is immune to this ability.
Greater Power of Terror (Ex): Starting at 7th level your power of terror increases to +4 instead of +2.
Lingering Fear (Su): Starting at 8th level any creature that fails its saving throw against a fear effect cast by a phobimagi takes a -2 on its next save against a spell cast by the phobimagi.
Extended Fear (Ex): Starting at 9th level the duration of fear caused by fear descriptor spells cast by a phobimagi is doubled as if affected by the Extend Spell feat but without an increase to their level. This does not stack with the Extend Spell feat.
Eyes of Fear (Su): Starting at 10th level a phobimagi may concentrate his gaze on a creature within 30-ft (this works like a gaze attack but can only be used actively) as a standard action. The targeted creature must make a DC 10 + class level + Charisma modifier Will save or be frightened for 2d6 rounds.
Fear Immunity (Ex): At 10th level a phobimagi has become so immersed in fear that he cannot be frightened by magic or what terrifies most people and becomes completely immune to fear.

Spells:
At each level you gain spells per day as if you had gained another level in whatever arcane spellcasting class you had before taking levels in phobimagi (choose one such class if you have multiple).

Ex-Phobimagi:
If you stop serving Deimos or your alignment becomes non-evil you lose many of your phobimagi abilities. While you retain your spells per day and spells known, BAB, saves, HD, and skills you lose all abilities listed under special. You must return to Deimos’s following and atone to regain these powers.

Playing a Phobimagi

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You serve the god of fear, devoting your life to spreading it. You move in a cloak of nightmare and your every action causes terror to your inferiors. You revel in the terror you cause, but you are not mad and will not endanger yourself. Often you work to sow terror using your magic to cause fear in those around you, all without ever revealing yourself as the cause. This often means using spells more sophisticated than those of the fear descriptor and your bag of tricks usually contains at least a little more (such as illusions to create mysterious sounds and conjurations to summon forth beings that are feared all by themselves).
You are also a part of the church of Deimos and expected to fulfill whatever duties he requires. This is often just sowing fear in the hearts of those who did not recognize its power before, but can also put you working with the forces of Enyalius and the other gods of his pantheon.

Combat:

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In battle your greatest power is your spells. Like all other arcane spellcasters you must position yourself properly to be of use. All of your abilities improve your fear spells, but remember not to rely solely on those because many creatures (undead, constructs, vermin, paladins) are completely immune and even clerics and druids are very resistant due to their high Will saves. If you are a necromancer you probably prepare other, non-fear, necromancy spells. If you aren’t a necromancer then you should be able to prepare all the spells of a normal mage using your fear spells to send barbarians and other martial threats (or rogues) running for the hills. If pressed too closely your Aura abilities come into effect causing havoc to your enemies abilities possibly causing them to be shaken and penalized on all saving throws even before your first spell takes effect making it much harder to resist (-4 on saves if they are shaken). Even so you are frail and need to avoid the melee reach of enemies.

Advancement:

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You were probably a necromancer, or at least a wizard or sorcerer with a necromantic penchant, before becoming a phobimagi. In many ways you continue as you were gaining the powers of fear in addition to those of mere magic. You are bound to go as Deimos wills but otherwise have great freedom in how you use your arcane powers. It is likely that you work in the shadows and are hated by authority, except in a dictatorship where you are often an enforcer for the tyrant king.
In either case you should keep your Concentration skilled maxed out, but really can put skill points wherever you want. Feats such as Fearsome Necromancy can be useful to cause more fear and weaken a strong willed foe’s defenses so that next round you can truly frighten them, as can Improved Toughness which gives you extra hit dice, and you can take Ability Focus in your Eyes of Fear and Aura of Terror abilities causing them to be harder to resist.
When selecting your spells remember that your fear spells are more powerful, and often last longer than normal. Not only that but when a foe fails to save against one you gain more toughness and a buffer against enemy attacks. Even so because of the ease with which fear can be negated (Heroes’ Feast spell can protect a whole party) you should also prepare some non-fear spells. While necromancy looks good, especially since you will have Greater Spell Focus in it, remember that many of the same creatures are immune to death effects as fear effects; the same is true of enchantment’s mind-affecting effects. Evocation and conjuration are as useful to you as to any other arcane spellcaster and abjuration can rid your foes of some of their spells to protect against fear (pesky clerics). Finally don’t neglect an escape route, you know all about fear especially when it should in fact be listened too and your healthy respect for your own skin means you are unlikely to neglect spells such as teleport or at least dimension door to perform a swift get away.

Resources:

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You are a priest of Deimos and have all the resources that provides. Usually you can find a safe haven anywhere his followers maintain one or in a temple of Enyalius (at least for a short duration). In his father’s temples, though, your activities may be restrained and if enemies are persistent enough you may be forced to flee before the priests open the doors for a search. Even so you can find at least a temporary haven (or a free bed) in most civilizations through the pantheon of Enyalius.
The church of Deimos provides you with an easy opportunity to converse with others of your own kind and easy access to fear magic items (sometimes at reduced cost) and spellbooks containing fear and necromantic spells (many also have darkness spells). These resources may prove useful when you seek to learn more spells or need scrolls to augment your daily spells.

Edit: If age does count this out, I'm planning a one-shot with a trip to the Nine Hells and it does include a custom fear based monster, but I don't have any fluff.

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

GreatWyrm, I'll be honest: Vorpal Tribble's contest is vaguely Halloween themed, so that's direct competition. A second (more compelling reason) is the following: I don't really feel comfortable with any contest that attempts to quantify effort. If I make the greatest 4 level prestige class in existence, and poster X makes a crappy 20th level class, he's ahead of me in the standings simply because his class has more levels. I'd much rather do a contest based solely on public opinion.

[Real Sorceror]

We can do monsters, too, right? This is one I did a while back thats pretty scary. Its a vampire from the Philippines. The fear factor comes from its appearance, its choice of victims (it eats babies!), and its ability to hide from all normal forms of detecting undead.

Mananggal (CR 9)
NE Medium Magical Undead (Aswang)
Initiative: +7, Senses: Darkvision, Low-Light Vision
----------------------------------------
HP: 8d12+27 (81), Regeneration 5 (fire, holy)
AC: 19 (+3 Dex, +5 natural, +1 dodge)
Fort +10 Ref +11 Will +12
Immunity: Undead traits
Resist: Spells 19, Cold 10, Electric 10, Turning 4
----------------------------------------
Speed: 40 ft., fly 60 ft. (good)
Attack Bonus: +4 base, or +14 grapple
Full Attack: Claws +10/+10 (1d6+6/19-20); Tongue* +10 (1d6+6); and Wing Buffet +5/+5 (1d4+3)
*A mananggal has 5 ft reach with its tongue
----------------------------------------
Languages: Aswang, Common, Oni
Skills: Bluff +23, Fly +11, Perception +23, Sense Motive +23, Stealth +22
Feats: Alertness, Improved Critical (Claw), Dodge, Improved Initiative, Improved Grapple, Imp. Natural Attack (Tongue), Lightning Reflexes
Abilities: Str 22 (+6), Con - (0), Dex 16 (+3), Int 14 (+2), Wis 14 (+2), Cha 18 (+4)
Environment: Rural humanoid settlements
Organization: Solitary
Treasure: Standard
Advancement: By character class.
This horrific creature appears to be a legless human torso with massive fiendish wings. Even more horrible is it’s long, whip-like tongue that lashes out from the creature’s mouth and talon-like nails that adorn its fingers. Its eyes are pale orbs and the beating of its wings is deathly silent.
A mananggal (manang-gal) is a rare type of vampire that favors the blood and organs of unborn babies, newborns, and pregnant women, though it will target any lone or helpless person if given the opportunity. Unlike other vampires, a mananggal has no fangs, instead feeding with a 5 ft long proboscis-like tongue.
During the day, a mananggal is nearly indistinguishable from the person it once was in life, save for a faint seem around its belly and hips. Naturally the creature has no trouble covering this tell-tale sign with normal clothing. At night the mananggal can separate from its lower half, growing huge wings and vicious claws, and take to the air, leaving the rest of its body behind. It must return to its lower body and reattach itself by morning or risk being destroyed.
Mananngals can often live among the living for long periods of time without arousing any suspicion, and many continue their original lives as normal in order to cover for their true nature. For obvious reasons, many mananggals become midwives and healers. Others will simply befriend expecting mothers, secretly feeding from them for weeks on end, disappearing only when the stillborn or deformed child is delivered.
Mananggals with class levels are usually sorcerers or enchanters.
Alternate Form (Su):*During the day, the mananggal appears for all intents and purposes as a normal, living person, though it still does not need to eat, breath, or sleep and retains its other undead traits. However, it loses many of its weaknesses. Direct sunlight does not harm it, and it cannot be turned, rebuked, or affected by spells and affects that specifically target undead, such as the detect undead spell. A mananggal in its human form cannot use its flight ability and is unable to separate from its lower half so long as it remains in direct or indirect sunlight. A mananggal returns to its human form each morning before sunrise whenever possible.
Monstrous Form (Su): At night or within darkness, a mananggal is a horror to behold. It can sprout wings from its shoulders and pull away from its lower body, leaving the rest behind and gaining the ability to fly. A separated mananggal is much more resilient, being more fully in its dark power, and gains Fast Healing 10 and +4 Turn Resistance, as well as its Dark Blessing ability (See below). However, it also becomes vulnerable to sunlight, reacting to it in the same way as a normal vampire. Additionally, a separated mananggal can be repulsed by garlic and salt, so much so that if its lower body is found and smeared with garlic or salt, the mananggal will be unable to reattach itself and will become trapped in its true form.
Although it has no supernatural ability to produce fear, the creature's appearance alone will cause normal animals and common folk to panic.
Blood Drain (Ex):*A mananggal can suck blood from a living victim with its long tongue by making a successful grapple check. If it pins the foe, it drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of*Constitution*drain each round the pin is maintained. On each such successful attack, the mananggal gains 5 temporary hit points.
The creature’s tongue is nearly 5 feet long, and if a target is pinned by another creature, the mananggal does not need to enter its square or join the grapple in order to drain blood. In this instance, it need only succeed on a melee touch attack.
Damage Reduction (Su):*A mananggal has damage reduction 10/jade and good. A mananggal’s natural weapons are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Dark Blessing (Su): A mannangal adds its Charisma modifier to its saving throws. In addition, it uses its Charisma rather than its Constitution when determining its bonus hit points per level and Fortitude saving throw.
Wings of Insanity (Su):*A nearby mananggal is deathly quite, while one that is far away is easily heard, growing steadily more silent as it approaches. All distance based bonuses and penalties a mananngal receives on Stealth checks are reversed. Furthermore, a mananggal within 20 ft of its targets receives a +10 bonus on its Stealth checks. This bonus is reduced by 2 for every 20 ft further away the creature is, eventually becoming a bonus on perception checks for all nearby creatures, to a maximum of +10 for a mananngal that is 200 ft. away.

[GreatWyrmGold]

GreatWyrm, I'll be honest: Vorpal Tribble's contest is vaguely Halloween themed, so that's direct competition. A second (more compelling reason) is the following: I don't really feel comfortable with any contest that attempts to quantify effort. If I make the greatest 4 level prestige class in existence, and poster X makes a crappy 20th level class, he's ahead of me in the standings simply because his class has more levels. I'd much rather do a contest based solely on public opinion.

A. Oh...I need to check TVT's contests before posting mine.
B. I guess so...I'll try to avoid such things in the future.

[GreatWyrmGold]

And now...voting starteth!