GITP Monster Competition Chat Thread III

[BisectedBrioche]

I voted for the Felpine Shambler. I loved the idea that pretty much any tree could suddenly be replaced by one.

[The Glyphstone]

I just noticed that the Twelfth Knight is entry #12. This amuses me.

[BisectedBrioche]

Personally it would have to happen in a contest with a knight theme for me to find it funny. ¬_¬"

[Debihuman]

Personally it would have to happen in a contest with a knight theme for me to find it funny. ¬_¬"

Twelfth Night is an old English holiday celebrated January 5 (the 12th day of Christmas) and the Lord of Misrule (in Scotland it's the Abbot of Unreason) presides over the Feast of Fools. It was popular from the 5th to the 16th centuries.

See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelfth_Night_(holiday)

Link is now working correctly.

It's much funnier when you understand the context. It was a clever take on the holiday and that's why I voted for it.

Sadly, my personal favorite was disqualified as unfinished. I really liked the Chanukah Chorror and hope to see it completed after the contest.

Debby

[BisectedBrioche]

Twelfth Night is an old English holiday celebrated January 5 (the 12th day of Christmas) and the Lord of Misrule (in Scotland it's the Abbot of Unreason) presides over the Feast of Fools. It was popular from the 5th to the 16th centuries.

See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelfth_Night_(holiday)

Link might not work (for some reason the parentheses messes with stuff.

It's much funnier when you understand the context.

Debby

Yeah, I know about it (it's the source of one of my favorite Shakespearean plays, after all). I just meant something having "twelfth" in the title being 12th in a list wasn't enough of a pun for me to find funny unless there was something to make it stronger (in this case the contest's theme being knights or nights, thus making it a literal "12th Knight").

Also, if you're worried about brackets, why not just use tinyURL or a similar site?

[Mulletmanalive]

Actually entirely unintentional as well, though I have a habit of being unintentionally funny, which my brother never lets me live down...

[Debihuman]

Call it synchronicity rather than funny in that case. :-)

Link is working correctly now. I had to just make a small adjustment to the way I typed the url.

I'm seeing some issues with the Insanity Claws (could be why it's not getting the votes). Do you still want my critique after the contest?

Debby

[The Vorpal Tribble]

There are unfortunately issues with a number of entries that I just ended up not having time to point out. As long as its just cleaning up entries, not rewriting, I don't think we'd have a problem if they were fixed.

I put every entry into a text file to, so I will know if it happens


Btw, though there is no problem with posting here, you are perfectly welcome to chat in the contest thread. After the poll is up its fair game.

[Mulletmanalive]

Aside from the generally odd nature of the Lord of Misrule power, and the associated difficulty in writing it down, what were the problems with my Twelfth Knight, please?

[The Glyphstone]

Similar questions...I wondered why only one monster got the Vorpal Tribble Review, and apparently finding it was because everyone else had major issues isn't heartening.

Personally, I just couldn't get attached to any of the monsters that were directly referencing a real-world holiday or legendary figure.

[Zom B]

I, uh...couldn't help but notice that the Chanukah Chorror is not available for voting.

[Debihuman]

The Chanukah Chorror wasn't complete so it was disqualified. :-(

Debby

[Zom B]

I don't see what was incomplete about it.

[BisectedBrioche]

I don't see what was incomplete about it.

Well there was no detailed combat descrition and the lore section was unfinished (although that's optional anyway)...

[Debihuman]

I don't see what was incomplete about it.

Swallow Whole was missing too. And I think another feature. You have to have a complete monster for it to qualify. Check w/VT if you have questions.

Debby

[Zom B]

We'll wait until he can be on for this, then. I seriously thought it was done, so I'm sure you can understand me being upset. It's not a project I goofed around on and forgot about.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

We'll wait until he can be on for this, then. I seriously thought it was done, so I'm sure you can understand me being upset. It's not a project I goofed around on and forgot about.

I could see that, that's why I waited two days after deadline before officially disqualifying it. Was one of my favorite entries.

However, was considered unfinished due to swallow whole nor improved grab being given mechanics, both of which are abilities that require specifics. Just swallow whole has specific internal damage dealt with optional acid, stomach AC, hit points to escape, how many and of what sizes it can hold, etc. Things you can't just intuit or is static, like darkvision or type qualities.

[Debihuman]

I would really like to see if we get more votes on the contest. Perhaps VT, you could change the title of the contest to add voting through 12/31 or something like that

Debby

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Btw, didn't mean to imply that the reason that I didn't get to critique entries was due to them being 'bad' in any way. A mixture of holiday preparations, travel, and unusually severe winter weather made it very difficult to devote my time to in depth study. Will get to critiques before New Years however.

I would really like to see if we get more votes on the contest. Perhaps VT, you could change the title of the contest to add voting through 12/31 or something like that

I could, though not sure if it'd help. Already has the unusual poll symbol to the side, but will see if it helps any.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Critiques
(to be continued)

Felpine Shambler

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Hit Dice: 15d8+135 (218 HP)

217 hp

Cone Bombs (Ex):

The save DC is Constitution-based.

Otherwise looks good!

Dryad of the Sanguine Holly

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HD 7d6 HD (27 hp)

24 hp (3.5 x 7) unless I'm missing a mention of Toughness or somesuch.

Attack Dagger +6 (1d6, 19-20/x2)

Would be +7 due to weapon finesse. Daggers also only deal 1d4 base damage.

Saves Fort +5 Ref +9 Will +10

Fort would be +4.
(Poor Fort save 2 + Great Fort feat 2)

Wild Empathy (Ex) This power works like the druid’s wild empathy class feature, except that the dryad has a +9 racial bonus on the check.

Odd bonus... in both meanings of the phrase.

Insanity Claws
(disqualified)

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First off, I missed it with my last go over that you have neither grapple nor caster level/stat based info for the magical abilities and so technically your entry is incomplete and would have been disqualified.

Base Attack/Grapple: +5/

Grapple would be +7

Attack: Claw +10 (1d6+2/19-20)
Full Attack: 2 Claws +8 (1d6+2/19-20)

'+10 melee' for both

Saves: Fort +6, Ref +13, Will +8

Fort +5, Ref +12, Will +7

Gift of Insanity:

Need to make mention what the save DC is based off of.

Spell-like Abilities: At will: Invisibility, gaseous form

What is the caster level and what is the key casting stat?

Goat of Sacrificial Horror

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Hit Dice: 13d10+24 (110 hp)

Hit Dice: 13d10+39 (110 hp)

Speed: 25 ft.

Speed: 25 ft. (5 squares)

Attack: Gore +15 melee (1d6+2 damage), or wreath arm +10 melee (1d4+1 damage)

Gore +16 melee (+1 size mod bonus) and wreath arms should also be +16 melee.

Saves: Fort +12, Ref +9, Will +9

Saves: Fort +11, Ref +9, Will +14

Twelfth Knight

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Hit Dice: 10d8 + 40 (95 hp)

85 hp

Saves: Fort +4/+11, Ref +2/+9, Will +8/+15
Abilities Str 6/-2, Dex 15/+2, Con 18/+4, Int 23/+6, Wis 26/+8, Cha 11/-

Ok, just have to say these are as annoying as heck done this way and not standard format. I do that kind of thing for my own personal use to keep them straight, but always delete them or make them less intrusive when they are posted.

Feats: Acrobatics, GoadB, PersuasiveSiren, Skill Focus [Bluff]

PersuasiveSiren needs a space and a comma.

Fun and Games [Ex]: The Twelfth Knight's goal is to make the world "fun" for everyone and so hampers himself a bit. He usually ignores his BAB and base Save bonuses when calculating his attacks and saves respectively.

I'd rather you calculate it all as normal, because he is still capable of being mind controlled and similar and if he is told to fight and not be 'playful' any more he will fight to the best of his ability, i.e. with full BAB and saves.

Santa Claws

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Attack: Claw +21 melee (2d6+15 plus 1d6 cold) or Coal +9 ranged (2d6+10)

Trying to figure out the claw attack. Should be +18 from my perspective.

BAB 10 + Str mod 9 - Size mod 1 = 18

Improved Natural Attack (Claws)

I'd just go for Weapon Focus (Claws), as INA (Claws) is a useless feat due to the fact you can determine its base damage to whatever you like. That feat is only for when you advance a creature and it gains extra feats. Then you can improve upon the original.

[unosarta]

Dryad of the Sanguine Holly

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24 hp (3.5 x 7) unless I'm missing a mention of Toughness or somesuch.

I guess I took max hit points for the first HD.

Would be +7 due to weapon finesse. Daggers also only deal 1d4 base damage.

I will add that in.

Fort would be +4.
(Poor Fort save 2 + Great Fort feat 2)

I will fix it.

Odd bonus... in both meanings of the phrase.

Why? The bonus itself is equal to the hit dice of the Dryad plus two... which is exactly what I have here. Also, nothing in the fluff says that the Dryad of the Sanguine Holly is any less attractive or trustworthy to animals; in fact, they would be even more trustworthy to animals, since they fight tooth and nail to protect the creatures and land of the area where they live, and are even more alluring than normal dryads.

[Mangles]

Santa Claws

Trying to figure out the claw attack. Should be +18 from my perspective.

BAB 10 + Str mod 9 - Size mod 1 = 18

The claws are a +3 weapon from his ability Auril's Favor. So the base of +18 is correct but the additional 3 make it +21

I'd just go for Weapon Focus (Claws), as INA (Claws) is a useless feat due to the fact you can determine its base damage to whatever you like. That feat is only for when you advance a creature and it gains extra feats. Then you can improve upon the original.

I chose INA so that if someone did advance Santa Claws it couldn't be improved further. But I see your point and it makes more sense to have the Weapon Focus

[Mulletmanalive]

Right, I've made all of the recommended changes after a fashion...

I know it's not standard, but I'm going to keep including the stat modifiers [now in size 1], simply because the standard block doesn't include any way of tracking things like bull rush bonuses and the less time needed to calculate those, the better!

Everything else has been amended as per your preferences.

[The Glyphstone]

Fixed the two errors in the stats.

Aside from proofreading, I'm more interested in analysises of the monsters - mine and others - in terms of concept/utility, how well or easy they'd be to apply into a theoretical game.

[Debihuman]

The wreath attacks of the Sacrificial Goat are secondary attacks. Thus, they take the -5 penalty. It is stated in the text that they are secondary attacks.
I missed the size bonus in my critique apparently. Sorry.

Attack: Gore +16 melee (1d6+2), or wreath arm +11 melee (1d4+1)
Full Attack: Gore +16 melee (1d6+2), or 2 wreath arms +11 melee (1d4+1)


Debby

[LOTRfan]

Oh. I'll make the edit now (it's allowed, right?). Thanks.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Sure, edits just to fix crunch is fine.

The wreath attacks of the Sacrificial Goat are secondary attacks. Thus, they take the -5 penalty.

Ah, well then it wouldn't be mentioned in Attack. Secondaries are only found in Full Attack.

[LOTRfan]

Ah, well then it wouldn't be mentioned in Attack. Secondaries are only found in Full Attack.

I'll change that, then. Nice hat. I guess you've seen the raccoon thread?

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Going over the rest now. Only going to give crunch critiques currently.

Nice hat. I guess you've seen the raccoon thread?

Had it requested just for the thread

[Debihuman]

What raccoon thread? And I missed it? Nevermind...

Also, as an update: the Grinch is pulling ahead (and I'm stunned that someone voted for my goose when I didn't even vote for it!)

Debby