That's ONLY CR 9??? Let's Read: The Monster Manual II

[Zaydos]

How much are construct points worth and what about unreliable (you'd think it'd be a decent penalty as it leaves them with a 50% chance of doing nothing every turn).

[sreservoir]

How much are construct points worth and what about unreliable (you'd think it'd be a decent penalty as it leaves them with a 50% chance of doing nothing every turn).

I'd put that at a -2, inverting the increase from doubling the number of opponents, perhaps a -1, because you can't disable half its firepower by killing half its hp. but yeah.

[LOTRfan]

I had Construct traits at +5, Unreliable at -2

[Zaydos]

Okay, I was just wondering about how they were weighted. Thanks for answering.

[Runestar]

Another monster I feel warrants attention.

1) Ocean strider - cool abilities, but seems quite weak. Its physical attacks are worthless, its AC and hp are a joke, and it's main attack is to simply spam horrid wilting. Also, its cha is listed as 14, but its stats suggest its cha is actually 24.

Recommendations: Increase str to 34, con to 22, cha to 24 (adjusting all relevant stats). Give it a +5 falchion and magical mithral chainmail to increase its attack to +30/+25/+20 and AC to at least 30. Decrease caster lv to 18, give it quicken SLA: cone of cold.

Also, phoenix. This creature is a mess. Any suggestions?

[Nerocite]

Get rid of it's boat-load of at-will SLA's?

[LOTRfan]

Away from my book today. I might be able to make the update, but don't count on it. In the worst case scenario, I'll post it tomorrow.

[LOTRfan]

Despite recent delays, I found my MMII in time for today's update.

Avolakia

The Avolakia is a disgusting aberration that :combines the worst aspects of a worm, an octopus, and an insect." Yummy

Avolakias, like most freaky worm monsters in D&D, live underground. They secrete disgusting, yellowish slime off of their translucent flesh. Speaking of flesh, that is their preferred meal (preferably undead flesh eaten from a rotting zombie). Not surprisingly, they smell like decaying corpses. The physiology of an Avolakia is very interesting. They have six tentacles, each with an eye located conveniently at the tip. What exactly is the advantage of this? The creature lacks a true head. The "head" seen in the picture is actually a fleshy sheath that protects razor sharp, yet delicate, mandibles. These mandibles are shaped to tear flesh in the cruelest and most painful way possible. They also have many, many arms growing out of random places along their body.

Unlike most aberrations, Avolakias have a stable society. A small percentage of the population produces food for the whole village, by animating corporeal dead and selling them to other Avolakia. Food that follows you around and does chores for you until you get hungry... this reminds me of that scene from Poltergeist. They worship Kyuss, the Worm that Walks. In fact, their goal to help Kyuss achieve godhood (as opposed to demigodhood) supersedes their need to eat; they have even been known to convert humanoids and other creatures to the Cult of Kyuss by pretending to be local priests.

Avolakias are known to make alliances with Mind Flayers, at least until the Illithids enslave the Avolakias' food source and the Avolakias discover how delectable undead mind flayer flesh is.

Challenge Rating? Currently, the Avolakia is considered a CR 10 threat. Even though they have 10 HD, this seems appropriate. After doing the math, that is correct. Really, though, if you want to make the most of this monster, use it as a behind the scenes mastermind in an Undead-centric adventure.

As Player Characters: If you guys can roleplay an Avolakia without becoming an obnoxious, flesh eating Stupid Evil monster, I salute you. It has a Level Adjustment of +5 (mostly because of all it's spell-like abilities), and 10 racial HD, for a total ECL of 15 (or, 16 as a 1st level character). That stings a lot, but its an interesting choice for a low-power or gestalt campaign.

Spoiler

Show

75 hp divided by 5.5 (10 HD): 15
Armor Class: 18 (+1)
Special Attacks: Posion, spell-like abilities, suggestion (+4)
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., Regeneration 4, Spell Resistance 21, immunity to cold, disease, energy drain, and paralysis, defensive aura, Fire Resistance 10 (+9)
Bonus Feats: Quicken Spell-like Ability (+0)
29 divided by 3: 9.66 (about 10)
End Result: CR 10 Creature

Banshee

Ah, the Irish sidhe. Let's see how D&D adapted this creature from Irish myth, shall we?

It's described as a strong willed undead creature, who brings torment to those alive because of its anger at its own death. That's not much like Irish myth at all. Generally, they are described in legends as merely messengers and bringers of woeful omens. Let's keep going, though.

As the undead creature gets older (chronologically, not physically of course), the incorporeal creature becomes more and more blurry. Its screech actually kills targets (unlike traditional banshees, whose wails signify death's approach rather than causing it), and its very presence stunts the growth of plants.

Interesting, but sort of a let down.

Challenge Rating: Currently, this creature is listed as a 17. What? It's main ability, it's wail, can cause a TPK in round one. For example, let's assume that everyone has a fortitude base save of +10 (unlikely, but let's just assume). Include a +5 modifier for good constitution, and you still have a 50/50 chance of dying. The wail can kill up to eighteen people at once! I'm giving it a +3 modifier in the math, at least. Somehow, however, it came up as 15 (probably because of the lack of extra hit points living creatures get due to their Con score). Honestly, I wouldn't put an ECL 15 party against the Banshee without at least moderate optimization. Otherwise, they're cannon fodder.

Spoiler

Show

169 hp divided by 7 (26 HD): 24.14 (about 24)
Armor Class: 16 (+1)
Special Attacks: Charisma drain, horrific appearance, wail (+5)
Special Qualities: Detect living, incorporeal subtype, Spell Resistance 24, stunt plants, undead traits (+16)
Bonus Feats: Improved Critical (Incorporeal Touch) (+0)
45 divided by 3: 15
End Result: CR 15 Creature

[Amridell]

I own the MM3, so I can post a couple of those, if you desire it.

[Runestar]

Does death ward (and mass death ward) protect against the banshee's wail? If so, that may end up making it much weaker than expected.

[LOTRfan]

I don't think the book specifies, but I am away from the book at the moment, so I'll get back to you on that.

A "Let's Read: Monster Manual III" would be awesome, and I encourage you to do it.

[Vknight]

Spoiler

Show

Despite recent delays, I found my MMII in time for today's update.

Avolakia

The Avolakia is a disgusting aberration that :combines the worst aspects of a worm, an octopus, and an insect." Yummy

Avolakias, like most freaky worm monsters in D&D, live underground. They secrete disgusting, yellowish slime off of their translucent flesh. Speaking of flesh, that is their preferred meal (preferably undead flesh eaten from a rotting zombie). Not surprisingly, they smell like decaying corpses. The physiology of an Avolakia is very interesting. They have six tentacles, each with an eye located conveniently at the tip. What exactly is the advantage of this? The creature lacks a true head. The "head" seen in the picture is actually a fleshy sheath that protects razor sharp, yet delicate, mandibles. These mandibles are shaped to tear flesh in the cruelest and most painful way possible. They also have many, many arms growing out of random places along their body.

Unlike most aberrations, Avolakias have a stable society. A small percentage of the population produces food for the whole village, by animating corporeal dead and selling them to other Avolakia. Food that follows you around and does chores for you until you get hungry... this reminds me of that scene from Poltergeist. They worship Kyuss, the Worm that Walks. In fact, their goal to help Kyuss achieve godhood (as opposed to demigodhood) supersedes their need to eat; they have even been known to convert humanoids and other creatures to the Cult of Kyuss by pretending to be local priests.

Avolakias are known to make alliances with Mind Flayers, at least until the Illithids enslave the Avolakias' food source and the Avolakias discover how delectable undead mind flayer flesh is.

Challenge Rating? Currently, the Avolakia is considered a CR 10 threat. Even though they have 10 HD, this seems appropriate. After doing the math, that is correct. Really, though, if you want to make the most of this monster, use it as a behind the scenes mastermind in an Undead-centric adventure.

As Player Characters: If you guys can roleplay an Avolakia without becoming an obnoxious, flesh eating Stupid Evil monster, I salute you. It has a Level Adjustment of +5 (mostly because of all it's spell-like abilities), and 10 racial HD, for a total ECL of 15 (or, 16 as a 1st level character). That stings a lot, but its an interesting choice for a low-power or gestalt campaign.

Spoiler

Show

75 hp divided by 5.5 (10 HD): 15
Armor Class: 18 (+1)
Special Attacks: Posion, spell-like abilities, suggestion (+4)
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., Regeneration 4, Spell Resistance 21, immunity to cold, disease, energy drain, and paralysis, defensive aura, Fire Resistance 10 (+9)
Bonus Feats: Quicken Spell-like Ability (+0)
29 divided by 3: 9.66 (about 10)
End Result: CR 10 Creature

I love these guys and totally agree with this. Also I love using them a Badguys

[nyarlathotep]

Is this just stalled?

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Does death ward (and mass death ward) protect against the banshee's wail? If so, that may end up making it much weaker than expected.

Death Ward should protect from it, therefore they go from a walking TPK to a trivial encounter.

[LOTRfan]

Is this just stalled?

Yes, it is. I'm away from my books. I should be returning next week. Sorry for any inconvenience.

I wasn't initially going to say anything, and just wait until I could post, but it seems the recent reorganization has resulted in this not being on page 6-7 anymore.

[Otherworld Odd]

Can't wait for the Teratomorph. I think it's in this book IIRC.

[LOTRfan]

I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I believe it is.

EDIT: It is, according to the Monster Finder.

[Darklord Xavez]

Ah, good old avolakias. About the roleplaying thingy: have them remain in a humanoid form whenever they're around any nonabberations, but still have it revert to true form to eat. "Accidentally" have the other PCs find out. Chaos ensues as the party is faced with a choice: kill their friend or let an evil creature walk among them.

Also, for making automatons, I thought of this:

CL 9th; Craft Construct; knowledge (architecture and engineering) or craft (metalworking of any kind) check (DC 20);

I need help with the spells. Animate Objects is a given, maybe bull's strength for hammerer and sound burst for pulverizer? Also unsure about cost.

What do you think?

Also, I love the MM2, because even experienced players might think that tentacled worm they're fighting is just a psurlon. It's why I like obscure sourcebooks.

-X

[Tanuki Tales]

Apparently Death Ward protects against any Supernatural ability that causes automatic death (save included or not). So that does count a Banshee's Wail or a Bodak's Death Gaze.

[LOTRfan]

That'd be interesting.

Using what you posted as a base template,

Hammerer
CL 9th; Craft Construct; knowledge (architecture and engineering) or craft (metalworking of any kind) check (DC 20); Bull's Strength; Cost 11,000 gp + 880 XP; Cost 22,000 gp.

Pulverizer
CL 9th; Craft Construct; knowledge (architecture and engineering) or craft (metalworking of any kind) check (DC 20); Bull's Strength; Cost 6,000 gp + 480 XP; Cost 12,000 gp.

[Darklord Xavez]

That'd be interesting.

Using what you posted as a base template,

Hammerer
CL 9th; Craft Construct; knowledge (architecture and engineering) or craft (metalworking of any kind) check (DC 20); Bull's Strength; Cost 11,000 gp + 880 XP; Cost 22,000 gp.

Pulverizer
CL 9th; Craft Construct; knowledge (architecture and engineering) or craft (metalworking of any kind) check (DC 20); Bull's Strength; Cost 6,000 gp + 480 XP; Cost 12,000 gp.

Excellent! I'll ask my DM about this, cause I'm with you about automatons.
-X

[LOTRfan]

I'll add them to the Automaton post, and credit you with creating it.

Once again, I'll be getting the book back over the weekend, so reviews of... whatever is after the Banshee will be posted on Monday.

[Darklord Xavez]

I'll add them to the Automaton post, and credit you with creating it.

Once again, I'll be getting the book back over the weekend, so reviews of... whatever is after the Banshee will be posted on Monday.

Thanks! I'm looking forwards to the Wyste review. Why? It's one of the last ones in the book!
-X

[LOTRfan]

Update will be up a little later today. I got my book back from my cousin. Todays update will be Bladelings and Blood Apes.

[LOTRfan]

Bladelings

Cool, an extraplanar player race! The Bladelings, native to Acherons, are a race of xenophobic warriors with metallic-skin. It is interesting to note that although Outsiders, Bladelings are not restricted to a single alignment. Despite hailing from a Lawful Evil plane, Bladelings only have the Lawful subtype. They can be good, neutral, or evil, even if the majority are evil. Bladelings live on the Ocanthus (for you non-planeswalkers out there, that is the Fourth Layer of Acheron), in the city Zoronor.

Bladelings fight an eternal war with each other, which only stops when an outside force attempts to reach their homes (which is rare, because in Ocanthus, it RAINS SWORDS and other piercing/slashing weapons ). Bladelings don’t seem to mind, as they have Damage Reduction/magic and bludgeoning (or, at least that is what the 3.5 equivalent to their Damage Reduction is). Fortunately, the rare groups of Bladelings that do travel the planes learn to put aside their differences (or at least pretend to) and work with other creatures when it is beneficial.

Bladelings are also immune to acid, and (despite their metallic skin) are not affected by rust effects. One of their cooler powers is the ability to actually fling parts of its razor-like natural armor at prey, which slowly regenerates over the course of 24 hours.

Challenge Rating? Bladelings are currently listed as CR 1. This seems reasonable. I mean, they have a once per day special attack, okay damage reduction, and a minor immunity. Nothing special. Upon doing the math, it is listed as CR 2, however. I guess the fact that it requires a magic item to defeat its DR may be the reason. 1st level characters may have some difficulty with that.

Bladelings as Characters: Bladelings can be player characters, and are comparable to the core planetouched in power. Keep in mind, though, that they are not native outsiders, so any death is permanent.

Spoiler

Show

4 hp divided by 4.5 (1 HD): .888 (about 1)
Armor Class: 15 (+1)
Special Attacks: Razor Storm (+1)
Special Qualities: Resistance to cold 5 and fire 5, immunity to acid, Damage Reduction 5/Magic and Bludgeoning (+3)
Bonus Feats: None (+0)
6 divided by 3: 2
End Result: CR 2 Creature

Blood Ape

Alright, our first Apes. This might be cool now, but this “ape” theme is going to get pretty old really fast. Let’s enjoy it for now, shall we? Blood Apes (despite their name) are actually pretty peaceful creatures. They live in the basic real life gorilla type of society, where a single male rules over a large colony and has the reserve to mate with all females. They resemble red-furred mountain gorillas, except the alpha male, who is bald and has silver fur. Despite their peaceful natural, Blood Apes are extremely territorial and fight to the death if someone walks close to their homes (wait, isn’t that a little contradictory?).

Blood Apes have the ability to rend enemies, have an excellent sense of smell, and are excellent grapplers. The alpha male has a special power; eight times a day, a Blood Ape can grow into a huge creature. How is this possible? A wizard did it. Thanks for the explanation, WotC… Anyway, it seems that whenever a young male challenges the current alpha male and succeeds, the alpha male’s powers are transferred to victor. Odd, to say the least. The new alpha male goes bald, and the fur on its body changes to a silvery sheen.

It seems that there is a lot of sexual dimorphism amongst Blood Apes. Females do not have the rend or improved grab special attacks. I wonder why that is? I mean, real gorillas aren’t that different. Perhaps the wizards only performed experiments on males?

Challenge Rating? Currently, they are rated as CR 6. What? I mean, I know they have some cool powers, but I doubt these 4 HD creatures are that powerful. The females are definitely not CR 6, as they don’t even get all the cool powers! After doing the math, the fact that these guys were wildly over-CRed is proven. The regular Blood Apes are CR 3, while the Alpha Male is CR 4. Where'd they get CR 6 from?

Spoiler

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Male Blood Ape
30 hp divided by 4.5 (4 HD): 6.666 (about 7)
Armor Class: 14 (+0)
Special Attacks: Improved Grab, Rend (+2)
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., lowlight vision, scent (+1)
Bonus Feats: (it is actually missing a feat. I suggest cleave or another melee-base feat) (+0)
10 divided by 3: 3.3 (about 3)
End Result: CR 3 Creature

Female Blood Ape
30 hp divided by 4.5 (4 HD): 6.666 (about 7)
Armor Class: 14 (+0)
Special Attacks: None (+0)
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., lowlight vision, scent (+1)
Bonus Feats: (Since all three share one stat block, this is missing a feat as well) (+0)
8 divided by 3: 2.66 (about 3)
End Result: Weak CR 3 Creature

Blood Ape Alpha Male
30 hp divided by 4.5 (4 HD): 6.666 (about 7)
Armor Class: 14 (+0)
Special Attacks: Improved Grab, Rend, Growth (+4)
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., lowlight vision, scent (+1)
Bonus Feats: (it is missing a feat like the others. Since it can grow to Huge size eight times a day, it may be considered as qualifying for the Crush feat from Savage Species.) (+0)
12 divided by 3: 4
End Result: CR 4 Creature

Up Next: Boggles 'n Boguns

[Lemonus]

Hurray update!

[LOTRfan]

Yes, sorry for the delays.

[No brains]

GOD
DAMN
BOGGLES!

They are annoying money ripoffs of chokers! I hope their CR goes down so I can kill them earlier, but I also hope their CR goes up so I can kill them more spectacularly!

On a more lucid note, I do think an alpha blood ape with a CR of 4 would be the weakest Huge creature on record. I'm a little suspicious and think some test playing is warranted.

I also have to say I am enjoying this very much. Even new to D&D I was confounded by the wild CR that zipped across the spectrum. I never had much love for the beepole, but I am now really confused about the banshee. Not only is it out of whack with the legend, but the only way it is meaningfully playable is as an in-writing 'rocks fall' clause for the singular moment the party has death ward down...

[Ashiel]

Banshee
...
Challenge Rating: Currently, this creature is listed as a 17. What? It's main ability, it's wail, can cause a TPK in round one. For example, let's assume that everyone has a fortitude base save of +10 (unlikely, but let's just assume). Include a +5 modifier for good constitution, and you still have a 50/50 chance of dying. The wail can kill up to eighteen people at once! I'm giving it a +3 modifier in the math, at least. Somehow, however, it came up as 15 (probably because of the lack of extra hit points living creatures get due to their Con score). Honestly, I wouldn't put an ECL 15 party against the Banshee without at least moderate optimization. Otherwise, they're cannon fodder.

Spoiler

Show

169 hp divided by 7 (26 HD): 24.14 (about 24)
Armor Class: 16 (+1)
Special Attacks: Charisma drain, horrific appearance, wail (+5)
Special Qualities: Detect living, incorporeal subtype, Spell Resistance 24, stunt plants, undead traits (+16)
Bonus Feats: Improved Critical (Incorporeal Touch) (+0)
45 divided by 3: 15
End Result: CR 15 Creature

I just thought I'd point out that by this time (or even by 15th level), the PCs should have access to effects such as death ward which turn the banshee from a terrible TPK-monster to a speed bump; which may be important to consider. Just a thought. Keep up the good work.

[LOTRfan]

I just thought I'd point out that by this time (or even by 15th level), the PCs should have access to effects such as death ward which turn the banshee from a terrible TPK-monster to a speed bump; which may be important to consider. Just a thought. Keep up the good work.

Alright, as long as a party has information in advance, they should be fine.