GitP Monster Competition Chat Thread V

[Mulletmanalive]

Welcome to the Giant in the Playground Monster Competition chat thread where you can ask questions, comment, or just in general discuss about the submissions to our monthly monster mash.

This month's contest is...

I feel it in my fingers...




GITP Monster Competition Chat IV
GITP Monster Competition Chat III
GITP Monster Competition Chat II
GITP Monster Competition Chat: The Original

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Past Competitions

Rebirth
The Long Night
Pressure's Dropping
He was a man once, but no longer
Gears and Ghouls
Spirited Away
Dark Deceptions
Once More, With Spirit
Achilles Heel
The Hunt
Nightmare Before Christmas
Considered To Be Unnatural II
It's The Great Pumpkin, Playground
Underfoot
Through the Looking Glass
Beings of Legend IV
ACHOO!
Plop Plop Fizz Fizz
Gits and Shiggles
Mr. Roboto
One Flesh
My Immortal
Angels Among Us
Grateful Dead
Fear Itself
Way of the Wyrm
A Thing of Beauty
Beings of Legend III
On the Road Again
Faerie Tales
Game Masters
Mayonnaise Mayhem
Animal Kingdom
Paragons of Passion
Tick... Tock...
Banquet of Beasts
Out of This World
Spooks and Spirits
Urban Legends
♫ Sing Along ♫
We The People
Beings of Legend II
Now You See Me...
Gone Mental
Creepy Crawlies
Of the Rising Sun
Flights of Fancy
Built of Faith
Home and Hearth
Gratuitous Gore
Dream A Little Dream
Tiny But Tough!
Beings of Legend
Burn, Baby, BURN!
Birds and the Bees
April Fools
A Wizard Did It
Champions of Good
Fimbulwinter
Holly Jolly
Harvest Moon
Fell Beasts
Considered To Be Unnatural

-=-=-=-=-

I felt that we needed to keep track of the new competitions as even i'm having trouble finding them at times, so, new thread. Let me save a couple of extra posts for the monster archive...

[Mulletmanalive]

Spoiler

Show

{table=head]Monster|Author

A Shadow of Spiders | Yahzi
* Aadar Llwach | Stycotl
Ajatarra | strawberryman
Anamnesis | Closet_Skeleton
Angel, Caries | Bisected8
* Angel, Dairymaid | Debihuman
Angel of Sustenance | rtg0922
Angelic Preener | Admiral Squish
Anima Aderendo | NemoUtopia
Ankou | Mulletmanalive
Arcadian Beetle | Belboz
Asherah, Spirit of the Shores | Sir Shadow
Ashling | Mr.Bookworm
Aspect of Leviathan | Schylerwalker
Assimilator Flies | DarkShard
Astarus | Bakkan
Astral Pack-Beast | DracoDei
Astral Shard | vegetalss4
Autumnal Avenger | waterpenguin43
Autumnal Seer | The Demented One
Bad Harvest | Reltzik
* Banksie | Mulletmanalive
Barbed Fleshworm | Reltzik
Bardfly | Cespenar
Bee-Holder | Bhu
Behemoth, Demon Prince of Gluttony | Iamyourking
Belly Serpent | Joxer t' Mighty
Bitterbug | Bisected8
Blight Cow | LordOfNarf
Bloodscarab | Abjurer
* Bloody Handed Jack | Bhu
Blood Ooze | Vaynor
Bone Conductor | adanedhel9
Bornura | Lappy9000
* Bubba the Headless Chicken | Bhu
Burning Bush | OOTS_Rules.
Busker | Vaynor
Butchery Golem | The_Glyphstone
Cab't | NemoUtopia
Cake Golem | Fangthane
Carnivorous Thyme | Bisected8
Caterwaul | Debihuman
Charspawn | Closet_Skeleton
* Chef's Mage™ Brand Fully Automatic Kitchen | Adanedhel9
Chelissadhu | Stormthorn
Child of Flame | Macrovore
Chocolate Truffle | Afroakuma
Christmas Goodies Golem | Purple gelatinous cube o' Doom
Chroneruts | Kellus
Clockwork Weaver | Sir Shadow
Cloud of Strife | Excellence
Coal Elf | Belboz
Coronal Elemental | Icewalker
Corrupted Offshoot of Yggdrasil | Random_person
* Crow Mistress | Sir Shadow
Cruor Skeleton | Bisected8
Cyrocerebellus | Khantalas
* Dadafly | The Demented One
Daemon, Malzalalim | Amiel
Dancing Golem | Bisected8
Dark Seed | Belboz
* Dattar | Poppatomus
Deadly Gaze | Bisected8
* Death | Lyinginbedmon
Deathspore Mushroom | ShneekeyTheLost
Delphine | waterpenguin43
Deus Die | Qube
Devouring Domicile | Kyace
Diatock | Lappy9000
Digit Swarm | rtg0922
Dirgesinger | XenoGeno
* Discernable Anatomy Golem | ArmorArmadillo
Disco Dragon | DracoDei
Dismal Haze | Stormthorn
Disruptor | Lord Tataraus
Divine Brigadier
Divine Spark of Inspiration | Fax_Celestis
Domestic Brownie | Littlechicory
Doomborn Warrior | Carrion_Humanoid
Dopplepunkt | Bisected8
Dracolocust Swarm | Bisected8
Dragon Victim bySlaadLord
Dread Colossus | Holocron Coder
Dringwr | Bisected8
Drome | NakedCelt
Drummer Ghoul | The Demented One
* Dust Bunny | Fax_Celestis
Edible Golem | Bhu
Eggnog Elemental | DragonTounge
Envious Plaguebearer | strawberryman
Emberwilde | The Demented One
E.M.I.T | Bisected8
Empress of Rot | Jaerc
Ender | Schylerwalker
Eqach Wuilees | Grey Knight
Ergotine | Belboz
Essence of Fire | Kel
Ethercat | Adanedhel9
Existential Terror | Ghill
Exploding Chicken | Bitzeralisis
* Facsimilix | Maerok
Falling Foam | Shuryougospel
* False God | Bhu
Farceur | PhantomBread
Favored of the Traveler God | DracoDei
Fear Archon | Flarp
* Fergaast | Palcosmo
Fimbulwight | Purple gelatinous cube o' Doom
Finger of Loki | Beldak
Fish In A Barrel | Cog
Flamefly | Onasuma
Flamehaunt Wraith | Athenodorus
Flent | Kuja.girl
Flesh Beast | Beldak
Flying Spaghetti Monster | NakedCelt
Forsaken Blade | Vaynor
Fractal Bear | DracoDei
Free Spirit | DracoDei
Fungal Banshee | Penguinizer
Furnace Shadow | Bisected8
Futureling | Glooble Glistencrist
Fyumyad | Sir Shadow
Galuverant | MechaKingGhidra
* Gamer | sidhe3141
Gastrus | Belboz
Geliefd | Knight9910
Ghostfolk | Silence
Giant Bacillus | Belboz
Gingerbread Giant | RS14
Glass Golem | Duchess_of_Elysian
Glass Spider | Blue_C.
Gluttonous Plague | Khantalas
Golden Flame of Pelor | Glooble Glistencrist
Gorin No Oni | Caracol
Gorshk | Nelphine
Gothad | Sir Shadow
Graveforged | Hyrael
Gray Master | Vrel
Grey Goo | Belboz
Grey Reaper | Schylerwalker
*Gridoll | Guyr Adamantine
Gumwad | Enlong
Guoreeat | Unosarta
Gut Snake | DracoDei
Haint o’ the Crossroads | rtg0922
* Harvester | Deca
Haurla | dentrag2
* Headhunter | Kellus
Headless Dragon | Bisected8
Hearth Protector | Lord Tataraus
Hearthworm | FirebirdFlying
Heliotoad | Lord Tataraus
Helon of the Heaven's Lore | Anonymouswizard
Herald of Winter | MandibleBones
Hidden Flame | hylian chozo
* Hjordis | Bisected8
Hollow Vicegerent | Jaerc
Hordeling | Cespenar
Icicle Beast | Glooble Glistencrist
Idle Chill | TheLogman
Ilthslamael | Closet_Skeleton
Immortal Frawg | Bhu
In-F-able Horror | Zom B
Inaran Fae | RandomFellow
Invisible Giant | Vaynor
Issun-bōshi | Paragon Badger
Jack-o'-Ripper | Jergmo
Janus Golem | Debihuman
Jump-At-A-Body | Joxer t' Mighty
Karnak the Everfrozen | gorknmork
Kawaii Ooze | Goober4473
Ketrakion | NakedCelt
* Khrysalathi's Memorandum | Joxer t' Mighty
Kindling | Mattarias
* Kiseichuu Yuurei | Bhu
Kittenbush | Shuryougospel
Knight Divine | Peregrine
Lap Dog | Blue_C.
Legendary Crocodile | Bhu
Limb Louse | Bisected8
Living Bard Song | Daedu
Llorrick | Lord Iames Osari
Lord of Rest | DracoDei
Lost Hope | TheLogman
Loutae | Nhoj
*Lowfolk | AKA_Bait
Luugu | NakedCelt
Lure Eel | Icewalker
Lusca | strawberryman
Magic Eater Termites | Caracol
Magypsy | waterpenguin43
Maiden of Plumes | SlaadLord
Malicious Slander | Bisected8
ManBearPig | Maerok
Mandrake Oak | The Gilded Duke
Man o’War | Belboz
Marauder of the Flesh | Maerok
Mawstinger | Bisected8
Megadentis | Mulletmanalive
Melodic Dragon | Arkanis
Mepholk | DracoDei
Mherephess | TheEscapist
Mindmite | Fax_Celestis
* Minimus Drone | The Demented One
Mist Maiden | NakedCelt
Monstrous Cicada | Paragon Badger
Monstrous Silk Worm | rtg0922
Mortal Devil | Bisected8
Mother of Shadow | Fangthane
Mourning Dove | Thistle
Mousefolk | Belboz
MS-OBv9 | waterpenguin43
* Muliwai | Fax_Celestis
Mynithar Beetle | MattKatt
Nephilim | The Gilded Duke
Nephtyan Rivermaid | waterpenguin43
Nigh | Krimm_Blackleaf
Nightleech | Closet_Skeleton
* Nimbus Golem | Poppatomus
Noble Fir | LordOfNarf
Nobody's Problem | TheLogman
Nog Fairy | Thomar_of_Uointer
Nudibrancha | Levi
Occult Cúcharraige | strawberryman
Oculans | Magnor Criol
* Old Man of the Field | Bearofbadnews
* Oneiroi | AKA_Bait
Oran-Spawn | The Demented One
* Oreichalkos Dragon | Stycotl
Panic Shade | Crafty Cultist
Patchcorners | Bisected8
Peanut Reaper | Lappy9000
Pembunuh | Bhu
Penumbral Stalker | The_Glyphstone
Perfected One | Random_person
Phaighthmeam | NakedCelt
Phobus Beast | SlaadLord
Pituku | flyingpoo22
Poisonskin Crusher | Leicontis
Porcelain Doll | Sir Shadow
* Precious Little Thing | strawberryman
Preymaker | Icewalker
Pure Thought | Bisected8
Pyrotechnic Golem | Simius
Pyroworm | Bisected8
* Qliphoth | The Demented One
Quencher | Hyrael
Quiet | Hairb
Quintessence Dragon | NakedCelt
Quintessence Golem | rtg0922
Raenia | Phoenix Talion
Raisuden | Bisected8
Rampant Runner | SlaadLord
Raver Swarm | Stormthorn
Raw Sinusoid | RS14
Raze, the Soul of the Sun | Proven_Paradox
* Reality Shifter | Vaynor
Reanimator | Zom B
Relentless Cuckolder | EndlessEnnui
Repenter of Heironeos | Onasuma
Retrospect | Stycotl
Reveler | Admiral Squish
Rider's Angel | Arioch
Rift Demon | Corncracker
Roach | Billwill91
Roc Golem | Bisected8
Rook, The Greymount Fortress | Admiral Squish
Rthuote | SmileyX
Sabretooth | NakedCelt
Sacrificial | Cespenar
Sandalphon, the Hand of God | Iamyourking
Sandblighter | Sir Conkey
Sapphiren | Elrond
Savior of the Forest | Corncracker
* Scaramouche | The Demented One
Scorpell | Ajkkjjk52
Sebal, Power Unbound | SilveryCord
Sentient Tumour | AtomicKitKat
Seraph of the Heavenly Host | Schylerwalker
Serviceforged | Finerty
* She Who Walks Beneath the Ice | Bearofbadnews
Shimmering Ooze | RS14
Sialla Danda | Afroakuma
Silly Frocker | Bisected8
Silver Lionling | rtg0922
* Skratta-sker | Stycotl
Shiny | Owrtho
Shrieking Slicer | McDeath
Singers From Outside | Bhu
Singing Stone | KingGolem
*Singing Tree | Sir Shadow
Skin Spiders | Dove
Sleeper In the Deep | Alveanerle
Slumber Cat | Thistle
Smokey Floater | DracoDei
Snap Dragon | Sir Shadow
Snowball Warrior | The Demented One
Snowy Archon | The_Cowinator
Soil Keeper | The Demented One
Soluminaire Ooze | ShneekeyTheLost
Somesclaustrum (Whining Head) | Bisected8
Somniletum | FlyingWhale
Sonorous Mouther | rtg0922
Sons/Daughters of Silence | Lord_Gareth
Soot Brownie | Thistle
Soul Hound | RandomFellow
Sower of Seasons | adanedhel9
Spartoi | Joxer t' Mighty
Spideer | Fax_Celestis
Spirit Gate | Owrtho
Spirit of Dullness | Bisected8
Spirit of the North Wind | Duke of URL
Spirit of the Woods | Vaynor
Split Second | Titanium Dragon
Spook | RS14
Spriggan | NakedCelt
Starperson | belboz
Star Spore Seedling | Glimworm
Stoic, Shield of Shields | Proven_Paradox
* Storm Serpent | RS14
Stormhaunt | The_Snark
Strangefolk | Fangthane
Sun Devil | Stolenchariot
Sun Sprite | ZeroNumerous
Sun Thief | Haruspex
Sycophantic Specter | Kyace
Taco Fairy | Lappy9000
Talmascalion | Foeofthelance
* Temporal Echo | TheLogman
Thane of the Anvil | Haruspex
The Angel of Death | Bhu
The Benefactors | Schylerwalker
The Black Mask | Bhu
The Colors Purple | The Gilded Duke
* The Eight Brothers | TheEscapist
The Final/First Word | DracoDei
The Grandfather Djinn_In_Tonic
The Gray Man | Jergmo
The Harvest King | Admiral Squish
The Hawk | Headwarpage
The Jester | The Dark Fiddler
The Known World | The Gilded Duke
The Kulreich von Lemminstantrophonees Legacy | CabbageTheif
The Morrígna | Stycotl
The Name and the Soul | Khantalas
The Resurrection Women | Bhu
* The Slender Man | Hyooz
The Terror | Gorgondantess
The Weeping Children | Jkoshe
These Boots | The Gilded Duke
Thoughtleech | Dennetik
Tome of the Worlds | Vaynor
Torell the Nightheart | Kel
Tosurak | Maerok
Träumen | Calver
Tuatha de Danaan | sidhe3141
Turtlehawk | Krimm_Blackleaf
Unbound Elemental Spirit | Bisected8
Unspoken Chorus | Djinn_In_Tonic
Urban Oasis | rtg0922
Vascula | Kai-Palin
* Vastor | NakedCelt
Vazjura | Lord Iames Osari
Veiled Deer | Malachite
Vertigo Swarm | Ertier
Vetala | Lord Tataraus
Vilapi | Hyrael
Violence | Runeir
Voice of Divinity | Blue_C.
Voracious Lemming | Bhu
* Votive Guardian | Thistle
* Wanderwish | SlaadLord
Watchdog | Debihuman
*Watcher | Paragon Badger
Weirded Way | Adanedhel9
Whimsycap Toadstool | Djinn_In_Tonic
Whisperlings | Daverick
Windsider | Thomar_of_Uointer
Wing Dragon | DracoDei
Wingbane Glider | Cespenar
* Winterchilde | Bearofbadnews
Witch-Begotten Stalker | Closet_Skeleton
Wonup | Bisected8
Woodsman | The Gilded Duke
Woror |Kyace
Woruldoomwere | Bisected8
Wrath |Krimm_Blackleaf
Wupperhin |The Great Skenardo
Xintri |Sir Shadow
Yersinia |Lucid_Archon
Yule Pig |Total_Viking_Power
Zodiacal Hydra |Calver
Zuni Warrior Fetish Doll |Debihuman
[/table]

[boomwolf]

Ok, slight rule question.

I know you say "1 entry per user", but what if my idea requires 2 separate monsters to function, one as the entry himself, the other as his "resurrection mechanic"
Effectively what I am aiming for is something that has a method of generating minions, and if slain takes over the body of one of said minions and is "reborn" from it.

[Mulletmanalive]

Derivative monsters are allowed, they'll be considered as "cream" on the monster they come from.

Please keep it to one post so there's no confusion.

[Tanuki Tales]

Rawr, I'm here.

[boomwolf]

ok...works fine...but the "mini-monsters" might have multiple variations...(if I have the energy to make the multiple variations...probably settle for only 1 mini-monster variation...)

[Debihuman]

Evisceration Titan: normally I don't like to critique epic creatures (too time consuming and it is far to easy to make mistakes).

However, this stood out:

Armor Class: 48 (-4 Size, +24 Natural, +5 Dex, + 13 Armour), touch 11, flat-footed 43. Technically it should be +13 Titan Armour (in keeping with your UK spelling).

The reason for this is that it comes from a Special Ability that fuses armor to its skin. Since you did not state that the Titan could not wear other armor over its fused armor, it's possible that the creature's armor slot is still open. This will cause much bickering among rules lawyers and munchkins until this is decided because I guarantee someone will want to add better armor to it.

Titan's Grip should probably only apply to the weapon of choice since it only uses a greatsword. It is probably an overpowered ability if it applies to all weapons. The standard Titan has Oversized Weapon and this should probably have the same. If this had multiple weapon choices, then I could see a need for it.

Frightful Presence's DC should follow the standard ability: "An affected opponent can resist the effects with a successful Will save (DC 10 + ½ frightful creature’s racial HD + frightful creature’s Cha modifier; the exact DC is given in the creature’s descriptive text)." You have it as DC 27 but the correct DC should be (10 +15 +7) or DC 32.

Outsiders should always have either Extraplanar or Native Subtypes. Native Outsiders can be raised and reincarnated as other living creatures and have to eat, breathe and sleep. This titan should be Extraplanar.

Environment should mention which plane of existence that the Outsider is from. See all other Outsiders. For example, Azers list Elemental Plane of Fire, Archons are from a lawful good-aligned plane, etc. A chaotic evil-aligned plane suffices (when in doubt, match alignment).

There Can Be Only One special ability almost guarantees that everyone will call this the Highlander Titan and will name it either Duncan or Connor.

I haven't had time to check the stat block but it looks like you did a good job.

Aenjahko

Its special abilities are too powerful for CR 10. Conversely, 10 HD for a Huge creature is generally too low. These are the kinds of design flaws that really make a creature difficult to judge.

Environment should be Beastlands since you state that is where they are from in your opening paragraph.

Touch of Vitality: Undead are generally immune to fear since all fear attacks are mind-affecting. They aren't Shaken either. Perhaps they should have the ability to Turn Undead as if they were clerics of three levels lower. Also, this ability probably should not affect creatures with more than 50% more HD than the Aenjahko (i.e. creatures with 15 HD or more). This keeps it in check for proper CR.

If I think of anything else, I'll let you know.

Debby

[TheGeckoKing]

Evisceration Titan: normally I don't like to critique epic creatures (too time consuming and it is far to easy to make mistakes).

Nothing better than a semi-gibberish block of numbers and letters, huh?

Spoiler

Show

However, this stood out:

Armor Class: 48 (-4 Size, +24 Natural, +5 Dex, + 13 Armour), touch 11, flat-footed 43. Technically it should be +13 Titan Armour (in keeping with your UK spelling).

The reason for this is that it comes from a Special Ability that fuses armor to its skin. Since you did not state that the Titan could not wear other armor over its fused armor, it's possible that the creature's armor slot is still open. This will cause much bickering among rules lawyers and munchkins until this is decided because I guarantee someone will want to add better armor to it.

Good catch. I shall quash that immediately.

Titan's Grip should probably only apply to the weapon of choice since it only uses a greatsword. It is probably an overpowered ability if it applies to all weapons. The standard Titan has Oversized Weapon and this should probably have the same. If this had multiple weapon choices, then I could see a need for it.

Sure.

Frightful Presence's DC should follow the standard ability: "An affected opponent can resist the effects with a successful Will save (DC 10 + ½ frightful creature’s racial HD + frightful creature’s Cha modifier; the exact DC is given in the creature’s descriptive text)." You have it as DC 27 but the correct DC should be (10 +15 +7) or DC 32.

Gotcha.

Outsiders should always have either Extraplanar or Native Subtypes. Native Outsiders can be raised and reincarnated as other living creatures and have to eat, breathe and sleep. This titan should be Extraplanar.

Added.

Environment should mention which plane of existence that the Outsider is from. See all other Outsiders. For example, Azers list Elemental Plane of Fire, Archons are from a lawful good-aligned plane, etc. A chaotic evil-aligned plane suffices (when in doubt, match alignment).

Snazzy.

There Can Be Only One special ability almost guarantees that everyone will call this the Highlander Titan and will name it either Duncan or Connor.

And so the unoriginal names shall reign supreme! BWHAHAHAHAHA!

I haven't had time to check the stat block but it looks like you did a good job.

Yay!

[Tanuki Tales]

Its special abilities are too powerful for CR 10.

Can you be a little more specific?

Conversely, 10 HD for a Huge creature is generally too low.

And you're right, thanks for the catch.

Environment should be Beastlands since you state that is where they are from in your opening paragraph.

I copy/pasted my old entry and just editted and forgot to change that bit. Thanks for the catch.

Touch of Vitality: Undead are generally immune to fear since all fear attacks are mind-affecting. They aren't Shaken either. Perhaps they should have the ability to Turn Undead as if they were clerics of three levels lower. Also, this ability probably should not affect creatures with more than 50% more HD than the Aenjahko (i.e. creatures with 15 HD or more). This keeps it in check for proper CR.

Nowhere in the Undead type is there any immunity to fear or the shaken condition. They are immune to mind-affecting effects but that tag isn't included as part of Touch of Vitality as part of its design.

So...basically make it's main combat ability completely useless against mid to late game PCs? No offense, but that sounds like poor game design, especially for a CR 10+ creature.

If I think of anything else, I'll let you know.

I'm all ears for anything else you see. ^_^

[MammonAzrael]

Nowhere in the Undead type is there any immunity to fear or the shaken condition. They are immune to mind-affecting effects but that tag isn't included as part of Touch of Vitality as part of its design.

From the SRD:

Fear

Spells, magic items, and certain monsters can affect characters with fear. If a fear effect allows a saving throw, it is a Will save (DC 10 + ½ fearsome creature’s racial HD + creature’s Cha modifier; the exact DC is given in the creature’s descriptive text). All fear attacks are mind-affecting fear effects. A failed roll usually means that the character is shaken, frightened, or panicked.

Bolding mine. Undead have a blanket immunity to all things mind-affecting. All fear effects are mind-affecting. Therefore, undead have a blanket immunity to all fear effects.

[Tanuki Tales]

From the SRD:



Bolding mine. Undead have a blanket immunity to all things mind-affecting. All fear effects are mind-affecting. Therefore, undead have a blanket immunity to all fear effects.

Actually, only Fear attacks are always mind-affecting fear effects. So no, Undead do not have blanket immunity to all Fear effects. But Undead in this case would have immunity, but I'll just add rules text saying they don't get it. *shrugs*

[Mulletmanalive]

I'll save this a lot of bickering:

This is another case of the SRD being a poorly edited mess of a document. The chapter mentioned is in the wrong book to be directly relevant to players but whatever.

We'll assume that all Fear effects are mind affecting [silly as that is] and that Undead are immune to them as standard. Stick a plate ability allowing the ability to ignore immunity to mind-affecting abilities and we can move on.

I agree that it makes little sense; vermin are apparently immune to mind affecting but i've seen them run away loads of times.

Spoiler

Show

For reference, i think the original intention was that Shaken and Frightened were supposed to be Morale penalties, given the way that the Undead type is written. Hence, you could actually drive an undead off with intimidation [a la Dracula] but they didn't suffer from the effects.

[MammonAzrael]

Originally posted by Aotrs Commander here:

The rules are pretty much emphatic: in every reference to the rules for fear, it says fear attacks are mind-affecting right in the first paragraph (Rules Compendium, MM, etc). Fear "effects" and fear "attacks" are basically the same thing. Basically anything that causes fear (as in the thing that results in Shaken, Frightened of Panckied conditions) is an attack.

(If you have to make a saving throw (or no saving throw is allowed), that's pretty much a good definition of an attack, like any other effect that causes a condition. In any case, I think it would be hard if not impossible, to find any reference to fear in the rules that is not categorised as an attack. (Shadow Well specifically requires a Will save verses becoming frightened, which is about as clear an indicator to me as an attack as can be. Unless someone wants to argue a spell that transports someone (unwillingly) to another plane is a spell that doesn't qualify for an attack, that you could cast, e.g. while under the effect of Sanctuary?)

On top of that, the bolded line Person_Man also includes Undead being immune to morale effects, which is pretty much the definition of fear.

So I think the rules are emphatic about Undead being immune to fear.

This doesn't mean Undead (or arguably, Paladins) can't get scared on an emotional (i.e. roleplaying level); but they cannot be affected by induced Fear, the specific condition as described in the rules. Basically, they don't get scared unless the player or DM makes a roleplaying decision that they do. So, your DM might allow you to Batman-style psyche out an Undead creature or something, but it would have to be something based entirely on a roleplaying perspective; mechanically, Undead cannot be affected by fear.

On an unrelated note, I'm working on a couple ideas, and hopefully will have a submission within the week.

Also, the list of past competitions can probably be stuck in spoiler tags, don't you think?

[Tanuki Tales]

Originally posted by Aotrs Commander here:

And I care about his RAHIT because...?

I was wrong in thinking I didn't need rules text because, as you pointed out, Fear attacks are always mind affecting. So I'll be adding rules text that the ability ignores it. But since the relevant piece of the SRD takes the time to specify "Fear attacks" as something separate on it's own from Fear effects as a whole...

@Mullet: I've always had an issue with vermin being mindless in the first place. Ants, Crabs, Scorpions, etc. are no more mindless than other animals.

Edit: And that comes off sounding waaaay more assholish then I meant it to.

Edit Edit: Updated my entry.

[Debihuman]

Nothing better than a semi-gibberish block of numbers and letters, huh?

I've seen plenty of that before but usually from newbies who don't have a grasp of the rules or from more experienced people who miss the nuances and obscure rules.

However, I'm math dyslexic and it takes me too long to crunch the numbers for epic creatures. Since I don't have all the feats and special abilities that epic creatures can have memorized, I'm usually looking up how those affect the numbers as well. Hence, I don't usually bother checking epic creatures unless something pops out at me. Your evisceration titan looked pretty good at first glance, so there wasn't much to critique.

Getting back to the Aenjahko.

This one has more issues. I'll try to get to them and explain exactly what I mean.

It has 17 HD but the wrong hit points. 17x4.5=76.5 plus con modifier 5x17= 85 +17 from Improved toughness. This gives you 76 hp +102 bonus hp for a grand total of 178 hp. I think you may have made some changes while I was editing my critique.

Hit Dice: 17d8+102 (178 hp).

As for the aenjahko's special abilities being too powerful for CR 10, you should compare to other CR 10 creatures say a bebilith with 12 HD and CR 10.

Because it has 5 more HD, it gets an extra feat for its CR. (It's like it gets a bonus feat)

It also has more hit points than the bebilith but it will take a lot less damage due to its damage reduction and regeneration abilities. This will simply drag out combat for far too long.

It has DR 10/Evil and Regeneration 5. I think having both, along with its other special abilities is a bit overpowering. When you have regeneration 5, you should not list what damage it takes normally in the stat block. That information belongs in the text (see Troll for example)

Regeneration (Ex): Attacks with evil descriptor and from negative energy deal normal damage to the aenjahko.

I suppose the DR 10/Evil and Regeneration 5 were given to offset that it only makes one slam attack as a Full Attack. If it didn't have all the other abilities it wouldn't be too much to have both but considering its other abilities, it should have one or the other and even losing one wouldn't necessarily drop its CR to 10 for other reasons.

Giving it one slam attack as a full attack is reminiscent of an Ooze but I think you went to far in giving it ooze traits since it doesn't have all of them. It isn't mindless for example.

It should have Elemental traits rather than Ooze traits based on its Type. Here are the elemental traits that it should have:

An elemental possesses the following traits (unless otherwise noted in a creature’s entry).

Darkvision out to 60 feet.
Immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, and stunning.
Not subject to critical hits or flanking.
Unlike most other living creatures, an elemental does not have a dual nature—its soul and body form one unit. When an elemental is slain, no soul is set loose. Spells that restore souls to their bodies, such as raise dead, reincarnate, and resurrection, don’t work on an elemental. It takes a different magical effect, such as limited wish, wish, miracle, or true resurrection, to restore it to life.
Proficient with natural weapons only, unless generally humanoid in form, in which case proficient with all simple weapons and any weapons mentioned in its entry.
Proficient with whatever type of armor (light, medium, or heavy) that it is described as wearing, as well as all lighter types. Elementals not indicated as wearing armor are not proficient with armor. Elementals are proficient with shields if they are proficient with any form of armor.
Elementals do not eat, sleep, or breathe.

If it doesn't have those traits, you need to state so in the text. You can mention it in the creature's description if it is appropriate.

Furthermore, you shouldn't give it traits that conflict with it being an Elemental. Instead, give it specific special abilities that mimic the traits that you do want it to have. For example, it could have the amorphous ability like a gibbering mouther.

Amorphous (Ex): An aenjahko is not subject to critical hits. It cannot be flanked.

You never state whether the aenjanko is blind or not and whether it has darkvision or not. This is where the Elemental and Ooze traits conflict. Elementals have darkvision 60 ft and Oozes are blind but have blindsight. Your creature has Blindsense 60 ft. but this only matters if it is blind.

Part of creature design is that you aren't merely challenging the players but you are creating a creature that works for other DMs as well.

Touch of Vitality is too easy to abuse. Creatures can gain ridiculous amounts of hit points and Undead creatures of any level can take damage. This is simply not balanced. Also it has a higher DC than normal because the saves are Con based rather than Cha based. Generally you make a Reflex save to avoid physical damage and a Will save to avoid mental damage. I think the fact that it does both kinds of damage makes more powerful than necessary. However, in keeping with your original entry, this is how I'd tone it down:

Touch of Vitality (Su): An aenjahko's touch holds the scales of life, able to take away as readily as it can give. As a standard action, an aenjanko's touch has the following effect:

• Against living willing creatures, it heals 1d10+5 hit points and grants Fast Healing 5 property for 5+1d6-1 rounds. If the creature would gain more than its capacity of hit points, it gains them as temporary hit points that last the duration. A living willing creature can only benefit from this ability once per hour.
  
• Against a living unwilling creature, an aenjanko's touch causes 5d10 points of damage and the creature is unable to benefit from any form of healing (magical or otherwise) for 24 hours. Creatures that successfully make a Will save (DC 23) take half damage and benefit from half healing for 24 hours instead. The save is constitution based.
  
• Against Undead creatures, an aejanko's touch causes 10d10 points of damage and causes them to Frightened for 24 hours. This only affects Undead creatures with hit dice equal to or fewer than the aejanko's hit dice. Undead creatures that are normally immune to fear attacks are not immune to the condition inflicted by this ability. Creatures that successfully make a Will save (DC 23) take only half damage and are Shaken instead of Frightened. The save is constitution based.

A creature that successfully saves against an aenjahko's touch of vitality is immune to the effects of that aenjahko's touch for 24 hours.

Champion of Life is actually well done in that it allows an elemental to be resurrected. The only failing is the the level check DC is too low. A level check is 1d20+the creature's HD. There is no way it could fail a DC 15 level check. It should be DC 25 at least. [If it It it were under the effect of a true resurrection, the DC check would be 27 so this is slightly better. ] The +1 bonus for every creature that is Small sized or larger is a bit overkill. That number will add up quickly in a 100-foot radius (which if it is blind and only has blindsense 60 ft. doesn't add up) and it isn't really needed. I like that the DC goes up for every death. That was a very nice touch.

I want to see which abilities you choose to add or subtract before I comment on the creature's CR.

Debby

[TheGeckoKing]

If you aren't happy with this, so be it. A least I bother to point out potential problems.

It was a joke about how silly epic monsters are. And I am happy with your critique. So, what?

[Tanuki Tales]

It has 17 HD but the wrong hit points. 17x4.5=76.5 plus con modifier 5x17= 85 +17 from Improved toughness. This gives you 76 hp +102 bonus hp for a grand total of 178 hp. I think you may have made some changes while I was editing my critique.

Hit Dice: 17d8+102 (178 hp).

I literally woke up no more than 10 minutes ago and realized that I updated everything when I increased the Hit Dice except the actual hit points. *face palm* I'll be fixing that.

As for the aenjahko's special abilities being too powerful for CR 10, you should compare to other CR 10 creatures say a bebilith with 12 HD and CR 10.

Well...there's also the Hezrou at CR 11, which is way better than the Bebilith.

Because it has 5 more HD, it gets an extra feat for its CR. (It's like it gets a bonus feat)

1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 = 6 feats, right?

It also has more hit points than the bebilith but it will take a lot less damage due to its damage reduction and regeneration abilities. This will simply drag out combat for far too long.

It has DR 10/Evil and Regeneration 5. I think having both, along with its other special abilities is a bit overpowering. When you have regeneration 5, you should not list what damage it takes normally in the stat block. That information belongs in the text (see Troll for example)

This creature has mediocre AC, one option for full attacking (that isn't all that great) and no real combat utility in its abilities. So I don't particularly see much issue with it having Damage Reduction and Regeneration, especially since DR and Regen exists on some creatures (Chain Devils and War Trolls for example).

Eh, I don't see an issue there. Yeah, it's a Pathfinder formatting thing, but does it really matter where I mention the creature's regeneration weaknesses as long as they're clearly stated?

Anyways, I'll probably knock down the Regen a few points and up the CR to 12 if it's that much an issue.

I suppose the DR 10/Evil and Regeneration 5 were given to offset that it only makes one slam attack as a Full Attack. If it didn't have all the other abilities it wouldn't be too much to have both but considering its other abilities, it should have one or the other and even losing one wouldn't necessarily drop its CR to 10 for other reasons.

Covered most things here higher up.

Giving it one slam attack as a full attack is reminiscent of an Ooze but I think you went to far in giving it ooze traits since it doesn't have all of them. It isn't mindless for example.

It should have Elemental traits rather than Ooze traits based on its Type. Here are the elemental traits that it should have:

Sorry, this is another Pathfinder formatting thing. They (correctly in my opinion), found it asinine to include a type's traits in the stat block as a special quality. So when you see "Creature Type X Traits" in their stat blocks it means it has the qualities of that type on top of the traits they already had.

So I'll go fix that by adding in Elemental too.

Furthermore, you shouldn't give it traits that conflict with it being an Elemental. Instead, give it specific special abilities that mimic the traits that you do want it to have. For example, it could have the amorphous ability like a gibbering mouther.

Amorphous (Ex): An aenjahko is not subject to critical hits. It cannot be flanked.

Elementals are already immune to critical hits. And Flanking. All Ooze traits nets them is immunity to Polymorph. So I'm not seeing how anything is really conflicting, sorry.

You never state whether the aenjanko is blind or not and whether it has darkvision or not. This is where the Elemental and Ooze traits conflict. Elementals have darkvision 60 ft and Oozes are blind but have blindsight. Your creature has Blindsense 60 ft. but this only matters if it is blind.

Ooze traits give the Blind condition.

Touch of Vitality is too easy to abuse. Creatures can gain ridiculous amounts of hit points and Undead creatures of any level can take damage. This is simply not balanced.

See, I can see issue with the healing, so I will add a 1/hour caveat, but I don't see an issue with the second one. Like...at all. I fail to see how this creature being a real threat to any form of one specific creature type regardless of its relative power is not balanced.

Snip

Eh, I don't feel like hunting down every example of a Con based monster ability, especially since I lost most my books recently.

Still don't agree with gimping it's ability against Undead, but as I said, I see your opinion on the healing and had reservations myself and will be changing that when I get a chance.

Snip

And you caught the second thing I forgot to calibrate when I upped it's Hit Dice. Thanks for the catch.

Though I don't know why an ability's range (one that doesn't rely on active use of the creature) needs to sync up with it's vision.


Thanks for your input.


Edit: Herp-da-derp. Updated my entry. I really need to stop posting and updating this thing at odd hours to save myself from the embarrassment of missing obvious flaws and editting/formatting errors.

[The Tygre]

YYYYEEEEEEESSSSS! I have no idea if this monster is mechanically sound or if it even entirely fits this month's theme! I know for a fact that my wording is off on several key points and there are probably numerous redundancies! But none of that matters because I GOT A TABLE WORKING!

[Debihuman]

YYYYEEEEEEESSSSS! I have no idea if this monster is mechanically sound or if it even entirely fits this month's theme! I know for a fact that my wording is off on several key points and there are probably numerous redundancies! But none of that matters because I GOT A TABLE WORKING!

And I am happy for you. :-) Those are nice looking tables too.
Debby

[Tanuki Tales]

if it even entirely fits this month's theme!

I love it, but I don't think it does. Mullet wants the Rebirth/Resurrect/What have you to directly affect how the creature is fought, like a Phoenix.

Let me see if I can find the message he sent me when I asked about time frames...

No, no time frame... Unless it affects the way you have to fight the creature, it probably shouldn't count though; a creature that ressurrects, no matter what, at the end of the week doesn't really fit that criteria, a troll that grows new copies from every severed part, however, certainly would.

I'm going to clarify that in the competition post, methinks.

There we go.

So I don't think "Sometimes they come back" meets the criteria, but Mullet will make the decision if it does.

Again, love your entry and there's no way I'm not voting for it or even seeing it as not winning if it's allowed.

Edit: And I'm so tempted to withdraw my entry. I really, really don't know why I made what I did... *sigh*


Edit Edit:

Though now I'm at least confused by Mullet's definition of the theme. Does flat "coming back" not count at all? Or does it count as long as it's within the same encounter and if its longer it needs to not just be "coming back" or what?

[Mulletmanalive]

If it comes back, it counts, as long as that alters the way the creature is fought.

This is a patchy definition, I know, but it's actually based on an example Beliel created for the competition Fear Itself. His entry just kept coming back, no matter what you did to it. You couldn't contain it, couldn't kill it permenantly, nothing. That wasn't an interesting effect, hence why I wanted to avoid that.

Just make sure that, even if you can't keep it dead, there's a way of defeating it included [even if that's just a reference in the Lore to needing to seal it in something specific] and I'll let it fly.

For reference, yes, i've seen more than one "can't be killed" ability that causes them to escape from an Imprison spell...

[Tanuki Tales]

If it comes back, it counts, as long as that alters the way the creature is fought.

Can you define that a little more though?

I mean, you give The Phoenix and Star Archon as examples, both of which can resurrect in combat as a dynamic effect.

You then say something that just keeps coming back no matter what isn't what you mean by the theme and that also covers resurrecting no matter what at the end of a week/year/day/etc.

My entry covers the theme as defined by the examples because it keeps coming back the round after it's killed if it makes the level check.

But the other two don't qualify by the examples given because their ability kicks in after 24 hours and 1d10 years respectively.

[Mulletmanalive]

Evisceration Titan
The Evisceration Titan definitely passes muster because it's There Can Be Only One ability allows it to be slain permenantly.

This alters the way the PCs have to fight it, either tracking down a weapon owned by a dead evisceration titan, stealing the weapon from another titan or disarming the one they're fighting, or even just successfully beating the damn thing into submission and coup de grace-ing it with its own sword.

It's not just a chain of identical fights, it's a chain of mildly frustrating fights with a puzzle element.

Aenjahko
Yours is fine because the check fluctuates with the number of living creatures in the area. Figuring out how to stop it taking advantage of this is a major element in fighting it: trying to fight it while near a herd of cattle or in a town is a different challenge to simply destroying it in an isolated cavern.

Note also that you could come up with a clever plan involving maybe inward facing Circle Against Good spells to block off the advantage.

The Craven Slasher aka The Giallo
I'm not entirely sure this one fills the criteria; it's resurrections most definitely change the way it is fought each time, they just aren't enough to build an adventure around, given the slow return rate.

As a side note, it does ignore the convention for immortal killers, that they have a means to be laid to rest by circuitous means after enough sequals have passed [usually family members].

Tygre, ol'buddy, i'm sure you can adjust this a little to make the resurrection process have a more direct imlication on play. Shouldn't take much.

[Tanuki Tales]

Oooh, you meant that the theme requires the party to think outside the box to kill the entry.

[The Tygre]

I could probably shorten the amount of resurrection time down to a few hours, with the sub-clause that the giallo doesn't come back with a new Feature, just the one it died with, but that still ultimately counts towards its total number of resurrections possible.

[Mulletmanalive]

The shorter time would wokr, even if it were a week. You should also specify the circumstances of the death resurrection thing [and i'm not against the thing getting more powerful each time, for reference]:

Does, like Jason, the thing just get up more powerful than before, or does it mysteriously disappear after its "death" like Micheal Myers? This is the sort of thing that dictates a lot of how the beast is fought.

[The Tygre]

Well the whole point of the Horrible Features was that the Slasher got stronger each time it died, or more specifically, that it cam back with a new unexpected feature each time. So I'd say that that would make it like Jason in that respect. I originally intended for the features to stack, but then thought better of it what with the type-changing features and spell replicating abilities.

EDIT: In any case, I've made some tweaks to the giallo.

[Mulletmanalive]

Right, closing the competition on time, though because of some personal issues i've had, i'm making a concession:

@The Tygre: I'm afraid the slasher can't qualify as it is. it has two issues;

One, the Aura of Terror effet doesn't have durations and unlike most fear effects, you can't become temorarily resistant to it. Unless you have immunity to far, you can't actually confront the thing; you'll just keep running forever.

Two, there is no direct effect on how you have to fight the thing because of the way it resurrects. If you just include a stipulation that you can contain the damn thing in the lore, [see Jason X (I love that movie, so stupid)], you don't have to worry about that too much. Other options include assigning the powers based on means if death, granting immunities based on the means of death or possibly being inescapably drawn to their previous killer.

I should have said this a few days ago, but i've been having some issues

[The Tygre]

Is okay. I thought the other monsters were better anyway.

[Mulletmanalive]

If you wish to make some alterations, it's cool if yu do so before midnight today [it's after midnight here].

I really liked the table and what-not, so it's not all that hard to shove him back into play.

If you'd prefer not to, that's cool.