Call to Brew! [Crossroads]

[SuperDave]

The attack line is a little weird. Does it have claws and talons? You should use a consistent term to describe them, if not. The formatting is odd, too.

It was originally claws, which I changed to talons, since they're more birdlike and deal the same damage anyway.

Foul scent doesn't have to be its own entry, either, you could call it stench and put it as an aura (it's a special thing, it goes under the initiative entry in the top section, not usually included in monster entries). Stench is slightly different. It's a 30 foot radius, and anyone who fails the save is sickened for a listed number of rounds. for a Cr 2, I would suggest something relatively low, like 5 rounds. So, it would look like: Aura: Stench (DC 14, X rounds). You could put a flavor description of the ability in the writeup and use it to clarify the save is charisma-based for this monster.

Something which smells so bad that you can smell it from three car-lengths away would have a pretty heinous scent. I'm not sure that the head would smell that bad, especially since the smell thing isn't even a real part of the mythos, just something I added myself. So I reduced the radius to 15 ft.

I fixed the "it smells really bad" ability, whatever it's called, but having done more research, I'm really not sure it fits the legend, or the flavor-text I wrote for it. Looking at the Wikipedia page for the flying head, it says:

"The Great God hath sent us signs in the sky we have heard uncommon noise in the heavens and have seen HEADS fall down upon the earth"

While none of the legends mention that it screamed a lot, every one of them mentions that the head is fearful, and that even the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), who were terrifying warriors, were terrified of the head in turn.

I'm gonna go ahead and remove the stench thing, and replace it with cause fear as an at-will or thrice-daily SLA. How would I determine its caster level; is it just equal to HD, or does it remain the same? Could the head even cast a first-level spell, being as stupid* as it is?

*one of the ways the head was killed was when it ate live coals thinking they were roast chestnuts, which is why I added the vulnerability to fire.

[Bhu]

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/shows...&postcount=980 Kiwahkw is almost done. Figuring CR/LA is gonna be a pain though...

[SuperDave]

The Kiwakhw looks good, Bhu. I was expecting a monster, but I like the idea of it being a template, rather than a unique monster, even better! Makes for more variation in their appearance and abilities, and allows "defeated" villains to continue to plague Our Heroes from beyond the grave.

Minor stylistic issue: not all the abilities and headers are bolded.

Edit: If the females are more powerful than the males, shouldn't that be reflected somewhere? I think that Sacred Texts is saying that females have a fear-inducing roar like a mountain lion, so some kind of sonic roar/howl/shriek would fit the fluff nicely. Maybe they could get improved AC or DR or something, too?

The legend states that they covered themselves in tree-sap and rolled around on the ground for easy camouflage, but wouldn't this also make it a little harder to escape from their grapples, if they're covered in sticky sap?

How difficult would it be to remove Kiwakhw's heart without (re-)killing it? If you were able to kill it just by holding its heart in your un-mittened hand for a few minutes, wouldn't that basically mean you could control the Kiwakhw? Like controlling a lich's phylactery. Knowing the size, weight, and hardness of its heart would help players and DMs make this a part of their adventures.

Edit 2: Upon further reading, I noticed that the legend says that "If this [heart of ice] can be taken out, the Kewahqu' can be tamed and cured." How would one go about curing this condition? Do you think it should even be curable?

----------------

As for the Flying Head, I've come up with a few choice SLAs, but I'm not sure how exactly they work. I assumed that the lower-level spells can be cast more frequently, but some spells have different levels depending on which class is casting them. Should the Flying Head only be allowed to cast spells from the spell-list of a single class, like "Witch" or "Antipaladin"?

Here's what I've got for SLAs so far:

Spell-like Abilities (CL 3rd; Concentration +5)
Constant – ???
At will – cause fear, hunter's howl
3/day – bleed, doom, bane
1/day – sentry skull, ear-piercing scream, piercing shriek

For the caster level, I assumed it was equal to the monster's HD, and that the Head would add its Wisdom modifier to its HD to determine its Concentration modifier.

I didn't really have a system for deciding which spells to choose; I just selected ones I thought were thematically-appropriate and low-level. But I think this guy would actually be able to cast 0-2nd level spells, wouldn't he?

Oh, and does each individual spell it knows count towards the creature's total CR? I'm also not sure how many of these abilities in each row I should add.

[Admiral Squish]

Sorry I didn't get the chance to weigh in earlier, been a tad busy keeping up with everything.

Kiwahkw
Ahh, these guys.
Side note: If you spell the name even a little wrong, you can't find a thing about 'em on google.

I definitely like that this is a template, it makes sense.

Gigantism: Hmm. The legend superdave pointed out is the only one I've seen that mentions them changing size at will. As far as I was previously aware, they just grew larger as they ate more people. I shall ponder this.

War Shriek: Finger of Death is like a 7th level spell effect with some pretty massive damage. Making it target everyone in 60 feet is easily a 8th or 9th level effect, and making it at-will is way overboard. I can't find any myths relating to a negative energy or death effect tied to the scream, either. I would suggest having it deal a value of sonic damage/HD instead.

Regrowth: Wouldn't this just be a particularly annoying form of regeneration overcome by fire/acid? The all the different pieces regrowing thing would work if this was a specific monster, but how do you determine the stats of each piece? Are they identical to the main creature, just with reduced HD? Do they start at a different size? Do they have access to the base creature's full casting abilities?

Abilities: Caster level based increases seems very strange in my mind. Can you cite a source or explain your reasoning?

A very cool monster, but it will need some work before it's ready to use, in my opinion.

Flying Head
Well, I'm not all too familiar with SLAs, but I'll do my best to answer.

Some monsters can only use spells from a certain list, but most are more free-form about it all. It's really a judgement call about which version to use.

The SLAs you picked out.
Firstly, a lot of them seem to cover similar ground. Hunter's howl, Ear-peircing scream, piercing howl, for example. I would drop the other two and just go with Ear-piercing scream.
Second, there are quite a few there. for such a low-CR monster that doesn't have any overly magical abilities in the original myth, i think you're goin' a bit far.
Third, Bleed, doom and bane are pretty lame, honestly, I think you could safely lose 'em. You've already got cause fear at-will, what do you need doom for?

If the guy was a full caster, yes, he would be able to cast 0-2nd level spells, but the myths don't particularly paint him as exceptionally magical. they never mention him casting spells or cursing enemies or having magic.

Each spell-like ability does indeed count toward the CR.

Honestly, if you want to represent the ''terrible noise" that frightens everyone, I would just give them a special scream ability they can use.
I'd say standard action at will, 30 foot radius, deals 2d6-3d6 sonic damage and makes target shaken. Attach a fort save to halve the damage and negate the shaken effect.

[SuperDave]

OK, I just took Admiral Squish's advice and gave the Flying Head a "Shriek (Ex)" ability. Here's what I've got:

Special Attacks Grab; Rend (2 talons, 1d4+1); Shriek (at-will, 30 ft. radius, 2d6 sonic and shaken, DC 14); Whirlwind (3/day, 1 round, 10–30 ft. high, 1d4+1, DC 12)
__________________________________________________ __________
Special Abilities

Shriek (Ex)
As a standard action, a flying head can emit a blood-curdling, heart-stopping shriek which can be heard up to a mile away. Any creature with a sense of hearing within 30 feet of the head takes 2d6 sonic damage and becomes shaken, unless they make a DC 14 Fortitude save (in which case they take only 1d6 points of sonic damage, and do not become shaken). A subject cannot be affected by shriek of the same flying head more than once in 24 hours.

If the math checks out, then I'd say this bad boy's done.

Up next: the Common Garden Pixie (Homunculus hortus familiaris) and the Feral Pixie (Homunculus hortus ferus), in both individual and swarm varieties!

Edit: Admiral, were you aware that the link to "the crossroads project" in the first post of this thread still leads to the old, outdated thread? And for that matter, so does the link in your signature!

[SuperDave]

Sorry for the double-post, but I just wanted to mention something:

It's come to my attention that Crossroads really doesn't have any NPCs yet. I mean, we've posted a few bare-bones outlines of characters we'd like to see in the main thread, but none of them actually have any stats yet.

Admiral Squish and I would both love to have people build characters and NPCs for the Crossroads setting, using the homebrewed classes, races, and equipment that our fans have developed, and post them in the Playground for critique and general perusal. There are three places where we could have people post their homebrewed characters:

1. in the main Crossroads thread.
2. in this thread.
3. in a completely separate, Crossroads NPCs-oriented homebrewing thread.

Where do you think would be the best place for people to post their Crossroads characters and NPCs?

[Bhu]

Sorry I didn't get the chance to weigh in earlier, been a tad busy keeping up with everything.

Kiwahkw
Ahh, these guys.
Side note: If you spell the name even a little wrong, you can't find a thing about 'em on google.

I definitely like that this is a template, it makes sense.

Gigantism: Hmm. The legend superdave pointed out is the only one I've seen that mentions them changing size at will. As far as I was previously aware, they just grew larger as they ate more people. I shall ponder this.

War Shriek: Finger of Death is like a 7th level spell effect with some pretty massive damage. Making it target everyone in 60 feet is easily a 8th or 9th level effect, and making it at-will is way overboard. I can't find any myths relating to a negative energy or death effect tied to the scream, either. I would suggest having it deal a value of sonic damage/HD instead.

Regrowth: Wouldn't this just be a particularly annoying form of regeneration overcome by fire/acid? The all the different pieces regrowing thing would work if this was a specific monster, but how do you determine the stats of each piece? Are they identical to the main creature, just with reduced HD? Do they start at a different size? Do they have access to the base creature's full casting abilities?

Abilities: Caster level based increases seems very strange in my mind. Can you cite a source or explain your reasoning?

GIgantism: The legends vary. Some cases are as you said, some others are they are just tall men till they get angry, and in other cases they can change at will in order to lure in human prey before reverting to giant size.

War Shriek: In some of the legends whenever the Kiwhkw/Chenoo/other names let out their war cry it kills anyone who hears it.

Regrowth: I would have to add stats

Abilities: The stronger a shaman (or whatever the individual tribe calls their casters), the more powerful a Kiwahkw it makes, or in some cases the bigger the heart of ice the more powerful it is. This was kind of awkward, so I tied its abilities and ac bonus to it's caster level to represent that.

[Admiral Squish]

You know, I ran into a whole bunch of very similar stories about giants with ice hearts, or hearts frozen in ice, or humans frozen into the core of ice monsters, or monsters with hearts made of ice shaped like men, while I was reading up on giants for giantkin. They're all really similar. I might just end up snowballing chenoo/kiwahkw/wendigo stuff all into one great big 'ol monster to fit all the legends.
I mean... just look at all these guys! And that's just the one page.

War shriek: Well, I know it kills people, but the effect you have there doesn't kill people. It just deals negative energy damage which might kill people. If it's gonna kill someone with damage, why not do it with sonic, which better fits the scream? And if you really wanna be loyal to the myth about the scream killing people, maybe it's a [sonic][mind-affecting] save or die, with some sonic damage attached? After you save you can't be affected by the death effect, but you still roll saves to halve the sonic damage.

Regrowth: I mean, its always a interesting idea, but parts growing into new ones is just a pain to stat up 99% of the time.

Abilities: Hmmm... Well, I get why you did it, I'm just concerned about the scaling now. Maybe it's a basic bonus that gets bigger modified by the caster level? So, +X, + 2/Y caster levels.

[Perturbulent]

It may be valuable to keep the lot of them but set them up with varying HD/CR such that they are a useful range of challenges. Increase options, but otherwise leave a note that they are largely similar. Possibly mention a possibility that they might be the same base creature, but wandering the world, or at different stages of either age, depravity, or transformation.

[SuperDave]

It may be valuable to keep the lot of them but set them up with varying HD/CR such that they are a useful range of challenges. Increase options, but otherwise leave a note that they are largely similar. Possibly mention a possibility that they might be the same base creature, but wandering the world, or at different stages of either age, depravity, or transformation.

I support this. I think that trying to make all these different monsters into a single creature might be "a lazy man's load": in trying to simplify things and avoid extra work, you'd wind up just making more work for yourself. I say, if DMs want a giant, evil, ice-hearted monster, they've got a lot of options to choose from already, in addition to what we've statted up so far. They could add some templates to existing giants, they could throw some new abilities onto existing giants, or they could just use one of the monsters that we've created, and call it something else.

Incidentally, though: the wendigo has a powerful howl attack which might suit your needs, Bhu (with a little modification).

Howl (Ex)

Three times per day as a standard action, a wendigo can emit a forlorn howl that can be heard up to a mile away. Any who hear the howl must make a DC 28 Will save to avoid becoming shaken for an hour. Creatures within 120 feet become panicked for 1d4+4 rounds, and those within 30 feet cower with fear for 1d4 rounds. This is a mind-affecting fear effect.

The save DC is Charisma-based.

Incidentally, is there any interest in homebrewing NPCs for this thread, in addition to monsters? Just wondering.

Edit: So I'm having a little trouble with the pixies. My idea is that they're basically animals, intended to beautify and enhance the growth of rich people's gardens, but their population explodes when they escape into the wild, and the feral ones get smarter and bigger. Problem is, the domesticated ones seem too dumb to be able to make or use weapons effectively, but their Str bonus is so low that it'd cancel out their ability to deal any damage with their attacks. How can I make them a credible threat (or at least, an annoyance/living alarm system) to potential burglars?

Solutions? Suggestions? I'm all ears.

[Admiral Squish]

Ice Cannibals
Well, I'd have to check, but I don't think that the spread we have here goes over a particularly broad range naturally, and they all have different mechanics in place.
I wouldn't be making them into a single monster, the myths are a bit too varied for that, it'd be more like... Like a category. So, you'd have Ice Cannibal (wendigo), or Ice Cannibal (chenoo), or so one. One that's always a monster, one that's an actual undead, one that turns back and forth between human and monster, one covered in ice-armor. Maybe age/size variances, like regular, old, and elder.

Anyway, it was just an idea, I don't know if I'm gonna actually move on it.

Pixies:
Well, I see three options. You could make them a swarm. After all, a single spider bite doesn't actually do damage, but a spider swarm does some significant damage to those within it, and a gang of pixies would probably be able to do the same. You could give them a method of attack that work independent of strength. Magical abilities are always nice. Maybe they don't actually kill burglars, but they can magically entangle them. Or maybe they light him up with faerie fire. Or, you could make them not actually attack. Maybe they just light up and make noise when there's an intruder, like one of those screaming mushrooms. Maybe combine it with the swarm thing, and their defense mechanism is to swarm an intruder while making noise and flashing lights to confuse and frighten them off.

[SuperDave]

Ice Cannibals
I wouldn't be making them into a single monster, the myths are a bit too varied for that, it'd be more like... Like a category. So, you'd have Ice Cannibal (wendigo), or Ice Cannibal (chenoo), or so one. One that's always a monster, one that's an actual undead, one that turns back and forth between human and monster, one covered in ice-armor. Maybe age/size variances, like regular, old, and elder.

But there are individual stats for different types of goblins, angels, beholders, etc., even though they're all technically just variations on a single species. Having different stats doesn't mean they're different animals, it just means that they've got different numbers attached to them. There's no requirement that if you state that "Monster A" is related to "Monster B", that there must be some way to turn "A" into "B" through templates and/or advancement. From the players' perspective, the creature's type doesn't matter as much as its abilities, and the conditions under which they fight it.

I say we let the crowd decide. If someone (including you, Admiral) wants to stat up a template or category for Ice Giants, and furnish stats for the Stonecoats, the Chennoo, and the Giwakwa, then by all means let's include that. But if people would rather stat them up as individuals than as a category, let's use that instead.

(I say that the wendigo should be its own separate monster, though. I feel like it's just too cool, too weird, too unique, to fit neatly into another monster's box.)

Pixies:
Well, I see three options. You could make them a swarm. After all, a single spider bite doesn't actually do damage, but a spider swarm does some significant damage to those within it, and a gang of pixies would probably be able to do the same.

Well, I was planning on making them into a swarm, after figuring out the stats for a single pixie. So that's definitely happening, I just wanted to know the stats of the creature I'm basing them off. But yeah

You could give them a method of attack that work independent of strength. Magical abilities are always nice. Maybe they don't actually kill burglars, but they can magically entangle them. Or maybe they light him up with faerie fire.

Having entangle as an at-will SLA was one idea I had for them. Mainly for the feral ones, though. But I guess it would be appropriate for the domesticated ones as well. It would help explain why they've done so much damage to the environment, and would make them more dangerous in a natural setting.
What about plant growth? Is that too high-level for 1-3 HD pixies?

Or, you could make them not actually attack. Maybe they just light up and make noise when there's an intruder, like one of those screaming mushrooms. Maybe combine it with the swarm thing, and their defense mechanism is to swarm an intruder while making noise and flashing lights to confuse and frighten them off.

That's sort of like my original plan for them, where they're somewhere between guard-dogs and magical fertilizer for a lord's garden. If someone unfamiliar enters their domain at night (when they're most active), they freak out and start screaming/attacking/faerie-fire-ing, raising such a ruckus that the guards (whom they're acclimated to, and therefore won't attack) can come and investigate.

Idea: maybe they're kept inside the grounds with cold-iron fences?

---

So I noticed recently that the main post lists dozens of Native monsters, and we'll be able to use a lot of existing D&D monsters in Columbia, but we've got a grand total of nine Chinese monsters. This seemed a little lopsided to me, so I've been doing some research on the Chinese monsters that Mavakith mentioned back in the first Crossroads thread, and I've compiled it into the existing "Chinese Imported" monsters. I humbly submit Mavakith's Big List O' Chinese Monsters for your perusal. Happy homebrewing!

Chinese Imported

Spoiler: Now with new monsters! Updated 6/10/2014

Show

• Àoyīn (傲因) - a giant humanoid, wearing tattered clothing. It has clawed hands (crab claws, or tiger claws?), a very long tongue, and likes to eat brains. Can be killed when its tongue is hit by a heated rock. [image]
• Báizé (白泽) - a legendary four-legged beast which lived in the Kunlun Mountains. It was covered in white fur, was extremely intelligent, and was even capable of conversing with humans in a very educated and refined manner. It has white fur, eyes on its back or shoulders, and sometimes it has wings and/or goat-horns. The Báizé knows the names of all 11,520 types of supernatural creatures in the world, and can dispel them from places by speaking their names. When Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor, met one in the Kunlun Mountains, it dictated to him a great treatise which contained information on all of these creatures, which the Emperor wrote down with his own hand. (If this book still exists, it would be EXTREMELY valuable and powerful, and possibly a major artifact.) Exorcists often draw the Báizé’s image during their rituals, to help drive away evil spirits. [image]
• Bāshé (巴蛇) - a colossal snake, at least 180 meters (590 ft) in length, its head is dark blue while its body is black. In myths, it swallow can swallow an elephant whole, and spits out the bones of its prey after digesting them for up to three years.
  [image1]
• Bì'àn (狴犴）- the seventh of the dragon’s nine sons, this one-horned white tiger is capable of human speech, and is described as “extremely litigious” (I think Google Translate is translating this incorrectly). Because of its ability to discern truth and lies, the image of this majestic beast is often used as a decoration on the doors of prisons and government offices. [image]
• Bìfāng (畢方) - a flame-eating, one-legged crane with fiery red crest of flame on its head. [image1][image2]
• Bì Xié (CR 9) (辟邪) (completed by Amechra)- A winged lion creature whose presence repels evil.
• Chìyǎnzhūyāo (赤眼豬妖) - Its name literally means "Red-Eyed Pig Demon". It has a porcine head, a black canine body covered in porcupine quills, and glowing red eyes that can see in total darkness. Likes to eat carrion and lives in dark humid places. [image]
• Dìtīng (谛听) - this quadrupedal beast was the mount of Buddha. Its name means “listening”, because it listened to the Four Noble Truths. [image1][image2]
• Eshòu/Ershu (讹兽, lit. “false beast”) - a small creature, with the head of a rabbit and the body of a mílù deer (or maybe a woman’s face, I’m not sure?), which can fly by virtue of its magic whiskers. Its flesh is delicious, and can cure all poisons if consumed, but the eater can only speak falsehoods for some time afterwards (or maybe they can only speak truth?). [image]
• Fēi (蜚) - a white-headed, one-eyed, mountain-dwelling bull with a snake for its tail. When a Fēi enters water, the water evaporates; when it walks through grass or underbrush, it withers. [image]
• Fěifěi (腓腓) - tanuki-like creature with mane like a horse’s. Ancient myths said that keeping one as a pet will bring happiness. [image]
• Fei Lian (???) - “with the body and legs of a stag,it was as swift as wind, gliding through its forest dwell with ease.A long,serpentine tail balanced the beast's heavy head,resembling that of a sparrow with gleaming white bull horns with stripes.Its elegant body was covered in golden fur and dark spots,rather like the pelt of a leopard. These beasts were not carnivores,but would kill any creature that threatened them. Like most Chinese beasts, the fei lian (also called Feng Bo, meaning 'wind lord') lacked wings, but was sometime portrayed in flight, very similar to the lung (dragon).” [image]
• Féi Yí (肥遗) - a mountain-dwelling serpent with two bodies which sprout from a single head. Eating its flesh cures parasites. [image1] [image2]
• Feng Huang (CR 12) (Created by Dracomortis)- Mystical birds. The males are known as Feng, and the females as Huang. Their presence is a sign of extreme fortune and harmony.
• Fūzhū (夫諸) - a white deer with four antlers; an omen of floods (and has power over storms?) [image]
• Gōushé (鉤蛇) - Large aquatic snake, at least 20 meters long. Its tail ends with two hooks, which it uses to drag land-animals into the water, where it drowns and devours them. [image]
• Gǔ Diāo (蛊雕) - some legends say it’s shaped like an eagle, others say it has the body of a leopard, antlers, and a mouth (or maybe a beak?) which is wide enough to swallow a person whole. It spends about ten years at a time in hibernation, and then wakes up briefly to eat humans, which it attracts by imitating the sound of a crying infant. [image][image2]
• Guǐchē (鬼車) - a nine-headed bird, red in color, with a wingspan of approx. 10ft. It loves to sneak inside people's houses to suck out portions of their souls (i.e., their chi) as food. Originally had ten heads, but one was bitten off by "hǒu tiān quǎn" (吼天犬), the hound of the deity "èr láng shén" (二郎神), and the stump bleeds continuously. [image]
• Hǒu (吼) - "Hou, also known as Wangtianhou or Jīnmáo Hǒu (金毛犼), has a shape of a rabbit with 2 long ears, but lion looking, and can roar very loudly. It resembles a dragon but is not a dragon, nor is it claimed to be one of the nine descendants of the dragon. It is, however, considered sacred and given esteemed reverence. Perched high on a carved column that resembles a totem pole with wings, this creature stands guard and watches every movement of the Emperor. In addition, whenever the Emperor should leave the Imperial palace, he becomes a reminder and an admonished for the Emperor not to indulge in recklessness and become un-cultivated, discarding and neglecting decorum and engage in being a profligate and dissipated, given to debauchery. Since the Wangtianhou resembles a lion and it stands for all things auspicious, his messages from above, reflect the voice from Heaven.” It has the ability to fly, and dragon-brains are said to be its primary food source. Has a habit of perching in high places and observing events from afar, so its image is often raised on top of long poles to remind passersby that they’re being observed (like in prisons, for example). Eventually, it became the mount of Guānyīn, the Goddess of Mercy. [image]
• Hsigo (Claimed by Zzuxon) - Noisy beasts, resembling monkeys with feathered arms that can unfold into wings. Good at throwing things.
  Unfortunately, these guys might not actually be real mythological figures, but simply the result of a typo that went viral
• Huàshé (化蛇) - winged aquatic beast with a human face and a wolf’s body, which slithers like a snake. sounds like a baby crying, though it rarely makes a sound. But if it does, a flood will happen soon. [image]
• Hùndùn (混沌) - red sphere-like body (somewhat like that of a fat pig), with six legs four wings, and no head or face. It knows how to dance and sing, likes to assist evil people and hamper good people. One of the "Four Evils”. [image]
• Huǒshǔ (火鼠) - medium-size rat with a single horn on forehead, also called "Huǒguāngshòu". Lives in volcanoes. weighss 250kg, its hair is as fine as a strand of silk. Dies when it touches water. Its pelt can be made into a cloth that cleans itself when engulfed in flames. Possibly related to embermice, the SpiritBeasts of fire. [image]
• Jian (鹣) - mythical birds with only one eye and one wing each: they must pair up to survive, and thus they are an ancient symbol of the bond between husband and wife.
• Jiāngshī (殭屍) (image) - chinese zombie-vampires who feed on blood, and the ying chi from moonlight. Have great strength and near-indestructible bodies (DR). Jiāngshī who survive long enough (and consume enough blood/chi) evolve into more powerful forms:
  
  1. White Jiāng - zombie covered in white hair. Scared of sunlight, fire, water, rooster, dog and humans. Drink blood from animals.
  2. Black Jiāng - after a White Jiāng is well fed on blood. Their hair will turn black after a few years. No longer repelled by roosters and dog, a Black Jiāng is still scared of sunlight, fire, water and will avoid human contacts. Drinks blood from humans while they sleep.
  3. Jumping Jiāng - absorbing ying chi from the moon / moonlight for a nearly a decade, the Jumping Jiāng is quick, jumps in great distances and fears only sunlight.
  4. Flying Jiāng - evolved from Jumping Jiāng that have been absorbing moonlight and blood for at least a hundred years, they can fly and does not leave a wound when they suck blood from a short distance away (i.e., through the air), without even needing to touch their victim.
  5. Hànbá (旱魃) - a jiāngshī which has been dead at least a thousand years. It can cause drought/famine within a thousand miles. (image 1) (image 2)
  [image3]
• Jiǎo Duān (角端) - has a qilin’s head, a lion’s body, horns (antlers?), a long tail, clawed paws, upper lip expertise (wait, what?). It has a powerful, barrel-chested physique, with a “long nose” (meaning “a long snout”?), and a very big horn on its head. The males’ roar sounds like a tsunami, and its momentum is very powerful (presumably because its body is so heavy?)
• Jīn Chán (金蟾, lit. "golden toad") (Claimed by SuperDave) - A red-eyed bullfrog with only one back leg and seven spots on its back. Attracted to gold and valuable materials.
• Jiǔ Wěi Hú (九尾狐) - for every thousand years a fox lives, it gains another tail. These extremely powerful fox spirits have unlocked their full potential, possessing enormous amounts of chi, potent illusion powers, and the ability to take human form. They change the luck of those they encounter, but legends conflict as to whether they bring good fortune or bad. Some are liars and thieves, while others make "faithful guardians, friends, lovers, and wives". No one is quite certain whether they are truly the same species as the Huli Jing. [image]
• Jiǔyīng (九嬰) - a nine-headed and nine-tailed giant amphibious serpent, with two types of breath weapons: poisonous water and flames. Escaped China to the East (i.e., Japan or Korea, or perhaps Fusang?!) after its tail and one of its heads was shot off by a legendary archer (possibly Yi the Archer?), the same archer that shot down the nine Sānzúwū/suns. Speculated to be The Orochi in Japanese myths. [image]
• Kui/Kuíniú (夔/夔牛) - giant mountain-dwelling one-legged (draconic?) bull, which bellows like a peal of thunder and has power over lightning. “When storm comes near, its body will shine like sunlight and moonlight and its roar is deafening like thunder. Later, the Yellow Emperor used its fur to make drum which can be heard five hundred miles away.” [image]
• Kūnpéng (鲲鹏) - An colossal eagle that transforms into a huge fish (possibly a carp?) and back again. [image1] [image2] [image3]
• Lílì (狸力) - Pig-like beast, barks like a dog. Can burrow and control the earth.
• Lùwú (陸吾) - Nine-headed white tiger, guardian of the Jade Emperor's treasure vault. [image]
• Míngshé (鳴蛇) - large snake with four feathered wings. Represents drought. [image]
• Mǎjiāo (馬交) - bird head with single horn, horse-like white body with leopard spots and a black snake for its tail. Sharp teeth, have claws and not hooves. Sounds like a drum beating. Controls wind that cuts like a blade.
• Nián Shòu (CR 16) (年兽) (Completed by LOTRfan)- A large, lion-like creature that sleeps in the ocean, coming out once a year around the Chinese new year to eat people, particularly children. Can be repelled by the color red and loud noises.
• Niútóu (牛头, “Ox-Head”) and Mǎmiàn (马面, “Horse-Face”) - this duo of animal-headed warriors guard the gates of Diyu (Chinese Hell), and are the first beings whom a person sees upon death. In all their thousands of years of guardianship, only a single soul has ever slipped past them: Sun Wukong, the legendary Monkey King. Occasionally, they are dispatched by the Jade Emperor to hunt down and kill truly wicked people, and then personally escort these evil souls to the lowest levels of Diyu for punishment. [image]
• Nǚ Guǐ (女鬼) - hauntingly beautiful ghost-women, with long black hair and dressed all in red. They have returned from beyond the grave to exact vengeance on their mortal lovers, and any unfortunate mistresses who get in their way. [image1][image2]
• Páoxiāo (狍鴞) - Goat-body with human face, an eye in each shoulder, tiger teeth and human claws, voice similar to baby (sound-imitation to lure prey?), eats humans. Likes to live alone in dark caves: they are cruel, vicious and evil. With high intelligence and great strength, they are very difficult to capture and kill. Legend has it that their bones can cure all diseases.
• Píxiū (貔貅) - Dragon-head, horse body, Qilin claws/hoofs, lion mane, white-grey fur, have short wings and can fly. Patrols the skies for demons, and prevents plague and disease from disrupting the world. Very similiar to Bì Xié, but while Bì Xié have a single horn, the Píxiū have two horns. They always come in pairs: one male, one female. [image]
• Penghou (???) - A forest spirit with the body of a black dog with no tail, and the face of a man. Dwells in trees and escapes when the tree is cut down.
• Qílín (麒麟) - This beast is so considerate of others that it would not deign to walk upon the earth, for fear of harming a single insect or a blade of grass. Instead, it walks on the air, or small clouds under its hooves. [image] [magical beast] [outsider]
• Qióngqí (窮奇) - a winged man-eating red tiger with porcupine quills, barks like a dog, and eats humans. It can sense guilt and lies. It attacks honest and innocent people (it particularly favors biting their noses off), and it will protect liars and guilty people. Sort of like the opposite of a Sin You. One of the "Four Evils". [image]
• Sānzúwū (三足烏) - Chinese myths says that Sānzúwū were suns. Once upon a time, ten Sānzúwū all appeared at the same time and caused a terrible drought for years. Until all but one of them are shot down by a legendary archer. Sānzúwū resemble a three-legged crow with golden feathers. Sunspots were originally believed to be caused by these birds flying in front of the sun. According to Wikipedia, “there were originally ten Sānzúwū (“sun crows”) which settled in 10 separate suns. They perched on a red mulberry tree called the Fusang (Chinese: 扶桑; pinyin: fúsāng), literally meaning the “Leaning Mulberry Tree”, in the East at the foot of the Valley of the Sun. This mulberry tree was said to have many mouths opening from its branches.[5] Each day one of the sun crows would be rostered to travel around the world on a carriage, driven by Xihe the 'mother' of the suns. As soon as one sun crow returned, another one would set forth in its journey crossing the sky. ... Around 2,170 B.C., all ten sun crows came out on the same day, causing the world to burn; Houyi the celestial archer saved the day by shooting down all but one of the sun crows. (See Mid-Autumn Festival for variants of this legend.)” [image]
• Sān Jiǎo Shòu (三角兽) - [Sorry, I couldn’t find anything about this one. Nothing that made sense, anyway.]
• Shāngyáng (商羊）- a bird, has something to do with rain, and maybe omens? Sorry, the information was poorly-translated. [image]
• Shānsào (山臊) - Mountain spirit, one-legged baboon, can speak human languages and shape-change. Especially like to eat prawns and crabs from mountain rivers and lakes. [image]
• Shānzhīzhū (山蜘蛛) - large spider, body as large as a wheel. its silk can stop bleeding and staunch wounds.
• Shèn (蜃) - a huge clam-like creature with superb illusion abilities and water magic. To protect itself from attack, it usually disguises itself as a dragon, or some other fearsome beast. [image]
• Shuǐ guǐ (水鬼, “water ghosts”) - Lying in wait for humans to cross their particular body of water, “shui gui” (water ghosts) will drag the living beneath the surface and drown them, thus providing the ghost a new body to inhabit. Just to make it truly sinister, this cycle repeats, with each lost soul replacing the old ghost and dragging a new victim under as time drags on.
• Sin-you (CR 6) (Created by Baniff)- A large creature with a body that looks like a hybrid of lion and a bull, with a single straight horn. It’s eyes see the truth, and it can sense guilt and lies. It attacks liars and guilty people.
• Suānní (狻猊) - Lion-like beast, one of the nine sons of the dragon, likes to sit and keep watch. A very noble creature, it was famously used as one of the Buddha's mounts. Because it eats smoke, it is often seen sitting next to incense urns in temples. [image]
• Tāotiè (饕餮) - this bull monster’s hunger is insatiable; it was so gluttonous that it ate its own body, and so it is (sometimes) represented as a head with a huge mouth and no body. One of the "Four Evils". [image] Alternatively, a dog like creature that had one monstrous head with a gaping mouth, with two bodies connected to it. It was ferocious guardian of its own tribe, and ate those who threatened them. When it ate people, however, it did not chew. The person would just end up behind it, much worse for the wear and smelling terrible. [image]
• Táowù (檮杌) - Originally the name of an extremely evil man, he transformed into this creature after his death. Tiger-like body with a human face and boar tusks, with a 20ft long tail. One of the "Four Evils". [image]
• Too Jou Shen (???) - “They are best described as lions with cloven hooves and a short, blunt horn on their foreheads. Too jou shen may be small, and lead peaceful lives, but when needed, they are fierce beasts when they are protecting their homelands. They are almost always depicted as mated pairs, male and female. It is sometimes said that their statues come to life.” [image]
• Tǔlóu (土蝼）- a human-eating goat with four horns. [image][image2]
• Xièzhì (獬豸) - It has a thick body with long dark hair and angry eyes which shine brightly, and can see falsehood, lies, and dishonesty (similar to the Sin-Yu). It has one horn its head, and is said to be very brave. Because of its bravery and honesty, it is a symbol of the Emperor and His justice. “It is believed to live in the wilds and is said to be fire-eating even to its own destruction.” One of the origins of the "Stone Lion" seen outside the front door of Chinese houses. It is said that when it sees two people fighting or arguing, it would gore the dishonest party with its horn and eat them. [image2]
• Xīnáng (傒囊) - all I know about this guy is that he’s the size of a small child, lives in the mountains, and has something to do with spirits. [I think this is him]
• Xing Tian (???) - a fierce warrior who was beheaded during battle, but nevertheless he continued to fight with his axe and shield, using his nipples as eyes and his navel as a mouth. [image1]
• Xuánfēng (玄蜂) - these black hornets are the size of teakettles, and deliver lethal poison with their stings. [image]
• Yāoguài (妖怪) - demons of Chinese mythology. They are sly and cunning shapeshifters, with extremely variable appearances, but they are united in their desire to consume the flesh of holy men and attain immortality (and hence, godhood).
• Yàyǔ (猰貐) - I wasn’t able to find out anything for sure about this creature, except that it might have had a human face, and that it possibly ate people. When it began to eat humans, the Emperor Yao command Yi the Archer to kill it.
• Yázì (睚眦) - Second of the dragon’s nine sons, this creature looks like a dhole (fox/jackal). Its name means "angry stare". It is said that the Yázì always repay good deeds, but also repay any grievance with death. Therefore, images of the Yázì are usually engraved on the scabbards or hilts of swords. Its personality is described as “staunch” and “brave”. [image1] [image2]
• Yīnglong (应龙) - an ancient, winged dragon, with a tail powerful enough to divert rivers and cause floods. [image]
• Yīngzhāo (英招) - Human face and horse body, tiger stripes, bird wings, sounds like a monkey. Acts as the gardener for the Jade Emperor. [image1] [image2]
• Yújiāng (禺疆) - Sea God, Wind God, God of Plague of the legends. Rules the northern ocean. have a fish-like body with arms and feet of a man. Rides a twin-headed dragon. It is said that the winds of Yújiāng can cause a plague. [image]
• Záochǐ (鑿齒) - large humanoid, chisel-like tusk that are 3ft in length, wields a halberd and shield. (They are actually "demonized Southern tribes in China” in myths) [image1] [image2] [image3]
• Zhēng (狰, lit. “hideous”) - a mountain-dwelling red-furred leopard with a single horn on its head and four* tails. I think the legend said that it killed all the plants on its entire mountain, or something like that (I’m really not sure). It was said if you wore its skin that you would be cured of jaundice. [image]
  *This probably means it’s considered unlucky, because four is the number of death. [image1] [image2] [image3]
• Zhènniǎo (CR 5) (鴆鳥) (completed by Dracomortis)- Poisonous birds with green and purple feathers. Touching a feather results in numbness, but being pricked, pecked, or scratched by the bird or the feather is highly lethal.
• Zhūhuái (诸怀) - a large, man-eating humanoid with the head of a bull. Very similar to the Greek minotaur. Or maybe it was just a man-eating bull? [image]
• Zhūjiān (諸犍) - Human face with leopard body, bull ears and only a single eye, long tail and have extremely loud voice. It holds its tail in its mouth while walking, and coils it around its body while resting. Extremely strong, expert marksmanship: 9 out of 10 targets died, and even if they lived, they were crippled for life. [image1] [image2]
• Zhúlong (烛龙) - a giant red solar deity, thousands of miles long. It supposedly had a human's face and snake's body, created day and night by opening and closing its eyes, and created seasonal winds by breathing. (I think that since this guy was a god, we can’t really give him stats in this setting. But maybe he has offspring? Gasp! What if there are heretic scholars in Fusang who claim that the Quetzals could be his children?! They’re both serpents with human(oid) heads…) [image]
• Zhūyàn (朱厭) - Ape-like creature with white fur on its head and reddish fur on its hands and feet; an omen of impending war. [image]

Sorry the formatting is weird. I really wasn't sure what to do with the images, but I felt they were worthy of inclusion in the list, because most westerners won't have a clue what these creatures look like. And I found out that if you don't know Chinese, it's EXTREMELY difficult to find good images, so I wanted to save you all some time and research. (Oh, and I left a lot of my notes and musings in there. You can disregard 'em if they're not helpful.)

In the course of my search for images, I found several really weird monsters I couldn’t identify. If anyone knows how to find out more about them, let me know!

• http://store.wave4psychology.com/ima...5%E9%A4%AE.jpg
• http://www1.oekakibbs.com/bbs/poo_theme/42600/42412.jpg
• http://images.liqucn.com/h009/h79/im...nfo630X506.jpg
• http://xx.fjedu.gov.cn/fjjy/meishu/U...9021054853.jpg

[Mavakith]

Guǐchē (鬼車) - a nine-headed bird, red in color, with a wingspan of approx. 10ft. It loves to sneak inside people's houses to suck out portions of their souls (i.e., their chi) as food. Originally had ten heads, but one was bitten off by a sacred hound (whose hound?), and the stump bleeds continuously.

Its head was rumored to be bitten off by "hǒu tiān quǎn" (吼天犬), the hound of the deity "èr láng shén" (二郎神).


Hànbá (旱魃) - Said to be the fifth evolution form of a Chinese vampire (or Jiāngshī) which has been dead at least a thousand years. It can cause drought (and famine?) within a thousand miles.

Hǒu (吼) - “Hou, also known as Wangtianhou, has a shape of a rabbit with 2 long ears, but lion looking, and can roar very loudly. It resembles a dragon but is not a dragon, nor is it claimed to be one of the nine descendants of the dragon. It is, however, considered sacred and given esteemed reverence. Perched high on a carved column that resembles a totem pole with wings, this creature stands guard and watches every movement of the Emperor. In addition, whenever the Emperor should leave the Imperial palace, he becomes a reminder and an admonished for the Emperor not to indulge in recklessness and become un-cultivated, discarding and neglecting decorum and engage in being a profligate and dissipated, given to debauchery. Since the Wangtianhou resembles a lion and it stands for all things auspicious, his messages from above, reflect the voice from Heaven.” It has the ability to fly, and dragon-brains are said to be its primary food source. Has a habit of perching in high places and observing events from afar, so its image is often raised on top of long poles to remind passersby that they’re being observed (like in prisons, for example).

Jiangshi (僵屍) - zombie-vampire corpses who feed on chi.

Jīnmáo Hǒu (金毛犼) - There are two contradicting legends on this being: A) A Hànbá that survived for one thousand years after evolving from a Jiangshi (for a total of two thousand years of undeath) and gained godlike powers;
or B) he is one of the dragon king’s nine sons. However, both legends said it resembles a draconic lion with golden fur and mane. It can breathe fire, and eats the brain of dragons. Later, it became the mount of Guānyīn, the Goddess of Mercy.

The four above are actually the same type of creature in different stages of unlife. Jiāngshī is the basic form, then after a few evolutions becomes the Hànbá (旱魃) and then finally the Jīnmáo Hǒu (金毛犼). Which is actually a different name for Hǒu (吼) / Wangtianhou.

Note: although its first - fifth form is undead, its final form is actually living.


As for the four pictures:

1, Tāotiè (饕餮), already on the list above.
2, I don't know what is it.
3, Looks like a variant of dragon turtle to me
4, Gǔ Diāo (蛊雕), already on the list above.

Sorry I haven't been on for the past two months, got relocated to another country to work. Will post more after i settle down, say, one more month? lol

[SuperDave]

[Guǐchē's] head was rumored to be bitten off by "hǒu tiān quǎn" (吼天犬), the hound of the deity "èr láng shén" (二郎神).

Thanks for clarifying. I've fixed it now.

The four above are actually the same type of creature in different stages of unlife. Jiāngshī is the basic form, then after a few evolutions becomes the Hànbá (旱魃) and then finally the Jīnmáo Hǒu (金毛犼). Which is actually a different name for Hǒu (吼) / Wangtianhou.

Okay, I've combined the Hǒu and Jīnmáo Hǒu into one creature. I thought that it was really weird that there were two dragonlike creatures who ate the brains of dragons and both had "Hǒu" as part of their names!

Note: although its first - fifth form is undead, its final form is actually living.

But I thought that the Hǒu/Jīnmáo Hǒu was one of the dragon's nine sons! How can a vampire get so powerful that it not only changes into a completely different type of animal, and comes back to life, but even retroactively changes who its' father was, too?

Since D&D creatures don't evolve like Chinese monsters do, it might be simplest for us to treat the Jiāngshī and all of its evolutions up through the Hànbá as undead humanoids, and make the Hǒu/Jīnmáo Hǒu a magical beast. If/When a Hànbá evolves, we can just say that it's become so powerful that the only way it can get stronger is to change itself into a completely different type of creature.

Oh, and speaking of "the dragon's nine sons": I keep hearing about monsters which are described as being one of the dragon's nine sons. Are they all the sons of the same individual dragon (and if so, who is this extremely amorous dragon, and why does he have no standards for who he sleeps with?), or are there just nine different kinds of animals that dragons commonly mate with (which produces nine different types of offspring)?

Sorry I haven't been on for the past two months, got relocated to another country to work. Will post more after i settle down, say, one more month? lol

I'm sorry to hear you're overworked, but happy to hear you've got a good job. 恭喜恭喜!

[Mavakith]

Since D&D creatures don't evolve like Chinese monsters do, it might be simplest for us to treat the Jiāngshī and all of its evolutions up through the Hànbá as undead humanoids, and make the Hǒu/Jīnmáo Hǒu a magical beast. If/When a Hànbá evolves, we can just say that it's become so powerful that the only way it can get stronger is to change itself into a completely different type of creature.

Well, they are all myths.. so a myth says that Hǒu is one of dragon king's son, another says that its the final form of Jiāngshī.. But what you did here is perfectly fine! Note that Hǒu isn't one of dragon's nine sons, my bad.. Hǒu is rumored to be one of the dragon king's son.

PS: Dragon and Dragon king is different. There are four dragon kings, "North Ocean Dragon King", "East Ocean Dragon King", "South Ocean Dragon King" and of course there's the "West Ocean Dragon King".

Oh, and speaking of "the dragon's nine sons": I keep hearing about monsters which are described as being one of the dragon's nine sons. Are they all the sons of the same individual dragon (and if so, who is this extremely amorous dragon, and why does he have no standards for who he sleeps with?), or are there just nine different kinds of animals that dragons commonly mate with (which produces nine different types of offspring)?

Well, the original dragon was only a totem that symbolizes the unity of nine different Han tribes. Dragon is more of a asexual spirit in this case and it somehow produces nine different sons by itself. The sons themselves are unique creatures by their own right and they symbolizes different things.

However, the english wiki is a little different from what i read in the chinese wiki. But i'll get to that later on.

While there are two list of dragon's 9 sons, the more widely accepted version does not include Tāotiè (饕餮) as one of the dragon's sons.. People tend not to like it when one of the "Four Evils" is the dragon's son.

I'm sorry to hear you're overworked, but happy to hear you've got a good job. 恭喜恭喜!

Well, i'm not overworked, just need to get to know the places near my place and company and thanks! :)

EDIT:
Jiangshi (???) - zombie-vampire corpses who feed on chi.
Jiāngshī (殭屍) - chinese zombie-vampires who feed on blood (just like western vampires) and the ying chi from the moon (or u can say moonlight). Have great strength and near-indestructible bodies (DR).

First stage: White Jiāng, zombie covered in white hair. Scared of sunlight, fire, water, rooster, dog and humans. Drink blood from animals.

Second stage: Black Jiāng, after a White Jiāng is well fed on blood. Their hair will turn black after a few years. No longer repelled by roosters and dog, a Black Jiāng is still scared of sunlight, fire, water and will avoid human contacts. Drinks blood from humans while they sleep.

Third stage: Jumping Jiāng, absorbing ying chi from the moon / moonlight for a nearly a decade, the Jumping Jiāng is quick, jumps in great distances and is only afraid of the sun now.

Forth stage: Flying Jiāng, evolved from Jumping Jiāng that have been absorbing moonlight and blood for at least a hundred years, they can fly and does not leave a wound when they suck blood from a short distance (within 30 feet i suppose?).


Fifth stage: Hànbá

[Admiral Squish]

Ice Cannibals
That's basically exactly what I'm talking about. The angels aren't scattered all through the book, they're a little category of monsters that are inter-related and presented together. The same with beholders.

What I'm talking about is making several distinct ice cannibal varieties, each its own unique monster entry, but having a number of interconnected traits, like the ice heart and the transformation due to cannibalism/denying food. I'm not talking about making them all different stages of transformation, I'm talking about making the traits that ARE the same across the myths actually be the same across the monster entries.

Pixies
I was generally aware of your plans, that's why I was trying to suggest things in that general vein.
I will say plant growth is probably a bit too high for the pixies, the general rule of thumb I use is not to give monsters SLAs of levels they wouldn't be able to cast if their HD were spellcaster levels. So, it would need at least 5 HD to be able to cast a 3rd level spell.

Chinese Imported
I haven't had time to go through the whole list yet, but keep in mind that any Chinese imported monster needs to be intentionally or accidentally brought to the new world somehow, so we can't just use all of Chinese mythology, just the stuff that would make it over. I'll get into it momentarily, I'm still working on the classic monster list in the main thread.

[Bhu]

You could do templates for the evolving monsters.

[Admiral Squish]

You could do templates for the evolving monsters.

You mean for the jiangshi and their successive forms?
I don't know, it might be a serious challenge to take a base creature through four or five different stacking templates.

[SuperDave]

OK, I just updated the list of "Chinese Imported" so all the different Jiangshi forms are in the same place, and removed the reference to the Taotie as "one of the dragon's nine sons". (Incidentally, there's already a Pathfinder monster called the Taotieh, but I think it's pretty different from the myths.

As for why they're imported, it's definitely something we should consider before adding them, but a good DM could find ways to include almost any monster in the setting. But you're right, we should give thought to why people bring them over, and which ones go feral in the forests and mountains of Fusang, as this will have a big impact on what players encounter when adventuring in Fusang (both in the cities and in the wilderness).

Now that you explain your logic behind Ice Cannibals, it makes perfect sense. Carry on!

Pixies are undergoing a rewrite, to transform them from a single creature into a swarm. Since they also absorb the traits of the plants in which their eggs are incubated, I've decided to give them plant traits as well. I'm working on a way to customize pixies based on different plants (thorns, poisonous bodies, making creatures that touch them itch like poison ivy, etc.).

[Admiral Squish]

Sorry I haven't gotten around to going over that list of imported monsters yet, I'm still sorting through the big list of classic monsters for the main thread. I'll be getting to this list soon as I can.

I'm glad you understand my point of view on the ice cannibals. I'm adding them to my list o' monsters to make.

I am getting more and more intrigued by the pixies you propose, I can hardly wait to see them come to fruition! Not literally, if they actually have kinds that grow fruit.

[Bhu]

Made changes to the Kiwahkw, will be adding possible cures soon pending more research

[Admiral Squish]

Kiwahkw
Marvelous! I still think some of my previous critiques apply, but I will leave it to your discretion.

[SuperDave]

OK, so the good news is I just finished starting up the Garden Pixie swarm. The bad news is, I cacluated their CR and it came out to 3, which is WAY too high for a 1HD creature that's supposed to be more aof a nuisance than a challenge. So now I've gotta Nerf 'em a bit before they're ready.

[Debihuman]

way back I said I was going to stat up the Gwagwakhwalanooksiwey. The problem is that it is just a Roc who eats the brains of its enemies. I got nothing new to add to it. Sorry guys.

Debby

[SuperDave]

Gwagwakhwalanooksiwey... is that it is just a Roc who eats the brains of its enemies. I got nothing new to add to it.

Eh, fair 'nuff. Not every myth is monster-worthy.

I just realized that I never wrote up the Money-Toad, either. But I've got plenty of fluff for it. I think I'll do that one after I finish the feral version of the pixies.

Actually, maybe CR 3 isn't totally inappropriate? They're supposed to be used as guard-dogs on expensive mansions, so having them be CR 1 or lower might mean that too many thieves could slip past them. I guess throwing another HD or two on 'em wouldn't really affect their CR after all, would it?

I don't know, though. I feel like Crossroad doesn't have enough low-CR monsters, which might make the early stages of a campaign difficult to plan/balance. Do I go with the higher CR, or try to bring it back down a bit?

[Admiral Squish]

Pixies
Honestly, if you think all the abilities are appropriate and it feels like a solid monster to you, just go ahead and post it. You can always change it later if you feel the need, and in my experience, getting it out and changing it later leads to more productivity than just holding onto it until it's absolutely perfect. Don't worry about the CR spread of the setting, you gotta do what feels right for this critter.

Gwagwakhwalanooksiwey
Hmmm. I don't know, I think there's a bit of potential. Maybe not an enormous amount, granted, but they could be a nice mid-CR monster, possibly with some sort of death attack like an illithid... I think I'll take a crack at the lady and her mate real quick.

EDIT: Here we are, I just posted my take on the Hokhoku, rolling together all those different giant man-eating birds of the northwest and canada.

[SuperDave]

OK, I finally got off my duff and posted the Garden pixies I've been working on for so long. Drop me a line and lemme know what you think of 'em!

[SuperDave]

Oh man, I am on FIRE today! I posted the Garden pixies yesterday, and today I finished the sisiutl on my coffee/lunch breaks!

Basically, it's an amphisbaena sea serpent with a few extra goodies thrown in. I know that there's already an official version in Stormwrack, but I like to think my version fits the legends a little better.

[Bhu]

Perchance can you send me the name of the stories the Inupasugjuk appear in?

[Admiral Squish]

Alright, bro, added your new creations and updated your count! Looks like you've tied with Bhu!

Bhu, sorry, but I don't know any of the names of the stories off the top of my head. I'm sure you'll be able to find anything that we did and more, though.