(3.5) Mindless Minds in Motion (Creature) (Organ Undead) (P.E.A.C.H.)

[DracoDei]

This is a perhaps a slightly silly take on mindless undead brains. I may do a more serious one that isn't hampered by the combination of high speed and low maneuverability. I am also experimenting with the "Semi-template" concept here, with the result that coming up with a formula for the CRs on these things is going to be a non-trivial task and giving static CRs to each size would be a mistake.

Zooming Brain
Open Spoiler below for main stat block for Fine, Diminutive, and Tiny Zooming Brains.

Spoiler

~	Zooming Brain, Fine	Zooming Brain, Diminutive	Zooming Brain, Tiny
Size and Type	Fine Undead	Diminutive Undead	Tiny Undead
Hit Dice	1/2d12 (3 hp)	1d12 (6 hp)	2d12 (13 hp)
Speed	Fly (See Below)*, Burrow (See Below)**	Fly (See Below)*, Burrow (See Below)**	Fly (See Below)*, Burrow (See Below)**
Initiative	+0	-1	-2
AC	18 (+8 size); touch 18; flat-footed 18	13 (-1 Dex, +4 size); touch 13; flat-footed 13	10 (-2 Dex, +2 size); touch 10; flat-footed 10
BAB	+0	+0	+1
Grapple	-19	-13	-8
Attack	None	None	None
Space/Reach	1/2 ft./0 ft.	1 ft./0 ft.	2 1/2 ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks	Aura of Idiocy	Aura of Idiocy	Aura of Idiocy
Special Qualities	Dark Vision 60 ft., Undead Traits	Dark Vision 60 ft., Undead Traits	Dark Vision 60 ft., Undead Traits
Saves	Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +4	Fort +0, Ref -1, Will +4	Fort +0, Ref -2, Will +5
Abilities	Str 4, Dex 10, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 1	Str 8, Dex 8, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 1	Str 10, Dex 6, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 1
Skills	~	~	~
Feats	Iron Will(B)	Iron Will(B)	Iron Will(B)
Environment	Any	Any	Any
Organization	Any	Any	Any
Challenge Rating	?	?	?
Treasure	None	None	None
Alignment	Always Neutral Evil	Always Neutral Evil	Always Neutral Evil
Advancement	-	-	3 HD (Tiny)
Level Adjustment	~	~	~

Open Spoiler below for main stat block for Small, Medium, and Large Zooming Brains.

Spoiler

~	Zooming Brain, Small	Zooming Brain, Medium	Zooming Brain, Large
Size and Type	Small Undead	Medium Undead	Large Undead
Hit Dice	4d12 (26 hp)	8d12 (52 hp)	16d12 (104 hp)
Speed	Fly (See Below)*, Burrow (See Below)**	Fly (See Below)*, Burrow (See Below)**	Fly (See Below)*, Burrow (See Below)**
Initiative	-3	-4	-5
AC	8 (-3 Dex, +1 size); touch 8; flat-footed 8	6 (-4 Dex); touch 6; flat-footed 6	4 (-5 Dex, -1 size); touch 4; flat-footed 4
BAB	+2	+4	+8
Grapple	-1	+7	+21
Attack	None	None	None
Space/Reach	5 ft./0 ft.	5 ft./0 ft.	10 ft/0 ft.
Special Attacks	Aura of Idiocy	Aura of Idiocy	Aura of Idiocy
Special Qualities	Dark Vision 60 ft., Undead Traits	Dark Vision 60 ft., Undead Traits	Dark Vision 60 ft., Undead Traits
Saves	Fort +1, Ref -2, Will +6	Fort +2, Ref -2, Will +8	Fort +5, Ref +0, Will +12
Abilities	Str 12, Dex 4, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 1	Str 16, Dex 2, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 1	STR 24, Dex 1, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 1
Skills	~	~	~
Feats	Iron Will(B)	Iron Will(B)	Iron Will(B)
Environment	Any	Any	Any
Organization	Any	Any	Any
Challenge Rating	?	?	??
Treasure	None	None	None
Alignment	Always Neutral Evil	Always Neutral Evil	Always Neutral Evil
Advancement	5-7 HD (Small)	9-15 HD (Medium)	17+ HD (Large)
Level Adjustment	~	~	~

*The Maneuverability of a zooming brain is based on the wisdom score of the creature the brain was taken from (not counting any bonuses from magic items or non-permanent spells).

WIS	Maneuverability
1-16	Clumsy
17-24	Poor
25-32	Average
33+	Good

**A zooming brain taken from a creature with a burrow speed has a burrow speed equal to twice that creature's, otherwise it has no burrow speed. Its flight speed is dependent on the size of the creature it was taken from(not counting any size changing magics).

Spoiler

Size	Flight Speed
Fine	30'
Diminutive	40'
Tiny	60'
Small	80'
Medium	100'
Large	150'
Huge	200'
Gargantuan	300'
Colossal	350'

Also known a "Racing Minds" these undead are not only (ironically) mindless, they drain the mental facilities of all they draw near.

Aura of Idiocy (Su):
This emanation damages the mental faculties of all living creatures who get too close to a zooming brain. This aura is continuous and Zooming brain may not suppress this ability, even if commanded to. Any creature within a certain radius determined by the intelligence score of the individual it was take from of the zooming brain for the first time during a given turn must immediately make a Fortitude or Will save (whichever they have the lower total modifier to) to avoid taking damage to each of their three mental stats. The save DC is based on the hit-dice and charisma of the creature the brain was taken from, NOT the zooming brain's own statistics. The formula is the standard (10 + 1/2 Source Creature's Racial HD + Source Creature's Charisma modifier(not counting any bonuses from magic items or non-permanent spells)). This ability score damage can not reduce a creature below 1 in any ability score.
The amount of ability score damage is based on the intelligence of the creature the brain was taken from. Unlike most ability score damage, this only lasts a number of minutes equal to the intelligence score of the creature the brain was taken from(not counting any bonuses from magic items or non-permanent spells).

INT	Damage	X	INT	Damage
1-2	1d2-1(Minimum 0)	X	15-17	1d8
3	1	X	18-20	2d4
4-6	1d2	X	21-23	2d6
7-9	1d3	X	24-26	2d8
10-11	1d4	X	27-29	2d10
12-14	1d6	X	30-32	2d12
33+	4d6

The radius of the emanation of the brain is based on the size of the creature the brain was taken from(not counting any size changing magics).

Size	Radius	Flight Speed
Fine	20'	30'
Diminutive	30'	40'
Tiny	40'	60'
Small	50'	80'
Medium	60'	100'
Large	80'	150'
Huge	100'	200'
Gargantuan	150'	300'
Colossal	200'	350'

Creating a zooming brain:

Only in the some of the more bizarre aberrations does the size class of the brain exceed 3 steps smaller than the source creature. Unfortunately other than this there are few hard rules when it comes to brain size. The GM should use a zoological anatomy book, wikipedia, and/or simple common sense.
In order to extract the brain without ruining it, a DC 20 Heal check is required. If this check is failed by more than 5 points, the the skull is also ruined. Unless the skull is ruined, a DC 10 Craft(Sculpture) and 3 silver worth of materials allows the skull to be reassembled well enough that a skeleton (the monster) may be made from the skeleton (an object).
Touch of Idiocy or Feeblemind must be cast once over each brain for each die of ability score damage it inflicts. If the DC of the ability is higher than 22 then Feeblemind must be used at least once. Then both Fly and Expeditious Retreat must be cast once over each brain. Finally, Animate Dead or Create Undead, Lesser must be used, with the standard rules for how many creatures may be animated with a single casting and total undead controlled.




Specific examples

Zooming Brain from any 1st level commoner of any PHB race except Half-Orc INT 10-11 WIS 1-16 CHR 10-11
Diminutive Undead
HD 1d12 (6 hp)
Speed fly 100 ft. (Clumsy);
Init: -1
AC 13 (-1 Dex, +4 size); touch 13; flat-footed 13
BAB +0; Grp -13
Attack None
Full-Attack None
Space 1 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks Aura of Idiocy
Special Qualities Dark Vision 60 ft., Undead Traits
Saves Fort +0, Ref -1, Will +4
Abilities Str 8, Dex 8, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 1
Skills -
Feats Iron Will(B)
Environment Any
Organization Any
Challenge Rating 2?
Treasure None
Alignment Always Neutral Evil

Aura of Idiocy (Su):
This emanation damages the mental faculties of all living creatures who get too close to the zooming brain. This aura is continuous and Zooming brain may not suppress this ability, even if commanded to. Any creature within 60' of the zooming brain for the first time during a given turn must immediately make a Fortitude or Will save (whichever they have the lower total modifier to) with a DC of 11 to avoid taking 1d4 damage to each of their three mental stats (roll damage only once each round, for all ability scores, for all targets). This ability score damage can not reduce a creature below 1 in any ability score.
The amount of ability score damage is based on the intelligence of the creature the brain was taken from. Unlike most ability score damage, this only lasts a number of minutes equal to the intelligence score of the creature the brain was taken from (10 or 11 in this case).


Spellcasting:
REALLY unsure about this, but you might add the above example to the list of things that Summon Undead II can summon (and multiple ones for later levels).
Higher level spells would probably summon brains from creatures with higher mental ability scores, not larger ones for a while, then allow two options...

[DracoDei]

81 views an NO responses... what am I doing wrong?
Something?
Nothing?
Help me out here...

[zagan]

Sorry, didn't see it before.

Well, the idea is really nice and fit well with the rest of your serie.
The only revelant comment would be to up the CR because while the ability damage is temporary it's still very brutal at low level. What's more it's a flying creature so at this level only range attack can attack it.
It could be even worse if the original creature had a burrow speed, in that case nothing can target it.

Apart from that detail it's very well made, good work.

[DracoDei]

Thank you very much.

Well, it does need to emerge to attack, so depending on how directly/expertly it is controlled, it might not burrow back in before the end of its turn. If it does, then you have to use readied actions, which is a bit of a pain, especially for melee-focused characters.

[zagan]

Why would the brain need to emerge, nowhere in the description did you stat that it need line of sight. Unless I'm missing a rule for SU ability, it can simply remain 5ft underground.

[DracoDei]

quote from http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicOverv...scriptions.htm

Burst, Emanation, or Spread

Most spells that affect an area function as a burst, an emanation, or a spread. In each case, you select the spell’s point of origin and measure its effect from that point.

A burst spell affects whatever it catches in its area, even including creatures that you can’t see. It can’t affect creatures with total cover from its point of origin (in other words, its effects don’t extend around corners). The default shape for a burst effect is a sphere, but some burst spells are specifically described as cone-shaped. A burst’s area defines how far from the point of origin the spell’s effect extends.

An emanation spell functions like a burst spell, except that the effect continues to radiate from the point of origin for the duration of the spell. Most emanations are cones or spheres.

5 ft of earth definitely qualifies at total cover...

[zagan]

No, problem then. I admit I didn't remember this rule.

[ChumpLump]

A nice addition to the organ series, a conservation-minded necromancer's best friend.

I am mildly uncomfortable with the lower of two saves concept.
Seems to imply that the ability itself is capable of finding and attacking a weak point in the intelligent creature.

The implications that only people of stout body and mind, Clerics, Monks and the like are capable of shrugging it off. It just seems clumsy to me.
Perhaps there is a better 2 part save of some sort.

Other than that I really like it.
Are you planning on doing anything an intelligent version?

[DracoDei]

I think I might have been thinking that the DC was going to tend to be low because it is based on the SOURCE creature and animals (always my assumed target for these things since it really helps out the other ones), have a low charisma or couldn't decide which to use (so decided "Both!"). In any case... I was probably just trying things out.

And I know of two versions of intelligent undead brains... I could do one of course, but it just seemed sorta cliche and I wanted to try a different take on it than "brain in a jar".


P.S. I have put some limiting language in on the DC such that only racial hit-dice count and you can't just cast a Fox's Cunning on the commoner before you kill her. Actually, I should have now put that limit on all the values derived from the source creature.

P.P.S. I need to specify a time to remove a brain. Probably with a comment about GMs modifying for especially thick-skulled creatures

[DracoDei]

Ugh... the creation section had some major flaws in it... now should only be missing the times.

Also, the intended fluff with the two save options was more like water finding the lowest level, than anything intelligent.

Anyone got any clue as to how to set up the formula for the CRs based on the variable abilities?

[Alrox]

I must say, this is pretty interesting. I preferred the dark heart more though, simply because it gave my necromancer BBEG an easier go...

The only problem I can see with these things is, do they start to drain the necromancer that animated them? If so, I feel a funny practical joke to be played on necro-noobs...

[Vaynor]

The Red Towel: Thread necromancy.