A Couple of Paired Monsters (3.5, PEACH)

[Dumbledore lives]

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Menders
Tiny Construct
HD 2d10 (11 hp)
Speed 20 ft. (4 squares); Climb 10 ft.
Init +2
AC 17 (+3 Natural, +2 Dexterity, +2 Size); touch 14; flat-footed 15
BAB +1; Grp -9
Attack Pincer +5 (1d3-2)
Full-Attack Pincer +5 (1d3-2)
Space 2 1/2 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks Spell Like Abilities, Repair
Special Qualities Construct Traits, DR 5/Admantine
Saves Fort +1 Ref +3 Will +1
Abilities Str 6, Dex 15, Con -, Int 2, Wis 11, Cha 1
Skills Climb +12, Hide +10, Move Silently +2
Feats Weapon Finesse
Environment Any
Organization Solitary, Cluster (4-7), Conglomerate (20-80)
Challenge Rating 1
Treasure Standard, Parts
Alignment True Neutral
Advancement -
Level Adjustment -

The Menders where servants created ages past for powerful wizards who created machines for war, and needed machines to attend them. They are not fighters traditionally, but are willing to engage in combat if threatened or they are interrupted in their work. They look like large spiders, made out of masses of gears and metallic parts. They have 4 small spindly legs, and two small mandibles where a mouth would be on a normal creature. They weigh about 30 pounds, and are about 1 ½ foot in diameter.

Combat

Individually Menders avoid combat, using their small size to evade encounters, however when they are grouped they use rudimentary tactics like ambushes to defeat foes. They care little for their own lives and are willing to be destroyed for a greater effort. Typically they form into groups based off what spell like abilities they have. Another reason they are willing to sacrifice themselves is they know they could be rebuilt, given the materials.

Repair (Su): Menders have the unique ability to create others of their own kind. Whenever their conglomerate reaches below a certain number they were programmed to create more of themselves, to restore the balance. They need relatively little material, a 1 ft. cube of stone or metal per Mender to be created or repaired. This process creates a new 1 HD Mender and takes 1 minute. The Mender can then bring itself up to 2 HD by destroying one more 1 ft. cube.

Spell-like Abilities: Menders' spell-like abilities are not standardized, but are drawn from the following list: Burning Hands, Grease, Magic Fang, Magic Missile, Repair Light Wounds, or Sleep using 1d6 to determine the spell for any individual. 1 HD instead have either Acid Splash, or Mending. Caster level is 1 for both abilities. The save are Wisdom based, so DC 11 for 1st level, and 10 for 0th for a typical Mender.

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Metalcatessen
Tiny Ooze
HD 2d10+10 (21)
Speed 15 ft. (3 squares); Climb 10 ft.
Init: +1
AC 15 (+2 Natural, +1 Dexterity, +2 Size); touch 13; flat-footed 14
BAB +1; Grp -5
Attack Slam +5 (1d3+2)
Full-Attack Slam +5 (1d3+2)
Space 2 1/2 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks Absorb, Cling
Special Qualities Ooze Traits
Saves Fort +6 Ref +2 Will -4
Abilities Str 15, Dex 13, Con 20, Int -, Wis 1, Cha 1
Skills Climb +10
Feats -
Environment Underground
Organization Solitary, Seekers (4-6), Hive (30-100)
Challenge Rating 1
Treasure None
Alignment True Neutral
Advancement 2-3 HD(Tiny), 4-6 HD (Small), 7-9 (Medium)
Level Adjustment -

Metalcatessen are oozes created to destroy metal and jewelry, especially magical items. Their only goal in life is to find these objects and to absorb them, increasing their size and thus giving them the potential to absorb more. The look like little piles of purple slime, but form themselves into acidic and dangerous pseudopods, attacking with their entire bodies. Their acid however does not affect flesh at at all. Metalcatessen weigh about 5 lbs and have a diameter of about 1 foot.

Combat

Metalcatessen do not seek combat, but do seek metal so they typically fall into battles, especially large scale ones. After taking a sufficient quantity of metal a Gem Devourer will typically flee from combat, but because of its slow speed often it does not get very far. However since they typically travel in large groups they can often overwhelm humanoids and take all of the metal or valuable objects on them, thus creating more Metalcatessen.

Absorb (Ex): Metalcatessen can absorb metal and create more of themselves through splitting. A Metalcatessen does 1d3 acid damage to any unattended metal objects and ignores hardness. Attended objects typically allow a reflex save for the person who has the object on them(DC 15, Constitution based) to avoid taking the damage. When this process destroys 25 lbs worth of metal a Metalcatessen can reproduce, effectively doubling itself. Typically it clings to a ceiling while doing this, as the process takes one hour and it is completely vulnerable during the process. At the end another Gem Devourer is created, and springs up in the square next to its progenitor.

Cling (Ex): Metalcatessen have a special body structure which enables them to cling to perfectly vertical surfaces with ease, effectively negating the need to make climb checks, even on straight horizontal or vertical surfaces.

I plan to use these monsters for an upcoming campaign for some low level characters. Effectively they find this underground structure where these guys have been fighting for dozens of years, with both able to reproduce easily they keep bringing for troops to the front lines, and no one ever makes any progress. They will also weaken the structures around them, so they can have a thrilling escape as the building is coming down, so what does the playground think?

[Dumbledore lives]

So I realized I made a few basic mistakes, missing caster level, missing attack bonuses for one of them, and added in the DCs for the abilities, and am wondering if they seem like appropriate CR 1 monsters, because that is what I'm most worried about.

[zetsu1919]

well lets figure it out doing this

Originally Posted by The Vorpal Tribble
Divide its average HP by 4.5 to 6,
4.5 for 5 HD or lower, 5 for 6-10 HD, 5.5 for 11-15 HD, 6 for 16-20 HD.
Add 1 for each five points above 10 its AC is, minusing 1 for every 5 below.
Add 1 for each special attack (+2 to +5 or more if its got a decent number of spells in its spell-like abilities).
Add 1 for each quality unless you deem it worthy of more. Add 1 for each resistance and 10 points of DR it has, and 2 for each immunity.
Add 1 for every two bonus feats it has.
Divide by 3.

lets do the menders first
11 HP, 2
17 ac, 1
SPA, 1
dr, <1
so 4-5, a high CR 1, so thats fine

gem devours
21 hp, 4
15 ac, 1
so 5, a high Cr1-low Cr2, so it is still good, all seems to check up well,

i like the monsters as well, the flavours are great, except that the gem devourer eats... metal? just wondering if thats a mistake or what

[Dumbledore lives]

Originally Posted by zetsu1919

well lets figure it out doing this


lets do the menders first
11 HP, 2
17 ac, 1
SPA, 1
dr, <1
so 4-5, a high CR 1, so thats fine

gem devours
21 hp, 4
15 ac, 1
so 5, a high Cr1-low Cr2, so it is still good, all seems to check up well,

i like the monsters as well, the flavours are great, except that the gem devourer eats... metal? just wondering if thats a mistake or what

Yeah, Gem Devourer's name is a little off, but I don't really like metal eater or something like that. Maybe something like Metalcatessen, or Metal Muncher. Actually name suggestions could be really helpful, because I can't really decide on one I like.

[zetsu1919]

i have no ideas as of now, but metalcatessen made me laugh, so it is a start

[Dumbledore lives]

Given I haven't come up with any other satisfactory ideas I think I will go with Metalcatessen. If any one else has any critiques it would be great, but for now I'm pretty happy with them.