need nightmare monster template [Archive] - Wizards Community

need nightmare monster template [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
naturax
08-29-07, 11:30 PM I'm looking for suggestions regarding a nightmare-type template that I can apply to monsters for the following situation:

I'm running a solo game for a character that is essentially a monk. The character is going to a manifest zone of Dal Quor that has made the nightmares of the people of Sharn become real. In my campaign, the people of Sharn are afraid of warforged, so grotesque warforged have appeared in the manifest zone and are terrorizing imaginary people.

What I'm looking for is a neat kind of template I can use to make the grotesque warforged interesting to fight. I would use something like a shadow as the base monster (since incorporeal touch would help me get past the character's AC which is WAY higher than monsters of the typical CR for her level can deal with) but a solo character would have a really tough time with ability score damage or energy drain. Suggestions? Particularly for running combat for solo characters? Thanks!
Vharuck
08-30-07, 11:54 AM What level is the monk and what levels will the warforged be?

Just to scrape up a few existing templates from the SRD, I'd suggest these:

Phrenic Creature (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/phrenicCreature.htm)- This is a psionic template, but you don't actually have to learn the psionics system to use it. I think it would be great, seeing as how Dal Quor and dreams themselves are so rooted in the mind. The way to really pull off this template, though, is in how you describe the warforged's actions. When an attack misses while the nightmare forged is using defensive precognition, you could say "The construct easily shifts to avoid your fist, and you get the impression that it knew what you were going to do." Force screen could block attacks with the description of "Your weapon seems to hit something solid yet invisible between you and your target. You wonder if something is actually there, shielding it from you, or if it's just part of the nightmare." My favorite would be mind thrust: "As you approach the thing, you see it is another of the nightmare warforged. Its cold, almost dead eyes meet yours, and your mind shatters." If you need help understanding the rules of and how to use psi-like abilities, just look here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/overview.htm#psiLikeAbilities)

Half-Fiend- Like I said, it's all in how you describe it. Granted, Dal Quor is not known for its fiends, and I doubt that nightmares have a fiendish heritage. However, fiends are the incarnations of bad things, and nightmares are the mental incarnations of bad things, so... yeah. These dreaming citizens aren't trying to be true to warforged; they just fear them. For all they know, warforged run on babies! DR, SR, and resistances are representative of how hard it actually is to hurt something that's not real. You can either swap the claw attack for an improved slam attack or keep it and say that it's spikes on the warforged's hands instead of claws. A bite works (they look like they got a mean jaw), but I'd make it crushing damage. The spell-like abilities can be cool, too. They use darkness because they're the incarnations of peoples' fears, and people are afraid of the dark. Poison could be one of those weird dream things, where you know that a thick fist slamming you couldn't inject that much lethal poison into your blood, but damnit your flesh is decaying! As for the flight speed, I'd keep it and not say it has wings. It just flies. It's a dream, so not a big stretch.

Ghost- This has the insubstantial/incorporeal feel and mechanics you were looking for. I'd just change the creature type to Outsider, say that it's always manifested, maybe remove telekinesis and malevolence, and definitely do away with rejuvenation.

Swarm- Yup, swarm. I mean, you're dealing with nightmares, realms where reality and logic need not apply. I think a swarm of a thousand miniscule warforged would be great. Just use the statistics for a rat swarm and remove the disease ability.
naturax
08-30-07, 12:06 PM I think either the half-fiend template or the Phrenic Creature template would work really well, thanks! I don't want to use incorporeal undead because I hate the mechanics involved. Swarm is a neat idea too, and it would certainly be really creepy, so thanks for the suggestions!

As for the character, it's a fighter/monk at level 12. What would you suggest for the level for the half-fiend warforged?
naturax
09-04-07, 05:21 PM I ended up giving 6th level warforged fighters a permanent Chiling Touch effect for an effective CR of 7. I narrated them using nightmarish swords and it worked just fine. Thanks for everyone's help!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
naturax 08-29-07, 11:30 PM	I'm looking for suggestions regarding a nightmare-type template that I can apply to monsters for the following situation: I'm running a solo game for a character that is essentially a monk. The character is going to a manifest zone of Dal Quor that has made the nightmares of the people of Sharn become real. In my campaign, the people of Sharn are afraid of warforged, so grotesque warforged have appeared in the manifest zone and are terrorizing imaginary people. What I'm looking for is a neat kind of template I can use to make the grotesque warforged interesting to fight. I would use something like a shadow as the base monster (since incorporeal touch would help me get past the character's AC which is WAY higher than monsters of the typical CR for her level can deal with) but a solo character would have a really tough time with ability score damage or energy drain. Suggestions? Particularly for running combat for solo characters? Thanks!
Vharuck 08-30-07, 11:54 AM	What level is the monk and what levels will the warforged be? Just to scrape up a few existing templates from the SRD, I'd suggest these: Phrenic Creature (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/phrenicCreature.htm)- This is a psionic template, but you don't actually have to learn the psionics system to use it. I think it would be great, seeing as how Dal Quor and dreams themselves are so rooted in the mind. The way to really pull off this template, though, is in how you describe the warforged's actions. When an attack misses while the nightmare forged is using defensive precognition, you could say "The construct easily shifts to avoid your fist, and you get the impression that it knew what you were going to do." Force screen could block attacks with the description of "Your weapon seems to hit something solid yet invisible between you and your target. You wonder if something is actually there, shielding it from you, or if it's just part of the nightmare." My favorite would be mind thrust: "As you approach the thing, you see it is another of the nightmare warforged. Its cold, almost dead eyes meet yours, and your mind shatters." If you need help understanding the rules of and how to use psi-like abilities, just look here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/overview.htm#psiLikeAbilities) Half-Fiend- Like I said, it's all in how you describe it. Granted, Dal Quor is not known for its fiends, and I doubt that nightmares have a fiendish heritage. However, fiends are the incarnations of bad things, and nightmares are the mental incarnations of bad things, so... yeah. These dreaming citizens aren't trying to be true to warforged; they just fear them. For all they know, warforged run on babies! DR, SR, and resistances are representative of how hard it actually is to hurt something that's not real. You can either swap the claw attack for an improved slam attack or keep it and say that it's spikes on the warforged's hands instead of claws. A bite works (they look like they got a mean jaw), but I'd make it crushing damage. The spell-like abilities can be cool, too. They use darkness because they're the incarnations of peoples' fears, and people are afraid of the dark. Poison could be one of those weird dream things, where you know that a thick fist slamming you couldn't inject that much lethal poison into your blood, but damnit your flesh is decaying! As for the flight speed, I'd keep it and not say it has wings. It just flies. It's a dream, so not a big stretch. Ghost- This has the insubstantial/incorporeal feel and mechanics you were looking for. I'd just change the creature type to Outsider, say that it's always manifested, maybe remove telekinesis and malevolence, and definitely do away with rejuvenation. Swarm- Yup, swarm. I mean, you're dealing with nightmares, realms where reality and logic need not apply. I think a swarm of a thousand miniscule warforged would be great. Just use the statistics for a rat swarm and remove the disease ability.
naturax 08-30-07, 12:06 PM	I think either the half-fiend template or the Phrenic Creature template would work really well, thanks! I don't want to use incorporeal undead because I hate the mechanics involved. Swarm is a neat idea too, and it would certainly be really creepy, so thanks for the suggestions! As for the character, it's a fighter/monk at level 12. What would you suggest for the level for the half-fiend warforged?
naturax 09-04-07, 05:21 PM	I ended up giving 6th level warforged fighters a permanent Chiling Touch effect for an effective CR of 7. I narrated them using nightmarish swords and it worked just fine. Thanks for everyone's help!