Post/Author/DateTime	Post
R.M.G.C.L.F. 02-22-05, 08:47 PM	Alright, as anybody know's, the trick to kill a vampire is to stake it through the heart. A lich needs to have it's phylactry destroyed, and a modern horror movie zombie needs a blow to the head. I took it upon myself to come up with an undead creature that has a somewhat unorthodox vulnerable spot. As a disclaimer, the "Oedipus" in "Oedipus Horror" refers to the foot deformity inflicted upon the character of the same name and not the combination incest and patricide. Oedipus Horror Medium Undead HD:4d12(26hp) Initiative:+2 Speed: 40ft AC:15(+3natural, +2dex) BAB/Grapple:+2/+7(+2 racial bonus to grapple checks) Attacks: 2 rakes+5 melee or masterwork medium weapon +6 melee Damage: Rake 1d6+3 19-20/x3, longsword 1d8+3 19-20/x2, scimitar 1d6+3 18-20/x3 Face/Reach:5ft/5ft Special Attacks: wounding strike, sadistic gaze, lifechoke, create spawn Special Qualities: Darkvision 60ft, low-light vision, scent, light blindness, turn resistance+1, cold resistance 5, SR9, weaknesses, recover, fiendish aura Saves:Fort+1,Ref+3,Will+5 Abilities:Str17,Dex14,Con-,Int7,Wis12,Cha13 Skills: hide+11, move silently+11, spot+9, listen+9, pick pocket+9, search+5 (+1 racial bonus to spot and listen checks, recieves skill points as if it were a rogue) Feats: Sneaky,Run _______________________ Climate/Terrain: an land Organization: Solitary, raid (1 plus 1-4 spawn), gang (2-4 plus 3-6 spawn), cluster(2-5), pillage( 1-4 plus 1-3 will o' wisps), or ravage (1-3 plus one will o' wisp plus 2-5 spawn) CR:3? (need advice) Alignment: Usually Chaotic Evil (always evil) Treasure: double goods, standard items, 150% coins Advancement: 5-16hd(medium) An Oedipus Horror is grim and terrible to behold. The creature is unnaturally gaunt and tall but has a low and hunched gait, out of character with its bare, bloated, clawed, twisted and swollen feat that leave tracks of ichor and blood. The creature has a death scar around its neck, and sometimes a spectral noose can be seen hanging from it. Worst are the sinister eyes, filled with an unhealthy yellow light, that bring no end of agony to those who meet their hateful gaze. Mass-murderers cling to life and revel in causing pain. When such an unrepetant criminal has his wicked life severed by the grip of the hangman's noose, the grave and the underworld pull at him, yanking his soul downwards. Some strong willed and powerful individuals (at least 5hd, cha13+) can manage to stop themselves at the very bottom of their bodies, clinging and embedding their essence within their two feet and soak up the negative energy from their death and the slayings of others they have commited. In anywhere from a day to a decade, these figures take this energy to reanimate themselves, awakening from a painful shock and tearing themselves from their instrument of death, forever to fear and loathe it. An Oedipus Horror is similar to a vampire or a lich in that it is unkillable by ordinary means. Its soul and being is linked to its two swollen feet, and with them it wanders the land. Unlike its greater kin, an Oedipus horror is the result of unusual death circumstances rather than deliberate practice of magic or spawning. It is also less intelligent, demented by the heavy struggle to return to life. As a result it has few goals other than killing and inflicting pain and little long-term planning ability. Mostly they choose to haunt crossroads or invade a remote town and go in an attack and run pattern until all the residents are deceased or have fled. Oedipus Horrors speak Abyssal and any languages they knew in life. combat: Oedipus Horrors reveal in causing pain. They usually reserve their lifechoke ability for the weak-looking or dying opponents. Although their rakes are quite effective, many take after their living selves and have a strong preference for a certain manufactured weapon. Wounding Strike(ex): An Oedipus Horror that successfully inflicts a critical twists the sinew and rips the veins and arteries, creating a bleeding wound that deals 1 con temporary damage per round. This can be treated with a heal check dc:15 or one point of magical healing and normally clots within 1 minute. Sadistic Gaze(su): Any creature that meets an Oedipus Horror's eyes must make a will save or become wracked with pain for one round, incurring a -2 morale penalty to dexterity, attack rolls, and skill checks. Lifechoke(su): An Oedipus Horror that hits with both claw attacks automatically attempts a grapple. If it succeeds it deals 1d4 temporary con damage as it squeezes the life from it's target, healing twice that amount and gaining excess as temporary hp lasting one hour. It continues this effect as long as the grapple is maintained. It can also use this as a coup de gras attack, in which case the opponent must make a fortitude save dc:23 or die instantly. Fiendish Aura: An Oedipus Horror is so saturated with malevolence that it rivals the wickedness of fiends. It is treated as an evil outsider for the purpose of detect alignment, protection from alignment, and magic circle against alignment. Create Spawn(su): A creature slain by an Oedipus Horror's lifechoke attack rises as an Oedipus Spawn and its petitioner takes 1d4 temporary charisma damage. (Oedipus spawn will be posted later) Light Blindness(ex): An Oedipus Horror is blinded by sudden exposure to bright light. Henceforth it suffers a -2 penalty to attack rolls and a -1 penalty to skills, saving throws, and armor class. Weaknesses: A knowledge(religion) check dc:18 reveals that an Oedipus Horror cannot enter a court of law or a temple (the latter excepting gods whose portfolio and dogma specifically condones/allows undead). It cannot enter a private home unless invited by somebody with the authority to do so, and even then it must ask three times in succession. It is repelled by a holy symbol in the same way vampires are. A knowledge(religion) check dc:23 reveals that the touch of a rope negates its gaze attack for 1d4 rounds and subjects it to the effect of its own pain for the same duration. It is repelled by a noose as well as a holy symbol, and by waving a sunflower at it a person forces it to make a will sav dc:20+1/2 weilder's HD+weilder's charisma bonus or become blinded for one round. Recovery: An Oedipus Horror heals 3hp per round, reforming or regrowing damaged or lost body parts. If reduced to 0hp it is not destroyed, merely disabled (helpless but concious). After spending 1d4 rounds in this state it dissolves into an intangible mist and soars over to a nearby tree, tall signpost, or other place from a which a person could be hung, swirling and gathering its strength. In this state it recovers 3hp per hour, and once it is at full hp it reforms upon the next sunset. To truly destroy an Oedipus Horror one must take more elaborate measures. A knowledge(religion) check dc:15 reveals that the feet must be pinned to the ground individually or peirced with the same continues rod/stake in order to slay it. A knowledge(religion) check dc:20 reveals that even this measure is less than permanent. The Oedipus Horror will recover in 1d12 minutes if the stake is removed before the body is destroyed. To destroy the body one must reduce it to -20 hp through either electricity, holy water, or the erosion of time (takes 1d4 damage per 5 years). A knowledge(religion) check dc:26 reveals another, more obscure method of smiting the creature, which consists of cutting off its feet and throwing them into a river, upon which the feet will dissolve and the body will melt, reducing it to -20hp. Slaying Rules: to attack the feet of an active Oedipus horror provokes an attack of opportunity, and any stake or spike not specially crafted to this specific task suffers a -4 penalty to hit, and each foot has a +4 size bonus to armor class. It is then loosely cemented, and the undead creature can spend a full action breaking free the next round if it is not then hammered in as a full-round action or if the other foot is peirced. When helpless one simply needs to insert one to keep it from dissipating, and may then hammer in the other or drive a long pole through both feet (the latter taking 1d4+1 rounds and being nearly impossible against an upright creature) at their leasure. The feet may be severed with 6 points of slashing damage, dealt a -2 penalty to hit, and the horror requires a full round action to reattach one. When both are cut off it falls to 1/4 max hp and becomes slowed untill it can rejoin its severed protrusions.
The Vorpal Tribble 02-22-05, 08:58 PM	:rofl:
R.M.G.C.L.F. 02-22-05, 09:05 PM	The body that once belonged to the traveller was now discolored, bluish and waxy with black veins and cracked skin. Their bloated feet are warped into irregular shapes, their right hand has the wrong number of fingers lengthened and distorted into sharp claws. Their necks are marred by crimson rope burns and a set of fingerprints gouged in, and they look out with dull, sulphur-yellow eyes. Those who have the life choked from their body by an Oedipus Horror have it replaced with a faint negative energy backwash and bound with a stolen shard of their soul. When night falls they transform and arise as Oedipus spawn. These wretched shapes are possessed of an urge to hurt and kill, which is reenforced by the commands of their malevolent masters. Oedipus Spawn Template This template can be applied to any humanoid, monstrous humanoid, beast, magical beast, or animal with 2 or more hit dice, hereafter refered to as the base creature. Its type changes to undead. Hit Dice: Change to d12 Armor Class: the creature's skin becomes tough and waxy, granting a +1 natural armor bonus to AC if the creature has none or increase the existing natural armor bonus by one. Attacks: The creature gains a claw attack if it did not possess one, dealing damage based on size. Diminutive 1 Tiny 1d2 Small 1d3 Medium 1d4 Large 1d6 Huge 1d12 Gargantuan 2d8 Colossal 2d12 Special Attacks:: The creature loses all special attacks except for extrordinary abilities independant of biological functions (so it would retain such attacks as rend, improved grab, and sharp spines but not poison, swallow whole, or disease). It gains the cruel twisting special quality. Cruel Twisting(ex): An Oedipus Spawn that hits with a successful claw attack forces the opponent to make a fortitude save (dc:10+1/2hd+dexterity bonus) or suffer a -2 morale penalty to strength, dexterity, and skill checks and a -1 morale penalty to attack rolls for one round as they are wracked by agony from a sadistic wrenching of their organs. Special Qualities: As above the creature loses supernatural and spell-like abilities and any extrordinary abilities dependant on biological function. Among those generally retained are nonmagical DR and energy resistances and immunities. It also retains modes of sight, such as blindsight and darkvision. It gains low-light vision, darkvision 60ft, undead traits, and light sensitivity. It also gains spawn weaknesses. Spawn Weaknesses: An Oedipus spawn, like its master, is incapable of entering a private home (uninvited), a court of law, or a holy site. It is repelled by a noose or holy symbol. The touch of a rope deals 1d8 slashing damage to it (which manifests as sudden cuts and lacerations spreading from the spot) and causes it to suffer the effects of its own cruel twisting attack for one round. A sun flower waved at it will affect it as would a halt undead spell. A flask of holy water forces it to make a foritude save or be instantly destroyed, and even then it takes double damage from it. Oedipus spawn howl breifly and crumble to dust when their master is slain (even if the body is not destroyed). Saves: Recalculate for undead type Abilities: Str-2,Dex+4,Con-,Int1,Wis12,Cha2 Skills: Recalculate for undead Type Feats: reassign, at least one is always weapon finesse Challenge Rating: if base creature had 4hd or more CR is 1/2 base creature's hit dice minus one, if the base creature had 2 or 3 hit dice CR is one third. Alignment: Always neutral Treasure: 25% goods, 1/10th coins
R.M.G.C.L.F. 02-22-05, 09:27 PM	:rofl: >< *bites* Sorry, it just gets annoying when I create a serious and thought-out monster, if with some odd/humorous quirks, and I get a response consisting soley of an emoticon conveying amusement.
The Vorpal Tribble 02-22-05, 10:12 PM	Well first off I didn't know it was meant to be serious. I've spent a good deal of time on completely goofy creatures. The part that set me off was the sunflower warding :tongue:
SigmaJargon 02-22-05, 10:29 PM	Very detailed and well thought out. For a CR 3, though it seems a bit powerful. 3rd level characters will never be able to make those knowledge(religion) checks, and will probably be more or less ineffective against it. Few players will think to attack a monster's feet unless they know specifically that is what they are supposed to do. Even then, the fighter is going to be hurting pretty bad from those wounding claws and the AoO he provokes every time he attacks the appendages. I would suggest making the wounding claws more like the wounding weapon property as described in the SRD - that is, only 1 con damage. 1 con damage a round for 10 rounds is pretty nasty, especially at levels when neither restoration nor even lesser restoration are available. Just my two cents, of course. :)
R.M.G.C.L.F. 02-23-05, 12:16 AM	Vorpal Tribble: Is it really any weirder than vampires being warded off by garlic? SigmaJargon: Hm, okay. I was thinking the "how to kill" fell within the general knowledge range of a 3rd level party, since I'm assuming the cleric has full ranks in knowledge(religion), average or better intelligence, and is taking ten on the role (7 ranks plus 10 equals easily met dc15). The come-back-to-life condition is probably only a difficulty in the long term or if the creature has a living assistant (doubtful). Also keep in mind that the rake attacks only inflict a wound upon a critical hit, and 90% of attacks won't even chance that. Furthermore its generally assumed that you'll first beat the crap out of the Oedipus Horror and then set to work spiking its feet while it's disabled, which isn't as difficult a task as chancing the AoO from driving in a fence post at a -4 penalty.
The Vorpal Tribble 02-23-05, 12:27 AM	Well, theres always been some odd thing about bad smells warding off spirits, and garlic was symbolic of something or other. Not faulting it or anything, just kinda made me grin. :cool:
Deacon Liadon 02-23-05, 05:09 AM	Well, theres always been some odd thing about bad smells warding off spirits, and garlic was symbolic of something or other. Not faulting it or anything, just kinda made me grin. :cool: Did the same to me. An excellent monster all the same and I can relly see it working well.
PhaedrusXY 02-23-05, 05:51 AM	For a CR 3, though it seems a bit powerful. 3rd level characters will never be able to make those knowledge(religion) checks,Yes they could. DC 18 is pretty easy, if you've taken ranks in the skill. Max ranks are 3+character level, or 6 for a 3rd level character. You only need a +2 from something else to have a 50/50 chance of making a DC 18 check. That something else could be a synergy bonus from another skill, a +2 Int bonus, or something else. And the DC is only 15 to know how to slay it, which a level 3 character with max ranks would have better than a 50% chance to get even with no bonuses from Int or synergy. I think the CR is ok. For comparision, a troll skeleton is CR 3. It has more hit points, a higher attack bonus, damage reduction, and nastier attack damage. It doesn't have the special abilities and invulnerability, though. I think it about evens out. With this things relatively low hit points and AC, a party of 3rd level characters could drop it in a round or two. They'd just have to figure out how to permanently kill it after that. I'm not sure why the crit is X3 on it's natural attacks, though. I can understand the 19-20, since it has special abilities that depend on critting. But with a X3 crit multiplier, it would drop alot of 3rd level PCs with just the damage on a crit, much less with the Con loss. It is certainly an interesting monster. :P
R.M.G.C.L.F. 02-23-05, 06:31 AM	Natural attacks can have high crit multipliers. >> Anyway I made it 19-20/x3 because I felt like it. I now have two contradictory statements. Can I get a third opinion?
HomebrewedMonster 02-23-05, 07:31 AM	Cool creature, I'd use this bad boy against any metagaming party. Couple questions/suggestions: -Why cold resistance 5? Undead are immune to cold. -CR 3 is definately too low for a creature that can potentional deal 5 points of constitution damage in one round. I would change the wounding strike to the wounding ability in the DMG. So everytime it hits with a rake attack it deals 1 point of constitution drain. This is a constant and easy to predict ability. Only working on a critical with constant constitution damage is a lot of varibles to judge a proper challenge rating. The ability is use less 95% of the time (since it only criticals on a 20, 5% chance pre roll). - I'm guessing the gaze is DC 13 ( 1/2 hit dice + cha). I would also set a range, either 30ft. or 60ft. - Lifechoke, I would actually give this creature the improved grab ability if it hits with one of its claws. Do this because, again, the varible to hit twice with a +5 attack bonus is rather low. Giving creatures abilities that are going to be useless, is well useless. Allow the lifechock ability to be used in place of the normal rake damage with a successful grapple check. -Coup de grace, that's lethal at low levels. Especially a DC 23 fortitude save. The average fighter at that level is probably only going to have a +6 or so, a hard save to make. I would say that with the lifechoke, the grappled creature has to make a Will save or become paralyzed. This way its easier for him to drain or he can crush their windpipe. Just my two cents. Keep up with the wicked baddies.
R.M.G.C.L.F. 02-23-05, 04:24 PM	Cool creature, I'd use this bad boy against any metagaming party. Couple questions/suggestions: -Why cold resistance 5? Undead are immune to cold. Um, no they aren't. Skeletons are immune to cold, but that's it. -CR 3 is definately too low for a creature that can potentional deal 5 points of constitution damage in one round. I would change the wounding strike to the wounding ability in the DMG. So everytime it hits with a rake attack it deals 1 point of constitution drain. This is a constant and easy to predict ability. Only working on a critical with constant constitution damage is a lot of varibles to judge a proper challenge rating. The ability is use less 95% of the time (since it only criticals on a 20, 5% chance pre roll). How do you figure it dealing 5 points in one round? To wound an opponent it needs a critical hit. Even the chance of a single attack getting a chance to cause a wound (threatening a crit) is only 10%. The chance of both claws inflicting wounds in one attack, even if you assume that they both hit and the criticals are confirmed, is a scant one out of one hundred. - I'm guessing the gaze is DC 13 ( 1/2 hit dice + cha). I would also set a range, either 30ft. or 60ft. Yep, that's the default dc. I think I'll make it longer just because I like - Lifechoke, I would actually give this creature the improved grab ability if it hits with one of its claws. Do this because, again, the varible to hit twice with a +5 attack bonus is rather low. Giving creatures abilities that are going to be useless, is well useless. Allow the lifechock ability to be used in place of the normal rake damage with a successful grapple check.Sounds sensible. -Coup de grace, that's lethal at low levels. Especially a DC 23 fortitude save. The average fighter at that level is probably only going to have a +6 or so, a hard save to make. I would say that with the lifechoke, the grappled creature has to make a Will save or become paralyzed. This way its easier for him to drain or he can crush their windpipe. The ability can be used as a coup de grace attack, meaning you can only use it's fatal effect when an opponent is already open for a coup de gras. I made it as a way for the creature to spawn fallen opponents without having to make fortitude saves and hold them for a few rounds do to the fact that a person who is at -9 still has full constitution.
HomebrewedMonster 02-23-05, 10:13 PM	-oops, my bad, it is only skeletons. - well if you would critical twice and then hit with both claws the creature can drain up to 6 points of constitution. I'm just not a fan for varible effects. They make it difficult to calculate challenge ratings. With perfect conditions they can be devistating, but otherwise they are not effective for the average combat (lasting maybe 5 rounds). -I would just lower the DC, a 23 is tough for a CR 3.
PhaedrusXY 02-23-05, 11:18 PM	-I would just lower the DC, a 23 is tough for a CR 3.You can only use a Coup De Grace on a helpless victim. It takes a full round action to perform a Coup De Grace, and you draw attacks of opportunity for doing so. If you're helpless, and a creature has the full round to waste performing a coup de grace on you, you are going to die. It doesn't matter if it succeeds the first time or not, because you are below 0 and taking damage. This ability is not overpowered at all. If anything, it's weaker than a normal CDG. The DC for a normal CDG is 10 + Damage dealt, and a Coup De Grace is an automatic critical! So even if the creature didn't have this "special ability", if it performs a Coup De Grace on you with it's normal attack, the save DC is going to be higher than that on average, because it has a X3 crit multiplier.
GrandMarquis 02-24-05, 01:53 AM	99% of people won't get that reference.... Looks good, and although I haven't been DMing long, CR 3 sounds about right to me. One thing I've learned, never underestimate the PCs.... The sunflower thing is weird to me, but I understand what you mean with the garlic thing.
Olly 02-24-05, 04:57 AM	You cannot defeat de feet!
HomebrewedMonster 02-24-05, 05:34 AM	You can only use a Coup De Grace on a helpless victim. It takes a full round action to perform a Coup De Grace, and you draw attacks of opportunity for doing so. If you're helpless, and a creature has the full round to waste performing a coup de grace on you, you are going to die. It doesn't matter if it succeeds the first time or not, because you are below 0 and taking damage. This ability is not overpowered at all. If anything, it's weaker than a normal CDG. The DC for a normal CDG is 10 + Damage dealt, and a Coup De Grace is an automatic critical! So even if the creature didn't have this "special ability", if it performs a Coup De Grace on you with it's normal attack, the save DC is going to be higher than that on average, because it has a X3 crit multiplier. True, I didn't realize the x3 multiplier.
R.M.G.C.L.F. 02-24-05, 06:37 AM	As I said, the main purpose of the coup de gras effect is so that it can attack then with normal damage without worrying about losing an oppertunity to spawn.
R.M.G.C.L.F. 02-24-05, 06:39 AM	99% of people won't get that reference.... Yeah, well, thank you for being in the 1%. ^_^
Adrez Nesnsid 02-24-05, 08:15 PM	>< *bites* Sorry, it just gets annoying when I create a serious and thought-out monster, if with some odd/humorous quirks, and I get a response consisting soley of an emoticon conveying amusement. He might be responding to the disclaimer at the beginning of the topic post with the lusgh smiley. Reading that disclaimer after seeing the thread's title had approzimately the same effect on me as would happen if I looked at the label for a package of hotdogs at the supermarket and it read "Brand X Kosher* hotdogs" and then, upon turning the package over, I found a second message stating: "* Note: The term 'Kosher' is used here in the sense of 'legitimate' or 'on the up-and-up' and is used here ONLY to indicate that these are definitely real hotdogs and not some other product simply DISGUISED as hotdogs"
Delfedd 02-24-05, 08:55 PM	As a disclaimer, the "Oedipus" in "Oedipus Horror" refers to the foot deformity inflicted upon the character of the same name and not the combination incest and patricide. Aw.... please can it?
R.M.G.C.L.F. 02-24-05, 09:15 PM	Aw.... please can it? -_- *bites*
Adrez Nesnsid 02-25-05, 06:16 AM	Anyway, I like the concept behind this monster; the whole thing about their souls getting stuck in their feet when they were hanged. One thing though, regarding the creature's statistics, I would like to point out that "Unholy Aura" is already the name of a spell, and thus probably not the best term to describe the creature's aura of evil. (P.S. Yeas, I realize that the two above points are completely unrelated to each other)
R.M.G.C.L.F. 02-25-05, 06:26 AM	Thank you. :) Duly noted.