Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Talisman 01-24-07, 04:41 PM	Nervewight Medium Undead Hit Dice 10d12 (65 hp) Initiative +8 Speed 50' AC 20 (+4 Dex, +4 natural, +2 deflection), touch 16, flat-footed 16 Base Attack/Grapple +5/+7 Attack Claw +9 melee Full Attack 2 claws +9 melee Damage Claw 1d10+2/19-20 plus scourge Space/Reach 5'/10' Special Attacks Scourge, unholy shriek Special Qualities Blindsight 30', DR 5/bludgeoning, extended reach, waving nerves Saves Fort +3, Ref +7, Will +11 Abilities Str 15, Dex 18, Con --, Int 6, Wis 18, Cha 11 Skills Listen +19, Spot +19 Feats Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Improved Critical (claw) (B), Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Weapon Finesse (B) Environment Any Organization Solitary, pair, guard (4) or squad (6-12) Challenge Rating 6? Treasure None Alignment Always neutral evil Advancement By character class Level Adjustment -- The two figures guarding the doorway resemble skeletons, but red, bloody-looking muscles still cling to their arms and legs. Their fingers, tipped with eight-inch claws, twitch constantly, and they occasionally jerk and convulse. Their fleshless skulls still house eyes, which jerk and jitter as they constanty scan the area. Worst of all are the hairlike filiments--perhaps nerves--that extend out from the monsters in a horrible aura. Nervewights are a particularly hideous form of undead, created when a living victim is slowly tortured to death. These creatures are little more that bloody skeletons, yet they still retain eyes, some muscles, and--most importantly--nerves. For nervewights are essentially perfect sentries, little more than undead guard dogs or burgler alarms. They exist to detect whatever approaches within range of their senses, and to warn their masters when danger draws near. A free-willed nervewight roams the land in search of living creatures with whom to share their pain. Not wildly intelligent, nervewights will often claim a territory, such as a ruined building or cave, and follow their instinctive urge to guard the place. They have been known to ally with other undead and non-living creatures, but react poorly towards most others unless controlled in some way. Being created as undead watchdogs, free-willed nervewights have few natural goals, although those that roam for years sometimes develop personalities and desires. A typical nervewights stands six feet tall and weights about 50 pounds. Nervewights understand Common (or whatever their primary tongue was in life), but do not speak. Combat: Nervewights attack by lashing out with their long, jagged claws, at the end of their long and horrible arms. They prefer to fight from behind a protective wall of thugs--zombies or other slow-and-strong undead are a popular choice--but can hold their own in melee if forced to. When they become aware of enemies, nervewights typically unleash their unholy shriek; their next action depends on their orders. They may delay the foe as long as possible, or they may flee to warn still more guardians. If cornered, nervewights fight viciously, but if outmatched, they prefer to flee. Extended Reach (Ex): A nervewight's limbs are only losely held together; at need, the elbows and knees can separate, held together only by a slender knotted rope of muscles and nerves. This grants the nervewight its surprising reach, and doubles the nervewight's effective vertical reach for purposes of Jump checks. Scourge (Ex): A nervewight's claws are razor-sharp and jagged, inflicting viciously painful wounds out of proportion to the actual damage. Any creature damaged by a nervewight's claw attack must make a Fortitude save (DC 17) or be nauseated with pain for 1 round. Effects of multiple claws in the same round are not cumulative, but a new Fort save must be made for each claw that hits. This is considered a pain effect; the save DC is Strength-based. Unholy Shriek (Su): A nervewight can utter a hellish, agonized scream that causes incredible pain to all living creatures within 30'. Affected creatures must make Fortitude saves (DC 15) or be stunned for 1d4 rounds and deafened for 10 minutes from the combination of sonic blast and psychic shock. On a successful save, victims are not stunned and are deafened for only 1d6 rounds. In addition, a nervewight's shriek can be clearly heard to a distance of 500' with no Listen checks necessary; beyond that range, Listen checks to hear it are at a +10 bonus. This is a sonic, mind-affecting effect; the save DC is Charisma-based. Waving Nerves (Ex): A nervewight is surrounded by a horrible aura of its own two-foot-long nerves, which wave about the monster like macabre hair. In addition to granting the nervewight its blindsense, these nerves grant it a +2 deflection bonus to AC.
R.M.G.C.L.F. 01-24-07, 05:21 PM	Interesting creature. First, CR7 seems a bit steep. The scourge and unholy shreik are nasty incapacitators, but the actual capacity to inflict damage is pretty thin. CR 5 or 6 seems more appropriate. Unholy shriek should be in special attacks, while extended reach is more of a special quality. This is more a personal matter, but 1d6 seems like a poor damage die for eight-inch claws. Your descriptive text fails to explain how uncontrolled nervewights behave. This seems like a big gap, since the methods a necromancer has of controlling intelligent undead are fairly limited and there most be some rogue ones.
Talisman 01-25-07, 05:27 PM	Ah, my friend R.M.G.C.L.F, master of the PEACH. Thank you for pointing these out. First, CR7 seems a bit steep. The scourge and unholy shreik are nasty incapacitators, but the actual capacity to inflict damage is pretty thin. CR 5 or 6 seems more appropriate. CR 6 it is. As the title indicates, they're intended to be undead alarm systems and speedbumps (albeit nasty speebumps) more than actual melee monsters. Unholy shriek should be in special attacks, while extended reach is more of a special quality. :doh: You're right, of course. This is more a personal matter, but 1d6 seems like a poor damage die for eight-inch claws. d8's it is. Your descriptive text fails to explain how uncontrolled nervewights behave. This seems like a big gap, since the methods a necromancer has of controlling intelligent undead are fairly limited and there most be some rogue ones. I got a little eager to post and forgot to flesh that out. Edited (or will be ASAP).
R.M.G.C.L.F. 01-25-07, 06:40 PM	Glad you appreciate the feedback. ^^ Not to be nit-picky, but even d8 seems a bit skimpy. I'd go for something in the d10, d12, or 2d4/2d6 range.
ChimericPhase 01-25-07, 11:46 PM	Talisman, your creatures surprise me and make the DM inside grin wickedly. Another one for my book, I'll use this in my next undead encounter. :D
Talisman 01-26-07, 04:42 PM	Not to be nit-picky, but even d8 seems a bit skimpy. I'd go for something in the d10, d12, or 2d4/2d6 range. Does 1d0 with a 19-20 threat range sound better? Would this break CR 6? And I appreciate the nit-pickery...Cthulhu knows I've nit-picked on your creations. Talisman, your creatures surprise me and make the DM inside grin wickedly. Another one for my book, I'll use this in my next undead encounter. That's what they're for! Let me know how the encounter turns out, okay?
Gnarl 01-26-07, 04:53 PM	Good job, the descriptions are very pleasant to read. I still have some comments though :D. Why is the critter getting a +4 deflection bonus to AC? It's a bit non standard in my opinion. There should be an entry in the stat blocks explaining why it gets it anyway. I think the AC is a bit high for a CR 6 monster (compared to other monsters). I think I would drop the deflection bonus and increase the natural armor to +6. What's this pain effect you mentioned in scourge? With such a high spot and listen modifier and blindsight 60', even a well prepared 6th level rogue specialized in stealth doesn't have a chance to sneak past these things. I personaly find it a bit unfair on the players not to give them a decent chance to be good at what they're supposed to be. I think I would lower the monster's wisdom and replace blindsight with scent or blindsense 30'. This of course is just my personnal opinion.
The ShapeLess One 01-26-07, 08:44 PM	This monster is great. I can't wait to drop some of these on my players. This will be a suprise. Goodjob.
Talisman 01-27-07, 12:09 PM	Why is the critter getting a +4 deflection bonus to AC? It's a bit non standard in my opinion. There should be an entry in the stat blocks explaining why it gets it anyway. Bleah. My bad. This is from their hideous, waving aura of nerves, and I forgot to mention it. Otherwise, there's not much reason to call 'em nervewights. Edited. I think the AC is a bit high for a CR 6 monster (compared to other monsters). I think I would drop the deflection bonus and increase the natural armor to +6. Or maybe reduce natural armor to +2 and deflection mod to +2? What's this pain effect you mentioned in scourge? Scourge (Ex): A nervewight's claws are razor-sharp and jagged, inflicting viciously painful wounds out of proportion to the actual damage. Any creature damaged by a nervewight's claw attack must make a Fortitude save (DC 17) or be nauseated with pain for 1 round. Effects of multiple claws in the same round are not cumulative, but a new Fort save must be made for each claw that hits. This is considered a pain effect; the save DC is Strength-based. Basically, even though the damage may not be awe-inspiring, these claws really, really hurt. With such a high spot and listen modifier and blindsight 60', even a well prepared 6th level rogue specialized in stealth doesn't have a chance to sneak past these things. I personaly find it a bit unfair on the players not to give them a decent chance to be good at what they're supposed to be. I think I would lower the monster's wisdom and replace blindsight with scent or blindsense 30'. This of course is just my personnal opinion. Well, they're intended to be sentries. A 6th level rogue with an 18 Dex and maxed-out stealth skills has a +13 mod, compared to the nervewight's +19--6 points different. Difficult, yes; impossible; no. That's not including Stealthy, cat's grace, circumstance bonuses, etc. Hwever, I can see your point and may replace blindsight with either blindsense or tremorsense. The idea here was that the critter's aura of nerves grant it superhuman sensory powers, appropriate to an undead watchdog.
R.M.G.C.L.F. 01-27-07, 11:08 PM	Stick with blindsight. If it makes you feel better, cut it to a 30ft or 20ft radius, but they frickin earned it. It's their prime directive. You could get claws doing 1d10+2(19-20/x2) without risk of overpowering them.
Talisman 01-30-07, 01:12 PM	Stick with blindsight. If it makes you feel better, cut it to a 30ft or 20ft radius, but they frickin earned it. It's their prime directive. You could get claws doing 1d10+2(19-20/x2) without risk of overpowering them. Done and done. Still CR 6?
R.M.G.C.L.F. 02-03-07, 11:49 AM	Doodly yes.