Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Return of the Flumph 10-23-06, 12:01 AM	PEACH this. If it gets a good review, I have some Ing for you to check out. Grenchler Medium Magical Beast Hit Dice: 10d10+30 (85 hp) Initiative: +2 Dex Speed: 30 ft/swim 20 ft/leap 30 ft Armor Class: 25 (+2 Dex, +13 Nat), touch 12, flat-footed 23 Base Attack/Grapple: +7/+12 Attack: 2 bites +13/+8 (2d6+5), 2 rakes (leap only) +7 (1d4+2) Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft. Special Attacks: Breath Weapon, Carapace, Leap Special Qualities: Immune to Lightning, Spell Immunity (1-4), Hold Breath Saves: Fort +10, Ref +9, Will +5 Abilities: Str 20, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 2, Wis 14, Cha 6 Feats: Weapon Focus (bite), Power Attack, Improved Trip, Expertese Challenge Rating: 8 Treasure: None Alignment: Always Neutral Advancement: 11-20 HD (Medium), 21-30 HD (Large), 31-32 HD (huge) From below the murky surface erupts a nightmarish, bipedal reptile. Standing eight feet tall, this creature has thick, stocky legs, no arms at all, and an oversized, draconic head that seems to be all mouth. Dozens of tiny eyes dot both its upper and lower jaw, and its back is covered with a thick, spiky patch of shell. Grenchlers are magical, unintelligent predators that live in magical swamps and wetlands. Although usually encountered in mated pairs, grenchlers have been known to congregate in large herds, often numbering in the dozens, led by an alpha female of large or huge size. Grenchlers are territorial; they will attack any creature that they perceive to be intruders on their hunting grounds. Their one weakness is the spot on their backs covered by a tough-looking, but brittle, shell. Very mobile and adaptable, grenchlers can go nearly anywhere in the swamp, from swimming to the bottoms of the deepest ponds to leaping to the tops of the tallest trees. All manner of local creatures are regularly eaten by grenchlers, and they have almost no natural predators; only darktentacles and black dragons have been known to eat them. Grenchlers have been seen leaping into the air to grab birds in their mouths and using their breath weapon to knock animals out of trees. Although exceedingly difficult, it is possible to train a grenchler. Combat Grenchlers are occasionally found alone or in packs, but are most often encountered in pairs. If they spot their prey from a long way off, they will use their breath before closing. They fight to the death. Breath Weapon (Su): Every 1d4 rounds, a grenchler can spit a beam of electricity from its mouth at a range of up to forty feet. The grenchler must succeed at a touch attack (+9 to hit) in order to use this attack successfully. The bolt does 6d6 lightning damage to a single target. Carapace (Ex): If attacked from directly behind, the grenchler loses its natural armor bonus to AC. However, the shell on its back takes 40 points of damage to break before the creature’s body can be reached. Spells fired at a grenchler’s exposed back (once the shell is gone) ignore its spell immunity. Leap (Ex): A grenchler can leap 30 feet horizontally or 15 feet straight up. If it lands on an opponent, it can use its rake attacks in addition to its bites. Hold Breath (Ex): A grenchler can survive underwater for one minute per point of constitution before drowning rules apply. Skills: A grenchler receives a racial bonus of +30 to jump checks and +10 to swim checks.
TheCrawlingSpleen 10-23-06, 12:33 AM	This is great! I'm a big fan of Metroid Prime, both 1 and 2, but had never thought of converting them to D&D :P. The Grenchler is well done, but I think it's missing a Skills entry (high Jump and Swim bonuses, no doubt) and the (Nat) special abilities might be (Ex) instead, although I could be totally wrong on that one. I also didn't think they were that tall, but maybe the varia suit makes you taller. Everything else looks good to me :).
Insane Pixie 10-23-06, 12:40 AM	Breath Weapon (Su): Every 1d4 rounds, a grenchler can spit a beam of electricity from its mouth. The grenchler must succeed at a touch attack (+9 to hit) in order to use this attack successfully. The bolt does 6d6 lightning damage to a single target. Range? Carapace (Ex): If attacked from directly behind, the grenchler loses its natural armor bonus to AC. However, the shell on its back takes 40 points of damage to break before the creature’s body can be reached. Spells fired at a grenchler’s exposed back (once the shell is gone) ignore its spell immunity. D&D doesn't have face, so there is no 'back'. (Although UA has face rules.) Leap (Nat): A grenchler can leap 30 feet horizontally or 15 feet straight up. If it lands on an opponent, it can use its rake attacks in addition to its bites. Leap should be (Ex), as there's no "Nat" type (Natural, I assume). It'd be easier to understand if you just gave them a +30 racial bonus to Jump. Hold Breath (Nat): A grenchler can survive underwater for one minute per point of constitution before drowning rules apply. Again, (Ex).
Necropolitan 10-23-06, 01:12 AM	Oooh. Now then... where'd I put my Vaira Suit...
Return of the Flumph 10-23-06, 12:02 PM	Breath Weapon (Su): Every 1d4 rounds, a grenchler can spit a beam of electricity from its mouth. The grenchler must succeed at a touch attack (+9 to hit) in order to use this attack successfully. The bolt does 6d6 lightning damage to a single target. Range? Carapace (Ex): If attacked from directly behind, the grenchler loses its natural armor bonus to AC. However, the shell on its back takes 40 points of damage to break before the creature’s body can be reached. Spells fired at a grenchler’s exposed back (once the shell is gone) ignore its spell immunity. D&D doesn't have face, so there is no 'back'. (Although UA has face rules.) Leap (Nat): A grenchler can leap 30 feet horizontally or 15 feet straight up. If it lands on an opponent, it can use its rake attacks in addition to its bites. Leap should be (Ex), as there's no "Nat" type (Natural, I assume). It'd be easier to understand if you just gave them a +30 racial bonus to Jump. Hold Breath (Nat): A grenchler can survive underwater for one minute per point of constitution before drowning rules apply. Again, (Ex). Made most of the above changes. I'll make a complete skills entry when I have the time. The one thing I didn't change was the way the Carapace works. I think its easy enough to understand how it works, even if it requires a small amount of rules-tweaking. There are always exceptions, after all, and I can't think of another way to stat it that would be accurate to the game.
boozerker 10-23-06, 02:02 PM	Carapace (Ex): If attacked from directly behind, the grenchler loses its natural armor bonus to AC. However, the shell on its back takes 40 points of damage to break before the creature’s body can be reached. Spells fired at a grenchler’s exposed back (once the shell is gone) ignore its spell immunity. Achilles’ Spot (Ex): Attacks gain a +4 to their critical range against its exposed flesh. If the shelled back of a grenchler takes 40 points of damage, it loses its spell immunity and is normally affected by spread, area and sphere-shaped spells, though all other spells and attacks must succeed at a touch (or ranged-touch) attack against the newly exposed area. Targeting its backside adds a -4 penalty to your attacks plus a 50% miss chance to your ranged attacks, but ignores the grenchler's natural armor bonus.
Insane Pixie 10-23-06, 08:17 PM	Achilles’ Spot (Ex): Attacks gain a +4 to their critical range against its exposed flesh. If the shelled back of a grenchler takes 40 points of damage, it loses its spell immunity and is normally affected by spread, area and sphere-shaped spells, though all other spells and attacks must succeed at a touch (or ranged-touch) attack against the newly exposed area. Targeting its backside adds a -4 penalty to your attacks plus a 50% miss chance to your ranged attacks, but ignores the grenchler's natural armor bonus. I think +4 is bit much. Attacking with a rapier, that's 14-20, so about 30% of your hits will crit. Maybe +2?
boozerker 10-23-06, 11:11 PM	I think +4 is bit much. Attacking with a rapier, that's 14-20, so about 30% of your hits will crit. Maybe +2? Originally, I wrote that once the shell is destroyed, all attacks against the soft flesh underneath became automatic criticals -- to reflect its tenderness. But it seemed overkill, so I exchanged it for a +4 increase of critical range. Perhaps +2 is better, let's see what the OP and others say.