Assassin Vipers [Archive] - Wizards Community

Assassin Vipers [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
aikimiller
03-14-08, 08:04 PM A couple things I worked up, while procrastinating. Figured I would post them and see what people thought.

Assassin Viper- Medium Animal (Magebred)
Medium Animal
Hit Dice: 6d8 + 24 (52 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 30 ft. (4 squares), climb 30 ft., swim 30 ft. (Swift breed)
Armor Class: 21 (+4 Dex, +7 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 17
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+4
Attack: Bite +8 melee (1d4 plus poison)
Full Attack: Bite +8 melee (1d4 plus poison)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Poison DC: 19 (1d6 con / 2d6 con)
Special Qualities: Scent
Saves: Fort +9, Ref +9, Will + 2
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 19 Con 19, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 2
Skills: Balance +11, Climb +11, Hide +16 , Move Silently +14, Listen +7, Spot +7, Swim +7

Feats: Weapon Finesse, Deadly Poison, Virulent Poison, Alertness
Environment: None
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: ?
Advancement: —
Level Adjustment: —

Assassin Vipers have are the result of breeding programs begun by a King who realized the power of having assassins that were expendable, able to make their own poison, and incorruptible. The end result was the Assassin Viper (and a castle miracously free of rats). Assassin vipers typically are used as guards or as their name suggests, assassins. They can be given a scent, which they will then attempt to track, stalk, and ambush- typically when the target is sleeping.

Typical Tricks known- Attack, Come, Down, Guard, Track, Stalk.

+4 racial bonus on Hide and Move Silently Checks

Poison: Assassin viper venom is especially dangerous. A character failing a save against it becomes sickened- this is in addition to the ability damage. If the character is already sickened, that character becomes nauseated.

King’s Assassin Viper- Medium Magical Animal (Magebred, Awakened)/ Viper Assassin 3
Medium Magical Animal
Hit Dice: 8d8 +32 + 3d6 +12 (83 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 30 ft. (4 squares), climb 30 ft., swim 30 ft. (Swift breed)
Armor Class: 22 (+4 Dex, +7 natural, +1 Wis), touch 17, flat-footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +9/+9
Attack: Bite +13 melee (1d4 plus poison)
Full Attack: Bite +13 melee (1d4 plus poison)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Poison DC: 22 (1d6 con / 2d6 con), Sudden Strike 2d6
Special Qualities: Scent, Ghost Step 3x/day, Uncanny Dodge
Saves: Fort +11 Ref +13 Will + 4 (+ ki pool)
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 20, Con 19, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 4
Skills: Balance +11, Climb +11, Hide +23, Move Silently 23, Listen +12, Spot +12, Swim +7, Tumble +19

Feats: Alertness, Weapon Finesse, Deadly Poison, Virulent Poison, Ability Focus: Poison
Environment: None
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: ?

+4 racial bonus on Hide and Move Silently Checks

Poison: Assassin viper venom is especially dangerous. A character failing any save against it becomes sickened- this is in addition to the ability damage. If the character is already sickened, that character then becomes nauseated.

Special Attack- each viper assassin gains one of the following
-Death Attack (as the assassin class feature)
-Improved Grapple (the viper first wraps itself around it’s victim’s sleeping neck initiating a grapple- as long as the grapple is maintained the the victim must hold his breath or begin suffocating. On the viper's turn, it bites the victim again)
-Venom Spray attack- ranged touch attack with a -4 penalty, if successful target is blinded Fort DC:18 negates, secondary damage blinds as well. Every 10 minutes the victim must make another fortitude save unless it has washed the poison out, or be blinded permanently.

The awakened assassin viper has levels of a class called Viper Assassin that is basicly a meshing of Assassin and Ninja- I figured any breeding program that could breed these things and awaken them, would probably be smart enough not to bother trying to teach them things like trapfinding or spellcasting that, lets face it, aren't so hot on a creature lacking opposable thumbs. As far as CR goes, I haven't had the chance to test them yet, but I imagine that CR would be highly variable depending on the circumstances in which it was encountered- a battle starting with the victim sleeping half naked will be significantly different from one where the snake shows up in front of a party of fully armed and armored characters. In the right circumstances, either of these things could be extremly dangerous for a party not prepared to deal with them.
Necroramo
03-14-08, 11:28 PM You probably shouldn't call the creature's poisonous bite "dangerous" if all it does is make you feel queasy. I'd down that over any ability damage poison any day.

Also, where are you getting that Save DC from? Assuming that Constitution is the relevant ability modifier, the DC should be 17 (1 + (6 HD/2) + 4)

EDIT: Whoops, didn't see the ability damage somehow
aikimiller
03-15-08, 09:31 AM Oh, hmm... I wasn't including HD in the DC, thought poison was usaully done just with 10+Con, upon second examination though, you do seem to be correct about the HD. Your math is a little off 10+4con+6/dHD+2 Deadly Poison) =19

The poison deals 1d6/2d6 con damage, so it is fairly dangerous. Remember if you fail the first save, the sickened condition grants -2 penalty to saves, on top of the con damage reducing your fortitude save. Without treatment, you're going to go downhill pretty fast- especially considdering that first bite probably happened on a suprise round.
Radijs
03-15-08, 03:36 PM The "magical animal" type is new to me.
Magical Beast perhaps?
It would change the HD and the BAB of the creature a bit. Both for the better/more dangerous.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
aikimiller 03-14-08, 08:04 PM	A couple things I worked up, while procrastinating. Figured I would post them and see what people thought. Assassin Viper- Medium Animal (Magebred) Medium Animal Hit Dice: 6d8 + 24 (52 hp) Initiative: +4 Speed: 30 ft. (4 squares), climb 30 ft., swim 30 ft. (Swift breed) Armor Class: 21 (+4 Dex, +7 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 17 Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+4 Attack: Bite +8 melee (1d4 plus poison) Full Attack: Bite +8 melee (1d4 plus poison) Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft. Special Attacks: Poison DC: 19 (1d6 con / 2d6 con) Special Qualities: Scent Saves: Fort +9, Ref +9, Will + 2 Abilities: Str 10, Dex 19 Con 19, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 2 Skills: Balance +11, Climb +11, Hide +16 , Move Silently +14, Listen +7, Spot +7, Swim +7 Feats: Weapon Finesse, Deadly Poison, Virulent Poison, Alertness Environment: None Organization: Solitary Challenge Rating: ? Advancement: — Level Adjustment: — Assassin Vipers have are the result of breeding programs begun by a King who realized the power of having assassins that were expendable, able to make their own poison, and incorruptible. The end result was the Assassin Viper (and a castle miracously free of rats). Assassin vipers typically are used as guards or as their name suggests, assassins. They can be given a scent, which they will then attempt to track, stalk, and ambush- typically when the target is sleeping. Typical Tricks known- Attack, Come, Down, Guard, Track, Stalk. +4 racial bonus on Hide and Move Silently Checks Poison: Assassin viper venom is especially dangerous. A character failing a save against it becomes sickened- this is in addition to the ability damage. If the character is already sickened, that character becomes nauseated. King’s Assassin Viper- Medium Magical Animal (Magebred, Awakened)/ Viper Assassin 3 Medium Magical Animal Hit Dice: 8d8 +32 + 3d6 +12 (83 hp) Initiative: +4 Speed: 30 ft. (4 squares), climb 30 ft., swim 30 ft. (Swift breed) Armor Class: 22 (+4 Dex, +7 natural, +1 Wis), touch 17, flat-footed 16 Base Attack/Grapple: +9/+9 Attack: Bite +13 melee (1d4 plus poison) Full Attack: Bite +13 melee (1d4 plus poison) Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft. Special Attacks: Poison DC: 22 (1d6 con / 2d6 con), Sudden Strike 2d6 Special Qualities: Scent, Ghost Step 3x/day, Uncanny Dodge Saves: Fort +11 Ref +13 Will + 4 (+ ki pool) Abilities: Str 10, Dex 20, Con 19, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 4 Skills: Balance +11, Climb +11, Hide +23, Move Silently 23, Listen +12, Spot +12, Swim +7, Tumble +19 Feats: Alertness, Weapon Finesse, Deadly Poison, Virulent Poison, Ability Focus: Poison Environment: None Organization: Solitary Challenge Rating: ? +4 racial bonus on Hide and Move Silently Checks Poison: Assassin viper venom is especially dangerous. A character failing any save against it becomes sickened- this is in addition to the ability damage. If the character is already sickened, that character then becomes nauseated. Special Attack- each viper assassin gains one of the following -Death Attack (as the assassin class feature) -Improved Grapple (the viper first wraps itself around it’s victim’s sleeping neck initiating a grapple- as long as the grapple is maintained the the victim must hold his breath or begin suffocating. On the viper's turn, it bites the victim again) -Venom Spray attack- ranged touch attack with a -4 penalty, if successful target is blinded Fort DC:18 negates, secondary damage blinds as well. Every 10 minutes the victim must make another fortitude save unless it has washed the poison out, or be blinded permanently. The awakened assassin viper has levels of a class called Viper Assassin that is basicly a meshing of Assassin and Ninja- I figured any breeding program that could breed these things and awaken them, would probably be smart enough not to bother trying to teach them things like trapfinding or spellcasting that, lets face it, aren't so hot on a creature lacking opposable thumbs. As far as CR goes, I haven't had the chance to test them yet, but I imagine that CR would be highly variable depending on the circumstances in which it was encountered- a battle starting with the victim sleeping half naked will be significantly different from one where the snake shows up in front of a party of fully armed and armored characters. In the right circumstances, either of these things could be extremly dangerous for a party not prepared to deal with them.
Necroramo 03-14-08, 11:28 PM	You probably shouldn't call the creature's poisonous bite "dangerous" if all it does is make you feel queasy. I'd down that over any ability damage poison any day. Also, where are you getting that Save DC from? Assuming that Constitution is the relevant ability modifier, the DC should be 17 (1 + (6 HD/2) + 4) EDIT: Whoops, didn't see the ability damage somehow
aikimiller 03-15-08, 09:31 AM	Oh, hmm... I wasn't including HD in the DC, thought poison was usaully done just with 10+Con, upon second examination though, you do seem to be correct about the HD. Your math is a little off 10+4con+6/dHD+2 Deadly Poison) =19 The poison deals 1d6/2d6 con damage, so it is fairly dangerous. Remember if you fail the first save, the sickened condition grants -2 penalty to saves, on top of the con damage reducing your fortitude save. Without treatment, you're going to go downhill pretty fast- especially considdering that first bite probably happened on a suprise round.
Radijs 03-15-08, 03:36 PM	The "magical animal" type is new to me. Magical Beast perhaps? It would change the HD and the BAB of the creature a bit. Both for the better/more dangerous.