Black Death (review please) [Archive] - Wizards Community

Black Death (review please) [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Nova Fujit
08-19-06, 10:26 PM I am trying to keep this monster at about a 7 CR... here it goes

Black Death
Undead (medium)
Hitdice 6D12+6
Initive +3
Speed 20ft
AC: 15 (+6 Natural, -1 Dex)
BAB/Grapple: 6/9
Attacks: 2 claws+5 (1D4+4) and a Bite +9 (id6+4+Con Drain 1d4) or Special
Space/Reach: 5ft/5ft
Special attack: Strenth sap 10ft (DC 14, Will)
Special Qualities: Darkness 10ft (constant effect), Undead traits, DR 5: 5/Silver or Magic, Blindsence 60ft
Saves: Fort: +2 Ref: +1 Will: +7
Abilities: STR 18, Dex 8, Con -, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 13
Skills Listen +10...(I really slacked at this part =P)
Feats Improved Initiative, Improved Toughness
Environment: Mostly Underground or anyplace that is usually dim in light
CR: 6-7?
Treasure: standard
Alignment CE always

Darkness 10ft centered on the Black Death and is in constant effect,

Strenth Sap anyone within the Darkness when this effect is used reduces their strenth by 4 for 2 hours (resulting strenth lost is given to the Black Death for 2 hours...effect stacks IE 2 people in the darkness getting sapped gives the black Death +8 STR for 2 hours)

Con Drain on bite 1d4 Fort save DC14 to negate if target fails save the Dlack Death gains 5 hp

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thats what I have any tweaks that I need to make? or suggestions?
Athanatos
08-19-06, 10:46 PM 1) Attack bonus should be +7 on bite, +2 on claws. Base attack bonus is +3, grapple is +9. I don't know how you figured this stuff. Additionally, damage bonus for claws is +2, since they're secondary natural weapons. Don't write "or special" in the attacks section.
2) Saves should be +2 Fort, +1 Ref, +7 Will
3) List the DC for Strength Drain in the description instead of the
4) I have no idea what DR 10: 5/Silver or Magic. Is it 10 damage reduction, or 5?
5) He's got a feat left. Perhaps multiattack.
6) Avoid static numbers in special abilities. Try 1d6 or 1d8 strength drain (1d6 is probably better for the thing's relative power), and 2d4 or 2d6 hp gain on Con Drain.
7) I'm not quite getting the Con Drain text. Are you saying that he can attempt this attack if he lowers his bite damage dice size to 1d4? Odd, but whatever floats your boat... I also find it amusing that an ability called "Con Drain" does not actually drain Con score.
dok
08-20-06, 01:59 AM BAB/Grapple: 6/9

A creature's BAB is based on their hit dice, and their Type. An Undead (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/typesSubtypes.htm#undeadType) with 6 HD has a BAB of +3.

Grapple bonus is BAB (+3) plus Strength modifier (+4) plus special size modifier (+0) = +7.

Attacks: 2 claws+5 (1D4+4) and a Bite +9 (id6+4+Con Drain 1d4) or Special

Attack bonus for the Primary Attack is BAB (+3) plus Strength (+4) plus size modifier (+0) = +7.
Attack bonus for Secondary attack(s) is BAB (+3) plus Strength (+4) plus size modifier (+0) plus secondary attack penalty (-5) = +2. Secondary Attacks also only add one-half strength bonus to damage, meaning it should be "1d6+2 plus 1d4 Constitution drain")
If you're going to say "or Special" in the stat block, you need to explain what "special" means!

DR 10: 5/Silver or Magic
Which is it: DR 10, or DR 5?

Saves: Fort: +5 Ref: +1 Will: +4
Saving throws are the creature's Base Saving throw modifiers, plus ability score modifiers.
Base Saving Throw Modifiers are determined by the creature's Type and it's Hit Dice. An Undead (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/typesSubtypes.htm#undeadType) with 6 Hit Dice has base saves of +2 Fortitude, +2 Reflex, and +5 Will. Undead have no Constitution score, so that's a +0 modifier to Foritutde; this creature has a -1 Dexterity modifier, and a +2 Wisdom modifier. So the final saves should be
Fortitude +2, Reflex +1, and Will +7.

Skills Listen +10...(I really slacked at this part =P)
Creatures have skill points based on guess what? That's right, Type and total HD; Undead (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/typesSubtypes.htm#undeadType) get 2 skill points per HD, plus intelligence modifier, with triple points for the first HD. So your 6 HD, 10 intelligence undead would have 18 total skill points. Like characters, monsters can only spend a number of skill points per skill equal to 3+HD. So this creature could have two skills at 9 ranks each as a maximum, or it could have two skills at 4 ranks and two at 5 ranks, or any combination that doesn't exceed 9 ranks in a skill.
Typical skills for Undead are Hide, Spot, Listen, Move Silently, and Climb, though Intimidate, Search, Survival (for tracking), and other skills may apply depending on the specific undead.

Feats Improved Initiative, Improved Toughness
Creatures get 1 feat for every 3 HD they have, plus one feat for the 1st HD. Your 6 HD creature should have three feats. Multiattack (lowering the secondary attack penalty from -5 to -2) might be a good choice, or Weapon Focus, or Ability Focus, or Great Fortitude, or Lightning Reflexes.

Darkness 10ft centered on the Black Death and is in constant effect, can be negated with contiual light

1.) Abilities need to be either Supernatural (Su), Spell-like (Sp), or Extraordinary (Ex). This would probably be a Spell-like ability; SLAs need to have a Caster level. (whch is typically equal to the creature's HD or CR)
2.) There is no such spell as "contiual light". The Darkness spell is supressed by any spell that is 3rd level or higher, such as daylight; that's the rule for any spell or spell-like ability of darkness. You don't need to put it in the ability description.

So the ability should look like this:
Darkness (Sp): continual effect, centered on the Black Death. Caster level 6; if dispelled, the ability is supressed for 1d3 rounds.

Strenth Sap anyone within the Darkness when this effect is used reduces their strenth by 4 for 2 hours (resulting strenth lost is given to the Black Death for 2 hours...effect stacks IE 2 people in the darkness getting sapped gives the black Death +8 STR for 2 hours)

1.) Again, (Sp), (Su), or (Ex)
2.) "...when this effect is used..." what kind of an action does it take to use this ability? A standard action? A free action? A full-round action? Does using this action provoke an AoO?
3.) Is this a strength penalty or is it strength damage or is it strength drain? Those are three very different effects.
4.) Does this effect occur once, or can a single creature be affected multiple times for larger & larger penalties by leaving & re-entering the area? Is there a saving throw to avoid this effect, and if not, why not? It seems extremely odd that there is no saving throw to avoid this effect.
5.) Is there an upper limit to the strength that can be gained?
6.) Will spells like death ward prevent this effect? Will this effect work if the darkness is supressed by a daylight spell, or a dispel magic?

Con Drain on bite 1d4 Fort save DC14 to negate if target fails save the Dlack Death gains 6 hp

According to the rules on Ability Drain (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm#abilityDrain), the creature should only gain 5 hit points, not 6.

This creature isn't CR 6. Not by a long shot. With only 45 hit points and an AC of 15, he won't live long, and a single daylight spell shuts down his limited defense (concealment from Darkness) and half of his offense. (his "strength draining aura")

Look at the Mummy; CR 5, more hit points, much better AC, stronger special attacks & special qualities. About the only scary thing this creature has right now is a Constitution-draining Bite, with a fairly low DC to negate, and an ill-defined strength-sapping ability.
Nova Fujit
08-20-06, 05:47 PM First off thanks Dok this has helped a ton
Which is it: DR 10, or DR 5?
sorry this was a typo it is suppose to be DR 5. I'll make changes to the monster in a little bit

-Feats I'll be going with multiattack

-Darkness (Sp)

Strenth sap
1.) Again, (Sp), (Su), or (Ex)
2.) "...when this effect is used..." what kind of an action does it take to use this ability? A standard action? A free action? A full-round action? Does using this action provoke an AoO?
3.) Is this a strength penalty or is it strength damage or is it strength drain? Those are three very different effects.
4.) Does this effect occur once, or can a single creature be affected multiple times for larger & larger penalties by leaving & re-entering the area? Is there a saving throw to avoid this effect, and if not, why not? It seems extremely odd that there is no saving throw to avoid this effect.
5.) Is there an upper limit to the strength that can be gained?
6.) Will spells like death ward prevent this effect? Will this effect work if the darkness is supressed by a daylight spell, or a dispel magic?

1. (Sp)
2. takes a standard action and does provoke an AoO
3. Strenth damage which would recover at a rate of 1 per day
4. Yes you can be hit by the effect more than once, the Save is indeed ment to entirely avoid the effect, exiting and re-entering the darkness will make you subceptable to this effect again.
5. After thought and to prevent abuse +20
6. Yes spells like Death Ward will prevent this effect and no the ability will not work if the darkness is supressed.
-------------

so in conclusion i should be looking at raising his HD (along with related stuff) in order to bring it inline with what I want?
dok
08-20-06, 06:37 PM Strenth sap

4. Yes you can be hit by the effect more than once, the Save is indeed ment to entirely avoid the effect, exiting and re-entering the darkness will make you subceptable to this effect again.

Except there isn't a saving throw listed for this ability; it just automatically deals 4 strength damage, with no save listed. Which is the problem.
Nova Fujit
08-20-06, 10:43 PM basically yours saying that i need to reword:
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Strenth Sap (Sp) (Standard action) anyone within the Darkness when this effect is used reduces their strenth by 4 for 2 hours Save to negate STR DC 14 Will (resulting strenth lost is given to the Black Death for 2 hours...effect stacks IE 2 people in the darkness getting sapped gives the black Death +8 STR (up to a maximum of +20 STR for 2 hours.) on success of the save the the ceature remains immune to the effect for as long it stays in the darkness... Exiting and reentering the darkness will allow the Black Death to use this ability again.
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is that better?

also I know this is throwing a few things off would increasing my creature HD to 9 (maybe upping it's natural armor as well?)bring it inline with my CR 6/7 that I am looking for?

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Nova Fujit 08-19-06, 10:26 PM	I am trying to keep this monster at about a 7 CR... here it goes Black Death Undead (medium) Hitdice 6D12+6 Initive +3 Speed 20ft AC: 15 (+6 Natural, -1 Dex) BAB/Grapple: 6/9 Attacks: 2 claws+5 (1D4+4) and a Bite +9 (id6+4+Con Drain 1d4) or Special Space/Reach: 5ft/5ft Special attack: Strenth sap 10ft (DC 14, Will) Special Qualities: Darkness 10ft (constant effect), Undead traits, DR 5: 5/Silver or Magic, Blindsence 60ft Saves: Fort: +2 Ref: +1 Will: +7 Abilities: STR 18, Dex 8, Con -, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 13 Skills Listen +10...(I really slacked at this part =P) Feats Improved Initiative, Improved Toughness Environment: Mostly Underground or anyplace that is usually dim in light CR: 6-7? Treasure: standard Alignment CE always Darkness 10ft centered on the Black Death and is in constant effect, Strenth Sap anyone within the Darkness when this effect is used reduces their strenth by 4 for 2 hours (resulting strenth lost is given to the Black Death for 2 hours...effect stacks IE 2 people in the darkness getting sapped gives the black Death +8 STR for 2 hours) Con Drain on bite 1d4 Fort save DC14 to negate if target fails save the Dlack Death gains 5 hp ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ thats what I have any tweaks that I need to make? or suggestions?
Athanatos 08-19-06, 10:46 PM	1) Attack bonus should be +7 on bite, +2 on claws. Base attack bonus is +3, grapple is +9. I don't know how you figured this stuff. Additionally, damage bonus for claws is +2, since they're secondary natural weapons. Don't write "or special" in the attacks section. 2) Saves should be +2 Fort, +1 Ref, +7 Will 3) List the DC for Strength Drain in the description instead of the 4) I have no idea what DR 10: 5/Silver or Magic. Is it 10 damage reduction, or 5? 5) He's got a feat left. Perhaps multiattack. 6) Avoid static numbers in special abilities. Try 1d6 or 1d8 strength drain (1d6 is probably better for the thing's relative power), and 2d4 or 2d6 hp gain on Con Drain. 7) I'm not quite getting the Con Drain text. Are you saying that he can attempt this attack if he lowers his bite damage dice size to 1d4? Odd, but whatever floats your boat... I also find it amusing that an ability called "Con Drain" does not actually drain Con score.
dok 08-20-06, 01:59 AM	BAB/Grapple: 6/9 A creature's BAB is based on their hit dice, and their Type. An Undead (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/typesSubtypes.htm#undeadType) with 6 HD has a BAB of +3. Grapple bonus is BAB (+3) plus Strength modifier (+4) plus special size modifier (+0) = +7. Attacks: 2 claws+5 (1D4+4) and a Bite +9 (id6+4+Con Drain 1d4) or Special Attack bonus for the Primary Attack is BAB (+3) plus Strength (+4) plus size modifier (+0) = +7. Attack bonus for Secondary attack(s) is BAB (+3) plus Strength (+4) plus size modifier (+0) plus secondary attack penalty (-5) = +2. Secondary Attacks also only add one-half strength bonus to damage, meaning it should be "1d6+2 plus 1d4 Constitution drain") If you're going to say "or Special" in the stat block, you need to explain what "special" means! DR 10: 5/Silver or Magic Which is it: DR 10, or DR 5? Saves: Fort: +5 Ref: +1 Will: +4 Saving throws are the creature's Base Saving throw modifiers, plus ability score modifiers. Base Saving Throw Modifiers are determined by the creature's Type and it's Hit Dice. An Undead (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/typesSubtypes.htm#undeadType) with 6 Hit Dice has base saves of +2 Fortitude, +2 Reflex, and +5 Will. Undead have no Constitution score, so that's a +0 modifier to Foritutde; this creature has a -1 Dexterity modifier, and a +2 Wisdom modifier. So the final saves should be Fortitude +2, Reflex +1, and Will +7. Skills Listen +10...(I really slacked at this part =P) Creatures have skill points based on guess what? That's right, Type and total HD; Undead (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/typesSubtypes.htm#undeadType) get 2 skill points per HD, plus intelligence modifier, with triple points for the first HD. So your 6 HD, 10 intelligence undead would have 18 total skill points. Like characters, monsters can only spend a number of skill points per skill equal to 3+HD. So this creature could have two skills at 9 ranks each as a maximum, or it could have two skills at 4 ranks and two at 5 ranks, or any combination that doesn't exceed 9 ranks in a skill. Typical skills for Undead are Hide, Spot, Listen, Move Silently, and Climb, though Intimidate, Search, Survival (for tracking), and other skills may apply depending on the specific undead. Feats Improved Initiative, Improved Toughness Creatures get 1 feat for every 3 HD they have, plus one feat for the 1st HD. Your 6 HD creature should have three feats. Multiattack (lowering the secondary attack penalty from -5 to -2) might be a good choice, or Weapon Focus, or Ability Focus, or Great Fortitude, or Lightning Reflexes. Darkness 10ft centered on the Black Death and is in constant effect, can be negated with contiual light 1.) Abilities need to be either Supernatural (Su), Spell-like (Sp), or Extraordinary (Ex). This would probably be a Spell-like ability; SLAs need to have a Caster level. (whch is typically equal to the creature's HD or CR) 2.) There is no such spell as "contiual light". The Darkness spell is supressed by any spell that is 3rd level or higher, such as daylight; that's the rule for any spell or spell-like ability of darkness. You don't need to put it in the ability description. So the ability should look like this: Darkness (Sp): continual effect, centered on the Black Death. Caster level 6; if dispelled, the ability is supressed for 1d3 rounds. Strenth Sap anyone within the Darkness when this effect is used reduces their strenth by 4 for 2 hours (resulting strenth lost is given to the Black Death for 2 hours...effect stacks IE 2 people in the darkness getting sapped gives the black Death +8 STR for 2 hours) 1.) Again, (Sp), (Su), or (Ex) 2.) "...when this effect is used..." what kind of an action does it take to use this ability? A standard action? A free action? A full-round action? Does using this action provoke an AoO? 3.) Is this a strength penalty or is it strength damage or is it strength drain? Those are three very different effects. 4.) Does this effect occur once, or can a single creature be affected multiple times for larger & larger penalties by leaving & re-entering the area? Is there a saving throw to avoid this effect, and if not, why not? It seems extremely odd that there is no saving throw to avoid this effect. 5.) Is there an upper limit to the strength that can be gained? 6.) Will spells like death ward prevent this effect? Will this effect work if the darkness is supressed by a daylight spell, or a dispel magic? Con Drain on bite 1d4 Fort save DC14 to negate if target fails save the Dlack Death gains 6 hp According to the rules on Ability Drain (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm#abilityDrain), the creature should only gain 5 hit points, not 6. This creature isn't CR 6. Not by a long shot. With only 45 hit points and an AC of 15, he won't live long, and a single daylight spell shuts down his limited defense (concealment from Darkness) and half of his offense. (his "strength draining aura") Look at the Mummy; CR 5, more hit points, much better AC, stronger special attacks & special qualities. About the only scary thing this creature has right now is a Constitution-draining Bite, with a fairly low DC to negate, and an ill-defined strength-sapping ability.
Nova Fujit 08-20-06, 05:47 PM	First off thanks Dok this has helped a ton Which is it: DR 10, or DR 5? sorry this was a typo it is suppose to be DR 5. I'll make changes to the monster in a little bit -Feats I'll be going with multiattack -Darkness (Sp) Strenth sap 1.) Again, (Sp), (Su), or (Ex) 2.) "...when this effect is used..." what kind of an action does it take to use this ability? A standard action? A free action? A full-round action? Does using this action provoke an AoO? 3.) Is this a strength penalty or is it strength damage or is it strength drain? Those are three very different effects. 4.) Does this effect occur once, or can a single creature be affected multiple times for larger & larger penalties by leaving & re-entering the area? Is there a saving throw to avoid this effect, and if not, why not? It seems extremely odd that there is no saving throw to avoid this effect. 5.) Is there an upper limit to the strength that can be gained? 6.) Will spells like death ward prevent this effect? Will this effect work if the darkness is supressed by a daylight spell, or a dispel magic? 1. (Sp) 2. takes a standard action and does provoke an AoO 3. Strenth damage which would recover at a rate of 1 per day 4. Yes you can be hit by the effect more than once, the Save is indeed ment to entirely avoid the effect, exiting and re-entering the darkness will make you subceptable to this effect again. 5. After thought and to prevent abuse +20 6. Yes spells like Death Ward will prevent this effect and no the ability will not work if the darkness is supressed. ------------- so in conclusion i should be looking at raising his HD (along with related stuff) in order to bring it inline with what I want?
dok 08-20-06, 06:37 PM	Strenth sap 4. Yes you can be hit by the effect more than once, the Save is indeed ment to entirely avoid the effect, exiting and re-entering the darkness will make you subceptable to this effect again. Except there isn't a saving throw listed for this ability; it just automatically deals 4 strength damage, with no save listed. Which is the problem.
Nova Fujit 08-20-06, 10:43 PM	basically yours saying that i need to reword: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Strenth Sap (Sp) (Standard action) anyone within the Darkness when this effect is used reduces their strenth by 4 for 2 hours Save to negate STR DC 14 Will (resulting strenth lost is given to the Black Death for 2 hours...effect stacks IE 2 people in the darkness getting sapped gives the black Death +8 STR (up to a maximum of +20 STR for 2 hours.) on success of the save the the ceature remains immune to the effect for as long it stays in the darkness... Exiting and reentering the darkness will allow the Black Death to use this ability again. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- is that better? also I know this is throwing a few things off would increasing my creature HD to 9 (maybe upping it's natural armor as well?)bring it inline with my CR 6/7 that I am looking for?