Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Lyinginbedmon 08-01-06, 09:16 AM	Cerebrix http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/Lyinginbedmon/Dungeons%20and%20Dragons/Cerebrix.jpg* Diminutive Undead Hit Dice: 8d12 (52 HP) Initiative: +5 (+5 Dex) Speed: 10 ft. Armor Class: 19 (+5 Dex, +4 Size), touch 19, flat-footed 14 Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+8 Attack: Touch +8 melee (Attach) Full Attack: Touch +8 melee (Attach) Space/Reach: 1 ft./0 ft. Special Attacks: Attach, False Vision Special Qualities: False Vigour, Spell-Like Abilities Saves: Fort +2, Ref +7, Will +10 Abilities: Str 10, Dex 20, Con –, Int 12, Wis 18, Cha 22 Skills: Bluff +38, Diplomacy +23, Gather Information +12, Hide +10, Intimidate +21, Sense Motive +17 Feats: Improved Grapple, Life Drainb, Negotiator, Persuasive, Skill Focus (bluff)b Organization: Solitary or cluster (3-8) Challenge Rating: >?< Alignment: Lawful Evil Attached to the back of the merchant’s neck is what seems at first to be a maggot with pointed spines, however it has 4 pinkish tentacles inserted directly into his skull. It has a red rune on its belly that seems to be glowing dimly. His behaviour seems odd, as though he were looking at a completely different world to everyone else. Cerebrix were originally a test model by Alabaster to ‘persuade’ citizens of more drastic or rash decisions, but their success leant them to grander schemes of population control and infiltration. Combat A Cerebrix's typical tactics in combat are to combine spectral hand and inevitable defeat to deal large amounts of nonlethal damage to the target, then get close and Attach once they're out cold. If it can't attach while they're awake, it instead gets close and uses overwhelm to make them more pliable. Once it attaches to the victim, it usually projects the scene of the victim successfully tearing off the Cerebrix and squashing it underfoot, though the truth is often much more daunting. Attach (Ex): When a Cerebrix hits an opponent at least 1 size category larger than itself with a touch attack, it latches on with its spines and can insert its tentacles. An attached Cerebrix can be struck with a weapon or grappled itself. To remove an attached Cerebrix with a grapple, the opponent must achieve a pin against the Cerebrix. When attached in this manner, the red rune on the side of the Cerebrix glows dimly, the light fluctuates if the victim attempts to oppose a skill check against the Cerebrix. False Vigour (Sp): Once per hour, a Cerebrix can heal all nonlethal damage on its host. The host can attempt a DC 22 Will save to prevent this. The save DC is Charisma based. False Vision (Ex): With a successful grapple check against its victim, the Cerebrix can insert its tentacles in the brain of the victim and make it a host. A creature that is host to a Cerebrix is host to a number of effects. The Cerebrix can alter the host’s perception of the world with a Bluff check opposed by the host’s Sense Motive check. If successful, the host believes itself to be in the false environment. From the instant the Cerebrix successfully tricks the host into a false world, it can make further Bluff checks to convince the host of additional false truths, such as an ally attacking them, a pot of acid being drinking water, or a chasm being a solid marbled floor in a temple dedicated to Pelor. Effectively, so long as the Cerebrix succeeds with the opposed Bluff checks (Against the host’s Sense Motive checks, if they resist), the host is living in a different world entirely. As such, unless the Cerebrix takes appropriate measures, the host is considered helpless against external attacks and effects. As long as a Cerebrix is attached to a host, it gains a +10 bonus on Hide checks to disguise itself as part of the host’s body. In addition, it gains a +9 deflection bonus to AC as a field of energy surrounds it as a defence mechanism; it loses this bonus if it is caught flat-footed. Whenever the Cerebrix receives damage to its hit points, the host receives 1d4 negative levels as energy drain. The Cerebrix heals 5 hit points per negative level bestowed. Spell-Like Abilities: At Will – inevitable defeat (Will 19, SR), overwhelm (Will 22, SR), spectral hand. 1/minute – dimension hop (Will 18, SR). Caster level 10th. Skills: Cerebrix have a +16 racial bonus on Bluff checks and a +12 racial bonus on grapple checks. *Before anyone says it, the tentacles don't! I made this undead as part of a future campaign which will be taking place in a number of weeks. It's designed to project a false reality in order to bend a creature's perception to make it do things it needs, such as repel attacks or walk quietly into a necromancer's clutches. Once it gets it's tentacles in them it's all faue history from there
Callahan 08-01-06, 09:49 AM	52 hitpoints for a diminutive creature? why? And why is it undead?
Lyinginbedmon 08-01-06, 09:54 AM	52 hitpoints for a diminutive creature? why? And why is it undead? It needed the 8 hit die for an effective Base attack bonus, skill points, feats, etc. and the resulting 8d12 equals 52 hit points for it. Simple mathematics I'm afraid :P However, on the plus side it gives them a distinctive degree of durability that greatly serves a creature in necessity of entering the space of much larger creatures to sow its disharmony. It's an undead because that's the only creature that Alabaster (See above) can alter, and they are his specialty therefore.
Callahan 08-01-06, 11:19 AM	diminutive creatures commonly have 1/4 hit die, and few at that. The reason being that nothing that small can possibly be THAT tough. You do not need it to be that tough as it has a perfectly good hide bonus (or should if you calculated the size bonus properly). Or it can use other methods that are more fitting for a creature it's size, like climbing above the target creature and dropping on to them. The massive skills are also not necessary. I can only assume that by binding with a creature it has some ability to read it's mind and could get all the bonuses it needs through circumstance bonuses it can get from it's natural abilities. Also, you need to note all racial bonuses at the bottom.
Insane Pixie 08-01-06, 05:54 PM	diminutive creatures commonly have 1/4 hit die, and few at that. The reason being that nothing that small can possibly be THAT tough. Demilich? Personally, if he wants to make a suped-up Diminutive creature, I say he goes for it. Just because it's a new idea doesn't mean that it's full of evil and brokeness. Like the new monster format. :rimshot: Well, to add to the actual monster itself, I think the niche is already filled by the puppeteer, and the creature might do better as a construct. If it is undead, what was it ressurrected from? Or was it created from spare parts? In that case, what parts could possibly compose to create something so weird looking?
Lyinginbedmon 08-01-06, 07:58 PM	Well, to add to the actual monster itself, I think the niche is already filled by the puppeteer, and the creature might do better as a construct. If it is undead, what was it ressurrected from? Or was it created from spare parts? In that case, what parts could possibly compose to create something so weird looking? The Puppeteer is a Psionic creature, which is something not available in my campaigns. The creature was made from a standard zombie/skeleton he picked up from somewhere. His unique ability to alter undead means he can change any undead into anything else, including the aesthetics. Basing the appearance on a Maggot was certainly a stroke of genius, since they are more often than not associated with corpses, so no-one would really suspect them on a recently-deceased-via-coup-de-grace body :D (And if you think this looks wierd, you should see my other Alabaster undead :P)
Lyinginbedmon 08-02-06, 08:17 PM	Alright, any thoughts on the three missing statistics (>?<, no it's not just a wierd smiley)? Speed Organisation Challenge Rating Additionally, does anyone have any ideas on what I can do to improve (At least, the wording) of False Vision? Especially considering it's basically the biggest part of them, both in number of words and in components...
Insane Pixie 08-02-06, 09:10 PM	Speed 10 ft. would actually be generous, considering it's a maggot. Organization Um... seeing as they take hosts, I'd say single. (But that's up to you.) Puppeteers are 'Single or pack (2-8)'. I'd say they're similar enough to grant similar organization. Additionally, does anyone have any ideas on what I can do to improve (At least, the wording) of False Vision? Especially considering it's basically the biggest part of them, both in number of words and in components... The wording seems fine, although the part about the chasm could do without the 'In a temple of Pelor', as "marbled floor" seems enough. However, what is the source of the Cerebrix's 'energy' deflection bonus?
Lyinginbedmon 08-03-06, 08:08 AM	The wording seems fine, although the part about the chasm could do without the 'In a temple of Pelor', as "marbled floor" seems enough. However, what is the source of the Cerebrix's 'energy' deflection bonus? Yeah, I added the temple of Pelor bit to show just to what extent the alternate 'fake' world can be different to the actual one. The defensive field is an innate defense mechanism, a field of force the encompasses the Cerebrix when it feels threatened. However, since they have to be aware of the threat to activate it, they lose the bonus when flat-footed, which is typically not the case with deflection bonuses. Oh, and regarding the massive skill bonuses, I did the math to compare a level 1-20 Commoner and a level 1-20 Rogue using best case scenario to determine the probability of them succeeding against the Bluff checks, and it turns out that a +38 is necessary to beat all Commoners and up to 15th level Rogues.
Lyinginbedmon 08-11-06, 07:25 PM	Okay, so does anyone have any other thoughts?
Lyinginbedmon 08-28-06, 12:59 PM	Does anyone have any suggestions on the CR of this?