Post/Author/DateTime	Post
OamuTheMonk 05-31-05, 05:26 PM	Okay, very loosely inspired by the works of Lewis Carroll, I give you the Cheshire creature. Cheshire Creature "Cheshire" is an inherited template that can be added to any living animal or magical beast with an Intelligence less than 5. A Cheshire creature uses all the base creatures statistics, except as noted here. Type: Type changes to Outsider. It gains the Native, Chaos, and Augmented (Animal or Magical beast) subtypes. BAB/Saves: The creature gains the Base attack bonus and saves of the Outsider type. Skills: The creature gains skill points as the base creature, however, it's new Intelligence score may result in increased skill points. Armor Class: +2 deflection bonus to Armor class. SQ: DR10/Law (Su), Madness (Ex), Native Outsider traits SA: Disconcerting Gaze, Spell-like abilities Disconcerting Gaze (Su): Targets within 30 feet must make a Will Save or be dazed for 1 round. A Cheshire creature can activate or suppress this effect as a free action. This is a mind-affecting effect. The DC is 10 + 1/2 racial hit die + Cha modifier. Madness: A Cheshire creature uses it's Charisma modifier in place of it's Wisdom modifier for Will saves. A Cheshire Creature's madness cannot be cured by anything less than a Wish or Miracle, and even then, only by destroying it's connection to the elemental Plane of Chaos, rendering it a "normal" animal or magical beast. Spell-like Abilities: At will--Displacement, Glibness, Invisibility; 3/day Dimension Door (self only), Confusion; 1/day Chaos Hammer, Unluck. Caster level 10th. Abilities: Alter from base creature as follows: Dex +4, Int +10, Wis -6 (min. 1), Cha +16 Challenge Rating: Base creature +4? Alignment: Any Chaotic. Cheshire creatures are infused with the raw stuff of Chaos. In personality, they tend to be lazy, capricious, and self centered. LA:? Cheshire creatures speak common. Bonus languages as appropriate for environment. Posting sample creature next...
OamuTheMonk 05-31-05, 06:53 PM	This sample creature was created using a Tiger advanced to 10 hit dice. Cheshire Tiger Large Native Outsider: (Chaos, Augmented animal) Hit Dice: 10D10+30 (82 HP) Initiative: +4 Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares) Armor Class: 20 (+3 Natural Armor, - 1 size, +4 Dex, +4 Deflection), touch 18, flat-footed 17 Base Attack/Grapple: +10/+20 Attack: Claw +11 melee (1d8+11) Full Attack: 2 Claws +11 melee (1d8+11) and Bite +6 melee (2d6+8) Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft. Special Attacks: Improved Grab, Pounce, Rake 1d8+11, Disconcerting Gaze, Spell-like abilities Special Qualities: DR10/Law, Madness, Darkvision 60', Native Outsider Traits, Scent Abilities: Str 23, Dex 19, Con 17, Int 12, Wis 6, Cha 22 Skills: Balance +13, Hide +13, Listen +4, Move Silently +13, Spot +4, Swim +11 Feats: Power Attack (figured into above stats), Improved Natural Attack (Claw), Improved Natural attack (Bite), Ability Focus (Disconcerting Gaze) Environment: Warm forests Organization: Solitary CR: 8 Alignment: Chaotic Neutral LA:- This cat-like creature lounges in a patch of sun, seemingly unconcerned with matters of survival. As you pass, it's large, saucer-like eyes fix upon you, and it speaks in a sing-song cadence, asking meaningless and confusing questions. When it tires of your answers, you find yourself on the wrong end of the food chain... Combat A Cheshire Tiger is vain, and capricious. It likes to speak to other intelligent creatures, if only to hear it's own voice, and to see the expressions of admiration on the faces of it's new aquaintences. However, it is utterly incapable of expressing a rational thought, and, while it enjoys asking questions, it frequently gets bored with the answers it receives. It does not like to be asked any questions about anything but itself. It will attack creatures who have offended it, as well as creatures who look edible (As it is a very bad hunter, and must rely on it's special abilities to entrap prey). Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a Cheshire Tiger must hit with a claw or bite attack. It can then attempt to start a Grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can rake. Pounce (Ex): If a Cheshire Tiger charges a foe, it can make a full attack, including two rake attacks. Rake (Ex): Attack bonus +11 melee, damage 1d8+11. Madness (Ex): A Cheshire Tiger uses it's Charisma modifier in place of it's Wisdom modifier for will saves. A Cheshire Tiger's Madness can not be cured by any means less than a Wish or Miracle, and even then, only by destroying it's connection to the elemental Plane of Chaos, rendering it a "normal" tiger. Damage Reduction (Su): DR 10/Law. A Cheshire Tiger's natural weapons are treated as Chaos-aligned for purposes of bypassing damage reduction. Disconcerting Gaze (Su): Targets within 30 ft. must make a DC 23 Will save or be dazed for one round. This is a mind-affecting effect. The Save DC is Charisma based, and includes a +2 bonus for the ability focus feat. Spell-like abilities: At will--Displacement, Glibness, Invisibility; 3/day Dimension Door (self only), Confusion; 1/Day Chaos Hammer, Unluck. Caster Level 10th. Skills: Cheshire Tigers have a +4 Racial bonus on Balance, Hide*, and Move Silently checks. *In areas of tall grass or heavy undergrowth, the hide bonus improves to +8.
OamuTheMonk 05-31-05, 06:54 PM	As always, comments on CR are particularly welcome.
Kintara 05-31-05, 07:05 PM	Hey, one of my favorite characters from childhood is the cheshire cat. Wow, that's a nutso bonus to Charisma. For some reason, I'd be more comfortable with a +10. It would match the Int bonus, and still make them quite exceptional. Hmm, Disconcerting Gaze is damn nice. Do you only need to make the save once, or every round? What's the formula (the tiger has the same DC, even though it says he has Ability Focus for it)? A Cheshire wolf would tear a group of 5th level characters apart, I think (especially if you sub Weapon Finesse for Weapon Focus). Holy crap, Cheshire wolf. That sounds really cool. :D
OamuTheMonk 05-31-05, 07:29 PM	...but you have to remember that most animals and magical beasts have pretty dismal Charisma scores (lots of twos and threes there). It has to be high enough to make his SLAs and Gaze attack formidable. Still, +10 might be a good compromise. I dunno. Disconcerting Gaze acts just like any other gaze attack. You make a Save every round you look at the creature. You can do all the things you do to protect yourself from a Medusa (look only at the body, cover your eyes, etc.). The Save DC is 10 + 1/2 racial Hit Die + Cha Modifier--I accidentally posted the Tiger's save DC in the Template. I'll fix that. Hey, come to think of it, the Cha bonus is actually from two sources. It's +10 from the original template, then +6 from Madness (-6 Wis, +6 Cha). I knew I didn't just draw that number out of a hat...
Kintara 05-31-05, 07:44 PM	Oh, duh. It's a gaze. It works like a gaze. :embarrass Hmm, hitting a Cheshire creature would be a maddening experience. Oh. Hey, if they have Displacement on, that would probably cause the gaze to gain a miss chance, right? I think it's pretty balanced, then, as it is.
OamuTheMonk 05-31-05, 08:40 PM	Absolutely. He's gotta turn that off to get full use out of his Gaze attack. I've thought about reducing the deflection bonus to AC, and it sounds like you may agree with that possibility. It's there to represent the Aura of Chaotic energy that surrounds a Cheshire creature... +2 might be plenty, what with all the SLA's.
Kintara 05-31-05, 09:59 PM	Errr, now I have the perverse desire to recommend adding Entropic Shield to the Spell-like Ability list.
OamuTheMonk 05-31-05, 10:51 PM	...along with Enthrall, Hold person, and a couple of other things... I was just trying to cut the fat from the Spell-like ability list, and the function of Entropic Shield is pretty much subsumed by Displacement. The flavor component is there, but it didn't seem likely to see any use.