Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Spus Widgetwatcher 01-06-06, 11:03 PM	I think I've seen one of these before, but I recall it being ludicrously epic. I'm aiming for a CR of 10 to 15 here, it's based of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, Rincewind's Luggage. I'm wondering what CR I should give this, and what cost should I put on it as a magic item? The Luggage Medium Construct Hit Dice: 15d10+20(102 hp) Initiative: +1 Speed: 40 feet(8 squares) Armor Class: 21(+1 dex, +6 natural, +4 deflection) Base Attack/Grapple: +11/+19 Attack: Bite(+16, 1d6+9 x2) Full Attack: Bite (+16, 1d6+9 x2) Space Reach: 5 ft/5 ft Special Attacks: Swallow Whole, Lugguage's Murderous Frenzy, Improved Grab Special Qualities: Construct Traits, Loyalty, Immunity to Magic, damage reduction 10/slashing, Interdemensional Storage Space, Clean Socks, Blindsense(60 ft.) Saves: +5 fort, +6 reflex, +3 will Abilties: Str 21, Dex 13, Con -, Int 10, Wis 6, Cha 8 Skills: Intimidate +17, Jump+10, Swim+18, Climb+10 Feats: Improved Grapple, Weapon Focus: Bite, Weapon Specialization: Bite(B), Extend Rage, Instantaneous Rage, Intimidating Rage Environment: Any Orginzation: Solitary, with Owner Challenge Rating: ...? Treasure: None Alignment: Same as Owner, if Ownerless, Neutral. Skills Due to it's composition of sapient pearwood, the Luggage gains a +8 racial bonus on swim checks. Swallow Whole(Su.): The Luggage can attempt to swallow a grappled oppenent of Medium or smaller size by making another sucessful grapple check. Unlike Most usual creatures with this abilitiy, the swallowed does not go into the Luggage's digestive tract or such(As it does not have one). Instead, the victim is sent into the lugguage. which it cannot escape, unless it has a method of changing thier location suddenly such as teleport. Being eaten by the luggage is much like being stuffed inside a bag of holding. A subject can survive for 10 minutes inside the Luggage's massive interneal void, then they begin to suffocate. The victim is rescuable if the Luggage is ordered to cough it up. The Luggage can also refresh the oxygen of the devoured if ordered. If the Lugguage is full, he will abstain from using this ability until he is cleared out- if he tries anyway, the ability fails. Lugguage's Murderous Frenzy(Ex.): When the Luggage itself or it's owner is threatened, it enters Lugguage's murderous frenzy and will attack it's aggressors. Unlike normal Frenzys, the Luggage's Frenzy has one exception- it will, under no circumstances, ever attack it's master. Everyone else is fair game. The Luggage's frenzy lasts 8 rounds, and has no limits on the amount of times he may use it per day. It's owner may attempt a DC30 diplomacy check to make the Luggage cease it's relentless assault. It will only do this when threatened- it cannot be commanded to enter it's frenzy. Lugguage's Murderous Frenzy grants a +10 bonus to Strength, and a -4 to AC. Once all it's enemies are elimated, the luggage turns to whoever is nearest, it's bloodlust unsatisfied. Improved Grab(Ex.): When the Lugguage makes a successful bite attack, it may start a grapple as a free action, which does not provoke attacks of oppurtunity. The target must be medium or smaller. Immunity to Magic(Su.): Due to it's composition of magical wood, The Lugguage is completely immune to all magic, with the rare exception of those spells that ignore spell resistance. Damage Reduction(Ex.) The Luggage fears slashing weapons, especially axes, since they pierce it's wooden exterior.. It has damage reduction of 10/slashing. Loyalty(Su.) The Luggage main purpose of it's existance is to serve it's Owner. It will follow it's owner anywhere, without any questions, except for Antimagic Fields(where it will go dormant, and become a normal chest with strange feet that doesn't do anything until it is removed from the feild.) It will follow it anywhere- if for some reason it's owner is on a different plane, the Luggage will teleport itself to that plane to continue following it's master. If it's master is threatened, it will spring into a greater frenzy, as noted above. If it's master dies, the Luggage will gain an additional +10 morale bonus to Strength, and it's critical multiplier is increased to x4, both which stack with Lugguage's Murderous Frenzy, until it's owner's murderers are dead. It will then enter a heavy depression(as if under the Crushing Despair spell) for 1d10 days, in mourning of it's owner, before seeking and/or accepting a new owner. An Ownerless Luggage will idlely wander until it takes a liking to the first person it meets. Once chosen as it's owner, the only way to stop the luggage from following the owner(other than death) is to order it to follow a new owner- in which it normally abides without question. Interdimensional Storage Space(Su): The Luggage's insides are effectively a Bag of Holding Type IV, and instead cannot be pierced, due to not being a bag- however, if the luggage is destroyed, the contents are still lost. It'll call up any item stored inside it when ordered. Retrieving an item from the luggage requires a command word from the owner(a standard action), and a standard action from the luggage. Removing the item from the luggage provokes an attack of oppurtunity, however, such a situation is rare, since the luggage is ussually in it's murderous frenzy during combat. If he consumes a portable hole(either directly or indirectly), the portable hole, and all of it's contents, are never seen again, as The Lugguage's magic immunity prevents plane shift from functioning, and destroys it, to prevent any universe destroying paradoxes. Clean Socks(Su): Any piece of equipment or clothing stored inside the Luggage for 1 hour, and then removed, is perfectly clean, and ironed if appropriate for the item. Other Notes: The Luggage has hundreds of little feet, making it exceptionally hard to trip. It gains a +10 bonus to resist trip attempts.
Darth Sephiroth 01-06-06, 11:42 PM	Isn't that thing supposed to be indestructable? I'm also not sure if an Antimagic field would work against it.
dok 01-07-06, 12:10 AM	Hit Dice: 15d10+10(85 hp) 15 * 5.5 = 82.5, rounding down to 82. 82 + 10 = 92 hp Base Attack: +11/+6/+1 The format is to list the Base Attack bonus (not iterative attacks) and the grapple modifier, like so: Base Attack/Grapple: +11/+15 (the Improved Grapple feat gives +4 to grapple, size gives -4, and strength gives +4) Attack: Bite(+15, 1d4+6 19-20x2) Again, the format is to list the bonus and the attack type, followed by the description and damage in parethesis. Your attack bonus is wrong. Attack bonus is BAB (+11) plus size (+1) plus Strength (+4), plus Weapon Focus feat (+1). So it should be +17 melee. Since the creature has neither the Improved Critical feat, nor the Augmented Critical special quality, the bite critical should be 20/x2, which is the assumed critical and doesn't need to be listed. And, if the only attack the creature can make is a single Bite, it uses x1.5 strength damage instead of x1. So the correct entry should read: Attack:+17 melee (Bite, 1d4+8) Full Attack: 3 Bites(+16/+11/+6, 1d4+6, 19-20x2) Creatures never gain iterative attacks with natural weapons. Ever. DO NOT. So either this creature has one bite, or it has three mouths and three bites, all at the same bonus. But it doesn't get to make "iterative" bites. Special Qualities: Construct Traits, Loyalty, Immunity to Magic, damage reduction 10/axes, Interdemensional Storage Space, Clean Socks, Improved Grab, Blindsense Damage Reduction by weapon type is either Piercing, Slashing, Bludegoning, or some combination thereof. Axes deal Slashing damage, so it should be "Damage Reduction 10/Slashing". Feats: Improved Grapple, Weapon Focus: Bite, Weapon Specialization: Bite(B), Extend Rage, Instantaneous Rage, Intimidating Rage You're a feat short. Either you intended this creature to have a feat and left it out (Improved Critical maybe?) or you forgot that Bonus feats don't count towards a creature's limit on feats. The creature also fails to meet the prerequisites for Improved Grapple, lacking both the prerequisite feat and the minimum dexterity score. Swallow Whole(Su.): This ability isn't much use when the creature doesn't have Improved Grab. I know this is just done for laughs, but right now, if the creature wants to Swallow an opponent, it has to make a touch attack (not a bite), then grapple, then Swallow. With Improved Grab, it would Bite (gain a free grapple) then attempt to swallow. You have Improved Grab listed in the stat block, but no description below. Without any description, I direct you to the SRD definition of Improved grab (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/naturalSpecialAbilities.htm#improvedGrab ), which says Unless otherwise noted, improved grab works only against opponents at least one size category smaller than the creature. So it can try and grab and swallow Tiny creatures. Instead, the victim is teleported into a random plane of existance, which it cannot escape. Again, I recognize this is done for laughs, but "cannot escape" is bad design. It's not a "random plane of existence", because if it was, they could wind up in Hell or the Elemental Plane of Water or in Arcadia. It's a pocket dimension. I'm OK with characters not being able to escape by "cutting their way out", but they should be able to return to the creature's "mouth" with a successful grapple check, and then escape with a second successful grapple check, the same way any other creature Swallowed Whole would be. The problem with "cannot escape" is that it feels like DM-railroading. They can't teleport, plane shift, etherial jaunt, shadow walk or use similar effects to escape? And if it's "swallow whole", how many creatures of what size can fit in the space? What happens if the space is overloaded? Greater Frenzy(Ex.): When the Luggage itself or it's owner is threatened, it enters a greater frenzy and will attack it's aggressors. I have no idea what Frenzy is or does. Actually, I do know what it is and what it does, but if I tried to use this monster without a copy of Complete Warrior at hand, I would have no clue what the Frenzy ability is. So you either need to describe the effects of Frenzy, or pick an ability that is Open Content. The Luggage's frenzy lasts 8 rounds, and has no limits on the amount of times he may use it per day. Question: if the creature can use this ability any number of times per day, and activating it is a free action that can be taken out of turn, why does this creature have Extend Rage as a feat? Damage Reduction: Being made of wood, the only weapon a Luggage fears are Axes- Hand Axes, battle axes, hatchets, Dwarven Waraxes, Great Axes, etc. Any other weapon must surpass it's damage reduction of 10. Again, I know, it's for comedy. It's schtick. Problem is, if you're going to try to follow the rules, make it a good try. Either go DR 10/slashing (which is what axes are) or just give it Hardness 5, which is what wood has. Interdimensional Storage Space(Su): The Luggage's insides are effectively a Bag of Holding Type IV, and instead cannot be pierced, due to not being a bag- however, if the luggage is destroyed, the contents are still lost. It'll call up any item stored inside it when ordered. How "effecitvely"? If it swallows a creature in possession of a portable hole, will its innards be ruptured? When you say it will "call up any item when ordered", does that mean retreiving items inside is a Standard action that does not provoke an AoO, or does retrieving item use the same rules as retrieving items from a bag of holding? Immunity to Magic You have this in the stat block, but no description underneath as to what spells or effects bypass this or interact with it. Blindsense You have this in the stat block, but no description or range given. Now, I'll be blunt. This isn't CR 10. Yes, the HD and DR look close, but you have a creature with a terrible AC (13), no SR, no ranged attacks, no mobility except running on the ground, no energy resistances, and it can only attempt to Swallow Whole tiny creatures.
Spus Widgetwatcher 01-07-06, 12:36 AM	The Improved Critcal thing was an accident- I originally intended to give it to him, however I changed my mind, and forgot to change that. -- Hmm...guess I'll have to swap it around....Probably to it attempts to grapple on a successful attack. -- Well Swords aren't that good at chopping wood, but eh. -- Thought the bonus feat counted towards the total, and a friend of mine told me that having a natural weapon qualified you for Improved Grapple, so I added it without prereqs. -- They get teleported into a Bag of Holding Style thing, hence why they suffocate in 10 minutes. Forgot about those spells when thinking of other outs other than the luggage coughing you up. -- Basically his frenzy lasts 8 rounds. He only enters it when threatened(Which I should note- he's not an attack dog, he's a guardian only). If he eats all his threatners by round 3, he has 5 rounds in which he's still running around biting people if you don't stop him. If the 8 rounds still ends and his owner is still threatened, he refrenzys for another 8 rounds of chaos. -- He's a Bag of Holding that can't be pierced- so yes, you'd give him a horrible case of indigestion taking a portable hole in with you. -- AC 13- He's an undexterous wooden box, I don't know how else to boost it. I thought i'd give the players a break since only swords can harm it effectively. -- Shall tweak it a bit.
IceFractal 01-07-06, 03:39 AM	A couple of things I'd add, if its based on the books: Trample Attack: Yes, it has no hoof attack, but it should still have a trample attack, possibly even a swarm-like automatic damage effect because of the multitude of legs. Possibly a slam attack too. Frenzy - I think this should just be a normal rage. It doesn't seem like it would be that out of control. Extend Rage - Really not needed if rage is usable at will for free. I'd replace it with Intimidating Rage, or Improved Natural Attack(bite). Some sort of self-repair ability might be a good idea - currently it would eventually inevitably wear out if the owner had no repair abilities. Not necessarily very fast - just something on the order of Fast Healing 1, or even a slower rate.
Khael 01-07-06, 05:35 AM	A couple of things I'd add, if its based on the books: Some sort of self-repair ability might be a good idea - currently it would eventually inevitably wear out if the owner had no repair abilities. Not necessarily very fast - just something on the order of Fast Healing 1, or even a slower rate. I agree some form of repair is needed, even if its by feeding on magic since as i say below the luggage does feed on the stuff. Based on the books, the luggage is also not just immune to magic, it actually feeds on magic that gets thrown at it. (but then the luggage also kills monsters that make D&D kraken look like a tiddler so...) Also i don't believe an antimagic field would affect the luggage since its not brought to life by magic now, it actually is alive. (sort of but you get the idea.) I would comment on the luggage's capacity but i guess you just trying to use the closest mechanics to build the luggage.
Spus Widgetwatcher 01-07-06, 11:40 AM	Probably a good idea, since it's a one trick pony right now(Bite/Eat/Next) -- Well the Lugguage does enjoy doing what it does. I'd imagine the Owner having to demand he stop on many occasions. This is why I made it a Frenzy- also for the Strength bonus, so his single attack could still hurt like all hell. -- I actually like the "feed off Magic" thing- maybe any spell he resists, he recovers HP=Spell Level?(IE, he absorbs Fireball, recovers 3 HP, Absorbs Meteor Swarm, recovers 9 HP)- Is there a precedent for these rules? I never read any other monster that does this. -- Considered making a Living Construct(kinda like a Warforged), but instead to just give it high enough mental scores to be considered fairly sentinent(It isn't one of the world's great thinkers, but it does have Free Will). And yeah, I know his true space is infinite, but that would make him infinitely abuseable as well, so the line must be drawn somewhere. So may as well make him a high capacity storage area.
Khael 01-07-06, 01:47 PM	Double posted, somehow. The bottom one got edited though.
Khael 01-07-06, 01:48 PM	Probably a good idea, since it's a one trick pony right now(Bite/Eat/Next) Well, the luggage was usually a one-trick pony, but its trick was normally trampling what-ever into the ground/rock. It only ate two or three people if i remember correctly -- Well the Lugguage does enjoy doing what it does. I'd imagine the Owner having to demand he stop on many occasions. This is why I made it a Frenzy- also for the Strength bonus, so his single attack could still hurt like all hell. -- I actually like the "feed off Magic" thing- maybe any spell he resists, he recovers HP=Spell Level?(IE, he absorbs Fireball, recovers 3 HP, Absorbs Meteor Swarm, recovers 9 HP)- Is there a precedent for these rules? I never read any other monster that does this. The closest i know of it golems, which heal damage from certain elements (depends on the golem) at a rate of 1 hp per 3 points of damage.-- Considered making a Living Construct(kinda like a Warforged), but instead to just give it high enough mental scores to be considered fairly sentinent(It isn't one of the world's great thinkers, but it does have Free Will). And yeah, I know his true space is infinite, but that would make him infinitely abuseable as well, so the line must be drawn somewhere. So may as well make him a high capacity storage area. The luggage is Sentient. It thinks, it has emotions, its got and been drunk at least once. It doesn't need to have high mental scores, after all its only task is to store items for its owner and obey him to a degree (also to breed new luggages but...). As i said i know the luggage capacity is being used for mechanic purposes, but i don't think the luggage can restrict breathing. Its never come up.