Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Galahad_Knight 09-07-03, 09:24 AM	The Crawling claw is a critter from the Monsters of Faerun. It's basically a construct (why not undead, I have no idea) made from the severed left (why only left?) hand of a humanoid. I figured these things would be pretty interesting if they were made into a swarm because, really...it's all about 1500 severed hands. I mean holy smite, can you even get that image out of your head now? Besides, it's almost 6AM and I'm still up...so I'll make the res tof you suffer with me. Crawling Claw Swarm Diminuitive Construct (swarm) Hit Dice: 10d10 (55 HP) Speed: 20ft Initiative: +0 Armor Class: 15 (+1 nat, +5 size) Base Attack/Grapple: +7/-- Attack: Swarm (2d6) Full Attack: Swarm (2d6) Space/Reach: 10ft/0ft Special Attacks: Distraction, Smite Fallen, Takedown Special Qualities: Construct Traits, Immunities, SR 10, Immune to Weapon Damage, Swarm Traits Saves: Fort: +3, Ref: +3, Will: +0 Abilities: Str 10, Dex 10, Con --, Int --, Wis 5, Cha 5 Skills: None Feats: None Environment: Who knows? Organization: Solitary, Applause (2-4 swarms), Ovation (11-20 swarms) Challenge Rating: 4 Treasure: None Alignment: Always Neutral Advancement: None Level Adjustment: -- (Call a shrink if they even ask) A writhing, crawling, surging wave of severed hands skitters towards you. No, you're not delusional, it's real. Crawling Claw Swarms are created by insane mages with too many hands on their time...or time on their hands...or both. The cinsist of 1,500 animated humanoid hands and, really, that is as disgusting as it sounds or possibly moreso. COMBAT Crawling Claw Swarms mob unwary adventurers, especially ones that have fallen down. They will seek to attack a prone target before attempting to swarm those who are standing. The swarm deals 2d6 damage to any creatures whose space it occupies at the end of its move. Distraction (Ex): Any living creature that begins its turn with a swarm in its space must succeed on a DC: 16 Fortitude save or be nausiated for 1 round. The save DC is Con-Based Smite Fallen (Ex): Crawling Claw Swarms do double-damage to prone creatures. Immunities (Ex): In addition to the normal construct immunities, Crawling Claw Swarms are immune to blindness and gaze attacks ebcause they have no eyes. Takedown: A Creeping Claw Swarm is treated as Medium for the purposes of Trip attempts. If they are already in the same space as the opponent then they do not draw an attack of oportunity for attempting a trip. Basically...it's 1,500 severed left hands...they would rule if they had a frelling grapple and/or trip bonus, but a clever DM can put them somewhere with a really slippery floor. For DMs who like freaking the living hell out of their players. Edit: I added a takedown ability to make it more challenging, forgot to note that last night.
Nerfix 09-07-03, 09:40 AM	"Why left hands?" Because left hands were thought to be a channel for evil powers in midle-ages. It was believed that especialy the left hands of evil criminals had strong, evil powers. That's what i have heard.
pindanin 09-07-03, 11:40 AM	Because the a left hander beat up the creator one to many times.
Daeri Maer'jiir 09-07-03, 02:13 PM	:OMG! I'm so using this! What did I say?:embarrass
Boondoggle 09-07-03, 05:23 PM	Organization: Solitary, Applause (2-4 swarms), Ovation (11-20 swarms) :rofl:
Galahad_Knight 09-07-03, 05:49 PM	Glad you guys like it <chuckles> Swarms are fun.
cowdragon 09-07-03, 08:42 PM	Why left hands? Well, I'm left-handed, and I'll tell you, left hands are more dextrous, stronger, and "handier". ;) Really though, I love this. I'm gonna use it to freak out my party dude. Great idea. The Cowdragon:D
Galahad_Knight 09-07-03, 09:20 PM	LOL, glad you like it, CD. Just remember though that Sinister, Under-Handed and Sneaky are all terms for left-handed. :D You devious lefty
EvilDuck 09-07-03, 09:46 PM	Wow, this is just, wow. Luckily, I'm DMing at my next game so in thses guys go:D
Giant in the Playground 09-07-03, 11:36 PM	GK, I love it but I wanted to point out a technical inaccuracy. You have the swarms listed as taking "half damage from slashing and piercing" which is presumably a holdover from the Crawling Claw description. However, swarms of Diminiutive creatures are actually immune to ALL weapon damage: MM 3.5, p. 316. Just being nitpicky... ;)
Galahad_Knight 09-07-03, 11:46 PM	Oops. Actually, I copied that out of the MM entry on bat swarms. I'll make the change. But I wonder, does that make them too touch for their CR? Perhaps I should lower the Hd a bit.
Count Arioch the 28th 09-08-03, 07:35 AM	They are left hands because of Vecna? :confused: (At least, it makes a reference to that in my old 2E Ravenloft campaign setting, if you left Vecna's domain of Cavitious without his permission, a huge swarm of crawling claws accosted you, so I assumed he created them first. Of course, Vecna's not in FR, so I guess I might not be correct.)
Galahad_Knight 09-08-03, 08:53 AM	I blame the 'sinister' thing, really. Of course, IMC it doesn't matter right or left. But I figured I should be faithful to the original and say left.
Giant in the Playground 09-08-03, 03:03 PM	Originally posted by Galahad_Knight Oops. Actually, I copied that out of the MM entry on bat swarms. Actually, that appears to be a typo, as near as I can tell. The Swarm rules clearly state that swarms of Diminuative animals are immune to weapon damage. Sigh... Originally posted by Galahad_Knight I'll make the change. But I wonder, does that make them too tough for their CR? Perhaps I should lower the Hd a bit. I think that would be a good start, or raising the CR. 66 hp is a lot of damage to do at 4th level when you have no weapons that work, you are too low level to use fireball, they are immune to a bunch of spells, and have spell resistance!
The Gray 09-08-03, 03:41 PM	I like it; I'd only say increase the CR a bit. Also, 1500 hands seems like it'd be a bit bigger than a toad (Diminutive), so I'd probably increase the size or decrease the number of hands.
d_nychus 09-08-03, 04:28 PM	I'm just picturing all 1500 hands giving the party cleric the finger when he tries to turn them.
Galahad_Knight 09-08-03, 04:58 PM	Gray, Swarm sizes are based on the size of the composing creature, not the total number. So a swarm of deminuitive creatures is deminuitive. I was thinking fo rasing the CR, but if you look at them, besides HP and the damage they do, the''re not that tough. THey have a rediculouslky low AC and pathetic saves. ANd their SR is negligable But yeah, with the weapon imunity theya re a bit too tough for CR 4. I think I'll just lower the HD.
Galahad_Knight 09-08-03, 10:18 PM	I dropped two hit-dice, which lowers its swarm damage by a d6 and took off 11 HP. Should be a little cushier for CR 4. It'll still be tough though.
piwi 09-09-03, 08:39 AM	Originally posted by Boondoggle :rofl: with only left hands how do you aplause:confused: ;)
Galahad_Knight 09-09-03, 08:51 AM	"What is the sound of one hand clapping?" "Easy. It's 'cl--', of course. The other hand makes the '--ap'."
Count Arioch the 28th 09-09-03, 01:59 PM	The simpsons answered that old proverb: Lisa: What is the sound of one hand clapping? Bart: This! (Closes one hand sharply several times, making a clapping sound)
The Gray 09-09-03, 03:22 PM	Originally posted by Galahad_Knight Gray, Swarm sizes are based on the size of the composing creature, not the total number. So a swarm of deminuitive creatures is deminuitive. Really? I didn't know that.
EvilDuck 09-09-03, 06:27 PM	Originally posted by piwi with only left hands how do you aplause:confused: ;) Across the land, crawling claws flipped the bird at piwi due to this remak.
piwi 09-10-03, 08:24 AM	Originally posted by EvilDuck Across the land, crawling claws flipped the bird at piwi due to this remak. :heehee :looloo:
The Might Rex 02-17-04, 02:23 PM	I used this the other night, and it really gave my players fits! I couldn't believe it, ninth level characters afraid to enter a room! They finally gave up and turned back, rather than face the unknown monster. I do have a question, however. Aren't constructs immune to magic? And swarms are immune to weapon damage. That would make a swarm of constructs a pretty tough opponent.
Teron Gorefiend 02-17-04, 02:38 PM	Originally posted by The Might Rex I used this the other night, and it really gave my players fits! I couldn't believe it, ninth level characters afraid to enter a room! They finally gave up and turned back, rather than face the unknown monster. I do have a question, however. Aren't constructs immune to magic? And swarms are immune to weapon damage. That would make a swarm of constructs a pretty tough opponent. Nah. It's just golems that are immune to (most) spells. By default, constructs blow up just like anything else. Fear the Severed Legion!
primemover003 06-27-04, 08:08 AM	Organization: Solitary, Applause (2-4 swarms), Ovation (11-20 swarms) I too found the Ovation to be a one up on the applause from the original! However isn't the Smite Fallen ability a little powerful in swarm form? A single claw only does 1 point of damage... 4d6 is pretty nasty fo a group of 4th level characters.
SirGog 06-27-04, 06:48 PM	Originally posted by d_nychus I'm just picturing all 1500 hands giving the party cleric the finger when he tries to turn them. :lol: :rofl:
Red_Rapida 06-27-04, 06:54 PM	These things are cool, now I just need somewhere to put them so my PCs met them.
ConfusedUs 06-27-04, 10:44 PM	I ran an encounter against these in my last campaign. The look on my PCs faces was priceless. The PCs befriending the sole surviving crawling claw was great. Lefty, the severed right hand, was an awesome NPC capable of extensive illusion magic.