Post/Author/DateTime	Post
alcibyades 05-11-06, 10:46 AM	Hey, Has anyone used the Crawling Head from the Fiend Folio in an adventure? I'm thinking of making my BEG a Crawling head (the BBEG would be the thing that beheaded him), and I'm wondering how it would play out. It's listed as CR 20, but it's got AC 13 and only around 180 hit points, so I wonder if it really is a challenge to a high level party. Sharing your experiences would be appreciated. -Cheers
NexH 05-12-06, 07:16 PM	I haven't used the Crawling Head in my games... yet. But here are some thoughts: -It should never be alone, when it is capable of creating undead, and can control undead at will. (However, controling sentient undead is a dangerous business, so animate dead is better for mere meatshields.) -It has shield at will, so it should have it active all day long, for a grand total of 16 AC (it has 12 normally). -Most of the time, it shouldn't be too conserned about melee attackers, since it has DR 20/magic and piercing (see FF 3.5 update), and most melee fighters don't use piercing weapons. It has a good SR, so mages aren't immediately dangerous against it. However, archers are a very serious threat: absorb a head and quicken a finger of death targeted at them (or a Wail of the banshee if you can target any other attacker). Next, as a standard action, do it another time. -"Vorpal bite" is a nice ability, but most of the time the crawling head shouldn't be attacking in melee. -It has a huge Use Magic Device modifier; make it worth. A normal 9th level scroll costs 3,825 gp and the crawling head can use one with only a 5% chance of failure (because a 1 in UMD means a failure most of the time), Wands are cheap and give it some versatility. -If it has time to prepare against an assault that poses a threat to it, it should absorb 3 heads to increase charisma (+3 to Sp DCs), dexterity (better armor, better initiative), and Strenght (Just in case you feel like using vorpal bite) -Lastly, you may want to re-select its feats, since they aren't exactly perfectly fit for the creature. I'd drop Cleave, Great cleave and Power attack, and I'd replace them with almost anything else.