Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Malchius 11-18-07, 11:24 AM	Creeper Small Outsider(Evil, Native) Hit Dice: 1d8 - 3 (1hp) Initiative: 4 Speed: 30ft (6 squares) Armour Class: 25 (+1 size, +4 Dex, +5 Natural, +5 Dodge) touch 20, flat-footed 16 Base Attack/ Grapple: 1/-4 Attack: Claw +5 (1d2-1) Full Attack: Claw +5 (1d2-1) Space/ Reach: 5ft./ 5ft. Special Attacks: - Special Qualities: Darkvision 60ft, Outsider Traits, Silver Obsession Saves: Fort -1, Ref +6, Will +2 Abilities: Str 8, Dex 18, Con 4, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10 Skills: Appraise +8*, Hide + 12, Move Silently +8, Sleight of Hand +8, Open Lock +12, Spot +4, Listen +4, Search +8* Feats: Weapon Finesse Environment: Any Organization: Solitary, Pair or Gang (4-6) Challenge Rating: 1 Treasure: Half coins (silver only), standard items, no gems Alignment: Always Neutral Evil Advancement: - Level Adjustment: - The creeper has bright green skin, enlarged canines, black pupils, large pointed ears and claws but otherwise looks identical to a Halfling. Originally created by an evil wizard to guard his tower while he was searching for powerful artifacts, the Creepers never saw proper combat only engaging in minor skirmishes with Rats and the occasional unlucky wanderer. The Creepers grew bored after years of guarding and instead opted to torment a nearby villagers. The Creepers would go every night and vandalise villager’s houses, it was during one of these raiders that the Creepers first set eyes on their most prized substance, silver. It captivated them, They then set a new goal, to gain at least 10 silver pieces each every night. Creepers speak Common and Draconic(which they learnt from study of the tower walls). Combat Creepers prefer guile to combat and brute force, but when cornered the creepers will unleash the fury of their claws. A Creeper will often take advantage of an escape route if one is presented but will fight to the death to protect his silver. Creepers will fight separate enemies so that when they have disposed of the threat they will not have to share any silver the person may have possessed. Silver Obsession (Ex.): If a creeper observes silver within 10', the creeper must succeed on a Will save (DC 10 + 1 per sp value of the silver) or be distracted by the silver, losing their move action on their next turn. A creeper gains a +4 bonus to this save if there is an immediate and obvious threat nearby. Skills: Creepers have + 4 Racial bonuses of Appraise and Open Lock. Carrying Capacity: A light load for a Creeper is up to 19 pounds; a medium load, 20-40 pounds; and a heavy load, 41-60 pounds. A Creeper can drag 300 pounds. Right, firstly the monster was designed to promote the use of flanking, or aid another in combat. But the monster can also be defeated using a variety of methods, some spells work exceptionally well. However, I have a few concerns. Is This Monster too powerful for Challenge Rating one? Is the Silver Obsession too abusable? Any ideas to further develop the creature would also be much appreaciated. And feel welcome to point out any errors i've made.
Talisman 11-18-07, 12:52 PM	[Talisman shows up with a basket full of peaches] Creeper Small Outsider(Evil, Native) Hit Dice: 1d8 - 3 (1hp) Why such horrible hp? I see the mechanical answer...that 4 (!) Con...but why? Literally, any hit will kill them! Armour Class: 25 (+1 size, +4 Dex, +5 Natural, +5 Deflection) touch 20, flat-footed 16 Where does the +5 deflection modifier come from?? And why on Oerth a +5 natural armor bonus? This is WAY too high for a CR 1. A 1st-level fighter with 18 Str, Weapon Focus and a MW weapon needs to roll an 18 to hit these boogers! Scrap the deflection bonus entirely and drop the natural armor to +2 or +3...this makes an AC of 16-17, which is still a challenge but much more doable. Attack: Claw +5 (1d2-1) Full Attack: Claw +5 (1d2-1) They essentially do 1 point of damage with a claw (1d2-1 = 0-1, rounded to 1). I suggest upping this to 1d3-1 or even 1d4-1, to make them actually dangerous. Also, consider giving them an extra claw attack on a full attack. Saves: Fort -4, Ref +6, Will +2 Fort save should be -1 (+2 base, -3 Con) Treasure: 10sp 10 sp exactly? That rather odd. If they run home once they acquire 10 sp, shouldn't this be 1d10 sp? Better yet, how about: Half coins (silver only), standard items, no gems. Advancement: - Level Adjustment: - They can't advance at all? Again, there's nothing inherently wrong with this, but it's strange. I can totally see an elite Creeper taking rogue, sorcerer or warlock levels. They have an Int of 10, as high as an average human and most warrior-types, making it even odder that they can't advance in character classes. Silver Obsession (Ex.): I someone offers a Creeper silver, it will accept the silver as an offering and inspect for a few seconds, this will means a Creeper will miss it’s turn in the initiative. Too powerful. If anyone figures this out, creepers become utterly pointless: ~Creepers attack ~Bard offers them 1 sp. ~Other PCs maul the creepers ~Creepers miss their turn due to silver obsession ~Bard offers another 1 sp ~Etc. Instead, how about this: If a creeper observes silver within 10', the creeper must succeed on a Will save (DC 10 + 1 per sp value of the silver) or be distracted by the silver, lsoing their move action on their next turn. A creeper gains a +4 bonus to this save if there is an immediate and obvious threat nearby (such as sword-wielding party members). Is This Monster too powerful for Challenge Rating one? Yes and no. AC is way too high. However, attacks are pretty trivial. Is the Silver Obsession too abusable? As written: hell yes. Any ideas to further develop the creature would also be much appreaciated. And feel welcome to point out any errors i've made. Since these guys are intended to provide flanks and otherwise help out in combat, how about giving them Great Ally as the kenku (MM3)? Basically, double the flanking bonus they provide (+4 instead of +2) and whenever they provide a bonus from aid another or whatever, it's 1 point higher (+3 instead of +2).
Malchius 11-18-07, 01:05 PM	ahh thank you, the stats are weird for a purpose, the hp is 1 so that any hit will kill them but the AC is high so they're near impossible to hit, the party is meant to flank them, or catch them flat-footed, they're mant purposely so a first level fighter with 18 str weapon focus and a mw weapon can't go in and kill a whole room of them. the claw damage is meant to do one, I was considering 1d3 -1, but the main point in the monster is just to see how a party works together, a party that doesn't co-operate will not defeat them so easily even with 1d2-1 for damage, but if a party works together it's much easier. thanks for pointing out the error on their Fort, and really they're money that was a bit dumb. And Your version of Silver Obsession is much better. I have no real reason for the AC bonus's except the out of game reason for them to be unhittable except by working together, or by being a wizard with the right spells. Maybe I should change the Deflection Bonus to a Dodge Bonus, as it makes more sense nevertheless. I left Advancement at - because I wasn't too sure, so I decided to keep it simple while I asked for Opinions, but I would like them to be capable of advancing. I'll change to the stats using your suggestions.
Sudnji_cas 11-19-07, 04:21 PM	This reminds me of those creatures in Morrowind, but it's even better.
Malchius 11-19-07, 04:45 PM	Thank you, it's where I got the inspiration from really, Scamps, mostly the appearance and the name took from Creeper, the one that sells stuff. It's actually the first time I've made a creature, so I don't really know if it's a success or not.
Talisman 11-20-07, 09:28 PM	Just had a thought... Since these guys exist to provide flanking bonuses and otherwise work as a team, consider this instead of an arbitrary +5 dodge bonus: Team Defense (Ex): For every conscious, active ally within 15', a creeper gains a +1 dodge bonus to AC, to a maximum of +5.
Malchius 11-21-07, 02:43 PM	That's a good idea Talisman but the Creepers as they are, are meant to make the party use flanking and aid another more often as it will sometimes be the only to defeat them. I may create variants of the Creepers though and I'll probably make use of your suggested ability as it adds a unique style to their combat.
Barticus 11-22-07, 01:24 AM	I dont see how this creature is supose to last through the first round... Its got alot of skills (more then the rogue at the same level) and yet you give it 1 hp?? Sounds like a cannon meal if you ask me, shoot and kill....
Malchius 11-22-07, 02:55 PM	I dont see how this creature is supose to last through the first round... Its got alot of skills (more then the rogue at the same level) and yet you give it 1 hp?? Sounds like a cannon meal if you ask me, shoot and kill.... First try shooting it at all at first, second or even third level. It was meant to have high AC but low hits and damage so it doesn't just get shot and killed like most low CR creatures. Also it has the same amount of skill points as a Rogue, 8+ int mod which is what outsider's get, I made all skills class because I have no idea what skills are class for outsiders.
Talisman 11-22-07, 04:01 PM	I made all skills class because I have no idea what skills are class for outsiders. A monster's class skills as "whatever skills are listed in its description." This is only important for advanced monsters/monsters with class levels/PC monsters. Essentially, when you create a new monster, you decide what its class skills are.
xpochian 11-22-07, 04:18 PM	...instead of an arbitrary +5 dodge bonus: speaking of, where exactly does this bonus come from? i see nothing explaining why a CR1 crit has this, maybe even make a new (ex) ability denoting it; stilll, were i to use them, i'd drop it as it'd make even a pair of them a pain for a low-level party.
Malchius 11-22-07, 05:14 PM	speaking of, where exactly does this bonus come from? i see nothing explaining why a CR1 crit has this, maybe even make a new (ex) ability denoting it; stilll, were i to use them, i'd drop it as it'd make even a pair of them a pain for a low-level party. Good Point, I May have to think of an ingame reason, they're meant to be more of an annoyance, less of a pain, to a low level group, especially a low level group with a wizard with sleep or colour spray, burning hands or even magic missile. Probably the best class in my opinion at low level to fight them seems to be Dragonfire adepts. Which is stange as they are a relatively underpowered class.
Grizzled Gryphon 11-22-07, 08:35 PM	You just have to hope that the caster of the party fighting these things doesnt have Magic Misslie memorized.
divinebadger 11-25-07, 02:21 PM	You just have to hope that the caster of the party fighting these things doesnt have Magic Misslie memorized. or True Strike. Then teh wizard could probably crush it to death in a grapple.
Malchius 11-25-07, 03:12 PM	Sure at the cost of a spell or two, which can prove to be a lot at low levels.