Post/Author/DateTime	Post
The Vorpal Tribble 09-08-05, 10:50 AM	Ok, my favorite artist of all time is a polish fellow named Jacek Yerka. Comes up with scenes that a Far Realm native would get cross-eyed at. His paintings have been an inspiration to alot of my own stuff, and I thought maybe I could stat up some of the 'creatures' in his paintings. However, this one stumped me: http://my.photosleeve.com/TheVorpalTribble-albums/Mindfields/aai.jpg How in the world do you place it? Is it a construct? Well, no, its got food and water over there. Is it an aberration? Could be, except it doesn't appear to be made of much flesh and blood. Is it a construct in symbiosis with another creature? What? I'd like to make it a far realm thing, but so much there doesn't follow normal rules so that it coudl be a living, breathing, eating miniature house (or even a full-sized one and this thing is one one heavy duty perch...) so how does one stat it up?
Slagger the Chuul 09-08-05, 11:03 AM	It's a construct that can eat, so write it up as a construct that can eat.
Keenath 09-08-05, 11:36 AM	I'm guessing that's a small version of Baba Yaga's house, which ran around on chicken legs. What is it? Kinda looks like a plant creature to me, actually. Does that help any? On the other hand, an aberration can be darn near anything, with just about any biology, so that could work too.
The Vorpal Tribble 09-08-05, 12:01 PM	It's a construct that can eat, so write it up as a construct that can eat. Aye, guess I could ;) I'm guessing that's a small version of Baba Yaga's house, which ran around on chicken legs. Hrmmm, does in a way. Baba Yaga hatchling? ;P What is it? Kinda looks like a plant creature to me, actually. Does that help any? Beats me. He's known for painting his dreams and the vague, disjointed memories of his early childhood. It looks part animal, part plant, part construct. But your right, an aberration is basically what none of the other categories cover.
Olly 09-08-05, 02:17 PM	Oh. My. God. That's utterly awesome! You have to stat it up, Trib. It'd be the perfect oddity for my NPC wizard's pet shop! :D
ticattack 09-09-05, 07:25 AM	What about an aberration that lives as a parasite/symbiote to an object or construct (Or for big ones, a building)? When a rock-slug is born, it finds and attatches itself to a rock, or a pine cone, or something of similiar size. The can fly slowly (5 ft. speed, clumsy maneuverability), taking their new home with them. A rock-slug spends most of its time searching for food. Younger rock-slugs can digest almost any organic matter, but they seem to prefer small mammals, like mice, rats, or even something the size of a housecat. This has lead to some farmers keeping them in their storehouses. This is all well and good, but when the supply of rats grows short, the rock-slug will begin eating the grain it was supposed to protect. Some children keep them as pets, though even parents this permissive make sure the creature is killed within a year. After a year or two of decent food supply, a rock-slug will have grown too big for its rock home. It will cast this off, and move into something more appropriate, often shields, weapons, helmets made for ogres and so on. In this state, a rock-slug can be a danger. It will rarely attack an adult human, unless starving, but dogs or small children are fair game. After several years of this, a rock-slug grows even more. It will take up residence in a suit of full-plate armour, a human-sized construct, or something of similiar size. In this stage, it is often a threat to small, nearby settlements. Children, working animals, halfings and gnomes, or full-grown men may dissapear overnight, leaving no trace but a few drops of blood. After about three decades of life, a rock-slug will once again move. In this stage, it will take up residence in a carriage, a halfling caravan, a one room shack, or a smallish tree. It is a definate danger to almost anything it encounters, constantly striving to satisfy its insatiable hunger. After a century of existence, a stage that few rock slugs get to, an ancient oak, or a house, complete with its inhabitants, will often dissapear overnight. Such a creature, while rare, may be responsible for the destruction of entire villages. The next stage of a rock-slug's life has never been recorded, but is told of in some legends. It is rumoured that a creature who has lived for three millenia will grow so large as to be lift an entire town, or patch of forest off the ground. The damage such a beast could cause is incomprehensible, akin to a natural disaster of huge proportions. Rock Slug Tiny Abberation Hit Dice: 1/4d8 (1 hp) Initiative: +4 Speed: Fly* 5 ft. (Clumsy Man.) Armor Class: 18 (+4 Dex, +2 Size, +2 Natural) touch 16, flat-footed 14 Base Attack: +0 Attack: - Full Attack: - Space/Reach: 2 1/2 ft./0 ft. Special Attacks: Consume Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., Scent, Blindsight Saves: Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +0 Abilities: Str 3, Dex 18, Con 8, Int -, Wis 6, Cha 1 Skills: Survival +8** Environment: Any Organization: Always Solitary, except for outside intervention. Challenge Rating: Advancement: Next stage Rock Slug Small Abberation Hit Dice: 1d8 (4 hp) Initiative: +3 Speed: Fly* 5 ft. (Clumsy Man.) Armor Class: 17 (+3 Dex, +1 Size, +3 Nat) 14 touch, 14 flat-footed Base Attack/Grapple: +1 Attack: - Full Attack: - Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft. Special Attacks: Consume Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., Scent, Blindsight Saves: Fort +0, Ref +3, Will +0 Abilities: Str 3, Dex 16, Con 10, Int -, Wis 6, Cha 1 Skills: Survival +8 Challenge Rating: Rock Slug Medium Abberation Hit Dice: 2d8 (11 hp) Initiative: +2 Speed: Fly* 5 ft. (Clumsy Man.) Armor Class: 16 (+2 Dex, +4 Nat) 12 touch, 14 flat-footed Base Attack/Grapple: +1 Attack: - Full Attack: - Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft. Special Attacks: Consume Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft. Saves: Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +1 Abilities: Str 3, Dex 14, Con 12, Int -, Wis 6, Cha 1 Skills: Survival +8** Challenge Rating: Rock Slug Large Abberation Hit Dice: 4d8 (26 hp) Initiative: +1 Speed: Fly* 5 ft. (Clumsy Man.) Armor Class: 16 (+1 Dex, -1 Size, +6 Nat) 10 touch, 15 flat-footed Base Attack/Grapple: +3 Attack: - Full Attack: - Space/Reach: 10 ft/5 ft. Special Attacks: Consume Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., Scent, Blindsight Saves: Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +2 Abilities: Str 3, Dex 12, Con 14, Int -, Wis 6, Cha 1 Skills: +8 Survival** Challenge Rating: Rock Slug Huge Abberation Hit Dice: 8d8(60 hp) Initiative: +0 Speed: Fly* 5 ft. Armor Class: 16 (-2 Size, +8 Nat) 8 touch, 16 flat-footed Base Attack/Grapple: Attack: +6 Full Attack: - Space/Reach: 15 ft./10 ft. Special Attacks: Consume Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., Scent, Blindsight Saves: Fort +6, Ref +3, Will +4 Abilities: Str 3, Dex 10, Con 16, Int -, Wis 6, Cha 1 Skills: +8 Survival** Challenge Rating: Rock Slug Gargantuan Abberation Hit Dice: 24d8 (204 hp) Initiative: -1 Speed: Fly* 5 ft. Armor Class: 17 (-1 Dex, -4 Size, +12 Nat) 5 touch, 18 flat-footed Base Attack/Grapple: +18 Attack: - Full Attack: - Space/Reach: 20 ft./15 ft. Special Attacks: Consume Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., Scent, Blindsight Saves: Fort +, Ref +, Will + Abilities: Str 3, Dex 8, Con 18, Int -, Wis 6, Cha 1 Skills: +8 Survival** Challenge Rating: *A Rock-slug cannot fly more than 1 foot per category from the ground. So, a tiny rock slug could move 1 foot from the ground, and a medium, 3 feet. **A rock-slug gets a +10 bonus on survival checks to track using the scent feat. Consume: A rock-slug will try and move onto any living creature it senses. If it it is smaller than the victim, it will try to latch onto it, and if it is larger it will simply envelop the victim. The victim gets a Reflex save (DC 15) to avoid being latched onto. The victim can try and tear the rock-slug off with a strength check (DC 15). This deals 1d4 damage on a failure, and 1d8 damage on a success. Each round that a rock-slug remains attatched, it deals 1 point of temporary constitution damage to the victim, and regains 1d4 hit points. A victim of an eveloping rock-slug must suceed at a grapple check, or be enveloped. An enveloped creature cannot move, but if the rock-slug moves, the enveloped creature moves with it, staying in the same part of the rock-slug. Each round, it can attempt a Fort save. On a success, it can move 5 feet that round. Each round that an enveloped creature remains within the rock-slug, it takes 1d3 points of temporary constitution loss, and the rock-slug regains 3d10 hit points. I've left out the CR, because I'm no expert at judging that. Anyway, I don't know if this is anything like what you want, but it might be useful. The picture could be one who has taken over a dolls house?
Slagger the Chuul 09-09-05, 11:27 AM	Beats me. He's known for painting his dreams and the vague, disjointed memories of his early childhood. It looks part animal, part plant, part construct. But your right, an aberration is basically what none of the other categories cover. I could see this going two ways; either you stat it up as a construct that can eat (treating it like an abnormal, sentient variety of animated object), or you treat it as an aberration and attempt to assign all the appropriate abilities. Which path you choose depends on whether you think it's a construct that looks like a living thing, or a living thing that looks like a construct.