Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Eye of the Beholder 11-15-03, 11:23 PM	My Far Realms Creature Contest entry... feedback is as always welcome... ------- Opisthotonos Small Outsider (Chaotic, Extraplanar) Hit Dice: 7d8+21 (52 hp) Initiative: +7 Speed: Fly 50 ft (perfect) Armor Class: 27 (+1 size, +7 dex, +5 deflection, +4 natural) (touch 23 flat footed 20) Base Attack/Grapple: +7/+5 Attack: Slam +15 melee (1d8+3+entropy spark) Full Attack: 4 claws +15 melee (1d4+2) and tongue +10 melee (1d6+1+entropy spark) Face/Reach: 5 ft x 5 ft / 5 ft. Special Attacks: Entropy spark, expel blood, attach, backlash, corporeal redundancy Special Qualities: Phasing, Alien Mind, DR 5/lawful, SR 26, Electricity and Acid Immunity Saves: Fort +8, Ref +12, Will +8 Abilities: Str 14, Dex 25, Con 17, Int 4, Wis 16, Cha 13 Skills: Escape Artist + 12, Hide +17, Jump +12, Listen +13, Move Silently +12, Sense Motive +8, Spot +13 Feats: Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack, Weapon Finesse (b) Environment: Far Realms Organization: Single, Pair, or Swarm (3-8) Challenge Rating: 14 Treasure: None Alignment: always Chaotic Neutral Advancement: 8-14 HD (small), 15-21 HD (medium) These bizarre creatures (actually fairly typical of Far Realms physiology, if ‘typical’ can even be applied to a plane of madness incarnate) feed off emotion and are instinctively drawn to expressions of pain- especially that of their own kind. Those who have dealt with them know the opisthotoni as living plagues, each single creature an entire swarm, blinking from one alternate reality to another almost too quickly to see. Opisthotoni resemble bloated yellow-green ticks the size of small dogs, with an endless multitude of hairy, spider-like legs (only four of which are long enough for attacks, although all are quite sharp) and seven glistening eyes of varying size and color. From the center of the mass of legs comes an enormous tongue, proportioned like that of a human but more than a foot long and dripping with the creature’s own thick, milky blood. Combat An opisthotonos in combat flies about with incredible speed smashing its body into random targets (anything that moves) and then bouncing away using its Spring Attack feat. If an opponent closes to melee range, it will instead attempt to attach to the foe and obliterate it with its entropy spark. Once attached, an opisthotonos remains locked on until death. Extra creatures summoned using the Corporeal Redundancy ability attack in swarms. Entropy Spark (Su): A hit with an opisthotonos’s slam or tongue attack deals extra damage from contact with its own caustic, electrified blood, dealing an extra 1d12 electricity and 1d12 acid damage. The target continues taking a point of acid and electricity damage per round for an additional 10 rounds. Multiple entropy sparks stack, adding another point each of damage and adding five rounds to the duration each time. In addition, the strike has a 50% chance of lashing out to 1d4 other, non-opisthotonos targets within 30 feet, dealing 1d6 electricity and 1d6 acid damage but with no continuing effects. A successful Reflex save (DC 16; Con based) halves this damage, but the original target of the entropy park is not allowed a save. Expel Blood (Su): An opisthotonos can expel a bit of its own blood as a touch attack against a foe within 30 ft. A successful hit deals entropy spark damage, with the usual chances of bouncing to additional targets. Using this attack deals a point of damage to the opisthotonos but does not cause a corporeal redundancy split (see below). Attach (Ex): If an opisthotonos hits an opponent with at least two of its claw attacks it latches onto its body and automatically deals tongue damage each round it remains attached. An attached opisthotonos loses its Dexterity bonus to armor class and can be removed by killing it or by achieving a pin in a grapple. Attacks by the creature the opisthotonos is attached to suffer a -4 penalty, and casting defensively is impossible. Backlash (Su): A creature striking an opisthotonos with natural weapons or manufacured melee weapons without reach take 1d6 electricity and 1d6 acid damage from the creature’s blood. A successful reflex save (DC 16, Con based) halves this damage. Corporeal Redundancy(Su): Perhaps the most bizarre and feared aspect of the opisthotonos is its ‘corporeal redundancy’: it is actually not one creature, but an entire swarm, with the other bodies appearing as the original is damaged. Whenever an opisthotonos suffers hit point damage, no matter the source, a second one appears in an adjacent square. This ‘new’ creature is actually a duplicate of the first, so it has the same statistics, initiative count, and hit point total (ie a 66 hp opisthotonos wounded for five points of damage would result in two creatures each with 61 hp). 'Extra' copies wink out after an hour if not destroyed, while the version with the most hp becomes the new ‘original’ creature. Phasing (Su): The opisthotonos never exists entirely in one world or another, but instead moves by ‘phasing’ somewhere between the two. This has a number of effects: •A 50% miss chance as if under the effects of a blink spell. Detect Invisibility or True Seeing have no effect on this miss chance, since the creature is not actually in the same reality while phased, but a dimensional anchor does effectively negate it. •A +5 deflection bonus to armor class, since the ‘dimensional ripple’ of its passage pushes away attacks. •Improved Evasion, as the rogue/monk ability. •Finally, an opisthotonos phases out entirely when inside any antimagic effect, just like a summoned monster. Alien Mind (Ex): As a Far Realms creature, the mind of an opisthotonos is both incomprehensible and utterly maddening to non-natives. Opisthotoni are immune to mind-effecting spells cast by those not born in the Far Realms. In addition, any attempts by such creatures to read its mind (via telepathy or the detect thoughts power, for example) must make a Will save (DC 22; Cha based with a +8 circumstance bonus included) or take d6 points of Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma drain.
R.M.G.C.L.F. 11-15-03, 11:31 PM	Nice creature. Two things: 1. You forgot to list the alignment 2. You have several dice without specified numbers, like d12, d6, and d8. You need to state the number of dice and refrase them as 1d12 or 2d6 or whatever.
Eye of the Beholder 11-16-03, 02:30 AM	Bah... they'll always kill you with the fine print... Alignment wasn't forgotten, it was omitted. Worst thing to happen to the system since the vampire energy drain, if you ask me. But if it makes you happy... :rolleyes: :D Anyway, we're allowed two, right? So here's the carnimorph. ____ Carnimorph Large Outsider (Chaotic, Extraplanar) Hit Dice: 18d8+108 (189 hp) Initiative: +2 Speed: Fly 20 ft (perfect) Armor Class: 17 (-1 size, +3 dex, +5 deflection) (touch 17, flat footed 14) Base Attack/Grapple: +18/- Attack: Incorporeal touch +21 melee (baleful mutation) Full Attack: Incorporeal touch +21 melee (baleful mutation) Face/Reach: 10 ft x 20 ft / 0 ft. Special Attacks: Baneful Mutation, Aura of Madness, Possession Special Qualities: Incorporeal, Messy, Alien Mind, Plane Shift, DR 10/lawful and cold iron, SR 30, Immune to acid, sonic, disease, poison, polymorph, paralysis, stunning, and ability/energy drain, Cold and Electricity resistance 10, Blindsight 120 ft. Saves: Fort +15, Ref +12, Will +15 Abilities: Str -, Dex 17, Con 23, Int 19, Wis 18, Cha 21 Skills: Bluff +26, Diplomacy +26, Hide + 20, Intimidate +26, Knowledge (arcana) +25, Knowledge (planar) +25, Listen 25, Sense Motive + 25, Search +25, Spot +25, Survival +25, Use Magic Device +26 Feats: Alertness, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Mobility, Spring Attack, Track Environment: Far Realms Organization: Solitary Challenge Rating: 19 Treasure: None Alignment: always Chaotic Neutral Advancement: 18-27 (Large), 28+ (Huge) Carnimorphs, named for their habit of turning anything and everything they encounter into twisted monstrosities, are the colonists of the Far Realms, bringing that special bit of home plane insanity to the multiverse at large. To those able to see invisible creatures, carnimorphs resemble nothing so much as an enormous mass of bloody intestines, with a sharp claw terminating one end. The creature hurls through the air as if bouncing off a multitude of barriers present only to itself, with the clawed end out front and the rest of the guts trailing behind like the tail of a snake. Each ‘bounce,’ each shift in direction, leaves a splatter of blood, eyeballs, and disembodied mouths. While the creature itself is invisible, its airborne trail of gore is not, so this is usually all one sees of a carnimorph’s presence. [A note on the face/reach entry: it’s really big because it’s all strung out. The 10 x 20 ft space is actually the area it bounces across in one round; its speed is low because very little of its movement is actually spent going forward. And yes, it does need to move into opposing creatures’ squares to attack. It’s incorporeal, it can do that very well, thank you.] Combat A carnimorph’s strategy is simple: barrel directly through as many foes as possible while making the laws of physics cry. Baneful Mutation (Su): A creature hit by a carnimorph’s touch attack must make a Will save (DC 26; Cha based w/ +2 racial bonus) and a Fortitude save (DC 29; Con based w/ +4 racial bonus). Failing the Will save results in 1d6 charisma and wisdom damage from exposure to that which man was not meant to know; success negates. The fortitude save is far worse: even success results in d4 constitution damage. Failing the fortitude save means the body itself is infused with the chaos of the Far Realms and thus begins to transform into a hideous parody of its former self. Roll 2d10 on each of the tables below to see first what form of mutation appears, and then what part of the body is damaged when it bursts forth: 2-3 Worms/Maggots/Lampreys 4-5 Zombie Limbs 6-8 Living Organs 9-11 Spider Legs 12-14 Mantis or Crab Claws 15-16 Tenticles 17-18 Living Vines/Tree Branches 19-20 Robot Arms 2 Brain: Instant Death 3-4 Face: Blind, Can’t speak, 2d8 Con drain 5-6 Right Leg: 2d4 Con drain, -1/2 original movement 7-8 Left Leg: 2d4 Con drain, -1/2 original movement 9-13 Stomach: 2d10 Con drain 14-15 Left Arm: 2d4 Con drain, can’t use for attack/shield/spells 16-17 Right Arm: 2d4 Con drain, can’t use for attack/shield/spells 18-19 Back: 2d8 con drain, coup de grace range 15-20 (see below) 20 Heart: Instant Death Regardless of the appearance/location, the victim then has a six-foot animated appendage sticking out of his body trying to kill him. This results in 4 points of Str and Dex damage, a 50% miss chance in combat, and a 50% spell failure chance. The new limb attacks once each round on the host’s turn and misses only on a natural 1, dealing 2d8+6 pts of damage if successful. On a natural 20, treat the result as a coup de grace. A heal spell will remove the limb, as will a miracle or wish. Only regeneration will restore functionality of the damaged body part and allow recovery of the lost constitution. For those without such magic, a more drastic method is to simply hack the offending member off completely: the limbs have AC 20 (touch 15, never flatfooted) and 20 hp; damage inflicted also applies to the host. Pulling the limb off requires a DC 30 strength check and deals 30 pts of damage to the host. Creatures dying as a result of baleful mutation, either from an unlucky location or con drain, immediately gain the zombie and pseudonatural templates and rise up under the control of the carnimorph that spawned them. Aura of Madness (Su): The presence of a carnimorph disrupts the very fabric of reality and drives men mad. All living creatures within 60 ft of a carnimorph must make a Will save each round (DC 24, cha based) or take a point of wisdom and charisma damage. This area is also a wild magic effect (see Forgotten Realms or the Manual of the Planes) and any teleportation or planar travel affects into or out of the area transport the traveler to the Far Realms. Casting divination spells in the area results in immediate insanity, as the spell, without a saving throw. Antimagic fields have a 25% chance of vanishing each round. Movement rates are at -10 ft for all non-Far Realms creatures, and attacks against the carnimorph within this aura suffer a -2 luck penalty as every universal constant is bent, broken, and disintegrated. The area also has a 50% chance each round to include a random effect as a rod of wonder (see DMG). Fnord. Possession (Su): As a full-round action, a carnimorph can attempt to enter the body of any corporeal creature of size Small or greater. A Will save (DC 26, Cha based w/ +2 racial bonus) negates the possession. Once possessed, a creature automatically suffers the full effects of Baneful Mutation every round until dead, at which point it becomes a pseudonatural zombie as normal. The carnimorph can control the host body as a magic jar spell, using the host’s physical ability scores and extraordinary abilities and keeping its own mental ability scores plus Alien Mind and Blindsight. In this form all damage suffered applies only to the host. The carnimorph can be forced out of the body with a dispel chaos or banishment spell; the host also gets another Will save every round to regain control. Once forced out, the carnimorph cannot attempt to possess that creature again for 24 hours. Incorporeal: Yeah. It’s incorporeal. See the MM. Messy (Ex): Despite its invisibility, the carnimorph leaves bloody splatter in the air every time it turns. Thus, while full concealment (50% miss chance) still applies for attackers who can’t see invisible objects, the creature’s location can always be determined. Alien Mind (Ex): Far Realms creatures just don’t think like the rest of the multiverse. The carnimorph is immune to mind-affecting abilities cast by those not native to the Far Realms. Plane Shift (Sp): A carnimorph can plane shift, as an 18th level spellcaster, once per day.
The Ethereal Wickerman 11-16-03, 03:42 AM	Wow!. The carnimorph is cool. Do you mind if I use that in my upcoming campaign...:D
Eye of the Beholder 11-16-03, 11:22 AM	Not at all! Glad you like it.
R.M.G.C.L.F. 11-16-03, 11:48 AM	Sorry, just one final comment: Could you change the alignment to often, usually, or always to indicate what amount of the creatures are chaotic neutral? Thanks.
Eye of the Beholder 11-16-03, 12:24 PM	bah... ::bamf!:: done
R.M.G.C.L.F. 11-16-03, 12:27 PM	Okay. I'll stop bugging you know.
The Ethereal Wickerman 11-16-03, 01:47 PM	Originally posted by Eye of the Beholder Not at all! Glad you like it. Thanks, its always hard to find enemies for my party that are weirder than they are...:D
Eco-Mono 11-20-03, 01:53 PM	*Reads the Opisthotonos* *thinks it's pretty weird and fun* *Reads the Carnimorph* *runs away with pink lemonade coming out of ears*
Eye of the Beholder 11-20-03, 06:40 PM	Originally posted by Eco-Mono *Reads the Opisthotonos* *thinks it's pretty weird and fun* *Reads the Carnimorph* *runs away with pink lemonade coming out of ears* See kids? Scaring people can be fun! :teach: :devil:
Mergandisevender 12-05-03, 11:35 AM	This Carnimorph is simply the most evil thing I've seen in a while. Could I use it as well in one of my campaigns? I'm running the WarCraft III Campaign Setting, and I need something REALLY twisted for the Burning Legion to use..
Eye of the Beholder 12-05-03, 06:33 PM	Well sure... I mean, it's not like I have much control at this point is it? :D But really, I'm flattered. "One of the most evil things you've seen in a long while"? I'll consider that a compliment. :devil: Burning Legion, eh? Strikes me more as something one of the Faceless Ones from that Undead level of the Frozen Throne would have (I mean, they're basically mind flayers) but whatever works. And remember to vote in the Far Realms Creature Contest! Obviously I'm a little biased (go carnimorph!) but seriously, there's a lot of great entries. A little bit of madness is just what D&D needs.