Creature Catalogue Overhaul Project Revisited

Okay, reading the above two entries I quickly noticed a few things which leads me to suspect this monster needs a lot more tweaking than I first thought. Maybe we should consider rebuilding it from scratch.

Firstly, Ooze is definitely the wrong Type! My first thought was Vermin, for obvious reasons, however I had second thought after my next observations.

Secondly, the original creature has Magic Resistance and has a "Very low" intelligence rather than being Mindless. That, in combination with its creation of magical honey says Magical Beast to me.

Thirdly, the "Engulf" special attack of the original looks a bit superfluous for a 3.5 swarm, since it functions very similarly to a combination of a 3.5 swarm's Swarm Attack and Distraction abilities. However it has a few interesting elements like the ability to block vision and halve movement speed.

Fourthly, it's need the Flyby Attack or Improved Flyby Attack for it to "Whiz-bang" its opponents like it's described as doing, otherwise it'd have to attack at the end of its move like normal. Actually maybe we should give it a Special Attack that's similar to a Flyby Attack instead with some of the elements from the original's Engulf attack? It's worth considering.

Statwise, I think we can use the Hellwasp Swarm and Locust Swarm as models.

Fifthly, what size are we making it? The original creature is vulnerable to weapon damage, but if we make it a Diminutive Swarm like its size would indicate it'd be immune to weapons.

Hmm… upon reflection I think we ought to have these statted as individual creatures AND a swarm so we can cover both bases. Making it an individual creature would be closer to the original monster.

So shall I whip up a Working Draft with a first shot at the creature to give us something to argue about?

OK, I agree with most of that. In other words, yes to Magical Beast Swarm, probably just Flyby or Imp Flyby as bonus feat(s), yes to basing it on the Hellwasp Swarm. I would make it Diminutive --- lots of critters that turned into "undamageable" swarms in 3.5 took damage in earlier editions, I think. I don't actually see the need to make an individual critter, though, since the original pretty much sounds like it always attacks in bunches. So let's do a first working draft of a swarm, then argue about the original critter.

I was thinking about adding a special attack to put some kind of minor stunning along with the Swarm damage, but Distraction might be good enough.

freyar said:

OK, I agree with most of that. In other words, yes to Magical Beast Swarm, probably just Flyby or Imp Flyby as bonus feat(s), yes to basing it on the Hellwasp Swarm. I would make it Diminutive --- lots of critters that turned into "undamageable" swarms in 3.5 took damage in earlier editions, I think.

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I was going to go for Diminutive too, since any size categories larger are implausible for a creature only an inch or two long.

freyar said:

I think. I don't actually see the need to make an individual critter, though, since the original pretty much sounds like it always attacks in bunches. So let's do a first working draft of a swarm, then argue about the original critter.

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Too late! I've already statted one up.

I'll start up a Working Draft with the Swarm and append the individual version to the post.

freyar said:

I was thinking about adding a special attack to put some kind of minor stunning along with the Swarm damage, but Distraction might be good enough.

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Yes, I was wondering about that. That might just be colourful flavour text though.

Maybe give them an enhanced Distraction of some sort? So they can affect opponents just by moving through their space, or apply a hindrance less than nauseated even if their opponents make their save?

Whiz-Bang Beetle Working Draft

Whiz-Bang Beetle Swarm
Diminutive Magical Beast (Swarm)
Hit Dice: 7d10 (38 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 5 ft. (1 squares), fly 300 ft. (perfect)
Armor Class: 18 (+4 size, +4 Dex), touch 18, flat-footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple: +7/–
Attack: Swarm (2d6) or whiz-bang (2d6)
Full Attack: Swarm (2d6) or whiz-bang (2d6)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks: Distraction, whiz-bang
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., immune to weapon damage, sense combustion, swarm traits, spell resistance 16
Saves: Fort +7, Ref +9, Will +4
Abilities: Str 1, Dex 18, Con 10, Int 1, Wis 10, Cha 3
Skills: Listen +7, Spot +7
Feats: Alertness, Great Fortitude, Iron Will, Weapon Finesseᴮ
Environment: Underground
Organization: solitary, whirr (2-4) or murmuration (7-12)
Challenge Rating: 5
Treasure: Honey (see text)
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: None
Level Adjustment: —

A buzzing cloud of grey-black creatures a few inches long. The few that stop long enough to view clearly reveal themselves to be beetle-like insects with two pairs of membranous wings propelling a bullet-shaped body that smoothly curves to a pointed head and abdomen. Its head's “nose end” looks much sharper and more thickly armored than the “tail end”. The head has two small sunken eyes and a pair of antennae that fold back from its nose to its neck. A carapace marked with elongated blotches protects the creature's body.

Whiz-bang beetles are weird subterranean insects with an innate attraction to fire sources. They are named after the sound of their preferred attack – whizzing through the air at their top flying speed and banging into a target. Despite their name they are not true beetles, since they have four wings as well as a pair of wing cases. They may be a magical mutation of some kind.

Whiz-bang beetles live in hives they burrow out of walls or pillars, usually at the end of long corridors or in an enormous cavern so they have plenty of room for their whiz-bang attacks. They carve these hives out of solid rock using the iron-hard heads as chisels.

Most male and female whiz-bang beetles are identical, but old females develop into queens who lay all the eggs that continue the colony. Queens are twice the size of other whiz-bang beetles and paler in color, being white or light gray. They never leave the nest and will soon die if forcibly removed. Any female whiz-bang beetle can become a queen, so when a swarm leaves the nest to establish a new hive they don't have to take any queens with them to produce the next generation. A queen has the same statistics as other whiz-bang beetles.

Whiz-bang beetles live of a diet of whiz-bang honey. While these beetles have no interest in treasure, their honey is prized for its unusual properties (see Whiz-Bang Honey for details) and can be sold for 50 gold pieces per ounce. A hive typically contains 8d6 ounces of whiz-bang honey per swarm of beetles. Nests too small to contain a swarm usually contain 1d6 ounces of honey. Captive beetles never produce honey so must be fed with whiz-bang honey gathered from the wild. A single ounce of honey is enough to feed 50 normal beetles or 6 queens for a day, a swarm of whiz-bang beetles consumes 8 ounces of honey per day.

How whiz-bang beetles produce their honey is unknown. Scholars theorize they make the foodstuff from tiny fungi and molds scraped off stones or grown inside the hive or they gather nectar and pollen of weird underground plants. Some sages think these creatures feed off heat somehow, a theory which might explain their attraction to fire sources.

Individual whiz-bang beetle are a few inches long and weighs about 2 ounces. Queens are 4 to 6 inches long and weigh about a pound.

Combat
These beetles attack anything they detect with their combustion sense, which includes any creature carrying a torch or other heat source. They rely on their whiz-bang attack in combat, but occasionally use normal swarm attacks against slow or stationary targets. Any intruder unfortunate enough to be between a whiz-bang beetle swarm and a fire source is likely to be harmed as the beetles fly past them to attack the flames.

Distraction (Ex): Any living creature that begins its turn with a whiz-bang beetle swarm in its space must succeed on a DC 13 Fortitude save or be nauseated for 1 round. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Sense Combustion (Ex): Whiz-bang beetles have a special ability to detect flames. The range depends on the size of the fire as indicated in the table below. Whiz-bang beetles instinctively attack fire sources as soon as they sense them.


A whiz-bang beetle's combustion sense automatically detects the heat and smoke of natural fires (including alchemical fires). The beetle must succeed at a DC 16 Wisdom check to sense magical flames such as a wall of fire or fireball spell. It will automatically sense materials set alight by magical effects.

Whiz-Bang (Ex): As a full-round action, a swarm of whiz-bang beetles can move up to twice its flying speed (600 ft.) like a living storm of sling pellets. Any creature or object whose space the swarm moves into takes 2d6 damage; after damaging a target the swarm can continue moving through or around the target's space. The beetle swarm must be flying to make whiz-bang attacks. A whiz-bang beetle swarm can use its perfect maneuverability to fly around a target or stop in its space without inflicting whiz-bang damage if it wish to do so.

In addition, creatures that are carrying equipment or other objects when hit by a whiz-bang attack must succeed at a DC 17 Reflex save or one of their carried objects is affected as if the whiz-bang beetle's swarm attack had made both a disarm attack and sunder attack against it. There is no size adjustment to either check, so the whiz-bang beetle swarm has a +4 modifier to these special disarm and sunder checks, including a +2 racial bonus. The swarm always targets objects that produce fire or heat with the disarm and sunder effect if such are present. If the target isn't carrying a torch, flaming sword or similar item, determine the affected item randomly from among their most exposed items (armor, shield, readied weapon, other held items, et cetera).

The ramming point of a whiz-bang beetle's carapace is so hard it allows its whiz-bang attack to ignore hardness less than 8 when sundering weapons or attacking objects. The save DC is Dexterity-based.


Whiz-Bang Honey
Any living creature who is not a whiz-bang beetle that eats this magical foodstuff exhibits peculiar and unpredictable symptoms determined by rolling on the Whiz-Bang Honey Effects Table. One ounce of whiz-bang honey is enough of a dose to affect a Small or Medium creature. Larger or smaller creatures may require different doses before they are affected by the honey.

Whiz-bang honey uses the rules for magic potions except as noted below. The "potion" is equivalent to a 2nd-level spell with a caster level of 5.

Whiz-bang honey is perishable and loses all its properties 1 month after being harvested unless it is preserved by alchemical or magical means - a process that costs 100 gp per ounce and requires a DC 15 Craft (alchemy) or DC 15 Knowledge (arcane) check. An ounce of preserved whiz-bang honey can be purchased for 250 gp.

A living creature who eats a dose of whiz-bang honey immediately experiences the result listed in the Initial Effects column. As soon as this initial effect wears off the creature must succeed at a DC 15 Constitution check or suffer the consequences listed in the After-Effects column. If the listed Initial Effect is "None" the After-Effect (if any) begins the moment the honey is eaten.

Creature that have recently eaten a dose of whiz-bang honey are unlikely to benefit from additional doses. Any creature that eats more than one dose of whiz-bang honey within a 24 hour period uses 1d10 when rolling on the Whiz-Bang Honey Effects for the subsequent doses.

Whiz-Bang Honey Effects Table
Roll . Initial Effects . . . . After-Effects^
01 . . None . . . . . . . . . Nauseated 1d10 rounds
02 . . None . . . . . . . . . Sickened 1d10 rounds
03-07 . None . . . . . . . . . None
08-09 . speeded* 1d10 rounds . Sickened 1d10 rounds
10-12 . hasted** 1d10 rounds . Nauseated 1d10 rounds
13-15 . hasted** 1d10 rounds . Sickened 1d10 rounds
16-20 . hasted** 1d10 rounds . None
^ A creature who eats whiz-bang honey can exhibit all manner of bizarre side-effects, not limited to vomiting, hallucinations, frenzied dancing and flopping like an asphyxiated fish. For mechanical purposes these are treated as the nauseated and sickened conditions, but even creatures who are immune to nausea and sickness will be affected.
* All of a speeded creature’s modes of movement (including land movement, burrow, climb, fly, and swim) increase by 30 feet, to a maximum of twice the subject’s normal speed using that form of movement. This increase counts as an enhancement bonus and affects the creature’s jumping distance as normal for increased speed. It does not stack with other speed increases.
** effect identical to a haste spell.


Whiz-Bang Beetle
Diminutive Magical Beast
Hit Dice: ¼d10 (1 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 5 ft. (1 squares), fly 300 ft. (perfect)
Armor Class: 18 (+4 size, +4 Dex), touch 18, flat-footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/–16
Attack: Whiz-bang +9 melee (1d4–5)
Full Attack: Whiz-bang +9 melee (1d4–5)
Space/Reach: 1 ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks: Whiz-bang
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., sense combustion, spell resistance 16
Saves: Fort +2, Ref +6, Will +0
Abilities: Str 1, Dex 18, Con 10, Int 1, Wis 10, Cha 3
Skills: Listen +4, Spot +4
Feats: Alertness, Weapon Finesseᴮ
Environment: Underground
Organization: Hive (5–50 plus 1–6 queens)
Challenge Rating: 1/5
Treasure: Honey (see text)
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: None
Level Adjustment: —

A beetle-like insect with two pairs of membranous wings propelling a bullet-shaped body that smoothly curves to a pointed head and abdomen. Its head's “nose” looks much sharper and more thickly armored than its “tail end”. The head has two small sunken eyes and a pair of antennae that fold back from its nose to its neck. A carapace marked with elongated blotches protects the creature's body.

Some whiz-bang beetle hives are so small they attack intruders as individual creatures as described above. See the whiz-bang beetle swarm for additional information.

Combat
These beetles attack anything they detect with their combustion sense, which includes any creature carrying a torch or other heat source.

Whiz-Bang (Ex): A whiz-bang beetle can hurl itself at an opponent like a living sling bullet. This whiz-bang is a melee attack the beetle can only make while flying which does 1d4–5 bludgeoning damage. The beetle can make a standard attack with its whiz-bang attack at any point of a move action while flying (including a dive), just as if it possessed the Flyby Attack feat.

The ramming point of a whiz-bang beetle's carapace is harder than steel, allowing its whiz-bang attack to ignore hardness less than 8 when sundering weapons or attacking objects.

Sense Combustion (Ex): See whiz-bang beetle swarm.

Originally appeared in Dragon Magazine #29 (1979).

I've restored the Whizz-Bang Beetle Working Draft as best I can but unfortunately I couldn't recover the draft of the Whiz-Bang special attack we'd agreed on so had to rewrite it as best as I could recall it.

And I feel like we'd discussed the whiz-bang attack for a while. Here's my thought at the moment: it looks fine, but why not just let it do damage automatically, like the swarm attack? And then note that the whiz-bang can sunder objects as well.

freyar said:

And then note that the whiz-bang can sunder objects as well.

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I vaguely remember me giving in and dropping the save-for-half damage of the 3.0 version, so I'll go along with that.

freyar said:

And then note that the whiz-bang can sunder objects as well.

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Wouldn't that mean it sunders everything that a target creature has on their person, since Swarm attacks affect everything in a space.

How about we do auto damage but have the Reflex save to avoid an object being sundered?

i.e.:

Whiz-Bang (Ex): As a full-round action, a swarm of whiz-bang beetles can move up to twice its flying speed (600 ft.) like a living storm of sling pellets. Any creature or object whose space the swarm moves into takes 2d6 damage. The beetle swarm must be flying to make whiz-bang attacks. A whiz-bang beetle swarm can use its perfect maneuverability to fly around a target or stop in its space without inflicting whiz-bang damage if it wish to do so.

In addition, creatures that are carrying equipment or other objects when hit by a whiz-bang attack must succeed at a DC 17 Reflex save or one of their carried objects is affected as if the whiz-bang beetle's swarm attack had made both a disarm attack and sunder attack against it. There is no size adjusment to either check, so the whiz-bang beetle swarm has a +4 modifier to these special disarm and sunder checks, including a +2 racial bonus. The swarm always targets objects that produce fire or heat with the disarm and sunder effect if such are present. If the target isn't carrying a torch, flaming sword or similar item, determine the affected item randomly from among their most exposed items (armor, shield, readied weapon, other held items, et cetera).

The ramming point of a whiz-bang beetle's carapace is so hard it allows its whiz-bang attack to ignore hardness less than 8 when sundering weapons or attacking objects. The save DC is Dexterity-based.

That works for me. One possible change: maybe it would be more clear if the "moves into" in the second sentence, first paragraph changes to "moves through."

I think the special abilities are about done. For the last two feats, maybe Iron Will and Imp Init? CR 4 seems pretty good --- they are probably on par with the CR 4 centipede swarm. You could maybe argue me up to CR 5. Two larger organizations of 2-4 and 7-12 swarms seems standard, but I don't have much in the way of suggested names. Maybe "cloud" and "plague" like the locust swarm or something more neutral like "cloud" and "colony."

freyar said:

That works for me. One possible change: maybe it would be more clear if the "moves into" in the second sentence, first paragraph changes to "moves through."

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Moves through suggests the swarm always passes the target it is damaging though.

How about:

Any creature or object whose space the swarm moves into takes 2d6 damage; the swarm can continue moving after damag a target by passing through or around the target's space.

freyar said:

I think the special abilities are about done. For the last two feats, maybe Iron Will and Imp Init?

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I'd prefer Great Fortitude over Improved Initiative.

freyar said:

CR 4 seems pretty good --- they are probably on par with the CR 4 centipede swarm. You could maybe argue me up to CR 5.

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It has the same AC and hit points as a centipede swarm, but it can fly, move MUCH faster, has an area-of-effect "flyby" attack, the benefit of feats, a good Reflex save and spell resistance.

Admittedly the Centipede Swarm has vermin immunities, which ought to be worth something.

The flyby and superfast speed are the most significant enhancements - I could easily see it being a higher CR than a Centipede Swarm.

So yes, we should consider Challenge Rating 5.

freyar said:

Two larger organizations of 2-4 and 7-12 swarms seems standard, but I don't have much in the way of suggested names. Maybe "cloud" and "plague" like the locust swarm or something more neutral like "cloud" and "colony."

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I fancy "solitary, whirr (2-4) or murmuration (7-12)".

You've sold me on CR 5. I do think the centipede swarm poison is a boost for them, though.

Great Fort is ok by me.

Your proposed org line is fine.

Tactics thoughts?