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Old 03-13-2023, 12:08 PM   #1
Mr Dalton
 
Join Date: Jan 2021
Default Monster: Wood Crabs

So, just want some input on this one. The monsters the players are going to start running into are bigger and more dangerous than what they've encountered before by virtue of where they're going, so I want to make sure I've got a balance on these.
I'm aiming for a large, seven-legged spider-crab-tree monster that's mostly an ambush attacker. It's created by the druids who serve the Speaking Tree (master of the forest) to guard important sites. They mostly stand where they're ordered to stand and when something that doesn't belong there (determined by it not performing the correct rituals before approaching), it stabs with its spike-like legs. Because it's made of wood and grows leaves, it blends into forests really well.
Because they're plants, they have very limited senses, relying almost entirely on their ability to detect vibrations in the ground. I also treated their photosynthesis as a combination of Doesn't Eat and Dependency (needs soil, water, and sunlight).
I probably didn't need to really fully detail everything, since I know what it's about, and I'm mainly concerned with what people think its combat functionality is, since it basically exists to stand in one place and stomp on things that don't belong, occasionally chasing them down if given the instructions.
The fire dread, in context, is a mixed thing. While it's scared of fire, having fire lit in the forest of the Speaking Tree angers it, so exploiting this weakness is basically painting a giant target on your back for any of the Speaking Tree's minions. It's a question of how much risk do you want to take to avoid combat with this thing.

The Wood Crabs
ST: 20; DX: 13; IQ: 8; HT: 14.
HP: 20; FP: 14; Per: 12; Will: 8. SM: +2
Speed: 6.75; Move: 6; Dodge: 9.
Damage: Thr 2d-2; Swing 3d+2
Damage Reduction: 5 (fire ignores DR and reduces it by 1 each successful hit, recovers armor the same way it recovers health)

Advantages: Chameleon 1 (forest only), Doesn’t Sleep, Extra Attack, Extra Legs (seven, long), Injury Tolerance (homegenous), Striker (impaling, long, limited arc, clumsy -1) Regrowth (limbs only), Silence 1, Vibration Sense.

Disadvantages: Blindness, Berserk (9), Bestial, Cannot Speak, Deafness, Dependency (photosynthetic, 1/day), Dread (fire, cannot be trapped), Horizontal, No Fine Manipulators, Slave Mentality (obeys those who know the correct rituals).

Attacks: Impaling stomp (12), 2d imp (all legs can do it, but it can only attack with two legs at a time in order to maintain balance); Body Slam (13) (20 x velocity)/100d crushing

Skills: Brawling 13, Running 14, Stealth 16 (18 when standing still)

Languages: None, can understand instructions only after correct druidic rituals are performed.
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Old 03-13-2023, 01:11 PM   #2
johndallman
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Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
Default Re: Monster: Wood Crabs

How does its number of attacks reduce as it looses limbs?

How many of these do you envisage being in one place? Once there are too many for the front-line fighters to keep busy, life gets hard for the squishier party members.
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Old 03-13-2023, 01:29 PM   #3
Mr Dalton
 
Join Date: Jan 2021
Default Re: Monster: Wood Crabs

Quote:
Originally Posted by johndallman View Post
How does its number of attacks reduce as it looses limbs?

How many of these do you envisage being in one place? Once there are too many for the front-line fighters to keep busy, life gets hard for the squishier party members.
I imagine that each leg lost applies a -1 penalty to attack because it increasingly throws off their balance. Once reduced enough, they give up remaining upright and just strike over and over again, but by that point they're a bit more handicapped by the penalties and dragging their bulk.

Generally, one or two at most will be found in one place. Due to their size and them being in forests, they get in each other's way if there are more in a close area, so they tend to spread out and the limited senses will keep them from detecting people until they get fairly close.

I figure severing the legs is the smartest strategy, since they are dependent on them for attacking and once you knock off too many, they lose their ability to run and are limited to only attacking from the direction their remaining legs are facing.
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Old 03-13-2023, 02:43 PM   #4
ericthered
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Default Re: Monster: Wood Crabs

SM+2 seems a little small? SM+2 is horsed sized, which means targeting the torso (core) of the creature is quite doable, and its not really tree-scale. DR5 20HP Homogeneous is tough, but its low defenses should make it manageable, especially as it lacks high pain tolerance.
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Old 03-13-2023, 06:04 PM   #5
Mr Dalton
 
Join Date: Jan 2021
Default Re: Monster: Wood Crabs

Quote:
Originally Posted by ericthered View Post
SM+2 seems a little small? SM+2 is horsed sized, which means targeting the torso (core) of the creature is quite doable, and its not really tree-scale. DR5 20HP Homogeneous is tough, but its low defenses should make it manageable, especially as it lacks high pain tolerance.
I still have a bad grasp of how SM scales. The book says +2 is 15 feet. The thing is mostly really tall with several long legs, but I suppose the proper body without those legs would be about horse sized. Just when it stands all the way up, it's long legs put it's main body in the canopy, which is why it blends in. It could then bend down to make use of the reach its long legs provide.

I need to check the rules to be sure, but given the damage the tank does, he could probably sever a leg with each hit, so if they think of that, they can probably hobble it pretty quick. The risk is mostly in the damage it can do if you don't spot it.

Edit: Oh, *up to* 15 feet. So it should really be SM +3.

Last edited by Mr Dalton; 03-13-2023 at 07:03 PM.
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Old 03-14-2023, 12:23 AM   #6
Pursuivant
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Default Re: Monster: Wood Crabs

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Dalton View Post
Damage Reduction: 5 (fire ignores DR and reduces it by 1 each successful hit, recovers armor the same way it recovers health)
This is just Damage Resistance 5 (Limitations: Limited: Not against Fire, Ablative (Fire Only)).

If things like axes can chop through DR as if it were tree bark, you might want the straight ablative or semi-ablative limitation.

Chameleon 1 isn't all that effective as an advantage. They might just have a Natural Camouflage (Woods) as a perk which gives similar benefits. If you want them to be stealth monsters boost Chameleon, maybe give them levels of Silence and a decent Stealth skill score.

Give them Clinging if they can climb walls or trees like regular spiders. Give them Enhanced Move if you want them to be scary fast.

If they're made from deadwood, consider Immunity (Metabolic Hazards). If they're alive perhaps define their vulnerability to "things that kill plants" as a feature. (Feature: Affected by diseases, hazards, spells, toxins, etc. which affect plants, but not those which affect animals.)

If they eat via photosynthesis and absorbing soil nutrients, they might have Reduced Consumption, Slow Eater, and the equivalent of Breath-Holding.

If they "freeze up" or go dormant in cold, they might have Cold-Blooded and/or Metabolism Control (Hibernation Only). Otherwise, Temperature Tolerance (Cold) is appropriate for boreal climates.
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Old 03-20-2023, 12:45 PM   #7
Mr Dalton
 
Join Date: Jan 2021
Default Re: Monster: Wood Crabs

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pursuivant View Post
This is just Damage Resistance 5 (Limitations: Limited: Not against Fire, Ablative (Fire Only)).

If things like axes can chop through DR as if it were tree bark, you might want the straight ablative or semi-ablative limitation.

Chameleon 1 isn't all that effective as an advantage. They might just have a Natural Camouflage (Woods) as a perk which gives similar benefits. If you want them to be stealth monsters boost Chameleon, maybe give them levels of Silence and a decent Stealth skill score.

Give them Clinging if they can climb walls or trees like regular spiders. Give them Enhanced Move if you want them to be scary fast.

If they're made from deadwood, consider Immunity (Metabolic Hazards). If they're alive perhaps define their vulnerability to "things that kill plants" as a feature. (Feature: Affected by diseases, hazards, spells, toxins, etc. which affect plants, but not those which affect animals.)

If they eat via photosynthesis and absorbing soil nutrients, they might have Reduced Consumption, Slow Eater, and the equivalent of Breath-Holding.

If they "freeze up" or go dormant in cold, they might have Cold-Blooded and/or Metabolism Control (Hibernation Only). Otherwise, Temperature Tolerance (Cold) is appropriate for boreal climates.
This brings up a question: what SHOULD be considered reasonable skill levels and attributes? My players seem to have this idea that it's better to spread broadly on skills - getting a lot of skills at level 12-14 - but tend to keep their attributes modest. Like, the paladin got his strength at 15 just because he ended up needing to output damage to protect everyone else, but the others rarely seem to bother putting their attributes above 12.
Now that we're coming to the point where the only place left to explore in the world to find clues to their goal is the pace where monsters are supposed to be big and scary, I feel like they're kind of underleveled in damage output, armor, and HP. I wonder if we've all kind of misunderstood what should be normal for career adventurers, because before we only played GURPS in modern settings, where "police officer" was the most combat oriented character in the game and that was more about being good with a gun than hitting people with sticks.

Should I perhaps subtly encourage them to upgrade gear and stats? They mostly go about encounters with bigger things indirectly, which feels right for the characters they've built, but I'm not sure how sustainable that will be when they go into the final area of the plot - the claustrophobic underground tunnels.
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Old 03-20-2023, 12:54 PM   #8
johndallman
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Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
Default Re: Monster: Wood Crabs

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Dalton View Post
This brings up a question: what SHOULD be considered reasonable skill levels and attributes? My players seem to have this idea that it's better to spread broadly on skills - getting a lot of skills at level 12-14 - but tend to keep their attributes modest. Like, the paladin got his strength at 15 just because he ended up needing to output damage to protect everyone else, but the others rarely seem to bother putting their attributes above 12.
Answering that needs more information:
  • What's the campaign style? Clearly fantasy of some kind, but do you have a more specific description?
  • What magic system(s) are you using?
  • What was their starting point level?
  • How many points have they gained?
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Old 03-20-2023, 02:41 PM   #9
mburr0003
 
Join Date: Jun 2022
Default Re: Monster: Wood Crabs

To maybe simplify it a bit... or rather a different track of questions than johndallman is asking:

Are you trying to run Heroic D&D Fantasy or something more gritty and deadly?

For a more "D&Desque" feel, a "narrower" skill focus tends to be a better approach, but then if you're running with high penalties for skills (like Lockpicking or monsters with higher defenses and DR) that tends to sort itself out as PCs will be more naturally encouraged to focus in on their own key capabilities and worry less about spreading out and covering other's competencies.

If it's grittier, then they will naturally worry more about spreading out to cover every contingency.

If they've "gone the wrong direction" for your game, maybe tune the game to fit the direction they've gone. Or give them a few OOC tips and then give them a bit of "padding" time, time to get more exp and adjust to fit your game's expectations better.
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Old 03-20-2023, 10:50 PM   #10
Pursuivant
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Default Re: Monster: Wood Crabs

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Dalton View Post
This brings up a question: what SHOULD be considered reasonable skill levels and attributes?
In a Low Fantasy game where characters have modest attributes and skill levels, think about how sneaky you want your monsters to be relative to Per 12 or so. Alternately, think about how sneaky you want them to be relative to Observation-14 or Per-12 & Acute Vision-2.

Chameleon 4 would make them difficult to detect with unaided vision while in motion (-4 to detect) and nearly impossible to detect when they're still (-8 to detect) vs. Per-12, or mildly difficult to detect/very hard to detect vs. Observation-14.

Chameleon 5 is good enough to effectively make them invisible (-10 to detect) when still.

Add in some Darkness Penalties (due to dark woods) or penalties for Cover (thick vegetation) and Chameleon 2 (-2 to detect moving, -4 when still) might be sufficient.

Use the same logic for levels of Silence, substituting Acute Hearing for Acute Vision and rustling leaves and other background noise for Darkness Penalties.
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