[DF] Homebrew Monsters

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Originally Posted by Mailanka

As for your question about the basic templates: You're right, the Swift Killer template DOES stack on the Killer template. However, the Swift Killer template does not have the Combat Reflexes/+1 ST option, nor the extra skills or disadvantages. It just has Extra Attack and +1 basic speed. Hence why I bolded that portion of your text: your statement implied you also took the Killer template.

Right, what I meant was that I thought the Basic Killer template was assumed if the Swift Killer template was present because the Swift template doesn't have its own skills, Disadvantages, etc listed; sorry for the poor wording. I only noted the Basic Templates when they were the highest thing in their progression being used.

[Mailanka]

Originally Posted by Gold & Appel Inc

Right, what I meant was that I thought the Basic Killer template was assumed if the Swift Killer template was present because the Swift template doesn't have its own skills, Disadvantages, etc listed; sorry for the poor wording. I only noted the Basic Templates when they were the highest thing in their progression being used.

Well, you can skip the base templates if you want. I generally recommend you take them, but if you have "enough" of a base skill list and you want to grab something else, knock yourself out.

But obviously, taking Killer, then Swift Killer, will "cost" 100 points, rather than just 50. I thought that you thought that you had just taken Swift Killer, and so the monster was only 250 or so. Instead, I think you are aware that he's at 300 points. I think this was the only remaining point of confusion.

So... right, carry on. :)

[Wraithe]

I just wanted to add to the clamor of voices saying "Submit this to SJ Games" - Call it "GURPS Monster Toolbox" or something, but this is great. I imagine it needs to be tuned here and there, but wow.

Actually I also wanted to clarify that I think this is even broader appeal than "just" DF. I'm not planning to run DF, but I definitely plan on using a chunk of this, just powered down (maybe) a bit (maybe :)).

[Gold & Appel Inc]

The Autumn Queen (Greater Epic Boss)

Known as the Harvest Queen, the Lady of Lengthening Shadows, and many other names (but never what her mother called her before her coronation), the Autumn Queen is both eye-bleedingly beautiful and bone-chillingly terrible to behold. The death of all natural things is her domain, but also the ripening of the life-giving fruits and grains. Plants and living creatures wither and die at her approach, feeding her vitality with their own. Her goals are inscrutable to outsiders, but grand in scope, and her faerie minions and mortal pawns are many and deadly.

ST: 11      HP: 15     Speed: 5.75
DX: 10      Will: 24   Move:  5
IQ: 18      Per: 16
HT: 13      FP: 25     SM: +0
Dodge: 8    Parry: 10  DR:  0

The Sickle of Autumn (14): 1d+4(5) Cutting

Traits: Appearance (Transcendant, Universal +5), Awe (-1 to Awe Resistance), Charisma +5, Dependency (Mana, Constantly), Impulsive (12-), Indomitable, Lifebane, Overconfidence (12-), Power Investiture x3 (Druid), Sense of Duty (Nature), Terror (-2 to Fright Checks), Unfazeable, Vulnerability (Iron x4),

Special Powers: Hypnotic Voice (Magical), Epic Immortality (Achilles' Heel: Iron), Vampiric Aura (Magical), Wild Talent X9 (Magic Spells Only -20%)

Skills: Axe/Mace DX+4 [16]-14, Diplomacy IQ+1 [8]-19, Intimidation Will+1 [4]-25, Leadership IQ+1 [4]-19, Occultism IQ+7 [28]-25, Sex Appeal HT+6* [4]-19, Tactics IQ-1 [2]-17, Traps IQ [2]-18, Wrestling DX+1 [4]-11,

Spells: Nature! IQ+5* [48]-23,

Class: Faerie

Notes: Prefers negotiation, but not to the extent that one might expect from her sisters when she has her muscle with her. Her sickle is a lootable Very Fine Ornate Silver weapon enchanted with Penetrating Weapon (Armor Divisor 5).

I started off with Mailanka's Forest Queen here, keeping its Basic Trickster, Luscious Trickster, and Strange Trickster templates intact, and then added Clever Trickster (with the Leadership option), Nightmarish Trickster (yes, she has every single Trickster template and can choose between Awe or Terror; that's how the Queen of Autumn rolls), the Basic Brute template (with the HT, Wrestling + Axe/Mace, and Vulnerability options), the Stolid Brute template, the Strange Brute template (with the Vampiric Aura and Vulnerability Options), the Basic Caster template (with the Druid and Lifebane options), plus the Arch Caster x2 (more Occult + Nature), Power Caster (Ditto), and Wild Caster x3 templates, and Epic Durability (Immortal). Her Wild magic will generally be used to simulate mastery of the Food, Meta, Mind Control, and especially Necromancy colleges, but her Sense of Duty prevents her from violating the natural order with things like zombie creation despite the extent of her reach beyond the boundaries of life and death.

Elite Pixie Honor Guard (Lesser Worthy)

The best of the best Pixie Soldiers, usually encountered protecting one of the grand Queens of the four seasons or carrying out her direct bidding. They are as fragile, flighty, and eager as their lesser brethren, but more brave, more alert, more experienced at the arts of war, and capable of brewing their own poisons in the field. They also tend to have a more romantic temperament and a heightened appreciation for beauty, consistently enough that it may be a positive factor in their selection, but their steely determination to please their Queen by putting a poisoned arrow into the eye of anyone who needs it outshines all else about them.

ST: 5       HP: 1       Speed: 6.75
DX: 17      Will: 15    Move:  6/12
IQ: 12      Per: 15
HT: 10      FP: 10      SM: -6
Dodge: 10   Parry: 11F  DR:  0

Pixie Shot (23): 1d-4 impaling (Acc 1, Range 50/75, RoF 1(2))
Teeny Tiny Fine Rapier (17): 1d-2 Impaling

Traits: Appearance (Attractive +1), Dependency (Mana, Constantly), Enhanced Dodge, Impulsive (12-), Flight (Winged), Lecherousness (12-), Magery 0, Night Vision 3, Sense of Duty (Nature), Silence X2

Skills: Bow DX+6 [24]-23, Intimidation Will+2 [8]-17, Poison IQ-1 [2]-11, Rapier DX [2]-17, Stealth DX+6 [24]-23,

Class: Faerie

Notes: Willing to negotiate, especially if they receive praise from the heroes or are in danger of not completing a mission otherwise. Always have venom of some kind.

These guys are just the Basic Pixie Soldier again, only with the Greater Assassin Stalker template in addition to Basic Stalker, and the Basic Trickster template added with the Willpower, Lecherousness, Rapier, and Intimidation options.

Captain Red Leaf of the Autumn Guard (Lesser Boss)

The toughest, boldest, fastest, smartest, and most charming of the Autumn Queen's honor guard, Red Leaf is as deadly as he is small. Hot-tempered for a pixie, he doesn't hesitate to challenge larger creatures to a duel when he feels that he has been slighted. His magic cloak of maple leaves renders him invisible when he wills it, but he prefers to be seen when possible.

ST: 7/8     HP: 3       Speed: 7.25
DX: 19      Will: 17    Move:  7/14
IQ: 14      Per: 17
HT: 10      FP: 20      SM: -6
Dodge: 12   Parry: 16F  DR:  0

Pixie Shot (26): 1d-3 impaling (Acc 1, Range 70/105, RoF 1(2))
Teeny Tiny Very Fine Ornate Rapier (20): 1d Impaling

Traits: Appearance (Attractive +1), Bad Temper (12-), Combat Reflexes, Dependency (Mana, Constantly), Enhanced Dodge, Enhanced Parry (Rapier) +2, Impulsive (12-), Flight (Winged), Lecherousness (12-), Magery 0, Night Vision 3, Sense of Duty (Nature), Silence X2, Striking ST +1,

Special Powers: Invisibility (Magical)

Skills: Bow DX+7 [28]-26, Brawling DX+3 [8]-22, Intimidation Will+2 [8]-19, Leadership IQ+1 [4]-15, Occultism IQ+2 [8]-16, Poison IQ-1 [2]-13, Rapier DX+1 [4]-20, Stealth DX+6 [24]-25, Tactics IQ-1 [2]-13, Traps IQ [2]-14, Wrestling DX+2 [8]-21,

Spells: Plant! IQ-1 [12]-13

Class: Faerie

Notes: Willing to negotiate, if his Queen wills it. Always has venom of some kind. His weapons are lootable, but his magical cloak of leaves only works for him.

Just like the Elite Pixie Honor Guard, above, but with the addition of the Graceful Brute template (with Combat Reflexes), the Strange Stalker template (with Invisibility), the Clever Trickster template (with Leadership), the Power Caster template (with Plant spells), and the Basic Killer template (with Bad Temper, Brawling + Wrestling, and the extra ST bonuses).

[Cernig]

Dayum, what awesome work from the Great M. What a truly excellent thread.

Oh, abd if anyone codes up these templates for GCS, please PM me so I can arrange to get a copy :-)

Regards, Steve

[b-dog]

What would the ST of various giants be?
Hill giant 10.5 feet tall
Stone Giant 12 feet tall + Extra DR for stoney skin
Frost Giant 15 feet tall + high DR to cold
Fire Giant 12 feet tall but stocky and built like a dwarf + High DR to fire
Cloud Giant 18 feet tall
Storm Giant 21 feet tall + high DR to electrical attacks
Mountain Giant 14 feet tall
Giant Troll 10 feet tall + regeneration (Hill giant and troll mix)
Ettin 13 feet tall + extra head and two attacks
Trolls 9 feet tall + regeneration

Thanks.

[mlangsdorf]

Originally Posted by duromiir

But like RedMattis is saying, it's hard for a complete newbie to know -aside from obvious examples, like Epics- what monsters are appropriate for starting players. Is that info in the DF books, or is it something we just need to get a feel for?

You really need to get a feel for it, more than anything else. But there are a lot of suggestions out there:

Starting DF characters are generally quite capable. They can generally expect to defeat around twice their numbers in minions such as Dire Wolves, Giant Bats, Horde Zombies, Doomchildren or an equal number of worthies such as Crushrooms. They can probably even beat 1-2 bosses such as Peshkali, Siege Beasts, or Stone Golems. Note due to the swingy nature of GURPS combat, a "defeat" in this case probably leaves 1-2 delvers in the negatives or possibly dead.

If you halve the number of foes, the delvers should expect to come out ahead with minimal wounds. Double the number of foes, and even if the delvers win, they'll be nursing horrible wounds.

Delvers ramp up in power pretty quickly. By the end of my first DF game, the 6 delvers worth 350 point were fighting a dozen+ ST24, HP 30, axe skill-17 Ogres at a time and winning with generally minor wounds.

[Anders]

Originally Posted by b-dog

What would the ST of various giants be?
Hill giant 10.5 feet tall
Stone Giant 12 feet tall + Extra DR for stoney skin
Frost Giant 15 feet tall + high DR to cold
Fire Giant 12 feet tall but stocky and built like a dwarf + High DR to fire
Cloud Giant 18 feet tall
Storm Giant 21 feet tall + high DR to electrical attacks
Mountain Giant 14 feet tall
Giant Troll 10 feet tall + regeneration (Hill giant and troll mix)
Ettin 13 feet tall + extra head and two attacks
Trolls 9 feet tall + regeneration

Thanks.

Assuming proportional scaling, ST is proportional to height. So a 12' giant has ST 20. Of course, most giants are disproportionally bulky for their height (which is actually realistic) so you may want to add a little, especially for the truly massive giants like storm giants.

[Collective_Restraint]

Originally Posted by b-dog

What would the ST of various giants be?
Hill giant 10.5 feet tall
Stone Giant 12 feet tall + Extra DR for stoney skin
Frost Giant 15 feet tall + high DR to cold
Fire Giant 12 feet tall but stocky and built like a dwarf + High DR to fire
Cloud Giant 18 feet tall
Storm Giant 21 feet tall + high DR to electrical attacks
Mountain Giant 14 feet tall
Giant Troll 10 feet tall + regeneration (Hill giant and troll mix)
Ettin 13 feet tall + extra head and two attacks
Trolls 9 feet tall + regeneration

Thanks.

A good read for this is the "How strong is a Giant ?" section from GURPS Fantasy. A good way to ballpark it is to look at the Giant and imagine how much ST would he have if he'd be a 6' tall human ? Hmm, the Hill Giant looks muscular, he's probably have a ST of 15 (that's just an example). Then multiply the ST by the height ratio (10.5' / 6' = 1.75): ST 15 X 1.75 = 26.25 or ST 26. That's pretty much what it says in the section I referred to earlier.

[Bruno]

Noodling around with a subject close to my heart:

Crude Minotaur (Worthy)

Attributes

ST: 20		HP: 20		Speed: 5.5
DX: 11		Will: 8		Move: 5
IQ: 8		Per: 10
HT: 13		FP: 13		SM: 0
Dodge: 9	Parry: 10	DR: 4* (9 on skull)

Very Great Axe (13): 3d+5 cut at reach 1,2*.
Impaling Horns (14): 2d+3 imp at reach C,1.

Traits:
Absolute Direction; Acute Hearing; Bad Temper (12 or less); Berserk (12 or less); Bully (12 or less); Combat Reflexes; Peripheral Vision.

Skills: Brawling–14; Two-Handed Axe/Mace–13.

Special Powers:
Power Blow–23 (1 FP; Instant-use at skill 13. Doubles ST to 40 for one blow - 4d+9 imp for Impaling Horns, 6d+4 cut for Axe.

Class: Mundane

Notes: Killer, Greater Power Killer. Crude Minotaurs are strong enough to swing their massive axes every round without penalty. Don't worry about parrying - Berserk makes that a bit pointless.
Technically willing to negotiate, but easily irritated by everything and likely to smash adventurers in the face randomly mid-negotiation. Generally wears leather armor (heroes may loot). Great Axe is cheap (heroes may also loot).

Meta-notes: High base ST from the racial template, plus ST from Killer and Power Killer, plus Power Blow = potentially smashed to bits PCs.

For the sake of PCs surviving, I might actually recommend going with All Out Attack for extra damage, NOT for +4 to hit - going from a 13 to a 17 to hit is going to dangerously improve his accuracy.

A group of five or six Crude Minotaurs might still be dealt with, because they're so tactically restricted - use terrain features or magic to prevent them from advancing rapidly, stay out of their Reach, and snipe at your leisure. One or two Crude Minotaurs with Orc Warrior and Orc Hunter thralls, however, are going to be trouble.

They're only 180 points, but alarmingly deadly.