New Monster: Crumble Bug Swarm, and Errata question

Medieval fantasy mechs powered by steam, magic, or the labor of a thousand slaves.

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MagusRogue
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New Monster: Crumble Bug Swarm, and Errata question

Post by MagusRogue »

Here's a new monster to plague you do-gooder types, the crumble bug swarm. To use this, you also need to modify the original creature's Organization listing to: Solitary, Mass (2-12), or swarm.

CRUMBLE BUG SWARM

Code: Select all

                      Diminutive Animal (Swarm)
Hit Dice:             4d8 ( hp)
Initiative:           +2
Speed:                20 ft. (4 squares), burrow 5 ft. (1 square)
Armor Class:          16 (+4 size, +2 Dex), touch 14, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple:  +3/-
Attack:               Swarm (1d6 plus rust)
Full Attack:          Swarm (1d6 plus rust)
Space/Reach:          10 ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks:      Distraction, rust
Special Qualities:    Immune to weapon damage, swarm traits
Saves:                Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +4
Abilities:            Str 1, Dex 14, Con 10, Int -, Wis 8, Cha 1
Skills:               Climb +4, Hide +4, Listen +4, Spot –2
Feats:                -
Environment:          Any land or underground, near metal
Organization:         Solitary, mass (2-4 swarms), or colony (11-20 swarms)
Challenge Rating:     3
Treasure:             No coin; standard goods, no metal
Alignment:            Always neutral
Advancement:          None
Level Adjustment:     -
A crumble bug swarm spends all its time hunting for metal, often to the annoyance of mechs.
Combat
A crumble bug swarm seeks to surround and attack any creature with metal, especially most clockwork or steam-powered mechs. The swarm deals 1d6 points of damage to any creature whose space it occupies at the end of its move.
Distraction (Ex): Any living creature that begins its turn with a swarm in its space must succeed on a DC 12 Fortitude save or be nauseated for 1 round. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Rust (Su): A crumble bug swarm devours all metal within its fighting space by the end of its turn. A magical metal item may attempt a Fortitude save, dc 12, to resist being eaten, but it is completely devoured on the next turn, regardless. Large metal mechs are completely destroyed as the swarm engulfs it, and Huge or larger mechs suffer 3d6 points of damage per turn in the swarm, negating its damage reduction completely.
Skills: A crumble bug swarm has a –2 penalty to spot checks, due to its voracious habits hiding its sight.
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MagusRogue
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Post by MagusRogue »

Also, I've noticed something else. None of the creatures in the core rulebook have been updated to 3.5 standards. In 3.5, all but non-intelligent creatures get feats and skills like any other character does (1 feat at first level and 1 at every additional level; skills are # + Int (x4 for 1st hit die), based on what type).
Also, in 3.5 skeletons and zombies were changed into a template, because a human zombie is noticably more different than a crocodile zombie, and one would assume the same can be said of smoking undead, as they're essentially the same but just a bit tougher due to their steam engines, and prolly should be a template.
Lunar Skinstealers should have the Shapeshifter subtype, as they do change shape as a regular part of their life.
I think Shardsfall Quest (and maybe Mech Manual) has 3.5-updated monsters. I know you use the Swarm type in Shardsfall quest, but I haven't counted out the skills and feats yet.

Any chance we'll see an update pdf or the like remastering the monsters to make them current in 3.5?

And this last thought, but Lunar Dragons seem to be... a bit stale compared to dragons. All they have is their lunar subtype (albeight, it does grant them some hefty benefits) and their breath weapon, while terrestial dragons have all sorts of abilities, gaining more as they grow stronger.
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MagusRogue
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Post by MagusRogue »

Oh yeah, and I wouldn't mind seeing racial trait listings for Slathem, as they seem a strong enough race to play. Were they built with the typical npc 13/12/11/10/10/8 abilities given to class-dependent races (goblins, orcs, ect)? I don't think they have an LA, do they?
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MagusRogue
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Post by MagusRogue »

*polite bump, pondering if this needs to go in the Q&A like my advice often is*
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mythfish
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Post by mythfish »

MagusRogue wrote:*polite bump, pondering if this needs to go in the Q&A like my advice often is*
(Personally, I prefer things in separate threads. Easier to find things that way, as long as the title of the thread actually says what the thread is about.)
MagusRogue
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Post by MagusRogue »

*laughs* Ahh, I see, mythfish. *waits on Joseph* is he gone at a con currently?
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goodmangames
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Post by goodmangames »

Yes, I was at Dundracon. :) Regarding the 3.5 monsters... all the monsters were originally written using the 3.0 rules. Someone involved in the book (not me, but I'm not saying who!) was supposed to update the monsters to 3.5... and flaked... so someone else had to do it really quickly at the last minute. End result: they're not as perfect as they could have been! They're still good enough to play with, obviously, but little things (like what you pointed out) don't match up exactly.

As for an updated version, it's a low priority. The monsters are usable as is; the issues are all technical and have a very minor effect on game play (probably no effect for most people).

The slathem and lunar dragons both have a lot of room for development... there just hasn't been the time yet!

The crumble bug swarm sounds VICIOUS! Unleash one or two of those deep in the gear forest of a mech and it could be reduced to ash very quickly!
Joseph Goodman
Goodman Games
www.goodman-games.com
MagusRogue
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Post by MagusRogue »

*grins* I was trying to capture the essence of a true swarm of crumble bugs without the need for 100 seperate critters. *Grins* In 2 rounds, a single crumble bug swarm can devour a Huge mech.... A colony of swarms can take out even a Colossal or bigger mech in no time... See a swarm coming, you just better run.... So, this look good to you, as a swarm-variant on the crumble-bug?

and I understand bout the rules thing. Prolly in my games I'll just go ahead and throw the critters some more feats. I've noticed a DM who actually reads the stats on a critter, including feats, can make an encounter actually difficult.... Power Attack and Awesome Blow for dragons really can ruin someone's day. *Winks*

And i EAGERLY await more on lunar dragons and slathem
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Raptor
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Post by Raptor »

Don't forget to put in that their rust ability only damages IRON mechs. They are still nasty because as a swarm they automatically effect everything in the space they're occupying, which would include the entire crew unless the mech is sealed, wich I haven't seen on any of the non-animated mechs. the openings in most mechs makes them very vulnerable to swarms, oozes, tiny or smaller creatures, and gas or smoke type attacks (such as acid cloud or cloudkill), by targeting the crew.
Last edited by Raptor on Mon Sep 22, 2008 12:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
MagusRogue
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Post by MagusRogue »

*nods* precisely. I'm still surprised Mr Goodman didn't think of this before.

I have a question, though. howcome the crumblebug's rust doesn't work like a rust monster's rust ability, in that Magical Weapons should be able to keep making saving throws to avoid being damaged. I see crumble bugs as distant relatives to rust monsters anyhow...
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Raptor
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Post by Raptor »

Another nasty thing is creatures with gaze attacks. How well does your pilot drive with his eyes closed?
mythfish
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Post by mythfish »

Raptor wrote:Another nasty thing is creatures with gaze attacks. How well does your pilot drive with his eyes closed?
There are some mechs in Second Age of Walkers that operate with similar tactics...they have a symbol spell prominantly displyed on the mech.
walrusjester
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Post by walrusjester »

Ah, the Runemechs... one cool thing is that several of the symbol spells don't even require eye contact to affect a target. A fun project would be thinking up more spells that could be made permanent on a mech.
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