Monster Snippet: Abyssal Devourer
over 6 years ago – Wed, Nov 20, 2019 at 10:18:57 AM

I've gotten a lot of good feedback about the Bloodguise Diredamsel thus far.  Some folks have asked for other examples.

I'm happy to start sharing a few more examples... forgive the lack of formatting, as this is taken from my monster Evernote file that's the repository for all of the stuff that needs laying out.  

Note that in these descriptions, the language is written in the context of Pathfinder first edition, and any numerics provided apply to the 1L Low level of difficulty in the Quadded Statblocks approach of things.

Abyssal Devourer (aberration)

Auras

1. Voided Presence: 30', DC 14, failure means Shaken for duration of encounter; when one suffering makes a successful strike or successfully targets with a spell or effect, may attempt another check to overcome the effect.  Those who succeed in a check against the creature's Voided Presence are immune to it for the duration of the encounter.

Lore

1. Common: Creatures from the void roam the dark depths of mountains, seeking to slay anything living.
   
2. Expanded: Abyssal Devourers hate life, and can sense the presence of it.  Few detected by a Devourer live to tell the tale once they are discovered.
   
3. Environment: Tend to haunt the darkest, deepest regions of mountains, caverns, and even manmade structures such as dungeons and mines.
   
4. Encounter Behavior: Combat: The creature will move toward the closest living creature and attack it until it is destroyed.  It fights with a mindless hatred of all life and will never be routed unless forced to do so with magic or other effect that physically prevents it from attacking.
   

Story Hooks: 

1. Miners have been disappearing from the depths; the PCs are enlisted to seek out the cause.
   
2. Legend tells of a formidable opponent dwelling in the dark places under a nearby mountain; adventuring parties have sought it out, never to return.  Are the PCs up to the challenge of seeming certain doom?
   

Actions & SQ

1. Lifesense 120'
   
2. Void Soul: Once per encounter per opponent, following a successful melee strike, may attempt to attack the target's soul directly.  The victim must make a Fortitude save of DC equal to 12, plus 1 per point of damage the target suffered this round from the creature.  Success has no further effect; failure means the victim suffers 1 Negative Level.
   

Off to an Amazing Start!
over 6 years ago – Sun, Nov 10, 2019 at 05:31:54 PM

Funded in Hours!

I have to be honest, I'm not even entirely sure that plural of "hours" is accurate; it may have been only about an hour.  And now we're at close to 3x funding target as of this writing.  Thanks to all for your interest and support!

Stretch Goals

The set of monsters planned for this book is pretty fixed where it is--not because I lack inspiration, but because the publisher sets a hard limit on the size of a printed book, and we're pretty much at that limit (840 pages) by my projections.  So I cannot add more stuff to the book from a content perspective.

I can, however, add artwork, which was mostly the entire point of this KS.  The greater the funding target grows, the more of the monsters planned for the book will receive their own custom, commissioned artwork.

Add-Ons Reminder

As a reminder, if you're interested in the "Design a Monster" add-on, you can add that amount to your pledge now if you like.

Onward!