When Paizo announced the Advanced Player’s Guide for Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, our excited kobold brains whirred with ideas for cool feats to customize your new Alchemist, Cavalier, Inquisitor, Oracle, Summoner, and Witch characters. We immediately got to work, and today, we’re launching the first volume in a monthly series of companion products for that book—Advanced Feats: Secrets of the Alchemist…

Advanced Feats: Secrets of the Alchemist gives you insight into the alchemist class and the tools to make an exciting character that is a “blast” to play. Created by Sigfried Trent, this 12-page book includes:

• A breakdown of the Alchemist class
• 30 new feats for alchemists, such as Bottoms Up, Fire in the Hole, Primeval Fury, and Sundering Bomb
• Alchemist character builds: The Carpet Bomber, Mighty Mutant, and Mad Scientist!

When the goblin chief asks you what’s in all those funny bottles hanging from your belt, uncork a laboratory full of whoop-ass on him! Get your copy of Advanced Feats: Secrets of the Alchemist today—and stay tuned in the months to come for the rest of the Advanced Feats series for the other new Pathfinder Roleplaying Game character classes.

Welcome to Colin McComb’s Now, the Twist. A dangerous journey that will force him to take a long, hard look at game design.

Join him, won’t you… in his ongoing struggle to pass Go.

___

Ah, the dreaded introductory post. Let’s make this fast and painless, and then we’ll get to the meat (no points will be awarded for “that’s what she said!”).

I’ve been playing games for most of my life, but my interest in gaming stepped into high gear when I was 10 (that was 30 years ago), when I first played Dungeons & Dragons. From that point, I became obsessed. I played D&D through high school and through college, and through a truly strange twist of luck, I found a job at TSR as a game designer—quite possibly the optimal use for a degree in Philosophy…

I worked at TSR for 5 years before moving to California to take a job with Interplay’s roleplaying division, later known as Black Isle. My first project there, a Playstation Planescape game, was cancelled before our team ramped up, and I became the second designer on the game we first called Planescape: Last Rites, and later Planescape: Torment. I met a fabulous woman way beyond my pay grade and moved to Michigan with her, and I’ve been kicking around doing freelance game design since, with tabletop companies like Malhavoc Press, Paizo Publishing, and Kobold Quarterly, and some electronic game design as well for others and for my own company, 3lb Games.

I also teach game theory and mechanics and have advised local colleges and universities on establishing game design curricula.

And for some reason, I still feel like I’m pulling the wool over people’s eyes when I talk about designing games. Designing games is work, hard work, but it’s so fun that it feels like cheating to call it a job. It’s difficult to describe myself as a fun expert, which is what “game designer” really boils down to—it seems like the height of arrogance to suggest that I know exactly what makes something fun.

Here’s the thing: I don’t. And you know what? Very few other people do, either. We have a lot of theories. We have a lot of metrics. We have processes and procedures for writing, testing, revising, and iterating. We have the nebulous concept of “balance.” I have a pile of game design books with heavy titles and dense academic text sitting on the floor by my desk here—for instance, Salen and Zimmerman’s Rules of Play, a thick and exhaustive work about what exactly makes a game, in which the authors freely admit that they wrote the book in order to get people talking about games academically.

Yet the framework of design aesthetics remains remarkably opaque, and while we have a common foundation in the tabletop industry (less so in the electronic industry), our methods and results have diverged almost from the first day. In large part, this is because our games do not fill a pressing need in the real world, and they will not result in death or harm if they are improperly designed, so the games are free to take whatever form their designer wishes: we are not architects or ergonomic designers. We are game designers. Our common goal is fun.

This is one of the reasons I refuse to get involved in an edition-war discussion. For one thing, I have friends who have worked on both editions, and choosing one over the other is tantamount to choosing sides. For another (and this is really the more important one), it’s a stupid argument.

People like what they like. They have fun doing what they have fun doing, and for gamers to tear apart other gamers because their style of play isn’t pure enough or it’s too much like a video game or it’s too complicated, or whatever the reason: it does not improve our own play. It does not actually make us superior people. Here is what it does: it makes us nincompoops.

Fun is fun, and what one likes another may despise. This does not make one any less than the other, just as vanilla ice cream is not inherently superior to chocolate. This should be self-evident. People will continue to enjoy their brand of fun with or without our input, and as long as their fun does not hurt us, we have no right to judge them. Some people like Candyland. Some people like chess… wait, let me amend this so people can’t point to one or the other and say, “Ha ha, your edition is Candyland!” What I mean is that some people like Pandemic. Some people like Hive. Both games are excellent in their own right. Both games offer different experiences. Neither is objectively better than the other, but they’re both incredibly fun for what they do. Draw the parallel.

That’s what this is all about. That’s what motivates most of the game designers I know. We come to a common place to share an experience, and that experience should result in fun. It should result in memories. It should result in strengthening our ties with each other. It should result in people wanting to play our games.

In the end, we need to be united as gamers and recognize that similarity between us all: we like games. That should be enough. What we do with our games is between us and our games, but the commonality that binds us is an open and loving acceptance of play.

Next column: A tour of the Fun Factory.

“A man of conviction and piety will walk the fanes at least once in his life. To walk the fanes is to tread in the footsteps of the saints; it is a test of faith. A test where the righteous are rewarded and the false are punished.”

The Faneway of Air straddles the highest mountain of the realm, spiralling upward toward the peak. Each part of the faneway presents a test of faith for a cleric sharing the faneway’s domain. To others, it presents deadly peril.

The First Fane: Blast of Electricity Trap (CR 5)

A 10-ft.-tall statue of a woman stands in the middle of a 30-ft.-wide passageway. Four large pillars surround the statue, casting long shadows over it. The distance from each pillar to the statue is 15 ft. Strong winds blow through the passageway…

Knowledge (religion) (DC 13)—The statue represents the Queen of Air and Darkness.

Knowledge (religion) (DC 18)—You recall the following piece of relevant dogma: “Air, like Darkness, obscures.”

If the statue perceives anything passing the pillars, it unleashes a crackling blast of electricity that affects all creatures between the statues and the pillars.

Type magic; Perception DC 28; Disable Device DC 28
Trigger visual (arcane eye); Reset automatic
Effect blast of electricity (6d6 electricity damage, Reflex DC 16 for half damage); multiple targets (all targets between the statue and the pillars)

Standing next to a pillar and casting obscuring mist is a way to bypass the trap’s visual trigger: the strong winds dissipate the mist in one round.

The Second Fane: Forceful Winds Trap (CR 6)

The path you have been following widens to almost 20 ft. before ending abruptly: a 15-ft.-wide section of the path has dropped away. The mountain wall is wet, slippery, and quite treacherous.

Using the wall to cross the chasm requires a Climb check (DC 30). Jumping across the 15-ft.-wide chasm would normally be a relatively easy Jump check (DC 15), but a magical trap activates as soon as a creature makes the jump. The trap unleashes severe winds that double the Jump check DC to 30. Failure to make the check results in a fall down the chasm.

Type mechanical and magic; Perception DC 28; Disable Device DC 28
Trigger proximity (alarm); Reset automatic
Effect spell effect (gust of wind, doubles DC of all Jump checks to cross the section); multiple targets (all targets jumping across the 15-ft.-wide section)
Effect fall into chasm (6d6 falling damage); multiple targets (all who fail to cross the 15-ft.-wide section)

The Third Fane: Chosen of Air Trap (CR 24)

A dozen 20-ft.-tall iron statues surround a small pyramid of sorts. The top of the pyramid can be reached by ascending seven steps.

Succeeding on a Knowledge (religion) (DC 15) check reveals that every deity with dominion over the Air domain is represented by one of the statues.

Ascending to the top of the pyramid triggers the trap. Bolts of lighting strike every iron statue before arcing to the target who stands on top of the pyramid.

Type magic; Perception DC 45; Disable Device DC 45
Trigger location; Reset automatic
Effect spell effect (maximized chain lightning, 120 electricity damage, Reflex DC 23 for half damage); multiple targets (20 additional targets within 30 ft. of the primary target)
Effect gain the boon of the chosen ability

Boon of the Chosen (Sp) You have walked the Faneway of Air and survived the ordeal. By spending three uses of your lighting arc ability as a standard action, you unleash a powerful blast of lighting targeting any foe within 60 ft. as a ranged touch attack. This blast of lighting deals 2d10+20 electricity damage.

(This post is Product Identity.)

What’s that? Who won? Oh, that’s right… YOU haven’t voted yet! Well, let’s fix that right now. Go to the KQ Forums and vote for your favorite entry from King of the Monsters 2!

Here we are at the end of our second tournament to discover the newest King of the Monsters. Who will win, standing in glorious triumph before your accolades as the latest Monster King of the Kobolds? Who will be left battered and bloodied, dreaming of vengeance? You, the fans, will now decide.

There are 10 finalists, each already a winner. The one that receives the most votes will be crowned the champion and will appear in the next issue of Kobold Quarterly, fully illustrated. Who will you vote for?

• Andrenjinyi (Rainbow Serpent) by David Posener
• Broodiken by Trevor Gulliver
• Eye of Tricks and Traps by Scott A. Murray
• Hooded Hunter by Dylan Hollinden
• Horahk by Jobe Bittman
• Ohsoram the Shattered King by Christian Martinez
• Palaver by Nicolas Quimby
• Thistle by B. Matthew Conklin III
• Vapor Lynx by Matthew Cicci
• Vital Necklace by Steven Hammond

Thank you, everyone, for entering the contest! On behalf of the judges and KoboldQuarterly.com, it was a real pleasure to be a part of. Please, show your support of events like this by voting for your favorite monster. Voting ends this Friday (09-03-10).

A View from the Judge’s Chamber

To wrap up the contest, our guest judges—Jason Bulmahn, Logan Bonner, and Adam Daigle—wanted to share their thoughts…

Jason Bulmahn

I love a good monster and this contest was full of them. Let me first say that it was an honor and a pleasure to be selected as one of this year’s judges. Let me also say that there are some twisted, evil monster designers out there. You are my kind of people. But, there could be only ten (wait, that can’t be right), well there are ten right now, but you get to narrow it down to just one. I am a little jealous.

For me, the process of narrowing it down to the best of the best started by building scale models of each one of the monsters, animating them through the foulest of sorceries, and having them fight to the death for my twisted amusement. Then, after I woke up from this fever dream, I looked at each monster in turn, just trying to get a sense of each one, looking for monsters that really stood out. After all, great statistics and powerful abilities are great, but only if the monster has a great concept to go along with it. Fortunately for me, there was a host of great monsters to choose from, each with their own interesting concept or background. From there, I dug into the rules a bit. Nobody is perfect in this regard, but this is really where I could separate out the winners. As someone who spends all day looking at rules, I am particularly sensitive to not just whether or not a rule is correct but also how much effort it would take to fix if it is not.

The mix of monsters this year made for an interesting judging challenge. Although it’s hard to compare 4E and Pathfinder/3.5E monsters side by side, it was simple to look at them from a conceptual level. Most of these monsters really could work in just about any system. I also found it quite fascinating to look at the mix of monsters as a whole. The number of plants, fey, and undead was really quite notable, which is probably going to influence my choices for my next monster book (giving people what they want is always a good idea).

In the end, I think we, the judges, have managed to come up with a great crop of evil, vicious monsters to torment your players. The only question left is which one are you going to vote for? Which one is your king? I have my favorite that I will be cheering for from the depths of my evil lair. I am sure you, the voters, won’t let me down.

Logan Bonner

Kudos to all the entrants in the King of the Monsters 2 contest. It takes guts to send your baby out into the world to be judged, and we had a great crop of contestants. Though not all the finalists were my top picks, they were certainly among my top scores. I judged them primarily on the strength of their concept and story and on how that came through in the mechanics. A monster with a great backstory that wasn’t reflected in play wouldn’t do so hot, nor would one with innovative mechanics but boring flavor. First and foremost, a monster has to be evocative. The first time a GM sees the illustration or reads the intro paragraph, that GM should be inspired to use the monster right away. It should inspire the next session, even the next adventure. I’m not going to give a comprehensive overview of how I rated each monster, but I’ll point out the details that made them evocative to me.

Andrenjinyi: David twists a mechanical known quantity—swallow whole—by adding baleful polymorph. The best monster abilities really show up at the table, and a GM always wants to see that “it did what?” look on the players’ faces. Sure, a spellcaster could wave his or her hands around, chant some mumbo-jumbo, and get the same effect, but how much cooler is it when this mythical beast’s very presence warps nature and biology? Another nice touch comes in the ecology description with the peculiar animals surrounding the andrenjinyi’s sacred pool.

Broodiken: I love a monster that suggests its presence through sensory clues the GM can drop into the game. The pregnant men angle suggests a somewhat comical scene the PCs might see as they set foot in a new, far-flung land. However, it also describes the horror they’ll eventually witness. Trevor’s intro paragraph works wonders, really putting the GM in the mindset to use these creatures.

Eye of Tricks and Traps: Reading this entry, your mind conjures up a scene with a flying skull running PCs through a gauntlet of deadly devices. Scott shows us the power of focused design. You won’t be using the eye as a general leading a vast army or part of a race with a detailed society. No, the eye of tricks and traps has one purpose, and it’s best if used only once in your campaign. The monster entry tells you everything you need to know to use this monster for a single memorable encounter, and it’s better for this narrowness.

Hooded Hunter: Any monster tied closely to adventurers and the tropes of dungeon-delving risks sliding into parody or breaking suspension of disbelief. But Dylan’s hooded hunters make it work by turning the creatures into scavengers. This hook is flexible enough that the GM can either show PCs the consequences of their slaughter or adjust the monster to a different type of scavenger.

Horahk: The abilities of this monster communicate its insect nature with skittering and egg-depositing powers. Jobe also included the best little detail: the translucent digestive sac full of half-digested eyes. It’s potent, specific traits like these that make monsters’ appearances memorable. 

Ohsoram the Shattered King: This is one of the most epic monsters in the contest, with a story spanning back to the early days of the world and a tale of revenge against the gods. This strong motive puts him directly in opposition to divine characters in the party. The mechanics and story mesh perfectly with the mirror nature of Ohsoram forming a solid core or skeleton for the creature. Christian made a solo that ebbs and flows, changing the number of creatures it equals.

Palaver: Plenty of monsters smash adventurers or burn them to cinders, but not the palaver. Nicholas tapped into a different set of archetypes—the liar, the flatterer, the corrupt courtier-type—that can irritate players even more than creatures trying to do them bodily harm. The palaver can tell the PCs what to do, and nothing will frustrate them more than not being able to stop it!

Thistle: This vicious little fey warrior defends its home, a theme repeated many times here. The creature’s motivation comes through, and the reasoning behind each of its special arrows is pretty clear. Matthew’s creation can ride out on a wolverine, draw its little bow, and yell, “Damn kids! Get off my lawn!”

Vapor Lynx: Atmosphere is everything with the previous Matthew’s creature. Players are bound to get a little paranoid while their characters trudge through a foggy swamp, and an arrogant, lurking creature taps into their fear. The fact that it’s a Large lynx can lead to a nice metagame bait-and-switch, if the PCs think they’re up against a displacer beast.

Vital Necklace: What’s a better trick than a cursed item? A cursed item that turns into a fight! Or a familiar! Steven combined several themes really well. It feels like a spider, like jewelry, and like a construct. And the different gemstones add variety, so there are enough types that each member of the party could wear a different one…

Adam Daigle

I’ve always adored monsters. Even as a kid, they only scared me once, then the fascination would set in. My love of insects and other strange earthly creatures is surely connected. At the core, looking deeply into monsters includes looking deeply into ourselves. It’s a way of dragging a magnifying glass over the cogs and gears of our mind and seeing what switches get flipped when we’re scared, a way to see what frightens, horrifies, repulses, and terrorizes us. Seeing how those fears work can tell you a lot about yourself and can be used to beat them.

Monsters in RPGs need to have the right mix of gorgeous flavor, solid stats, and at least one clever special ability. The ones that really shine excel on all three points. Some go too far, stretching the limits of one of these factors until the critter just falls apart. Some don’t go far enough and an unappetizing blob just lingers there on the page (and in our imaginations.)

I was excited to judge the contest this year, and I thank Wolfgang and Scott for extending the invitation. I read through all the entries the first day I got them, then sat on them for the night, letting them stew in my brain. The next day I sat down and combed through them with the old magnifying glass. I flipped some switches, ran them through the paces, and saw which ones rose to the top. Ultimately, I was looking at these creatures and picking the ten that I thought could easily be in a big shiny monster book.

I’m a bit of a stickler about formatting, but I didn’t let that become too much of a factor in my evaluation, as that can always be changed in editing. There were varying degrees of language skills, and while that certainly factored in, the main thing I was looking for was the fun factor. Fun is such a subjective emotion, but it’s undeniable when you see it. A solid idea and tight theme can forgive a 10- sentence introductory flavor text paragraph. Likewise, a clever piece of mechanics or concrete stat block can make me look past weak language. But when it’s all said and done, the critter needs to be fun.

There were some fantastic entries, and everyone who entered should be proud of their work and congratulate themselves for entering. Thank you, all who entered, for giving me so many cool monsters to read, and thanks again Scott and Wolfgang for asking me to read them.

___

Start working on your submissions for the next King of the Monsters contest!

Welcome to the King of the Monsters 2 finals (see the list of finalists): the broodiken is random finalist 10 of 10. These submissions are left almost entirely as they were received with the exceptions that all submissions are posted with an image and are standardized to KoboldQuarterly.com style. Let the fight commence!

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Sailors familiar with the southern islands speak of tribes where the men give birth. They mock the bloated bellies of the old shamans without understanding what they have seen. They would not laugh if they understood. I lived 5 years on these islands—2 as a prisoner, 3 as an apprentice. I know too well the broodikens. I sacrificed both mind and body to learn these secrets.

I travelled to the islands on a merchant ship captained by a man whose tongue dripped lies. I watched his deceits and betrayals. I saw him taken prisoner. I watched the shaman draw a dagger across his own bloated belly, birthing the broodikens. I saw the brood consume their prey.

I know the making of the broodikens and their purpose. I know their effectiveness as spies and assassins. Now, as the sailors titter at my swelling abdomen, I know their minds. I have eaten the seed and feel the broodikens moving inside me now. My brood will be born before this ship finds port…

Broodiken (CR 2)

XP 600
N Tiny construct
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +4

DEFENSE
AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 12 (+2 Dex, +1 dodge, +2 size)
hp 22 (4d10)
Fort +1, Ref +3, Will +1
Defensive Abilities construct traits

OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft.
Melee bite +5 (1d3−1 plus attach)
Space 2-1/2 ft.; Reach 0 ft.

STATISTICS
Str 8, Dex 14, Con —, Int 2, Wis 10, Cha 6
Base Atk +4; CMB +4 (+8 when attached); CMD 13
Feats Dodge, Mobility
Skills Acrobatics +6, Climb +11, Perception +4, Stealth +14
SQ shared range

ECOLOGY
Environment any
Organization brood (2-4)
Treasure none

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Attach (Ex) When a broodiken succeeds on a bite attack, its four teeth latch onto the target. Each round, it automatically does damage to the target as long as it can maintain its grapple. It gains a +4 bonus to checks to maintain its grapple.

Shared Rage (Su) A broodiken cannot speak with its creator telepathically but feels strong emotions and recognizes the objects of those emotions. A creator can telepathically order broodiken to hunt for and attack individuals by sending the broodiken an image of the individual and the appropriate emotion.

Typical Characteristics

Broodikens are crude servants created by humanoid spellcasters willing to grow them within their own bodies. In appearance, they resemble their creators in the most basic of ways. They have the same number of limbs and basic features as their creators. Broodikens are 1 ft. tall with overly large heads and heavily fanged mouths. Broodikens born to monstrous humanoids with wings or horns gain crude ineffective versions of these which are not useful in combat.

Broodikens have little personality of their own and respond to their creator’s emotions, growling when their creator feels anger and babbling happily when their creator feels joy. When their creator is more than 100 ft. away, they cry loudly with a sound that resembles that of children of the creator’s own species. If discovered in this state by anyone other than their creator, they attack. When their creator focuses his or her anger on a specific individual, the broodikens attack as a group, using stealth to get close and overwhelm single opponents.

Construction

Broodikens are created through the consumption of the heart of a dead broodiken. Once this “seed” is consumed, broodikens (2d4) begin to grow inside of the “mother” or creator. Nurturing the growing brood requires consuming specific muds, ashes, and plants which cost 50 gp/day for each broodiken incubating. The incubation period requires 1 month and takes a toll on the health of the creator. During this time the creator becomes fatigued after 4 hours without 8 hours rest.

If the creator is not a spellcaster, a spellcaster who meets the requirements below must supervise the incubation and the birth. Most spellcasters birth the broodiken using a dagger before the broodiken tear their way out. A “mother” can only control one brood of broodiken at a time. Even beginning to incubate a second brood causes the first brood to become furiously jealous and turn on its own creator.

BROODIKEN
CL 5th; Price 3,000gp

CONSTRUCTION
Requirements Craft Construct, gentle repose; Cost 1,500 gp

(This post is Product Identity.)

Welcome to the King of the Monsters 2 finals (see the list of finalists): the eye of tricks and traps is random finalist 9 of 10. These submissions are left almost entirely as they were received with the exceptions that all submissions are posted with an image and are standardized to KoboldQuarterly.com style. Let the fight commence!

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The eye of tricks and traps is an enchanted construct that appears as a human skull with an iron cog fitted into its left eye. It lurks in ornate dungeon corridors, rising only to test intruders with obscure riddles laden with curses. If threatened, the eye of tricks and traps conjures traps that transform even the most barren catacombs into a gauntlet of pits, darts, and boulders…

Arcana or Thievery DC 18: The eye of tricks and traps is a servitor construct that guards important chambers in an evil wizard’s stronghold. It is tasked with not only turning away intruders, but also the upkeep of the wizard’s traps.

Arcana of Thievery DC 22: The first eye of tricks and traps is said to have been an homage to a legendary demilich. While most are capable of summoning only the most mundane of traps—pit traps, darts, and rolling boulders—others are rumored to have the ability to call forth pendulum scythes, flame jets, or spheres of annihilation.

Eye of Tricks and Traps (Level 13 Elite Controller)

Tiny natural animate (construct, homunculus); XP 1,600
Initiative +8; Perception +6; darkvision

HP 260; Bloodied 130
AC 27, Fortitude 22, Reflex 25, Will 26
Immune disease, poison, sleep; Resist 10 psychic; Vulnerable 5 rogues
Saving Throws +2; Action Points 1
Speed 1; fly 6

TRAITS
Traps Master • Aura 10
Traps in the aura gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls. This includes traps summoned by the eye of tricks and traps.

STANDARD ACTIONS
[r] Puzzling Couplet (Psychic) • At-Will
Attack—Ranged 10 (one creature); +16 vs. Will.
Hit—2d6+7 psychic damage, and the target grants combat advantage (save ends).

[C] Conjure Trap (Summoning) • Recharge 4, 5, 6
Effect—The eye of tricks and traps summons one of the following traps (choose or determine randomly). Summoned traps disappear at the end of the encounter.

1. Pit Trap—A hidden pit trap appears in an open 2-square-by-2-square area within 5 squares. The pit is 70 ft. deep. Perception and Thievery DC 18.

2. Dart Wall—Several holes appear in one square of wall within 5 squares. Each round on the eye of tricks and traps’ initiative, darts fire from the wall at a single target within 10 squares: +18 vs. AC; 2d8+7 damage, and ongoing 10 poison damage (save ends). Thievery DC 18.

3. Rolling Boulder—A 1-square-by-1-square boulder appears in an open space within 5 squares. The boulder moves 6 in a single direction each round; this direction is set by the eye of tricks and traps when summoned and it may not be changed. Creatures in the boulder’s path are attacked: +16 vs. Reflex; 3d6+7 damage, and the target is knocked prone.

[C] Cursewrought Riddle (Psychic) • Recharge 5, 6
Attack—Close burst 5 (enemies in burst)
Effect—All targets must make an Intelligence check. If the combined result of all checks is less than 45, all targets take 3d8+7 psychic damage and are dazed (save ends). If the result is 45 or greater, the eye of tricks and traps takes 20 damage.

MINOR ACTIONS
[R] Mage Hand • At-Will
As the wizard’s mage hand power.

TRIGGERED ACTIONS
Projected Image (Illusion, Teleport) • Recharge 5, 6
Trigger (Immediate Interrupt)—The eye of tricks and traps is hit with an attack.
Effect—The eye of tricks and traps teleports 6 squares, and the triggering creature grants combat advantage until the start of its next turn.

Alignment evil; Languages Common
Skills Arcana +18, Dungeoneering +16, History +18, Nature +16, Religion +18, Thievery +16
Str 11 (+6)           Dex 20 (+11)       Wis 20 (+11)
Con 18 (+10)       Int 24 (+13)         Cha 21 (+11)

Welcome to the King of the Monsters 2 finals (see the list of finalists): the vapor lynx is random finalist 8 of 10. These submissions are left almost entirely as they were received with the exceptions that all submissions are posted with an image and are standardized to KoboldQuarterly.comstyle. Let the fight commence!

___

The great cat pads forward noiselessly.  Tendrils of smoke drift off its sleek grey coat, leaving whirls of mist in its wake.  The feline’s eyes shift from dull, pallid orbs to pitch black slits, its lips curl up into a fang-revealing smile… and its body fades to fog.

Vapor lynxes are capricious hunters.  While not evil, they are devious, manipulative, and most of all mischievous.  They often toy with a prey before killing it…

Vapor Lynx (CR 5)

XP 1,600
CN Large magical beast
Init +9; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent; Perception +8

DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 15, flat-footed 12 (+5 Dex, +1 dodge, +3 natural, −1 size)
hp 51 (6d10+18)
Fort +8, Ref +10, Will +3

OFFENSE
Speed 50 ft.; Climb 30 ft.
Melee bite +10 (1d8+2), 2 claws +10 (1d6+2)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks breath weapon (30-ft. line, choking fog, Fortitude DC 16 partial, useable once every 1d4+2 rounds), pounce, rake (2 claws 1d6+2)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 6th)
3/day—gaseous form

STATISTICS
Str 15, Dex 20, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 14
Base Atk +6; CMB +9; CMD 24
Feats Dodge, Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +11, Climb +14, Perception +8, Stealth +12; Racial Modifier +8 Climb
Languages Common, Sylvan
SQ smoky constitution

ENVIRONMENT
Environment cold or temperate marsh
Organization solitary or pair
Treasure standard

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Breath Weapon (Su) A vapor lynx can breathe out a deadly line of choking fog once every 1d4+2 rounds. This fog affects the battlefield as the spell solid fog (CL 6th); the key difference being, it does not spread out but remains sitting heavy in its original area of effect. Additionally, anyone who enters the fog or is caught in its area of effect must make a DC 16 Fortitude save or become nauseated for their duration in the fog and for 1d4+1 rounds afterward. If a creature succeeds on a save, it still needs to save each round it remains in the fog.

Smoky Constitution (Su) A vapor lynx is a creature that spends its time in both gaseous form and solid form.  Its unique constitution makes it immune to all fog or gas related spells and attacks, including its own.  So attuned is the cat’s physiology, a vapor lynx can clearly see through spells such as obscuring mist and solid fog.

Typical Characteristics

Mated pairs prefer ambushing prey, coalescing in and out of the fog to harass potential meals. Vapor lynxes excel in battlefield control. Using their ability to solidify and poison the fog around them, they cut large groups into smaller, more manageable morsels.

These malevolent tactics have earned vapor lynxes both a nasty reputation and, often times, a hefty bounty on their heads. Additionally, their magical nature makes them a sought-after beast to those who practice magical arts, and their beautiful thick coats tempt many a furrier and trapper into a hunt they may not be prepared for. With so many hunting for them, vapor lynxes rarely stalk civilized lands or travel ways—despite their abilities, they fear an organized reprisal too much. Instead they haunt marshes and swamps, where the natural fog makes hunting all the easier… and if an intelligent humanoid happens to pass that way, then all the better.

Though reclusive, vapor lynxes are intelligent enough to speak both Common and Sylvan. These cats are particularly prideful and take great joy bantering with potential meals in an attempt to both belittle and frighten. While not as renowned for falling prey to the legendary “dragon flattery,” the few recorded tales of vapor lynx encounters recount the cats’ constant needling and self-aggrandizement.

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Welcome to the King of the Monsters 2 finals (see the list of finalists): the thistle is random finalist 7 of 10. These submissions are left almost entirely as they were received with the exceptions that all submissions are posted with an image and are standardized to KoboldQuarterly.com style. Let the fight commence!

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(Oh, and you thought pixies were bad!)

From out of the underbrush, a small, mottled humanoid bedecked in thorny armor advances toward you astride a similarly armored wolverine.

Small, secretive, ruthless fey, thistles live in the deepest and oldest forests. Their lack of contact with civilization has left them with an outlook so dangerously alien that it would give a derro pause…

Thistle (CR 4)

XP 1,200
CE Small fey
Init +5; Senses low-light vision; Perception +9

DEFENSE
AC 21, touch 16, flat-footed 16 (+3 armor, +5 Dex, +2 natural, +1 size)
hp 18 (4d6+4)
Fort +2, Ref +9, Will +6
DR 10/cold iron; SR 15

OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft., climb 10 ft.
Melee short sword +8 (1d4−1/19–20) or lance +8 (1d6−1/x3) or spiked gauntlet +8 (1d3−1)
Ranged shortbow +8 (1d4−1/×3)
Special Attacks special arrows
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th)
Constant—detect chaos, detect evil, detect good, detect law
1/day—barkskin, dispel magic, entangle (DC 14), lesser confusion (DC 14), speak with plants, spike growth (DC 15)

STATISTICS
Str 8, Dex 21, Con 13, Int 14, Wis 15, Cha 16
Base Atk +2; CMB +0; CMD 15
Feats Mounted Archery, Mounted Combat, Weapon Finesse^B
Skills Acrobatics +12, Climb +13, Escape Artist +12, Knowledge (nature) +10, Perception +9, Ride +12, Stealth +16, Use Magic Device +10
Languages Giant, Sylvan

ECOLOGY
Environment forests
Organization solitary, gang (2–5), band (6–19), or clan (20–80)
Treasure standard (lance, short sword, shortbow with 20 arrows, spiked gauntlet, spiked masterwork studded leather armor, other treasure)

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Hide in Plain Sight (Su) A thistle can use the Stealth skill even while being observed. As long as it is within 10 ft. of an area of tall grass, weeds, or other free-standing vegetation, a thistle can hide itself from view while in the open without anything to actually hide behind.

Special Arrows (Su) When a thistle fires an arrow from any bow, it can decide to change the arrow’s properties by sprinkling it with magical thistle dust. Doing so is a free action as long as the thistle is the one who fires the arrow. A thistle can generate a number of uses of dust equal to its Charisma score each day (16 uses/day for most thistles)—the dust is useless to another creature unless the thistle gives the dust freely. In this case, the thistle chooses what effect the dust will have on the arrow when it is applied, and it takes a standard action to apply the dust to the arrow. Once thistle dust is applied to an arrow, the thistle’s chosen effect persists on the arrow for only 1 round. As long as an arrow is altered in this way, it does not inflict damage when it hits—it only causes its new effect. A thistle can choose any one of the following three effects when dusting an arrow (save DCs are Charisma-based):

Bestow Curse—The target must succeed on a DC 15 Will save or be affected as though by a bestow curse spell for 10 minutes.

Memory Loss—The target must succeed on a DC 15 Will save or be affected by a modify memory spell (this effect can only eliminate the previous 5 minutes of memory—a thistle typically uses this ability to make targets forget the thistle, so they won’t follow the thistle to its lair).

Sleep—The target must succeed on a DC 15 Will save or fall asleep for 5 minutes.

Weapon Familiarity (Ex) A bellicose race, thistles are proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with all armor (heavy, light, and medium) and shields (including tower shields). Thistles treat exotic piercing weapons as a martial weapons.

Typical Characteristics

Thistles are related to pixies and, like most fey, are deeply connected to the land of their birth. A thistle clan’s general hue varies by the tree trunk color of the forest they inhabit. Their coloration spans a range from chalk-white birch, and emerald bamboo, to rich redwood, pine, mottled oak, and the black of a cherry tree’s bough. While they do not share their kin’s wings or childish curiosity, they are doughty warriors who often pick fights with creatures much taller than themselves.

As the name suggests, thistles have an obsession for small, sharp, pointy objects and wear armor covered in thorny spikes. When they fight openly, they wield small stabbing blades and lances from the backs of trained giant frogs, monitor lizards, wild pigs, wolves or even wolverines. Most often they use hit-and-run tactics, taking advantage of their ability to disappear into the landscape and their power to enchant arrows.

Thistles stand a hair taller than 2 ft. and weigh about 35 lb.

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