Sunday, September 10, 2006

Otu's Monster Makeovers - The bodak

Inspired by Mike Mearls' Monster Makeover articles over at Wizards.com (namely the rust monster and the ogre mage, soon to be followed by the mind flayer), and previously posted on ENWorld, the bodak.

Old SRD stats:
BODAK
Medium Undead (Extraplanar)
Hit Dice:
9d12 (58 hp)
Initiative: +6
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares)
Armor Class: 20 (+2 Dex, +8 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 18
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+5
Attack: Slam +6 melee (1d8+1)
Full Attack: Slam +6 melee (1d8+1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Death gaze
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 10/cold iron, darkvision 60 ft., immunity to electricity, resistance to acid 10 and fire 10, undead traits, vulnerability to sunlight
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +5, Will +7
Abilities: Str 13, Dex 15, Con —, Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 12
Skills: Listen +11, Move Silently +10, Spot +11
Feats: Alertness, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus (slam)
Environment: A chaotic evil-aligned plane
Organization: Solitary or gang (2–4)
Challenge Rating: 8
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Advancement: 10–13 HD (Medium); 14–27 HD (Large)
Level Adjustment:

Bodaks are the undead remnants of humanoids who have been destroyed by the touch of absolute evil.
A bodak retains fleeting memories of its past life and can speak Common (or some other humanoid language).

COMBAT
Death Gaze (Su): Death, range 30 feet, Fortitude DC 15 negates. Humanoids who die from this attack are transformed into bodaks 24 hours later. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Vulnerability to Sunlight (Ex): Bodaks loathe sunlight, for its merest touch burns their impure flesh. Each round of exposure to the direct rays of the sun deals 1 point of damage to the creature.



Bodaks are supposed to have been destroyed by the touch of absolute evil. They have a bit of a glass jaw if their Death Gaze doesn't kill their foes, and a DC of 15 isn't that hard to make. If it doesn't gain a benefit from the death gaze, it turns into something of a sitting duck, with little ability to do anything (a single slam for 1d8+1?! Come on!).

My re-interpretation comes from the angle that bodaks are destroyed by that touch of absolute evil - they effectively become the fingers of that absolute evil. First off, let's remove the death gaze, and replace it by something similar.

Presence of Absolute Evil (Su): The Bodak exudes an aura that hints at the darkness that created it and haunts any living creature near it. Every creature within 60 feet of the bodak suffer a -4 penalty to attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks.
Intensify Presence (Su): As a swift action, the bodak can intensify the aura for one round, increasing the penalties to -6. Good creatures in the area must make a Fortitude save (DC X) or be nauseated for 1d4+1 rounds. Once the bodak uses this ability, it cannot use it again for 5 rounds. The save DC is Charisma-based.

The Presence ability will almost always impact the fight, and can hit stronger if necessary. It can also be more powerful against good characters if intensified. However, now it doesn't really have a "kill" ability, and is still stuck with the measly 1d8+1. In fact, its very stats are a bit lacking, so I'll up them a bit. Now, for the kill ability, I'll return to the idea that bodaks are essentially "fingers" of the absolute evil.
Touch of Absolute Evil (Su): The touch and the natural attacks of a bodak transfer bone-chilling evil, capable of corrupting any foe to the bones. Any creature hit by a bodak must make a Fortitude save (DC X) or take 1 point of ability damage to all abilities. Evil creatures get a +2 circumstance bonus to this save. If any of the victim's ability scores drops to 0, it dies. 24 hours later, it rises as a bodak without its special attacks - it gains them after a week has passed since its creation. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Of course, this new bodak is no longer the silent ambusher, capable of killing the unsuspecting. It is more of an agent of evil, and as such should have different skills and feats, and a better speed. To round things out, I'll add an ability for better survivability (reducing the DR to compensate), and make a few more flavor tweaks (why resistance/immunity to fire/electricity if sunlight weakens it?). I feel the end result might easily be a CR 9, but that has to be determined by playtesting.



Semi-Final Stats:

BODAK
Medium Undead (Extraplanar, Evil)
Hit Dice:
9d12+9+27 (94 hp)
Initiative: +8
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 22 (+4 Dex, +8 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 18
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+7
Attack: Slam +8 melee (2d6+3, touch of absolute evil)
Full Attack: Slam +8 melee (2d6+3, touch of absolute evil)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Intensify Presence, Presence of Absolute Evil, Touch of Absolute Evil
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 5/good and cold iron, darkvision 60 ft., force into the world, immunity to cold, resistance to acid 10 and sonic 10, turn resistance +2, undead traits, vulnerability to sunlight
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +7, Will +7
Abilities: Str 17, Dex 19, Con —, Int 8, Wis 12, Cha 16
Skills: Intimidate +15, Listen +13, Spot +13
Feats: Ability Focus (Touch of Absolute Evil), Improved Initiative, Improved Toughness, Weapon Focus (slam)
Environment: A chaotic evil-aligned plane
Organization: Solitary or hand (2–5)
Challenge Rating: 9
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always evil (any)
Advancement: 10–13 HD (Medium); 14–27 HD (Large), or by class level
Level Adjustment:

Bodaks are the undead remnants of humanoids who have been destroyed by the touch of absolute evil.
A bodak retains fleeting memories of its past life and can speak Common (or some other humanoid language).

COMBAT
Presence of Absolute Evil (Su): The Bodak exudes an aura that hints at the darkness that created it and haunts any living creature near it. Every creature within 60 feet of the bodak suffer a -4 penalty to attack rolls, skill checks, and ability checks.
Intensify Presence (Su): As a swift action, the bodak can intensify the aura for one round, increasing the penalties to -6. Good creatures in the area must make a Fortitude save (DC 17) or be nauseated for 1d4+1 rounds. Once the bodak uses this ability, it cannot use it again for 5 rounds. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Touch of Absolute Evil (Su): The touch and the natural attacks of a bodak transfer bone-chilling evil, capable of corrupting any foe to the bones. Any creature hit by a bodak must make a Fortitude save (DC 19) or take 1 point of ability damage to all abilities. Evil creatures get a +2 circumstance bonus to this save. If any of the victim's ability scores drops to 0, it dies. 24 hours later, it rises as a bodak without its special attacks - it gains them after a week has passed since its creation. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Vulnerability to Sunlight (Ex): Bodaks loathe sunlight, for its merest touch burns their impure flesh. Each round of exposure to the direct rays of the sun deals 1 point of damage to the creature.
Force into the World (Ex): The bodak gets bonus hit points equal to its Hit Dice times its Charisma bonus (if any). It literally forces itself into the world by its sheer power of spirit.

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