Monster Design: Cave Brood - Cave Quick

Hello again!

I wanted to begin by thanking everyone who read last week's entry as well as the comments I received (on Google+ or my entries). Due to one of those comments I'll be changing my format slightly, I hope this makes it easier.

Last week we looked at the Cave Crawler, a situational ambusher with a great advantage in dark, enclosed locales. I also mentioned that I built them for my group and that the group was going to have to return to the same place approximately 6 levels later.

Here's where my opinion comes in: I dislike large melees. They slow down the game with every additional roll necessary. I remedy this with my take on the 3.5 "Mob/Herd" template, but that's for another post. I prefer stronger opponents to more opponents, and thus I needed to make a new creature (or two).

I had two creatures in mind: one a beefy tank, built to order (next post), and an upgraded version of a creature I've always wanted to use, The Quickling. The first time I ever saw the Quickling I was intrigued. They move insanely fast and are invisible when not moving. 

I know, it sounds cheap doesn't it? Their major weakness is that they're of the same league as my Cave Crawler (CR 3). They needed to be better.

Well, looking at the background of my Cave Crawler, magical experimentation and genetic manipulation made them, so why not go one step further than simply upgrading them and make a magical hybrid? 

Thus the Cave Quick came into concept. I wanted these things to be all speed. They also needed to deal more damage (at least on a "personal risk-vs-damage dealt" ratio) over the Cave Crawler. 

This is what I came up with:

Cave Quick CR 6

XP 2,400
CE Small aberration
Init +13; Senses darkvision 120 ft.; Perception +14

DEFENSE

AC 23, touch 20, flat-footed 14 (+9 Dex, +3 natural, +1 size)
hp 37 (5d8+15)
Fort +4; Ref +10; Will +6
Defensive Abilities improved uncanny dodge, natural invisibility, supernatural speed; DR 10/cold iron or lawful; Resist acid 5, fire 5
Weaknesses light blindness, slow susceptibility

OFFENSE

Speed 100 ft. (50 ft. w/o Supernatural Speed)
Melee 2 claws +15 (2d4+3/18-20/x3)
Special Attacks augmented critical, bleeding attack, favored enemies (dragon, humanoid (reptilian)) +2, sneak attack +2d6, hatred
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th)

Constant—greater magic fang

TACTICS

Before Combat A cave quick has an unnaturally long-ranged darkvision. This allows them to see far ahead and plot ambushes.
During Combat They know that their ridiculous speed and natural invisibility makes them easily able to outrun any enemies. For this reason they strafe their enemies. Darting past enemies and around corners, then staying still just out of line of sight so as to become invisible. They then repeat the process.
Morale They aren't used to prey who can see through invisibility and thus if they are attacked while standing still they always flee, whether to get reinforcements or out of abject fear depends on the damage dealt.

STATISTICS

Str 12, Dex 28, Con 17, Int 15, Wis 15, Cha 18
Base Atk +3; CMB +3; CMD 22
Feats Deepsight, Desperate Battler, Improved Initiative, Mobility^B, Spring Attack^B, Weapon Finesse^B
Skills Acrobatics +17 (+45 jump), Climb +9, Escape Artist +17, Intimidate +12, Perception +14, Stealth +21 (+61 while still vs. foes who can't see invisible), Survival +9; Racial Modifiers +4 Stealth, +4 Perception
Languages Aklo, Common
SQ improved evasion

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Augmented Critical (Ex)

The scythe-like claws of the Cave Quick threaten a critical on an 18-20 and have a x3 critical multiplier.

Bleeding Attack (Ex)

As per the Rogue Talent but with the following exception: Deal 1 point of bleed per damage die in total (not just Sneak Attack die).

Hatred (Ex)

Cave Crawlers receive a +1 bonus on attack rolls against humanoids of the reptilian and goblinoid subtypes due to instinctive capabilities endowed by the initial mutations. They also have the ranger special ability "favored enemy" in regards to dragons and reptilian humanoids with a +2 bonus.

Natural Invisibility (Su)
Thanks to the merging of quickling blood and power into the subjects, a “Cave Quick” is completely invisible while standing. This functions just as the spell.

Slow Susceptibility (Ex)
A Cave Quick also inherited the weakness of their Quickling parents – whenever they succumb to a slow effect they lose their supernatural speed and are sickened for as long as the effect persists. This sickened condition persists for 1 round after the slow effect ends.

Supernatural Speed (Su)
When the fey Quicklings were first merged with their Cave Crawler recipients the primary goal was to grasp whatever magical essence granted such amazing speed. This doubles the movement speed of the Cave Crawler (already factored in). Whenever a Cave Quick moves it blurs and shimmers, gaining a 20% miss chance. This also enhances the Cave Crawler's already amazing evasive ability, granting improved evasion and improved uncanny dodge (as the rogue abilities).

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It doesn't seem as horrifying as the Cave Crawler for the most part (numerically, they don't deal anywhere near as much potential damage). Cave Quicks are still intended to be in small groups, and (while they deal less immediate damage) are much more resilient.

The concept behind these things was simple: strafing runs constantly harry the group until they become paranoid. Sadly I frustrated my players more than I'd envisioned but my group also lacked serious spellcasting which made my encounters less typical. 

The environment for these creatures (a manufactured dungeon as opposed to a hectic subterranean city) made it less confusing overall so they needed a simpler advantage. Their high critical claws also gave an opportunity to describe them in horrifying detail. Reaping claws, massive cuts, etc.

I wanted these creatures to be a "what the heck just happened?!" situation more so than the Cave Crawlers. I also knew that the party had a "standard operating procedure" since their last dealings with the Cave Crawlers and wanted to throw them a curveball.

The first time one of these beasties sprinted around the corner, drew a horrible critical on the barbarian, and kept running past, the entire party just paused for a minute. The players actually took a minute to comprehend what happened. They thought it was a trap or a spell. Until it happened again. The party wasn't even in "combat mode" until the third pass.

A rogue can't sneak attack them since miss chances negate sneak attacks, and the rest of the party only started declaring actions (readying to hit when it ran among them again) after the third pass. 

I'll admit I felt a little relieved that the party managed to kill it (a group of ECL 7 PCs had a hard time hitting it with readied actions). Sadly, once they realized what it was, the jig was up. 

I wish I'd paired it with something. Maybe if they'd encountered it with the Cave Breaker or the Cave Crawler it could deal more damage before they realized what was happening (I was worried about their speed and invisibility killing off the group). It was a prime example of how effective a sudden surprise can be in both a dramatic and mechanical way.

As for balance, well we always have...

Comparison

• Firstly, the Cave Crawler. Their younger brother has a much higher "burst damage" potential. Heck, the Cave Crawler can deal a max of 50 damage. That's ridiculous (but only in an ideal scenario). In every other aspect the Cave Quick is superior. (As it should be).
• Secondly, comparing it to a similar creature: the Berbalang (CR 6). While not neccessarily similar in means, their method seems to be the same. They scout out enemies and then, using obfuscation, get close enough to strike. The berbalang deals less damage on a per hit basis and the Cave Quick's eventual damage is ultimately higher (adding bleed damage on every hit). The berbalang can fly away, but that still leaves it open to attack (either through ranged fire or through a wizard with an available fly spell). The Cave Quick can move far enough and has such immense defensive capabilities that, while having less HP (about half), they would still be harder to outright kill.
• Compared to the other CR 6 most-known "assassin", the Babau Demon, the result is the same - it has more HP and more upfront damage as well as a host of useful spells. the Cave Quick has slightly more damage claws, a higher attack roll, and higher potential damage. Ultimately I think they both come out rather evenly (though in a "one-on-one" the Babau would win since the Cave Quick would lose most of it's benefits due to See Invisibility.

In conclusion, I'd have to say that I'm more-or-less pleased with these creatures. Sadly, they weren't used as much (or as effectively) as I'd like them to have been but that was my fault.

Newbie Minute

You'll notice a feat called "Deepsight". This feat grants enhanced darkvision range. I could have simply put their darkvision at 120 feet but I chose to do it this way to keep a certain amount of analogue between the mechanics and the creatures. The Cave Quick has superior darkvision to their other two species. This feat reflects that, while superior, they are still based off the same creature as the other two. 

You'll also notice that the hit dice aren't much higher. I wanted these to remain fragile. To do this I improved their ability scores to fill in the blanks. Weapon Finesse and natural attacks (coupled with a high dexterity) allow a high attack roll without making a creature that just obliterates enemies in a minimal number of shots (which would have been the result if I'd just used strength).

Next weekend we'll finish this series with the Cave Breaker, a more straight-forward adversary. I also used an upgraded Cave Breaker as a boss, so notes on the how and why of that next week as well.

Again, please leave any criticisms or questions either below or G+/e-mail me directly and I'll both respond directly and post the answer here. Thanks for reading! Have a great week!