Saturday, November 1, 2008

Why, that's a Xenomoeba!

The final comments are in from last week's "Weekly What the Heck". The result is the larval form of a gibbering mouther, a disgusting, smelly creature that eats the flesh of the living, the dead and the undead.

I'd like to thank Reverend Mike, wyattsalazar and Doctor Checkmate for their ideas, all of which have been mashed together to create:
Xenomoeba
xenomoebas are the larval form of gibbering mouthers. They eat any flesh, living or dead, and are prized by evil spellcasters, especially necromancers, both as sources of alchemical reagents and natural garbage disposals. Those used by necromancers to eat undead flesh sometimes become infused with necrotic energy.

Level 4 Brute
Xenomoeba Larva
XP 175
Small aberrant magical beast
Initiative +4 Senses Perception +0; all-around vision, darkvision
HP 68; Bloodied 34
AC 16; Fortitude 18, Reflex 16, Will 16
Speed 4, swim 5
mSlam (standard; at-will)
+7 vs. AC; 2d8 + 3 damage.
MThrash and Grab (standard; recharge 5 6)
+7 vs. AC; 3d8 + 3 damage, and the target is grabbed and takes ongoing 5 acid damage (until escape).
Alignment Unaligned Languages -
Str 16 (+5) Dex 15 (+4) Wis 6 (+0)
Con 18 (+6) Int 3 (-2) Cha 15 (+4)

Xenomoeba Larva Tactics
Xenomoeba larvae wade mindlessly into melee, using thrash and grab as often as possible.

Level 7 Elite Brute
Necrotic Xenomoeba
XP 600
Small aberrant magical beast
Initiative +6 Senses Perception +1; all-around vision, darkvision
Sepulchral Halitosis aura 2; enemies that start their turns in the aura take a –2 penalty to attack rolls.
HP 198; Bloodied 99
AC 21; Fortitude 22, Reflex 19, Will 21
Saving Throws +2
Speed 4, swim 5
Action Points 1
mSlam (standard; at-will)
+10 vs. AC; 2d8 + 5 damage.
MNecrotic Grab (standard; recharge 5 6)
+10 vs. AC; 3d8 + 5 damage, and the target is grabbed and takes ongoing 5 acid and necrotic damage (until escape).
MFrenzied Thrash (free, when first bloodied; encounter)
The necrotic xenomoeba makes four slam attacks immediately.
MDeath Throes (when reduced to 0 hit points)
The necrotic xenomoeba makes two slam attacks.
Alignment Unaligned Languages -
Str 20 (+11) Dex 18 (+10) Wis 20 (+11)
Con 20 (+11) Int 2 (+2) Cha 22 (+12)

Necrotic Xenomoeba Tactics
A necrotic xenomoeba uses the same tactics as the xenomoeba larva.

Xenomoeba Lore
A character knows the following information with a successful Dungeoneering check.
DC 15: Xenomoebas spontaneously arise when creatures, especially magical beasts, die in a place touched by the Far Realm. If fed enough living flesh, they eventually grow into gibbering beasts.
DC 20: Xenomoebas that eat undead flesh develop a foul stench and fight with the tirelessness of the undead.

Encounter Groups
Xenomoebae are sometimes found living among fully formed gibbering mouthers. Necrotic xenomoebae are often found among undead in the dungeons beneath necromancers' towers.
Level 7 Encounter (XP 1,425)
* 3 xenomoeba larvae (level 4 brute)
* 1 gibbering mouther (level 10 controller)
* 1 foulspawn berserker (level 9 soldier)
Level 8 Encounter (XP 1,700)
* 1 necrotic xenomoeba (level 7 elite brute)
* 1 zombie hulk (level 8 brute)
* 1 corruption corpse (level 4 artillery)
* 1 rotwing zombie (level 4 skirmisher)
* 2 ghouls (level 5 soldier)
Xenomoeba - from the hacked-up greek meaning "strange blob".

2 comments:

Nick said...

Out of curiosity, shouldn't the Grab-related powers be vs Reflex? (I don't know much about 4e, though)

Gregor LeBlaque said...

I don't think so. I just did a quick search through the monster manual, and while there are a few monsters with damage-and-grab attacks that target Reflex, most of them are the kinds of huge creatures whose attacks would effectively target an area (purple worm, roc, etc.)

The xenomoeba's attack is more like the tentacle attacks of the choker or the mind flayer, both of which attack AC.