Friday, February 23, 2007

Put a crazy cat lady in your next dungeon!

Housecat Swarm
Size/Type: Tiny Animal (Swarm)
Hit Dice: 8d8 (36 hp)
Initiative: +6
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 14 (+2 size, +2 Dex), touch 14, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/—
Attack: Swarm (1d6)
Full Attack: Swarm (1d6)
Space/Reach: 15 ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks: Distraction
Special Qualities: Half damage from slashing and piercing, low-light vision, scent, swarm traits
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +2
Abilities: Str 3, Dex 15, Con 10, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 7
Skills: Balance +10, Climb +6, Hide +16*, Jump +10, Listen +5, Move Silently +8, Spot +5
Feats: Alertness, Improved Initiative, Stealthy, Weapon FinesseB
Environment: Temperate Plains
Organization: Domesticated, solitary, pack (1-4 swarms), or infestation (7-12 swarms)
Challenge Rating: 3
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: None
Level Adjustment:

Combat

A housecate swarm seeks to surround and attack any warm-blooded prey it encounters. A swarm deals 1d6 points of damage to any creature whose space it occupies at the end of its move.

Distraction (Ex)

Any living creature that begins its turn with a swarm in its square must succeed on a DC 12 Fortitude save or be nauseated for 1 round. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Skills

A housecat swarm has a +4 racial bonus on Climb, Hide and Move Silently checks, and a +8 racial bonus on Jump checks. A cat swarm can always choose to take 10 on all Climb checks, even if rushed or threatened. A cat swarm uses its Dexterity modifier instead of its Strength modifier for Climb and Jump checks. *In areas of tall grass or heavy undergrowth, the Hide bonus rises to +8.

4 comments:

  1. Thoughts:

    8 HD should give it three feats, plus the bonus feat. I'd add Alertness and probably Improved Initiative.

    Strength should be higher - a swarm seems to have a higher strength than an individual creature. Also, we are talking about 300 cats here.

    Speaking of 300 cats, would those really fit into a 10' square? Cats seem to be on the edge between Tiny and Small (since they're typically about 9 lbs). It might make sense to increase Space/Reach to 15'/0'

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  2. Stuart, thanks for the tips! According to d20srd.org a rat swarm has the same Strength as a single rat.

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  3. Would the size increase be worth a CR bump?

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  4. huh. A bat swarm's strength is two higher than a bat.

    Size isn't actually increasing, just the space it takes up. Swarms are weird. Would that increase CR? maybe... it would allow the swarm to envelop more targets. That is pretty nasty.

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