Frightful Fridays! Meatshield

Hello and welcome to a bonus edition of Frightful Fridays! I can't really claim it's a bonus, though, since I've been pretty slack with the monsters lately. This monster is courtesy of Paris, who jokingly suggested it as the next monster after the bloodbag. I took it as a challenge, and here we are with a mobile mound of meat that can turn people into more mobile meat mounds.

I hope you enjoy this "companion" to the bloodbag. I'll still be back on Friday with a new monster. Thanks for reading!

It's amazing how easy it is to find an image to match a monster

The odor of meat getting ready to turn bad wafts from this collection of scraps somehow held together in a loose sphere; limbs made of meat jut from the mass to propel the creature forward.

Meatshield      CR 5

XP 1,600

Meatshield

NE Medium construct

Init +0; Senses blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +0

DEFENSE

AC 18, touch 10, flat-footed 18 (+8 natural)

hp 58 (7d10+20)

Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +2

DR 5/—; Immune construct traits, magic

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft., climb 20 ft.

Melee 2 slams +10 (2d6+3)

Special Attacks create spawn, pulverize

STATISTICS

Str 17, Dex 11, Con —, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 5

Base Atk +7; CMB +10; CMD 20 (can't be tripped)

Skills Climb +11

ECOLOGY

Environment any land

Organization solitary, pair, or slaughterhouse (3–12)

Treasure none

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Create Spawn (Su) A creature that dies from a meatshield’s red ache rises as a meatshield in 8 hours.

Immune to Magic (Ex) A meatshield is immune to any spell or spell-like ability that allows spell resistance. In addition, certain spells and effects function differently against the creature, as noted below.

• Purify food and drink heals 10 hit points and increases a meatshield’s movement rates by 10 feet. A meatshield no longer inflicts red ache with its attacks.
• Putrefy food and drink deals 10 hit points of damage to a meatshield and reduces its movement rates by 10 feet. All of its attacks inflict red ache.

Pulverize (Ex) If a meatshield hits the same target with both of its slam attacks, it deals an additional 1d4 Strength damage and afflicts its victim with red ache.

Red Ache Pulverize—injury; save Fort DC 15; onset 1d3 days; frequency 1/day; effect 1d6 Str damage; cure 2 consecutive saves.

On the opposite end of the spectrum from the bloodbag, but no less ill-advised, meatshields resulted when a nascent necromancer attempted to raise undead creatures from an assemblage of meat scraps. She was successful to an extent and became the newly formed creatures’ first victim. The meatshields roamed the neighboring lands, instinctively aware that they needed to inflict their procreative disease on victims rather than outright slaughtering them. Those who hear victims describe an attack by a living mound of meat attribute the outrageous tales to fever brought on by the disease. Of course, very few people understand how victims transform into piles of meat when they succumb to the disease, and most run screaming when the piles coalesce and lurch into action.

While meatshields are constructs with nominal undead traits of creating spawn and inflicting disease, the secrets of making the creatures died with the original creator. No one has openly dared to recreate the experiment. However, those who can control meatshields use them as shock troops or as protection (as their namesake would imply).

Frightful Fridays! Bloodbag

Hello, and welcome to the return of Frightful Fridays! I'd claim that the previous entry haunted me too much, and it took me a while to recover, but it was actually real life that intervened. This week's monster is courtesy of my college-age child, who wanted a monster made entirely of blood that would run up to characters to hug them and then explode in a shower of blood. I either did a great or horrific job of parenting.

I hope you enjoy the bloodbag, and I should be back with a new monster next week. Thanks for reading!

The crop by Google Images makes this creepier than it is

This pool of blood coalesces into a vaguely humanoid form; a thin membrane contains the fluid.

Bloodbag      CR 6

XP 2,400

NE Medium ooze

Init +2; Senses blindsight 60 ft.; Perception +0

DEFENSE

AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 10 (+2 Dex)

hp 85 (9d8+45)

Fort +8, Ref +5, Will +3

DR 5/slashing; Immune ooze traits; Resist fire 10

Weaknesses vulnerable to negative energy

OFFENSE

Speed 20 ft.

Melee slam +12 (3d6+9 plus grab)

Special Attacks blood drain (1d2 Con), self-destruction

STATISTICS

Str 23, Dex 14, Con 21, Int 5, Wis 10, Cha 8

Base Atk +6; CMB +12 (+16 grapple); CMD 24 (can't be tripped)

Skills Stealth +11

SQ camouflage, compression

ECOLOGY

Environment any land

Organization solitary, pair, or blood bank (3–6)

Treasure none

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Blood Drain (Ex) A bloodbag drains blood at the end of its turn if it grapples a foe, inflicting the listed Constitution damage. It also gains 5 temporary hit points as it incorporates the blood into its mass. These temporary hit points last for a maximum of 1 hour.

Camouflage (Ex) Since a bloodbag looks like a pool of blood what at rest, a DC 20 Perception check is required to notice it before it attacks for the first time. A creature with ranks in Heal can use that skill instead of Perception to notice the bloodbag.

Self-Destruction (Ex) As a standard action, a bloodbag can rupture its membrane and explosively release blood in a 10-foot radius. All creatures within range are afflicted with bloodbag hemorrhagia (which also affects undead creatures that drain blood) and must succeed at a DC 19 Reflex save or become blind for 1d4 rounds. The bloodbag is still alive after this self-destruction, albeit with half its current hp. To utterly destroy a discorporate bloodbag, it must take damage equal to its hp plus its current Con from area of effect spells or effects. Otherwise, the bloodbag returns 24 hours later fully healed.

Bloodbag Hemorrhagia Self-Destruction—contact; save Fort DC 19; onset 1 day; frequency 1/day; effect 1d4 Con damage, victim takes 1 point of bleed damage after taking damage from a piercing or slashing weapon; cure 2 consecutive saves.

The result of a misguided attempt to create a counter to blood-drinking undead by infecting them with a hemorrhagic disease, bloodbags proved ineffective at their intended objective. Instead, they compete with bloodsucking creatures in order to grow and reproduce. Bloodbags have a thin, coagulated membrane that protects them from all but the sharpest weapons. The membrane is porous enough to allow them to absorb blood from victims they have entangled in their mass.

In heavily trafficked areas, bloodbags remain near dead victims to add to the pretense as a pool of blood. They don’t take treasure, so they benefit from the curious or greedy who search the body for money or other items and pay little attention to the fact that the victims are nearly exsanguinated. Bloodbags self-destruct as a defense and reproduction mechanism, inflicting their attackers with a hemorrhagic disease, the bleeding from which typically spawns new bloodbags. If nothing is done about the blood droplets created by a self-destructed bloodbag, it reforms after a day to continue its hunt for blood.

Fun at North Texas RPG Con

Why oh why did it take me so long to make it to this con in my home state?

The first night I sat in on the first half of tournament game with Bill Barsh where I earned the sobriquet "Steak Salad Guy."

The first whole day I had a blast with a group furn by Kelly Rowe through Strahd's Castle (pictures below.)

This morning I misread the schedule and got here early (sleep? Who needs it?) and will be in Matt Finch's Mythrus Tower.

Got my Expert books signed by Stephen R. Marsh, talked with New Big Dragon and picked up a few things from him. Great booths -- especially have to give a shout-out to David Donohoo of Ettin Games. Don't drive through the Houston area without visiting the best gaming store in the area.