Leviathan

[EarthenForge]

Clearly, what BW needs more of, is sea monsters. This one's for our Taranis campaign, but I'd love some feedback. Never did a full-burn of a monster from scratch before.

Leviathan
Isaiah 27:1: "In that day the LORD with His severe sword, great and strong, Will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan that twisted serpent; And He will slay the reptile that is in the sea."

Concept: An ancient snake of the deep. Protector of the sea, smasher of ships. This one in particular is something of a shadow - not fully alive, not yet at peace, and under the direction of a summoner.

Instincts:
1. Always go head first from below.
2. Dash all ships to splinters.
3. Always search the wreckage.

Beliefs:
1. I will find my heart, then my soul will rest. (Heart is meant literally.)
2. I will destroy all ships without The Mark.
3. One day, I will destroy them all.

Traits:
Gigantic Stature; Ophidian Body; Lizard-Like, Armor-Plated Skull, Scintillating Scales; Fins; Crushing Jaws; Fish Lung; Fish Eye; Stone's Age; Aggressive; Aura of Terror; Silent Voice; Bellowing; Devastator; Heaving

Stats:
Wi B6; Pe B6; Ag B4; Sp G7; Po G9; Fo G9

Attributes:
Health B7; Reflexes B6; Steel G6; Circles B3 (2D Infamous Reputation); Resources B4; Speed Multiplier x7 (Fish - when swimming)

PTGS:
Su B9; Li G2; Mi G12; Se G14; Tr G15; MW G16

Skills:
Brawling B8; Foraging B4; Haggling B4; Intimidation B7; Stealthy G6; Obscure History B5; Sea-Wise G6; Human-Wise B3; Ship-Wise B3; Summoning-Wise B4; Treasure-Wise B4

IMS:
Crushing Jaws B7, B14, B21 (is this right? Or do the high numbers convert to gray?), Add 2, VA 2, Fast, Shortest

Armor/Natural Defenses:
Armor-Plated Skull (gray full plate); Scintillating Scales (chainmail)

Alright, lay it on.

[Kublai]

Gah! Very cool.

B21 converts into G5 - perfect for crushing ships! But how'd you figure the IMS? A G9 power converts to a B11 Mark. Do the jaws add extra Power?

I think the VA of its jaws should be 3, honestly. The G9 power deserves it!

Change Brawling to something more evocative!

[EarthenForge]

Thanks, Pete!

I figured the IMS from the Crushing Jaws trait (MonBu p. 321) which gives +3 Power.

Hmm...more evocative than Brawling...that's tricky. A lot of fighting terms refer to a specific move, like lunge or strike, rather than a category. Maybe Wrangling?

[Daniel H.]

Hmm...more evocative than Brawling...that's tricky. A lot of fighting terms refer to a specific move, like lunge or strike, rather than a category. Maybe Wrangling?
Coiling? Constricting? Crushing? Shattering? Sundering? Ships-are-but-matchsticks-ing? Does it use its body or only its jaws?

This thing is nightmarish. I love it. Somebody better find that summoner (preferably when he's far inland) . . .

[Mel White]

Great Instincts!
And Belief #3 is scary--no sea voyages for me.
Mel

[Kublai]

Yeah, I was thinking something more along wanderer's lines. It's the same as Brawling, just cooler.

Also, does Crushing Jaws allow the Lock & Strike move that wolves get? I would think serpents would use that exclusively!

[EarthenForge]

Daniel: Thanks - your suggestions are great! I think Coiling or Sundering might make the most sense. I picture this guy ramming with his head, crushing/tearing with his jaws, and smashing/breaking apart with the coil of his body. He's make good use of the Devastator trait and Heaving for that special strike.

Mel: Thanks, man - maybe if you find his heart he won't kill you and you can take that luxury cruise after all. :)

Pete: Yeah, Crushing Jaws allows Lock & Strike on the same action. And I think you're right - that would be his main move. So how would that work? Would I roll for Lock and Strike separately?

[Kublai]

You make one roll. Successes count towards the Lock and Strike equally - no splitting.

So he gets 5 successes on his attack. That's a superb result, plus the defender has to make a ND test at Ob5! It's really nasty.

[EarthenForge]

You make one roll. Successes count towards the Lock and Strike equally - no splitting.

So he gets 5 successes on his attack. That's a superb result, plus the defender has to make a ND test at Ob5! It's really nasty.

Wait, but Lock tests Power and Strike tests the weapon skill (or Brawling in this case). So, just to be clear, what exactly am I rolling with for a Lock & Strike? From your example, it sounds like Power - that would cause a Power vs. Power struggle with ND, and he's got Gray Power. Eek! But even if the PC is successful at ND, she still has the strike to deal with. Better hope she scripted Avoid, Block, or Counterstrike and rolls really well - a Mark or Superb is going to end her.

Also, can Lock & Strike be scripted twice in a row? This guy has B6 Reflexes... ::shiver::

[stormsweeper]

The VA would increase to 3 because of the high Power (see p.184 of the brown book). The Gigantic Stature trait also increases the weapon length to Long.

Honestly, I'd totally make the thing do grey damage across the board. It's the Leviathan!

[Kublai]

Wait, but Lock tests Power and Strike tests the weapon skill (or Brawling in this case). So, just to be clear, what exactly am I rolling with for a Lock & Strike? From your example, it sounds like Power - that would cause a Power vs. Power struggle with ND, and he's got Gray Power. Eek! But even if the PC is successful at ND, she still has the strike to deal with. Better hope she scripted Avoid, Block, or Counterstrike and rolls really well - a Mark or Superb is going to end her.

Also, can Lock & Strike be scripted twice in a row? This guy has B6 Reflexes... ::shiver::

You would roll your Brawling skill, which stands in for Power in this case. And yes, you can script Lock & Strike repeatedly. It's Fast!

[stormsweeper]

Oh, and there already is a "more evocative" skill for Brawling - Savage Attack.

[EarthenForge]

The VA would increase to 3 because of the high Power (see p.184 of the brown book). The Gigantic Stature trait also increases the weapon length to Long.

Honestly, I'd totally make the thing do grey damage across the board. It's the Leviathan!

Oh, good call! Thanks for the references. I'll fix that before I post him on the wiki.

And, yeah, I tried to restrain myself with this guy in terms of stats and other things. I was thinking more "a leviathan" rather than "THE leviathan." My reasoning had more to do with wanting him to be encountered and possibly destroyed at some point. As I was reading through the "100 Questions" in the MonBu, I was influenced by Luke's restrained creation of the dragon. I really like the idea of some no-name fisherman being the one who ultimately destroys the leviathan. In reality, of course, that's highly unlikely, but the idea is there.

That said, do you think he should still be more powerful? Getting a feel for what's too powerful or too weak was one of my reasons for posting this, after all.


You would roll your Brawling skill, which stands in for Power in this case. And yes, you can script Lock & Strike repeatedly. It's Fast!

Ok then. Thanks so much for clearing that up!


Oh, and there already is a "more evocative" skill for Brawling - Savage Attack.

Ahh. Savage Attack. Another good call. So that draws from Agility and Speed, not just Agility, as with Brawling.

[xenomouse]

If this isn't appropriate for this thread let me know.

How does one go about fighting such a thing? I was talking with Rachel about this last night, and I'm of the inclination that if a sea monster surprises a ship full of PC's and attacks it, the PC's will try to defend themselves. Rachel noted, if you try to fight this thing it will attack you (the character as opposed to the ship), and by the nastiness enumerated in its stat block, I am under the assumption that if it attacks characters, it will kill them.

I want to play my character. I do not want him to get eaten by a sea monster. What do I do? :confused:

[luke]

Wand of lightning bolts?
Hire a spirit binder to get you safely to your destination?

Dude, sometimes things are just too big to fight on your own.

[pseudoidiot]

Find its heart and stabbity?

[stormsweeper]

Into the belly of the beast!

[xenomouse]

Perhaps I should have held on to that magic circlet that emulated a crossbow. :(

I guess we could always try to get it to attack a ship full of gunpowder and then blow'd it up.

Maybe mount a ballista or a couple scorpios onto a ship and get some Herman Melville action going on. Though I'd like it if we survived...

The heart seems like a good idea, but technically, none of the characters know about the monster's existence, let alone its nature. Would it be underhanded or too meta-gamey for me to make rolls to discover information about it (or just to discover its existence) without my PC having any reason to do so?

The belly of the beast tactic conflicts with my idea of wanting to keep my character alive.

Wand of lightning bolts sounds like a good idear. We do have an enchanter on hand...

I'm pretty sure the pirates' weather witch (under whose power the leviathon currently resides) is more powerful than any summoner we could possibly circle up, but that path definitely has potential.

We do have a couple characters with Faith. Maybe we can call for some traveling mercies.

[EarthenForge]

Ahh...NOW you're thinking outside of the box. And thinking some good thoughts, too.


The heart seems like a good idea, but technically, none of the characters know about the monster's existence, let alone its nature. Would it be underhanded or too meta-gamey for me to make rolls to discover information about it (or just to discover its existence) without my PC having any reason to do so?

But this - not true! Cassius is a PC and he knows about the leviathan. He was shipwrecked because of it! He may not know a lot about it's specifics (missing heart), but he knows there's a sea monster out there that's capable of making toothpicks out of ships. And yes, it would be dangerously meta-gamey and to start pouring your OOC knowledge into this. But there's nothing meta-gamey about taking the little knowledge your character does know about a very real threat and trying different avenues to find out more about it or even establish some facts.

[xenomouse]

Well give me a duh.

[Dwight]

Would it be underhanded or too meta-gamey for me to make rolls to discover information about it (or just to discover its existence) without my PC having any reason to do so?
IMO absolutely not. Choosing to make Wise Test, especially one that is establishing (rather than discovering) facts, is entirely a player decision and action. Ergo entirely free of "metagame" entanglement. In fact the player can choose to roll the Wise to see if the PC has knowledge of the existance of the leviathan (assuming this doesn't contradict prior established fact). Upon success (and perhaps even failure) you can determine that the PC has some knowledge of it and thus removing the "metagame" aspect from decisions made in-character.

EDIT: Tests that involve the PC conciously gathering information are usually not [direct] Wises but instead things like Research, social Skills, Observation, etc.

[EarthenForge]

Annnnd Dwight just did a better job of saying what I was getting at. :D Good stuff!