Attribute damaging monsters wanted

[10d10]

Hey guys! I need a little help...

I'm looking for monsters (mostly for Pathfinder, but D&D 3.5 is ok too) that have the power to damage/suck/take attributes (besides ghouls and undeads like that... Ghosts and other spectral beings are good to go, though)

Not only that, but are any of those damages permanent? You know, things that could lead to a sidequest "Find the cure"?

We are looking for damages on Charisma, Wisdom and Constitution (but others are appreciated to). CR 9 or less.

Sure you could say "look into the monster manual/bestiary", but I want to know about monster who were well used in combat. Have you played against those? Which one gave you hell in a battle? Which one is fairly simple to fight?

Please help?

[sirpercival]

Shadows are pretty nuts... at low levels a lot of PCs don't have magical weapons and can't hurt them at all.

Two or more allips can TPK a low-level party.

[kitep]

IIRC, ability damage is temporary, ability drain is permanent.  Restoration is a 4th-level cleric spell that cures the permanent drain, so it's not much of a sidequest.

Lamia (MM, p165) drains wisdom.  Never fought one.
Stirge (MM, p236) hits Con.  One stirge is no problem, but they usually come in swarms.  Though one area-effect spell, and a group is no problem either.

There are also monsters with poison that do ability damage/drain, but the PCs get a saving throw.

[10d10]

Shadows are pretty nuts... at low levels a lot of PCs don't have magical weapons and can't hurt them at all.

Two or more allips can TPK a low-level party.

The party is at level 6 and nobody has a single magic weapon yet. So I think those shadows will be pretty good.

IIRC, ability damage is temporary, ability drain is permanent.  Restoration is a 4th-level cleric spell that cures the permanent drain, so it's not much of a sidequest.

Lamia (MM, p165) drains wisdom.  Never fought one.
Stirge (MM, p236) hits Con.  One stirge is no problem, but they usually come in swarms.  Though one area-effect spell, and a group is no problem either.

There are also monsters with poison that do ability damage/drain, but the PCs get a saving throw.

We're running a campaign VERY low on magic, we don't have a cleric and most of the priest in our part of the Europe don't have any spell above 3rd circle so it'll turn into a very challenging quest

Isn't there any Charisma-drain/damage monsters?

 

[sirpercival]

1st-edition elven vampires? 

[Ithamar]

Meenlocks (MMII) have a Rend Mind ability that does 1d4 WIS damage on a failed will save.  Let's see the cleric cast restoration when his WIS is 4.

And let us never forget the Dire Weasel's attach / blood drain ability.

[TuggyNE]

Shadows are pretty nuts... at low levels a lot of PCs don't have magical weapons and can't hurt them at all.

Two or more allips can TPK a low-level party.

The party is at level 6 and nobody has a single magic weapon yet. So I think those shadows will be pretty good.

[...]

We're running a campaign VERY low on magic, we don't have a cleric and most of the priest in our part of the Europe don't have any spell above 3rd circle so it'll turn into a very challenging quest

This looks less like "challenging quest" and more like "oops, roll up five new characters". Little or no ability to damage the shadows, no cleric to restore drained strength... how do you expect them to survive?

[veekie]

You could go nontraditional challenge and make the Shadows fully incapable of acting in light, plus add limitations to their incorporeality(no being IN solid objects, only  surfaces).  Then it becomes a "keep the lights on and stay out of the shadows" fest.

[10d10]

Shadows are pretty nuts... at low levels a lot of PCs don't have magical weapons and can't hurt them at all.

Two or more allips can TPK a low-level party.

The party is at level 6 and nobody has a single magic weapon yet. So I think those shadows will be pretty good.

[...]

We're running a campaign VERY low on magic, we don't have a cleric and most of the priest in our part of the Europe don't have any spell above 3rd circle so it'll turn into a very challenging quest

This looks less like "challenging quest" and more like "oops, roll up five new characters". Little or no ability to damage the shadows, no cleric to restore drained strength... how do you expect them to survive?

The DM is pretty reasonable and wouldn't make a TPK just for the lulz. But he's looking for a monster with ability drain/damage specially for one PC who's not feeling challenged enough and is acting mostly solo to show off his skills. A mission to restore his ability would bring the group together or so we (DM and I) like to think.

You could go nontraditional challenge and make the Shadows fully incapable of acting in light, plus add limitations to their incorporeality(no being IN solid objects, only  surfaces).  Then it becomes a "keep the lights on and stay out of the shadows" fest.

Hey, that's a pretty good idea, it would take what? 2 rounds max for the party to know what's going on, then they could make a plan using torches and such...

[widow]

My vote would be for Ephemeral swarm in MM3.  Undead etheral swarm with an CR5 and 90 hp.  You get all the immunites of undead, etheral, and swarm stacked on together.  For strenght drain, no attack roll, you just have to end the critters move on the target.  Without magic they will be a really hard target to hit.

[gorfnab]

How about adding a level of Soul Eater (BoVD) to a monster? It's first level ability adds 1 con damage to it's natural attacks.

    To qualify to become Soul Eater, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
    Race: Any living nonhumanoid (monstrous humanoid is acceptable).
    Alignment: Any evil.
    Skills: Knowledge (arcana) 2 ranks.
    Feats: Alertness, Weapon Focus (claw or other natural weapon).
    Base Attack Bonus: +5.
    Special: Soul eaters are usually created against their will. Sometimes, the emissary of an evil god or a powerful fiend approaches a monster on the verge of death. In exchange for continued life, the creature must feed on souls thereafter. More rarely, a creature desiring the ability to feed on souls undergoes a forbidden, profane ritual that allows it to become a soul eater.

[phaedrusxy]

You could go nontraditional challenge and make the Shadows fully incapable of acting in light, plus add limitations to their incorporeality(no being IN solid objects, only  surfaces).  Then it becomes a "keep the lights on and stay out of the shadows" fest.

It's not even that "nontraditional". Specters have this exact weakness. I don't know why they left it off of Shadows, since they are so similar.

Sunlight Powerlessness (Ex)

Spectres are powerless in natural sunlight (not merely a daylight spell) and flee from it. A spectre caught in sunlight cannot attack and can take only a single move action or standard action in a round.

[10d10]

Wow thanks guys for all the input. I sent a small list of all those monsters mentioned here. The DM was very excited with it hopefully it'll turn out great for the campaign!

[veekie]

You could go nontraditional challenge and make the Shadows fully incapable of acting in light, plus add limitations to their incorporeality(no being IN solid objects, only  surfaces).  Then it becomes a "keep the lights on and stay out of the shadows" fest.

It's not even that "nontraditional". Specters have this exact weakness. I don't know why they left it off of Shadows, since they are so similar.

Sunlight Powerlessness (Ex)

Spectres are powerless in natural sunlight (not merely a daylight spell) and flee from it. A spectre caught in sunlight cannot attack and can take only a single move action or standard action in a round.

I meant the limited incorporeality, since normally you could use incorporeals to take advantage of surfaces for cover or pass through barriers, while if they needed to remain on the SURFACE of things, then they can't bypass barriers and can actually be fenced in.

[Tethlis]

How about adding a level of Soul Eater (BoVD) to a monster? It's first level ability adds 1 con damage to it's natural attacks.

    To qualify to become Soul Eater, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
    Race: Any living nonhumanoid (monstrous humanoid is acceptable).
    Alignment: Any evil.
    Skills: Knowledge (arcana) 2 ranks.
    Feats: Alertness, Weapon Focus (claw or other natural weapon).
    Base Attack Bonus: +5.
    Special: Soul eaters are usually created against their will. Sometimes, the emissary of an evil god or a powerful fiend approaches a monster on the verge of death. In exchange for continued life, the creature must feed on souls thereafter. More rarely, a creature desiring the ability to feed on souls undergoes a forbidden, profane ritual that allows it to become a soul eater.

Soul Eaters drain levels with natural attacks, not constitution. Combine with Improved Energy Drain and Life Drain (both from Libris Mortis) to make a monster that keeps getting stronger the more it hits. Feral Human Paladin of Slaughter 3 / Hexblade 2 / Soul Eater 1 will drain 2 levels per round. Combine with Willing Deformity and Deformity Teeth (Heroes of Horror) to make a non undead vampire that get stronger and tougher the more it feeds off of souls!

[ksbsnowowl]

Skin Kites from Libris Mortis deal Charisma damage.  The Spectral Lyricist from the same book might as well.

Dolghasts (Magic of Eberron) have an ability similar to rend (triggers on two successful claw attacks) that deals Con damage. Even on a successful save (Fort 15) the target takes 1 Con damage.  They are like CR 4.  (These are very norse in look/feel - think minion of the goddess Hel.)

[Empirate]

Although I haven't got around to monsters per se, my own ability damage resource/handbook may provide a few pointers where NPCs or monsters with class levels are concerned... also, equipment.