The Soul Eater (conversion)

[JoeNotCharles]

I've converted the Soul Eater from module X4 - Master of the Desert Nomads. This is my first monster, and I won't get a chance to test it in a game for a few weeks, so please critique.

A soul eater is a being from another dimension summoned or granted to high level clerics. It is used to slay beings as ordered by the cleric who summoned or received it. A soul eater appears as a cloud of glowing darkness and can assume any shape desired. Once given a victim to kill, it will not quit until the victim or itself is defeated. A soul eater is highly intelligent and will accomplish its mission by any means it can.

Characters slain by a soul eater cannot be raised or reincarnated. If slain, it will dissolve into a formless cloud and drift away. It will not return. If the soul eater's victim is slain by another or if the soul eater is defeated, it will return to the cleric who summoned it and attack him. Because of its rage, it will have double normal hit points and do double damage with all attacks. If defeated a second time, it will disappear forever.

[B]Soul Eater                                  Level 4 Solo Lurker[/B]
[B]Medium shadow magical beast (shapeshifter)  XP 875[/B]

[B]Initiative[/B] +7       [B]Senses[/B] Perception +12; darkvision
[B]HP[/B] 150; [B]Bloodied[/B] 125; see also [I]bloodied vortex[/I]
[B]AC[/B] 22; [B]Fortitude[/B] 18; [B]Reflex[/B] 17; [B]Will[/B] 20
[B]Resist[/B] 10 Psychic; insubstantial
[B]Saving Throws[/B] +5
[B]Speed[/B] 7
[B]Action Points[/B] 2
m [B]Ghostly Claw[/B] (standard; at-will)
    +9 vs AC; 1d6+4 damage and the target takes a -1 penalty to Will which
lasts until the next extended rest.  Attacking with a ghostly claw causes
the soul eater to lose any concealment due to lack of light until the
beginning of its next turn as the glowing claw becomes visible.
m [B]Soul Drain[/B] (standard; at-will) [B]+ Psychic[/B]
    +7 vs Will; 2d8+4 psychic damage and target is weakened (save ends)
r [B]Soul Suck[/B] (standard; at-will) [B]+ Psychic[/B]
    Ranged 5; +7 vs Will; 1d6+4 psychic damage and target is weakened
and takes 5 ongoing psychic damage (save ends both)
M [B]Double Attack[/B] (standard; at-will)
    The soul eater makes two [I]ghostly claw[/I] attacks.  If both hit the same
target, it is restrained.  (Treat this as a successful grab attack which
causes the target to become restrained instead of immobile.)  The soul
eater loses any concealment due to lighting until the beginning of its next
turn after the target is no longer restrained, as the ghostly claws are still
visible.
M [B]Unearthly Rebuke[/B] (immediate reaction, when a melee attack is made on
the soul eater; at-will) [B]+ Psychic[/B]
    The soul eater's evil will lashes out at the enemy that attacked it; +7 vs
Will; 1d6+4 psychic damage and the target is dazed until the end of its
next turn and weakened (save ends)
C [B]Soul Vortex[/B] (standard; recharge 5 6) [B]+ Psychic[/B]
    Close blast 5; +7 vs Will; 3d6+4 psychic damage and the target takes 5
ongoing psychic damage and is weakened (save ends both)
C [B]Bloodied Vortex[/B] (free; when first bloodied; encounter) [B]+ Psychic[/B]
    The [I]soul vortex[/I] power recharges, and the soul eater uses it
immediately.
C [B]Shroud of Darkness[/B] (standard; sustain minor; recharge 4 5 6) [B]+ Zone[/B]
    Close burst 1; this power creates a zone of darkness that moves with
the soul eater.  Any light source that comes within the zone is immediately
extinguished (light sources which are normally permanent will reignite
immediately after leaving the zone).
C [B]Unearthly Presence[/B] (standard; encounter) [B]+ Fear[/B]
    Close burst 5; +5 vs. Will; the target is stunned until the end of the soul
eater's next turn. [I]Aftereffect:[/I] the target is unable to move closer to the
soul eater (save ends).
[B]Body of Shadow[/B]
    The soul eater gains full concealment when in dim light or darkness, even
against creatures with low-light vision or darkvision.
[B]Alignment[/B] Evil      [B]Languages[/B] Common, Abyssal
[B]Skills[/B] Religion +12, Stealth +8
[B]Str[/B] 16 (+5)         [B]Dex[/B] 12 (+3)         [B]Wis[/B] 20 (+7)
[B]Con[/B] 16 (+5)         [B]Int[/B] 15 (+4)         [B]Cha[/B] 10 (+2)

Tactics: On revealing the soul eater immediately uses unearthly presence to soften up all enemies present. Then it closes with its target, generates a shroud of darkness to conceal them and repel ranged attacks, and attempts to grab it with a double attack (if necessary using an action point to do both in one round). Once the target is immobilized and then hold it and soul drain as much as possible. It concentrates attacks on its target unless another enemy is causing enough damage or protecting the target well enough to be a threat to its mission.

 

[dangerous jack]

I'm hoping to eventually run a converted X4 for my players, but I'll be targeting level 10 because of the existing trolls (level 9), wyvern (level 10), mummies (level 8 brute), hydra (level 12 solo brute).

That said, for a level 4 monster I think the powers should be tightened up, as it could be difficult to keep track of all the statuses it inflicts and to choose actions for it. Right now, the soul eater can inflict the following penalties: -1 Will, weakened, restrained, ongoing damage, dazed, stunned (+enemies can't approach aftereffect). And for defences it extinguishes light sources, gains full concealment from even dim light, and is insubstantial.

Some other suggestions:
* Combine Shroud of Darkness and Body of Shadow as an aura that dims full light to dim light and dim light to total darkness.
* Unearthly Rebuke - I'd make both penalties "save ends" for simplicity
* I'd remove the note about losing concealment after attacking (since it would likely attack every round after appearing) and give a bonus to stealth
* I'd probably use Double Attack instead of Soul Drain, so I'd remove the latter as an option

Good luck with it. And I'd love to see more conversions from X4. It's one of my favourite adventures.

 

[JoeNotCharles]

I'm hoping to eventually run a converted X4 for my players, but I'll be targeting level 10 because of the existing trolls (level 9), wyvern (level 10), mummies (level 8 brute), hydra (level 12 solo brute).

I hadn't gotten as far as balancing the hydra or mummies yet, but the wyvern and trolls encounter balances pretty well if you assume that Sarras and the town guards are fighting on the players' side. It was incredibly tough in the original too. As for the mummies and hydra, you'd have to make minor variants of them, I guess. (The "desert hydra" is already a variant.)

 

[Mengu]

I changed a few things around, to turn it into something I may actually use in an encounter too. Hope you don't mind, I kind of like it. I removed a lot of the weakened conditions, only left one in. If too many characters are weakened against an insubstantial creature, the fight will take forever. I also knocked off some of its hit points. They essentially need to do 240 hp of damage to kill it anyway.

I made soul suck target two creatures. Seemed fitting for a solo, and I wanted to give it an extra punch after removing weakened condition.

For the double attack, just saying restrained should be enough. No need to complicate it.

I changed unearthly rebuke to "hit by a melee attack". Makes more sense for a rebuke, and no need to punish people for missing the soul eater.

Changed shroud of darkness to minor recharge 6 that lasts 1 turn. As a sustain, I'm afraid it would be difficult to handle for most parties (at least for mine).

Added mind ripper, so the -1 penalty to will is a function of that attack instead of every claw attack. If it happens only once per encounter, and lasts the whole encounter, it's easier to track.

I got rid of all the "this action cancels concealment" stuff, and lumped it into Body of Shadow.

Soul Eater - Level 4 Solo Lurker
Medium shadow magical beast (shapeshifter) - XP 875
Initiative +7
Senses Perception +12; darkvision
HP 120; Bloodied 60; see also bloodied vortex
AC 22; Fortitude 18; Reflex 17; Will 20
Resist 10 Psychic; insubstantial
Saving Throws +5
Speed 7
Action Points 2
m Ghostly Claw (standard; at-will)
+9 vs AC; 1d6+4 damage.
m Soul Drain (standard; at-will) + Psychic
+7 vs Will; 2d8+4 psychic damage and target is weakened (save ends)
R Soul Suck (standard; at-will) + Psychic
Ranged 5; two creatures; +7 vs Will; 1d6+4 psychic damage and target takes 5 ongoing psychic damage (save ends)
M Double Attack (standard; at-will)
The soul eater makes two ghostly claw attacks. If both hit the sametarget, it is restrained.
M Unearthly Rebuke (immediate reaction, when the soul eater is hit by a melee attack; at-will) + Psychic
The soul eater's evil will lashes out at the enemy that attacked it; +7 vs Will; 1d6+4 psychic damage and the target is dazed until the end of the soul eater's next turn.
C Soul Vortex (standard; recharge 5 6) + Psychic
Close blast 5; +7 vs Will; 3d6+4 psychic damage and the target takes 5 ongoing psychic damage and is dazed (save ends both)
C Bloodied Vortex (free; when first bloodied; encounter) + Psychic
The soul vortex power recharges, and the soul eater uses it immediately.
C Shroud of Darkness (minor; recharge 6)
Close burst 1; this power creates darkness that moves with the soul eater until the end of the soul eater's next turn. Any light source that comes within the zone is immediately extinguished (light sources which are normally permanent will reignite immediately after
leaving the zone).
C Unearthly Presence (standard; encounter) + Fear
Close burst 5; +5 vs. Will; the target is stunned until the end of the soul eater's next turn. Aftereffect: the target is unable to move closer to the soul eater (save ends).
C Mind Ripper (minor; encounter) + Fear, Pcyhic
Close burst 5; +7 vs. Will; 1d6 damage, the target sufers a -1 penalty to will until the end of the encounter.
Body of Shadow
The soul eater gains concealment at the end of his turn if it has not made any ghostly claw attacks this tun.
Alignment Evil
Languages Common, Abyssal
Skills Religion +12, Stealth +8
Str 16 (+5) Dex 12 (+3) Wis 20 (+7)
Con 16 (+5) Int 15 (+4) Cha 10 (+2)

 

[JoeNotCharles]

I changed a few things around, to turn it into something I may actually use in an encounter too. Hope you don't mind, I kind of like it. I removed a lot of the weakened conditions, only left one in. If too many characters are weakened against an insubstantial creature, the fight will take forever. I also knocked off some of its hit points. They essentially need to do 240 hp of damage to kill it anyway.

You're right, I overdid it with that. I think 150 hp is about right, though - I looked at other insubstantial creatures, and they don't have exactly half the hp of substantial creatures of their level, more like 2/3.

I made soul suck target two creatures. Seemed fitting for a solo, and I wanted to give it an extra punch after removing weakened condition.

It might be good for a general solo, but the Soul Eater, as used in the module, is specifically created to go after a single target, so I want to give it mechanics where it's good at attacking a single character with defenses to keep the other attackers off it while it does its work.

For the double attack, just saying restrained should be enough. No need to complicate it.

I'd still need to say how the restrained condition ends, and clarify what happens if the Soul Eater moves while restraining a character, etc. Saying "it's just like a grab except it restrains instead of just immobilizes" does that pretty neatly, I thought.

I changed unearthly rebuke to "hit by a melee attack". Makes more sense for a rebuke, and no need to punish people for missing the soul eater.

I adapted it from the Black Dragon's tail lash, which only triggers on a miss - I wanted it to be a bit better of a defense than that. I think you're right, it should be on a hit - it triggers if you can get the Soul Eater's attention away from its target.

Added mind ripper, so the -1 penalty to will is a function of that attack instead of every claw attack. If it happens only once per encounter, and lasts the whole encounter, it's easier to track.

That's a good way to handle this, but I want to keep the mechanic from the original Soul Eater, that it swipes at you with its claws doing physical damage and also clouding the mind.

I wanted to have the -1 Will last until the next rest so that it would still affect the characters in the following encounter - getting your soul damaged shouldn't be something that's easy to shake off. But I just checked and the next encounter in X4 doesn't have any creatures targeting Will anyway, so I'll simplify.

Here's the current version. I upped the level to 5 because that fits the later encounters a little better - if the characters are level 5, the level 10 Wyvern in the next encounter is 5 levels above the PC's, which is what the DMG gives as the max level for an individual creature in a hard encounter. (That way the only monster in the module that's completely out of range is the Hydra.)

I combined the Soul Suck and Soul Drain attacks into one that does ongoing damage, making it not inferior to the Double Claw. (That's a bit weird because it means the best attack sequence is to use Soul Drain and then claw the character while the ongoing damage is still in effect, but the claws soften the target up for the Will attack. I guess this encourages alternating the attacks.) I also simplified the list of effects a bit by repeating the "stunned/unable to move closer" combo for the encounter power (which gets used to immobilize everyone other than the target when the Soul Eater first appears) and the rebuke (which it uses to keep melee attackers off its back.) And I cut down on the use of weakened a bit by removing Bloodied Vortex, so the area power that causes weakness is only usable at the beginning of the encounter. I gave it a flurry of ghostly claw attacks when bloodied instead.

[B]Soul Eater                                  Level 5 Solo Lurker[/B]
[B]Medium shadow magical beast (shapeshifter)  XP 1000[/B]

[B]Initiative[/B] +7       [B]Senses[/B] Perception +12; darkvision
[B]Shroud of Darkness[/B] aura 2; within the aura full light becomes dim light and
dim light becomes full darkness.  All light sources within the aura illuminate
only the square they are in.
[B]HP[/B] 160; [B]Bloodied[/B] 80; see also [I]bloodied fury[/I]
[B]AC[/B] 23; [B]Fortitude[/B] 19; [B]Reflex[/B] 18; [B]Will[/B] 21
[B]Resist[/B] 10 Psychic; insubstantial
[B]Saving Throws[/B] +5
[B]Speed[/B] 7
[B]Action Points[/B] 2
m [B]Ghostly Claw[/B] (standard; at-will)
    +10 vs AC; 1d6+4 damage and the target takes a -1 penalty to Will which
lasts until the end of the encounter.
C [B]Soul Drain[/B] (standard; at-will) + Psychic
    Close blast 5; one target in blast; +8 vs Will; 1d10+4 psychic damage and
the target is weakened and takes 5 ongoing psychic damage (save ends both)
M [B]Double Attack[/B] (standard; at-will)
    The soul eater makes two Ghostly Claw attacks.  If both hit the same
target, it is restrained.  (Treat this as a successful grab attack which
causes the target to become restrained instead of immobile.)
M [B]Baleful Retaliation[/B] (immediate reaction, when the soul eater is struck by a
melee attack; at-will) + Fear
    The soul eater's evil will lashes out at the enemy that attacked the soul
eater; +8 vs Will; the target is stunned until the end of the soul eater's
next turn. Aftereffect: the target is unable to move closer to the soul eater
(save ends).
C [B]Soul Vortex[/B] (standard; encounter) + Psychic
    Close blast 5; +8 vs Will; 3d6+4 psychic damage and the target is
weakened and takes 5 ongoing psychic damage (save ends both)
C [B]Bloodied Fury[/B] (free; when first bloodied; encounter)
    Close burst 1; the soul eater makes a Ghostly Claw attack on all enemies
in burst
C [B]Baleful Presence[/B] (standard; encounter) + Fear
    Close burst 5; +6 vs. Will; the target is stunned until the end of the
soul eater's next turn. Aftereffect: the target is unable to move closer to
the soul eater (save ends).
[B]Alignment[/B] Evil      [B]Languages[/B] Common, Abyssal
[B]Skills[/B] Religion +12, Stealth +8
[B]Str[/B] 16 (+5)         [B]Dex[/B] 12 (+3)         [B]Wis[/B] 20 (+7)
[B]Con[/B] 16 (+5)         [B]Int[/B] 15 (+4)         [B]Cha[/B] 10 (+2)

So now it can inflict the conditions: weakened+ongoing damage (always together); restrained; -X Will; stunned/unable to move closer.

It has three encounter area attacks, two of which damage foes and one just stuns them. It's defended from melee attacks by its Retaliation power, from ranged attacks by its aura, and it's vulnerable to area attacks.