Converting Epic Level Creatures

[demiurge1138]

Then the swords don't necessarily have any sundering powers. But we could give Lung Jua:

Fouler of Weapons (Su): Lung Jua gains a +4 bonus on any opposed attack roll made to sunder an item. Any weapon that Lung Jua deals damage to but is not destroyed becomes warped and corrupted, imposing a -3 penalty on all attack rolls made with that weapon until repaired by a successful Craft check or make whole.

I still think we should also give him a rend armor ability, ala the bebilith.

Demiurge out.

[freyar]

I think the swords are shaping up well. I like the fouler of weapons ability, too. Rend armor is also fine with me.

[Shade]

Updated.

Here's a stab at the Dragon Claws:

Dragon Claws: Lung Jua wields a pair of artifacts known as the Dragon Claws. These +4 keen adamantine katanas. The wielder of the Dragon Claws may command the artifacts to create lesser versions of themselves. This lesser pair is smaller and deals less damage (treat as +4 keen adamantine longswords). The wielder of the Dragon Claws can see through the eyes of the bearer of any lesser blades they have spawned. Additionally, the wielder may attempt to direct the actions of the bearer of the lesser weapons as if using a dominate monster spell (Will DC X negates). Finally, the wielder of the originals may leech hit points from any bearer of lesser blades it spawns. The bearer can drain up to X hit points, and cannot drain more than the victim's current hit point total.

[freyar]

I like that. I'd suggest 10 hp per bearer per day, just by fiat.

Does he need more special abilities?

[Shade]

I don't think so. Shall we move on to feats and skills?

Skills: 13 at 29 ranks
Balance, Bluff, Concentration, Escape Artist, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (religion), Knowledge (the planes), Listen, Move Silently, Sense Motive, Spot, Tumble

Feats: 9 (2 can be epic);
We already mentioned Epic Sunder, Improved Sunder, Multiweapon Fighting, and Weapon Finesse.

Epic Sunder requires Epic Prowess as a prereq, so that takes care of the two epic feats.

[demiurge1138]

Multi-weapon fighting? Doesn't he only have two arms and two swords?

His feats should include Combat Expertise. He strikes me as a tricky sort of fighter. If we wanted to soak up all his feats, we could also give him the Dodge chain and Whirlwind Attack. If not, Improved Trip would be good, as would the traditional Power Attack + Improved Bull's Rush + Awesome Blow set.

Demiurge out.

[Shade]

Originally Posted by demiurge1138

Multi-weapon fighting? Doesn't he only have two arms and two swords?

Four arms. Two swords. I assumed he was wielding each blade with two hands on the attack lines. Alternatively, we could have him wield each with one hand and allow two claw attacks with them.

Should Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword/katana) be a bonus feat?

[demiurge1138]

Give him two-weapon fighting and say in a Feats line that Lung Jua can fight without penalty with two weapons of any size, as long as he uses two arms to stabilize them.

I think we should give him the option of four claws (or four slams, since he seems to be more monkish) in his attack line, though.

Demiurge out.

[Shade]

Sounds good. Updated.

I gave him a few more feats in the TWF chain so he'd get more attacks with the Dragon Claws, and use a few of the feats suggested above.

Natural armor bonus? His AC currently stands at 34 without natural armor.

Challenge Rating: 22? (He's about on par with the FC version of Graz'zt and Orcus)

Treasure: Dragon Claws only? (His original entry said "nil")

Lung Jua is a repulsive-looking spirit, fat and four-armed, with the head of a dragon, and scales marring most of his body. He stands about half a head shorter than a man

Lung Jua is x feet tall and weighs x pounds.

Lung Jua speaks x.

[demiurge1138]

Lung Jua speaks Infernal, Abyssal, Celestial, Draconic and Common.

I say we give him some natural armor. After all, he's covered in scales.

Demiurge out.

[freyar]

Natural armor makes sense. What's the guide for AC on demon lords, etc?

5 and a quarter feet and 200 lb?

[Shade]

The demon lord template suggests a final AC of CR+20. In this case, that would be 42, and would leave +8 for natural armor. Seem reasonable?

Fill in a few X's...

Change Size (Sp): X per day, Lung Jua can magically change his size. This works just like an enlarge person spell, except that the ability can work on Lung Jua. This is the equivalent of a 2nd-level spell.

Dragon Claws: Lung Jua wields a pair of artifacts known as the Dragon Claws. These +4 keen adamantine katanas. The wielder of the Dragon Claws may command the artifacts to create lesser versions of themselves. This lesser pair is smaller and deals less damage (treat as +4 keen adamantine longswords). The wielder of the Dragon Claws can see through the eyes of the bearer of any lesser blades they have spawned. Additionally, the wielder may attempt to direct the actions of the bearer of the lesser weapons as if using a dominate monster spell (Will DC X negates). Finally, the wielder of the originals may leech hit points from any bearer of lesser blades it spawns. The bearer can drain up to 10 hit points, and cannot drain more than the victim's current hit point total.

Rend Armor (Ex): If Lung Jua hits with both Dragon Claw attacks, he pulls apart any armor worn by his foe. This attack deals x (bebelith=4d6+18) points of damage to the opponent’s armor. Creatures not wearing armor are unaffected by this special attack. Armor reduced to 0 hit points is destroyed. Damaged armor may be repaired with a successful Craft (armorsmithing) check.

[freyar]

3/day?

Well, if we took a wizard casting dominate monster, that's already DC23 at mininum. Does that sound reasonable? This is also less likely to affect the PCs directly, rather Lung Jua's minions.

The bebelith damage is probably reasonable b/c LJ is going to be higher CR, so 4d6+2*Str? OTOH, he is smaller and slightly weaker, so I could see dropping it a step or two.

[Shade]

On second thought, for rend armor, why not just use the damage of both Dragon Claws plus double Str bonus, yielding 2d10+14?

[freyar]

Originally Posted by Shade

On second thought, for rend armor, why not just use the damage of both Dragon Claws plus double Str bonus, yielding 2d10+14?

Ok, works for me. Is he done?

[Shade]

I believe so!

[Shade]

FENRIS WOLF
FREQUENCY: Unique
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: -4
MOVE: 24"/12"
HIT DICEIPOINTS: 400 hp
% IN LAIR: Nil
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: I
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 9-90
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil
SPECIAL DEFENSES: +4 or better weapon to hit
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 99%
INTELLIGENCE: Average
ALIGNMENT Chaotic evil
SIZE: L (50' at the shoulder)
PSlONlC ABILITY: Nil
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE X/33,200

This wolfish monster lived in Asgard due to a technicality that allowed the offspring of the gods (in this case Loki's) to remain unharmed by other gods. But this dangerous creature could not remain free. The dwarves made the only chain that could bind it, forging it from thoughts and concepts. This silken, golden thread stopped the creature from roaming, as
it was unbreakable until the time of Ragnarok.

The wolf's bite does 9-90 points of damage, and if the total amount of damage is more than half of the victim's hit points, he or she will be swallowed whole. In form,the creature looks like a giant timber wolf.

Originally appeared in Deities & Demigods (1980).

[Shade]

This guy should be a real beast.

Using the "divide by 4.5" method, it would have 88 Hit Dice.

The brachyurus, which may have been descended from it, has 38 HD and advances up to 135 HD, so this isn't unreasonable.

Thoughts?

[demiurge1138]

OK... 88 hit dice, improved grab and swallow whole... as written, it doesn't have anything else, but it really should. It's the damn Fenris-wolf!

Recommendations:

Unfetterable: Freedom of movement active, all the time, undispellable. Recall that a very, very, very magical chain had to be forged to imprison him, and he eventually gets out anyway at the end of the world.

Severing Bite: He ate the hand of a god, after all. He's epic--let's make those high level PCs use their regenerate spells the way they were intended!

The brachyurus has frightful howl and an ability to save prone opponents, both of which I like a lot, and it makes sense for Fenris to keep. Of course, we should give him trip too, so he can actually use the savaging more often.

Demiurge out.

[Shade]

Originally Posted by demiurge1138

Severing Bite: He ate the hand of a god, after all. He's epic--let's make those high level PCs use their regenerate spells the way they were intended!

Amen to that!

I'm on-board with everything else you posted.

Brachyurus scores: Str 30, Dex 38, Con 47, Int 18, Wis 32, Cha 19

Since the Fenris Wolf is 50-freaking-feet-tall, I'd say he's Colossal.

Boosting those scores to Colossal yields: Str 54, Dex 36, Con 59, Int 18, Wis 32, Cha 19

Brach's claws deal 2d6, bite 3d6. Bumping to Colossal goes to claws 5d6, bite 6d6.

Even with 54 Str, the bite still is only doing 30-60 points of damage. That's still 30 points shy of the 90 it could do on the high end.

How about combining severing bite with augmented critical to this:

Augmented Critical (Ex): The Fenris wolf's bite threatens a critical hit on a natural attack roll of 18–20, dealing triple damage on a successful critical hit. Additionally, the victim must succeed on a DC X Fort(?) save or lose a hand or foot (Fenris wolf's choice?) (Go on to describe what happens when missing said appendages).