3rd Level Monsters

Rechan · Jun 21, 2008

Dude, bunyips roar. It's their signature quality.

the Jester · Jun 22, 2008

Rechan said:
Dude, bunyips roar. It's their signature quality.

You're totally right. :blush:

That's what I get for not being able to find my 1e FF and being too lazy to look for my Tome of Horrors!

Fixed.

Orius · Jul 3, 2008

Some more:

MCA 1:
Feystag
Gambado

MCA 4:
Spike Skeleton

Mystara:
White/Black/Green Dragonfly (level 4 for blue and red).

the Jester · Jul 6, 2008

Orius said:
Some more:

MCA 1:
Feystag
Gambado

I don't even know how you'd do up a feystag in 4e, since the way magic item powers work have changed so drastically. That one requires some serious pondering...

I love the gambado, but feared it might be so weird that I was the only one. Glad to see that is not true!

Orius said:
MCA 4:
Spike Skeleton

Mystara:
White/Black/Green Dragonfly (level 4 for blue and red).

I'll do up some giant dragonflies at some point, but I was thinking that I'd go a little higher level and make them paragon-level flying mounts.

As to the spike skeleton, I'll have to look it up- I don't recall anything specifically about it.

Orius · Jul 7, 2008

the Jester said:
I don't even know how you'd do up a feystag in 4e, since the way magic item powers work have changed so drastically. That one requires some serious pondering...

I love the gambado, but feared it might be so weird that I was the only one. Glad to see that is not true!

I'll do up some giant dragonflies at some point, but I was thinking that I'd go a little higher level and make them paragon-level flying mounts. As to the spike skeleton, I'll have to look it up- I don't recall anything specifically about it.

Hmm, yeah I know stuff was changed, but I don't know how, I just thought the feystag was an interesting monster. I think I might have said this , but there's a good chunk of pre-3e stuff I didn't suggest because I have no idea how the stuff would work today. Just trying to guess a rough CR for the stuff for 3e was hard.

I always thought the gambado was interesting, but I never got around to using it. I think it's because the illo in MCA 1 looks pretty kickass. Then again, that whole book was illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi, and I always liked his art.

Flying mounts? I don't think the dragonflies were that big, but maybe I'm misremembering. Then again, there's a bunch of stuff in the Mystara appendix that I think was changed a bit from the original Basic D&D incarnations.

Spike skeleton was a skeleton covered with spikes it could shoot at the PCs, and I think if the spikes hit, the skeleton could then activate some kind of fire spell on them for more damage. They originally appeared in an issue of Dragon, #234 October 1996 IIRC.

LesInk · Sep 19, 2008

Howler?

Has anyone asked for the Howler to be converted? Or is that one of the special creatures protected by WotC?

Rechan · Sep 19, 2008

LesInk said:
Has anyone asked for the Howler to be converted?

Nope.

Or is that one of the special creatures protected by WotC?

Nope.

The protected monsters are: Mind flayer, displacer beast, umber hulk, beholder, yaun-ti, kuo-toa, slaad, and the carrion crawler.

And being "protected" just means a d20 company can't use them; a fan could make them. I don't know if the IP applies to 4e monsters, either.

LesInk · Sep 19, 2008

Quickly made Howler

Here is a Howler I quickly put togeter (feel free to tweak):

Howler --- Level 4 Skirmisher
Medium natural magical beast--- XP 175
---
Initiative +7; Senses Perception +8
HP 42; Bloodied 21
AC 18; Fortitude 13; Reflex 15; Will 13
Speed 8
---
[Melee basic] Bite (standard; at will): +9 vs. AC; 1d8+3 damage.
[Area] Quill Attack (standard; recharge 5/6). Close burst 1; +5 vs. Reflex; each target hit takes 1d6+1 and 5 ongoing damage (save ends).
[Melee] Howl (standard; encounter): +5 vs. Will; Close burst 5; Howlers are immune; 2d6+3 psychic damage and stunned (save ends).
---
Alignment Evil; Languages --
Skills Athletics +8, Perception +8
Str 17; Dex 15; Wis 13 Con 10; Int 10; Cha 11

the Jester · Dec 2, 2009

EDIT: Revised to MM3 standards, with an individual quipper added as a minion, and merged with the rest of the fish I have converted/created, here. This new Fish entry runs from lvl 2 minions all the way up to lvl 23 solo (the afanc from the 1e MM2).

QUIPPER SWARM--- Level 3 Brute
Medium natural beast (fish)--- XP 150
---
Initiative +5; Senses Perception +3
Swarm Attack aura 1; any enemy that starts its turn in the aura that is not bloodied takes 5 points of damage; any bloodied creature that starts its turn in the aura takes 7 points of damage
HP 53; Bloodied 26
AC 15; Fortitude 15; Reflex 16; Will 15
Resist half damage from melee and ranged attacks; Vulnerable 10 to close and area attacks
Speed swim 8
---
[Melee basic] Swarm of Bites (standard; at will): +6 vs. AC; 1d12+3 damage.

Blood Crazy: If one or more bloodied creatures are within 10 squares of it, the quipper swarm must attack the closest one. The quipper swarm gets +1 to attack rolls and +3 to damage against bloodied creatures with its swarm of bites.
---
Alignment unaligned; Languages -
Str 8; Dex 18; Wis 14
Con 13; Int 2; Cha 10

Another interesting monster to design. Quippers, for those who don't know, are a 1e Fiend Folio fish related to the piranha, but living in cold water (iirc). Due to their "blood crazy" ability, an encounter could see quippers changing "sides" several time during the battle as various creatures get bloodied.

the Jester · Jul 24, 2011

Okay, I'm working on the revisions to the giant wasp right now. These include, well, pretty much a complete rewrite. Changing the sting to a bite with grab; changing the paralyzing sting to a "must have the target grabbed" kind of lurker attack; also, I changed the permanent paralysis to a "third failed save" effect instead of being part of the infestation.

Like I said, a near complete rewrite.

I am going to add another couple of wasp varieties before posting.