Converting Forgotten Realms monsters

Well, I'd rather go with telepathy, nothing, or light flavor only. There doesn't seem to be much support for scent-based communication. Otherwise, I'm ready for the red shamans.

Let's work on 'em.

Red Shamans
A few octopi from every spawning have rings of ox-blood red; these young are protected and cared for far more than any other blue-ring young, growing much larger than other blue rings (8 HD). They are sheltered and jealously guarded because they grow up to be shamans, capable of reaching 8th level of ability as priests. In addition, the poison of shaman blue-rings is more potent than that of their fellows, inflicting half damage even with a successful saving throw. However, the chromatophores of shamans are always either weak or non-existent; they cannot camouflage themselves, so they often spend their entire lives deep within narrow cleft of rock, where other members of their tribe bring them food and seek their help and advice.

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So, boost it to 8 HD. Keep 'em Medium, or go Large?

For fun, I say make them Large (but don't advance physical abilities as much as usual, since they don't sound tremendously stronger), though I might reconsider. I also vote to give them innate spellcasting. For the poison, possibly increase the damage (to go with increased DC due to HD, etc).

Innately cast as 8th-level clerics? Suggested domains? Liberation? Water? Travel?

8th level clerics sounds right. Liberation domain ought to be fun, and Water sounds right too. Travel might be a good third choice, but I think I prefer Community ever so slightly.

freyar said:

8th level clerics sounds right. Liberation domain ought to be fun, and Water sounds right too. Travel might be a good third choice, but I think I prefer Community ever so slightly.

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I'd rather give them Weather than Water - they have little use for water breathing (unless they have guests from the surface), Weather has more spells that aren't on the Cleric list, and ice storm, cone of cold, acid fog and horrid wilting just seem less appropriate than call lightning storm, control winds, control weather and whirlwind.

A red shaman casts spells as an 8th level cleric with the Community, Liberation and Weather Domains?

Good point about Weather over Water. I'll take those three, though I guess I'd drop Community if we need to stick to 2.

freyar said:

Good point about Weather over Water. I'll take those three, though I guess I'd drop Community if we need to stick to 2.

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I'd rather keep all three as well.

How about giving them abilities based on the granted powers of those Domains? (Community: calm emotions 1/day and +2 competency bonus on Diplomacy; Weather: Survival as a class skill; Liberation: +2 morale bonus on all saves vs enchantment)

I guess we should talk about their stats to.

Blue-Ringed Octopus: Str 12, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 13

As "Shaman" they ought to have a good Wisdom score, so I'd give them at least a +2 Wisdom. Naw, make it +4 Wisdom, +2 Charisma since they're so respected.

I'm thinking we should give them a half-boost to their physical stats for being Large (+4 Str, -2 Dex, +2 Con) and give them +2 natural armour so their AC is the same as a regular blue-ring.

That gives us something like:

Octopus, Giant, Red Shaman
Large Magical Beast (Aquatic)
Hit Dice: 8d10+16 (60 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), climb 20 ft., swim 30 ft.
Armor Class: 17 (-1 size, +2 Dex, +6 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +8/+15
Attack: Tentacle +10 melee (1d3+3 plus poison)
Full Attack: 6 tentacles +10 melee (1d3+3 plus poison) and bite +5 melee (1d6+1 plus poison)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft. (20 ft. with tentacles)
Special Attacks: Constrict 1d8+4, improved grab, poison, spells
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., ink cloud, jet, low-light vision
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +8, Will +5
Abilities: Str 16, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 15
Skills: 33 - Climb +, Escape Artist +, Hide +, Listen +, Move Silently +, Spot +, Swim +
Feats: 3 - Alertness, Stealthy and 1 more?
Environment: Underground aquatic
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 8?
Treasure: None
Alignment: Usually neutral good
Advancement: By character class
Level Adjustment: —

Looks like a pretty good framework to me. That's basically what I was thinking.

freyar said:

Looks like a pretty good framework to me. That's basically what I was thinking.

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Good-o!

So, what skills and feats do you fancy?

I'm thinking we should give them the same skill point selection as a regular Blue-Ring and then use the excess for its "Shaman skills", such as Heal, Knowledge (nature) and Knowledge (religion)?

However the description indicates they spend almost all their time in hiding and have all their needs met by the Blue-Rings, which suggests they won't need Move Silently (or Stealthy) to stalk prey. We can also cut Alertness for the same reason (their higher Wisdom means they'll get the same Listen and Spot modifier as a standard Blue-Ring).

That way, we can use all three feats for "Shaman feats" that involve community-skills or spell use.

How about Eschew Materials, Negotiator and Scribe Scroll?