Gez
First Post
Deermen and Darkdancers appeared in the first printing of the Fiend Folio but they had to be cut to make room for the Flumph. They're practically unknown critters, and they deserve to make a comeback because they're rather cool. Here's a conversion as close as possible while still being within the standard D&D3.* rules.
Tell me what you think of the rules (not sure I have the CR and LA pegged down), and if you have, per chance, one of the rare specimen of a FF 1e first printing, tell me what you think of the faithfulness of the conversion.
Deerman
Medium-Size Monstrous Humanoid
HD: 3d8+12 (25 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 30 ft.
Armor Class: 16 (+3 Dex, +3 natural armor), touch 13, flat-footed 13
BAB/Grapple: +3/+6
Attack: Gore +8 melee (1d8+4), or net +8 ranged touch (special)
Special Attack: Powerful charge, subduing
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., scent
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +6, Wis +2
Abilities: Str 16, Dex 17, Con 16, Int 9, Wis 8, Cha 9
Skills: Listen +6, Survival +6
Feats: Power Attack, Toughness (b), Track (b), Weapon Focus (Gore)
Environment: Temperate Forests and Plains
Organization: Solitary, pair, or pack (3--5)
Challenge Rating: 2
Treasure: 50% goods (no coins, art, or gems)
Alignment: Usually neutral evil
Advancement: By character class
Level Adjustment: +2
Before you, a bestial humanoid appears from the woods. The creature looks like a hairy, naked human with a deer's head. With a raucous bark, it charges you headfirst.
Deermen are savage, cruel, and primitive humanoids living in small familial pack. Deermen are omnivorous but prefers, for religious reasons, to hunt and devour other humanoids, and keeping them alive as long as possible during the feast, gorging on the corpse as soon as the meal dies. They think this gruesome ritual allow them to absorb the soul, and thus the strength, of their victims. As they think that a soul departs the body soon after death, they must not lose time swallowing the remnants of their victims.
When they don't find humanoids, they'll try to capture fierce predators, or they'll attack each others. If they need to, they can survive on a purely vegetarian diet, but find doing so dishonorable.
Combat
A deerman will begin combat with a powerful charge, hoping to knock his victim unconscious, and if it's not enough, will continue headbutting until the enemy is helpless. He'll throw his net on targets fleeing away. As soon as all enemy combattants are knocked-out, he'll start eating the downed opponents live.
Powerful Charge (Ex): A deerman gets an +2 racial bonus to attack and damage rolls when doing a charge. This stacks with the normal charge bonuses.
Subduing (Ex): A deerman is an expert at subduing opponents and can deal either lethal damage or nonlethal damage with no penalty.
Skills: Deermen have a +4 racial bonus to Listen and Survival checks.
Deermen Society
Deermen don't really have a society. They believe that might makes right, and that the strong must be devoured by the stronger in order to give their strength to the most honourable warrior. Their concept of honor is "one who catch a lot of game and steal his prey's strength." When deermen live in family, the strongest member (usually the father) is obeyed out of fear and respect for as long as preys are plentiful and he leads successful attacks with "soulmeals" for strengthening everybody. When preys become scarce, another member (usually the oldest kid or the mother) will steal commands from him by ambushing him and eating him.
Deermen never gather in greater numbers, unless they are coerced by a more powerful creature wanting to use them as cannon fodder. Deermen are easily swayed, especially if the opportunities to eat live humanoids are numerous.
Darkdancer
Medium-Size Outsider (Extraplanar, Evil)
HD: 5d10+23 (50 hp)
Init: +13 (+9 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative)
Speed: 80 ft.
Armor Class: 25 (+9 Dex, +3 deflection, +3 natural armor), touch 22, flat-footed 16
BAB/Grapple: +5/+7
Attack: Claw +14 melee (1d6+2 plus slow)
Full attack: 2 claws +14 melee (1d6+2 plus slow), kick +9 melee (1d8+2 plus nausea)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: weakening touch
Special Qualities: blindsight 30 ft., dark-vision 120 ft., low-light vision, negative energy immunity, quickness, shadow jump 90 ft.
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +15, Will +1
Abilities: Str 15, Dex 28, Con 19, Int 14, Wis 5, Cha 22
Skills: Balance +19, Escape Artist +17, Hide +17, Intimidate +14, Jump +12, Listen +7, Move Silently +17, Perform (Dance) +14, Spot +7, Tumble +19
Feats: Alertness (B), Combat Expertise, Improved Initiative (B), Lightning Reflexes (B), Spring Attack (B), Toughness, Weapon Finesse (B)
Environment: Plane of Shadow
Organization: Solitary, Duet or Troupe (3--24)
Challenge Rating: 8
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Advancement: 6--15 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: +6
A dark, humanoid silhouette appears from the shadow, dancing and prancing with an impressive speed. It seems made of condensed shadowstuff and moves in a quasi-random fashion.
Darkdancers are spiteful, evil denizens from the Plane of Shadow, graceful, fast, and unpredictible as the dance of light and shadow projected from a campfire. Born in the bleakest, darkest parts of the Plane of Shadow, they wander haphazardly, looking for mischiefs and evil deeds to perform. Often, they'll join other evil creatures, especially those who dabble in shadow magic or necromancy, to help them wreck havoc before betraying them after completion of their plans. They are restless creatures, who only stays quiet when hiding for ambushing enemies -- and even then, their impatience often gets the better of them and they'll charge their target rather than wait.
Combat
A darkdancer in combat behaves like a storm, continually darting from place to place, dancing and tumbling between two strikes. They use their quickness ability to devastating effect, making a full attack and retreating to safety by foot or through a shadow jump.
Quickness (Su): Darkdancers are incredibly fast, and able to take an extra partial action or move action during its turn each round. This also allow them to use Spring Attack to start a move action, make a full attack, and finish their move action; or start a full attack, move, and finish the full attack.
Shadow Jump (Su): A darkdancer can travel between shadows as if by the means of a dimension door spell with a move action. The magical transport must begin and end in an area with at least some shadows. The darkdancer may use this ability each turn, but cannot move farther than 90 ft. with each shadow jump. A darkdancer may use Spring Attack with shadow jump, and split the 90 ft. into two or more smaller jumps made in the same round.
Weakening Touch (Su): A darkdancer's touch is imbued with darkness and negative energy, and saps strength and resolve. A character hit by a darkdancer's claws must make a Fortitude save or be slowed, as the spell, for one round per point of damage taken. A character hit by a darkdancer's kick must likewise make a Fortitude save or be nauseated for one round. The DC to resist a darkdancer's weakening touch is 18 (Charisma based).
Author Gaël Zimmermann, based on original material by Jack Maddhick, © TSR/Wizards of the Coast, used without permission.
Tell me what you think of the rules (not sure I have the CR and LA pegged down), and if you have, per chance, one of the rare specimen of a FF 1e first printing, tell me what you think of the faithfulness of the conversion.
Deerman
Medium-Size Monstrous Humanoid
HD: 3d8+12 (25 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 30 ft.
Armor Class: 16 (+3 Dex, +3 natural armor), touch 13, flat-footed 13
BAB/Grapple: +3/+6
Attack: Gore +8 melee (1d8+4), or net +8 ranged touch (special)
Special Attack: Powerful charge, subduing
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., scent
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +6, Wis +2
Abilities: Str 16, Dex 17, Con 16, Int 9, Wis 8, Cha 9
Skills: Listen +6, Survival +6
Feats: Power Attack, Toughness (b), Track (b), Weapon Focus (Gore)
Environment: Temperate Forests and Plains
Organization: Solitary, pair, or pack (3--5)
Challenge Rating: 2
Treasure: 50% goods (no coins, art, or gems)
Alignment: Usually neutral evil
Advancement: By character class
Level Adjustment: +2
Before you, a bestial humanoid appears from the woods. The creature looks like a hairy, naked human with a deer's head. With a raucous bark, it charges you headfirst.
Deermen are savage, cruel, and primitive humanoids living in small familial pack. Deermen are omnivorous but prefers, for religious reasons, to hunt and devour other humanoids, and keeping them alive as long as possible during the feast, gorging on the corpse as soon as the meal dies. They think this gruesome ritual allow them to absorb the soul, and thus the strength, of their victims. As they think that a soul departs the body soon after death, they must not lose time swallowing the remnants of their victims.
When they don't find humanoids, they'll try to capture fierce predators, or they'll attack each others. If they need to, they can survive on a purely vegetarian diet, but find doing so dishonorable.
Combat
A deerman will begin combat with a powerful charge, hoping to knock his victim unconscious, and if it's not enough, will continue headbutting until the enemy is helpless. He'll throw his net on targets fleeing away. As soon as all enemy combattants are knocked-out, he'll start eating the downed opponents live.
Powerful Charge (Ex): A deerman gets an +2 racial bonus to attack and damage rolls when doing a charge. This stacks with the normal charge bonuses.
Subduing (Ex): A deerman is an expert at subduing opponents and can deal either lethal damage or nonlethal damage with no penalty.
Skills: Deermen have a +4 racial bonus to Listen and Survival checks.
Deermen Society
Deermen don't really have a society. They believe that might makes right, and that the strong must be devoured by the stronger in order to give their strength to the most honourable warrior. Their concept of honor is "one who catch a lot of game and steal his prey's strength." When deermen live in family, the strongest member (usually the father) is obeyed out of fear and respect for as long as preys are plentiful and he leads successful attacks with "soulmeals" for strengthening everybody. When preys become scarce, another member (usually the oldest kid or the mother) will steal commands from him by ambushing him and eating him.
Deermen never gather in greater numbers, unless they are coerced by a more powerful creature wanting to use them as cannon fodder. Deermen are easily swayed, especially if the opportunities to eat live humanoids are numerous.
Darkdancer
Medium-Size Outsider (Extraplanar, Evil)
HD: 5d10+23 (50 hp)
Init: +13 (+9 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative)
Speed: 80 ft.
Armor Class: 25 (+9 Dex, +3 deflection, +3 natural armor), touch 22, flat-footed 16
BAB/Grapple: +5/+7
Attack: Claw +14 melee (1d6+2 plus slow)
Full attack: 2 claws +14 melee (1d6+2 plus slow), kick +9 melee (1d8+2 plus nausea)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: weakening touch
Special Qualities: blindsight 30 ft., dark-vision 120 ft., low-light vision, negative energy immunity, quickness, shadow jump 90 ft.
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +15, Will +1
Abilities: Str 15, Dex 28, Con 19, Int 14, Wis 5, Cha 22
Skills: Balance +19, Escape Artist +17, Hide +17, Intimidate +14, Jump +12, Listen +7, Move Silently +17, Perform (Dance) +14, Spot +7, Tumble +19
Feats: Alertness (B), Combat Expertise, Improved Initiative (B), Lightning Reflexes (B), Spring Attack (B), Toughness, Weapon Finesse (B)
Environment: Plane of Shadow
Organization: Solitary, Duet or Troupe (3--24)
Challenge Rating: 8
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Advancement: 6--15 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: +6
A dark, humanoid silhouette appears from the shadow, dancing and prancing with an impressive speed. It seems made of condensed shadowstuff and moves in a quasi-random fashion.
Darkdancers are spiteful, evil denizens from the Plane of Shadow, graceful, fast, and unpredictible as the dance of light and shadow projected from a campfire. Born in the bleakest, darkest parts of the Plane of Shadow, they wander haphazardly, looking for mischiefs and evil deeds to perform. Often, they'll join other evil creatures, especially those who dabble in shadow magic or necromancy, to help them wreck havoc before betraying them after completion of their plans. They are restless creatures, who only stays quiet when hiding for ambushing enemies -- and even then, their impatience often gets the better of them and they'll charge their target rather than wait.
Combat
A darkdancer in combat behaves like a storm, continually darting from place to place, dancing and tumbling between two strikes. They use their quickness ability to devastating effect, making a full attack and retreating to safety by foot or through a shadow jump.
Quickness (Su): Darkdancers are incredibly fast, and able to take an extra partial action or move action during its turn each round. This also allow them to use Spring Attack to start a move action, make a full attack, and finish their move action; or start a full attack, move, and finish the full attack.
Shadow Jump (Su): A darkdancer can travel between shadows as if by the means of a dimension door spell with a move action. The magical transport must begin and end in an area with at least some shadows. The darkdancer may use this ability each turn, but cannot move farther than 90 ft. with each shadow jump. A darkdancer may use Spring Attack with shadow jump, and split the 90 ft. into two or more smaller jumps made in the same round.
Weakening Touch (Su): A darkdancer's touch is imbued with darkness and negative energy, and saps strength and resolve. A character hit by a darkdancer's claws must make a Fortitude save or be slowed, as the spell, for one round per point of damage taken. A character hit by a darkdancer's kick must likewise make a Fortitude save or be nauseated for one round. The DC to resist a darkdancer's weakening touch is 18 (Charisma based).
Author Gaël Zimmermann, based on original material by Jack Maddhick, © TSR/Wizards of the Coast, used without permission.
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) look extremely cool. They are surely inspired by some of the darkest legends of the Horned God of the Forest... 8-E
