Converting monsters from the second edition Monstrous Compendiums

I bumped the CR to 14 due to their caster level.

I updated Homebrews with flavor text.

For the breath weapon, it looks like we decided upthread on a 90-foot cone of half acid/half fire damage.

According to the MCA table, a juvenile's breath would have done 9d6 damage. Does that sound good? The CR 16 stygian linnorm deals 12d6 damage.

Shade said:

I bumped the CR to 14 due to their caster level.

Click to expand...

Probably for the best.

I updated Homebrews with flavor text.

Click to expand...

Yay!!!

For the breath weapon, it looks like we decided upthread on a 90-foot cone of half acid/half fire damage.

Click to expand...

That's right - it's been awhile - acid rain if I remember rightly.

According to the MCA table, a juvenile's breath would have done 9d6 damage. Does that sound good? The CR 16 stygian linnorm deals 12d6 damage.

Click to expand...

9d6 looks good.

Regards
Mortis

Oops I said "cone" instead of "line".

Thus...

Breath Weapon (Su): 90-foot line of caustic boiling water, once every 1d4 rounds; damage 9d6, half of which is acid and the other fire, Reflex DC X half. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Shade said:

Oops I said "cone" instead of "line".

Click to expand...

Well it was a while back

Regards
Mortis

Updated in Homebrews. Anything left?

Is this one finished?

Shade said:

Is this one finished?

Click to expand...

Looks like it is.

Regards
Mortis

Great! I'll get the next one going soon.

From MCA1:

Linnorm, Forest
Climate/Terrain: Any nonarctic forest
Freq: Very rare
Org: Solitary
Activity Cycle: Any
Diet: Special
Intelligence: Average (8-10)
Treasure: See below
Alignment: Chaotic evil
# App: 1
AC: 1 (base)
Movement: 24, Sw 12
HD: 11 (base)
THAC0: 9 (base)
# Attacks: 1 + special
Dmg/Attk: 2d8/special
SA: Spells, breath weapon, surprise
SD: Spells
Magic resistance: See below
Size H-G (21' base length)
Morale Champion (15-16)
XP Value: See below

A forest linnorm resembles a huge, grotesque snake more than a dragon. Its body is a mottled green and brown that masks its form in forest undergrowth. This linnorm possesses a great ego, a natural cunning, and unending cruelty. It considers no creature above it and hates all beings possessing more than animal intelligence, especially "beautiful" creatures.

At birth, a forest linnorm could be easily confused with a large green lizard, as it has four legs and a thin, whiplike tail. As the creature matures, its legs atrophy, disappearing by young adulthood. Brown splotches appear on its body, its scales become larger and thicker, and its head widens.

Forest linnorms speak the languages of all animals in addition to their own, but can't converse with humans.

Combat: Forest linnorms trap prey by mimicking the sounds of injured animals (imposing a +2 bonus upon surprise rolls), and older specimens use illusisons to further deceive. Their prized targets are humans, as they find those people beautiful and therefore objects to be injured, punished, and slain. Forests use their breath weapons to weaken victims before physically attacking. They tend to fight to the death, viewing no opponent as too strong or dangerous.

Breath Weapon/Special Abilities: This breath weapon is a 1-foot-wide gout of heavy, acidic liquid extending in a straight line 6 feet per age category. The liquid inflicts damage and acts as a wither spell upon a randomly selected limb (no save).

Forest linnorms caset spells and use their magical abiliteis at a level of ability equal to 5 plus their combat modifier. They are limited to learning only illusion/phantasm spells.

Forest linnorms are born with a constant invisibility to animals power. At the young stage they can warp wood, at young adulthood, they can cause plant growth, at mature adulthood they can use spike growth, at very old stage they can use sticks to snakes, and wyrms can pass plant. Except for invisibility to animals, each ability is usuable three times per day.

Habitat/Society: Forest linnorms jealously maintain a 100-square-mile territory, tolerating others only when they mate. When offspring are born, the male returns to its own territory, and the mother forces the young to leave her territory when they pass from the hatchling stage.

These monsters make their lairs in densely overgrown forests, wrapping their bodies about trees and brushes, becoming virtually undistinguishable from roots and trunks. They prefer temperate weather, but can stand great extremes.

Forests usually store their treasure in hollow tree trunks. They prize gems and jewelry, but only so they can break them later. It's rare to find intact objects in a forest linnorm's cache, although there is usually plenty of gold and silver.

Ecology: While forest linnorms are omnivorous, they prefer the flesh of what they consider attractive creatures such as stags, eagles, swans, humans, and demihumans. The linnorms' natural enemies are giants, who hunt them for food and their hides. Human heroes are also the bane of forest linnorms.

Body length ranges from 1-4 (wyrmling) to 81-88 (great wyrm)
tail length ranges from 4-14 (wyrmling) to 167-180(great wyrm)
Breath weapon is 1d4+1/age category
Magic resistance begins at 15% at age 5 and increases by 5%/age category thereafter

Wizard spell progression:
Age 1-3 Nil
Age 4 = 1
Age 5 = 2
Age 6 = 3
Age 7 = 4
Age 8 = 4/1
Age 9 = 4/2
Age 10 = 4/3
Age 11 = 4/4
Age 12 = 4/4/1



From Dragon #182:

Forest Linnorm
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any non-arctic forest
FREQUENCY: Very rare
ORGANIZATION: Solitary
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Special
INTELLIGENCE: Average (8-10)
TREASURE: Special
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil
NO. APPEARING: 1 (5% of 2)
ARMOR CLASS: 1 (base)
MOVEMENT: 24, SW 12
HIT DICE: 11 (base)
THAC0: 9 (at 11 HD)
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1 bite + special
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2d8
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Spells, breath weapon, surprise
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Spells
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Variable
SIZE: H (21' base)
MORALE: Champion (15-16)
XP VALUE: Variable

A forest linnorm is repugnant, more resembling a huge, grotesque snake than a dragon. Its slender, serpentine body is a mottled green and brown that masks its form amid the undergrowth and fallen trees of the forest. This linnorm, though not as smart as other Norse dragons, possesses a great ego, a natural cunning, and an unending cruelty. It considers
no creature above it and hates all creatures possessing above an animal intelligence, especially beautiful creatures.

At birth, a forest linnorm could be easily confused with a large green lizard, as it has four legs and a thin, whiplike tail. As the creature matures, the weak legs atrophy, disappearing by the time the linnorm has reached the young adult stage. Brown splotches begin to appear on its now snakelike body. Its scales become larger and thicker, offering it greater protection, and its head widens. Forest linnorms speak the language of all animals in addition to their own language, but they are not able to converse with humans and demihumans.

Combat: Forest linnorms usually trap their victims, mimicking the sounds of injured animals to draw humans and demihumans close to their hiding places (they hide well enough to gain a +2 bonus to surprise rolls). Older specimens use illusions to further deceive their victims,
springing when the victims draw near. Their prized targets are humans, as they view humans as beautiful--and therefore objects to be injured, punished, and slain. Forest linnorms often choose to use their breath weapon to weaken powerful opponents before physically attacking or using additional illusions. They tend to fight to the death, viewing no opponents as too strong and no threat as too dangerous.

Breath Weapon/Special Abilities: A forest linnorm's breath weapon is a 1'-wide gout of heavy liquid that extends in a straight line 6' for each age category the dragon has attained. For example, a juvenile's breath weapon extends 24'. The liquid is very acidic in nature, causing
damage and acting as a wither spell to a randomly selected limb of a victim (the victim is not allowed a saving throw). Forest linnorms cast level of ability equal to five plus their combat modifier. They are limited to learning only illusion/phantasm spells.

Forest linnorms are born with a constant invisibility to animals power. At the young stage, they are able to warp wood, and at the young adult stage, they can cause plant growth. Upon reaching the mature adult stage they are able to cause spikegrowth, and at the very old stage, they can use sticks to snakes. Wyrms and great wyrms are able to pass plant.
Except for invisibility to animals, each of these abilities is usable three times a day.

Habitat/Society: Forest linnorms are found in wooded areas throughout the Norse lands. No more than one such linnorm will be discovered within a 100-square-mile area, as they are territorial and will not willingly permit another of their kind within their designated home. The only exception to this is when these linnorms mate.

Forest linnorms are poor parents. When offspring are born, the male returns to its own territory. The mother forces the young dragons to leave her territory when they pass from the hatchling stage.

These monsters make their lairs in densely overgrown sections of forest, wrapping their serpentine bodies about the bases of trees and bushes to become virtually undistinguishable from the roots and trunks. They prefer temperate weather but are able to stand great extremes of heat and cold. They usually store their treasure in hollow tree trunks. These linnorms prize gems and jewelry, but only so they can break them later. It is rare to find intact objects in a linnorm's cache, although there is usually plenty of gold and silver.

Ecology: While forest linnorms are omnivorous, they prefer the flesh of what they consider attractive creatures, such as stags, eagles, swans, humans, and demihumans.

Forest linnorms' natural enemies are thursir and kalevanpojat, giants who live in the wilderness and hunt the dragons for food and for their hides. Human heroes are also the bane of forest linnorms, out of the need to preserve civilization from the dragons' ravages.

Started it up in Homebrews.

Remember the following while determining some of the statistics:

Ability scores of existing linnorms:
Corpse Tearer (G): Str 36, Dex 9, Con 26, Int 17, Wis 20, Cha 19
Dread (C): Str 40, Dex 8, Con 31, Int 15, Wis 22, Cha 21
Gray (H): Str 24, Dex 11, Con 20, Int 14, Wis 19, Cha 17
Sea (G): Str 38, Dex 10, Con 29, Int 14, Wis 20, Cha 21
Swamp (G): Str 32, Dex 10, Con 27, Int 15, Wis 20, Cha 18
Flame (G): Str 35, Dex 10, Con 25, Int 17, Wis 20, Cha 20
Frost (G): Str 32, Dex 10, Con 26, Int 18, Wis 20, Cha 19
Rain (H): Str 28, Dex 10, Con 23, Int 14, Wis 20, Cha 17

Standard linnorm skills:
Bluff, Concentration, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Knowledge (arcana), Listen, Search, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Spot, Swim

Standard linnorm feats:
Alertness, Flyby Attack, Multiattack, Snatch
Other feats: Ability Focus, Cleave, Power Attack, metamagic feats

Treasure: Standard or double standard (the 20-HD Dread and 13-HD Gray have standard rather than double)

Advancement: Advancement ranges only within the same size category (exception: sea linnorm).

All linnorms speak (at least) Draconic and Abyssal.