Backporting the Pit Fiend

[tomBitonti]

Heh ... don't see this anywhere in the ***long*** thread on the new Pit Fiend stats. But I only got to page 5.

Has anyone tried to convert this puppy to 3.5E rules? (And, ahem, to beat my own drum, are we allowed to do that?) I don't see this as completely painless, but a lot of the mechanics look straightforward enough.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

It's a level 26 monster (and worth two monsters) so I wonder if there would be much point.

You might be better off with a lower levle monster like the spined devil instead.

 

[tomBitonti]

So ... 4E has levels up to 30 (in standard play), 3.5E goes up to 20. Make him a level 15 or 16 monster.

 

[DreamChaser]

Well, some things of note:

** We see a second card that tells us very clearly that they have not changed the stat bonus equation but merely added the level bonus (+1/2) onto the stat mods in monster descriptions. (If you subtract 13 (the level bonus) from the bonuses, you get the bonus we are used to seeing in 3e.)

** Immunity to Fire and Poison have been replaced by high resistances

** The Fiend's defenses are all higher than they were (equivalently) in 3e.

** There is something called "Saving Throw" which is +2...not sure what that is...

** He has an action point!

** His summons are automatic (and he has a cool ability to make his lesser devils explode)

** We have "Standard" and "Minor" actions - A minor action seems to be usable in the same round as a Standard action otherwise the "Point of Terror" would never help the pit fiend.

** He apparently has no way of healing?? Which is different from his past regeneration.

All this leads to a number of things that would be...quite different...for this in 3e.

DC

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

First you would need to add a new action to the 3.5 game mechanic: minor...

Last night I ran a combat that could have been very cinematic, but the lack of actoins on the 'elite' BBG made the combat somewhat lackluster ( IMHO, my players might disagree due to the low hit points attained by thier characters.. )

A 'minor' action can be taken once or turn, or you can use your Move action as a 'minor' action.

THe rest of the port to 3.5 should be relatively straightfoward, as tomBitonti said.

 

[Voss]

if you really want to do this, just use 'swift' actions in place of minor actions. Usable only once per round, and can still take full or standard and move actions.

 

[tomBitonti]

Ok, I should 'fess up, I'm probably not moving up to 4E, although, I will probably get the three core books.

That being said, there are nice features in 4E, and the monsters are at least new and different. I'm looking to find features, including monsters, that I can use in a 3.5E game.

The goals of the monster conversion are then:

*) See how much of the feel of the monster can be translated into 3.5E.
*) See what features and new mechanics can be added to a 3.5E game without too much work.
*) To have a new critter for a 3.5E game.

I am not trying to create an exact duplicate of the creature, nor do I mind if the 3.5E critter looks very different from a 3.5E base version of the creature.

 

[KrazyHades]

So ... 4E has levels up to 30 (in standard play), 3.5E goes up to 20. Make him a level 15 or 16 monster.

Part of the problem here is that level 20 in 4E is just as powerful as level 20 in 3E. It's just that the upper end of things goes even higher, up to level 30 in the new core.

 

[Counterspin]

Krazy, the designers have explicitly said that's not the case, though I'm not willing to look up the quote this late.

 

[Gundark]

Ok, I should 'fess up, I'm probably not moving up to 4E, although, I will probably get the three core books.

That being said, there are nice features in 4E, and the monsters are at least new and different. I'm looking to find features, including monsters, that I can use in a 3.5E game.

Thread derailment warning!!!

I predict that you will be switching. As will a lot of these others who I see claim they'll mine 4e for ideas/house rules. The million dollar question is where is the point that you've borrowed so much you might as well be playing 4e? Or maybe the correct statement should be you'll be borrowing 3.5 stuff for your 4e game.

Thread derailment over!!!!