Converting Greyhawk monsters

[demiurge1138]

One thing, this shouldn't be a plant, if it's a huge land anenome. More like a vermin.

Second, 24 attacks!

 

[freyar]

Any precedent for non-mindless vermin that I'm not remembering? If not, where do we go with this? Stretch the definition of plant or go with magical beast? Or drop the Int?

I'm strangely interested in kampfults now.

 

[Shade]

I've found no vermin with Intelligence scores.

I think we made the other anenomes we converted long ago into animals, which also won't work with the given intellect.

I'm thinking magical beast is the only reasonable choice, unless we drop the Int.

The 24 attacks could be reduced to smaller "tentacle clusters", combining the damage.

 

[freyar]

Here's the giant sea anemone. Since there's hardly any mention of the intelligence in the flavor, I'd follow the anemone precedent, stick to Int 1, and make it an animal.

 

[Cleon]

Here's the giant sea anemone. Since there's hardly any mention of the intelligence in the flavor, I'd follow the anemone precedent, stick to Int 1, and make it an animal.

I think that's the best course. What would they use a near-human level of intelligence for anyway? It's not like it takes much brains to stand in a puddle and grab things!

So, I'm thinking we can take the Giant Sea Anemone linked to above and tweak it a bit:

The addition of one of the "offensive bristles" defences we gave the polychaete worm conversions we did would account for the spines.

Increasing the acid damage of the Swallow Whole to 3d6 or so would match its "immensely powerful digestive agents".

Give it a +7 natural armour to match the original's AC5 (= AC15 in 3E).

Either cut its reach to 5 ft (swallow) and 15 ft. (tentacles) or give it the Giant Sea Anemone's 10 ft. and 30 ft.

I'd prefer to give it a ground speed, say 5 ft. (cannot Run), since I would rather it could slowly crawl to new hunting grounds like a sea anemone.

I'd drop the Evil from its alignment.

That'd about do it.

 

[demiurge1138]

I sort of like the idea of them being intelligent and evil. It makes them more, well, monstrous. Perhaps they're kin to ropers?

Why would we give them defensive bristles? Anemones are generally pretty smooth. They've got nematocysts, but mostly on the inside, not the outside.

 

[Shade]

I failed to notice the evil aspect of their alignment. Looking at these with that in mind, and the comparison to kampfults, it seems apparent they were intended to be "evil monstrosities" rather than run-of-the-mill giant versions of natural paperweights.

I sort of like the idea of them being intelligent and evil. It makes them more, well, monstrous. Perhaps they're kin to ropers?

This is looking to be a good fit. The comparison to kampfults is also worth retaining.

Why would we give them defensive bristles? Anemones are generally pretty smooth. They've got nematocysts, but mostly on the inside, not the outside.

If we go the "evil monstrosity" magical beast (or aberration) route, this could be easily explained.

 

[demiurge1138]

Ah. I failed to notice that the original was bristly. I thought that was just one of Cleon's additions. Vulnerability to fire also seems appropriate here.

I did not that only three tentacles can attack a man-sized creature at a time, so we might want to keep the twenty-four potential attacks. The hecatachonieries from the ELH (and Epic SRD) has a similar rule that we can use as a precedent/model.

 

[Shade]

Also, the darktentacles:

A darktentacles can use only three tentacles at once against a Small or Medium-size opponent. Against a larger foe, it can use three additional tentacles for each extra 5 feet of face the opponent has, provided that it has the reach. Against a Tiny or smaller opponent, the creature can use only one tentacle. It can use a maximum of three tentacles against all foes in any single 5-foot by 5-foot area.

 

[Cleon]

Ah. I failed to notice that the original was bristly. I thought that was just one of Cleon's additions. Vulnerability to fire also seems appropriate here.

I did not that only three tentacles can attack a man-sized creature at a time, so we might want to keep the twenty-four potential attacks. The hecatachonieries from the ELH (and Epic SRD) has a similar rule that we can use as a precedent/model.

The Giant Sea Anemone conversion in the creature catalogue already has the multiple 4hp tentacles, only 3 of which can attack a M-sized target, I was just going to copy that.

I'd be happy to make them an evil, intelligent tentacle-monster. I'd like Aberration for them more than Magical Beast.

So, what other changes would we make to the giant sea anemone apart from the type, speed, AC, bristles, increased acid damage, intelligence and alignment?

Should we modify any of its other stats. Here are some monsters with a similar niche:

Giant Sea Anemone: Str 13, Dex 9, Con 15, Int 1, Wis 8, Cha 1
Roper (Large): Str 19, Dex 13, Con 17, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 12
Tendriculos (Huge): Str 28, Dex 9, Con 22, Int 3, Wis 8, Cha 3
Tendriculos (Large): Str 20, Dex 11, Con 18, Int 3, Wis 8, Cha 3

Scaling down the Tendriculos to Large give it very similar physical stats to a Roper. I'd be tempted to just average a Roper and Giant Sea Anemone's stats together:

Giant Sea Roper: Str 16, Dex 11, Con 16, Int 6.5, Wis 12, Cha 6.5

That looks a good start, I'll just round the Intelligence up and halve the Charisma to 3, like a Tendriculos...

Giant Polyp: Str 16, Dex 11, Con 16, Int 7, Wis 12, Cha 3

Does that look OK to you?

I'd have a SQ that the tentacles only do secondary damage (1d3+1) to prevent the damage going overboard, but it needs a decent Strength to be an effective grappler.