Converting Monsters from D&D Official Video Games

[Shade]

Sounds great! Good work.

I have some good news. I was able to use the cheat codes to locate all these critters in the game, then capture them into my party so I could view their stats.

Oddly enough, these creatures were actually just called "eyeballs" in the game. They were created by a mad wizard (isn't everything?) from beholder stock. I'd suggest that we jazz some of them up from being a plain-ol' floating eyeball to be more like true beholderkin.

I'll get one started here shortly...

 

[Shade]

Let's start with the seeker. Here's what we know about it from the game:

Str 10, Dex 10, Con 10, Int 13, Wis 13, Cha 10
AC 2
40 HP
No resistances

Eye rays: Aganazzar's scorcher, flame arrow, Melf's acid arrow, magic missile.

We'll use Krishnath's suggested HD (5d8).

Here's the stat block:

Beholderkin, Seeker
Small Aberration
Hit Dice: 5d8+10 (33 hp)
Initiative: +6
Speed: 5 ft. (1 square), fly 20 ft. (good)
Armor Class: 18 (+1 size, +2 Dex, +5 natural), touch 13, flat-footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/-3
Attack: Eye rays +6 ranged touch and bite -3 melee (1d4-2)
Full Attack: Eye rays +6 ranged touch and bite -3 melee (1d4-2)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Eye rays
Special Qualities: All-around vision, darkvision 60 ft., flight
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +7
Abilities: Str 6, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 13, Cha 11
Skills: Hide +14, Knowledge (arcana) +9, Listen +3, Search +9, Spot +11, Survival +1 (+3 following tracks)
Feats: Alertness (B), Improved Initiative, Iron Will
Environment: Cold hills and underground
Organization: Solitary, pair, or cluster (3-6)
Challenge Rating: 4
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Usually lawful evil
Advancement: 6-10 HD (Medium); 11-15 HD (Large)
Level Adjustment: --

The creature is small and spherical, and seems to float effortlessly in the air. It has a bulbous body with a central, unblinking eye, and a large maw filled with needlelike teeth. Four smaller eyes, attached to wriggling stalks, sprout from the top of the orblike body.

Seekers are mutant beholderkin created by Lycanth the Enlightented, a powerful wizard in the service of the dragon Abazigal. Because seekers are created via experimentation on standard beholderkin, true beholders and their kin will attack them on sight.

A seeker is a 3-foot wide orb dominated by a central eye. Four smaller eyes on stalks sprout from the top of its body. Unlike many beholderkin, its central eye serves no special function.

Seekers speak the language of Beholders and Common.

Combat

The primary weapon of the seeker is a series of deadly eye rays.

Eye Rays (Su): Each of a seeker's four eye rays resembles a spell cast by a 7th-level caster. Each eye ray has a range of 100 feet and a save DC of 12. The save DCs are Charisma-based. The four eye rays inclue:

Magic Missle: This works like the spell, firing four missles, each causing 1d4+1 points of damage (no save).

Melf's Acid Arrow: This works like the spell, causing 2d4 acid damage for two rounds (no save).

Scorching Ray: This works like the spell, causing 4d6 points of fire damage (no save). The seeker may fire two scorching rays per round.

Searing Light: This works like the spell, dealing 3d8 points of damage to living creatures, 7d6 vs. undead, 7d8 vs. light-sensitive undead, and 3d6 vs. constructs and inanimate objects (no save).

All-Around Vision (Ex): Seekers are exceptionally alert and circumspect. Their many eyes give them a +4 racial bonus on Spot and Search checks, and they can't be flanked.

Flight (Ex): A seeker's body is naturally buoyant. This buoyancy allows it to fly at a speed of 20 feet. This buoyancy also grants it a permanent feather fall effect (as the spell) with personal range.

The seeker first appeared in the Black Isle computer game Baldurs Gate II: Throne of Bhaal, (2001).

 

[Shade]

Some things to consider:

Ability scores from BG2: Str 10, Dex 10, Con 10, Int 13, Wis 13, Cha 10
Gauth's ability scores: Str 8, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 15, Wis 15, Cha 13
Beholder's ability scores: Str 10, Dex 14, Con 18, Int 17, Wis 15, Cha 15

Since these guys are one size category smaller than a gauth, I'm thinking Str and Con should be lower than the gauth. The Dex for both gauths and beholders are 14, do we want to stick with this score, or boost it for their smaller size? Mental stats from the game seem fine, except I'd raise Cha to 11.

Do we want to give them a bite attack? They didn't use it in the game, but other beholders have one.

Should we stick with Ag's scorcher, or replace it with something OGL? We could just say "a line of fire" and achieve a similar effect.

 

[Krishnath]

Abilities: Str 6 , Dex 14, Con 14? Cha 11 sounds good.

As for the spells, replace the Flame Arrow with Searing Light and Aganazzar's Scorcher with Scorching Ray.

I say we give them a bite attack, as they are in essence smaller beholders with fewer eyes.

 

[Shade]

Sounds good. I'll update momentarily.

 

[Shade]

I've updated the stat block. Some more questions:

Shall we make its caster level for eye rays equal to HD+2 like the gauth and beholder? This seems to be a good pattern.

Do we want to give it Alertness as a bonus feat like the gauth and beholder?

For the magic missle eye "ray": Do we want to make it as magic missle, except it is a ray and does not strike unerringly, or keep it just as-is and mention that it is not truly a ray, but simply originates from an eyestalk?

For scorching ray, do we allow it to fire two rays in the same round, since the spell allows firing a second ray at 7th level (assuming we go with CL 7th)?

Same goes for magic missle? Do we allow only one missle or multiples based on caster level?

 

[Krishnath]

Yes, yes, not ray, yes, multiples.

 

[Shade]

Cool. Updated again. Here's what's left to consider:

Eye ray range: Beholders have 130 foot range (which is their CL x 10), while gauths have 100 foot range (more than their CL 8 x 10). Should we give them 70 foot range (CL x 10), or make their rays 100 foot like the gauths, and assume that for future beholders the formula is CL x 10, minimum 100 feet?

Beholder Feats: Flyby Attack, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Iron Will
Gauth Feats: Flyby Attack, Improved Initiative, Iron Will

Using this "progression", we should probably give the seeker two of the following: Flyby Attack, Improved Initiative, Iron Will. Any preferences?

Gauth Skills: Hide +11, Knowledge (arcana) +11, Listen +4, Search +15, Spot +17, Survival +2 (+4 following tracks)

Beholder Skills: Hide +12, Knowledge (arcana) +17, Listen +18, Search +21, Spot +22, Survival +2 (+4 following tracks)

Following this method, we should definitely put skill ranks in Hide, Knowledge (arcana), Search, and Spot. It looks like Survival is only listed because of the synergy bonus from Search. The gauth has no ranks in Listen, only racial bonus.

So I'd recommend: Hide 8, Knowledge (arcana) 8, Listen 0, Search 4, Spot 4, Survival 0. That would give us modified scores of Hide +14, Knowledge (arcana) +9, Listen +3, Search +9, Spot +11, Survival +1 (+3 following tracks). Does that work?

Odd (at least to me)...both the beholder and gauth have an environment listed as "Cold Hills". Since they have traditionally lived underground, I'd recommend we change that to "underground", or at least to "Cold hills and underground."

And we'll need a CR.

 

[Krishnath]

100' sounds good.

Feats: Improved Initiative, Iron Will.

Skills: sounds good.

Environment: Cold Hills and Underground sounds about right.

 

[Shade]

I think all that's left is a CR. How about CR 5? They seem only slightly weaker than a gauth, which is CR 6.