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Converting monsters from Imagine Magazine
- Thread starter Shade
- Start date
Echohawk
Shirokinukatsukami fan
From "The Shedu's Hall" by Matthew Parker
IMAGINE magazine #23, February 1985
New Monster
The Gebbeth
Armour Class: 0 or variable
Hit Dice: 8**
Move: 180' (60') or variable
Attacks: 1 touch or weapon
Damage: insanity, ability drain or by weapon
No. Appearing: 1
Save As: Magic User 8
Morale: 11
Treasure Type: nil
Alignment: C
XP Value: 1750
The Gebbeth is an insubstantial malevolent spirit that can only be released into the world as the result of powerful and misguided magic. When a magic user casts a summoning spell of some type, a spell involving any of the Planes or an animate dead spell, there is a 1% chance that a Gebbeth will be accidentally involved.
In its insubstantial form a Gebbeth attacks by touch. If it strikes its victim - and that victim has an intelligence of 10 or less - the Gebbeth enters the victim's mind, gaining total control of the victim's body in the process. If the attack is successful the Gebbeth 'makes itself at home' and then is raised to 18 as the creature's natural wiliness takes command. Thevictim is entitled to a saving throwvs magic wands, and if this is successful the Gebbeth cannot attack again that day.
Once in a body, the Gebbeth can use all the abilities and skills that its victim had before it took over, including any weapon handling skills and spells that were memorised at the time of the initial attack. It can only memorise half the original number of spells of a victim, eg a Gebbeth-Warlock could only memorise 3 spells at anyone time. The Gebbeth-body does not need food (but does require water), although if it doesn't eat it will become gaunt and cadaverous.
Gebbeth in possession of a body can still attack, but it can now restrain itself so as to cause less damage to a target. Each successful touch drains 1 point of Intelligence or Constitution from its target - when either of these drops to zero the victim dies. If these attacks are spread over a period of days or months - as is likely because the Gebbeth takes a positive delight in tormenting its victims if it has the chance - the victim will aiso suffer from some form of insanity, usually an irrational fear of some item connected with the Gebbeth. The Gebbeth uses this ability to weaken a foe before attempting to possess his or her body.
Gebbeths can only be hit by magical weaponry. They are not undead and cannot be turned by a cleric.
A Gebbeth has one particular 'ability' that is more terrifying than any other. In times of stress - when wounded, for example - there is a 1 in 6 chance that the creature's features will start to fade. The process takes 3 rounds in total, at the end of which the face will be completely blank. Anyone witnessing such a change should save vs spells or suffer the effects of a blight spell due to the unnerving prospect of an opponent's features altering without apparent reason.
CREDITS
Design: Matthew Parker
Editorial Butchery: Mike Brunton
Piccies: Pete Young
Maps: Paul Ruiz
IMAGINE magazine #23, February 1985
New Monster
The Gebbeth
Armour Class: 0 or variable
Hit Dice: 8**
Move: 180' (60') or variable
Attacks: 1 touch or weapon
Damage: insanity, ability drain or by weapon
No. Appearing: 1
Save As: Magic User 8
Morale: 11
Treasure Type: nil
Alignment: C
XP Value: 1750
The Gebbeth is an insubstantial malevolent spirit that can only be released into the world as the result of powerful and misguided magic. When a magic user casts a summoning spell of some type, a spell involving any of the Planes or an animate dead spell, there is a 1% chance that a Gebbeth will be accidentally involved.
In its insubstantial form a Gebbeth attacks by touch. If it strikes its victim - and that victim has an intelligence of 10 or less - the Gebbeth enters the victim's mind, gaining total control of the victim's body in the process. If the attack is successful the Gebbeth 'makes itself at home' and then is raised to 18 as the creature's natural wiliness takes command. Thevictim is entitled to a saving throwvs magic wands, and if this is successful the Gebbeth cannot attack again that day.
Once in a body, the Gebbeth can use all the abilities and skills that its victim had before it took over, including any weapon handling skills and spells that were memorised at the time of the initial attack. It can only memorise half the original number of spells of a victim, eg a Gebbeth-Warlock could only memorise 3 spells at anyone time. The Gebbeth-body does not need food (but does require water), although if it doesn't eat it will become gaunt and cadaverous.
Gebbeth in possession of a body can still attack, but it can now restrain itself so as to cause less damage to a target. Each successful touch drains 1 point of Intelligence or Constitution from its target - when either of these drops to zero the victim dies. If these attacks are spread over a period of days or months - as is likely because the Gebbeth takes a positive delight in tormenting its victims if it has the chance - the victim will aiso suffer from some form of insanity, usually an irrational fear of some item connected with the Gebbeth. The Gebbeth uses this ability to weaken a foe before attempting to possess his or her body.
Gebbeths can only be hit by magical weaponry. They are not undead and cannot be turned by a cleric.
A Gebbeth has one particular 'ability' that is more terrifying than any other. In times of stress - when wounded, for example - there is a 1 in 6 chance that the creature's features will start to fade. The process takes 3 rounds in total, at the end of which the face will be completely blank. Anyone witnessing such a change should save vs spells or suffer the effects of a blight spell due to the unnerving prospect of an opponent's features altering without apparent reason.
CREDITS
Design: Matthew Parker
Editorial Butchery: Mike Brunton
Piccies: Pete Young
Maps: Paul Ruiz
Attachments
Garnfellow
Explorer
Certainly sounds like an Outsider (extraplanar, evil, incorporeal) to me.
Just aren't enough non-undead incorporeal creatures around.
Just aren't enough non-undead incorporeal creatures around.
freyar
Extradimensional Explorer
Garnfellow said:
Could almost be a loumara, and people seem to want more of those.
A bit of background information (SPOILERS for A Wizard of Earthsea, if you're thinking about reading it):
The main character, Ged, accidentally releases a gebbeth spirit while summoning a dead spirit (as an apprentice). It chases him around a good chunk of the known world, and then he turns and chases it. It's not entirely clear where it comes from, but it seems related to the Old Powers, which are essentially semi-conscious spirits of the earth.
Shade
Monster Junkie
freyar said:Doesn't really look like anything from just glancing over it in homebrews, but I'll wait for Shade to pronounce judgement.
For the next one in this thread, I'll vote for the gebbeth, at least if it's anything like Ursula Le Guin's gebbeth.
Very well, consider it pronounced.
Echohawk had requested the golems and hylems next, but if he's OK with the diversion, so am I.
freyar
Extradimensional Explorer
I'd agree with Mortis that the INT of this thing is 18. Or at least a racial bonus of +8.
Been thinking a little more about the type. Outsider (extraplanar, evil, incorporeal) sounds right, but I'm not quite so sure about the loumara. The original flavor from leGuin seems to imply that they are really drawn to whoever accidentally "summoned" them, almost like they are created in the botched summoning. Not quite sure if that goes with loumara or not.
We should probably remove the bit that the victim has to have an INT of 10 or less, since otherwise the spellcasting bit is a bit weird for wizards...
Been thinking a little more about the type. Outsider (extraplanar, evil, incorporeal) sounds right, but I'm not quite so sure about the loumara. The original flavor from leGuin seems to imply that they are really drawn to whoever accidentally "summoned" them, almost like they are created in the botched summoning. Not quite sure if that goes with loumara or not.
We should probably remove the bit that the victim has to have an INT of 10 or less, since otherwise the spellcasting bit is a bit weird for wizards...
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