Converting "generic setting" second edition monsters

[Cleon]

Good catch!

Increase natural armor by 7 to compensate, then?

I'm OK with increasing Con a tad, but I'd rather not drop Strength. These guys lack the second attack and poison of the purple worm, after all.

Yes, an extra 7 NA was what I was thinking of, giving it +22 and a total AC of 26.

It's already had its Con tweaked up 2 points more than a Purple Worm's which is enough as far as I'm concerned.

I think there's still a case for dropping it Strength to lower than a Purple Worm's 35. Its bite gets all that extra acid damage, so it does an average of 39 damage per bite (2d8 bite averages 9, plus 2d10 acid averages 11, plus +19 from Str). That's more than a Purple Worm's bite and sting combined (2d8+12 = 21, 2d6+7 = 14, 21+14 = 35 hit points average damage). If you dropped the Glitterworm's Strength to, say, Str 33 (2d8+16 plus 2d10 acid) it would still average 1 point more damage than a Purple Worm that hits with both its attacks.

I will agree that losing the poison does make a difference.

 

[freyar]

The higher natural armor is good, but I'm of a split mind about the Str. I can see going either way.

 

[Shade]

Let's keep the Strength the same, to help justify its higher CR than the purple worm.

Updated.

The body of a mature glitterworm is 5 feet in diameter and 100 feet long, weighing about x,000 pounds. (The body of a mature purple worm is 5 feet in diameter and 80 feet long, weighing about 40,000 pounds.)

 

[Cleon]

Let's keep the Strength the same, to help justify its higher CR than the purple worm.

Fine by me.

The body of a mature glitterworm is 5 feet in diameter and 100 feet long, weighing about x,000 pounds. (The body of a mature purple worm is 5 feet in diameter and 80 feet long, weighing about 40,000 pounds.)

Since it's 25% longer but just as thick making it 25% heavier seems logical, so 50,000 pounds.

Oh, and a DC20 on the Spot or Knowledge (dungeoneering) check to see through its Camouflage ability seems awful low for a CR13 critter. Most PCs at that level will have Spot bonuses of what, +15 to +20, so will find it trivially easy to notice the glittering vein is actually a monster. Maybe up the DC to 30?

EDIT: An average Xorn has Spot and Dungeoneering at +10, so it will notice the glitterworm 55% of the time (Must roll 10+ to beat DC20), while an Elder Xorn's +22 Spot means it always notices the worm.

If we boost the DC to 30 that makes the numbers 5% for the average Xorn (which seems too low to me) and 65% for the Elder.

Maybe split the difference and make the DC25, for 30%/90%?

 

[Shade]

50,000 pounds and DC 25 sound great.

Updated.

All done?

 

[Cleon]

50,000 pounds and DC 25 sound great.

Updated.

All done?

I can see a couple of oddities in the stats.

Why does it have a Will save of +8? I make it Will +5 (+6 from its HD and -1 from its Wisdom)

Also, its Advancement is wonky: 18–32 HD (Gargantuan); 33–48 HD (Colossal). I'm fine with it not using double or triple its HD as a cut-off, but it should start at 19 HD. I guess if we wanted to be conventional we'd give it 19-36 HD (Gargantuan); 37-54 HD (Colossal).

Its Swallow Whole has the same damage bonus as a Purple Worm, despite its higher Str. Should be 2d8+13. It probably should do more acid damage as well, considering it slobbers 2d10 acid every time it bites.

 

[Shade]

I'm not sure how I butchered the Will save, but I'm glad you caught it.

I'll start the advancement at 19. Otherwise, it follows the purple worm's advancement, which seems appropriate.

I fixed the crushing damage on swallow whole. Acid damage boost makes sense...mimic the jaws' 2d10 or boost to some arbitrary number like 16?

 

[Cleon]

I'm not sure how I butchered the Will save, but I'm glad you caught it.

I'll start the advancement at 19. Otherwise, it follows the purple worm's advancement, which seems appropriate.

Sounds good.

I fixed the crushing damage on swallow whole. Acid damage boost makes sense...mimic the jaws' 2d10 or boost to some arbitrary number like 16?

I was thinking a fixed value around 15-20, since Swallow Whole acid damage is rarely variable, so 16 acid damage is fine by me.

 

[Shade]

16 it is.

Updated.

Anything else?

 

[demiurge1138]

The breath weapon is very sad for a CR 13 creature. A resist energy (acid) spell at that level, for example, will completely neutralize it, and the 3-30 damage will probably be laughed off even by wizards. I suggest boosting the damage to 6d10 and/or making it do damage over time, ala acid arrow.