Special Conversion Thread: Moldvay's Undead

[Shade]

Updated.

Does the +2 racial bonus on poison suffice? That sets the DC equal to the arrow storm DC, which I think is mechanically beneficial.

Did we ever decide on the incorporeal vs. gaseous/insubstantial debate?

 

[demiurge1138]

I think most of the votes were for incorporeal; I know mine was.

 

[Shade]

Very well, then. So "ghost touch" for the swarm damage?

 

[Cleon]

Elf-shot for the poison would be thematically appropriate, but elves in D&D aren't very fey. I say stick to "poison".

Well I prefer elf-shot (but then a lot of the elves in my campaign are "very fey", and often not very nice), but I guess poison is more appropriate. Although I can see some advantage in working 'Curse' in the name to reflect its supernatural nature, but I'm having trouble figuring out a way that doesn't sound a little clumsy, such as "Curse-Poison Arrows".

Does the +2 racial bonus on poison suffice? That sets the DC equal to the arrow storm DC, which I think is mechanically beneficial.

+2 racial is fine by me.

Did we ever decide on the incorporeal vs. gaseous/insubstantial debate?

I'll (somewhat reluctantly) go along with incorporeal, but in any case I'd have ghost touch on the Sluaghs attacks (both arrows and swords).

 

[Shade]

Does this suffice?

Ghost Strikes (Su): A sluagh's swarm attack and arrow storm count as either corporeal or incorporeal at any given time, whichever is more beneficial to the sluagh.

 

[freyar]

All this looks good. Are we all set with special abilities?

 

[Shade]

We still need the create/control aerial zombies ability.

 

[Cleon]

We still need the create/control aerial zombies ability.

I like the idea of giving them the ability to create more Sluagh from fey as well as zombies from other creatures. Something like:

Create Spawn (Su)
Any Fey slain by a sluagh's envenomed arrow rises as a sluagh in 1d4 rounds. Its body remains intact and inanimate, but its spirit is torn free from its corpse and transformed. A fey who becomes a sluagh in this way retains none of the abilities it possessed in life. It is not under the control of any other sluagh, but it lusts to destroy and torment the living and behaves like a normal sluagh in all respects.

Any other living corporeal creature slain by a sluagh, including Fey a sluagh slays by means other than an envenomed arrow, becomes a zombie in 1d4 rounds. These zombies are under the command of the sluagh that created them and remain enslaved until its death. They do not possess any of the abilities they had in life.

EDIT: Note that sluagh use their fly spell-like ability on their zombies so they can fly along with the swarm.
​

 

[Shade]

Looks good!

Also, I suppose we need to add fly as a SLA. Actually, since this is used primarily on the zombies, wouldn't overland flight be more appropriate (since it lasts hours rather than minutes)?

Do we still need animate dead, or does the create spawn ability suffice?

 

[demiurge1138]

Create spawn would suffice. However, since we're doing the slaugh as a swarm, the create spawn for fey doesn't work. Perhaps something more akin to a death knell--the slaugh gains hit points (which become temporary if it's at max) and a temporary bonus to saving throws?