Converting Psionic Creatures

[Shade]

Fixed.

 

[Cleon]

Fixed.

They're done then!

 

[freyar]

Agreed. Chonts away!

 

[Shade]

SUGO
ORIGIN: Acheron
FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: -2/-3
MOVE: 18”
HIT DICE: 14
% IN LAIR: Nil
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 8
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-4 per attack
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Sucking (see below)
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Immune to cold and acid; takes 1½ times damage from fire
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 30%
INTELLIGENCE: Very high
ALIGNMENT: Lawful Neutral (evil tendencies)
SIZE: L (tentacles are 7-8’ long)
PSIONIC ABILITY: 150
Attack/Defense Modes: A, C/G, I

All the marshes, bogs, swamps, slime, mud and quicksand in the world are spawned from Acheron, the Plane of Slime. As the River of sorrows passes hrough the Nine Hells, it becomes gradually wider and wider, until it becomes a vast, near-impenetrable, stinking bog: Acheron.

Lurking in the mud are horrible creatures called Sugos. Juiblex himself created them, but they turned against him and all other creatures of Chaos. They greedily devour the little bugs and large worms of Acheron, but would much rather seek greater prey.

A Sugo appears as a flattish brown disc with a large red eye in the top center. Radiating from the sides of the disc are eight slimy, brown tentacles, each equipped with a large grey sucker cup at the end. Sugos blend in perfectly with the bog, and thus surprise opponents on a 1-4.

A Sugo will attempt to attach its suckers to several adventurers (each requires a successful “to hit” roll) and suck their flesh away. The Sugo will do 1-4 pts. damage per round, and will only remove its sucker if the victim is killed or if the tentacle is chopped off.

How to chop a tentacle off: Each time a hit at a specific place on a tentacle is to be made, the player must tell the DM he is hitting at that place. Each tentacle can absorb 8 pts. of damage, regardless of the hit points of the Sugo’s body. Each tentacle has an AC of -3 (because it is harder to aim at a specific point rather than the general creature). If the Sugo’s body takes its full hit points in damage, the creature will die regardless of the rules in this paragraph. These rules only apply when chopping a tentacle off.

Originally appeared in Dragon Magazine #47 (1981).

 

[Shade]

OK, for starters...

Attack Modes
A. Psionic Blast
C. Ego Whip

Defense Modes
G. Thought Shield
I. Intellect Fortress

These equate to psi-like abilities of Ego Whip (2nd, save), Intellect Fortress (4th, no save), Psionic blast (3rd, save), and Thought Shield (2nd, no save).

Acheron is far different nowadays than described here. Hades actually makes better sense based on their description. Or we can simply state they are found anywhere along the River Styx.

For ability scores, Int is listed as "very high", which I'm assuming should be "very to high", meaning an Int in the 11-14 range.
Here are the ability scores of some other 14 HD fiends:

Nalfeshnee (H): Str 25, Dex 13, Con 27, Int 22, Wis 22, Cha 20
Nycaloth (L): Str 20, Dex 14, Con 25, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 16
Gelugon (L): Str 23, Dex 21, Con 23, Int 22, Wis 22, Cha 20

So maybe...
Str 20, Dex 21, Con 25, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 16?

 

[freyar]

Abilities are fine. Hades would make sense, except for the LN alignment. Not quite sure what to do about their habitat.

 

[Shade]

I suppose Acheron can still work:

As on all the lower planes, the River Styx flows through the top layer of Acheron, called Avalas. The Styx flows on many of Avalas's cubes--welling up from a crater on one cube to flow many miles, then leaking down into another crater, and reappearing on another cube. Sometimes the river takes a new course over a cube face, which can result in entire cities being washed away in a tide of forgetfulness and death.

Portals to other planes are fairly common. Usually, such gates appear in the mouths of the many tunnels that riddle most of Acheron's cubes.

That leaves room for some slimy cubes amidst the rust and iron.

 

[Cleon]

OK, for starters...

Well I think it's stretching it a bit putting these in the "Psionic Monsters" since they don't have any disciplines or sciences. Plenty of AD&D monsters had Psionic Strength and Attack/Defence Modes.

Still, their on this thread so we might as well keep them.

Acheron is far different nowadays than described here. Hades actually makes better sense based on their description. Or we can simply state they are found anywhere along the River Styx.

I was thinking the top layer of Carceri would suit them, since Othrys is filled with swamps and rivers.

Spreading them along the Styx makes the most sense to me, we could say they live in any swamp connected to the river. The Styx flows through all the 1st layers of the lower planes, so that covers a lot of territory.

For ability scores, Int is listed as "very high", which I'm assuming should be "very to high", meaning an Int in the 11-14 range.
Here are the ability scores of some other 14 HD fiends:

Nalfeshnee (H): Str 25, Dex 13, Con 27, Int 22, Wis 22, Cha 20
Nycaloth (L): Str 20, Dex 14, Con 25, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 16
Gelugon (L): Str 23, Dex 21, Con 23, Int 22, Wis 22, Cha 20

So maybe...
Str 20, Dex 21, Con 25, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 16?

Hmm, that Dex seems awful high for a blob, I'd rather have 16-17 or so.

Str could do with being higher, since they're grapplers.

Wisdom 10 doesn't feel right for a creature with psychic attacks, I'd rather it were higher so it has a respectable Will saves for a 14HD Outsider.

Maybe

Large Outsider
Hit Dice: 14d8+98 (161 hp)
Str 24, Dex 17, Con 25, Int 13, Wis 16, Cha 16

It will need a +10 natural armour to get AC22 with that Dexterity, although we should probably be aiming for something more like AC30 (+18 natural) for an Outsider of that HD.

As for the alignment, they're created by a Demon Prince but have rebelled and turned Lawful, which is interesting. Giving them a neutral alignment component doesn't sit with me well though.

Maybe give them the Evil and Chaotic subtypes with an alignment of Always evil (often lawful)?

 

[freyar]

Well, LN (sometimes E) goes with Acheron, I think. I could see distributing them along the Styx though. Not sure I like the subtypes, though.

Stat boost is ok.

 

[Shade]

They have "psionic ability: 150" which in 1e, was more than simply attack/defense modes.

I had originally proposed the High Dex/Low Str since they sounded more like "attachers" (like a stirge) than grapplers. The whole "sucker cup"/drain mechanic sounds more like a stirge to me. If you guys would prefer improved grab/constrict, I'll go for the changed scores though.

I definitely do not want to associate the Chaotic subtype with a lawful alignment!

Always evil (often lawful) works for me. We can list their Enviroment as Acheron, but note in the flavor text that they can be found throughout the lower planes along the River Styx.