Converting monsters from Dragon magazine

[Shade]

I'm thinking it's a sword-version of a BFG, hence "BFS".

If we make it an exotic weapon with a higher reach it opens up a can of worm regarding PCs getting their hands on it, so I'd much rather make it something intrinsic to the creature. Either give it a "sword" attack that's actually a special weapon attack (or attacks) that's intrinsic to its body, have it possess an extended Reach, or simply make it a Huge creature so it has a natural 15 ft. reach.

My first vote's for Huge, and failing that, just give it longer natural reach.

 

[Cleon]

My first vote's for Huge, and failing that, just give it longer natural reach.

Huge would be acceptable to me, although it's a poor fit to their 13 foot height.

We could describe them as extremely squat and thick-bodied, I suppose.

 

[Meadyaon]

The Angel, Seraph should have three sets of wings (six wings) not one set of wings.

Isaiah's vision of seraphim in the First Temple in Jerusalem is the sole instance in the Hebrew Bible of the word being used to describe celestial beings: there the winged "seraphim" attend God and have human attributes:[2] "... I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and His train filled the Hekhal (sanctuary). Above him stood the Seraphim; each had six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew." (Isaiah 6:1–3)

 

[Cleon]

The Angel, Seraph should have three sets of wings (six wings) not one set of wings.

Isaiah's vision of seraphim in the First Temple in Jerusalem is the sole instance in the Hebrew Bible of the word being used to describe celestial beings: there the winged "seraphim" attend God and have human attributes:[2] "... I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and His train filled the Hekhal (sanctuary). Above him stood the Seraphim; each had six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew." (Isaiah 6:1–3)

That doesn't seem terribly relevant to the tentacle-headed statue we're converting here. If I remember correctly, we did the Seraph somewhere in this Special Conversion Thread: Angels (and possibly other heavenly creatures).



The seraph

 

[Shade]

Huge would be acceptable to me, although it's a poor fit to their 13 foot height.

We could describe them as extremely squat and thick-bodied, I suppose.

That, and/or just make 'em taller!

 

[freyar]

Exceptional reach is my first choice, followed by bumping them up to Huge.

 

[Cleon]

Exceptional reach is my first choice, followed by bumping them up to Huge.

Let's go for Large size plus increased Reach then.

Statwise, they seem to be a tougher version of an Iron Golem, so I think we should use that as a foundation.

 

[freyar]

Yes, that sounds right to me.

 

[Cleon]

Yes, that sounds right to me.

Let's see how they compare to an AD&D Iron Golem

10 HD (80 hp) - same HP but fewer HD than an AD&D Iron's 18 HD (80 hp).
It'd be easier increasing the HD to match the Iron, but we could keep the lower HD and give it more bonus HP (by making the statue bigger or giving it a "use Cha bonus as HD bonus" type ability) or increase the HD.

AC -6 - Much better than an AD&D Iron's AC 3.
Increase NA and maybe Dex?

We could tweak the Dex up to 10-11 and giving it +30 NA, so it has a 9 point better AC like the original?

AC 39 seems too high for its likely CR though, so I'd be OK giving it a lower NA increase and dropping the Dex boost, or even reducing the NA. If we decide on giving it 10 HD like the original I think we ought to give it AC 26 (which matches AD&D AC -6).

Psionic Blast - Similar to an Illithids.
Modify a mind flayer's? This implied it should have a higher Charisma to power the blast. At the least its Charisma should not be low enough to give it a penalty. Give it Cha 15?

'Bizarre Sword' - +5 to hit, same damage as an Iron Golem, can make a 15 ft. sweep attack.
Give it the equivalent to a built-in +5 greatsword? Maybe a Huge greatsword to reflect the 15 ft. Reach? Add Whirlwind Attack as a bonus feat?

Immune To Fire.

Healed by Lightning and Acid - Instead of being healed by fire like an Iron. Heals at a 1:1 rate instead of 1:3.

40% Magic Resistant - Weaker than an Iron's broad immunity to magic.
Spell Resistance, obviously.

Apart from increasing the Charisma the SRD Iron Golem's ability scores (Str 33, Dex 9, Con --, Int --, Wis 11) look about right.

 

[Cleon]

So, let's agree on the Big Question, once that's answered we I can start a Working Draft.

Keep the original's 10 HD or give it 18 HD like an Iron Golem?

Since it's more powerful in many ways than an Iron Golem (sweep attack, psionic blast, higher AC), I think we ought to go for the higher HD.

Agreed?