Converting "generic setting" Second Edition monsters

[freyar]

Something like this?

Sand warriors are born on the endless beach at the margins of the elemental planes of Earth and Water. While a lucky few are called on to face the forces of Fire and Air, most of these hapless elementals are forced into war against encroaching water elementals, a battle they are ill-prepared to fight.

 

[Cleon]

Something like this?

Sand warriors are born on the endless beach at the margins of the elemental planes of Earth and Water. While a lucky few are called on to face the forces of Fire and Air, most of these hapless elementals are forced into war against encroaching water elementals, a battle they are ill-prepared to fight.

Don't much like the "lucky few" and "most", I'd rather leave it unspecified (or vague) as to what proportion of Sand Warriors are send to face the forces of Water, Air or Fire.

How's this...

Sand warriors are born on the endless beaches where the Elemental Plane of Earth borders with the Plane of Water. Countless numbers of sand warriors rise from the dunes of these beaches. Some are immediately pressed into combat to defend those beaches against encroaching water elementals, a battle they are ill-prepared to fight. The others are sent on epic marches to fight their masters' enemies: fire elementals on glassy plains and firey deserts; air elementals on mountaintops swept by perpetual lightning and duststorms; or rival earth creatures in the endless maze of caves and tunnels within the Elemental Plane of Earth.

 

[Shade]

Don't much like the "lucky few" and "most", I'd rather leave it unspecified (or vague) as to what proportion of Sand Warriors are send to face the forces of Water, Air or Fire.

How's this...

Sand warriors are born on the endless beaches where the Elemental Plane of Earth borders with the Plane of Water. Countless numbers of sand warriors rise from the dunes of these beaches. Some are immediately pressed into combat to defend those beaches against encroaching water elementals, a battle they are ill-prepared to fight. The others are sent on epic marches to fight their masters' enemies: fire elementals on glassy plains and firey deserts; air elementals on mountaintops swept by perpetual lightning and duststorms; or rival earth creatures in the endless maze of caves and tunnels within the Elemental Plane of Earth.

That's fine, although everything after the colon in the final sentence seems like overkill.

 

[freyar]

Cut the last sentence or not, it looks fine to me.

 

[Shade]

Cut the last sentence or not, it looks fine to me.

Since I'm fairly confident Cleon's going to reply that he prefers to keep it, I'll just go with the flow and add the whole thing.

Added to Homebrews.

Are we converting the sand warrior spell, or does summon monster II (and probably summon nature's ally I) suffice?

 

[freyar]

Well, SM and SNA probably would cover it, except we converted fire phantom, right? I guess for consistency's sake, we should do the sand warrior spell.

 

[Cleon]

Since I'm fairly confident Cleon's going to reply that he prefers to keep it, I'll just go with the flow and add the whole thing.

Added to Homebrews.

Actually, I thought it was surplus to requirements, but left it in since I'd typed it out already.

Might as well leave it as is.

Are we converting the sand warrior spell, or does summon monster II (and probably summon nature's ally I) suffice?

I'll vote for converting the spell.

 

[freyar]

Do you both agree to essentially copying the fire phantom spell?

 

[Cleon]

Do you both agree to essentially copying the fire phantom spell?

Easy enough to do.

I realized there's a couple of errors in the previous spell. The oil is consumed, so it's a Material component, not a reusable Focus component.

Also, they're CR 1 creatures so a 3rd level summoning spell should summon more of them.

How's this:

Summon Sand Warriors
Conjuration (Fire, Summoning)
Level: Brd 3, Clr 3, Drd 2, Rgr 2, Sor/Wiz 3
Components: V, S, M/DF
Casting Time: 1 round
Range: 30 ft.
Effect: 1d3+1 summoned creatures
Duration: 3 rounds/level (D)
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

This spell summons 1d3+1 sand warriors. They rise from the ground where you designate and act immediately, on your turn. The sand warriors attack your opponents to the best of their ability. If you can communicate with a sand warrior (they speak Terran), you can direct it not to attack, to attack particular enemies, or to perform other actions. The warriors must always remain within 30 feet of the spellcaster; if any moves beyond this range the spell expires.

A summoned monster cannot summon or otherwise conjure another creature, nor can it use any teleportation or planar travel abilities. Creatures cannot be summoned into an environment that cannot support them.

Arcane Material Component: A pint of water which must be poured onto sand.

Here's a revised version of the summon fire phantom spell.

Summon Fire Phantom
Conjuration (Fire, Summoning)
Level: Brd 3, Clr 3, Drd 2, Rgr 2, Sor/Wiz 3
Components: V, S, M/DF
Casting Time: 1 round
Range: 30 ft.
Effect: 1d3+1 summoned creatures
Duration: 3 rounds/level (D)
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

This spell summons 1d3+1 fire phantoms. They appear where you designate and act immediately, on your turn. They attack your opponents to the best of its ability. If you can communicate with a fire phantom (they speak Ignan), you can direct it not to attack, to attack particular enemies, or to perform other actions. The phantoms must always remain within 30 feet of the spellcaster; if any moves beyond this range the spell expires.

Fire phantoms are subservient toward more powerful fire elementals. A fire elemental can easily dismiss a summoned fire phantom back to the elemental plane of fire.

A summoned monster cannot summon or otherwise conjure another creature, nor can it use any teleportation or planar travel abilities. Creatures cannot be summoned into an environment that cannot support them.

Arcane Material Component: A pint of oil which must be poured out and ignited during the casting of the spell.

 

[Shade]

Seems reasonable.