Special Conversion Thread: Microscopic Monsters

[Cleon]

Ooh...fun! Base it off the Split SQ of some oozes?

Well, we'd better decide if we want to give it such an ability.

Let's see what it says in the original text...

If the slug is severely damaged (15 hp in one round) it will simply break up into individual amoebae.

That strongly favours the "hitting it will splatter off amoebas" approach rather than the "split into smaller slugs", although I can see an argument for it spawning an amoeba swarm if hit really hard.

 

[Shade]

That strongly favours the "hitting it will splatter off amoebas" approach rather than the "split into smaller slugs", although I can see an argument for it spawning an amoeba swarm if hit really hard.

Let's do this. We need to define "really hard" for that purpose.

 

[Cleon]

Let's do this. We need to define "really hard" for that purpose.

Something like this?

Splatter Split (Ex): If a slime mold slug takes at least 10 points of damage from an attack, it must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC equals the damage inflicted by the attack) or take double damage as the force of the attack splatters fragments from its body. Many of these fragments will continue to live as amoeboid slime molds. If the attack inflicted between 20 and 60 hit points of damage (after doubling), the blow splatters off a number of individual amoeboid slime molds equal to the damage taken by the slug. If the blow does more than 60 hit points of damage, the blow strikes off huge blobs of tissue that form one amoeboid slime mold swarm for every 60 points of damage inflicted (minimum one swarm). The amoeboid slime molds will behave independently according to their normal instincts, they are not under the control of the slug.

 

[freyar]

I like that generally, but I think 20-60 individual amoeboid slime molds is too many for a DM to deal with reasonably. Can we reduce this a bit? Maybe 1 amoeboid slime mold per 5 hp? I know it doesn't scale nicely into a swarm, but think about the poor DMs!

 

[Cleon]

I like that generally, but I think 20-60 individual amoeboid slime molds is too many for a DM to deal with reasonably. Can we reduce this a bit? Maybe 1 amoeboid slime mold per 5 hp? I know it doesn't scale nicely into a swarm, but think about the poor DMs!

Yes, I was thinking the number was a bit cumbersome but it fitted the scale so nicely.

How about 1d4 slime molds per 10 damage, or 2d4 to 6d4 amoebas?

 

[freyar]

That's a bit better, sure.

 

[Cleon]

That's a bit better, sure.

Shall I swap that in, then?

 

[freyar]

Please do, and then it looks pretty good. Do you think still CR 4?

 

[Cleon]

Please do, and then it looks pretty good. Do you think still CR 4?

Updating Working Draft.

I'm starting to wonder whether CR 5 might be more appropriate, depending on how likely it is to produce a swarm.

 

[Shade]

Updating Working Draft.

I'm starting to wonder whether CR 5 might be more appropriate, depending on how likely it is to produce a swarm.

We might as well err on the side of caution...