Converting monsters from Dragon magazine

[Cleon]

He must've gone dancing.

I am now visualizing someone imitating John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever.

Note that I didn't say anything about it being a good or bad imitation...

 

[freyar]

John Travolta with very heavy boots?

This is what happens when we have so many active conversions -- can't keep up!

Here we go....

Quakedancing (Ex): As a full-round action, a quakedancer can shift its weight back and forth, gradually building up subsonic waves in the ground. After one full round, any creature within range must make a Fortitude save or be stunned for 2d4 rounds. Creatures with more HD than the quakedancer are immune to this effect. Unaffected creatures within range must continue to save as long as the quakedancer continues dancing. This is a sonic effect.

I feel like this needs work, but I don't have time to do more right now....

 

[Cleon]

John Travolta with very heavy boots?

This is what happens when we have so many active conversions -- can't keep up!

Here we go....

Quakedancing (Ex): As a full-round action, a quakedancer can shift its weight back and forth, gradually building up subsonic waves in the ground. After one full round, any creature within range must make a Fortitude save or be stunned for 2d4 rounds. Creatures with more HD than the quakedancer are immune to this effect. Unaffected creatures within range must continue to save as long as the quakedancer continues dancing. This is a sonic effect.

I feel like this needs work, but I don't have time to do more right now....

Well it'll do for a start.

Presumably we're going to add a "The details vary depending on the Quakedancers' size, as shown on the table below" with the radius of effect and typical DCs.

I'd still prefer the Quakedance to be limited to creatures smaller than the 'dancer in size as well as Hit Dice, but you all seem to be 'agin it.

 

[freyar]

What does Shade think about HD vs size limits?

Quakedancing (Ex): As a full-round action, a quakedancer can shift its weight back and forth, gradually building up subsonic waves in the ground. After one full round, any creature within range must make a Fortitude save or be stunned for 2d4 rounds. (Radius and save DC vary depending on the quakedancer's age, as given in the table below.) Creatures with more HD than the quakedancer are immune to this effect. Unaffected creatures within range must continue to save as long as the quakedancer continues dancing. This is a sonic effect.

 

[Cleon]

What does Shade think about HD vs size limits?

Oh, you know what a stuck-in-the-mud he is about exceptions to the rules.

Quakedancing (Ex): As a full-round action, a quakedancer can shift its weight back and forth, gradually building up subsonic waves in the ground. After one full round, any creature within range must make a Fortitude save or be stunned for 2d4 rounds. (Radius and save DC vary depending on the quakedancer's age, as given in the table below.) Creatures with more HD than the quakedancer are immune to this effect. Unaffected creatures within range must continue to save as long as the quakedancer continues dancing. This is a sonic effect.

That looks OK.

The DCs are easy enough to figure out, we just need to decide what ability score controls them.

Do we need to say whether it is a burst, spread or emanation?

Should it only affect creatures in contact with the ground? Maybe it affects airborne creatures, but more weakly?

 

[freyar]

I guess it's a spread, though, as it stands, it's just "anything in range" without worrying about line of effect. I think since it's Su, we can leave it as is.

I'd rather say it's sonic and therefore affects everything in range, including airborne critters. But I wouldn't be averse to giving them a bonus on the save, I guess.

Should be Str-based DCs, don't you think?
Let's try this out.

Quakedancing (Ex): As a full-round action, a quakedancer can shift its weight back and forth, gradually building up subsonic waves in the ground. After one full round, any creature within range must make a Fortitude save or be stunned for 2d4 rounds. (Radius and save DC vary depending on the quakedancer's age, as given in the table below.) Creatures with more HD than the quakedancer are immune to this effect, and flying creatures within range receive a +2 circumstance bonus on their Fortitude save. Unaffected creatures within range must continue to save as long as the quakedancer continues dancing. This is a sonic effect. The save DC is Strength-based.

 

[Cleon]

I guess it's a spread, though, as it stands, it's just "anything in range" without worrying about line of effect. I think since it's Su, we can leave it as is.

I'd rather say it's sonic and therefore affects everything in range, including airborne critters. But I wouldn't be averse to giving them a bonus on the save, I guess.

Should be Str-based DCs, don't you think?

Str-based would give it a very high DC, and stunning is nasty enough already. I'm wondering about Con-based or Dex-based.

Maybe it's not the force (Str) of the sonics, but their persistence (Con) or fine-tuning (Dex)?

Let's try this out.

Quakedancing (Ex): As a full-round action, a quakedancer can shift its weight back and forth, gradually building up subsonic waves in the ground. After one full round, any creature within range must make a Fortitude save or be stunned for 2d4 rounds. (Radius and save DC vary depending on the quakedancer's age, as given in the table below.) Creatures with more HD than the quakedancer are immune to this effect, and flying creatures within range receive a +2 circumstance bonus on their Fortitude save. Unaffected creatures within range must continue to save as long as the quakedancer continues dancing. This is a sonic effect. The save DC is Strength-based.

That looks pretty good, although I was thinking more of a +4 bonus to flyers' saves.

 

[freyar]

I'm afraid Con- or Dex-based seems like a bit of a stretch to me. Let's see what Shade thinks.

+4 to saves for flying critters would be fine.

 

[Shade]

I'm afraid Con- or Dex-based seems like a bit of a stretch to me. Let's see what Shade thinks.

I prefer Str-based. It makes the most sense. Besides, I like creatures to be good at their namesake abilities.

+4 to saves for flying critters would be fine.

Fine by me.

 

[Cleon]

I prefer Str-based. It makes the most sense. Besides, I like creatures to be good at their namesake abilities.

Yes, but there's "good" and there's "very likely to Total Party Kill its stunned victims", and I'd like to be reasonably sure it isn't the latter.

Maybe reduce the duration to 1d4 rounds, or have it so it can only Quakedance once per minute, or both?