Converting Psionic Creatures

[freyar]

Ahhh, forgot that. Anyway, on to the flavor. Do you have any ideas?

 

[Cleon]

Ahhh, forgot that. Anyway, on to the flavor. Do you have any ideas?

I like raspberry and chocolate flavours, but not necessarily mixed together.

 

[freyar]

Hopefully not mixed with wingless wonder. Yuck!

Well, I've read through the original descriptions of both versions, and I'm not coming up with a whole lot. Maybe this:

Alkada are bizarre creatures, apparently frail but with surprising psionic abilities. They exhibit almost childlike personalities as they wander the world, but .... ???

 

[Cleon]

Hopefully not mixed with wingless wonder. Yuck!

Well, I've read through the original descriptions of both versions, and I'm not coming up with a whole lot. Maybe this:

Alkada are bizarre creatures, apparently frail but with surprising psionic abilities. They exhibit almost childlike personalities as they wander the world, but .... ???

We've got quite a lot of flavour to pick from:

From the Secrets of the Magister (The one we based the "Walking Egg" on)

1. Curious. Attracted to flashy objects or anything red or purple, the more brilliant the better.
2. Excitable. Redden when angry or excited.
3. Prefer to dine on fruit, but tend to chew anything that grab, spitting out whatever they don't like. Will eat offal.
4. Swallow "sparkly" things, like gems.
5. Hermaphrodite, fertilize each other when they meet by entwining tentacles while chittering excitedly in chorus. Pea-sized egg grows to head-size over six months before being lain. Glow purple-white when pregnant.
6. never willingly fight other wonders and dislike violence.
7. Show "astonishing ability" to cover great distances to return to a "favourite spot".
8. Putrid-tasting flesh, "poisonous to all mammals" (but no rules).
9. Eggs can be removed from a dead wonder and will hatch if kept in warm nutrient soup.

From the Menzoberranzan version:

1. Redden when angry or excited
2. Tentacle ends rubbery & sticky and can "extrude a bony hook"
3. always curious, attracted to brilliant red or purple colors and flashy objects.
4. Prefer fruit and vegetables but will eat small animals.
5. Hermaphrodites. Entwine tentacles and chittering excitedly in chorus when they meet, which appears to be "mating contact". Develop eggs over 6-7 months. Glow purple-white glow pregnant. Egg hatches into well-developed wonder 1-4 rounds (minutes) after being laid.
6. Poisonous flesh (3d10 damage on failed save vs poison at -1, 1d4 and brief nausea on success).
7. Skin can be used as a temporary cloak vs non-magical fire.

That should be enough to work up some background.

 

[Cleon]

Did we ever discuss their immunity to fire and poison flesh?

We haven't included it in their stats.

 

[freyar]

This conversion will never end!

Both of them (the Menzo version in the text, the Magister version in the statblock) say they are immune to fire, so let's give that to both versions.

I would also support giving the same poison flesh to both. How about something like 1d4 Con plus X rounds nausea primary and 1d4 Con and X minutes sickened secondary damage?

 

[Cleon]

This conversion will never end!

You'll miss it when it's finished.

Both of them (the Menzo version in the text, the Magister version in the statblock) say they are immune to fire, so let's give that to both versions.

I'd be OK with that.

I would also support giving the same poison flesh to both. How about something like 1d4 Con plus X rounds nausea primary and 1d4 Con and X minutes sickened secondary damage?

Something like that would be fine.

 

[freyar]

How about this?

Poison (Ex): Eating alkada flesh exposes the eater to the following poison:

Alkada flesh: ingested, Fortitude DC X, initial damage 1d4 Con plus 2d10 rounds nauseated, secondary damage 1d4 Con plus 1d6 minutes sickened. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Feel free to play with the numbers.

 

[Cleon]

How about this?

Poison (Ex): Eating alkada flesh exposes the eater to the following poison:

Alkada flesh: ingested, Fortitude DC X, initial damage 1d4 Con plus 2d10 rounds nauseated, secondary damage 1d4 Con plus 1d6 minutes sickened. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Feel free to play with the numbers.

The nausea duration feels too long to me. Maybe 1d10 rounds instead?

I'd better Update the Walking Egg Working Draft and Wingless Wonder Working Draft with immunity to fire before I forget. Again.

 

[freyar]

1d10 rounds is ok, but then it wears off before the sickened condition kicks in from the secondary damage. That just feels weird to me.