Converting First Edition Monsters

[Casimir Liber]

Right - rejigged description a little and added here

 

[Cleon]

Right - rejigged description a little and added here

Let's see…

Armor Class still needs (natural armor).

It should still have d10 Hit Dice as it's Large, which'll make it Hit Points 37 (5d10 + 10).

If you want to keep the 32 hit points you'd need to reduce CON to 12 (+1) or 13 (+1) for hp 32 (5d10 + 5), but I think it works better with CON 14 (+2).

Vinegaroon Spray has "Disadvantage on all actions for 1d6 rounds unless doused in water" which to me indicates the target will be disadvantaged unless it's already soaked.

That's why I used "Disadvantage on all actions for 1d6 rounds or until target is doused in water" in my Giant Uropygid Working Draft.

I like the burrow speed's "only loose strata such as earth, sand or leaves" and will change it in the Enworld version.

If it were me, I'd tweak the Description as follows:

Also called whip scorpions, or vinegaroons, giant uropygids are large scorpion-like arachnids found in damp and dark places such as jungles, forests and the underdark. They avoid arid environments. Around 8 feet long, giant uropygids have tan to dark brown bodies with eight legs, the frontmost pair of which are used as feelers and the rear six used for locomotion. They are equipped with a pair of large spiny pedipalps, strong jaws and a thin whip-like tail. The uropygid shoots an acrid irritant liquid from a gland in its abdomen; this can be aimed at opponents in front of it.

Giant uropygids lair in burrows dug in earth or soft rock. Females seal themselves inside a hollow while nursing a clutch of 5d6+10 eggs, then carry their newborn hatchlings about on their backs.

 

[Casimir Liber]

Yes - my bad. All rejigs in and rejigged - new link is here

 

[Cleon]

Yes - my bad. All rejigs in and rejigged - new link is here

Still doesn't have "(natural armor)" in the AC.

In Speed, the burrow's "(only loose strata such as earth, sand or leaves)" in the previous version has gone AWOL for some reason.

Still not fond of it saying it shoots the vinegar from its tail rather than its abdomen. How about:

Vinegaroon Spray (Recharge 5–6). The uropygid shoots an irritant acidic liquid from glands near its tail; each creature in a 15-foot cone must make a DC 12 dexterity saving throw, failure results in Disadvantage on all actions for 1d6 rounds or until target is doused in water.

 

[Cleon]

I'll update the Giant Uropygid Working Draft with the Description from the current D&D Beyond Version.

Here's the previous version, for posterity's sake.

Description
Also called “whip scorpions,” or “vinegaroons,” giant uropygids are scorpion-like arachnids found in jungles, forests and the underdark. Around 8 feet long, a giant uropygid has a pair of spiked claws to grasp prey and four pairs of legs; the first pair of legs are elongated into two thin antennae-like feelers and they walk with the other six. Instead of a sting, its abdomen ends in a long whiplike appendage that functions as a third antennae. Their chitin-plated bodies are shades of tan, brown or black.

Nocturnal predators who mostly prey on creatures much smaller than themselves, uropygids prefer warm and damp places where they can burrow through loose leaves and soil. They dig out lairs in the earth or hide in naturally occurring humid cavities, such as the space under a fallen tree or slab of rock. Females seal themselves in such hollows when they lay their eggs then carry their young about on their backs. Newborn uropygids are eerily pale.

A giant uropygid is not as aggressive as a giant scorpion or giant solifugid, for it lacks their venom and strength. It can be surprisingly timid, avoiding creatures who rival its size and fleeing if injured.

These creatures are called vinegaroons from their ability to spray a noxious vinegar-scented liquid at their enemies. This ability is normally used defensively, an uropygid trying to defeat dangerous prey or flee a threat usually uses its spray.

(Uropygids first appeared as Giant Pedipalps (Uropygi) in Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits (1980) by Gary Gygax and David C. Sutherland III, the original author was Sutherland)

 

[Casimir Liber]

DnDbeyond is fiddly sometimes - some edits don't "stick" if you don't save in the right places. I'm also not good on detail sometimes, anyway, let's try again here

 

[Cleon]

DnDbeyond is fiddly sometimes - some edits don't "stick" if you don't save in the right places. I'm also not good on detail sometimes, anyway, let's try again here

For clarification, I'm fine with the simpler Description of this previous version, so copy-pasted it into the Giant Uropygid Working Draft:

Description​

Also called whip scorpions, or vinegaroons, giant uropygids are large scorpion-like arachnids found in damp and dark places such as jungles, forests and the underdark. They avoid arid environments. Around 8 feet long, giant uropygids have tan to dark brown bodies with eight legs, the frontmost pair of which are used as feelers and the rear six used for locomotion. They are equipped with a pair of large spiny pedipalps, strong jaws and a thin whip-like tail. The uropygid shoots an acrid irritant liquid from a gland in its abdomen; this can be aimed at opponents in front of it.​

​

Giant uropygids lair in burrows dug in earth or soft rock. Females seal themselves inside a hollow while nursing a clutch of 5d6+10 eggs, then carry their newborn hatchlings about on their backs.​

​

(Uropygids first appeared as Giant Pedipalps (Uropygi) in Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits (1980) by Gary Gygax and David C. Sutherland III, the original author was Sutherland)​

I reposted the longer version "for posterity's sake" to keep a copy on this thread, since the text got overwritten when I updated the Giant Uropygid Working Draft.

* * *​

The latest D&D Beyond version's Speed is still missing the "loose strata" parenthesised text that went AWOL from this version:

Speed 30 ft., burrow 20 ft. (only loose strata such as earth, sand or leaves)​

The rest of Stat Section in the current version looks fine.

 

[Casimir Liber]

aaaargh (runs screaming into the night) - okay (dammit how did the burrow statement disappear again???)

anyway, let's try again......Here

 

[Cleon]

aaaargh (runs screaming into the night) - okay (dammit how did the burrow statement disappear again???)

anyway, let's try again......Here

The Vinegaroon spray has gone from "The uropygid shoots an irritant acidic liquid from glands near its tail" to "The uropygid shoots an acrid irritant liquid from its abdomen."

Did you mean that to happen?

I thought you preferred the "tail" version, which works quite nicely.

The "abdomen" version is acceptable, so just use whichever you like more.

Once you let me know which that is, I'll put it in the Giant Uropygid Working Draft without the redness and we can declare this arachnid completed.

Unless something goes wonky again!

 

[Casimir Liber]

The Vinegaroon spray has gone from "The uropygid shoots an irritant acidic liquid from glands near its tail" to "The uropygid shoots an acrid irritant liquid from its abdomen."

Did you mean that to happen?

I switched it to align with yours...so let's stake it through the heart and declare it done