A Few Good Fiends (MMII conversions, updated 9/16: added chain golem!)

[demiurge1138]

I don't really like the jahi. They're just not that exciting, I think. But for the purposes of completion, I coverted them to 3.5, streamlined their abilities a bit, etc. And I am fond of the flavor text I wrote for them. Hopefully there are people out there who like them better than I do.

Jahi
Tiny Undead (Incorporeal)
Hit Dice: 14d12 plus 140 (231 hp)
Initiative: +10
Speed: Fly 60ft (perfect)
Armor Class: 28 (+2 size, +6 Dex, +10 deflection), touch 28, flat-footed 22
Base Attack/Grapple: +7/-
Attack: Incorporeal touch +15 melee (1d4 plus 1d6 Charisma damage)
Full Attack: Incorporeal touch +15 melee (1d4 plus 1d6 Charisma damage)
Space/Reach: 2½ ft/2½ ft
Special Attacks: Charisma damage, dominate person
Special Qualities: Incorporeal, invest Charisma, SR 26, turn resistance +4, undead, unholy toughness
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +12, Will +14
Abilities: Str -, Dex 23, Con -, Int 18, Wis 20, Cha 30
Skills: Bluff +27, Diplomacy +31, Hide +31, Intimidate +29, Listen +22, Search +21, Sense Motive +22, Spot +22
Feats: Combat Expertise, Flyby Attack, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Quicken Spell-like Ability (dominate person)
Environment: Any land and underground
Organization: Solitary or cult (1 plus 4-20 followers [any appropriate humanoids])
Challenge Rating: 16
Treasure: Double standard
Alignment: Usually lawful evil
Advancement: 15-28 HD (Tiny), 29-42 HD (Small)
Level Adjustment: -

A sinuous ghostly serpent appears, its three heads elongated parodies of a human face.

The undead being known as the jahi is a mystery to sages; none can truly say how it originated. Some believe they are the spirits of those whose desires for attention and love went unfulfilled; some believe the jahi to be the souls of wicked priests, and a few hold the jahi as the corrupted souls of gravecrawlers who failed to protect their wards.

No matter the origin of the jahi, they are ultimately intensely selfish and cruel creatures. They desire the worship of the living above all things, and organize cults devoted to their veneration. Wrapped around the neck of a favored cultist, they pull strings, manipulate entire cities and, if all goes as planned, corrupt countless mortals into their service. All jahi are megalomaniacs, and most hold plans to conquer entire continents, planets or planes. Of course, this makes every jahi the enemy of all other jahi, and they often dedicate cults to destroying their own kind.

A jahi is about two feet long, and speaks Common, Infernal, and at least two other languages appropriate for its area of operations.

Combat
Jahi do not like fighting; they’d rather eliminate any hope of resistance by dominating their opponents directly. If forced to fight, they bite with their incorporeal mouths, hoping to quickly reduce any enemy into a gibbering husk. A jahi feels no real attachment to their followers, and will gladly abandon them to a gruesome demise in order to escape a real threat.

Charisma Damage (Su): Any living creature hit by the incorporeal touch of a jahi must make a Fortitude save (DC 27) or take 1d6 points of Charisma damage. The save DC is Charisma based. On each such successful attack, the jahi gains 5 temporary hit points.

Dominate Person (Sp): A jahi can use dominate person, as the spell (DC 24, caster level 20th), four times per day. The save DC is Charisma based.

Invest Charisma (Su): Jahi feed on the Charisma of their own followers, and so can use their Charisma in place of a chosen follower’s. When in direct contact with a follower, the jahi can allow the follower to use the jahi’s Charisma score in place of their own for all Charisma-based skill checks and save DCs. If the contact is broken, the Charisma so invested is lost.

Unholy Toughness (Ex): A jahi receives bonus hit points equal to its Charisma bonus x its Hit Dice.

Demiurge out.

 

[Pants]

Yeah, I never cared for the Jahi either, though that had more to do with its MMII flavor-text. It just didn't make any real sense. Thankfully, your new flavor-text is much better. The new Burning Effigy is great too, I love it.

Suggestions on the Gravecrawler: I'd think it might make more sense if the Gravecrawler could turn its Calcifying Aura off if it wanted to, but that's just me.

I'd also probably exchange a Will save for the Fort save for the Undead in its Calcifying Aura and its Draining Bite, since it doesn't technically affect objects.

 

[demiurge1138]

I like your suggestion for the Will save for undead, and changed that. Personally, I like the idea of the gravecrawler being dangerous to even those it aids, but it does make sense for it to be able to turn off the aura if it so chose, so I added that to the calcifying aura text.

Thanks for the praise, although I don't think that my flavor text is all too different from the MMII's for the jahi... just more focused on what they were aiming at.

Demiurge out.

 

[demiurge1138]

This is the last of my undead conversions. It's also my longest, thanks to the whirlwind ability. I went back to the source for this conversion, and pulled out some details I liked from the old Planescape MC's sword spirit, of which the 3e ragewind is a conversion of. Enjoy!

Ragewind
Large Undead (Extraplanar)
Hit Dice: 22d12 plus 132 (275 hp)
Initiative: +9
Speed: Fly 120ft (perfect)
Armor Class: 31 (-1 size, +8 Dex, +8 natural, +6 deflection), touch 23, flat-footed 23
Base Attack/Grapple: +11/+31
Attack: +3 longsword +29 melee (1d8+13, 19-20x2)
Full Attack: 6+3 longswords +29/+24/+19 melee (1d8+13, 19-20x2)
Space/Reach: 10ft/10ft
Special Attacks: Bladestorm, create spawn, feed, whirlwind
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60ft, deflect arrows, DR 15/good and silver, invisibility, see invisibility, SR 30, superior multiweapon fighting, undead, unholy grace, unholy power, unholy toughness, weapon proficiency
Saves: Fort +15, Ref +21, Will +23
Abilities: Str 30, Dex 26, Con -, Int 13, Wis 17, Cha 23
Skills: Balance +10, Jump +18, Listen +28, Move Silently +33, Search +26, Spot +28, Tumble +33
Feats: Blind-fight, Cleave, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Great Fortitude, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Power Attack
Environment: Infernal Battlefields of Acheron
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 19
Treasure: None, plus 6 +3 longswords
Alignment: Always lawful evil
Advancement: 23-44 HD (Large), 45-66 HD (Huge)
Level Adjustment: -

You see an immense whirlwind of dust, rust, and flakes of metal. Suspended within it are six sharp longswords, which gleam as if in eagerness as the whirlwind bears down upon you.

The undead known as ragewinds are formed from the souls of brave soldiers who died in pointless battles, cursing the cause they died for. These spirits gravitate towards the battle plane of Acheron, and aggregate together to form a ferocious undead spirit. Normally invisible, if their domains are disturbed they coalesce into a fierce whirlwind of blades. The true form of a ragewind is concealed by its invisibility and its whirlwind; if a cutter uses see invisibility or true seeing on the ragewind, they will see a hideous, vaguely humanoid form, dozens of faces and arms protruding at all angles, thrashing horribly.

Ragewinds hate all living things, tearing apart their bodies, feeding on their souls and raising them as morghs to guard their territory and spread carnage. If they get the chance, they will gladly escape to the Material Plane to spread their anger.

Ragewinds can speak Common and Infernal with many shrieking voices, but rarely choose to communicate.

Combat
A ragewind prefers to open combat with a bladestorm, then concentrates its attacks on one opponent. It loves to disarm foes and turn their weapons against them. If it slays an opponent, it will stop to feed. If badly outclassed, they turn invisible and attempt to flee.

The ragewind above uses six +3 longswords in combat; the DM can arm a ragewind with whatever weapons he deems appropriate. A ragewind’s natural attacks, and any weapons wielded by the ragewind, are considered to be evil aligned for the purposes of damage reduction.

Bladestorm (Su): Three times per day, a ragewind can expand to fill a 20ft radius spread as a standard action, filling the entire space with its whirling form and whirling weapons. All creatures within the area must make a Reflex save (DC 31 half) or take 20d6 points of slashing, piercing and bludgeoning damage. Immediately after this attack, the ragewind reverts to its normal shape. Once a ragewind has used its bladestorm attack, it must wait 1d4 rounds before using it again. A ragewind cannot use a bladestorm attack while in whirlwind form. The save DC is Strength based.

Create Spawn (Su): Any creature fed upon by a ragewind rises 1 day later as a lawful evil morgh. Although it is not under the ragewind’s control, the morgh respects the ragewind and treats it like an ally.

Feed (Su): When a ragewind slays an opponent, it can feed on the soul as a standard action. Feeding destroys the victim’s soul and prevents any form of raising or resurrection that requires part of the corpse. There is a 50% chance that a wish, miracle, or true resurrection spell can restore a devoured victim to life. Check once for each destroyed creature. If the check fails, the creature cannot be brought back to life by mortal magic.

A ragewind that feeds on a soul gains a +2 bonus to Str and 10 temporary hit points. These last for 1 hour, and the benefit from multiple feedings stacks.

Whirlwind (Su): A ragewind can transform itself into a whirlwind once every 10 minutes and remain in that form for up to 10 rounds. In this form, the ragewind can move through the air or along a surface at its fly speed.

The whirlwind is 5 feet wide at the base, up to 30 feet wide at the top, and up to 40 feet tall. The ragewind controls the exact height, but it must be at least 10 feet.

The ragewind’s movement while in whirlwind form does not provoke attacks of opportunity, even if it enters the space another creature occupies. Another creature might be caught in the whirlwind if it touches or enters the whirlwind, or if the ragewind moves into or through the creature’s space.

An affected creature must succeed on a Reflex save (DC 31) when it comes into contact with the whirlwind or take 4d6 points of damage. It must also succeed on a second Reflex save (DC 31) or be picked up bodily and held suspended in the powerful winds, automatically taking the indicated damage each round. A creature that can fly is allowed a Reflex save each round to escape the whirlwind. The creature still takes damage but can leave if the save is successful. The save DC is Strength based. Creatures trapped in the whirlwind cannot move except to go where the ragewind carries them or to escape the whirlwind.

Creatures caught in the whirlwind can otherwise act normally, but must succeed on a Concentration check (DC 15 + spell level) to cast a spell. Creatures caught in the whirlwind take a –4 penalty to Dexterity and a –2 penalty on attack rolls. The ragewind can have only as many creatures trapped inside the whirlwind at one time as will fit inside the whirlwind’s volume.

The ragewind can eject any carried creatures whenever it wishes, depositing them wherever the whirlwind happens to be.

If the whirlwind’s base touches the ground, it creates a swirling cloud of debris. This cloud is centered on the elemental and has a diameter equal to half the whirlwind’s height. The cloud obscures all vision, including darkvision, beyond 5 feet. Creatures 5 feet away have concealment, while those farther away have total concealment. Those caught in the cloud must succeed on a Concentration check (DC 15 + spell level) to cast a spell.

A ragewind in whirlwind form cannot make weapon attacks and does not threaten the area around it.

Deflect Arrows (Ex): Three times per round, a ragewind may deflect an attack from a ranged weapon made against it as an immediate action, negating the attack.

Invisibility (Su): At will, a ragewind may repress its whirlwind as a move action and become invisible, as per the spell (caster level 20th). It may remain invisible indefinitely.

See Invisibility (Su): A ragewind can always see invisible creatures as if it were under the effects of a see invisibility spell (caster level 20th).

Superior Multiweapon Fighting (Ex): A ragewind fights with six weapons at a time. The ragewind does not take a penalty on attack or damage rolls for attacking with multiple weapons.

Unholy Grace (Su): A ragewind receives a bonus to all saving throws and a deflection bonus to Armor Class equal to its Charisma modifier (already factored into the statistics shown above).

Unholy Power (Su): A ragewind gains a profane bonus to attack rolls, grapple checks and Strength-based skill checks equal to its Charisma bonus. This bonus is already factored in above.

Unholy Toughness (Ex): A ragewind gains bonus hit points equal to its Hit Dice x its Charisma modifier.

Demiurge out.

 

[Cheiromancer]

Gravecrawlers must screw up the local ecology, don't they? Mice, birds, earthworms... all non-plant creatures get turned to stone. I guess undead are all about disrupting natural ecologies, but from the flavor text I would have figured gravecrawlers as more benign to their environment.

Easy enough to tinker with, I suppose. Maybe tiny and smaller creatures are unaffected, and maybe the rock softens into clay over time. I'll keep them in mind if I ever need a non-evil graveyard guardian.

 

[demiurge1138]

Gravecrawlers must screw up the local ecology, don't they? Mice, birds, earthworms... all non-plant creatures get turned to stone. I guess undead are all about disrupting natural ecologies, but from the flavor text I would have figured gravecrawlers as more benign to their environment.

Easy enough to tinker with, I suppose. Maybe tiny and smaller creatures are unaffected, and maybe the rock softens into clay over time. I'll keep them in mind if I ever need a non-evil graveyard guardian.

That's actually what I like about them; the idea that they're so dangerous because they keep their territory perfectly perserved. I was a bit reluctant to even let them turn off their aura because the image appealed to me so much.

Demiurge out.

 

[demiurge1138]

Way back in the days of the 2e Monstrous Manual, the feyrs rocked. They kind of freaked me out when I was 9, and the corpulent, gnashing illustration captured my imagination. Too bad the 3e version's not very good. So I decided to fix that.

Feyr
Small Aberration
Hit Dice: 4d8+12 (30 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 30ft (6 squares)
Armor Class: 19 (+1 size, +3 Dex, +5 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+0
Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d4+1)
Full Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d4+1)
Space/Reach: 5ft/5ft
Special Attacks: Fear
Special Qualities: Amorphous, darkvision 60ft, immune to fear, low-light vision, SR 14, vulnerability to sunlight
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +5
Abilities: Str 12, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 5, Wis 13, Cha 16
Skills: Hide +11, Move Silently +8, Spot +7
Feats: Ability Focus (fear), Stealthy
Environment: Any land and underground (usually urban)
Organization: Solitary, pair or brood (3-4)
Challenge Rating: 4
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Advancement: 5-8 HD (Small), 9-15 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: -

A bizarre lump of flesh surges forth, a sickly oil-slick of color no larger than a small dog. Its many golden eyes glare balefully at you, several fanged jaws studding its belly gnashing. Its body is covered in tentacles, two large ones serving as propulsion and many others flailing wildly as it attacks.

Created by the congealed fear of humans, the creatures known as feyrs (pronounced “fears”) usually lurk in cities under siege, the prowling grounds of serial killers, and other communities under high tension. Not surprisingly, feyrs feed on fear, and when the atmospheric amounts of fear are insufficient, the feyr will stage bloody attacks to create panic.

Stupid creatures, feyrs understand little beyond random violence and how to affect crude ambushes. They do not even seem to understand their own weakness to sunlight, curiously regarding the new phenomenon until annihilated. As such, few feyrs survive their first few nights of existence, but if enough feyrs survive and thrive in a community, they may be driven by base urges to fuse with each other, forming the more powerful (and wily) great feyr.

A feyr is about 2 feet in diameter, with its longest tentacles reaching a length of about 4 feet. It weighs about 30 pounds. They do not speak.

Combat
A feyr always tries to attack from ambush, causing fear in as many opponents as possible. Once they have caused a satisfactory amount of panic, they retreat if possible, hiding again and finding a new target for random violence.

Fear (Ex): All creatures within 60ft of an attacking feyr must make a Will save (DC 17) or be panicked for one minute. Creatures that save successfully are instead shaken for one round, and are immune to the fear effect of that feyr for 24 hours. This is a mind-affecting fear effect, and the save DC is Charisma based.

Amorphous (Ex): A feyr’s body does not have organs and vitals like most organisms, granting it a 50% chance to negate critical hits and sneak attacks.

Vulnerability to Sunlight (Ex): A feyr exposed to sunlight instantly dies, bubbling away into a puddle of oily liquid and a thick acrid smoke. Magical sunlight (such as that created by a daylight spell) kills the feyr if it penetrates the creature’s spell resistance.

Skills: The many eyes of a feyr grant it a +4 racial bonus to Spot checks

Demiurge out.

 

[demiurge1138]

And the great feyr, the bigger, meaner cousin to the feyr. Based on its size (7 foot diameter is really pushing Medium), I made them Large.

Great Feyr
Large Aberration
Hit Dice: 16d8+96 (168 hp)
Initiative: +6
Speed: 30ft (6 squares), fly 50ft (good)
Armor Class: 25 (-1 size, +2 Dex, +14 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 23
Base Attack/Grapple: +12/+23
Attack: Bite +18 melee (2d6+7)
Full Attack: 4 bites +18 melee (2d6+7) and 4 tentacles +16 melee (1d8+3)
Space/Reach: 10ft/10ft
Special Attacks: Emotion control, fear
Special Qualities: Amorphous, darkvision 60ft, DR 10/magic, flight, immune to fear, invisibility, low-light vision, SR 24
Saves: Fort +11, Ref +9, Will +13
Abilities: Str 24, Dex 14, Con 22, Int 15, Wis 17, Cha 20
Skills: Hide +19, Move Silently +23, Open Lock +19 (+21 with tools), Spot +26
Feats: Ability Focus (emotion control), Ability Focus (fear), Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Multiattack, Stealthy
Environment: Any land and underground (usually urban)
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 15
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Advancement: 17-32 HD (Large), 33-48 HD (Huge)
Level Adjustment: -

A massive lump of flesh flashes into view, its skin glistening with a rainbow of diseased colors. It glares hatefully at you with many golden eyes, gnashing four huge jaws filled with hundreds of serrated teeth. It floats off the ground, its many tentacles flailing as if propelling it forward.

Formed from the fusion of several normal feyrs, great feyrs are far more deadly and cunning than their lesser kin. Unharmed by sunlight, invisible and more intelligent than the average human, they can easily turn entire cities into their feeding grounds. Although they feed primarily on fear, they also gain sustenance from other negative emotions, and delight in inflicting random people with crippling emotions.

A great feyr is about seven feet in diameter and weighs 500 pounds. Unlike their lesser kin, they can speak Common, whispering threats in the ears of a victim before they attack.

Combat
Great feyrs enjoy combat more than ordinary feyrs do, preferring to tear apart foes than running and hiding. They always attack from invisibility, inflicting their target with emotion control before striking, and sometimes retreat to give foes a false sense of security before attacking again. If possible, they corner foes, cutting off any hope of escape.

Emotion Control (Su): A great feyr can generate intense negative emotions at will at a range of 260ft, in all creatures in a 20ft radius. Targeted creatures can make a Will save (DC 25) to resist the effect. All effects last for 1 minute. A creature that succesfully saves against a great feyr's emotion control is immune to that feyr's emotion control ability for 24 hours. This is a mind-affecting effect, and the save DC is Charisma based. The great feyr can choose between the following options.

Despair: Affected creatures take a -2 penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, ability checks, skill checks, and weapon damage rolls for the duration of the effect.

Hatred: Affected creatures must attack the nearest creature for the duration of the effect. For the purposes of this effect, familiars, but not animal companions, are treated as “self”.

Sorrow: Affected creatures can take no actions except for move actions, as if nauseated, for the duration of the effect.

Fear (Ex): All creatures within 60ft of an attacking great feyr must make a Will save (DC 25) or be panicked for one minute. Creatures that save successfully are instead shaken for one round, and are immune to the fear effect of that feyr for 24 hours. This is a mind-affecting fear effect, and the save DC is Charisma based.

Amorphous (Ex): A great feyr’s body does not have organs and vitals like most organisms, granting it a 50% chance to negate critical hits and sneak attacks.

Flight (Ex): A great feyr’s body is naturally buoyant, allowing it to fly at a speed of 50ft. This buoyancy also grants it a permanent feather fall effect (as the spell) with persona range.

Invisibility (Su): A great feyr can become invisible at will, as if under the effects of an invisibility spell (caster level 16th). It can use its emotion control ability when invisible.

Skills: The many eyes of a great feyr grant it a +4 racial bonus to Spot checks

Demiurge out.

 

[BOZ]

Way back in the days of the 2e Monstrous Manual, the feyrs rocked. They kind of freaked me out when I was 9

*feels old*

heh. when that book came out in 1993 i was almost 20...

 

[demiurge1138]

*feels old*

heh. when that book came out in 1993 i was almost 20...

*feels too young*

Actually, when the book came out, I was only 6. I just didn't get a copy until I was 9. And I didn't think of it as a game-book. I read that thing like it had a story.

Demiurge out.