Converting Al-Qadim and Oriental Adventures creatures

[freyar]

I think it's "band" as in music, but choir is also a good name for their group noun.

I suspect so, too, but they don't play instruments!

 

[Shade]

To get these things going, let's figure out ability scores.

We know Int is 13-18.

Most nagas have Wis and Cha in the 15-17 range. These guys should definitely be high in Cha.

Most nagas have Str in the 14-16 range (with some much stronger), Dex in the 13-15 range, and Con in the 18-21 range (with some variation both higher and lower). Note that nearly all nagas are Large, and these guys could start at Medium, so we may need to err on the low end of Str and Con.

 

[demiurge1138]

Let's make them Medium, so pull the Str and Con down a bit, and the Dex up.

Str 13, Dex 16, Con 17, Int 16, Wis 15, Cha 20?

 

[Shade]

Added to Homebrews.

They are shapeshifting, bardic pranksters, delighting in spreading merriment, song, and mischief among the surface dwellers that travel near or across their domains.

Bluff and Perform (song) seem definite skills. Shapechanger subtype?

Their coloration makes them difficult to spot while swimming, but they can easily be spotted while resting on a river or lake bed.

Racial bonus on Hide checks while swimming?

Zin all have 60’ infravision.

Stick with darkvision 60 feet, or add low-light vision too?

They can polymorph into human or demihuman form at will and are most often encountered in this form.

Change Shape (Su): A zin can assume the form of any Small or Medium humanoid.

Zin equip themselves with the accoutrement typical of a traveling bard. They delight in using magical items.

Use Magic Device as another skill?

In their natural form, zin can physically attack with their bite. The victim suffers 1-6 points of damage and must save vs. poison or fall into a catatonic slumber for 24 hours.

Sleep or unconsciousness.

Bands of zin dwell together in air-filled caverns at the bottom of rivers and lakes.

This leads me to believe they are not Aquatic/amphibious.

When bored, a group of zin will approach a camp of travelers passing nearby and ask for protection for the night. During their visit, the zin will stretch the limits of the PCs. hospitality with bawdy jokes and a few pranks. If the hosts retain their composure, the zin will perform a small concert in their honor, casting all of the spells in their repertoire to achieve the most humorous and entertaining results (from the point of view of the zin, that is).

Perform (comedy) as well?

At the DM’s discretion, on their final nightly visit, the zin will curse their poor hosts with the evil eye (no saving throw).

Was this "evil eye" covered elsewhere?

 

[demiurge1138]

Dunno about evil eye. Agreed to shapechanger subtype, racial bonus to Hide when in water, UMD, Perform, Bluff as class skills. Dark naga venom causes sleep as well.

 

[GrayLinnorm]

Evil eye is described in Al-Qadim: Arabian Adventures. Basically, it inflicts a -2 penalty on saving throws, proficiency (skill) checks, and ability checks, and someone with evil eye can never get an encounter reaction better than indifferent ("Strangers can sense that something is wrong with the "sufferers", but rather than sympathy, they feel distrust"). Evil eye can only be cured by remove curse or quest. There is also a spell in Al-Qadim, avert evil eye, that can give protection, but not remove existing cases.

 

[freyar]

Bluff and Perform (song) seem definite skills. Shapechanger subtype?

Racial bonus on Hide checks while swimming?
...
Use Magic Device as another skill?
...
Perform (comedy) as well?

Also agreed to all that.

Stick with darkvision 60 feet, or add low-light vision too?

Since none of the SRD nagas have low-light vision, I'm inclined just to stick with darkvision 60. Anyone know a naga with low-light?

Change Shape (Su): A zin can assume the form of any Small or Medium humanoid.

Seems right.

Sleep or unconsciousness.

Primary damage 1d6 hp, secondary damage sleep 1 minute? Dark nagas are tougher and only do 2d4 minutes sleep.

This leads me to believe they are not Aquatic/amphibious.

I agree, but we should think about water breathing.

Was this "evil eye" covered elsewhere?

Based on what GrayLinnorm said, let's try this:
Evil Eye (Su): As a full-round action, a zin may lay a curse on a single individual within 30 ft. If the target fails a DC X Will save, it takes a permanent -2 penalty to all saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks. Diplomacy checks take a -5 penalty. The evil eye curse may only be cured by a remove curse spell or similar magic.

 

[Shade]

Let's swap 1d6 hp for 1 Con (as most nagas do ability score damage).

No other nagas have low-light vision, so we can drop it.

Updated.

Shall we revisit the "repertoire" now?

 

[talinthalas]

Sounds good. I just noticed that on the Greater Segarran Prestige Class we forgot the Class Skills.

 

[freyar]

Wow, talinthalas, good catch! Suggestions?

Although each individual zin possesses a bardic voice, when they play and sing together as a band, their music takes on a supernatural quality that it did not possess before. In order for this eldritch music to be effective, the zin must be within 10 feet of one another. Spells .cast. by a band are extremely difficult to resist (-1 on saves per zin present) and depend upon the number of zin in the band (per the following table).

Duo: hold person or suggestion
Trio: charm monster or emotion
Quartet: Leomund's lamentable belaborment or chaos
Quintet: mass suggestion or charm plants
Sextet: demand or Otto.s irresistible dance

The spell “repertoire” is cumulative (i.e., a quartet knows the spells of a trio and duo). A zin band can collectively cast any spell from their repertoire, once per round, at a level equal to three times the number of zin present.

So, chaos to confusion, charm plants to charm monster, and a new spell (maybe based on Harangue above) for lamentable belaborment?