Converting Al-Qadim and Oriental Adventures creatures

[demiurge1138]

I like the advancement suggestion, and I think CR 12 is appropriate.

 

[Shade]

Updated.

Ready for this guy?

The White Mirage
There are legends of the greatest camel of the pearl, a beast created to serve the gods as their steed, carved from the heart of the pearl that gave birth to all such camels. This animal is said to be near immortal, still roaming the world thousands of years after its birth, providing for the needy and calling down curses on those who harm it or those who oppose the will of the Loregiver. The White Mirage is most commonly encountered in the deep desert by stranded or dying travelers, most of whom claim that it led them to an oasis and healed them before leaving them on a caravan route to be picked up by passing merchants. It has all the abilities of the lesser camels of the pearl as well as the spell abilities of a 20th-level priest. It appears only to travelers who are both good and industrious; pious sluggards do not gain its sympathy, nor do hard-working cheats. Those who are both lazy and malicious will only regret meeting the White Mirage; it may curse them with poverty, barrenness, the attentions of genies, the evil eye, or rapid aging and decline. The curses visited on such misguided souls generally mirror the sufferings they have visited on others. In rare cases, they are given warnings of what will come if they don.t change their ways.

 

[Cleon]

Cr 12?

That seems about right.

I'm not sure I like the HD advancement. Only 43-45 HD in Colossal seems off. Maybe 33-45HD?

 

[freyar]

The extended HD range for Colossal sounds good.

So, advance them all the way up for the White Mirage?

 

[Cleon]

So, advance them all the way up for the White Mirage?

That seems right. We only need to upsize the stats and add some spells and feats. I'm thinking it'll probably get the epic feat Improved Spell Capacity at least once so it can have 10th+ level spells, but might not get Epic Spellcasting.

Let's do the HD/size stat increases first. Colossal gives it +8 Str, +4 Con, +5 NA. 30 HD of advancement gives it 7 ability increases. I'm thinking 5 in Wisdom, 1 in Charisma and 1 in Dexterity [EDIT: Int not Dex]. That would give it:

Str 42, Dex 16, Con 30, Int 14, Wis 26, Cha 18

Does that look OK to you lot?

 

[freyar]

Actually, it gets 8 ability increases, since it started at 15HD (I think, this kind of confusion came up in another monster recently). I'd put that last one into Cha, I guess.

 

[Cleon]

Actually, it gets 8 ability increases, since it started at 15HD (I think, this kind of confusion came up in another monster recently). I'd put that last one into Cha, I guess.

That makes sense. I'd probably use the extra point to give it Int 15 myself instead of Cha 19, but it makes no difference performance wise.

Gah! I just realised I'd had a typo in my last post. I put one of the Ability advancements in Intelligence, not Dexterity. (I'd toyed with the idea of putting 2 points in Dex but changed my mind).

Anyhow, I'm fine with Str 42, Dex 16, Con 30, Int 14, Wis 26, Cha 19.

Shall we talk about feats then? It gets an extra 10, nine of which can be Epic Feats, so we've got a lot of choice.

As I said earlier, a few Improved Spell Capacity feats seems an obvious pick. I still like Spell Penetration for its non-epic feat.

 

[freyar]

Spell Penetration is probably ok, since the big guy might take on more special problems (like a phoenix). But, actually, before we get to the feats, let's look at the spell list, as that might suggest some feats.

 

[demiurge1138]

Agreed that we should go for spells before feats.

 

[Shade]

Added to Homebrews.

Spells: The White Mirage casts divine spells as a 20th-level cleric, and also has access to the Healing and Sun domains. The save DCs are Wisdom-based.

Typical Cleric Spells Prepared (6/7+1/7+1/7+1/7+1/6+1/5+1/5+1/5+1/4+1; save DC 15 + spell level): 0—create water, detect magic, detect poison, guidance, resistance, virtue;
1st—endure elements*, bless, divine favor, protection from evil, remove fear, sanctuary, shield of faith, 1 more;
2nd—consecrate, cure moderate wounds*, aid, calm emotions, shield other, zone of truth, 2 more;
3rd—bestow curse, daylight, searing light*, helping hand, prayer, 2 more;
4th—air walk, cure critical wounds*, death ward, neutralize poison, spell immunity, 3 more;
5th—break enchantment, dispel evil, flame strike*, symbol of sleep, 3 more;
6th—5+1;
7th—5+1;
8th—5+1;
9th—4+1;
*Domain spell. Domains: Healing, Sun.