Converting Creatures from Other Campaign Settings

[Cleon]

has anyone considered doing the viper tree if it hasn't been done already?

Viper Trees have official 3E stats in the Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss and Expedition to the Demonweb Pits.

The Codex contains a CR3 Viper Tree hazard, while Demonweb Pits has a CR9 Elder Viper Tree plus a "larval viper tree" that is a CR3 hazard matching the Codex version.

 

[freyar]

Hng…

I'm now thinking it'd be better to just stick to the DR X/— they have currently or go back to hardness X.

Giving it a special material vulnerability sounds too much like it's particularly vulnerable to those metals, like a werewolf can only be harmed by silver, which is not the impression I was aiming for.

Let's definitely stay away from hardness!! Critters have DR, objects have hardness. But I'm happy to go with DR X/-.

What do we need to do before de-redding?

 

[Cleon]

Let's definitely stay away from hardness!! Critters have DR, objects have hardness. But I'm happy to go with DR X/-.

Let's just agree on DR X and move on then. It certainly beats having that argument again!

What do we need to do before de-redding?

We need to whip up some new background and Construction text for them.

Assuming we use the same outline as the Wooden version the background text is pretty straightforward, so all we need are the new prices.

Oh, and the caster level. I was thinking of making it +2 CL per +1 CR, which'd be CL 11th/13th, but upon reflection maybe make it a bit lower? A Flesh Golem has the same CR 7 but is only CL 8th.

I guess CL 13th for the enhanced version is still lower than the CL 14th of a standard stone golem, so I guess I'm OK with it.

I'd be game for tweaking it down to CL 10th, CL 12th for the Enhanced though. That'd still leave 2 CL steps for the other models to have different CLs but the same CR. (i.e. CL 8/10 for Winged, 9/11 for Wicker).

Let's see…

Stone juggernauts are simple constructs that are sometimes used to create guardian juggernauts (see the guardian juggernaut template). While weaker than a true golem they are the most powerful of the standard juggernauts, although they are clumsy and slow-moving compared to the other base models of guardian juggernaut.

A typical stone juggernaut stands 30 feet tall and weighs about 50 tons.

COMBAT
These mindless constructs are incapable of developing tactics of their own, but fight according to whatever instructions their masters give them.

CONSTRUCTION
A stone juggernaut is sculpted from blocks of stone with a total weight of at least 75 tons. The materials cost 1,000 gp.

Carving and assembling the body requires a DC 14 Craft (sculpting) or DC 14 Craft (stonemasonry) check.

CL 11th; Craft Construct, animate objects, mass bull's strength, spiritual weapon, stone shape caster must be at least 11th level; Price 20,000 gp; Cost 10,50 gp + 300 XP.

Enhanced Wooden Juggernauts
Some wooden juggernauts are built with more powerful combat abilities and the capacity to wield spiritual equipment like guardian juggernauts.

Apply the following changes to the basic wooden juggernaut.

Special Attacks: Stomp, sweep
Special Qualities: Spiritual equipment
Advancement: Huge (8-12 HD), Gargantuan (13-18 HD) or Colossal (19-24 HD)
Challenge Rating: 8

Enhanced stone juggernauts can be built with more HD and larger sizes than standard stone juggernauts. See the Construction section for details.

COMBAT
An enhanced juggernaut normally has weapons and armor in its spiritual equipment slots and uses these and its special attacks in combat, fighting in whatever manner it is ordered to.

Spiritual Equipment (Su): See the Guardian Juggernaut template's Special Qualities for a description of this ability.

Stomp (Ex): An enhanced guardian juggernaut can stomp an opponent two or more size categories smaller than itself. This is a special full-round action during which the juggernaut moves up to twice its ground speed and attempts to move into its opponent's space. If the victim fails a DC 25 Reflex save, the opponent takes 4d8+18 bludgeoning damage, following which the juggernaut may either pin or kick the opponent. If the victim succeeds at the Reflex save, the victim takes half damage, the juggernaut's movement ends next to the opponent's space, and the opponent may make an attack of opportunity against the juggernaut. The save DC is Strength-based.

If the juggernaut pins its opponent, the victim automatically takes stomp damage during the next round unless the juggernaut moves off them. If the juggernaut chooses to maintain the pin, treat it as a normal grapple attack. Pinned opponents continue to take stomp damage each round if they don’t escape.

If the juggernaut kicks the opponent, the victim travels 1d6 × 10 feet, and takes 1d6 points of damage per 10 feet traveled plus stomp damage from the kick.

Sweep (Ex): This special attack allows an enhanced guardian juggernaut to sweep its arms* from side to side as a standard action. The sweep affects a half-circle with a radius of the juggernaut's reach, extending from an intersection on the edge of the juggernaut's space in any direction. Creatures within the swept area are affected if they are two or more size categories smaller than the juggernaut. A sweep automatically deals twice the juggernaut's base slam damage (or claw damage, if the juggernaut has no slam attacks) plus 1-1/2 times the juggernaut’s Strength bonus (round down). Affected creatures can attempt Reflex saves to take half damage (the save DC is Strength-based).

*An enhanced guardian juggernaut with a non-standard anatomy can use other limbs, such as wings or a tail, to make a sweep attack.

CONSTRUCTION
An enhanced stone guardian juggernaut is crafted from 75 tons of stone. The materials must be of exceptional quality and cost 2,500 gp. An enhanced stone juggernaut with more than 7 Hit Dice can be created, but each additional Hit Die adds ??? gp to the market price. If this increases the size of the creature the price increases by ??? gp for a Gargantuan juggernaut and by an additional ??? gp for a Colossal one. The higher price includes the cost of the extra materials required to build a larger juggernaut, the total material cost is ???? gp for a Gargantuan stone juggernaut and ???? gp for a Colossal one.

Carving and assembling the body requires a DC 16 Craft (carpentry) or DC 16 Craft (woodcarving) check.

CL 13th; Craft Construct, animate objects, mass bull's strength, righteous might, stone shape, spiritual weapon, caster must be at least 13th level; Price 35,000 gp; Cost 18,750 gp + 1,320 XP.

Gargantuan 13 HD Juggernaut: Price ??,000 gp; Cost ??,000 gp + ???? XP.
Colossal 24 HD Juggernaut: Price ??,000 gp; Cost ??,000 gp + ???? XP.

 

[freyar]

This all looks great, except there are a couple of places you need to change "wooden" to "stone" at the start of the enhanced juggernaut section.

CL and cost for the regular version seem fine, and so do the base enhanced version values. As for the question marks, we have about a 2x or 2.5x multiplier for the stone guardian vs the wooden one, so what about an additional 1500 gp per HD, 7500 gp to go to Gargantuan, and 10,000 gp to go to Colossal?

 

[Cleon]

This all looks great, except there are a couple of places you need to change "wooden" to "stone" at the start of the enhanced juggernaut section.

Yes, I didn't bother checking it thoroughly for stray Woodens since it'd need an update once we agree the GP cost of the HD increases.

CL and cost for the regular version seem fine, and so do the base enhanced version values. As for the question marks, we have about a 2x or 2.5x multiplier for the stone guardian vs the wooden one, so what about an additional 1500 gp per HD, 7500 gp to go to Gargantuan, and 10,000 gp to go to Colossal?

Hmm, that'd make it 50,000 gp for a 13 HD Gargantuan and 78,000 gp for a 24 HD Colossal.

Gargantuan 13 HD Juggernaut = 35,000 +7,500 gp for 6 HD×1,500 and + 7,500 hp for being Gargantuan
Colossal 24 HD Juggernaut =35,000 +25,500 for 17 HD×1,500 and + 17,500 hp for being Gargantuan

Hmm… maybe make the Colossal size jump cost 12,000 gp to round the maximum price to a nice neat 80,000 gp?

Oh, and we'll need the extra material cost too - how about 4,000 for Gargantuan and 8,000 for Colossal?

 

[freyar]

That'll all work for me. Does that finish these up?

 

[Cleon]

That'll all work for me. Does that finish these up?

Hold on a mo.

Updating Stone Juggernaut Working Draft.

I realized I got my sums wrong with the construction. The Gargantuan one was 1,500 gp short so I reduced the size cost to 6,000 gp to make it the target 50,000 gp.

However that made the Colossal one 1,500 gp short too, so I added a HD to max the maximum HD of 25.

I could have kept the original 1,500 per HD / 7,500 gp Gargantuan / 12,000 gp Colossal construction costs but it'd have meant reducing the start of Gargantuan size to 12 HD and I didn't like having only a 1-HD increase from the 11 HD Gargantuan Wooden Juggernaut.

 

[Cleon]

That'll all work for me. Does that finish these up?

If it's OK with the tweak to the construction cost and max HD we can continue to the next entry, which I believe is the Wicker Juggernaut.

 

[freyar]

Yes, that's ok. Let's continue!

 

[Cleon]

Yes, that's ok. Let's continue!

Well I'm finally able to spare some time for monster converting.

For the Wicker Juggernaut I think I'll copy-and-paste the Wooden Juggernaut as a template since it's closer than the Stone Juggernaut we've just finished.

This is by far the most complicated of the base juggernauts, points to bear in mind are:

a) Animating it requires a willing human sacrifice who was bound inside the wicker juggernaut and "to provide a life force for the channeling of magic". The victim is magically protected, with AC 2, needing a +1 or better weapon to damage, and even if an enemy hits they get a saving throw vs. death magic to avoid damage altogether.

Also, targeting the volunteer required use of called shot rules (as did targeting equipment slots on these things), but I believe we're ignoring that issue for the sake of simplicity.

b) it's the only juggernaut its pilot can channel spells through, effectively casting them from the juggernaut's location instead of their own. As long as the volunteer remains conscious, the pilot can cast spells with the restrictions "Any such spell may not be one that affects the caster, it may not have a range of “Touch” or “0,” and it may not include the helmsman or the juggernaut in its area of effect".

c) the wicker juggernaut was a "burning man" kind of deal that was constantly aflame and punches things with fists of fire. However it was not inherently fire resistant, so the original design said it always had to be spiritually equipped with a ring of fire resistance to prevent it (and the volunteer inside it) burning itself to ashes.

So we ought to give it a fiery aura that adds damage to things it attacks. Maybe give it vulnerability to fire as well? I'd be inclined to set the fire damage fairly low so to, say, 10 or 20 points of fire resistance would always entirely absorb it. The original design did the same amount of damage as flaming oil, which is 2d6 damage in AD&D although the 3E equivalent of alchemist's fire is only 1d6 damage.

Perhaps 1d10 fire damage so the most basic fire resistance 10 would completely protect it?

Incidentally, there was no mention of the flames damaging things that got too close or struck the juggernaut, although that seems a reasonable inference.

Anyhow, the problem is most of the above features are things that only matter when the Juggernaut is piloted, so I'm wondering how to handle it.

Maybe add a "sub-template" to the base juggernaut entry?

Anyhow, I'll start a Working Draft.