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Converting Dark*Matter Creatures

CR 3 maybe. We also need a CL for the ethereal jaunt. I propose CL 13. I'll let y'all do the fluff.

Caster level 13 is fine but I'd make them Challenge Rating 4.

At-will ethereal jaunt is a potent power for a low-level monster, with intelligence, weapon-use and 4 outsider Hit Dice it's a much nastier foe than an Ethereal Filcher or Ethereal Marauder, and both of those are CR3.

How's this sound for fluff?

"Faders are aliens in human skin, invaders that are simultaneously too human and too alien for comfort. These beings outwardly resemble humans, but rarely display any human emotions beyond those needed by their cover, leading many to believe that they are aloof or quietly hostile individuals. Faders typically work as scientists or engineers to both further their masters' enigmatic goals and to fuel their diet of electromagnetic energy. A particularly desparate individual of the species may even raid television or radio towers to survive.

The few known faders are presumably all from the infamous Philadelphia Experiment, although it is not unlikely that more may have been created in similar experiments performed since that time. Faders usually prefer flight over fight, but will engage in combat if their mission is compromised or they are directly threatened without any apparent means of escape."

Looks good to me!

Well, except "desperate" has three Es and one A, not two of each like you spelled it.B-)
 

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Yeah, that's why I should make post edits while tired and/or stressed. Fixed, and moving onward.


Goblin
[sblock]STR 7
DEX 11
CON 6
INT 10
WILL 11
PER 8


Durability: 6/6/3/3
Speed: Sprint 20, run 12, walk 4
Reaction Score: Ordinary/2

Attacks
Unarmed 3/1/0

Defenses
+2 resistance modifier vs. ranged attacks
+2 resistance modifier vs. WIL encounter skills
Armor (Good)

Skills
Athletics [7]; Acrobatics [11]-dodge [18], zero-g [12]; Stealth [11]; Vehicle [11]-space [14]; Movement [6]-race [7]; Stamin [6]-endurance [8]; Knowledge [10]-computer [12]; System Operation [10]; Awareness [11]-perception [21]; Investigate [11]; Lore [11]-UFO [14], fringe science [14]; Resolve [11]; Culture [8].

IDecription
The "goblin" is not a figure out of folklore, but an alien visitor similar to the Grays. It stands 107 centimeters tall, with an oversized head and big, floppy ears that come vaguely to a point. Its eyes are large and perfectly circular, positioned toward the sides of its face and closed to the ears than its nose, which consists of two short, narrow slits angled slightly downward in the center. Its eyes also glow, as does the rest of it - the result of a biological process that also provides a certain luminosity to its blood.

A goblin's legs seem almost vestigial and appear to be used more to orient the creature than hold it upright. It generally propels itself using its arms and hands rather than legs and feet. Its fingers resemble talons more than anything else, though it generally doesn't use them as weapons.

Encounter
Goblins and humans meet for one of two reasons: a goblin is doing business with humans, or a human has stumbled on the goblins doing business with other humans. Gone are the days when the crew of a goblin ship might approach humans openly in an attempt to establish communications and trade negotiations.

When on Earth, a goblin wears a body-fitting, silvery utility suit. The suit provides armor sufficient to protect the goblin from most kinds of damage. It also includes gravity reduction strips meant to facilitate loading and unloading heavy objects. These strips function exactly the same as a weight neutralizer (See Chapter 9: Goods and Services in the Player's Handbook for details). The goblins have found many uses for these gravity strips, not the least of which is reducing their own personal weight so they can leap, climb, flip, and fall with ease.

While wearing this suit, a goblin can perform astounding physical feats, gaining a -1 step bonus on Athletics and Acrobatics skill checks, including Acrobatics-dodge.

Goblins rarely carry weapons. They are merchants, after all, and do not wish to intimidate potential customers. In hostile situations, they rely on their own agility and their worksuits to carry them out of harm's way. They are not averse to picking up and using the occasional weapon, but they prefer nonlethal items, or better yet, technological gadgets that obviate the need for violence altogether.

Habitat/Society
The goblins come from the same general area in space as the Grays, who were never aware of their existence before hearing of these visitors to Earth. Somewhat less technologically advanced than Grays, and having explored the universe in different directions, goblins took considerably longer to discover mankind.

Their first real contact was in Europe's Dark Ages, when they were mistaken for faerie creatures (though they were not the source of faerie legends). These initial encounters taught them that humans were volatile and aggressive, but slow. Their subsequen visit (in Kentucky, in 1955) illustrated that humans' aggression hadn't changed much, though their technology had. Humans now had firearms.

The goblins also discovered during their visits to Earth that the Grays had been there before them. Knowing of the Grays from countless other worlds, the goblins were keen to avoid them: Greys preached noninterference, while the goblins sought trade. For the space of a few decades during the 5 Century, the goblins avoided Gray "blockage ships" (in reality, simply scout vessels) to bring technological innovations to the backward humans - most of which were lost through misuse of confiscated by the Grays. Their ships laden with minerals, ice, and radioactive ores, the goblins departed, intending to return when the Grays were more amenable to open communication and barter with the EArthlings.

When the goblins did finally return in the middle of the 20th Century, they were stunned to see just how far the Grays had recanted from their policy of leaving humans to themselves. The skies of Earth were thick with alien vessels, and extradimensional species were once again harnessing the power of dark matter to reactivate and utilize gates between worlds.

The goblins eagerly approached a human outpost, prepared to trade, but their gestures of greeting were misinterpreted. The humans used their primitive slug-throwing weapons to drive off the alien envoys. After repeated attempts to communicate with the humans - whose language and customs had warped curiously in a mere fifteen hundred years - the goblins withdrew to reconsider their course of action.

Eventually, they realized that despite the heavy alien traffic, Earthlings were only dimly aware of the existence of extraterrestrials. This was largely due to a a treaty the Grays had formed with some human governments. What the goblins had sustence for so long was true: for all their talk of noninterference, the Grays didn't practice what they preached.

To the goblins, this was license to follow suit - albeit covertly, to avoid the attention of the Grays, and carefully, to avoid being blasted to bits by ignorant humans. How to do so at first stumped them. Aliens regularly monitored Earth's communication networks, and landing were extremely risky now that the humans had not only firearms but also fast airships on which to mount them.

The answer came when humans "invented" computers, which led in a few short decades to the development of electronic networks. The goblins used electronic communication to first learn the language of humans, then to make a few innocuous overtures to Internet-oriented fringe groups. They were regular subscribers to the alt.alien.visitors newsgroup, and when "Pretty Good Privacy" encryption became available, the goblins began to openly correspond with those humans they felt could become clients.

Now they make periodic smuggling runs to Earth, bringing alien technology (some of it "liberated" from the Grays) and carrying away the mineral resources they value so much. So far, they have managed to escape the notice of the Grays, but they are prepared to depart Earth again should things become to hot.[/sblock]

These creatures are based on the Hopkinsville goblins, so perhaps we should dub them as such to avoid confusion with standard goblins?

They seem to be size Smal and either Humanoid or possibly Outsider (although the latter seems a stretch, considering the Grays are of the Humanoid type and share a sector of space with the goblins); as far as hit die goes, perhaps simply grant them 1 like d20 Modern's goblins, or, if we're generous, 2 or 3 for the extra skill and feat netting.

They also have the following ability scores when converted to d20 Modern measures (compared to a standard goblin):

Hopkinsville Goblin: Strength 8, Dexterity 15, Constitution 7, Intelligence 14, Wisdom 15. Charisma 10.
Goblin: Strength 8, Dexterity 12, Constitution 10, Intelligence 10, Wisdom 10 Charisma 8.

Proposed scores for the Hoppys (if we want to make them a low-CR species): Strength 8, Dexterity 13, Constitution 8, Intelligence 14, Wisdom 15, Charisma 8.

Do these numbers sound good?
 

Those numbers are fine, but I think the original Hopkinsville goblin abilities you listed seem fine too.
 

Alright then, I'd say going with the higher ability scores if we have them at 2 or 3 hit dice, or the lower one for one hit die. And Humanoid seems alright to you?
 

Yeah, that's why I should make post edits while tired and/or stressed. Fixed, and moving onward.

Goblin
[sblock]STR 7
DEX 11
CON 6
INT 10
WILL 11
PER 8


Durability: 6/6/3/3

They also have the following ability scores when converted to d20 Modern measures (compared to a standard goblin):

Hopkinsville Goblin: Strength 8, Dexterity 15, Constitution 7, Intelligence 14, Wisdom 15. Charisma 10.
Goblin: Strength 8, Dexterity 12, Constitution 10, Intelligence 10, Wisdom 10 Charisma 8.

Proposed scores for the Hoppys (if we want to make them a low-CR species): Strength 8, Dexterity 13, Constitution 8, Intelligence 14, Wisdom 15, Charisma 8.

Do these numbers sound good?

I agree we should call them something else, but if there's already stats for Hopkinsville Goblins we'd better call them something different to avoid confusion. Maybe "Space Goblin"?

Humanoid with 2 Hit Dice would work. Alternatively, we could make them Fey, that would give us the low combat stats but the high skill points these chaps seem to have.

Going by the description these creatures appear to be adapted to low- or zero-gravity environments, so are weak and fragile but fast. I think I'd make them even weaker than a regular goblin. Since their traders I would think they need better-than-average Charisma to cut a good deal. The PER 8 suggests they don't have Wisdom that high. Perhaps something like:

Space Goblin: Strength 7, Dexterity 15, Constitution 6, Intelligence 14, Wisdom 12. Charisma 13.

For the "zero-G suit", I'm thinking it gives the equivalent of levitate and feather fall, plus a significant bonus (enhancement?) on acrobatic activities like climbing, jumping and tumbling and a pretty impressive armour or DR.

They'd probably be armed with stunners of some kind, since they appear a fairly peaceable race.
 

Space Goblin
CR: 1
Small Fey
Hit Die: 2d6-4
Hit Points: 3
Massive Damage Threshold: 6
Initiative: +2
Speed: 20 ft.
Defense: 13, touch 13, flat-footed 11 (+1 size, +2 dex)
Base Attack Bonus: +1
Grapple: -5
Attack: +0 melee (1d4-2, taser)
Full attack: +0 melee (1d4-2, taser)
Fighting Space: 5 ft. by 5 ft.
Reach: 5 ft.
Special Qualities: Body glow, low-light vision
Allegiances: Any (usually Space Goblins)
Saves: Fort -2, Ref +5, Will +4
Action Points: 0
Reputation: +0
Abilities: Str 7, Dex 15, Con 6, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 13
Skills: Balance +8*, Climb +4*, Diplomacy +4, Jump +6 (+0 without zero-g suit), Hide +8, Investigate +7, Knowledge (Arcane Lore) +7, Knowledge (Earth and Life Sciences) +7, Knowledge (Technology) +5, Move Silently +4, Pilot +7, Read/Write Space Goblin, Read/Write one local language, Search +5, Sense Motive +4, Speak Space Goblin, Speak one local language, Spot +12 (+6 without zero-g suit), Tumble +10 (+4 without zero-g suit)
Feats: Simple Weapons Proficiency, Zero-G TrainingB
Advancement: By character class
Possessions: Mechanical toolkit, taser, zero-g suit, various trade goods.
*The space goblin has no ranks in these specific skills, but gains a bonus to them through its zero-g suit.

Space goblins are luminous feykind from the same region of space as the Grays. They are traders by nature and can typically only be found by someone that wishes to trade with them, or someone that stumbles upon such a trade. Space goblins are noncombatants, preferring to utilize their technologically-advanced bodysuits to flee from danger; if pressed, however, they can utilize their tasers to attempt to quickly neutralize a foe. Some space goblin captains may also carry air pistols loaded with tranquilizer darts, tangler guns, or other nonlethal weaponry.

Species Traits
Body Glow (Ex): Space goblins have a faint luminous glow to their skin. While this glow is imperceptible in lighted conditions, the effect reduces any concealment the space goblin may have due to darkness by one step.

Zero-G Suits
The space goblins' silvery suits allow them to function in manners beyond what their bodies would normally allow. In addition to granting Damage Reduction 5/ballistic, a space goblin wearing a zero-g suit constantly has the effects of feather fall and levitate (self plus up to 200 pounds), a +6 bonus to Balance, Climb, Jump, and Tumble checks, and can carry or lift weights up to 4 times its normal carrying capacity. All these effects are due to gravitic superscience, not magic, so a Zero-G suit is unaffected by dispel magic, anti-magic or similar effects. While the gravity strips attached to the zero-g suit allow a space goblin to move items as if they were much lighter than their true weight, they do not affect melee damage or any other Strength-based modifiers. The Zero-G Suit includes built-in optical lenses and anti-flare filters that give the goblin a +6 bonus to Spot checks and a +4 bonus on saves against light-based attacks.


Space Goblins In Dungeons and Dragons
Environment: Any urban
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Usually Neutral

Space goblins are best suited for a campaign such as Spelljammer, but can also be played up as a denizen of one of the far dimensions, possibly traveling companions of the mercane; in such case, add the (Extraplanar) subtype to the space goblins.

When replacing skills for a fantasy game, replace Knowledge (Technology) with Appraise, Knowledge (Arcane Lore) with Knowledge (Arcana), Knowledge (Earth and Life Sciences) with Knowledge (Nature), Investigate with Gather Information, and Pilot with Profession (Spacehand).


Space Goblin is © 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
Originally found in Dark*Matter: Xenoforms as "Goblin"
 
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