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Converting Dark*Matter Creatures

Here's something funny -- I found another Baalphegor, but she's not quite the same.

BTW, alternate form is usually broken out as an Su ability.

Let's compare to some Dukes of Hell we converted for 3.5: Amduscias, Malphas, Nergal. In particular, Nergal has about the same number of hp, similar melee damage output (perhaps better, depending whether you think vile and disease is nastier than poison or not), and a boatload of SLAs. So compared to D&D precedent, I'd have a hard time with Baal-phegor being more than CR 22. But you know modern and I don't -- are d20 modern characters weaker due to lower magic level? This is something we could change in the underbar, I guess.

In that case, I'll back it up to CR 22, then. Calculators aren't fully reliable, after all. Most monsters in d20 Modern are about the same, but have the added boon of their Damage Reduction already covering ballistic damage (which firearms produce). It was always strange to me that they didn't edit at least a few D&D converts to have damage reduction pierced by ballistic damage...or even any new creatures to have ballistic damage reduction piercing...but alas.

Alernate Form as Su...done.

In other words: updated.
 

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Well then, we can move on. At this point, there are two options.

Option A would be to continue the unique fiends, in which case Isca-Ban-Fan is our pick in Xenoforms.

Option B would be either a random choice or request.
 


First of all: I murdered this poor thing's name every time I've tried to type it without looking at the book. Weird alien names...

Second: here we go with the Dark*Matter stats!

Isci ba Fan
[sblock]STR 10 [+0]
DEX 10 [+0]
CON 14
INT 18 [+4]
WIL 18 [+4]
PER 18


Durability: 18/18/9/9
Action Check: 19+/18/9/4
Move: run 12, walk 4
#Actions: 4
Reaction Score: Good/3
Last Resorts: 2
Psionic energy points: 30

Attacks
Mind blast 22/11/5 d6+2s/d8+2s/d12+2s special
Possession 26/13/6 Special (see text)

Defenses
Intangibility: +5 resistance modifier to melee and ranged attacks (only +2 vs. energy attacks)
Intangibility: +4 step penalty to Awareness checks to perceive the demon (+1 in strong light)

Skills
Stealth [10]-hide [14], shadow [14]. smeal [14]; Stamina [14]-endurance [18], resist pain [18]; Knowledge [18]-deduce [22], language (Etoile) [20], language (Grey) [22], language (Kinori) [20]; Life Science [18]-xenology [20]; Technical [18]-xenoengineering [22]; Lore [18]-fringe science [22], occult [22]; Resolve [18]-mental [26]; Deception [18]=bluff [24]; Interaction [18]-interview [20].

Psionic Skills
ESP [18]-clairaudience [20], clairvoyance [20], mind reading [24]; Telepathy [18]-contact [24], illusion [20], mind blast [22], mind shield [22], suggest [22].

Humans are not the only species on Earth with a mythology that includes demons. When the Greys first arrived on this world, they encountered a psionic entity so powerful and malign that they sacrificed an entire ship - and the thousands of Greys aboard - to defeat the thing. Sadly, they were mistaken: Isci ba Fan, the demon of silence, survived and followed the Greys back to the stars.

Description
Isci ba Fan is a creature of pure independent consciousness. Thousands of years ago, it attempted to pass between worlds psionically, only to accidentally detach its mind from its body. From that moment on, its entire existence has been devoted to discovering a way to return home across the stars and rejoin the land of the living. In the meantime, it exists as an all-but-invisible field of shadow, drifting among humanity unnoticed and unheeded for millenia.

Encounter
The demon uses its incredible psionic strength to possess living beings - particularly the weak-minded - and achieve the physicality needed to fulfill some of its schemes. It hides in areas of darkness, reshaping its form to mimic shadows, awaiting its chosen victim. Isci ba Fan's nonphysical form is difficult to notice, conferring a +4 step penalty on Awareness checks to detect it in shadows, and a +1 step penalty even when it is in strong light.

Isci ban Fan's tremendous skill at possession imposes an additional +2 step penalty on the victim's Resolve-mental resolve checks to regain control. The person it possesses always appears to be in shadow until Isci ba Fan departs. The demon usually covers this fact by staying in the shade as much as possible - if not in complete darkness. The possessed victim rarely speaks, preferring psionic contact when possible.

The Greys have learned to recognize the presence of the demon in a living being by the complete lack of a mental "signature". In game terms, attempting to use ESP-mind reading or Telepathy-contact againt Isci ba Fan automatically fail (though the demon can still use these abilities itself if it chooses). Only when it is outside a physical body can the demon be contacted psionically.

Habitat/Society
Legends and rumors of Isci ba Fan circulated among the Greys for centuries, in tales of those with "silent minds" - as empty as the void between the stars. But the demon actually maintained a low profile. If it were discovered again, it could not survive the destruction of another city-ship (at least, not while still in space). In time, the Greys came to believe the demon was a mythical creature, at the same time finding reasonable, "enlightened" explanations for the evidence of its existence among them.

When the Greys returned to Earth, so did Isci ba Fan. The demon found humans much more to its liking than Greys (human minds being considerably less guarded). Now it haunts the Earth, moving from victim to victim and remembered only as a surreal walking nightmare. Unfortunately for the demon, humans are no more useful to its ultimate purpose than the Greys.

Isci ba Fan has no cult as such and no particular desire for one. In fact, it considers the possession of humans and even Greys distasteful, like wearing someone else's soiled clothing. But circumstances require it to make use of such beings, sometimes for years at a time - a necessity that Isci ba Fan deeply resents. This attitude toward its "vessels" seldom leaves them intact.[/sblock]
Now then, on to the basics...

Running the conversion gives us the following ability scores: Strength 14, Dex 14, Con 18, Int 22, Wis 22, Cha 22. Not quite the most impressing demon ever, but it's not too bad.

The basics of this fellow would indicate either an incorporeal undead (taking in the disembodied spirit aspect) or incorporeal outsider (taking in the demon aspect). Either way, that Strength has to go due to its incorporeal nature (and the Constitution score as well, if we so choose to make it undead). The Dexterity lines up quite well with the Monster Manual's shadow, amusingly enough.

For size, we could go with either Medium or Small. Either one works.
 
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It appears to not have that many less HD than Baal-phegor. I might be tempted to lessen it on principle, though. Maybe 27?
 

I like incorporeal outsider, and would suggest boosting its mental ability scores a bit, what with it being powerfully charismatic and possessive.
 



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