Converting First Edition monsters from DRAGON magazine

[BOZ]

Dyll locate their prey by sensing vibrations, by, smell, and by homing in on sources of heat.

is there a flying version of tremorsense (or is that the blindsense)? is there a heat sense?

A dyll is covered with thousands of microscopic, hollow spines. Using these, it sucks 1-3 hit points worth of blood from a victim each round. The initial strike of the dyll does 1 point of damage as it attaches itself. It begins draining blood on the round thereafter.

so maybe for its blood drain ability, it drains 1-3 Con every round?

A dyll gains strength from the blood it ingests, at the rate of 1 hit point for each 2 points of blood-draining damage it causes. It will remain attached and continue to drain blood until it is killed or until it reaches 9 hit points, whereupon it will loosen its grip and fly away.

not sure how to handle this part. i guess it gains HP for every 1/2 point of Con drain? ooh man, this would make these things so naaasty...

One dyll in every 10 creatures will be able to cast a Sleep spell affecting creatures with up to 3 hit dice when attacking a victim. If its initial strike is successful, the spell is cast. Sleep spells cast by dyll striking in the same round are cumulative; thus, a pair of dyll may strike and sleep a creature of up to 6 hit dice, three dyll can affect a creature of 9 hit dice, and so on.

even nastier...

 

[Shade]

is there a flying version of tremorsense (or is that the blindsense)? is there a heat sense?

I believe that blindsense is supposed to cover it all. I'd give it scent, too.

so maybe for its blood drain ability, it drains 1-3 Con every round?

I like that. I'd suggest that we don't require it to make grapple checks first (like most monsters with blood drain), as it would never succeed.

not sure how to handle this part. i guess it gains HP for every 1/2 point of Con drain? ooh man, this would make these things so naaasty...

Nasty, but reasonable. We might want to incorporate this part as well: "It will remain attached and continue to drain blood until it is killed or until it reaches 9 hit points, whereupon it will loosen its grip and fly away."

Here's how the stirge entry words it:

Blood Drain (Ex): A stirge drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of Constitution damage in any round when it begins its turn attached to a victim. Once it has dealt 4 points of Constitution damage, it detaches and flies off to digest the meal. If its victim dies before the stirge’s appetite has been sated, the stirge detaches and seeks a new target.

even nastier...

Very.

 

[BOZ]

this should take care of that problem:

Blood Drain (Ex): A dyll swarm drains blood, dealing 1d3 points of Constitution damage in any round when it begins its turn in the same square as a victim. Once it has dealt 10 points of Constitution damage, it detaches and flies off to digest the meal. If its victim dies before the swarm’s appetite has been sated, the swarm flies off and seeks a new target.

Sleep (Sp): A dyll swarm that begins its turn in the same square as a victim may cause the creature to sleep, as the spell, on a failed save (DC X). If this effect is used more than once on the same creature in the same round, its effects are cumulative and thus the dyll may affect creatures with more than 4 Hit Dice. The save DC is Charisma(?)-based.

(Rejuvinate?) (Ex): A dyll swarm gains hit points from the blood it drains, at a rate of 1 hit point for every 2 points of Constitution drained. Extra hit points beyond its normal maximum are temporary. (this should probably be reworded, but it’s only my first thought)

 

[Shade]

this should take care of that problem:

Blood Drain (Ex): A dyll swarm drains blood, dealing 1d3 points of Constitution damage in any round when it begins its turn in the same square as a victim. Once it has dealt 10 points of Constitution damage, it detaches and flies off to digest the meal. If its victim dies before the swarm’s appetite has been sated, the swarm flies off and seeks a new target.

Looks good!

Sleep (Sp): A dyll swarm that begins its turn in the same square as a victim may cause the creature to sleep, as the spell, on a failed save (DC X). If this effect is used more than once on the same creature in the same round, its effects are cumulative and thus the dyll may affect creatures with more than 4 Hit Dice. The save DC is Charisma(?)-based.

I think Charisma-based is appropriate, since it is spell-like.

(Rejuvinate?) (Ex): A dyll swarm gains hit points from the blood it drains, at a rate of 1 hit point for every 2 points of Constitution drained. Extra hit points beyond its normal maximum are temporary. (this should probably be reworded, but it’s only my first thought)

I like it. I wouldn't use the term Rejuvenate, as that is the ability for ghosts to reform after destruction. Maybe you can just roll this into the blood drain ability, similar to the vampire spawn:

Blood Drain (Ex): A vampire spawn can suck blood from a living victim with its fangs by making a successful grapple check. If it pins the foe, it drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of Constitution drain each round. On each such successful drain attack, the vampire spawn gains 5 temporary hit points.

We could extrapolate from this to get this:

Blood Drain (Ex): A dyll swarm drains blood, dealing 1d3 points of Constitution damage in any round when it begins its turn in the same square as a victim. On each such successful drain attack, the dyll swarm gains hit points, at a rate of 1 hit point for every 2 points of Constitution drained. Extra hit points beyond its normal maximum are temporary hit points. Once it has dealt 10 points of Constitution damage, it detaches and flies off to digest the meal. If its victim dies before the swarm’s appetite has been sated, the swarm flies off and seeks a new target.

 

[BOZ]

posting in homebrews.

ok, now we need some ability scores, and skills and feats.

 

[Shade]

The dyll is coming along nicely. Here's my take on abilities. I compared the viper swarms and the centipede swarms to get a basis, since to me these are the most comparable to a leech-like creature.

Viper: Str 1, Dex 15, Con 12, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 2
Centipede: Str 1, Dex 19, Con 8, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 2

So, for the dyll, I'd suggest: Str 1, Dex 17, Con 10, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 2.

For skills, I'd go with Spot and Listen.

For feats, I'd probably go with Alertness and Lightning Reflexes. Assigning feats to swarms is interesting. They don't benefit from most of them. I looked at some of the other swarms, and they have Weapon Finesse, which is funny since swarms don't make attack rolls.

 

[BOZ]

odd, i was just thinking about how weapon finesse wouldn't help a swarm.

ok, edited the stats... do we need anything else there or is it time to move on?

 

[Shade]

We just need the DCs for sleep (11) and distraction (11). Not too tough, eh?

Maybe it needs Ability Focus (sleep).

 

[BOZ]

good idea. switch it out for alertness i think.

 

[BOZ]

is that all?