Converting Forgotten Realms monsters

[freyar]

I think that the acid spit should be a burst effect, more like fireball, than a ranged touch attack.

Sounds like we can all agree on that. 10 foot burst, DC 27 (Con-based) for half damage? Still 4d8?

 

[Shade]

Updated.

 

[freyar]

Here's some more combat text.

A haundar can be blinded by severing its eyestalks. To sever an eyestalk, an opponent must make a successful sunder attempt with a slashing weapon. (The player should declare where the attack is aimed before making the attack roll.) Making a sunder attempt provokes an attack of opportunity unless the foe has the Improved Sunder feat. An opponent can strike at a haundar’s eyestalks from any position in which he could strike at the haundar itself. An opponent can ready an action to attempt to sunder a haundar’s eyestalk when the creature bites at him. Each of a haundar's eyestalks has 10 hit points. Losing an eyestalk deals 5hp of damage to the body. A blinded haundar will retreat from melee and attack only to defend itself.

 

[Shade]

I like it!

Updated.

Thick fur covers the part of the haundar’s body that its shell does not protect. The creature maintains body temperature thanks to a very thick, nutritious blubber under its skin. The largest quantity of body fat is located under the thickest part of the creature’s shell, about 10 feet away from the head.

I need to find that ability about not needing Fort saves to avoid nonlethal damage in cold weather...

The haundar is capable of levitating, and moving through the air at a slow pace. It cannot fly in blizzard conditions.

We probably need a magical flight ability, like the beholder.

Its blubber is used for oils. Its eyestalks are in demand for potions of infravision, and its lower pseudopods can be used as a potent ingredient in potions of levitation. The armor can be broken into smaller pieces and re-used as plate armor elements. A complete suit of armor made of this material weighs half its equivalent metal armor for the same protection, and is acid resistant. It also costs twice as much to build.

What to make of all that?

 

[freyar]

I need to find that ability about not needing Fort saves to avoid nonlethal damage in cold weather...

Well, we could easily write it again, but I guess we'd like the same name.

We probably need a magical flight ability, like the beholder.

You know, the SRD/MM doesn't do a good job separating which critters have magical or non-magical flight... Should we just state in the flavor text that its flight is magical?

What to make of all that?

Probably flavor text for the potion ingredients.

For the armor, I suggest the following sidebar (modified from dragonhide):

Haundar armor: Armorsmiths can work with the armor plates of a haundar to produce armor or shields of masterwork quality. One Gargantuan haundar provides enough armor to produce a suit of masterwork armor for a Huge creature. By selecting only choice scales and bits of hide, an armorsmith can produce one suit of masterwork banded mail for a Large creature, or one suit of masterwork half-plate for a Medium creature, or one masterwork breastplate or suit of full plate for a Small creature. (Multiple haundars can be used to create armor for larger creatures.) In each case, enough hide is available to produce a small or large masterwork shield in addition to the armor.

Because haundar armor isn’t made of metal, druids can wear it without penalty.

Haundar armor costs double what masterwork armor of that type ordinarily costs, but it takes no longer to make than ordinary armor of that type. It weighs half as much as the corresponding type of metal armor.

Haundar armor has 10 hit points per inch of thickness and hardness 7.

(I made it not as hard as dragonhide.)

Speaking of haundar armor, do we want to put in the unarmored "soft spots"?

 

[Shade]

Here we go, let's just reverse this:

Heat Tolerance (Ex): A griveling never needs to make Fortitude saves to avoid nonlethal damage in regions of extreme heat.

Thus...

Cold Tolerance (Ex): A haundar never needs to make Fortitude saves to avoid nonlethal damage in regions of extreme cold.

Looking at the original text again, the magical flight seems closer to a beholder's flight than the 3e levitate. How does this work?

Flight (Ex): A haundar's body is naturally buoyant. This buoyancy allows it to fly at a speed of 30 feet. This buoyancy also grants it a permanent feather fall effect (as the spell) with personal range. Because its flight is dependent upon sensors within its psuedopods, a haundar that has lost both pseudopods may not fly until at least one has been regrown.

(Note that we'll need to add pseudopod severing to the eyestalk severing).

The armor looks great!

 

[freyar]

Let's add a couple of short paragraphs to the end of the bit about severing eyestalks:

The haundar's sensory pseudopods can be severed in the same manner as the eyestalks. Pseudopods have 10 hp, and losing a pseudopod deals 5 hp damage to the body. A haundar without pseudopods will not fly due to lack of sensory information.

A severed eyestalk or pseudopod will regrow in 1 month. If a haundar's eyestalks or pseudopods are attacked, it will retract them into its body, so they are not vulnerable to sundering.

 

[demiurge1138]

All that looks pretty good to me.

 

[Shade]

Updated.

Speaking of haundar armor, do we want to put in the unarmored "soft spots"?

We could give them a vulnerability to critical hits to reflect that, I suppose.

 

[freyar]

Updated.



We could give them a vulnerability to critical hits to reflect that, I suppose.

Sounds like a good idea. So they take +50% damage from crits or something? Or the crit multiplier is treated as being 1 higher?

Revisiting the armor:
I feel like I've seen somewhere (but don't see it in the SRD) that dragonhide armor doesn't take damage from the dragon's associated energy type. If I'm not delusional, should we then say that haundar armor doesn't take damage from acid?