Converting Forgotten Realms monsters

[Shade]

Part Two.

Original thread closed due to exceeding 1,000 post count.

 

[Shade]

Spiny Sleeper
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Arctic oceans, rivers of the Great Glacier
FREQUENCY: Very rare
ORGANIZATION: School
ACTIVE TIME: Any
DIET: Scavenger
INTELLIGENCE: Non- (0)
TREASURE: Nil
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
NO. APPEARING: 10-40
ARMOR CLASS: 10
MOVEMENT: Sw 15
HIT DICE: 1/2 hp
THAC0: 20
NO. OF ATTACKS: Nil
DAMAGE/ATTACK: Nil
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: T (1-2’ long)
MORALE: Unreliable (2)
XP VALUE: 35

Tiny silver spines cover the body of this plump fish, which has a white belly and long whiskers like a catfish. If a character (or creature) handles the sleeper carelessly (for instance it a character not wearing gloves or other protection fails a Dexterity check), a spine may pierce his flesh, injecting him with a powerful toxin. If the affected character (or creature) fails to save vs. poison, he immediately suffers the effects similar to a temporal stasis spell, and an ice-like glaze forms over his body. Neutralize poison or a similar spell negates the effect, as does certain herbal treatments known by some Ulutiun healers.

Ok, Tiny, 1/4 HD like the black burner? Basically your generic fish with poison. I guess it should be an injury toxin, but it almost seems like it could be contact since the spines don't seem to do damage.

Agreed. We should either increase the damage to 1 point, or switch it to contact poison.

 

[freyar]

I think I prefer contact. Doesn't seem like we do that a lot.

 

[Cleon]

I think I prefer contact. Doesn't seem like we do that a lot.

Well the original's definitely injury, since the poison only works if a spine pierces the flesh.

 

[Shade]

Well the original's definitely injury, since the poison only works if a spine pierces the flesh.

So your vote's for upping the damage to 1?

 

[freyar]

What about adding a Ref save on contact? As small as it is and as fine as the spines seem to be, I don't like having them do damage.

 

[Shade]

Hmm...the fact that the original called for a Dexterity check to avoid contact definitely supports the Reflex save idea.

If we go the injury route, the fact that it can be avoided by wearing gloves makes me think it would function somewhat like a whip (which deals no damage to any creature with an armor bonus of +1 or higher or a natural armor bonus of +3 or higher).

 

[Cleon]

So your vote's for upping the damage to 1?

Yes.

Unless someone can come up with a precedent for an injury poison having effect on a "0 damage" attack I think we have to.

Hmm...the fact that the original called for a Dexterity check to avoid contact definitely supports the Reflex save idea.

Dang it, I was going to suggest we use one of the "spiny defense" type SAs we came up with but didn't get around to it. It's certainly a Ref-save attack.

If we go the injury route, the fact that it can be avoided by wearing gloves makes me think it would function somewhat like a whip (which deals no damage to any creature with an armor bonus of +1 or higher or a natural armor bonus of +3 or higher).

Adding an armor bonus restriction makes excellent sense.

Hmm, can you poison a Whip? It does Slashing damage but it's nonlethal. Injury poisons take effect when an attack does damage, but I can't find anything in the rules saying it has to be lethal damage.

How about we make the spines do nonlethal damage plus injury poison?

 

[Shade]

How about we make the spines do nonlethal damage plus injury poison?

Works for me.

 

[Cleon]

Works for me.

Let's do that then.

Base the stats on a Bloatfish as the Spiny Sleeper is similarly Tiny, plump and 1-2 feet long?

 

[freyar]

I've been outvoted! *sniff*

Sounds like a plan on the stats, and we might as well go ahead and add that spiny defense SQ.

 

[Shade]

Added to Homebrews.

 

[freyar]

Ok, do we really want to base the poison on temporal stasis? That's a pretty powerful effect for such low HD critters. Then again, I guess it's not to hard to remove.

 

[Shade]

I'd rather not. Dex damage would probably suffice, leaving the victim immobile at 0. At worst, I'd make the secondary damage paralysis.

 

[freyar]

How about 1d4 Dex/paralysis for 1 or 2 minutes? That's still pretty tough, though.

 

[Shade]

If the affected character (or creature) fails to save vs. poison, he immediately suffers the effects similar to a temporal stasis spell, and an ice-like glaze forms over his body. Neutralize poison or a similar spell negates the effect, as does certain herbal treatments known by some Ulutiun healers.

It sounds like we could go for cold damage as well. Is there a precedent for freezing solid?

 

[Cleon]

Ok, do we really want to base the poison on temporal stasis? That's a pretty powerful effect for such low HD critters. Then again, I guess it's not to hard to remove.

Well we could base the effects on a similar but lower level spell instead, namely sepia snake sigil.

Maybe the "suspension" effects only last as long as the ice crust does, so the frozen victim returns to normal if they're attacked so the ice breaks? That'll still be useful as a defense but removes some of the more exploitable elements. Shorten the duration to a few rounds and bob's your uncle.

I don't like the "plain paralysis" approach because they'd risk drowning while frozen, which they wouldn't if it was a "suspension" effect.

 

[Cleon]

It sounds like we could go for cold damage as well. Is there a precedent for freezing solid?

I wouldn't have it do any cold damage unless it's mentioned in the original text.

 

[Shade]

Well we could base the effects on a similar but lower level spell instead, namely sepia snake sigil.

Maybe the "suspension" effects only last as long as the ice crust does, so the frozen victim returns to normal if they're attacked so the ice breaks? That'll still be useful as a defense but removes some of the more exploitable elements. Shorten the duration to a few rounds and bob's your uncle.

I like where this is headed, but would prefer warming a victim up to release them, rather than attacking them. I see it more as a rimy crust than being encased in ice.

 

[Cleon]

I like where this is headed, but would prefer warming a victim up to release them, rather than attacking them. I see it more as a rimy crust than being encased in ice.

I was thinking being warmed up would free them too, but I liked the "cracking the rime" idea because it means an enemy can't just wail away at a frozen victim while they're helpless, since the victim will be freed by the hard blows.