Converting "generic setting" second edition monsters

[demiurge1138]

They sound more like, well... people than monsters. Small, superintelligent people who live in the Underdark and keep menageries of surface-world monsters. I think we should just give them HD by class, a racial bonus to attack with bows, spell resistance and a high Int. LA +2 or +3, like a duergar or svirfneblin.

 

[freyar]

Yes. Combine this with a little innate spellcasting, maybe the bow bonus could instead(?) be some imbuing ability ripped off the arcane archer.

 

[demiurge1138]

I don't think I like them with innate spellcasting, as it says there's a chance of having a spellcaster with them. We could say that they qualify for the arcane archer prestige class, though, or that any arrow they fire has a +1 or +2 enhancement bonus.

 

[GrayLinnorm]

If they're not going to have racial HD, then they should be humanoids then. Statting a fey as a 1st level warrior doesn't work because they have the wrong HD type. (Yes I know uldra were statted as warriors. I still say they shouldn't have been.)

 

[demiurge1138]

Jaebrin from MMV have the same deal, being fey that swap out their racial HD for class levels. So, for that matter, do pixies, which are core.

 

[GrayLinnorm]

Pixies aren't presented as 1st level warriors though; they just have 1 hit die.

 

[freyar]

Pixies aren't presented as 1st level warriors though; they just have 1 hit die.

Huh, I'd missed that little exception. Why don't we do that here?

 

[Shade]

Pixies also advance by HD, though.

Other precedents exist, though: The uldra in Frostburn are fey 1st-level warriors, and the killoren in Races of the Wild only advance by character class.

 

[freyar]

I still think I like treating them like pixies.

 

[Shade]

So allow them to advance to 2-3 HD, or by character class?