Converting Greyhawk monsters

[Cleon]

That works for me.

Oh, I wouldn't go so far as to say I prefer 4e over 3e!

The players in my current campaign, about half of whom haven't played any edition other than 4e, absolutely love the tactical combat of 4e. They don't want to switch to D&D Next at all. Me, I find the heavy focus on combat a little much, and of all the editions I've played/DMed, I think I actually had the most fun during actual play with 2e, followed very closely by 3e.

Well I haven't played 4e, but 1e was where I had the most D&D fun. Although I don't consider 2e and BECMI as being much different as far as playability goes. Indeed, they run the same at the table for most practical purposes.

In terms of preparing games though, 4e is a real pleasure. Compared to the amount of time I was spending prepping highish level (±17th) games at the end of my 3.5 campaign, 4e prep is such a pleasure. I really hope that D&D Next can manage to keep that aspect of 4e intact.

Good grief, yes. High level gaming can be a horrible pain in 3E. If D&D Next can avoid the 3E problem of expecting the DM to do PC-level number crunching for all the players' adversaries it'll go a long way to winning me over.

 

[freyar]

See, I'm a bit odd; I've hardly played at all in the last few years. Right now, I'm just into RPGs for monster design. So I haven't even gotten the 4e core rules --- the little bits of flavor didn't convince me to buy the books, and, frankly, the early marketing really turned me off of it. I'll have to see about Next; hopefully there will be enough of an SRD to tell.

Anyway, let's update the working draft. I can go along with full immunity to poison. I don't think it will really change the CR.

Got any flavor text in mind, Cleon?

 

[Cleon]

See, I'm a bit odd; I've hardly played at all in the last few years. Right now, I'm just into RPGs for monster design. So I haven't even gotten the 4e core rules --- the little bits of flavor didn't convince me to buy the books, and, frankly, the early marketing really turned me off of it. I'll have to see about Next; hopefully there will be enough of an SRD to tell.

Anyway, let's update the working draft. I can go along with full immunity to poison. I don't think it will really change the CR.

Updating the Working Draft.

Got any flavor text in mind, Cleon?

I don't have anything prepared at the moment, no.

Been too busy with my Cleon Special Jaguar Priest. Oh, and I've been statting some Dragon Mountain Kobolds too, as if I didn't have things to waste my time on...

 

[freyar]

Well, the stats look done.

I'll try my hand at the description, anyway:
The faint tang of rusting metal reaches your nostrils as you approach a massive pile of treasure. Suddenly, it bursts into action, whipping you with powerful tentacles.

 

[Cleon]

Well, the stats look done.

I'll try my hand at the description, anyway:
The faint tang of rusting metal reaches your nostrils as you approach a massive pile of treasure. Suddenly, it bursts into action, whipping you with powerful tentacles.

I'd prefer something a bit less in media res and a bit more on what it actually looks like.

How about:

The massive pile of gold suddenly stand up on three elephantine legs, revealing itself to be a bizarre creature. Two powerful tentacles whip from its sides, eager to pull victims towards a maw full of crystalline teeth that suddenly gapes in its belly. From atop the conical creature sprouts a stalk which branches into three huge golden eyes.

 

[freyar]

That'll work. If you don't have any flavor text, I can get to it later this week.

 

[Cleon]

That'll work. If you don't have any flavor text, I can get to it later this week.

You've got creature catalog monsters to post! You shouldn't have time for writing flavour text!!

How's this:

The massive pile of gold suddenly stand up on three elephantine legs, revealing itself to be a bizarre creature. Two powerful tentacles whip from its sides, eager to pull victims towards a maw full of crystalline teeth that suddenly gapes in its belly. From atop the conical creature sprouts a stalk which branches into three huge golden eyes.

An aurotyugh is a rare relative of the otyugh with a body of "living metal" instead of ordinary flesh. The touch of an aurotyugh can magically soften almost any material, and they have immensely powerful jaws with teeth that are literally made of diamond. This combination means an aurotyugh can chew through almost anything. Aurotyughs eat any kind of metal or flesh, preferring mineral-rich organic materials like bone. They do not wallow in rotting filth like a normal otyugh, but collect piles of decaying bones and rusting metal. Aurotyughs collect treasure, and their diamond teeth are also valuable - its teeth are the "triple goods (gems)" in the Treasure entry.

A typical aurotyugh has a body 8 feet in diameter and stands 6 feet tall, not including its 7 foot long eyestalk or 20 foot long tentacles. It weighs almost 4000 pounds.


Aurotyughs speak Terran.


COMBAT

Aurotyughs disguise themselves as piles of treasure to attract victims, lashing out at surprised adventurers with their tentacles. An aurotyugh grapples its opponents, uses its ability to soften armor to make them more vulnerable, then begins to gnaw.

An outmatched aurotyugh will fight to the death rather than flee, but may offer treasure to bribe it enemies into sparing its life.

 

[freyar]

Looks ready to update. All done after that?

 

[Cleon]

Looks ready to update. All done after that?

Updating the Aurotyugh Working Draft.

It looks finished. I found one minor typo that's been fixed (a "armorl").

I suppose I should have cut out the (+20 as treasure) in the skills, but I liked it where it was.

 

[freyar]

I think it's fine to put a notation like that in the skill line. A synergy bonus or the bonus from the Track feat (for example) would generally be listed like that. I'm not 100% sure why a racial bonus isn't usually.

Should we leave this thread fallow for a bit since we're starting up the true dragons thread again?