Converting Greyhawk monsters

[freyar]

Excellent!

So, with that, are the actual monsters done? Or are there some details to clean up in the colored text?

On with the crown?

 

[Cleon]

Excellent!

Updating the Monarch Scorpion Working Draft.

So, with that, are the actual monsters done? Or are there some details to clean up in the colored text?

I need to go through the SLAs and Psionics to see if I need to put in any save DCs or other stats, but I think we're otherwise clear.

On with the crown?

Yup! It had better be part of an "In Greyhawk" subentry.

 

[Cleon]

I need to go through the SLAs and Psionics to see if I need to put in any save DCs or other stats, but I think we're otherwise clear.

I forgot to mention I checked the SLA/PLAs while updating the Working Draft so we're good to go!

Yup! It had better be part of an "In Greyhawk" subentry.

Okay, here's the original description of the item:

The Scorpion Crown
An artifact of enormous evil power, the scorpion crown is currently in the ruins of Shatta-dos’s Palace. Physically, it resembles a large scorpion crafted of heavy, cold, black iron in the form of a crown, with the legs encircling the head, and the stinger curling up over the head. It radiates a high degree of both magic and evil.

While the crown is clearly very powerful, it has no real practical uses, instead bearing a terrible curse. Anyone unfortunate enough to place it on his or her head will experience its curse firsthand. The wearer is agonizingly transformed into a master scorpion, with no saving throw possible. Any individual who owes the wearer allegiance in any form must then successfully save vs. spells at -5 or be transformed into a manscorpion. It is Rary’s hope that he can circumvent the negative aspects of the crown and bend the manscorpions of the desert to his will.

The crown’s area of effect is limited to the Bright Desert and Abbor Alz. If it is taken from there, the original curse will still be active, but the crown will not, for example, cause Iuz to turn into a master scorpion and his barbarian allies to turn into manscorpions. Rary is unaware of this aspect of the crown’s powers, which will make it useless to him even if he manages to avoid the curse.

The Bright Desert can still be saved from the scourge of Sulm’s descendants. If the crown is eliminated, all manscorpions and monarch scorpions are immediately destroyed, and the Bright Desert slowly begins to revert to a reasonably fertile, if somewhat arid, region. These changes take place over a century or more, and will not affect ongoing campaigns.

Of course, destroying the crown is no easy matter. As described in Chapter l0 of the DUNGEON MASTER’s Guide, artifacts are vastly powerful items, and can only be destroyed by extraordinary means. The exact means of destroying the crown is up to the DM. Suggestions include dropping it into one of the active volcanoes in the Hellfurnaces, melting it in the breath of a lawful good great wyrm, taking it to an outer plane (such as the Negative Material Plane) where it cannot exist, or carrying it to a place beyond Oerth via spell-jamming ship, to be destroyed by a focoid, rogue moon, sentient star, or other exotic space creature.

So basically it's just a cursed artifact whose main ability is transforming its wearer and their allies into scorpion monsters. In addition, monarch scorpions "seem to be another result of Shattados’s curse, magically altered normal scorpions now grown to enormous size" and it renders the land infertile, although that might be a slow process.

It also renders its wearer immortal. Well, I suppose immortality could be an ability inherent to Master Scorpions, but I'd rather it be a power of the crown.

Shall we keep it simple and just have the above properties or would you like to add any more?

 

[freyar]

I'd like immortality to be a property of the crown, as well.

So we have (a) turns wearer into a master scorpion, (b) turns "subjects" of the wearer into scorpionfolk (need to specify this better perhaps), (c) creates monarch scorpions from regular scorpions, (d) grants immortality to wearer. I think I'd like (b) and (c) to be at the will of the wearer. It just seems like more of an enticement to put the thing on. Anyway, that's probably enough for me. Do you think it needs any more properties?

 

[Cleon]

I'd like immortality to be a property of the crown, as well.

So we have (a) turns wearer into a master scorpion, (b) turns "subjects" of the wearer into scorpionfolk (need to specify this better perhaps), (c) creates monarch scorpions from regular scorpions, (d) grants immortality to wearer. I think I'd like (b) and (c) to be at the will of the wearer. It just seems like more of an enticement to put the thing on. Anyway, that's probably enough for me. Do you think it needs any more properties?

I'm thinking that we should probably soften (b) so it doesn't transform an entire kingdom's population into Manscorpions. The original module only has a few of those monsters, not thousands of them!

Maybe it only transforms those close to the cursed victim, like family or followers?

Also, how about adding a level requirement for the Manscorpion transformation and have weaker subjects turn into Stingers?

 

[Cleon]

I think I'd like (b) and (c) to be at the will of the wearer. It just seems like more of an enticement to put the thing on.

I don't like the idea of making the transformation into manscorpions optional - the original text says the crown "has no real practical uses, instead bearing a terrible curse". The enticement was that Shattados thought the crown would allow him to "bend others to his will". Which it did, sort of, since his master scorpion powers allowed him to control the manscorpions the crown had created.

Anyway, that's probably enough for me. Do you think it needs any more properties?

It turns the surrounding land barren, although it's unclear how quickly this happens. If the crown is destroyed the Bright Desert "slowly begins to revert to a reasonably fertile, if somewhat arid, region. These changes take place over a century or more, and will not affect ongoing campaigns."

So it might have taken a century for the desert to become so lifeless around the Shattados's palace.

Actually, that makes me realize something - I'm wondering whether the Immortality also applies to the scorpion creature created by the crown. Consider these quotes:

In an agonizing moment, he was transformed into a monstrous scorpion and his people into the wild manscorpions which still plague the desert.

Manscorpions: These savage, inhuman creatures were created centuries ago as the result of a curse which wiped out their thriving empire. Once men, the manscorpions' only remaining joy is to seek vengeance against all those normal beings who do not suffer as they do.

Those suggest the manscorpions might be the same individuals as were transformed when Shattados put on the crown, despite that being 2,000 years ago.

A Manscorpion's maximum age is 80+2d20 years according to the New Character Races information in the Orc's Head Peninsula sourcebook. That's for Nimmurian Manscorpion though, who I guess might have different lifespans than other breeds of these creatures.

However, there is also a line that "Its ruins are ravaged by the descendants of Shattados" which might indicate the Manscorpions the curse created are the ancestors of the ones currently in the Bright Desert.

If the Manscorpions and Monarch Scorpions the crown creates are immortal it would help explain why (a) they all die if the crown is destroyed and (b) they can survive in such a barren desert - maybe their immortality means they don't have to eat, and they just prey on animals and humanoids out of their lust for killing?

 

[Cleon]

I'm just posting this to bump the thread up.

 

[freyar]

Bumping might have actually delayed my getting to this.

I would be ok with leaving everything as involuntary as long as the lore about the crown says that it allows the wearer to control their subjects. I'm also fine with reducing the "manscorpion" transformations to just close family or followers (ie, upto 3rd degree relatives and maybe actual cohorts?). Stingers for lower level followers is ok, too. I'm a bit unsure about immortality for the followers, so I'll mull that over. Mostly I like what you have, though. Want to write up a draft?

By the way, shouldn't we be using "scorpionfolk" rather than "manscorpions"?

 

[Cleon]

Bumping might have actually delayed my getting to this.

I would be ok with leaving everything as involuntary as long as the lore about the crown says that it allows the wearer to control their subjects. I'm also fine with reducing the "manscorpion" transformations to just close family or followers (ie, upto 3rd degree relatives and maybe actual cohorts?). Stingers for lower level followers is ok, too. I'm a bit unsure about immortality for the followers, so I'll mull that over. Mostly I like what you have, though. Want to write up a draft?

Sure, I'll try to whip something up when I get the free time.

By the way, shouldn't we be using "scorpionfolk" rather than "manscorpions"?

Hmm, well I'll be using "scorpionfolk" when I actually get around to writing it up since they're SRD monsters. We've got a Manscorpion conversion in the CC Crypt which has been supplanted by Monsters of Faerûn. Which is actually a reference to the Stinger. The 3E Scorpionfolk officially debuted in Monster Manual II, although they're actually one of the first OGL monsters to be officially accredited and added to the SRD - their initial appearance is in Necromancer Games' Creature Collection.

The Scorpionfolk is a much better match to the AD&D Manscorpion than the Stinger or Skorpio, who are significantly weaker than the Manscorpion.

I guess we should convert the Nimmurian versions of the Manscorpions sometime (Regular, Spawn of Nimmur and Ziggurat Horror), but there doesn't seem to be much cause for hurry.

 

[freyar]

Sure, I'll try to whip something up when I get the free time.

No rush, whenever you're ready.

Hmm, well I'll be using "scorpionfolk" when I actually get around to writing it up since they're SRD monsters. We've got a Manscorpion conversion in the CC Crypt which has been supplanted by Monsters of Faerûn. Which is actually a reference to the Stinger. The 3E Scorpionfolk officially debuted in Monster Manual II, although they're actually one of the first OGL monsters to be officially accredited and added to the SRD - their initial appearance is in Necromancer Games' Creature Collection.

The Scorpionfolk is a much better match to the AD&D Manscorpion than the Stinger or Skorpio, who are significantly weaker than the Manscorpion.

I guess we should convert the Nimmurian versions of the Manscorpions sometime (Regular, Spawn of Nimmur and Ziggurat Horror), but there doesn't seem to be much cause for hurry.

Yeah, let's use scorpionfolk in the main case. Stingers can be for weaker scorpion monsters. And we'll eventually get around to the Nimmurian ones.