Converting Maztica and Horde monsters

Still considering…

“In its natural form, the shimnus appears as an ogre-sized crone, passably human in appearance.”
“Often it will pose as a bizarre old woman, attempting to dupe its victims.”

I think the “ogre-sized” is a mistake – or perhaps the author was merely trying to think of a way to suggest that these were big ladies, and blundered a bit on the semantics.

The “passably human” and the fact that it “will pose as a bizarre old woman” suggest to be that they are not bigger than Medium size.

And why can’t we enlarge a Medium to a Huge? :) even if enlarge person has a stipulation against that, we can always rewrite it.
 

log in or register to remove this ad

I'm not saying we can't, just that it would be a heckuva lot easier. ;)

Anyway, I surrender. You've convinced me that they should remain Medium.

Now, to muddy the waters....in the advancement line, are we going to allow them to advance past Medium? If so, do they become a "bigger" storm giant when they enlarge? Just some food for thought. :heh:
 

For advancement I was actually considering “By character class” because I’m not sure I want them to get bigger like a typical monster.
 


Taking a stab at some of its abilities...

BOZ said:
When it does fight, the shimnus uses its claws or magical weapons (50%). These weapons are usually a large set of iron pincers (+1 to hit, 2-16 points of damage) and an iron hammer (+2, 1-8 +2 points of damage).
Shimnus Pincers: This one-handed exotic weapon is sized for a Large creature. It deals 2d8 points of bludgeoning damage, threatens a critical hit on a natural 20, and deals double damage on a critical hit. A wielder that hits an opponent within one size category can attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If the wielder wins the grapple check, the staff establishes a hold and grabs the opponent, dealing 2d8 points of damage each round the hold is maintained.

BOZ said:
Its bizarre weapons are not what make the shimnus fearsome. In addition to its physical attacks, the shimnus can breath fire. The gout of flame is a cone 10 feet long and 3 feet wide. It causes five dice of damage. If the creature chooses to breathe, it cannot make any other attacks in the round. There is no limit to the number of flaming breaths it can use in a day.
Breath Weapon (Su): 10-foot cone, once every 1d4 rounds, damage 5d6 fire, Reflex DC X half. The save DC is Constitution-based.

BOZ said:
Finally, once per day, the shimnus can enlarge itself to the size of a storm giant. When enlarged, it gains a +5 to its THAC0 and +8 to damage. It can hurl boulders for 2-20 points of damage to a range of 200 yards. (It does not gain the full benefits of storm giant size since this is not its natural form.) This enlargement lasts for only one turn (10 rounds).
Giant Form (Su): Once per day, shimnus can enlarge itself to the size of a storm giant. Its size increases to Huge, granting a +16 size bonus to Strength, a –4 size penalty to Dexterity (to a minimum of 1), and a –2 penalty on attack rolls and AC due to its increased size. Its natural reach increases to 15 ft.

While in giant form, the shimnus gains the rock throwing (range increment 140 ft., 2d8+X damage) and rock catching abilities of a Huge giant.

If insufficient room is available for the desired growth, the shimnus attains the maximum possible size and may make a Strength check (using its increased Strength) to burst any enclosures in the process. If it fails, it is constrained without harm by the materials enclosing it. The shimnus can remain in giant form for 10 rounds.
 
Last edited:

Thoughts about pincers… you know, the hand held set of tools called pincers can be used one handed (if you have big enough hands and a strong grip that is). However, when I try to picture “a large set of iron pincers,” I think of some pretty massive items that even someone as strong as a shimnus is likely to be needs to hands to wield it. Also, both weapons are identified as “magical weapons,” with the pincers given a +1 to hit, and the iron hammer a +2 with 1d8+2 damage.

Giant Form as written it is close, but not quite right. I take “once per day, the shimnus can enlarge itself to the size of a storm giant” to mean not so much that the shimnus looks any different, just bigger. I don’t think Giants even need to be mentioned in the writeup – this is just a size change, so it only needs to be said that she takes on Huge form. (hey, can we take some inspiration from either the ToH or WotC spriggan?)

Here is the spriggan’s size-changing ability from FF (maybe we can even do a secondary stat block like the spriggan got):

Size Change (Su): At will, spriggans can change their size in a fashion similar to the effect of an enlarge spell. The size change from Small to Large gains +8 Strength, -4 Dexterity, +6 Constitution and –2 to attack bonus and Armor class. A spriggan’s short sword has the same attributes as a Large short sword when enlarged. An enlarged spriggan is unable to make a sneak attack or use it spell-like abilities.

Let me give it a try here:

Size Change (Su): Once per day, a shimnus can change its size in a fashion similar to the effect of an enlarge person spell. The size change from Medium to Huge grants a +16 size bonus to Strength, a –4 size penalty to Dexterity (to a minimum of 1), and a –2 penalty on attack rolls and AC due to its increased size. Its natural reach increases to 15 feet.

(the second paragraph here might not even be necessary, as we can say that this ability is otherwise like the spell? Keep the 10 round maximum notation though.)
If insufficient room is available for the desired growth, the shimnus attains the maximum possible size and may make a Strength check (using its increased Strength) to burst any enclosures in the process. If it fails, it is constrained without harm by the materials enclosing it. The shimnus can remain in giant form for 10 rounds.

I’d prefer to spell these out:

Rock Throwing (Ex): While enlarged, a shimnus can hurl rocks weighing 60 to 80 pounds each (Medium objects) up to five range increments. The range increment is 140 feet for a shimnus’ thrown rocks.

Rock Catching (Ex): While enlarged, a shimnus can catch Small, Medium, or Large rocks (or projectiles of similar shape). Once per round, a shimnus that would normally be hit by a rock can make a Reflex save to catch it as a free action. The DC is 15 for a Small rock, 20 for a Medium one, and 25 for a Large one. (If the projectile provides a magical bonus on attack rolls, the DC increases by that amount.) The shimnus must be ready for and aware of the attack in order to make a rock catching attempt.

Since you had me looking at night hags anyway, I think I like their damage reduction 10/cold iron and magic. :)
 
Last edited:

BOZ said:
Thoughts about pincers… you know, the hand held set of tools called pincers can be used one handed (if you have big enough hands and a strong grip that is). However, when I try to picture “a large set of iron pincers,” I think of some pretty massive items that even someone as strong as a shimnus is likely to be needs to hands to wield it. Also, both weapons are identified as “magical weapons,” with the pincers given a +1 to hit, and the iron hammer a +2 with 1d8+2 damage.
Two-handed is fine with me. I had just got the impression from the original description that it dual wields the pincers and hammer.

As for leaving off the magical enhancement, I tried to follow the "standard" of listing new weapons at their most mundane, and would suggest adding the enhancement bonus on the stat block.

BOZ said:
Giant Form as written it is close, but not quite right. I take “once per day, the shimnus can enlarge itself to the size of a storm giant” to mean not so much that the shimnus looks any different, just bigger. I don’t think Giants even need to be mentioned in the writeup – this is just a size change, so it only needs to be said that she takes on Huge form. (hey, can we take some inspiration from either the ToH or WotC spriggan?)
Works for me.

BOZ said:
Here is the spriggan’s size-changing ability from FF (maybe we can even do a secondary stat block like the spriggan got):
An excellent idea.

BOZ said:
Size Change (Su): Once per day, a shimnus can change its size in a fashion similar to the effect of an enlarge person spell. The size change from Medium to Huge grants a +16 size bonus to Strength, a –4 size penalty to Dexterity (to a minimum of 1), and a –2 penalty on attack rolls and AC due to its increased size. Its natural reach increases to 15 feet.

(the second paragraph here might not even be necessary, as we can say that this ability is otherwise like the spell? Keep the 10 round maximum notation though.)

If insufficient room is available for the desired growth, the shimnus attains the maximum possible size and may make a Strength check (using its increased Strength) to burst any enclosures in the process. If it fails, it is constrained without harm by the materials enclosing it. The shimnus can remain in giant form for 10 rounds.
That should work.

BOZ said:
I’d prefer to spell these out:

Rock Throwing (Ex): While enlarged, a shimnus can hurl rocks weighing 60 to 80 pounds each (Medium objects) up to five range increments. The range increment is 140 feet for a shimnus’ thrown rocks.

Rock Catching (Ex): While enlarged, a shimnus can catch Small, Medium, or Large rocks (or projectiles of similar shape). Once per round, a shimnus that would normally be hit by a rock can make a Reflex save to catch it as a free action. The DC is 15 for a Small rock, 20 for a Medium one, and 25 for a Large one. (If the projectile provides a magical bonus on attack rolls, the DC increases by that amount.) The shimnus must be ready for and aware of the attack in order to make a rock catching attempt.
Good idea.

BOZ said:
Since you had me looking at night hags anyway, I think I like their damage reduction 10/cold iron and magic. :)
Cool. :cool:
 
Last edited:

Shade said:
Two-handed is fine with me. I had just got the impression from the original description that it dual wields the pincers and hammer.

right, it is vague enough to give that idea. still, I’ll take some liberties in assuming that the weapons are either/or.

As for leaving off the magical enhancement, I tried to follow the "standard" of listing new weapons at their most mundane, and would suggest adding the enhancement bonus on the stat block.

OK, I gotcha. :) where did you get the description from? Don’t sahuagin or something have a similar sort of weapon?

OK, it’s been awhile since you’ve heard this… posting in homebrews! :D
 

BOZ said:
right, it is vague enough to give that idea. still, I’ll take some liberties in assuming that the weapons are either/or.
Works for me!

BOZ said:
OK, I gotcha. :) where did you get the description from? Don’t sahuagin or something have a similar sort of weapon?
Close. Kuo-toa, actually (pincer staff).

BOZ said:
OK, it’s been awhile since you’ve heard this… posting in homebrews! :D
What's "homebrews"? ;)
 


Remove ads

Top