Converting monsters from Dragon magazine (Part Two)

[demiurge1138]

I love these guys.

Breath weapons or rays for the ranged attack? It sounds like a breath weapon, but the aiming in arcs is reminiscent of a beholder's eye rays.

We should standardize regeneration. Do we want to keep the mechanic where they lose regeneration the round after using it.

Are we going to keep the severing mechanic, or switch it to augmented critical? Frankly, for a beast of this caliber, I say let it lop off limbs.

 

[freyar]

Wow, just wow. Ok, I think this is a breath weapon. I'm unsure whether to keep the aiming requirement or what, though.

I agree with standardizing regeneration. Regarding the "no regeneration after breath weapon" thing, I see these as very tarrasque-like. It would be nice to have some gimmick to kill them, but something a little more standard would be nicer. If we can't come up with something good, I'd be ok with just the "reduce to -10 and hit it with wish or miracle" route.

Limb severing is good, but do we know what that does to PCs?

 

[Shade]

Yeah, these guys are easily in my all-time top 20.

I'm with you guys on retaining limb-servering, and I think it would be cool to disallow regeneration between breath weapon recharges.

Let's figure out type, size and ability scores so I can Homebrew them.

First up, dragon type?

Colossal?

We know Int is Semi (2-4). Wis is probably at least average, and Cha is probably decent.

Looking at some Colossal dragons, I'd say Str 45-47, Con 31-33. Any reason not to go with Dex 10?

 

[freyar]

Dragon makes sense, and Colossal is imperative!

How about Str 47, Dex 10, Con 33, Int 4, Wis 12, Cha 15? I'm happy shifting around a little on any of these.

 

[Shade]

Added to Homebrews using those stats. We can always fiddle with them later.

I kept the same damage as 2e for the attacks. Do we want to increase to Colossal dragon standards (4d8 bite, 4d6 claws, 4d6 tail slap)? Should we add wing buffets, crush, and tail sweep like Colossal true dragons?

 

[freyar]

I say up the damage to Colossal dragon standards. Given that these have low HD and hp compared to the SRD Colossal dragons, let's just add the wing buffets and crush but not tail sweep. It's got a pretty good tail attack already.

 

[Shade]

Taking a stab at a few of the abilities:

Breath Weapon (Su): Beam of intense heat, 120-foot line, once every 1d4 rounds, damage 12d8 fire, Reflex DC x half. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Death Frenzy (Ex): If an attack reduces a murdakus to less than 1 hit point, the murdakus flies into a frenzy on its next action before falling unconscious (or dying). The murdakus doubles its natural attacks for the round. At the end of its round, it takes an additional 3d8 points of damage.

Healed by Fire (Ex): An attack that deals fire damage breaks heals 1 point of damage for each 3 points of damage the attack would otherwise deal. If the amount of healing would cause the murdakus to exceed its full normal hit points, it gains any excess as temporary hit points.

Limited Regeneration (Ex): Acid and negative energy deal normal damage to a murdakus. If a murdakus loses a limb or body part, the lost portion regrows in 3d6 minutes. The creature can reattach the severed member instantly by holding it to the stump. During any round in which its breath weapon is unavailable, a murdakus may not regenerate damage.

 

[demiurge1138]

Severing of limbs was detailed as an option in 3e, sort of--targeted damage. It suggested -4 penalties to appropriate schools in addition to the obvious inability to use weapons, or reduction of speed. The wither limb spell, last seen in Libris Mortis, could also provide some good mechanical ideas.

 

[freyar]

a murdakus has only one attack: its breath weapon, usable once per turn. This consists of a pair of narrow beams of intense heat that lance forth from each of its jaws. Teh murdakus msut aim these twin beams in different directions in up to a 90 degree arc; creatures of size L or smaller can be hit by only one beam.

Should we make the breath weapon 2 120 ft lines at once? There are some linnorms with similar double breath weapons, right?

The rest looks good.

Thanks for the info, demiurge. Let's maybe go with the core options for severed limbs.

 

[RavinRay]

Wow this is one bizarre dragon. What do the twin jaws look like? One on top of the other?

It's the dread linnorm that has cold and fire breath weapons for each of its two heads.

Shade's three (Ex) abilities seem spot-on. Now for the magical cold damage line.