Converting monsters from Dragon magazine (Part Two)
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demiurge1138
Inventor of Super-Toast
I'd double that weight--they are made of stone, after all.freyar said:
Demiurge out.
Shade
Monster Junkie
Gargoyle, Stone Lion
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Ruins and occupied dwellings
FREQUENCY: Very rare
ORGANIZATION: See below
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Nil
INTELLIGENCE: Low (5-7)
TREASURE: Nil
ALIGNMENT: Neutral Good
NO. APPEARING: 1-2
ARMOR CLASS: 2
MOVEMENT: 20
HIT DICE: 8+3
THACO: 13
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-10/1-8/1-B
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: M (7' long)
MORALE: Champion (15-16)
XP VALUE: 3,000
The stone lion is a solemn guardian, often found in pairs, generally serving good priests and wizards. The lion has an excellent memory for faces and scents and cannot be fooled by disguises. It is usually set up near the main door of the house, but occasionally is placed on ledges overhead - the stone lion can jump down 20' without harm.
Unlike other sorts of gargoyles, the lions are kindly creations and seek to serve as protectors to the world, rather than wreakers of havoc.
Combat: The stone lion is a superior combatant, functioning as if it had Strength and Dexterity scores of 18. It attacks with its crushing bite and deadly claws but often defeats its opponents more with its speed and agility rather than physical power. The stone lion has one special power: it can roar once every three rounds, and this functions as a scare spell.
Habitat/Society: The stone lion occasionally serves as a pet or companion to its owner and can form friendships with living beings as well as other stone lions.
Ecology: The stone lion has little or no impact on its environment. When not accompanying its master or patrolling the area, the lion is content to sit motionless, defending its territory.
Originally appeared in Dragon Magazine #223 (1995)
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Gargoyle, Stone Lion
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Building or ruin
FREQUENCY: Very rare
ORGANIZATION: Solitary
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Day
DIET: Nil
INTELLIGENCE: Low (5-7)
TREASURE: Nil
ALIGNMENT: Neutral good
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 2
MOVEMENT: 21
HIT DICE: 8+3
THAC0: 11
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d8/1d8/1d10
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Scare
SPECIAL DEFENSES: +1 or better magical weapon to hit
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: M (7' long)
MORALE: Champion (15-16)
XP VALUE: 3,000
The stone lion is a solemn guardian, often found in pairs, generally serving good priests and wizards. The lion has an excellent memory for faces and scents and cannot be fooled by disguises. The lion is usually set up near the main door of the house, but occasionally is placed on a ledge overhead - the stone lion can jump down 20 feet without harm.
Combat: The stone lion is a superior combatant, functioning as if it had Strength and Dexterity scores of 18. It attacks with its crushing bite and deadly claws, but often defeats its opponents more with its speed and agility rather than physical power.
The stone lion has one special power: it can roar once every three rounds, and this functions as a scare spell. Like other gargoyles, a stone lion can be hit only by weapons of +1 or better enchantment.
Habitat/Society: Unlike other types of gargoyles, a stone lion is a kindly creation and seeks to serve as a protector rather than a wreaker of havoc. It occasionally acts as a pet or companion to its owner, and can form friendships with living beings as well as other stone lions. It fights only to defend its area or to protect its friends from mortal danger. When motionless, the stone lion is indistinguishable from a statue of a lion carved from stone.
When its creator dies and the stone lion becomes free-willed, it will often seek to continue its guardian duties along more public lines. Most commonly they become defenders of temples or of public builidings. They patrol these confines at night, sitting motionless during the day unless needed.
Ecology: The stone lion is a magical guardian that has little or no impact on its environment. It need not eat, drink, or sleep. When not accompanying its master or patrolling the area, the lion is content to sit motionless, defending its territory.
(Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Three version.)
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Ruins and occupied dwellings
FREQUENCY: Very rare
ORGANIZATION: See below
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Nil
INTELLIGENCE: Low (5-7)
TREASURE: Nil
ALIGNMENT: Neutral Good
NO. APPEARING: 1-2
ARMOR CLASS: 2
MOVEMENT: 20
HIT DICE: 8+3
THACO: 13
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-10/1-8/1-B
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: M (7' long)
MORALE: Champion (15-16)
XP VALUE: 3,000
The stone lion is a solemn guardian, often found in pairs, generally serving good priests and wizards. The lion has an excellent memory for faces and scents and cannot be fooled by disguises. It is usually set up near the main door of the house, but occasionally is placed on ledges overhead - the stone lion can jump down 20' without harm.
Unlike other sorts of gargoyles, the lions are kindly creations and seek to serve as protectors to the world, rather than wreakers of havoc.
Combat: The stone lion is a superior combatant, functioning as if it had Strength and Dexterity scores of 18. It attacks with its crushing bite and deadly claws but often defeats its opponents more with its speed and agility rather than physical power. The stone lion has one special power: it can roar once every three rounds, and this functions as a scare spell.
Habitat/Society: The stone lion occasionally serves as a pet or companion to its owner and can form friendships with living beings as well as other stone lions.
Ecology: The stone lion has little or no impact on its environment. When not accompanying its master or patrolling the area, the lion is content to sit motionless, defending its territory.
Originally appeared in Dragon Magazine #223 (1995)
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Gargoyle, Stone Lion
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Building or ruin
FREQUENCY: Very rare
ORGANIZATION: Solitary
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Day
DIET: Nil
INTELLIGENCE: Low (5-7)
TREASURE: Nil
ALIGNMENT: Neutral good
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 2
MOVEMENT: 21
HIT DICE: 8+3
THAC0: 11
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d8/1d8/1d10
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Scare
SPECIAL DEFENSES: +1 or better magical weapon to hit
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: M (7' long)
MORALE: Champion (15-16)
XP VALUE: 3,000
The stone lion is a solemn guardian, often found in pairs, generally serving good priests and wizards. The lion has an excellent memory for faces and scents and cannot be fooled by disguises. The lion is usually set up near the main door of the house, but occasionally is placed on a ledge overhead - the stone lion can jump down 20 feet without harm.
Combat: The stone lion is a superior combatant, functioning as if it had Strength and Dexterity scores of 18. It attacks with its crushing bite and deadly claws, but often defeats its opponents more with its speed and agility rather than physical power.
The stone lion has one special power: it can roar once every three rounds, and this functions as a scare spell. Like other gargoyles, a stone lion can be hit only by weapons of +1 or better enchantment.
Habitat/Society: Unlike other types of gargoyles, a stone lion is a kindly creation and seeks to serve as a protector rather than a wreaker of havoc. It occasionally acts as a pet or companion to its owner, and can form friendships with living beings as well as other stone lions. It fights only to defend its area or to protect its friends from mortal danger. When motionless, the stone lion is indistinguishable from a statue of a lion carved from stone.
When its creator dies and the stone lion becomes free-willed, it will often seek to continue its guardian duties along more public lines. Most commonly they become defenders of temples or of public builidings. They patrol these confines at night, sitting motionless during the day unless needed.
Ecology: The stone lion is a magical guardian that has little or no impact on its environment. It need not eat, drink, or sleep. When not accompanying its master or patrolling the area, the lion is content to sit motionless, defending its territory.
(Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Three version.)
freyar
Extradimensional Explorer
Cool, I kind of like the idea of these. Seems like we know Str 18, Dex 18. How about mostly borrowing the rest from the regular gargole: Con 18, Int 7, Wis 11, Cha 13? I bumped Int by 1, so we have half-odd/half-even scores. I also bumped Cha for the roar DC. DR 5/magic or 10/magic? Borrow the roar from the shadow mastiff?
Roar (Su): Every 3 rounds, a stone lion gargoyle may unleash a frightening roar. When a stone lion roars, all creatures within a 300?-foot spread must succeed on a DC X Will save or become panicked for 2d4 rounds. This is a sonic mind-affecting fear effect. Whether or not the save is successful, an affected creature is immune to the same stone lion’s roar for 24 hours. The save DC is Charisma-based.
The scare spell doesn't seem like the right effect, since it's so targeted. Thoughts? Should we change the size of the spread?
Roar (Su): Every 3 rounds, a stone lion gargoyle may unleash a frightening roar. When a stone lion roars, all creatures within a 300?-foot spread must succeed on a DC X Will save or become panicked for 2d4 rounds. This is a sonic mind-affecting fear effect. Whether or not the save is successful, an affected creature is immune to the same stone lion’s roar for 24 hours. The save DC is Charisma-based.
The scare spell doesn't seem like the right effect, since it's so targeted. Thoughts? Should we change the size of the spread?
Shade
Monster Junkie
Hmmm...Medium or Large?
The regular lion is Large, and says it is 5 to 8 feet long. The stone lion is listed as 7 feet long, so that would seem to put it in the Large range.
If we make them Large, I'm thinking 18 Str may be too low. A standard lion is Str 21. If we stick with Medium, I can accept the lower Str, since it would be smaller.
The other ability scores look good.
As for the roar, that can probably work, but since scare only frightens, while fear panicks, I think we should reduce the condition to frightened.
DR 10/magic, since it has more HD than a standard gargoyle, which also has 10/magic.
Should we give it pounce, since it likes to jump down?
The regular lion is Large, and says it is 5 to 8 feet long. The stone lion is listed as 7 feet long, so that would seem to put it in the Large range.
If we make them Large, I'm thinking 18 Str may be too low. A standard lion is Str 21. If we stick with Medium, I can accept the lower Str, since it would be smaller.
The other ability scores look good.
As for the roar, that can probably work, but since scare only frightens, while fear panicks, I think we should reduce the condition to frightened.
DR 10/magic, since it has more HD than a standard gargoyle, which also has 10/magic.
Should we give it pounce, since it likes to jump down?
GrayLinnorm
Explorer
So what creature type would this be? Monstrous humanoid won't work for these.
I should probably note that the grandfather plaque (from the same article) is a construct.
I should probably note that the grandfather plaque (from the same article) is a construct.
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