Converting monsters from Dragon magazine

[freyar]

I like the normal bite, but perhaps give it maul (constrict-like option for bite).

Abilities sound good.

 

[Cleon]

Let's see. Old-school thief skills at a 9th level would indicate ranks in Hide, Move Silently, Listen, Climb, Search, Disable Device, Open Lock and Sleight of Hand. Now, these guys are pretty darn dumb, so we might want to consider giving them a racial bonus to one or more of these skills.

Although... they're natives of Pandemonium, so Listen is actually worthless. In fact, they might have racial deafness (no penalties for being deaf, immune to language-dependant effects) and telepathy for communication.

I'd give it a Climb speed and the same racial bonuses as a Monstrous Hunting Spider (+10 Jump, +4 Hide, +8 Climb, +8 Spot) plus the ability to use the best of Dex or Str for Climb checks.

As an Int 7 Outsider it has enough skill points to max-out six skills (12 points per skill). I'd not put any points in Climb (its Dex 24 and racial bonus gives it Climb +15, which should be enough for most purposes) and put 12 points each in Hide, Move Silently and Listen and 9 points each in Search, Disable Device, Open Lock and Sleight of Hand.

Including ability, size and racial adjustments that works out as:

Skills: Climb +15, Disable Device +7, Jump +15, Hide +19, Listen +13, Move Silently +19, Open Lock +16, Search +10, Sleight of Hand +16, Spot +18

Those look reasonable. Disable Device is a bit low, but that seems appropriate.

 

[Cleon]

Although... they're natives of Pandemonium, so Listen is actually worthless. In fact, they might have racial deafness (no penalties for being deaf, immune to language-dependant effects) and telepathy for communication.

They could have a supernatural ability to ignore noise penalties to Listen checks. Maybe combined with sonic resistance?

Also, they often roam other planes (Limbo, Abyss, Astral, Ethereal and Prime Material et cetera), where regular Listen checks are possible.

 

[Shade]

Here's a couple of abilities I gave some outsiders from Pandemonium I pitched to Dragon awhile back...

Wind Tolerance (Su): Flying x are unaffected by high winds, and are never checked, knocked down, or blown away by wind conditions. x suffer no penalties to Listen checks made in areas of high winds.

Sounds of Pandemonium (Su): The spells and sonic effects of x are not limited to 10 feet on the plane of Pandemonium. Additionally, xs' hearing is not limited like that of other creatures on Pandemonium. x cannot be deafened by any means.

 

[freyar]

Does Sounds of Pandemonium only work on sonic effects (or does Pandemonium limit other spells in some way)? I'm going back and forth on how helpful these are for teners. Hmph.

 

[Shade]

Hearing on Pandemonium
The constant screams of wind make it impossible to hear anything beyond 10 feet. Likewise, spells and effects that rely on sonic energy have their range limited to 10 feet. Travelers are temporarily deafened after 1d10 rounds of exposure to the winds, and permanently deafened after 24 hours of exposure. Temporarily deafened characters regain their hearing after 1 hour spent out of the wind.

Ear plugs or similar devices negate the deafening effect. Of course, wearing ear plugs effectively mimics the normal effects of being deafened.

 

[freyar]

I so wish the Great Wheel were in the SRD. Is it always severe wind on Pandemonium? If so, I think those abilities are good, though we can probably remove the spells and sonic effects bit unless we let them advance by character class.

 

[Shade]

Pandemonium Combat
Combat functions normally on Pandemonium, but in most cases takes place among strong winds. All ranged weapons suffer a -2 penalty on attacks due to the winds, and Tiny or smaller creatures must make a Fortitude save (DC 10) each round or be knocked down.

Sometimes the winds of Pandemonium are even more powerful. For the effects of stronger winds on combat, see Table 3-17: Wind Effects in Chapter 3 of the DUNGEON MASTER's Guide.

 

[freyar]

You've convinced me.

 

[Shade]

Added to Homebrews (sans wind tolerance and sounds of Pandemonium until 0others weigh in on them).

I think we should give them a climb speed, since old-school thieves were swift climbers, and their natural enviroment is mostly winding caverns.