Converting monsters from Dragon magazine

[Shade]

Agreed, updated, moving on...

Well Spirit
FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 0
MOVE: 18”/ /24”
HIT DICE: 6-13
% IN LAIR: 100%
TREASURE TYPE: See below
NO. OF ATTACKS: See below
DAMAGE/ATTACK: See below
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Drowning
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 10%
INTELLIGENCE: Godlike
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: L (15’-30’ long, 3’-6’ diameter)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil

Well Spirits are super-intelligent creatures from the Elemental Plane of Water. During the middle stages of their lives, they often come to the Prime Material Plane. On the Elemental Plane of Water, they can be found in various locations and numbers, but on the Prime Material Plane they can only be found singly in wishing wells.

Well Spirits begin their lives on the Elemental Plane of Water. At the age of 250-300 years, they come to the Prime Material Plane as 6+2 hit dice creatures and make their lairs in wells. When they gain treasure equal to 5,000 gold pieces per hit die, they grow in strength, gaining a hit die, and possibly a hit point plus as well. For example, when a Well Spirit with 8 + 2 hit dice gains 40,000 gp, it becomes a Spirit with 9 + 3 hit dice. The treasure is consumed in the process, so a Well Spirit will always have less than 5,000 gp per hit dice. When a Well Spirit with 13 + 4 hit dice gains 65,000 gp, it teleports to the Elemental Plane of Water as a full adult.

Well Spirits attack by hitting opponents with their pseudopods (much like being hit by an immense wave). On any roll of 19 or 20, the Well Spirit begins to “drown” its opponent. A person being drowned can survive for 2-5 melee rounds plus one half of his/her hit die adjustment due to Constitution (This would be a penalty for victims with Constitutions below 7.). Each round, the victim may attempt to save vs. dragon breath at -2 for each round he or she has been drowning. If at any time the adventurer makes his or her saving throw, he or she has broken free and may fight in the next round. However, for the next 3-6 melee rounds, the victim will fight at -3 on his or her “to hit” dice rolls. A person may not fight while being drowned.

The Well Spirit’s special defense is that normal weapons do only half damage, magical weapons do half or full damage (full damage if the attacker makes his saving throw vs. spell at +1 for each “+” of weapon), and electrical attacks do no damage. Fire-based or fire-using attacks do double damage and may reduce the Spirit’s hit dice because of evaporation, thus reducing its attacks, etc. Divide the total hit points by hit dice and round up to find hit points per die. Whenever the Well Spirit loses this many hit points from a fire-based attack, it will lose 1 hit die as far as attacks, damage, etc. are concerned. If a Well Spirit has 6 + 2 hit dice, it cannot lose any more hit dice. When a Well Spirit is attacked by a cold-based attack, it takes 11/2 damage, or double subduing damage (qv). Well Spirits can be subdued, but subduing attacks do only 3/4 of the damage that would otherwise be inflicted. Two exceptions are cold-based attacks, which do double damage when subduing, and fire-based attacks, which cannot subdue. 25% of subduing damage is actual, the rest regenerates at a rate of 2 hp per round. The Well Spirit is subdued when it has lost all of its hit points as a result of subduing damage, or a combination of actual and subduing damage. A subdued Well Spirit will grant wishes. A subdued Well Spirit will remain subdued for 7 - 10 (d4 + 6) days after its subdual. After this time it will only stay with an adventurer if it is given at least 1,000 gp per hit dice of the Spirit, and a well to inhabit. The well must be at least 4 feet in diameter and 50 feet deep. The walls must be lined with stone, and the water must be reasonably clean.

Since Well Spirits inhabit wishing wells, they can grant from 1 to 3 Wishes to a party, the number depending on the size of the Spirit. Wishes may be granted either after subdual or after a sizable gift of treasure (at least 1,000 gp per hit die of the Spirit) has been given to the Spirit.

Well Spirits are predominantly Neutral. However, 10% are of a random alignment. Well Spirits of Good alignment will not willingly grant an evil wish, although they will do so if subdued. Regardless of alignment,, a Well Spirit may attack someone it considers too greedy (i.e., someone who gives the Well Spirit too little treasure or tries to get too many wishes).

Description: A Well Spirit appears similar to a Water Elemental.

Hit Dice / Wishes /Attacks / Damage
6 + 2 / 1 / 2 / 1-10
7 + 2 / 1 / 2 / 1-10
8 + 2 / 1 / 2 / 1-10
9 + 3 / 1 / 3 / 2-16
10 + 3 / 2 / 3 / 2-16
11 + 3 / 2 / 3 / 2-16
12 + 4 / 3 / 4 / 3-24
13 + 4 / 3 / 5 / 4-32

Originally appeared in Dragon Magazine #42 (1980).

 

[freyar]

First question: do we want to start at 6HD and do advancement based on "treasure consumption" along the lines of a barghest? Or just start at 13 HD to befit their godlike Int?

 

[demiurge1138]

I like the treasure consumption thing. We could do a 6 HD and a 13 HD version, akin to barghest/greater barghest dichotomy. Give only the greater ones the wishes.

 

[RavinRay]

A lesser and greater water spirit split sounds good. It reminds me of the djinni/noble djinni dichotomy with only the latter granting wishes as well. And with its guardianship of wells godlike Int it begs for adaptation into Oriental Adventures as an elemental with the spirit subtype. I wonder if it has any relationship with water weirds?

 

[Shade]

A lesser and greater water spirit split sounds good. It reminds me of the djinni/noble djinni dichotomy with only the latter granting wishes as well. And with its guardianship of wells godlike Int it begs for adaptation into Oriental Adventures as an elemental with the spirit subtype. I wonder if it has any relationship with water weirds?

Agreed to all that.

Water weirds are Large, have 15 HD, and ability scores of Str 21, Dex 14, Con 17, Int 20, Wis 23, Cha 22. We could use that as a starting point for the greater well spirit's scores.

 

[Cleon]

Agreed, updated, moving on...

Looks good, except a typo got introduced into Skin of the Living. The line "A tyerkow can take on the guise of a living , monstrous humanoid" has lost the humanoid before the comma.

 

[Cleon]

A lesser and greater water spirit split sounds good. It reminds me of the djinni/noble djinni dichotomy with only the latter granting wishes as well. And with its guardianship of wells godlike Int it begs for adaptation into Oriental Adventures as an elemental with the spirit subtype. I wonder if it has any relationship with water weirds?

Well Water Weirds had were 3+3 HD and Very-intelligent in AD&D, which might suggest they're a larval form of a Well Spirit. However, the Weirds are also Chaotic Evil which may argue against a close kinship, unless only CE Well Spirits are callous enough to abandon their spawn on the Prime Material plane....

I like the Lesser / Greater Well Spirit split, with the latter being able to grant wishes.

As for the Feeding on treasure, I was thinking of something like when a Well Spirit amasses treasure equal to (CR+X) it devours it all and gains a Hit Dice, so it will never have more than (CR+X-1).

Agreed to all that.

Water weirds are Large, have 15 HD, and ability scores of Str 21, Dex 14, Con 17, Int 20, Wis 23, Cha 22. We could use that as a starting point for the greater well spirit's scores.

Those ability scores look fine to me. The mental stats are appropriate to an AD&D "Godlike" (20+) intelligence, and the physical stats are pretty close to a Large Water Elemental's Str 20, Dex 14, Con 19.

I'm presuming a Greater Well Spirit will be Huge size, with commensurate ability increases. Incidentally, going by the originals Damage progression (6-8HD 1d10, 9-11HD 2d8, 12HD 3d8, 13HD 4d8) it rather suggests these creatures normally Advance something like:

6 HD - Lesser Well Spirit
9 HD - gains Improved Natural Attack (pseudopod) feat?
12 HD - increases in size to Huge?
13 HD - Greater Well Spirit

Should they have the Native subtype?

I guess not as they hail from the Plane of Water, although we could give them some ability to resist banishment when in their wells.

So, are we going Elemental or Outsider?

I'm having trouble deciding. It'd help if we had some indication what these things actually look like. Are they amorphous blobs or water (which would suggest Elemental), or do they have an anatomy like a Xorn or Salamander? We've been comparing them to Barghests and Genies, which suggests Outsider (Extraplanar, Water).

 

[Shade]

Here's the pic:

 

[freyar]

I like these ideas.

Unfortunately, that pic doesn't help me with the type. I'm kind of leaning toward outsider, though the connection to weirds argues for elemental. I think that thematic connection is a bit stronger than the mechanical ones to barghests and genies, but I could go either way.

 

[Shade]

I'm more firmly in the elemental camp.