Converting monsters from Dragon magazine

[Cleon]

I agree that there should be no treasure. I also like Water Dependent, though an hour per point of Con is almost amphibious unless they're on a long journey.

Well I don't think the time scale is set in stone for Water Dependent. We could easily make it 1 minute per point of Con (26 minutes) or 5 minutes per 2 points of Con (1 hour 5 minutes), which is enough for it to make quick trips out of the water.

 

[freyar]

2 or 3 minutes per point of Con would be fine with me.

 

[Cleon]

2 or 3 minutes per point of Con would be fine with me.

I'm not in favour of the 3, but would be OK with either of the following:

Water Dependent (Ex) #1: Great orms can survive out of the water for 2 minutes per point of Constitution (after that, refer to the drowning rules).

Water Dependent (Ex) #2: Great orms can survive out of the water for 5 minutes per 2 points of Constitution (after that, refer to the drowning rules).

I'd lean slightly towards #2, as the "per 2 points" of Con is used in other Water Dependent SQs.

 

[freyar]

#2 then.

Tactics: A great orm hunts purely instinctively, attacking when hungry anything that looks meal-sized. ????

 

[Cleon]

#2 then.

Updating the Great Orm Working Draft.

Tactics: A great orm hunts purely instinctively, attacking when hungry anything that looks meal-sized. ????

We've got no information about what they actually eat. It could be a filter-feeding or a carnivore that only recognizes a particular sort of animal (e.g. Large-sized fish) as food.

Besides, if they made a habit of eating people then they would have been noticed more often!

How about.

A great orm acts purely on instinct. A hungry great orm will try to bite anything it recognizes as a meal. They will attack opponents that injure them, but rely on their venomous slime as their first line of defense.

 

[freyar]

Well, I always thought they didn't eat people much because they didn't surface much. But I'm fine with your suggestion. Any ideas on background and description? You're the cryptozoologist.

 

[Cleon]

Well, I always thought they didn't eat people much because they didn't surface much. But I'm fine with your suggestion. Any ideas on background and description? You're the cryptozoologist.

I can take a hint.

A titanic worm longer than many ships. Its loathsome body writhes bonelessly within a coat of vile slime. Periodically, its back bunches up into a line of rubbery humps the shape and size of capsized rowboats.

Great orms are gargantuan aquatic worms. They live in both fresh and salt water and are even able to make short forays onto land, usually to travel from one body of water to another. Many, if not most, great orms dwell in the depths of the ocean, but humanoids are only likely to see orms that inhabit coastal regions or freshwater, since they are most likely to be seen on the surface. Sightings of great orms are the cause of many legends about a lake or loch being home to a "loathly wyrm" or "monster snake".

Great orms also live in subterranean water systems or use them to travel about. Some surprisingly small pools have a resident great orm. These are invariably very deep sinkholes that connect to an underground river or sea.

The body of a great orm is 5 feet in diameter and 80 feet long, weighing about 40,000 pounds.

Combat
A great orm acts purely on instinct. A hungry great orm will try to bite anything it recognizes as a meal. They will attack opponents that injure them, but rely on their venomous slime as their first line of defense.

 

[freyar]

A loch, eh? Might as well just name it "Nessie." More seriously, that looks good.

All done if we drop the "#2" from Water Dependent? I guess we don't spell out scent or low-light vision.

 

[Cleon]

A loch, eh? Might as well just name it "Nessie." More seriously, that looks good.

Would you prefer Ogopogo?

All done if we drop the "#2" from Water Dependent? I guess we don't spell out scent or low-light vision.

Oh yes, I'd better cut that #2 out.

Updating the Great Orm Working Draft.

That looks done to me.

 

[Cleon]

Marine Saurian Original Stats

Looks like the Marine Saurian is next on our list.

The original entry is pretty short:

Marine saurian: Of the seven sea serpents Heuvelmans describes, the Marine saurian is the only one that is definitely a reptile. Generally, it looks like a giant crocodile about 60’ long, with either flippers instead of legs or legs with webbed feet. The eyes are prominent, and, in some cases, its tail may end in a fishlike fin. Its grayish or reddish brown skin looks smooth, but scales still remain in some places, forming rings around the body and creating a slight dorsal crest. It is found all over the tropics, and prefers the open sea to the coast.

Given the varying descriptions, more than one species of animal could be involved here. Those with flippers could well be mosasaurs (detailed in MC3) though they could just as easily be plesiosaurs (short-necked plesiosaurs, such as the Kronosaurus from Australian waters) that should have the same general stats. The web-footed crocs could be surviving Thalattosuchians, or sea crocodiles from the Mesozoic Era. They would differ from the standard giant crocodile in the following ways: NO. APPEARING: 1-2; no land movement, SW 18; HD 14; THAC0 7; #ATT: 1 (bite); DAMAGE/ATTACK: 7-28; SPECIAL ATTACKS: Swallow whole; SIZE G (60’); XP VALUE: 8,000.