Converting Monsters from Dungeon Magazine

[freyar]

How about Lightning Reflexes plus Imp Init? I like that.

So weird that a monster called "Living Hair" is really a construct!

 

[Shade]

Indeed!

Updated.

Should we give it some amorphous quality, to allow it to flow under doors and the like?

I suppose we can just put in flavor text, like many oozes and oozelike creatures: "Living hair can compress its body to fit into cracks as small as 1 inch wide."

Challenge Rating: x

Advancement: x

Living hair stands 5 to 6 feet tall and weighs around x pounds.

Living hair cannot speak, but understands x.

 

[Cleon]

Indeed!

Updated.

Should we give it some amorphous quality, to allow it to flow under doors and the like?

I thought we already had!

I suppose we can just put in flavor text, like many oozes and oozelike creatures: "Living hair can compress its body to fit into cracks as small as 1 inch wide."

Well I'd go for something a bit more formal, such as "a living hair can squeeze through narrow gaps as if it were a Fine-sized creature".

Challenge Rating: x

Challenge Rating 4? They're pretty hard to "kill".

Advancement: x

An unexciting 6-10 HD (Medium); 11-15 (HD) would do as far as I'm concerned.

Living hair stands 5 to 6 feet tall and weighs around x pounds.

Living hair cannot speak, but understands x.

100 pounds and Common? A big bunch of hair won't be that heavy, and they don't seem very smart.

 

[demiurge1138]

CR 4 seems reasonable, ditto advancement.

 

[freyar]

That all seems just fine to me.

 

[Shade]

Updated.

Ready for Construction?

A person who is extremely vain concerning the appearance of his hair can create a living hair creature. Such a person must use strands of his own hair as material in the creation of a curtain or rug, and the rug must contain certain magic sigils as part of the design.

Bits of living hair are used by wizards in the creation of magical ropes, such as those of climbing and constriction, and nets of entanglement.

The prereqs for those magic items might provide inspiration for the prereq spells for creation.

Rope of Climbing: animate rope
Rope of Entanglement: animate objects, animate rope, entangle

 

[freyar]

I like animate rope and entangle. Animate objects would be good, but I don't know why someone at CL11 would be making these. It's ok if we want to add it, though.

 

[Shade]

Borrowing from the hangman golem's creation...

A living hair's body is crafted from a magically treated rug or tapestry interwoven with strands of hair from the creator. The necessary threads and magical dyes cost x gp. Creating the body is a complex task that requires a DC x Craft (weaving) check. Five or more ranks in the Use Rope skill grants a +2 bonus on the Craft check.

CL xth; Craft Construct, animate rope, entangle, caster must be at least xth level; Price x,000 gp; Cost x gp + x XP.

Here are some similarly-CRed golems for price ideas...

Wood Golem (CR 3): CL 5th; Craft Construct, wood shape, barkskin, caster must be at least 5th level; Price 4,000 gp; Cost 2,500 gp + 120 XP.

Tin Golem (CR 3): CL 5th; Craft Construct, fox's cunning, magic mouth, mending, caster must be at least 5th level; Price 6,400 gp; Cost 3,400 gp + 240 XP.

Fungus Golem (CR 4): CL 7th; Craft Construct, command plants, plant growth, caster must be at least 7th level; Price 7,000 gp; Cost 4,000 gp + 240 XP.

Junk Golem (CR 5): CL 7th; Craft Construct, make whole, magic vestment, locate object, caster must be at least 7th level; Price 9,000 gp; Cost 4,500 gp + 360 XP.

Among the sample, Craft DCs are either 15 or 20, and not increasing based upon CR.

 

[Cleon]

Borrowing from the hangman golem's creation...

A living hair's body is crafted from a magically treated rug or tapestry interwoven with strands of hair from the creator. The necessary threads and magical dyes cost x gp. Creating the body is a complex task that requires a DC x Craft (weaving) check. Five or more ranks in the Use Rope skill grants a +2 bonus on the Craft check.

The original description indicates this creature is entirely made out of hair, so I'd like that to be reflected in the construction text.

Similarly, I get the impression its not made out of special materials, just ordinary rubbish (like a Junk Golem or Scarecrow), so could we do without the special threads, dyes or other components.

I'd prefer something like:

A living hair's body can be crafted from any sort of hair (human hair, horsehair, wool et cetera) interwoven with strands of hair from the creator. Creating the body is a complex task that requires a DC x Craft (weaving) check. Five or more ranks in the Use Rope skill grants a +2 bonus on the Craft check.

The Craft DC doesn't need to be very high - maybe DC15?

CL xth; Craft Construct, animate rope, entangle, caster must be at least xth level; Price x,000 gp; Cost x gp + x XP.

Animate rope and entangle are fine, but I'd like to add a higher level (~4th?) spell, since those are only 1st & 2nd level spells.

How about animate dead, since the creators imbuing unnatural life into dead organic material (i.e. hair)?

Going by the CL, price and CR examples, I'm thinking Caster Level 7 and a price of 7,500 gp.

Putting that all together could make:

A living hair's body can be crafted from any sort of hair (human hair, horsehair, wool et cetera) interwoven with strands of hair from the creator. Creating the body is a complex task that requires a DC x Craft (weaving) check. Five or more ranks in the Use Rope skill grants a +2 bonus on the Craft check.

CL 7th; Craft Construct, animate dead, animate rope, entangle, caster must be at least 7th level; Price 7,500 gp; Cost 3,750 gp + 300 XP.

 

[Shade]

The original description indicates this creature is entirely made out of hair, so I'd like that to be reflected in the construction text.

Similarly, I get the impression its not made out of special materials, just ordinary rubbish (like a Junk Golem or Scarecrow), so could we do without the special threads, dyes or other components.

The original text clearly contradicts this:

A person who is extremely vain concerning the appearance of his hair can create a living hair creature. Such a person must use strands of his own hair as material in the creation of a curtain or rug, and the rug must contain certain magic sigils as part of the design.