Converting monsters from Dungeon Magazine

[Shade]

Thoughts on the previous two posts?

 

[freyar]

I think the mental stats, except Int as noted, look good (maybe set Int around 15-16?). I'd do something like Str 10, Dex 12, which takes care of the +1 to init. Then 1d6 slam damage for the fists? (That seems a bit high, so do we need Imp Nat Attack?)

Edit: Drumming and the SLAs look good.

 

[Shade]

Added to Homebrews.

I bumped the Cha a bit over the other puppets since it is more reliant on SLAs.

How about having the prereqs require the brain of an arcane spellcaster?

saves as 16th-level magic-user

Bonus on saves against spells and spell-like abilities? Or literally set its saves equal to a 16th-level wizard (Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +10)? Or something else to account for the difference between its current saves and these bonuses (+4/+3/+9)?

We could give it the dwarf's +2 bonus on saves against spells and spell-like abilities, boost Wis 16 to to help increase the Will save, and give it Iron Will as a bonus feat, netting Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +8. Of course, it is immune to mind-affecting effects already, so the Will save might not need to be that high. Thoughts?

 

[freyar]

Added to Homebrews.

I bumped the Cha a bit over the other puppets since it is more reliant on SLAs.

How about having the prereqs require the brain of an arcane spellcaster?

Those sound good, and I love the brain prereq!

Bonus on saves against spells and spell-like abilities? Or literally set its saves equal to a 16th-level wizard (Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +10)? Or something else to account for the difference between its current saves and these bonuses (+4/+3/+9)?

We could give it the dwarf's +2 bonus on saves against spells and spell-like abilities, boost Wis 16 to to help increase the Will save, and give it Iron Will as a bonus feat, netting Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +8. Of course, it is immune to mind-affecting effects already, so the Will save might not need to be that high. Thoughts?

That could work, though I wonder if 16th level wizards had such high saves in 1e (or whichever edition that is). Maybe we could go for some sort of compromise? I'm not sure.

 

[Mortis]

Of course, it is immune to mind-affecting effects already, so the Will save might not need to be that high. Thoughts?

I wonder if the initial intention was that it is due to constructs being mindless that they have that immunity? IMO it doesn't really make any sense for intelligent constructs (and undead - where I think we've discussed this before ) to have then immunity.
Still, that's the rules...

That being said, I don't think that they need a Will score that high.

Regards
Mortis

 

[Shade]

I'm guessing that it is a byproduct of not possessing an actual mind (even if they are not truly "mindless" in the non-intelligent sense).

How about Wis 13, keep Iron Will as bonus feat, drop the dwarflike bonus vs. spells?

 

[Mortis]

How about Wis 13, keep Iron Will as bonus feat, drop the dwarflike bonus vs. spells?

Works for me.

Regards
Mortis

 

[Shade]

Caster level for SLAs? I'd argue that this should be higher than its HD, due to the "absorbed" spells from a decent spellcaster. Maybe 10th?

Skills: 40
Concentration, Knowledge (arcana), Spellcraft all seem good options.

Feats: Iron Will (B), 2 more
Assuming caster level 10th, it could take Quicken SLA for a 1st-level spell, like ventriloquism, command, or hypnotism.

 

[freyar]

10th seems good.

Let's max out those three. Perform (percussion) and maybe one other? If we go for the perform, do you want to let it make a perform check in lieu of the usual DC for drumming?

I like quicken SLA, probably for ventriloquism, though I'm not of strong mind about that. No good brainstorm for the last one, though.

 

[Shade]

Max ranks in Listen? (An ear for music...)

For the third feat, how about Combat Casting? Since it has no Con bonus, it could use the help.