Converting Monsters from Polyhedron Magazine

[Cleon]

How about this? "The lucky rare victims of a whirling dervish who've survived report that the creatures make crude guttural vocalizations, but it remains unclear whether they have any concept or understanding of language."

I like that.

That works for me!

Updated. Finished?

Shouldn't its description have "oversized jaw" rather than "overside jaw"?

 

[freyar]

Looks like it.

 

[Shade]

Fixed!

Here's the next one...

Ghast-lord: 1; AL CE; IN High; SZ M; MV 12"; AC 2; HD 8; hp 48; THAC0 12; #AT 3 or 1 spell; Dmg 1-6/1-6/1-12 or by spell.
Spells carried: command (die), protection from good, sanctuary, bless, resist cold, hold person, spiritual hammer, silence 15' radius, speak with animals, resist fire.

(From "Ravager, Part 1: The Darkcrypt" by Jeff Grubb; Polyhedron Newszine Issue 30).


Not much to this one, leaving us much room for creative license.

Powerful unique undead or template?

 

[Cleon]

Fixed!

Here's the next one...

Ghast-lord: 1; AL CE; IN High; SZ M; MV 12"; AC 2; HD 8; hp 48; THAC0 12; #AT 3 or 1 spell; Dmg 1-6/1-6/1-12 or by spell.
Spells carried: command (die), protection from good, sanctuary, bless, resist cold, hold person, spiritual hammer, silence 15' radius, speak with animals, resist fire.

(From "Ravager, Part 1: The Darkcrypt" by Jeff Grubb; Polyhedron Newszine Issue 30).


Not much to this one, leaving us much room for creative license.

Powerful unique undead or template?

It's not far off a regular ghast which also happens to be a 4th level cleric, except its AC and attacks are higher.

That would seem to be the way to go - take a standard ghast, add 4th level cleric spell casting and rebuke undead (since it's a "lord" it makes sense to give it an ability to push its minions around), increase its NA a bit for the AC 2 better than an AD&D Ghast, and up its attacks a dice.

Probably improve a couple of its ability scores too, like Strength, Wisdom or Charisma, to go with its higher damage, clerical spells and "lordiness".

Note there's no mention of Stench, so I'd cut it out. He ain't no stinkin' lord! I'd keep the standard ghoul & ghast paralysis though.

Could give it Unholy Toughness, since the original has a higher than average hp (48 hp from 8d8 is a third more than the 36 hp average)

How's this for a start:

Ghast-Lord
Medium Undead
Hit Dice: 8d12+24 (76 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 19 (+3 Dex, +6 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple:+6/+10
Attack: Bite +10 melee (1d12+4 plus paralysis)
Full Attack: Bite +10 melee (1d12+4 plus paralysis) and 2 claws +8 melee (1d6+2 plus paralysis)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Ghoul fever, paralyis, rebuke undead, spells
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., undead traits, +4 turn resistance
Saves: Fort +2, Ref +5, Will +9
Abilities: Str 19, Dex 17, Con –, Int 13, Wis 16, Cha 18
Skills: Balance +, Climb +, Hide +, Jump +, Move Silently +, Spot + [Add Knowledge (religion)?]
Feats: Multiattack, plus 2
Environment: Any
Organization: Solitary, gang (1 plus 2-4 ghouls or ghasts), or pack (1 plus 2-4 ghasts and 7-12 ghouls) ?
Challenge Rating: 5?
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Advancement: 9-X (Medium); X-X (Large)?
Level Adjustment:—

Description

Combat

Ghoul Fever (Su): Disease—bite, Fortitude DC 15, incubation period 1 day, damage 1d3 Con and 1d3 Dex. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Paralysis (Ex): Those hit by a ghast-lord's bite or claw attack must succeed on a DC 15 Fortitude save or be paralyzed for 1d4+1 rounds. Even elves can be affected by this paralysis. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Spellcasting (Sp): A ghast-lord casts spells as a 4th level cleric with the X and X domains

Typical Spells Prepared

Rebuke Undead: A ghast-lord can rebuke undead as an X-level cleric (equal to its HD or its cleric spellcasting?)

Unholy Toughness: A ghast-lord gains bonus hit points equal to its Charisma bonus on each of its hit dice.

 

[Shade]

Drop stench?!?! No way! Otherwise, we ought simply call him "Ghoul-Lord"!

You took this in a much different direction than I was expecting. I was actually thinking "template", like vampire lord and greater mummy, with stronger paralysis and greater stench. I was also thinking SLAs rather than spellcasting, but can accept that route.

Freyar, what's your take on this?

 

[freyar]

I have this gut feeling that we haven't done a template in a while, and I think it would be fun. So I'll vote for a template. But I think I like the cleric casting (perhaps with some SLAs too).

 

[Shade]

Sounds great!

Perhaps it is "gifted" to priests and shamans of cannibalistic and anthropophagus races and tribes by dark deities?

The ghastly creature template adds the following to the base creature:
+2 natural armor
bite and claw attacks
SAs: create spawn, paralysis, stench
SQs: +2 turn resistance
+2 Strength, +4 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, +4 Wisdom, and +6 Charisma

The vampire lord template modifies an existing vampire, and essentially boosts everything the vampire template has, as well as adding a few additional abilities.

The greater mummy template, rather than modifying an existing mummy, is simply a more powerful mummy template to tack on a base creature.

I'd imagine the greater mummy path works better here, since we're presumably adding it to a spellcaster.

 

[Cleon]

You two both want to do a template?

Aiee! You've been replaced by Dopplegangers.

I don't mind a template that's applicable to evil clerics.

Feel free to throw the stench back in, I only left it out because I was taking a minimalist approach to the conversion.

 

[Shade]

You two both want to do a template?

Aiee! You've been replaced by Dopplegangers.

I'm not anti-template, I'm anti-nested-template!

In fact, I think most undead should be templates.

Feel free to throw the stench back in, I only left it out because I was taking a minimalist approach to the conversion.

Minimalist? Halloween's fast approaching...it's time to GONZO with undead!

<we really, really need a zombie emoticon>

Added the basic framework to Homebrews. Currently, it is just the benefits of the ghastly creature template.

Extend the stench radius to 30 feet and increase the duration?

Double the paralysis duration?

Liches have a +8 racial bonus on Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Search, Sense Motive, and Spot checks
Vampires have a +8 racial bonus on Bluff, Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Search, Sense Motive, and Spot checks
Follow that trend and give the ghast lord the same bonuses as the lich?

Ghastly Creature: Str +2, Dex +4, Int +2, Wis +4, Cha +6
Vampire: Str +6, Dex +4, Int +2, Wis +2, Cha +4
Vampire Lord: As vampire, plus Str +6, Dex +4, Int +2, Wis +2, Cha +4

So maybe Str +6, Dex +8, Int +2, Wis +6, Cha +6? I don't really think they should be stronger than a vampire or smarter than a lich.

Add some DR? Since vamps have /silver, maybe /cold iron?

Boost turn resistance to +4?

 

[freyar]

I can agree with all that. (I also happen to prefer my undead as templates.) I rather like the idea of the template granting inherent casting, but a template that only applies to creatures with the ability to cast divine spells is ok, too.

BTW, is ghastly creature from Libris Mortis? We could also get inspiration from the dread ghast template in the Advanced Bestiary (which I will look up when I get home from my business trip today).