Converting Monsters from Polyhedron Magazine

[freyar]

Well, change the description for one thing. I believe we were also planning on dropping the needles and shed snow attacks.

 

[Cleon]

Well, change the description for one thing. I believe we were also planning on dropping the needles and shed snow attacks.

Yes, it's a dead tree so shouldn't have needles or enough twigs to carry enough snow.

I'm thinking an energy-draining attack, maybe one that does additional cold damage and leaves frozen solid corpses?

We've got the usual SRD cold spells to think of - cone of cold, fire shield (chill shield only), freezing sphere, ice storm, wall of ice or sleet storm.

Any of those would be handy.

Either unholy blight or blight would seem to be thematically appropriate. How about a special attack that combines both effects, doing extra damage to Good creatures, Outsiders and Plants?

Speaking of which, can they create spawn? Maybe they can only turn other plant monsters or just other treants into more of their kind?

 

[Shade]

All good potential abilities, but perhaps we should hammer down its theme? Is it an undead standard treant that succumbed to cold? Or is it an undead frost treant of some other genesis?

 

[Cleon]

All good potential abilities, but perhaps we should hammer down its theme? Is it an undead standard treant that succumbed to cold? Or is it an undead frost treant of some other genesis?

I was thinking undead frost treant or regular treant cursed by Cryonax.

 

[freyar]

I'd go with undead frost treant, myself. Maybe it's just a normal stage in the "life"-cycle of these bitter creatures.

 

[Shade]

That works for me. In that case, just take frost treant's ability scores (with no Con score, of course), and perhaps boost Cha a bit (as is common for undead templates)?

 

[Cleon]

Making them ancient Frost Treants that have a "frozen death" is a good idea, and it fits with Hoar, since hoary means "white or gray with age; ancient", although I'm thinking you're also referencing Hoar-Frost ""rime or white frost, the white particles formed by the freezing of the dew".

I still don't like "Hoartreants" as one word, so shall we call them "Hoar Treants" or "Hoar-Frost Treants"?.

That works for me. In that case, just take frost treant's ability scores (with no Con score, of course), and perhaps boost Cha a bit (as is common for undead templates)?

Sounds good. +6 Charisma, since we've been talking about giving them SLAs?

Hoar-Frost Treant: Str 25, Dex 8, Con --, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 16

They're going to have a serious hit point drop (averaging 4 points per die from losing +6 Con bonus but gaining d12 HD). Should we give them some better DR or a HP-increasing SQ to compensate?

 

[freyar]

These don't feel like "unholy toughness" type of undead, so I'd probably go with a boosted DR. Maybe slashing and cold iron? Or add some kind of vampire-style fast healing?

 

[Cleon]

These don't feel like "unholy toughness" type of undead, so I'd probably go with a boosted DR. Maybe slashing and cold iron? Or add some kind of vampire-style fast healing?

Fast Healing doesn't feel right to me. I imagine them as stiff, cold, dead things whose wounds wouldn't close in a hurry.

DR/slashing and cold iron is a good idea. There's long been an association between Treants and Fey, and Hoar-Frost Treants seem a natural fit with the Unseelie Winter Court.

 

[Shade]

Added to Homebrews.