Converting monsters from Tales From The Infinite Staircase

[Cleon]

ValgossOriginally appeared in Tales From the Infinite Staircase (1998).

It's been a while since I read my notes on these and I'd forgotten about all their symbiot powers. That makes them about as complicated to convert as the Slaiyiths and Taker of Life to convert depending on how much of the above we include.

The Land Urchin is comparatively straightforward and the Fly Swarm is even simpler.

For comparison, here are their stats:

FLY SWARM (insect swarm—10d10×5 Insects): AC 8; MV 3, Fl 18 (A); HD 1 hp per 20 insects; THAC0 N/A; #AT 1; Dmg 1; SA all within swarm have their vision reduced to 2d4 feet, and have a 90% chance of suffering 1 point of damage each round; SW Fire or smoke scatters the swarm; SZ T (20 insects per square foot); ML unsteady (6); Int animal (1); AL N; XP 100 if entire swarm is killed.

LAND URCHINS (1d2): AC 3; MV 12; HD 3+3; hp 18 each; THAC0 17; #AT 6; Dmg 1d2 (×6) (spines); SA Can fire spines 180 yards (as a light crossbow), poison paralyzes foes for six turns; SZ S (3′ long); ML steady (11); Int animal (1); AL N; XP 420 each.

Land Urchins have full AD&D writeups:

Here's their 2E AD&D Writeup from the 1989 Monstrous Compendium Volume Two.

Urchin - Land
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any temperate to tropical land
FREQUENCY: Rare
ORGANIZATION: Pair
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Day
DIET: Scavenger
INTELLIGENCE: Animal (1)
TREASURE: See below
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
NO. APPEARING: 1-2
ARMOR CLASS: 3
MOVEMENT: 12
HIT DICE: 3+3
THAC0: 17
NO. OF ATTACKS: 6
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-2
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: S (3′)
MORALE: Steady (11)
XP VALUE: 420

Urchins are a family of marine creatures that, like oysters, are hunted for the value of the stones found in their bodies.

They resemble 3-foot-diameter balls covered with thousands of 3-inch-long, needle-sharp spines. There are several species of urchins, which can be distinguished from each other by their distinctive colors.

Combat: Urchins can fire their spines with the distance and accuracy of light crossbows. An urchin can fire multiple spines per round as listed above under “No. of Attacks.” Urchins have no eyes with which to see their opponents; instead they possess an innate clairvoyance ability. This ability gives all spines fired by urchins a +2 bonus to the attack roll. Damage from an urchin spine varies from species to species and many spines contain paralytic or even lethal poisons. Since urchins are covered with thousands of spines, they have a virtually unlimited supply of ammunition.

*SNIP*

Land Urchin
These distant cousins of sea urchins live strictly on land. Land urchins move on five spindly legs. They are shy creatures and only attack if approached within ten feet. Their paralytic poison lasts for six turns. Land urchins have no organ-gem but often (80% chance) form pearls inside their bodies. Old urchins contain 2d6 such pearls, each valued at 1d6 x 100 gold pieces.

* * *

Here's their original writeup from the 1983 Monster Manual II:

URCHIN, LAND
FREQUENCY: Rare
NO. APPEARING: 1-2
ARMOR CLASS: 3
MOVE: 12″
HIT DICE: 3+3
% IN LAIR: Nil
TREASURE TYPE: See below
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2-12
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-2 + paralysis
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Paralysis
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Smoke cloud
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Animal
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: S (3′)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil/nil
LEVEL/XP VALUE: III/150 + 4/hp

A land-dwelling distant cousin of the sea urchin, the land urchin's spine covered body is often mistaken for a bush. The land urchin is a scavenger that consumes virtually anything that is edible. Its small mouth is located on the underside of its body and it has a rasping tongue with which to saw through armor and gather food. It is a shy creature and will attack only if another creature approaches within 1″. It defends itself by shooting 2-12 spines (damage 1-2) per round, and the victim must save vs. poison or be paralyzed for 6 turns. If it must flee, the urchin will release a dark gas cloud with a 10-foot radius to aid in its escape. The land urchin has no visual organs but uses 2 small antennae to detect any movement within 1″. It has no front or back, and its 5 spindly legs can rotate to allow it to move in any direction.

Occasionally, a land urchin will eat a bit of material that it cannot digest or eliminate. It will coat the object with a shiny greenish-black substance, forming "pearls" similar to oyster pearls worth 100-600 gp each. Very old urchins may have up to a dozen pearls.

So which do you fancy converting?

 

[freyar]

Whew, you're right, the valgoss are going to be complicated (anyone else think of the Trill?)! And I think we should probably convert the slaiyith and maybe the Taker of Life at the same time to do them justice. Yikes!

Let's deal with the land urchins and fly swarms first. And we might as well start with the fly swarm, since they should be easier. Basically, they're just a somewhat weaker locust swarm, say 4D. We can play around with the ability scores, too, I guess, just to differentiate them a little.

 

[Cleon]

Whew, you're right, the valgoss are going to be complicated (anyone else think of the Trill?)! And I think we should probably convert the slaiyith and maybe the Taker of Life at the same time to do them justice. Yikes!

Let's deal with the land urchins and fly swarms first. And we might as well start with the fly swarm, since they should be easier. Basically, they're just a somewhat weaker locust swarm, say 4D. We can play around with the ability scores, too, I guess, just to differentiate them a little.

As you like.

The original has one hit point for every 20 flies rolled on 10d10*5, which works out as 2 to 25 hit points with an average of 13.75.

That's pretty close to the 13.5 average of the 3d8 hit points of a 3 HD AD&D monster, so I'd suggest we go for 3 HD.

Vermin obviously.

The AC 8 looks woefully low, but it matches the AC of the Insect Swarms in the 2E AD&D Monstrous Manual.

Maybe take a Locust Swarm and halve its HD and swarm damage?

As for the Ability Scores, perhaps increase the Constitution to 10 like the Spider Swarm? It wouldn't feel right lowering its Dexterity from the Locust Swarm's Dex 19. Flies ought to be at least as agile as grasshoppers!

 

[freyar]

"Half a locust swarm" seems about right. I'd be ok with increasing Con to 10. But I'm not sure they're worth doing much else, like adding any sort of SA.

 

[Cleon]

"Half a locust swarm" seems about right. I'd be ok with increasing Con to 10. But I'm not sure they're worth doing much else, like adding any sort of SA.

I guess we could give them a SA that reduces visibility as per the "all within swarm have their vision reduced to 2d4 feet" which translates to reduced to 5 feet visibility.

That'd beg the question why ALL swarms don't have that effect upon creatures within them. I suppose these flies could instinctively buzz at creature's eyes.

Anyhow, I'll start a Working Draft using "half a locust swarm".

 

[Cleon]

Fly Swarm Working Draft

Swarm, Fly
Diminutive Vermin (Swarm)
Hit Dice: 3d8 (13 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 10 ft. (2 squares), fly 50 ft. (perfect)
Armor Class: 18 (+4 size, +4 Dex), touch 18, flat-footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple: +2/—
Attack: Swarm (1d6)
Full Attack: Swarm (1d6)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks: Distraction
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., immune to weapon damage, swarm traits, vermin traits
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +5, Will +1
Abilities: Str 1, Dex 19, Con 10, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 2
Skills: Listen +4, Spot +4
Feats: —
Environment: Any land
Organization: Solitary, cloud (2–7 swarms), or plague (11–20 swarms)
Challenge Rating: 1
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: None
Level Adjustment: —

A roiling cloud of flies.

In unusual circumstances, some species of carrion-eating flies become so numerous and hungry they form dense swarms that seek to devour living creatures as well as dead bodies.

Combat
A fly swarm surrounds and attacks any edible flesh it encounters. It does not discriminate between living creatures or decomposing flesh. A fly swarm will ignore fleeing opponents if it has an immobile victim or corpse to feed upon.

Distraction (Ex): Any living creature that begins its turn with a fly swarm in its space must succeed on a DC 11 Fortitude save or be nauseated for 1 round. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Skills: A fly swarm has a +4 racial bonus on Listen and Spot checks.

Originally appeared in Tales From the Infinite Staircase (1998).

 

[Cleon]

Swarm, Fly
Speed: 10 ft. (2 squares), fly 40 ft. (perfect) [?]

I realized that the AD&D and 3E Locust Swarm is a incompetent aerialist, Class C (= "average") in AD&D, "poor' in 3E.

The original stats of the Fly Swarm say it's a Class A flyer, which is "perfect" in 3E terms, so I've boosted the speed line accordingly. I also increased the Fly speed to 40 feet since the original has Move 18, or 50% faster than an unencumbered human.

I'm toying with the idea of making its fly speed 50 ft., but am OK with 40.

 

[freyar]

That all looks good. I don't mind either way on the fly speed, 50 ft or 40 ft. Your choice.

The only mechanical change might be if we think the CR should be tweaked a little, but CR 1 seems ok. You could possibly convince me about the concealment effect, but I'm not sold on it at the moment.

So: mechanically done?

 

[Cleon]

That all looks good. I don't mind either way on the fly speed, 50 ft or 40 ft. Your choice.

Well let's see, of our Fly conversions in the CC we have:

Giant Bluebottle Fly 80 ft. (good) - AD&D original 30" (D)
Giant Horsefly - Fly 60 ft. (good) - AD&D original 27" (D)
Tiger Fly - Fly 50 ft. (average) - AD&D original 18" (C)

So of those, the Tiger Fly matches the Fly Swarms 18" speed and we gave it a 50 ft. fly speed.

So I chose 50 ft. for the swarm. If only so it can outspeed an average unencumbered barbarian!

Updating Fly Swarm Working Draft.

The only mechanical change might be if we think the CR should be tweaked a little, but CR 1 seems ok. You could possibly convince me about the concealment effect, but I'm not sold on it at the moment.

Yes, I wasn't quite sure about the CR either hence the red question mark.

I'm undecided on the concealment effect. It'd be relatively straightforward to write up:

Concealing Swarm (Ex): The insects in a fly swarm are so numerous that when the swarm flies it obscures sight, including darkvision. Any creature with more than 5 feet of a fly swarm's space between them and an attacker has concealment (attacks have a 20% miss chance) against that attacker.

It just seems a bit surplus to requirements.

So: mechanically done?

I guess so, depending on whether or not we add the Concealing Swarm SQ.

 

[freyar]

I think I'd leave off the Concealing Swarm. And let's just go with CR 1; it's an art, not a science.

Tactics: A fly swarm surrounds and attacks any prey it encounters.

Description: A roiling mass of black flies. ????

Do these really need background?