Converting monsters from Tales From The Infinite Staircase

[freyar]

That will all be fine with me.

On to the darkness cloud. We have "If it must flee, the urchin will release a dark gas cloud with a 10-foot radius to aid in its escape." A precise conversion would pretty much be the giant squid's Ink Cloud. So something like:
Darkness Cloud (Ex): A land urchin can emit a cloud of dark gas 10 feet high by 20 feet wide by 20 feet long once per minute as a free action. The cloud provides total concealment, which the urchin normally uses to escape a losing fight. All vision within the cloud is obscured.
I changed cloud height to 10 ft, though, since presumably it won't penetrate into the ground.

 

[Cleon]

That will all be fine with me.

In that case.

Updating the Land Urchin Working Draft.

On to the darkness cloud. We have "If it must flee, the urchin will release a dark gas cloud with a 10-foot radius to aid in its escape." A precise conversion would pretty much be the giant squid's Ink Cloud. So something like:

Darkness Cloud (Ex): A land urchin can emit a cloud of dark gas 10 feet high by 20 feet wide by 20 feet long once per minute as a free action. The cloud provides total concealment, which the urchin normally uses to escape a losing fight. All vision within the cloud is obscured.

I changed cloud height to 10 ft, though, since presumably it won't penetrate into the ground.

I'd change it from a square to a circle but apart from that tweak it's fine:

Darkness Cloud (Ex): A land urchin can emit a cloud of dark gas 10 feet high with a radius of 10 feet once per minute as a free action. The cloud provides total concealment, which the urchin normally uses to escape a losing fight. All vision within the cloud is obscured.

 

[freyar]

That Darkness Cloud works. Let's add it (and the poison durations you suggested).

I could go for CR 1 or 2 based on the SRD vermin. I guess CR 2 is probably a little better.

In that case, are the mechanics all set?

 

[Cleon]

That Darkness Cloud works. Let's add it (and the poison durations you suggested).

I could go for CR 1 or 2 based on the SRD vermin. I guess CR 2 is probably a little better.

Updating the Land Urchin Working Draft.

In that case, are the mechanics all set?

I guess so. I believe we agreed not to give them clairvoyance like the "greater" urchins we're also converting.

Hold on, there was one thing - treasure. Land urchins can have "pearls" worth 100-600 gp, numbering up to 2d6 for particularly old specimens.

However, that raises a couple of issues. Firstly, that's a spread of 100 to 7,200 gp, which is maximum treasure a lot higher than a CR 2 monster's "Treasure per encounter" value of 600 gp.

That said, the 1d6×100gp of a single pearl is a pretty good match to 600 gp.

SO maybe we should change the "Advancement: None" to a more reasonable range and say they contain pearls with a value roughly proportional to their CR treasure value?

The maximum spread of 12d6×100 gp averages to 4,200 gp, which translates to a Encounter Level of 9.

A challenge rating 9 Land Urchin would be what, 18 HD (Large) or 15 HD (Huge) according to the standard Advancement guidelines. That seems conceivable.

Treasure: See below
Advancement: 4-6 HD (Small); 7-9 HD (Medium); 10-18 HD (Large)

Land urchins sometimes create greenish-black pearls around irritants they have swallowed in a similar way to oysters. A land urchin's pearl is worth from 100 to 600 gold pieces. Particularly old urchins may contain up to a dozen pearls, but most contain only a few, one, or none at all. The market value of a land urchin's pearls never exceeds the urchin's "treasure per encounter" value (600 gp for an ordinary CR 2 land urchin and ranging up to 4,500 gp for a CR 9 Huge 18 HD land urchin).

 

[freyar]

That all looks good to me. We did agree to leave off the clairvoyance.

Tactics: Land urchins attack with their spines at range, hoping to paralyze their prey for an easy kill. In a difficult fight, the land urchin tries to escape under cover of its darkness cloud.

 

[Cleon]

That all looks good to me. We did agree to leave off the clairvoyance.

Updating the Land Urchin Working Draft.

Tactics: Land urchins attack with their spines at range, hoping to paralyze their prey for an easy kill. In a difficult fight, the land urchin tries to escape under cover of its darkness cloud.

How about this rephrasing:

Land urchins attack with their spines as soon as an opponent is within range, hoping to paralyze their prey for an easy meal. If a fight turns difficult, they try to escape under cover of a darkness cloud.

 

[freyar]

Sounds good!

Do you have some preferred description text? I guess we could just go with "A ball of spines," but that seems a bit light.

 

[Cleon]

Sounds good!

Updating the Land Urchin Working Draft.

Hold on a moment, I just realized we messed up the tactics. They are "shy creatures" who only attack if approached closer than 10 feet.

Our current tactics entry is too proactive, with them attacking "as soon as an opponent is within range".

How about:

Land urchins are timid scavengers who only fight in self-defense. They will shoot spines at any creature that isn't another land urchin who comes within 10 feet of them, interpreting this as a threat. If their poison paralyzes all their attackers land urchins are likely to try eating one of them. Land urchins try to escape difficult fights under cover of their darkness cloud ability.

Do you have some preferred description text? I guess we could just go with "A ball of spines," but that seems a bit light.

While that description would suffice for the Greater Urchin, its terrestrial cousin actually has a more complicated appearance.

Oops, look at the time. I have to go out.

Hopefully I'll post a draft description when I get back.

 

[Cleon]

Hopefully I'll post a draft description when I get back.

Okay here goes.

This creature appears to be a ball of spines about a yard across. It stands on five spindly legs with rotating joints that allow it to walk in any direction. A short pair of antennae are the only other visible feature..

Land urchins are terrestrial cousins of the greater sea urchin. Like their distant relatives, they can shoot volleys of spines from their spherical bodies. Land urchins are scavengers able to consume anything even vaguely edible. They have a small mouth concealed on their underside with a rasping tongue able to slowly saw through shell, bone or even armor.

Land urchins try to hide or shy away from other creatures, but if a creature approaches within 10 feet the urchin will start shooting spines at it. A land urchin's spines are coated with paralytic poison and the urchin is quite willing to eat living victims paralyzed by its venom.

Land urchins sometimes create greenish-black pearls around irritants they have swallowed in a similar way to oysters. A land urchin's pearl is worth from 100 to 600 gold pieces. Particularly old urchins may contain up to a dozen pearls, but most contain only a few, one, or none at all. The market value of a land urchin's pearls never exceeds the urchin's "treasure per encounter" value (600 gp for an ordinary CR 2 land urchin and ranging up to 4,500 gp for a CR 9 Huge 18 HD land urchin).

A typical land urchin is 3 feet in diameter and weighs about 60 pounds.

Combat
Land urchins are timid scavengers who only fight in self-defense. They will shoot spines at any creature that isn't another land urchin who comes within 10 feet of them, interpreting this as a threat. If their poison paralyzes all their attackers land urchins are likely to try eating one of them. Land urchins try to escape difficult fights under cover of their darkness cloud ability.

 

[Cleon]

While reading the Land Urchin's original 1E AD&D entry in the Monster Manual II (1983) I noticed a couple of titbits:

Firstly, "the land urchin's spine covered body is often mistaken for a bush".

That tempts me to add a subentry:

Cryptic Land Urchin
What you took to be a small thorny bush suddenly moves, revealing itself to be a strange animal. Its "branches" are long spines that radiate from a spherical body. What appeared to be the plant's stalks are actually five fragile-seeming legs.

Some land urchins mimic the appearance of a thorn bush. This helps conceal them from predators and potential victims. A cryptic land urchin gains the following special qualities. All other traits are the same as a regular land urchin.

Mimic Bush (Ex): A cryptic land urchin closely resembles a thorn bush. Anyone who examines the urchin can detect the ruse with a successful Spot check opposed by the urchin’s Hide check. Creatures with Survival or Knowledge (nature) can use those skills instead of Spot to notice the urchin.

Skills: A cryptic land urchin has a +8 racial bonus on Hide checks when in tall grass, undergrowth or other areas where a small bush is likely to occur.


Secondly, the MMII has "It has no front or back, and its 5 spindly legs can rotate to allow it to move in any direction".

That says "All-Around Vision" to me.

All-Around Vision (Ex): A land urchin's antennae allow it to sense in any direction, providing a +4 racial bonus on Spot and Search checks. A land urchin can't be flanked.

However, if we do give it All-Around Vision it'd seem unfair not to do the same to the greater urchins:

All-Around Vision (Ex): A greater urchin's clairvoyance ability allow it to sense in any direction, providing a +4 racial bonus on Spot and Search checks. A greater urchin can't be flanked.