Converting monsters from Tales From The Infinite Staircase

[freyar]

OK, the basic stats for the warrior look good, and I agree with the ability bump to Con. Feats should definitely include Mounted Combat and EWP (torag pole). And let's go with several extra symbionts, say the gifts of Strength, Con, and Speed.

It's too bad we can't find another fly for these fly mounts, since we converted a number of them before! It's always nice to get use of some of our old conversions, but ah well. Anyway, I think I'd prefer to leave these as mindless vermin. Isn't there a feat or something that lets you train vermin?

 

[Cleon]

OK, the basic stats for the warrior look good, and I agree with the ability bump to Con. Feats should definitely include Mounted Combat and EWP (torag pole). And let's go with several extra symbionts, say the gifts of Strength, Con, and Speed.

That works for me.

It's too bad we can't find another fly for these fly mounts, since we converted a number of them before! It's always nice to get use of some of our old conversions, but ah well. Anyway, I think I'd prefer to leave these as mindless vermin. Isn't there a feat or something that lets you train vermin?

Like the feat from Drow of the Underdark with the original name of "Vermin Trainer"?

The problem with that is it isn't SRD.

Also, the original stats for the "Giant Fly Mount" give it an intelligence of Animal (1), meaning it isn't a mindless insect like a Giant Horsefly (which are non-intelligence in both AD&D and our CC conversion).

The Giant Fly Mount is very close statistically to a 2E Giant Horsefly including them sharing the "attaches to opponent" special attack. The differences are the Giant Fly Mount's got a better THAC0 (15 vs 17), Morale (11 vs 5-7) and aerial maneuverability (A vs D).

Making them Magical Beast mounts like a Spider Eater seems the easiest solution.

Come to think of it, the higher BAB and larger HD sort-of matches the differences between the AD&D original's: The Mount's attacks are 2 points more accurate and its hit points of 32 are higher than the 27 average it should have for 6d8 Hit Dice.

 

[freyar]

OK, I can accept a Magical Beast version of the Giant Horsefly, but it would be nice to have a little more of a difference.

 

[Cleon]

OK, I can accept a Magical Beast version of the Giant Horsefly, but it would be nice to have a little more of a difference.

Well it already has the difference of being a magical beast. Are there any bits of the Homebrew Giant Fly Mount version I posted recently you like?

I'm thinking we could do without the Evasion and Wallcrawling abilities of my homebrew, since the original monster lacked them.

 

[freyar]

Attach and Gnaw look fine. Resistant to Disease, too. So I guess we just need a description, wouldn't you say? Can we borrow from our giant horsefly?

 

[Cleon]

Attach and Gnaw look fine. Resistant to Disease, too.

That's certainly enough to start a Working Draft.

I'm tempted to change the name from Giant Fly Mount to Giant Riding Fly. It's a bit easier to my ears.

So I guess we just need a description, wouldn't you say? Can we borrow from our giant horsefly?

The CC Giant Horsefly conversion's background text has:

Giant horseflies are among the largest of their kind. They feed upon nectar and pollen of giant plants, and the blood and flesh of large mammals, birds, and other animals.

Giant horseflies lay their eggs on leaves, stems, or stones near water. On hatching, the larvae fall into water or moist earth, feeding voraciously on anything smaller than themselves.
​

How about:

Massive magical relatives of the already large giant horsefly, these insects are barely intelligence enough be trained as mounts. Giant fly mounts [?Giant riding flies?] eat anything rich in sugar and protein such as nectar, honey, blood or flesh. They enjoy eating rotting carrion.

These flies lay their eggs on leaves, stems, or stones near water. On hatching, the larvae fall into water or moist earth, feeding voraciously on anything smaller than themselves.

 

[Cleon]

Fly, Giant Riding
Large Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 6d10+18 (51 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), climb 20 ft., fly 70 ft. (good)
Armor Class: 15 (-1 size, +2 Dex, +4 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 13
Base Attack/Grapple: +6/+14
Attack: Bite +9 melee (2d8+6 plus attach)
Full Attack: Bite +9 melee (2d8+6 plus attach)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Attach, gnaw
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., resistant to disease, scent
Saves: Fort +8 (+12 vs. disease), Ref +9, Will +2
Abilities: Str 18, Dex 15, Con 16, Int 1, Wis 10, Cha 3
Skills: Climb +12, Listen +6, Spot +7
Feats: Dodge, Endurance, Lightning Reflexes
Environment: Any warm land (Maelgost)
Organization: Domesticated
Challenge Rating: 4
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 7-9 HD (Large)
Level Adjustment: —

This massive fly approaches with a thunderous din from its rapidly beating wings.

Massive magical relatives of the already large giant horsefly, these insects are barely intelligent enough be trained as mounts. Giant riding flies eat anything rich in sugar and protein such as nectar, honey, blood or flesh. They enjoy eating rotting carrion.

These flies lay their eggs on leaves, stems, or stones near water. On hatching, the larvae fall into water or moist earth, feeding voraciously on anything smaller than themselves.

A giant riding fly is around 8 feet long with a 16-foot wingspan and weighs about 1,500 pounds.

Combat
The giant riding fly's mandibles resemble serrated hooks, which they use to latch onto opponents and rip out chunks of flesh, leaving vicious wounds.

Attach (Ex): A giant riding fly that hits with its bite attack latches onto the opponent’s body with its powerful jaws. An attached giant riding fly loses its Dexterity bonus to AC and thus has an AC of 13. An attached giant riding fly can be struck with a weapon or grappled itself. To remove an attached giant riding fly through grappling, the opponent must achieve a pin against the creature.

A giant riding fly cannot bite another creature while attached to an opponent.

Gnaw (Ex): A giant riding fly can automatically deal bite damage (2d8+6) each round it remains attached to an opponent. This counts as an attack of opportunity.

Resistant to Disease (Ex): A giant riding fly has a +4 racial bonus on Fortitude saves vs. disease.

Skills: Giant riding flies have a +2 racial bonus on Listen and Spot checks and a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks. A giant riding fly can always choose to take 10 on Climb checks, even if rushed or threatened.

Training a Giant Riding Fly
A giant riding fly requires training before it can bear a rider in combat.

Training a giant riding fly requires six weeks of work and a DC 25 Handle Animal check. Riding a giant riding fly requires an exotic saddle. A giant riding fly can fight while carrying a rider, but the rider cannot also attack unless he or she succeeds on a Ride check.

Giant riding fly eggs are worth 3,000 gp apiece on the open market, while larva are worth 6,000 gp each. Professional trainers charge 1,500 gp to rear or train a giant riding fly.

Carrying Capacity
A light load for a giant riding fly is up to 300 pounds; a medium load, 301-600 pounds; and a heavy load, 601-900 pounds.

In Maelost
On their native plane of Maelost, giant riding flies are domesticated by the hanim, a race of humans with a symbiotic bond with wormlike creatures called valgoss, granting them the valgoss host template. Hanim fly mounts have their own valgoss symbionts, allowing the hanim to use their Ride skill without the template's penalty to Charisma skill checks against a creature who isn't a valgoss host.

A typical hanim giant fly has a single valgoss symbiont with the Gift of Constitution, resulting in the following:

Giant Fly Mount (Valgoss Host Riding Fly) (Large Magical Beast; Hit Dice: 6d10+24–2 (55 hp); Init: +2; Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), climb 20 ft., fly 70 ft. (good); AC: 15 (–1 size, +2 Dex, +4 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 13; Base Attack/Grapple: +6/+14; Attack/Full Attack: Bite +9 melee (2d8+6 plus attach); Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft.; Special Attacks: Attach, gnaw; Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., resistant to disease, scent, protection from the taker of life, slaiyith gift (constitution), valgoss telepathy; Saves: Fort +9 (+13 vs. disease), Ref +9, Will +2; Abilities: Str 18, Dex 15, Con 18, Int 1, Wis 10, Cha 3; Skills: Climb +12, Listen +8, Spot +9, Survival +2; Feats: Dodge, Endurance, Lightning Reflexes; CR: 4)

Originally appeared in Tales From the Infinite Staircase (1998) in Tale 3: Lord of the Worms as the "Giant Fly Mount".

 

[freyar]

I kind of like the Giant Riding Fly too. The description looks good, though "barely intelligence" should be "barely intelligent." And I think that flavor and name change will wrap these up.

Back to the Hanim Warrior?

 

[Cleon]

I kind of like the Giant Riding Fly too. The description looks good, though "barely intelligence" should be "barely intelligent." And I think that flavor and name change will wrap these up.

Works for me.

Updating Giant Fly Mount Giant Riding Fly Working Draft.

Back to the Hanim Warrior?

Yup! Where were we again?

This was the most recent post:

OK, the basic stats for the warrior look good, and I agree with the ability bump to Con. Feats should definitely include Mounted Combat and EWP (torag pole). And let's go with several extra symbionts, say the gifts of Strength, Con, and Speed.

I'll update the Hanim Warrior Working Draft with the above.

 

[Cleon]

I'll update the Hanim Warrior Working Draft with the above.

So skills and feats next?

The proposed "max out Climb, Handle Animal, Ride" looks fine to me. That'd give 'em:

Skills: Climb +10, Handle Animal +2 (+6 for valgoss hosts), Listen +1* (+3 on Maelost), Ride +9, Spot +1* (+3 on Maelost), Survival +1* (+3 on Maelost)

Hurr… the Charisma skill penalty for having four symbionts really hits its Handle Animal ability. Maybe we should either say they use flies with a valgoss symbiont or add Handle Animal to the "Intimidate exception"?

As for feats, how about:

Class Level Feats: Mounted Combat, plus one more

Human Bonus Feat: Iron Will?

Fighter Bonus Feats: Exotic Weapon Proficiency, Weapon Focus (torag pole), Weapon Specialization (torag pole)

I couldn't come up with anything terribly interesting for the second class level feat. Just the usual boring choices - Lightning Reflexes, Combat Reflexes, Mounted Archery, Power Attack.

Fighters don't get enough love in this system.

Oh, and we need to decide on a missile weapon for them. The original entry makes no mention of them, so maybe they're only armed with torag poles? Still, I'm more inclined to at least give them javelins or something.

Oh, and I am inclined to give the sample warrior a heavy wooden shield, since they are noted as being able to make shields out of insect carapaces.

Maybe we should list that as "+2 heavy chitin shield [equal to heavy wooden shield]" in the stats?