Converting monsters from the second edition Monstrous Compendiums

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he posted a bunch of LAs in various threads and i asked him to gather them up so i could add them on to the conversions but i haven't heard back from him... guess that's more work for me. :p
 

Found the original stats for our buddy, from Gates of Firestorm Peak. (Note that this appears to be written with the Player’s Option rules from late 2E in mind.) I haven’t had a good look at this yet, but see if there’s anything we should use from this version over what we have done already. If you’re reading this after I have posted the dharculus to the CC, don’t worry; I can always edit it later. ;)

Dharculus

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Special
FREQUENCY: Very rare
ORGANIZATION: Solitary
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Carnivorous
INTELLIGENCE: Very (11-12)
TREASURE: Nil
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Neutral
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 2
MOVEMENT: 9
HIT DICE: 10
THAC0: 11
NO. OF ATTACKS: 6 or 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: ld4 + adhesion (tentacles) or 2d10 (primary maw)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Adhesion
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Ethereal
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: H (30-foot long)
MORALE: Elite (14)
XP VALUE: 3,000

The dharculus is a creature native to the Far Realm. The Vast Gate has provided access to the Prime Material Plane for these dread entities, and some few now hunt in the environs of Firestorm Peak. These particularly deadly creatures hunt all other creatures that cross their paths without regard to rank or hierarchy. They possess little fear, being well protected from its prey.
The dharculus are swimmers of the Border Ethereal; however, they have a singular ability to insert their mawed tentacle ends into the Prime Material Plane. These tentacles appear as a swarm of blind eel-like creatures sliding through the very air in a deadly school. To those who can see into the Ethereal, the "eels" are merely the protruding tentacle tips of the dharculus. Following the multiple tentacles back, one would see that they come together $I a fused braid, a thick and ridged wormlike tube forming the main body of the creature. The posterior end of the cylindrical body loops back towards the front like a quetion mark, ending in an huge, drooling maw filled with razor-sharp teeth. Five of the dharculus' tentacles end irt eyes instead of manipulator maws; the entity keeps the& safely tucked into the Ethereal Plane ter search through the mists for its next victim.

Combat: A dharculus feeds DY dipping its mawed tentacle ends into the Prime Material Plane to attack and draw prey into reach of the horrible maw on the Ethereal, much as a bear scoops trout out of their normal watery environment into the alien realm (to the fish) of air. In addition to the ld4 points of damage each tentacle tip inflicts upon a successful attack, each maw also attaches itself to the prey where it hit. It takes a successful Strength/Muscle check (with a -2 penalty to the roll) to rip the tentacle off, causing another 1d4 points of damage as the teeth tear free. If a dharculus can fasten three or more tentacles onto a single victim, he or she must make a successful saving throw vs. death magic or be drawn into the Ethereal Plane in the very fast phase of the next round. Here the dharculus car bring its horrible primary maw to bear on the victim for 2d10 points of damage. While the dharculus continues to have hold of a victim with at least three tentacles, it will continue attempting to draw the reluctant prey into the Ethereal once per round, possibly necessitating multiple saves.
A dharculus normally hunts with all six of its mawed tentacles inserted into the Prime Material Plane. Each tentacle tip attacks as a 10-HD creature with the following stats: AC 3; MV fly 9; HD 2, hp 8; THAC0 11; #AT 1, Dmg 1d4; SA adhesion; SZ S (2-foot long). Tentacles which take the full 8 hp of damage are severed and fall upon the floor, looking for all the world like a dead eel-creature. On the Ethereal Plane a dharculus regenerates a damaged or severed tentacle at the rate of 2 hp every 12 hours; it will never insert an only partially regrown tentacle into the Prime Material. A hit with a magical weapon has a 20% chance per magical plus to knock the appendage fully back into the Ethereal plane, where it takes the dharculus 4 rounds to “insert” it back through the veil to our plane of existence.
A dharculus will attack individuals or groups of creatures with its mawed tentacles, attempting to draw its chosen meal into the Ethereal Plane where it can snack in safety. A victim who is drawn through the veil has an opportunity to attack the dharculus as it attempts to quickly kill the prey with its devastating bite. A PC may get lucky by defeating the dharculus in its home ground; however this then leaves the PC drifting in the Border Ethereal, able to see his or her companions through the gray mist but unable to contact them. Unless the PC has extraordinary resources, he or she is faces with being marooned, but a quick-thinking PC has a single chance: the mawed tentacles which are still inserted into the Prime Material plane. The tentacles of a freshly killed dharculus slowly recede into the Ethereal, but a character has 4 rounds to grab one of the tentacles like a lifeline and physically pull himself or herself back into the Prime Material, as a man pulling himself free of sucking quicksand. A successful Strength/Muscle check with a +2 bonus on the PC’s roll indicates that the PC has successfully emerged fully into the Prime Material Plane.

Habitat/Society: These creatures have an utterly alien psychology. Their intentions and motivations have been forged in the Far Realm, where human minds are at peril in attempting to understand. However, regardless of other considerations, the basic motivator which drives these creatures is easily understood by beings of the Prime Material: hunger. Dharculus never pass up an easy meal. In fact, the creature is not above dragging creatures across the Ethereal veil just to save for later snacking.
Only one or perhaps two of these creatures are even known to have crossed over into our reality, and these exist only within Firestorm Peak. That is not to say that more do not exist within the Far Realm. As time passes, it seems inevitable that more will arrive, hunting the beaches of the Prime Material in relative safety from the shallow sea of the Border Ethereal.

Ecology: It is not known if these creatures mate or merely asexually bud or fission. If the latter of these options is true, even a single such creature could rapidly populate a new area. However, these creatures seem to congregate near the point of their entry into this reality. This may be because they are somehow dependent upon some particular element of their own Far Realm and need to stay near the point where leakage of this influence occurs. If this is true, only creatures near the point of entry are in peril. However, in the case of Firestorm Peak, this zone of influence is slowly expanding further into the Prime Material Plane.
 





Been wanting to get to these for a long, long time! :)


Spanner

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any
FREQUENCY: Very rare
ORGANIZATION: Solitary
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: None
INTELLIGENCE: Average (8-10)
TREASURE: See below
ALIGNMENT: Neutral

NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 0
MOVEMENT: 3
HIT DICE: 10-15
THAC0: 11 (at 10 HD)
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 0
SPECIAL ATTACKS. See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: G (100'-200' long, 10'-30' wide)
MORALE: Fanatic (17-18)
XP VALUE: 5000 (10 HD) + 1000 per HD above 10

Spanners, also called living bridges, were originally created to help guard a certain wizard's rower, but have since escaped into the wilderness.

As implied by their name, these creatures appear as large, single-span stone arch bridges, complete with rails, posts and so forth. The type of stone, stains, vine covering, and other details will be appropriate for the local environment (see below). These creatures are extremely difficult to differentiate from true bridges. Only dwarves, or persons with engineering or stonemason talents, may be able to ascertain the identity of a spanner. In this instance, a successful Intelligence or appropriate nonweapon proficiency check at a -6 penalty is required before the true nature of the bridge may be seen.

Combat: Spanners prefer not to attack, if at all possible. They are benign, even friendly, preferring to gossip and gather information rather than attack, Being curious and intelligent creatures, they will tolerate a fair amount of abuse as long as the creatures around them are talking. However, if irked, or crossed without permission, spanners are malicious and have no mercy. It the victim is near the edge of the creature (within five feet of a rail), the spanner will attempt to pitch him/her off the side; otherwise, the spanner opens a hole through itself and under the victim. In either instance, a Dexterity check at -4 is necessary to avoid being removed from the bridge. The damage from this attack will depend on the distance from the bridge to the land or water below (1d6 damage per 10' of failing, up 20d6 maximum, with additional potential for drowning if the creature is spanning a waterway). These creatures locate potential enemies by detecting their weight on its surface, or by feeling their vibrations in the ground up to 150' away.

The spanner is intelligent enough to recognize that wildlife may seek to cross the bridge, and that a talking bridge may scare the creatures away. The spanner allows itself to be used in this manner without attacking. It will not tolerate unnecessary hunting in its vicinity, if at all possible. Creatures who hunt for sport and try to cross the spanner are automatically attacked.

Spanners are made of stone, and thus, have an exceptional AC of 0. Furthermore, they suffer only half damage from pointed or edged weapons, while blunt weapons do full damage.

Spanners are also capable of using a stoneskin spell-like ability once per day, which protects them from 8 attacks.

Their Hit Dice are proportional to their length: 10 HD at 100' long, with one additional HD per 20' length, up to a maximum of 200' (15 HD). When killed, they simply cease to move, and become normal, inanimate stone bridges.

The creatures do not value treasure as we know it. Any treasure their vicinity is from the bridge's victims. Such treasure often has suffered damage as a result of a fall from the bridge, or may have been swept away by recent flooding of a river which flows under the bridge.

Habitat/Society: Spanners are curious about anything and everything. It is often possible to negotiate passage across a spanner by simply talking to it and providing gossip, news, trivia, and so forth, However, they tend to be insufferable gossips and liars.

To fit in with the local scenery, spanners, will color themselves with stains, add plant growth, assume the color of local stone, or otherwise camouflage themselves.

No one is sure how spanners were introduced to the wild. It is believed that they were originally created by a wizard's experiments with mimics, in an effort to create a creature to guard the moats and chasms outside of his tower. The spanners learned much from visitors who traveled through to see the wizard, including how to move themselves around. They form pseudopods which slowly (4 rounds) form into crude feet, which allow ponderously sluggish movement at a rate of 3. They tend to remain in one place for years, but will move if they feel the local people have found them out, or will no longer talk to them.

Spanners are constructed of stone and thus do not need to eat. Spanners do not reproduce, and seem to have no natural limit to their lifespans.

Ecology: Spanners generally are a boon to the surrounding natural community, as they demand nothing from it and punish those who abuse it.




some preliminary stats for the spanner:

Spanner
Colossal Construct
Hit Dice: 10d10+80 (135 hp)
Initiative: +X
Speed: 10 ft (2 squares)
Armor Class: 20 (-8 size, +X Dex, +X natural), touch X, flat-footed X
Base Attack/Grapple: +7/+X
Attack: ?
Full Attack: (touch to initiate grapple?)
Space/Reach: 30 ft/20 ft ?
Special Attacks: throw, freeze (like gargoyles?)
Special Qualities: tremorsense, construct traits, damage reduction (10 or 15)/bludgeoning, stoneskin
Saves: Fort +3 Ref +X Will +X
Abilities: Str X, Dex (low but not incredibly low), Con ---, Int 10, Wis X, Cha X
Skills: 26 Listen, Climb
Feats: 4

Environment: Any land
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: X
Treasure: ?
Alignment: Always (usually?) neutral
Advancement: 11-30 HD (Colossal)
Level Adjustment: ---

Most spanners are 100-200 feet long and 10-30 feet wide, and can weigh more than X tons.

COMBAT

Originally found in Monstrous Compendium MC14 - Fiend Folio Appendix (1992, Tim Beach).
 

First off, I'd up the HD to at least 24. According to the Making Monsters chapter in the MM, the minimum HD for a Colossal creature is 24.


BOZ said:
As implied by their name, these creatures appear as large, single-span stone arch bridges, complete with rails, posts and so forth. The type of stone, stains, vine covering, and other details will be appropriate for the local environment (see below). These creatures are extremely difficult to differentiate from true bridges. Only dwarves, or persons with engineering or stonemason talents, may be able to ascertain the identity of a spanner. In this instance, a successful Intelligence or appropriate nonweapon proficiency check at a -6 penalty is required before the true nature of the bridge may be seen.

How about:

Camouflage (Ex): A creature must make a successful Knowledge (architecture or engineering) check (DC X) to notice that a spanner is anything other than a true bridge. Dwarves may add their stonecunning bonus to this check. An untrained Knowledge check is simply an Intelligence check.

BOZ said:
Combat: Spanners prefer not to attack, if at all possible. They are benign, even friendly, preferring to gossip and gather information rather than attack,

Skill ranks in Diplomacy and Gather Information?

BOZ said:
Being curious and intelligent creatures, they will tolerate a fair amount of abuse as long as the creatures around them are talking. However, if irked, or crossed without permission, spanners are malicious and have no mercy. It the victim is near the edge of the creature (within five feet of a rail), the spanner will attempt to pitch him/her off the side;

The Awesome Blow feat could account for this. Or, borrowed from the xerfilstyx...

Toss (Ex): After a successful attack, a spanner gets a free trip attempt. If the spanner wins the opposed Strength check during the trip attempt, instead of simply knocking the opponent prone, it tosses the opponent into the air, dropping the opponent prone into any square it threatens. This toss deals falling damage as normal for the height in addition to the damage that was done with the initital attack.

BOZ said:
otherwise, the spanner opens a hole through itself and under the victim. In either instance, a Dexterity check at -4 is necessary to avoid being removed from the bridge. The damage from this attack will depend on the distance from the bridge to the land or water below (1d6 damage per 10' of failing, up 20d6 maximum, with additional potential for drowning if the creature is spanning a waterway).

How's this?

Open Hole (Su): As a standard action, a spanner may open a hole in itself, up to 20 ft by 20 ft. Any creature in this area must succeed at a DC X Reflex save or fall, suffering falling damage as normal for the height.

BOZ said:
These creatures locate potential enemies by detecting their weight on its surface, or by feeling their vibrations in the ground up to 150' away.

Tremorsense 150 ft.?

BOZ said:
Spanners are also capable of using a stoneskin spell-like ability once per day, which protects them from 8 attacks.

Stoneskin (Sp): Once per day, a spanner can use stoneskin (caster level 8th).
 
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Shade said:
First off, I'd up the HD to at least 24. According to the Making Monsters chapter in the MM, the minimum HD for a Colossal creature is 24.

minimum shminimum. ;) how often do we follow that chart? I’d consider making it more than 10, but not higher than 20.

Camouflage (Ex): A creature must make a successful Knowledge (architecture or engineering) check (DC X) to notice that a spanner is anything other than a true bridge. Dwarves may add their stonecunning bonus to this check. An untrained Knowledge check is simply an Intelligence check.

nice. :)

Skill ranks in Diplomacy and Gather Information?

ok. No bonuses though.

The Awesome Blow feat could account for this. Or, borrowed from the xerfilstyx...

Toss (Ex): After a successful attack, a spanner gets a free trip attempt. If the spanner wins the opposed Strength check during the trip attempt, instead of simply knocking the opponent prone, it tosses the opponent into the air, dropping the opponent prone into any square it threatens. This toss deals falling damage as normal for the height in addition to the damage that was done with the initital attack.

I see where you’re coming from, but the problem is that the spanner never actually strikes an opponent. I made the suggestion above of a touch attack to initiate a grapple; a successful hold would allow a toss attack. This may not be the best way to do it, but I’m sure we can find one. ;)

Open Hole (Su): As a standard action, a spanner may open a hole in itself, up to 20 ft by 20 ft. Any creature in this area must succeed at a DC X Reflex save or fall, suffering falling damage as normal for the height.

Tremorsense 150 ft.?

Stoneskin (Sp): Once per day, a spanner can use stoneskin (caster level 8th).

Cool on all that. :)
 

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