Converting Planescape monsters

[freyar]

It looks pretty good, but I still feel like we should change the feats. Great Fort is ok, but Imp Init doesn't feel right.

Some corrections: Need to fill in the will save. Also, the Knowledge bonus from the song says under the song that it only applies when it hears another delphon's song, but the skill bonus says it can just hear its own. That needs to be consistent.

 

[Shade]

It looks pretty good, but I still feel like we should change the feats. Great Fort is ok, but Imp Init doesn't feel right.

Agreed. The SRD sharks' feats are wildly unimaginitive. Ugh.

Since the song is their main M.O., I'd suggest Ability Focus (song) and Skill Focus (Perform [Song]).

If you don't like the latter, how about Persuasive or Negotator?

Delphons are extremely gregarious creatures, usually found in clannish packs. These individuals are almost always related, supporting and aiding each other but also occasonally associating with other delphon clans. There seem to be no leaders or superiors amid their numbers, every individual holding the same rights and authority. Because each has an equal say, though, delphon debates are common, with songs of disagreement filling the air near Oceanus.

 

[freyar]

Skill Focus seems redundant, since we already gave it a racial bonus, but Ability Focus would work for me (I'm a lot less fond of the racial bonus to a DC most of the time anyway). Negotiator would work, but then we might want to work in a few ranks for Diplomacy and Sense Motive. Those make sense flavor-wise, too. Strip maybe 6 ranks from Listen and 4 from Spot to put 5 each in Dip and Sense Motive?

 

[Cleon]

It looks pretty good, but I still feel like we should change the feats. Great Fort is ok, but Imp Init doesn't feel right.

They're OK as far as I'm concerned. It didn't seem right to have their Initiative be a lot worse than a regular Shark.

Some corrections: Need to fill in the will save. Also, the Knowledge bonus from the song says under the song that it only applies when it hears another delphon's song, but the skill bonus says it can just hear its own. That needs to be consistent.

Actually, it says it gets the bonus when it sings - it doesn't need to hear its own song (like a deaf Mozart, it can experience the music better in its head).

Still, it's a bit unclear, so we could try a rephrasing.

Any suggestions?

 

[Cleon]

Skill Focus seems redundant, since we already gave it a racial bonus, but Ability Focus would work for me (I'm a lot less fond of the racial bonus to a DC most of the time anyway). Negotiator would work, but then we might want to work in a few ranks for Diplomacy and Sense Motive. Those make sense flavor-wise, too. Strip maybe 6 ranks from Listen and 4 from Spot to put 5 each in Dip and Sense Motive?

Most of those don't appeal to me.

Ability Focus could work, I suppose, but I'm happy with DC 15. They can sing every round, remember, and a PC only needs to fail their Will save once to be put out of action.

 

[freyar]

Oh, I missed something when I read the Know bonus before. It's ok.

Great Fort and AF? Is there something better?

 

[Cleon]

Oh, I missed something when I read the Know bonus before. It's ok.

Great Fort and AF? Is there something better?

I still don't fancy Ability Focus for them.

I'm happy with Improved Initiative and Great Fortitude. If we do swap a stat, I'd rather it be the Fort-boost. Maybe exchange it for Combat Reflexes? It's song is quite likely to cause Wandering Victim Syndrome, so it should get more AoOs than a run-of-the-mill monster.

 

[Shade]

I still don't fancy Ability Focus for them.

I'm happy with Improved Initiative and Great Fortitude. If we do swap a stat, I'd rather it be the Fort-boost. Maybe exchange it for Combat Reflexes? It's song is quite likely to cause Wandering Victim Syndrome, so it should get more AoOs than a run-of-the-mill monster.

I'm not fond of Combat Reflexes here.

I'm not sure why we're trying to turn these into combat powerhouses. Other than the fact that they are predatory on smaller fish, nothing screams "battle!" to me in their description. They are gregarious, delightful good-aligned creatures.

If we don't go the diplomatic-skill-booster feat route, I do agree with freyar that we need some ranks poached for those skills.

 

[freyar]

Frankly, I'd like to drop Imp Init and go with Neogiator _and_ some ranks. I agree with Shade about the flavor of these.

 

[Cleon]

I'm not sure why we're trying to turn these into combat powerhouses. Other than the fact that they are predatory on smaller fish, nothing screams "battle!" to me in their description. They are gregarious, delightful good-aligned creatures.

Eh?

Alignment: Neutral

Ecology: Delphons feed upon the other fish in Oceanus, often charming them with their song and then moving in for the kill. Fortunately, the river teems with life, and rarely are delphons so hungry that they need to attack drylanders who stay too near the river’s edge, ply its water with boats, or enter its depths directly.

It is not unreasonable that an intelligent creature such as a human or an elf who has somehow mastered enough of the delphon’s songs to understand and imitate the sounds (albeit crudely) could befriend the creatures and make allies of them.

They're not nicey-nicey dolphins, they're sharks who don't eat people because they're well fed. Sure, they're gregarious with each other, but there's nothing to suggest they're friendly to non-delphons except, possibly, a few who become fluent with their language (maybe they adopt them into their clan?), and the main source of that claim is some crazy old hermit Gith who no reputable sage places any credit in.

I still see nothing wrong with Great Fortitude and Improved Initiative. I'd be OK swapping the Great Fortitude for Run or Fleet Of Foot (Fleet of Fin?), but I see no reason to give them a social feat.

Songsharks can only speak their own language, which scrambles the brains of non-delphons who hear it. Who are they going to be socializing with apart from each other?