Converting the Dukes of Hell

[Aspect of BOZ]

Actually, nearly all the archfiends had psionics in 1E. They dropped psionics from them universally in 3E, so we should probably maintain that course unless a being is clearly intended to be a psionic creature.

yep, and that's what we're sticking with unless there's a good reason to change.

 

[Aspect of BOZ]

Hit Dice: Chart will determine how the HD converts, characters with * have a chance to “move up” one. Malphas is listed as 25*.

hmm. in 1E, Amdu had just a *little* more hp than Mal, so i think i'd like to keep Mal at 25.

Abilities: We will use the divine array of 35, 28, 25, 24, 24, 24, plus adding one ability point per four Hit Dice, and borrowing liberally as we see fit. Many lords will end up with one score under 20. I'd arrange them in this order: Cha, Dex, Str, Wis, Con, Int.

so Str 25, Dex 28, Con 24, Int 24, Wis 24, Cha 35 plus 6 more points?

yeah, he's definitely less of a combat badass than Amdu, so that sounds like a fine way to start. he's another shapechanger and charmer, so the Cha should be highest (i'd expect him to have a lower Cha than Amdu, so let's leave it at 35). i could see the remaining points going into Str, Wis, and Con.

Treasure: Double or triple standard as appropriate He looks like a triple standard.

he's definitely about the bling. i'd list his clothing separately as an item of great value.

Languages: Celestial, Common, Draconic, Infernal, plus more as appropriate. Tongues takes care of the need

Tongues (Su): Malphas can speak with any creature that has a language, as though using a tongues spell (caster level Xth). This ability is always active.


i'll get into the feats, skills, and SLAs a little later.

he can cause fear (save vs. spell at -2 to avoid) by touch (one target per round).

aha! now see, that's what i was talking about before, each of these guys causes fear with a different attack mode. we could consider Ability Focus perhaps.

Fear Touch (Su): On a successful touch attack, an affected creature must succeed on a DC X Will save or be (frightened?) for X rounds. The save DC is Charisma-based.

 

[Gothenem]

I'd actually like to make his robe magical, give him some bonuses and the like.

As for the way they write the fear effect in 1st ed. It seems to be like the fear spell. Maybe use that

Fear Touch (Su): On a successful touch attack, an affected creature must succeed on a DC X Will save or be affected as if by a fear spell as cast by a 20th-level caster. The save DC is Charisma-based.

 

[Shade]

hmm. in 1E, Amdu had just a *little* more hp than Mal, so i think i'd like to keep Mal at 25.

Sounds good.

so Str 25, Dex 28, Con 24, Int 24, Wis 24, Cha 35 plus 6 more points?

Yep.

yeah, he's definitely less of a combat badass than Amdu, so that sounds like a fine way to start. he's another shapechanger and charmer, so the Cha should be highest (i'd expect him to have a lower Cha than Amdu, so let's leave it at 35). i could see the remaining points going into Str, Wis, and Con.

Actually, I'd argue for the remaining points to go into Dex before Str. He seems more like a finesse man to me, what with fighting unarmored and whatnot.

he's definitely about the bling. i'd list his clothing separately as an item of great value.

I'd actually like to make his robe magical, give him some bonuses and the like.

Sounds good on both counts.

Tongues (Su): Malphas can speak with any creature that has a language, as though using a tongues spell (caster level Xth). This ability is always active.

Cool. Might as well go with CL 20th.

i'll get into the feats, skills, and SLAs a little later.

Okee dookee.

aha! now see, that's what i was talking about before, each of these guys causes fear with a different attack mode. we could consider Ability Focus perhaps.

Fear Touch (Su): On a successful touch attack, an affected creature must succeed on a DC X Will save or be (frightened?) for X rounds. The save DC is Charisma-based.

As for the way they write the fear effect in 1st ed. It seems to be like the fear spell. Maybe use that

Fear Touch (Su): On a successful touch attack, an affected creature must succeed on a DC X Will save or be affected as if by a fear spell as cast by a 20th-level caster. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Agreed. In fact, a monster I used just the other night in game was written exactly this way. I think it was the Weaver from last month's Dragon.

 

[Aspect of BOZ]

Actually, I'd argue for the remaining points to go into Dex before Str. He seems more like a finesse man to me, what with fighting unarmored and whatnot.

i'd actually argue that he probably should have been stronger than Amduscias; Amdu was supposed to have merely had "above average strength" while Malphas deals damage "By weapon type +5" - still, everything's relative and that's cool by me either way.

Sounds good on both counts.

we could give the robe some magic, sure (in fact, i had thought it had some, but was disappointed to find it didn't), but nothing major like an artifact. maybe give it the power of 2-3 different types of cloak/robe?

Cool. Might as well go with CL 20th.

even though Amdu only cast tongues as CL 14?

Agreed. In fact, a monster I used just the other night in game was written exactly this way. I think it was the Weaver from last month's Dragon.

Gothenem's idea is fine by me.

 

[Shade]

i'd actually argue that he probably should have been stronger than Amduscias; Amdu was supposed to have merely had "above average strength" while Malphas deals damage "By weapon type +5" - still, everything's relative and that's cool by me either way.

You could split the extra points evenly between Dex and Str.

we could give the robe some magic, sure (in fact, i had thought it had some, but was disappointed to find it didn't), but nothing major like an artifact. maybe give it the power of 2-3 different types of cloak/robe?

Sounds good.

even though Amdu only cast tongues as CL 14?

Heh...That's fine, as it was good enough from whatever we copied it from in the first place.

 

[Aspect of BOZ]

You could split the extra points evenly between Dex and Str.

we certainly could - Str 28, Dex 31, Con 24, Int 24, Wis 24, Cha 35 sound fine?

Heh...That's fine, as it was good enough from whatever we copied it from in the first place.

of course, i'm starting to think that maybe Mal shouldn't have it constantly on. witness:
"Amduscias can speak and understand perfectly any language (cf. tongues spell)."
Malphas' "voice is deep and compelling, and with his powers of tongues and ESP (usable at will), he is adept at deceiving others, particularly non-devils."

maybe for Malphas, the tongues should be an ordinary at will SLA, along with detect thoughts.

 

[Shade]

we certainly could - Str 28, Dex 31, Con 24, Int 24, Wis 24, Cha 35 sound fine?

Sounds good.

of course, i'm starting to think that maybe Mal shouldn't have it constantly on. witness:
"Amduscias can speak and understand perfectly any language (cf. tongues spell)."
Malphas' "voice is deep and compelling, and with his powers of tongues and ESP (usable at will), he is adept at deceiving others, particularly non-devils."

maybe for Malphas, the tongues should be an ordinary at will SLA, along with detect thoughts.

That's fine. Mechanically, it makes little difference, though. But flavor-wise it might be more appropriate.

 

[Aspect of BOZ]

yep, Mal's not the diplomat that Amdu is.

 

[Gothenem]

Agreed on the tongues and detect thoughts.

yep, Mal's not the diplomat that Amdu is.

No Negotiator for you! [Insert Soup Nazi voice....for the feat Nazi]