Fourth Edition Sunless Citadel

[zoroaster100]

I'm doing a conversion of Sunless Citadel to run for the pregenerated 1st level characters from D&D Experience with fourth edition rules.

We already have kobolds aplenty, as well as goblins and hobgoblins. Maybe we could use a level 1 soldier goblin to supplement the sharpshooter and picador. We also have skeleton warriors already. We also have the bugbear headreaver to use in place of the bugbear hunter in the module. In place of the quasit, I was planning to use the spined devil stats, though that might be too powerful.

But in the absence of the Monster Manual, we need to fill out a few more of the creatures. Here are the ones I have created to use in the meantime so far:

Twig Blight, Level 1 Minion
Small Natural Plant
Initiative +3; Senses Perception +1
HP dies when damaged
AC 15; Fortitude 11, Reflex 12, Will 11
Immune poison, sleep, charm, stun
Speed 6
M Claw (standard; at-will)
+4 vs. AC; 2 damage AND Poison Sap
Poison Sap +4 vs. Fort; ongoing 1 poison damage (save ends).
Alignment Unaligned
Str 8 (-1) Dex 14 (+2) Wis 12 (+1)
Con 12 (+1) Int 5 (-3) Cha 5 (-3)

Feral Rat, Level 1 Minion
Small Natural Beast
Initiative +3; Senses Perception +1
HP dies when damaged
AC 14; Fortitude 11, Reflex 13, Will 9
Speed 5
M Bite (standard; at-will)
+5 vs. AC; 2 damage AND Diseased Bite also see Pack Hunter
Diseased Bite +1 vs. Fort; target diseased (target loses use of a healing surge per day until saves or until healed by Heal check DC 25 administered over a short rest, or with ritual to remove disease; save can be made only once per long rest (once per day); while a target is diseased, further Diseased Bites by feral rats have no cumulative effect).
Pack Hunter Combat advantage if ally adjacent to target.
Alignment Unaligned
Str 8 (-1) Dex 16 (+3) Wis 8 (-1)
Con 12 (+1) Int 3 (-4) Cha 9 (-1)

Guthash, Feral Rat Denmother, Level 2 Skirmisher
Medium Natural Beast
Initiative +5; Senses Perception +1
HP 36; Bloodied 13
AC 15; Fortitude 12, Reflex 14, Will 13
Speed 5
M Bite (standard; at-will)
+6 vs. AC; 1d8+1 damage AND Diseased Bite also see Pack Hunter
Diseased Bite +2 vs. Fort; target diseased (target loses use of a healing surge per day until saves or until healed by Heal check DC 25 administered over a short rest, or with ritual to remove disease; save can be made only once per long rest (once per day); while a target is diseased, further Diseased Bites by feral rats have no cumulative effect).
Pack Hunter Combat advantage if ally adjacent to target.
Alignment Unaligned
Str 12 (+1) Dex 16 (+3) Wis 10 (+0)
Con 12 (+1) Int 4 (-3) Cha 15 (+2)


Your comments and critiques are welcome. Is anyone else working on a Sunless Citadel conversion? Any ideas for the other monsters and NPCs in the adventure?

 

[VBMEW-01]

This is an awesome idea, and great monsters too!

I never got around to playing this particular adventure because my group doesn't really play prefabs that often. But I read a review of it once and thought it looked very interesting.

 

[Lord Zardoz]

Running the undead as they ought to be run may be difficult if we do not have any of the turn undead rules handy. I also think that converting Calcyryx may be very difficult. While you could use the black dragon as a guideline, dragons do not come in Size Small or Medium any longer. If I recall, the entry for the encounter with Calcyryx described him as zipping down corridors, letting combat end, and then attacking again forcing a reroll on initiative. A Large dragon would be always squeezing during combat as it 'zipped through corridors'. In addition, that tactic does not play too well with encounter based healing powers if the intent is to wear the opponent down.

If you do just go ahead and make Calcyryx Large, then how the crap did the goblins capture and imprison him?

END COMMUNICATION

 

[Xorn]

Don't forget also that Meepo is a little pipsqueek in tSC, not a kobold king.

There's a large white dragon statcard out there too, and while the chamber Calcryx is in is big enough for the dragon, it would be silly. Just make him a wyrmling. It's not like Calcryx was a real fight, anyway. In my game the barbarian just grappled him and pummeled the poor lizard senseless.

This is right after they "aggroed" 36 goblinoids at once and the druid tossed a few dire weasels into the middle of them.

Hell, a "minion" Calcryx could be funny. Let him blast the group with Ray of Frost or something like that, then one of the knuckledraggers punches his lights out!

 

[Lord Zardoz]

This is an awesome idea, and great monsters too!

I never got around to playing this particular adventure because my group doesn't really play prefabs that often. But I read a review of it once and thought it looked very interesting.

The concept is actually pretty interesting, but the implementation is lacking in some areas. Run in 3.0 / 3.5, you have combats of 1 or 2 Dire rats going against a full party, which are a waste of time. I would replace most of the Dire Rat encounters with only two encounters (one near the entrance to the dungeon with 3 to 5 of the Dire Rats, and the one with Guthash), and have any other incidental encounters just be sightings where the rats either auto-flee or auto die.

You may want to modify some of the trap based encounters as well, and have the encounter with the Troll Tomb either not take place at all, or placed where it wont happen until the players are at least level 2 or 3.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[Xorn]

Another good point with the trivial encounters--because tSC is rife with them. Although I had the dire rats emerge in waves as the party spread out, letting me get some attacks in on the 3 hp sorcerer.

 

[zoroaster100]

Lord Zardoz, we do have the turn undead rule, from the 1st level cleric pregen, Eris the Sunlord:

Channel Divinity: Turn Undead
You sear undead foes, push them back, and root them in place.
Encounter ✦ Divine, Implement, Radiant
Special: You can use Channel Divinity (for Turn Undead or any other purpose) only once per encounter.
Standard Action Close burst 2
Target: Each undead creature in burst
Attack: Wis vs. Will
Hit: 1[W]+ Wis radiant damage, and you push the target 5 squares.
The target is immobilized until the end of your next turn.
Miss: Half damage, and the target is not pushed or immobilized.

As for the rats, I was planning on having the dire rats be two real encounters, one near the entrance, with the party encountering a lone rat, and after they kill it or chase it, they encounter a group of 8 rats. It's a weak encounter, but then it is the first encounter.

Then the encounter with Guthash would be with Guthash plus 12 rats swarming in from various directions and from the nest.

Calcryx is a bit of a challenge. I don't think it would be a large dragon. It has to be a special monster, a wyrmling. I think 4th edition doesn't say there are no dragons smaller than large. It's just that they don't provide stats for wyrmlings in the Monster Manual because you are not generally supposed to fight wyrmlings. To have a faithful conversion you need stats for a small white dragon, which will not be a serious encounter. Or alternately, if your players played through this adventure already in third edition, you can have this be a "Return to Sunless Citadel" where the wyrmling was returned to the kobold tribe by the party, but has by now grown to large size and now rules the kobolds.

 

[Ghaerdon Fain]

This is awesome because I just started running the adventure. The party is with Meepo and did a "pass" on the fight... now they are after the dragon. If this pans out they may be able to do the last part as late 2nd or 3rd lvl.

Great idea and for me, enormously helpful.

BTW haven't played 3.5 and only play 3 once or twice (stuck in the 80's and 1st/2nd E). Age makes me love 4E... simple, easy to DM and did I say simple? I forget LOL.

 

[ZombieRoboNinja]

You might want to make the save for the diseased bite once per day or something. Not much point to it if it'll almost certainly be gone within 5 minutes just from per-round saving throws.

 

[Riley]

I'm doing a conversion of Sunless Citadel to run for the pregenerated 1st level characters from D&D Experience with fourth edition rules.

Are you planning on leveling up the characters during the adventure, or keeping them at 1st level?