Special Conversion Thread: Finishing off the fey
- Thread starter Shade
- Start date
Cleon
Legend
Yup, he looks ready to sneak out into the darkness and terrify humanity as far as stat completeness goes.
The Treasure Type: None does look a little odd, even though it matches the original monster. I'd have thought it might steal a few valuables from those it torments just out of spite.
Maybe we should give it No coins; 50% goods; 50% items like a Sprite?
Shade
Monster Junkie
That works for me. I've added it.
Next!
Kruel
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Temperate/Forests, hills, rural
FREQUENCY: Rare
ORGANIZATION: Group
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Omnivore
INTELLIGENCE: Very
TREASURE: W x 1/2
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil (neutral)
NO. APPEARING: 2-5
ARMOR CLASS: 4
MOVEMENT: 15
HIT DICE: 1+8
THAC0: 19
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE/ATTACK: ld4 +4/1d4 (see text)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Missiles, set fires
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Resist fire, evade blows, minor spells
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 10%
SIZE: M (5’ tall)
MORALE: Steady (11)
XP VALUE: 270
These creatures were once good sylvan folk, but some great evil blighted their race and gained them their new name. They reportedly still have dealings with pixies and some wood elves, and it is known that they do not wantonly destroy woodlands with their powers, so perhaps some traces of their original nature remain. Even so, kruels are now undoubtedly evil and spiteful monsters in most respects, and they cause much suffering in rural communities. They speak Common and a smattering of woodland tongues.
Kruels appear as sharp-featured elves from the waist up, with long bony fingers, large cowlike ears, and eyes that are (except for the pupil) startlingly blood-red. Their legs are birdlike and green scaled. They prefer bright green, lilac, and scarlet garb, also wearing tall hats, each set off with a red feather.
Combat: Kruels fight only the apparently weak, preferring to harass more powerful opponents from a distance. Any pebble they hurl becomes magically empowered for that round, burning like a red-hot coal. They can throw two pebbles a round at +2 to hit, at a range of 40 yards (no range penalties apply). The stones cause 1-4 hp damage if they hit. The stones will ignite combustibles (item saving throws vs. normal fire are required) but cease burning themselves after one round.
Kruels can use the spell flame blade at will, and they enter melee with this spell and a dagger, striking once per round with each with no penalty. They are quick, agile, and unpredictable in combat; if they win initiative, they have a 30% chance that round to evade each blow struck at them that would have otherwise hit, regardless of the attacker’s roll.
Kruels can cast both cantrip and alter self twice per day at the 1st level of magic use, but since their eyes retain their distinctive coloration in any form, the latter power is commonly used for escape (flying or swimming) rather than disguise. They naturally resist fire as the spell, and they are intelligent enough to take advantage of this in combat if the situation permits.
Habitat/Society: Kruels usually dwell on the fringes of civilization, where they prey on farmers and their cattle, occasionally firing a hayrick or barn. Kruels would never destroy a whole year’s crops or burn down an entire village--the fun would be over much too quickly. They often use their magical abilities to frighten or attack passing travelers, especially the seemingly helpless. A captive is sometimes taken for torture; victims are not always killed, but few recover completely from the experience.
Kruels roam far from their lairs in search of an evening’s entertainment.. Like most faerie-kin, they are unpredictable and may consistently raid a distant farm, ignoring one close at hand.
Their preferred lairs are woodland caves, always difficult to find, where they keep their treasure in individual caches. They live in small groups that split up or change members with other groups of kruels on a random basis. Mating is infrequent and results in a clutch of eggs that take a few weeks (and a fair amount of heat) to hatch, whereupon the young kruels grow to adulthood within a year or two. There is a 20% chance that a group will have a pyrolisk as a pet, as they get along well with such creatures. This and their form may indicate some distant kinship between the two species.
Ecology: Kruels prey on others. They steal produce and livestock from farms and goods from travelers when they can, otherwise hunting small animals and gathering nuts and berries in the forest. It is thought they trade with unscrupulous creatures for the things they cannot plunder. They enjoy finery but produce nothing of worth themselves.
Farmers and villagers in regions frequented by these creatures would be overjoyed if adventurers sought out and slew kruels for body parts that were vital components in some spell or potion, but so far no use has been found for them.
Originally appeared in Dragon Magazine #187 (1992).
Next!
Kruel
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Temperate/Forests, hills, rural
FREQUENCY: Rare
ORGANIZATION: Group
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Omnivore
INTELLIGENCE: Very
TREASURE: W x 1/2
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil (neutral)
NO. APPEARING: 2-5
ARMOR CLASS: 4
MOVEMENT: 15
HIT DICE: 1+8
THAC0: 19
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE/ATTACK: ld4 +4/1d4 (see text)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Missiles, set fires
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Resist fire, evade blows, minor spells
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 10%
SIZE: M (5’ tall)
MORALE: Steady (11)
XP VALUE: 270
These creatures were once good sylvan folk, but some great evil blighted their race and gained them their new name. They reportedly still have dealings with pixies and some wood elves, and it is known that they do not wantonly destroy woodlands with their powers, so perhaps some traces of their original nature remain. Even so, kruels are now undoubtedly evil and spiteful monsters in most respects, and they cause much suffering in rural communities. They speak Common and a smattering of woodland tongues.
Kruels appear as sharp-featured elves from the waist up, with long bony fingers, large cowlike ears, and eyes that are (except for the pupil) startlingly blood-red. Their legs are birdlike and green scaled. They prefer bright green, lilac, and scarlet garb, also wearing tall hats, each set off with a red feather.
Combat: Kruels fight only the apparently weak, preferring to harass more powerful opponents from a distance. Any pebble they hurl becomes magically empowered for that round, burning like a red-hot coal. They can throw two pebbles a round at +2 to hit, at a range of 40 yards (no range penalties apply). The stones cause 1-4 hp damage if they hit. The stones will ignite combustibles (item saving throws vs. normal fire are required) but cease burning themselves after one round.
Kruels can use the spell flame blade at will, and they enter melee with this spell and a dagger, striking once per round with each with no penalty. They are quick, agile, and unpredictable in combat; if they win initiative, they have a 30% chance that round to evade each blow struck at them that would have otherwise hit, regardless of the attacker’s roll.
Kruels can cast both cantrip and alter self twice per day at the 1st level of magic use, but since their eyes retain their distinctive coloration in any form, the latter power is commonly used for escape (flying or swimming) rather than disguise. They naturally resist fire as the spell, and they are intelligent enough to take advantage of this in combat if the situation permits.
Habitat/Society: Kruels usually dwell on the fringes of civilization, where they prey on farmers and their cattle, occasionally firing a hayrick or barn. Kruels would never destroy a whole year’s crops or burn down an entire village--the fun would be over much too quickly. They often use their magical abilities to frighten or attack passing travelers, especially the seemingly helpless. A captive is sometimes taken for torture; victims are not always killed, but few recover completely from the experience.
Kruels roam far from their lairs in search of an evening’s entertainment.. Like most faerie-kin, they are unpredictable and may consistently raid a distant farm, ignoring one close at hand.
Their preferred lairs are woodland caves, always difficult to find, where they keep their treasure in individual caches. They live in small groups that split up or change members with other groups of kruels on a random basis. Mating is infrequent and results in a clutch of eggs that take a few weeks (and a fair amount of heat) to hatch, whereupon the young kruels grow to adulthood within a year or two. There is a 20% chance that a group will have a pyrolisk as a pet, as they get along well with such creatures. This and their form may indicate some distant kinship between the two species.
Ecology: Kruels prey on others. They steal produce and livestock from farms and goods from travelers when they can, otherwise hunting small animals and gathering nuts and berries in the forest. It is thought they trade with unscrupulous creatures for the things they cannot plunder. They enjoy finery but produce nothing of worth themselves.
Farmers and villagers in regions frequented by these creatures would be overjoyed if adventurers sought out and slew kruels for body parts that were vital components in some spell or potion, but so far no use has been found for them.
Originally appeared in Dragon Magazine #187 (1992).
demiurge1138
Inventor of Super-Toast
Let's give them +1 natural armor. They've got scaly bird-legs; that has to be worth something.
I like these guys... hate the name, though.
The throw two rocks at once would indicate Rapid Shot and Quick Draw as (possibly bonus) feats. The flaming rocks--a unique Sq, or a unique SLA, like a more powerful magic stone?
I like these guys... hate the name, though.
The throw two rocks at once would indicate Rapid Shot and Quick Draw as (possibly bonus) feats. The flaming rocks--a unique Sq, or a unique SLA, like a more powerful magic stone?
Cleon
Legend
Hmm, that would mean they need Dex 20 to get AC16. The original stat's +2 to hit with missiles suggests a lower Dex than that.
Shall we split the difference between an upsized sprite's 16 Dex and Dex 20 to get Dexterity 18 and +2 natural armour?
Yes, perhaps we should offer an alternative name as well. How about just using a word for "cruel" from another language? According to a pocket Irish dictionary I've got, "Danartha" means "cruel; barbarous; unsociable" - that seems to pretty well cover these charmers, and "Danartha" has a nice Fey ring to it.
Cleon
Legend
It reads like a cross between flame arrow and magic stone. I'd think the following Supernatural Power would cover it, but we could easily make it a SLA.
Flaming Pebbles (Su): A kruel can can cause any pebble it throws to burst into magical flame, each thrown pebble has a range increment of 20 feet bursts and does 1d6 fire damage. A flaming pebble can easily ignite a flammable object or structure, but it won’t ignite a creature it strikes.
The flame blade can just be an at-will use of the 2nd level druid spell.
The "naturally resist fire as the spell" can just be fire resistance 10.
Alter self is the basically the same in both AD&D and 3E, so we need only add a flavour-note about the eye colouration.
The cantrip SLA is trickier, since 2nd edition did away with individual cantrip spells. I guess we could give them a list of cantrips they can choose from (arcane mark, dancing lights, daze, detect magic, detect poison, flare, ghost sound, mage hand, message, open/close and prestidigitation all seem suitable for mischief-making)
Cleon
Legend
Okay, now for a couple of trickier issues.
The original's 1+8 hit dice suggests they either have an amazingly high Constitution, or extra hit points from somewhere. We could give them Toughness as a bonus feat.
The dual-wielding a flame blade and dagger suggests the Two-Weapon Fighting feat.
I'd also suggest they have Weapon Finesse as a bonus feat, like a sprite, so they get a decent attack bonus. (+0 for 1 hit dice, -2/-2 for light weapons with TWF, +4 for Dex => +2 melee attack)
Hmm, that way they have a ranged attack with their pebbles 2 higher than their melee attack, just like the AD&D version.
That leaves us with "They are quick, agile, and unpredictable in combat; if they win initiative, they have a 30% chance that round to evade each blow struck at them that would have otherwise hit, regardless of the attacker’s roll."
We could homebrew an Extraordinary special quality for this, but I think I'd rather just give them a rogue's Improved Uncanny Dodge. If I'm feeling mean I might add Evasion, but they've already got spell resistance and high Reflex saves, so I could just as happily leave it out.
The original's 1+8 hit dice suggests they either have an amazingly high Constitution, or extra hit points from somewhere. We could give them Toughness as a bonus feat.
The dual-wielding a flame blade and dagger suggests the Two-Weapon Fighting feat.
I'd also suggest they have Weapon Finesse as a bonus feat, like a sprite, so they get a decent attack bonus. (+0 for 1 hit dice, -2/-2 for light weapons with TWF, +4 for Dex => +2 melee attack)
Hmm, that way they have a ranged attack with their pebbles 2 higher than their melee attack, just like the AD&D version.
That leaves us with "They are quick, agile, and unpredictable in combat; if they win initiative, they have a 30% chance that round to evade each blow struck at them that would have otherwise hit, regardless of the attacker’s roll."
We could homebrew an Extraordinary special quality for this, but I think I'd rather just give them a rogue's Improved Uncanny Dodge. If I'm feeling mean I might add Evasion, but they've already got spell resistance and high Reflex saves, so I could just as happily leave it out.
freyar
Extradimensional Explorer
I wouldn't go any higher than +2 natural, though.
The flaming pebbles look ok, but you've upped the damage, and I don't think the original was a burst. I'd rather they just acted as a ranged (touch?) attack that does fire damage and can light a combustible on a failed Ref save.
Imp Uncanny Dodge sounds fine.
For feats, I'm thinking Quick Draw, Rapid Shot, Weapon Finesse as bonus and TWF as regular?
Danartha works for me.
The flaming pebbles look ok, but you've upped the damage, and I don't think the original was a burst. I'd rather they just acted as a ranged (touch?) attack that does fire damage and can light a combustible on a failed Ref save.
Imp Uncanny Dodge sounds fine.
For feats, I'm thinking Quick Draw, Rapid Shot, Weapon Finesse as bonus and TWF as regular?
Danartha works for me.
demiurge1138
Inventor of Super-Toast
I was thinking of them as doing real damage and 1d6 fire damage on top of that. Ranged attacks, definitely no burst. Improved uncanny dodge is a good idea, and I'm fine with boosting their natural armor and lowering their Dex a bit.
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