Special Conversion Thread: Finishing off the oozes

[Cleon]

Ok, I think this is starting to shape up. Are we giving it DR 5/bludgeoning when unthickened or only giving it DR when thickened?

I like the idea of it having DR 5/bludgeoning when its liquid and switching to DR 5/slashing when it's thickened to a gel.

By the way, should the Engulf write-up say how much acid damage engulfed victims take? Since it adds 1d8 acid to a slam attack, the Living Pool likely does 1d8 per round to engulfed victims.

 

[Shade]

Agreed. Updated.

Anything left besides deciding between CR 6 or CR 7?

 

[Cleon]

Agreed. Updated.

Anything left besides deciding between CR 6 or CR 7?

Could we say it has vermin-type intelligence rather than being completely mindless (i.e. Int 0 rather than Int —) and give it skills & feats?

At the moment it just has the default skill of Swim +15 from zero skill ranks +8 for having a swim speed and +7 for its strength.

If we go for the "Int 0" option, it would have 13 skill ranks from its 13 HD. How about 0 in Swim (+7 Str & +8 Swim speed), 3 in Climb (+7 Str), 5 in Disguise (-2 Cha, with say a +10 racial bonus to imitate a Pool) and 5 in Listen (-1 Wis), or possible Spot, which would give it the following:

Skills: Climb +10, Disguise +13, Listen +4, Swim +15.

As for Challenge Rating, I'd back CR 6. That's what a 13 HD gelatinous cube would get through advancement, and a Living Pool may be slightly stronger and have a bit of DR, but it also lacks the Cube's Paralysis attack, which makes a big difference.

 

[Shade]

I'd rather leave it at non-intelligent, like the gelatinous cube, as it seems to be modeled after that creature.

However, I'm fine with giving it some racial bonuses on the skills you mentioned and a bonus feat or two if necessary.

CR 6 does sound about right.

 

[freyar]

Wait, aren't vermin also Int -?

I'm fine with racial skill bonuses and bonus feats, though.

 

[Cleon]

Wait, aren't vermin also Int -?

I'm fine with racial skill bonuses and bonus feats, though.

That's OK by me, I wouldn't bother about bonus feats.

 

[Cleon]

Wait, aren't vermin also Int -?

I'm fine with racial skill bonuses and bonus feats, though.

Sorry, I should have said Int 1 and animal-level intelligence (albeit not Animal Type) rather than Int 0, which is the same mindless level as Int -.

All the SRD vermin are mindless, having Int -, but the Type allows for the possibility of them having none-zero Int, Although arthropods with non-zero Int are usually magical beasts like Hellwasps and Spider-Eaters.

 

[Cleon]

Let's boil the Skill question down to basics - I think we only need to give it scores in Swim (for mobility) and Disguise (for pretending to be a Pool). The default Swim +15 for Str and having a swim speed is ample, so that leaves Disguise. We could just set a DC to spot the subterfuge (say DC 20 to tell that a pool of water is actually a Living Pool), and add that to the "transparent" write-up, or reverse-engineer an appropriate racial bonus to give it Disguise (Pool) +10 [DC 20, -2 Cha adj & zero skill ranks -> +12 racial bonus needed from "take 10" as a pool].

I don't think we've got anything else to work out for the monster.

 

[freyar]

Let's just used a fixed DC (or else make it Con-based or something) for Spotting that it's not really water. Different living pools probably all look about the same.

 

[Shade]

Yeah, let's go with something like the assassin vine possesses...

Camouflage (Ex): Since an assassin vine looks like a normal plant when at rest, it takes a DC 20 Spot check to notice it before it attacks.

Anyone with ranks in Survival or Knowledge (nature) can use one of those skills instead of Spot to notice the plant. Dwarves can use stonecunning to notice the subterranean version.