Special Conversion Thread: Finishing off the oozes

[Big Mac]

OK, to get these guys going, let's figure out ability scores for them, as they are usually the key to unlocking the rest of the creature.

First, we know Int is 5. Cha should probably be 1, as a few other intelligent oozes still have Cha 1 (like the assassin jelly). Wis is probably average (10-11).

I can't see any problems with that. We know that the silatics like to stow away on spelljamming ships to hitch a ride from one place to another, so they must have some brains to be able to where to find a ship.

Str would appear to be 18-19 for the gold (based on +4 dmg), and since the other two deal +3 damage over that, probably 24-25 for the platinum and iron.

The +3 was presented as a special attack, rather than increased strength. If the Platinum and Iron Silatics had a bonus to their attacks and damage (with their pseudopods), they could have the same Str score as the Gold. If you push up their strength you make them better at grappling and anything else that involves strength.

Would they work if they had something similar to the Greater Weapon Specialization [General] feat?

Dex could be high to achieve the AC of 15. The assassin jelly, for example, bucks the usual ooze trend of low Dex and no natural armor, going with +2 Dex, +3 natural.

I agree with demiurge1138, that the metal inside the creature could form part of their natural armor. You could probably use the hardness of the metal as a guide to the sort of AC it could give. I can find rules on special materials, but not on "not-so-special" materials. I know that Iron would make better armor than gold and would guess that platinum would go in the middle, but am not sure where each could go. Does anyone have a useful source for strengths of different metals?

Oozes generally have decent Con, many 20 or higher.

From what I could see, they also get a chunk of bonus hp, based on their size.

OK, I tried to gather up some of this and start the iron up in Homebrews.

Since we try to present the monsters as usable with only the official rules, I've moved the spelljammer.org specific material to a "sidebar" at the bottom.

OK. I suppose the fact that they can move slowly through space would also need to go into the sidebar. I'd give them a Tactical Speed of 1 and a Glide ability, rather than a Fly abilty if they become subject to gravity. (Letting them fly on a planet would make them far too powerful, but if they drop out of the sky they would be killed.)

EDIT: Actually having the creatures drop out of the sky and die, could help explain their desire to stay in wildspace and stow away on ships. A tactical speed that didn't translate to a groundling campaign setting could make silatics carry on working for Spelljammer, and create a creature that was rare on planets.

Silatics were not really designed for "groundling" campaigns. They seem to "swim" through space, but the mass of the metal in their body wouldn't be a penalty up there. I'd be hesitant to give them any sort of ability to swim in the sea. (Although as they don't breath, they could walk along the bottom of an ocean.)

When you get to the blurb-text, I think it might be nice for groundling silatics to carry on stowing away on ships. So they might be a creature that is more common in ports. (If they kill crews in mid voyage, they could even be responsible for some of the ghost ships drifting on the seas.)

 

[freyar]

The +3 was presented as a special attack, rather than increased strength. If the Platinum and Iron Silatics had a bonus to their attacks and damage (with their pseudopods), they could have the same Str score as the Gold. If you push up their strength you make them better at grappling and anything else that involves strength.

Would they work if they had something similar to the Greater Weapon Specialization [General] feat?

I think whether we bump the Str or given them WS and GWS as bonus feats depends on whether we want to make the silatics basically identical to each other, just swapping out a few Special Abilities, or if we want to distinguish them a little more.

From what I could see, they also get a chunk of bonus hp, based on their size.

Where is this from? I don't see this in the Ooze Type description in the SRD.

 

[demiurge1138]

Oozes used to get bonus hp in 3.0. That mechanic got moved to constructs in 3.5.

And I'm all for changing the Str scores of the relevant silatics. It's more flexible and intuitive than a flat bonus to attack and damage.

 

[freyar]

I think I'd like to change ability scores for the different types, as well. Maybe

Iron: Str 25, Dex 14, Con 24, Int 5, Wis 11, Cha 1
Platinum: Str 24, Dex 15, Con 22, Int 5, Wis 13, Cha 1
Gold: Str 19, Dex 16, Con 22, Int 5, Wis 13, Cha 1

Just a little to distinguish the three from each other.

 

[Shade]

I'm fine with those ability score arrays, except I see no reason to increase Wisdom for the gold and platinum. OK if we leave that at 11?

Updated based on revised stats.

I agree with demiurge1138, that the metal inside the creature could form part of their natural armor. You could probably use the hardness of the metal as a guide to the sort of AC it could give. I can find rules on special materials, but not on "not-so-special" materials. I know that Iron would make better armor than gold and would guess that platinum would go in the middle, but am not sure where each could go. Does anyone have a useful source for strengths of different metals?

Natural armor is a bit tricky. It isn't usually consistent with the hardness of various metals, but more often attributed to the creature's relative CR. For example, the brass golem has the same natural armor bonus as iron, despite brass being a weaker metal.

If we use freyar's suggested Dex scores, iron and platinum will have +3 natural, while gold will have +2. That seems OK to me, since the creature isn't solid metal, but more like a molten metal. How about the rest of you?

 

[freyar]

The only reason I increased the Wis on those was to differentiate them a little, so it's ok to leave it at 11.

Natural armor suggested here is ok.

 

[demiurge1138]

Agreed to natural armor.

 

[Shade]

Updated.

Maybe we can modify this for their ability to detect metal?

Metalsense (Ex): All ferrous dragons can sense the location and amount of any non-precious metal (precious metals include adamantine, copper, gold, mithral, platinum, and silver) within a distance of 30 feet x the dragon’s age category. This makes it nearly impossible to sneak up on a ferrous dragon when wearing armor or wielding weapons made from iron or other nonprecious metals. Like blindsense, opponents the dragon can’t actually see still have total concealment against the dragon.

 

[freyar]

What about this?

Metalsense (Ex): A silatic ooze can sense the location and amount of its associated metal within a distance of 100 ft. This includes coins, armor, and weapons. Like blindsense, opponents the silatic senses (for example, carrying gold coins or wearing iron armor) but can’t actually see still have total concealment against the silatic.

 

[Shade]

That outta work. It will generally rely on blindsight more than metalsense, but the range of metalsense is 40 feet further.