Special Conversion Thread: Finishing off the oozes

[freyar]

Ok, 3 ranks each of Climb, Hide, and Move Silently. Sounds fair. Imp Init is good with me.

 

[Shade]

Updated.

 

[freyar]

I'd say that the iron looks pretty much done. Anyone else?

 

[Big Mac]

Skills: Still can't think of much that make sense but Hide and/or Move Silently.

They seem pretty logical.

Feats: Power Attack, Improved Sunder, Weapon Focus (pseudopod)?

Sounds good, but should Improved Sunder only work against metal weapons? What is the basis behind the sundering? Is the silatic supposed to be good at disarming people or is it supposed to be good at grabbing metal weapons out of the hands of characters? I'd say the second sounds a bit more true to its metal-chomping nature.

Environment: Any, I guess.

The original blurb says silatics prefer to hang out in uninhabitable places where they are less likely to face attack.

CR: Probably 4, maybe 5

Advancement: 7-12 HD (Medium), 13-18 HD (Large)

I'm not good with the maths of this sort of stuff yet, so I'll let you guys deal with this bit.

Edit: 6 inches and 200lb? That might be a little low if we're thinking of these as pure metal; that's like 10,000 coins.

I think that 6 inches of height is too low, too. The blurb says they "hide well, for they can stretch as thin as 1" thick". While the blurb doesn't give the normal thickness, I'd expect it to be much more than 5 inches fatter than the minimum thickness. The illustration in MC9 isn't any use as it shows a silatic floating weightless in Wildspace (so it is in the thin "almost gracefull" mode). We know that silatics are not normally that thin on the ground.

I think that the only blurb we have left is the bit at the begining: "Silatics are amorphous blobs, 5-7' in diameter..." I think these guys should be more like 5-7 feet in height, as well as diameter, when they move about. Flattening themselves to 1 inch thick should be something they do to hide.

Is hide +5 enough for a creature that can be 1 inch thick or should it gain some sort of circumstance bonus when it flattens itself? (This is why I menioned hide in plain sight, earlier.)

Also, should the silatic's "stretching as thin as 1 inch" be a two dimensional ability (so it can make itself like a pancake) or should it be able to stretch that thin in any dimension (so that it can make itself long as well as thin)? This creature can potentially slide under a badly fitted door, or climb through barred gates. That could help it sneak onboard ships without causing damage that alerts a crew to its presence. Should it be able to do that sort of stuff?

One last thing

Treasure: See text

There is nothing in the text, yet. It should be 6d10 lbs of iron for the standard creature and 7-18d10 lbs of iron for the advanced versions of the creature (unless you want to stick with "1d10 lb of iron per HD").

Should anything like "silatic jelly" count as treasure? Maybe it could be useful as a spell component.

 

[freyar]

Sounds good, but should Improved Sunder only work against metal weapons? What is the basis behind the sundering? Is the silatic supposed to be good at disarming people or is it supposed to be good at grabbing metal weapons out of the hands of characters? I'd say the second sounds a bit more true to its metal-chomping nature.

Improved Sunder as a feat works against any kind of weapon, shield, etc, but a DM should play the silatic as only going after metal weapons and shields. The reason I chose that feat was so that the silatic can attack the metal stuff without suffering an AoO.

The original blurb says silatics prefer to hang out in uninhabitable places where they are less likely to face attack.

True, but that doesn't really tell us much about the environment. If they can survive in Wildspace, I guess any environment will be acceptable to them.

I think that 6 inches of height is too low, too. The blurb says they "hide well, for they can stretch as thin as 1" thick". While the blurb doesn't give the normal thickness, I'd expect it to be much more than 5 inches fatter than the minimum thickness. The illustration in MC9 isn't any use as it shows a silatic floating weightless in Wildspace (so it is in the thin "almost gracefull" mode). We know that silatics are not normally that thin on the ground.

I think that the only blurb we have left is the bit at the begining: "Silatics are amorphous blobs, 5-7' in diameter..." I think these guys should be more like 5-7 feet in height, as well as diameter, when they move about. Flattening themselves to 1 inch thick should be something they do to hide.

6 inches seems to be pretty standard for amorphous oozes (gray ooze, etc). If we change the volume like that, we should definitely increase the weight...

Is hide +5 enough for a creature that can be 1 inch thick or should it gain some sort of circumstance bonus when it flattens itself? (This is why I menioned hide in plain sight, earlier.)

Well, they're not necessarily transparent, and they're still big, so +5 to Hide is probably still ok.

Also, should the silatic's "stretching as thin as 1 inch" be a two dimensional ability (so it can make itself like a pancake) or should it be able to stretch that thin in any dimension (so that it can make itself long as well as thin)? This creature can potentially slide under a badly fitted door, or climb through barred gates. That could help it sneak onboard ships without causing damage that alerts a crew to its presence. Should it be able to do that sort of stuff?

Oozes can often do that, yeah, but you're right that we need to mention that in the flavor text.

There is nothing in the text, yet. It should be 6d10 lbs of iron for the standard creature and 7-18d10 lbs of iron for the advanced versions of the creature (unless you want to stick with "1d10 lb of iron per HD").

Should anything like "silatic jelly" count as treasure? Maybe it could be useful as a spell component.

Let's say 1d10 lb of iron per HD. Since the original text doesn't mention anything about the jelly being useful, I'd rather not add anything.

Finally, the original text gives us:

When a silatic absorbs enough metal (around 100 lbs), it seeks out an uninhabited area and splits in two. The two new silatics, each 3-1/2' wide, are dazed and instinctively move in opposite directions. Five hours after splitting, they regain their senses and search for food. If the reproduction occurs in a confined space, the two silatics fight to the death upon regaining their senses.

We should probably add a split ability, like so:

Split (Ex): A silatic ooze of 12HD or more may split into two silatic oozes as a full round action, each with half as many HD (if the original had an odd number of HD, one of the "children" will have one more HD than the other). The two new oozes are mentally incapacitated and instinctively move away from each other (taking penalties on all other actions as if they are frightened) for five hours. After those five hours, if the two children are still close to each other, they will fight to the death.

 

[Big Mac]

Improved Sunder as a feat works against any kind of weapon, shield, etc, but a DM should play the silatic as only going after metal weapons and shields. The reason I chose that feat was so that the silatic can attack the metal stuff without suffering an AoO.

I figured that is why you added it, and I like the ability. I just thought that this might need clarification in the blurb.

True, but that doesn't really tell us much about the environment. If they can survive in Wildspace, I guess any environment will be acceptable to them.

"Any" will do. A note in the blurb that says that silatics don't breath and often hide in uninhabitable areas could be helpful.

6 inches seems to be pretty standard for amorphous oozes (gray ooze, etc). If we change the volume like that, we should definitely increase the weight...

Well, they're not necessarily transparent, and they're still big, so +5 to Hide is probably still ok.

6 inches is standard, huh? If that is the case then I suppose it would make more sense for this creature to transform into a pancake like creature. The rest of your logic (on the hiding and stuff) makes more sense if a silatic isn't a more 3 dimensional creature.

Oozes can often do that, yeah, but you're right that we need to mention that in the flavor text.

Oozes can do it, but the question is - can silatics do it? If a silatic is a pancake shaped creature that can shift in size, can it actually lengthen itself (in one direction) to become more like a cigar shaped snakelike blob?

Let's say 1d10 lb of iron per HD. Since the original text doesn't mention anything about the jelly being useful, I'd rather not add anything.

That sounds good. Someone can always write supporting material with things like spells or items that call for Silatic Jelly.

Finally, the original text gives us:

We should probably add a split ability, like so:

Split (Ex): A silatic ooze of 12HD or more may split into two silatic oozes as a full round action, each with half as many HD (if the original had an odd number of HD, one of the "children" will have one more HD than the other). The two new oozes are mentally incapacitated and instinctively move away from each other (taking penalties on all other actions as if they are frightened) for five hours. After those five hours, if the two children are still close to each other, they will fight to the death.

I like this. The mechanics are great. 12HD works for the Iron Silatic - others will need more HD.

The original ability was more of an imperative than an option. A silatic would not normally use this ability unless it was alone in a place where it believes it will be undisturbed, but that makes the ability something players will never see.

Maybe a silatic that hits a certain size could feel a desire to look for an isolated spot and then split as soon as it is safe to do so. A silatic that keeps feeding (and growing) should probably automatically split after a few more HD. (So there should be a maximum size/HD for each of these creatures.) I think that bigger silatics should become rarer and rarer.

How about once the silatic hits a certain size it needs to make a saving throw every time it levels up, or maybe even every time it feeds, to avoid splitting in a public place? Players could then throw metal at a large silatic until it splits and then try to take out the two babies before they get over the birth-confusion. Something like that could actually be fun.

 

[Shade]

Wow...a lot to catch up with.

I've updated Homebrews with flavor text and some of the other bits I saw discussed.

What is still missing?

 

[freyar]

I think we just need to put "iron silatic" as the first mention of "silatic" in the Split ability b/c the HD values will change for the other versions. Then I think the iron is done.

 

[Big Mac]

I think we just need to put "iron silatic" as the first mention of "silatic" in the Split ability b/c the HD values will change for the other versions. Then I think the iron is done.

If you think my comments on the split are nothing to worry about then maybe it is done.

As "Split" is now personalised for the individual silatics, do you think it is worth personalising "Metalsense". After all it is already partly personalised to iron.

Plus I also think that an Iron Silatic would be able to sense steel and to eat the iron within that steel.

But I think that everything else is done. I especially love this bit:

Silatics do not hoard nor covet treasure, but up to 1d10 pounds per Hit Die of the associated metal may be recovered from a slain silatic.

That sentence is just beautiful.

 

[freyar]

If you think my comments on the split are nothing to worry about then maybe it is done.

Well, I think those comments might fit better in the flavor. I don't think the silatic should have to save to avoid splitting, though. (Forced reproduction is just too creepy. )

As "Split" is now personalised for the individual silatics, do you think it is worth personalising "Metalsense". After all it is already partly personalised to iron.

Plus I also think that an Iron Silatic would be able to sense steel and to eat the iron within that steel.

Good idea to personalize metalsense. I think you're right about steel, but I think we've sort of covered that by mentioning weapons and armor.