freyar said:
Well, Digest Metal is very slow compared to this damage (1 pt damage per round and only after full 3 rounds). Giving the platinum silatic the full ooze acid would make Digest Metal, as currently written, almost useless. So I'd either say nerf the acid to just organic material or else boost digest metal for all the silatics. I think I'd prefer to boost digest metal, honestly, since these things are supposed to be powerful metalvores.
Nerf? The only "nerf"s I know are "scruffy looking nerf herders" and the combat game. I take it you mean "cut down" the acid attack to Digest Metal levels.
I think the essential core of these monsters is that they eat metal, but can't dissolve flesh. It is what makes them different from an average ooze.
Boosting their Digest Metal ability or cutting down the Platinum's Acid effect to flesh would be two good ways to go. Another alternative would be to give the Platinum a reduced speed acid attack (at Digest Metal speed).
Comparing the second edition "Oozes/Slimes/Jellies" entry to the third edition Ooze could help us see where the differences are. The 3.5e
Gelatinous Cube has an acid attack (that only eats flesh). In 2e, all Gelatinous Cube damage was treated as digestive acid, so it has been bumped up with regular damage. The 3.5e
Grey Ooze has had its "Corrodes Metal" replaced by an "Acid" attack that is DC dependent. The 3.5e
Ochre Jelly has an acid attack (that only eats flesh). Again the 2e Ochre Jelly damage was all treated as digestive acid, so this has also been bumped up with regular damage. (The Crystal Ooze and Green Slime are not in the SRD, so I didn't review them.)
I would say that the Grey Ooze, with its "corrodes metal" ability, is the closest thing we have to a silatic. Maybe we should look at that and play "spot the difference". The Grey Ooze starts to digest metal instantly - all silatics take 3 rounds to secrete their digestive fluid and another three to absorb the dissolved metal*.
* = I don't think that slows down the silatic's metal eating attack, The "3 rounds to secrete" just gives silatics 3 rounds to prepare the attack. The "3 rounds to digest" gives creatures 3 rounds to run away (or regroup) while a silatic eats anything they dissolve. (Silatics have no interest in flesh, so until you actually cause damage to a silatic, you could slow one down for six rounds by dropping something like a metal coin as you retreat.)
A 2e Grey Ooze, "corrodes metal" at different rates, while a silatic seems to corrode metal instantly after the third round, but offers saving throws vs acid -5 for the metal type and -2 for other metals).
It seems to me that a silatic Digest Metal attack
is an acid attack (that only targets metal
and has an advantage against its specific metal type). Apart from the Platinum Silatic (and perhaps the Silver Silatic), I think we should stick to these creatures not getting an acid attack on flesh. But as the other oozes have had little boosts, it wouldn't be wrong to bump these up a bit. I think that letting the silatics dissolve weapons that hit them is the bump they need. The Sunder also fits in well.
So I'm fairly happy with the speed of Digest Metal. But if you want to bump it up, just give it 3 rounds to kick in and then make it a continuous attack form. (The 3 rounds to eat, could then turn into 3 rounds per melted object.) A silatic that hasn't been damaged should therefore continue to eat at the 2e rate of one metal thing per 6 rounds, but could switch to disolving all metal in sight, when the silatic takes damage (and goes into its "beserk" mode). After a silatic kills all opponents (and comes out of "beserk" mode) it could then spend 3 rounds per melted objects eating. (This would not normally be important unless some characters have somehow managed to hide from a Platinum Silatic.)
This leaves us the Platinum's Acid to deal with. I think that we should go with freyar's "nerf" suggestion. IMO the Platinum's Acid attack should be a
second digestive attack mode based on the Ochre Jelly Acid attack:
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/ooze.htm#ochreJelly said:
Acid (Ex)
An ochre jelly secretes a digestive acid that dissolves only flesh. Any melee hit or constrict attack deals acid damage.
This
is a lot faster than its "metal eating" ability, but you could look at it as the Platinum melting the organic object that is in the way of its dinner.
The Platinum's Acid attack would probably be really useful for getting through things like wooden doors (and in the Spelljammer Campaign Setting, wooden decks or hulls of spelljammer ships). It would also help a silatic rip a leather scabbard apart so that it can get to the dagger or sword within or rip open a purse containing platinum coins. The acid would make the creature a great "cut-purse". Maybe we should give the Platinum a few skill ranks in picking pockets!
EDIT: I just noticed that all Silatics get "+1 or better weapons to hit" as a Special Defence. Do the converted silatics need something like Damage Reduction (against normal weapons)?