Special Conversion Thread: Moldvay's Undead

[Cleon]

And the alignment should be chaotic neutral.

I agree that the little descriptions I've seen say CN, but I would like to allow for the possibility of some CE galley beggars that delight in frightening folk to death...

 

[Shade]

Added to Homebrews using the wraith's ability scores. We can adjust them a bit if you'd like.

 

[freyar]

It looks ok, though the deathly shriek is probably too powerful for a critter with only 18hp. Maybe it's ok if it's just 1/day.

 

[Cleon]

Added to Homebrews using the wraith's ability scores. We can adjust them a bit if you'd like.

I was thinking of giving them the average of a Shadow and a Wraith's ability scores. Galley Beggars don't appear that smart, so I was thinking they should have average intelligence rather than Very- like a wraith.

Besides, their 4 HD is halfway between a Shadow's 3HD and a Wraith's 5 HD.

Shadow: Str —, Dex 14, Con —, Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 13
Wraith: Str —, Dex 16, Con —, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 15

Average (Galley Beggar): Str —, Dex 15, Con —, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 14

 

[Cleon]

It looks ok, though the deathly shriek is probably too powerful for a critter with only 18hp. Maybe it's ok if it's just 1/day.

I was thinking of limiting it to 1/day (or rather 1/night).

It's fairly nasty, but it's also the galley beggar's only means of directly harming the living, since I wasn't going to give them an incorporeal touch attack.

Oh, and they should have 26 hit points, not 18. Undead use 12-siders, remember!

 

[Shade]

Updated.

 

[Cleon]

I'm thinking we should pinch some of a ghost's Special Abilities, namely Malevolence, Frightful Moan and Horrific Appearance.

We could just make it a sub-template of a ghost, but I'd rather make it a standard monster for simplicity's sake.

Apart from that, I'm thinking an "Eldritch Glow" power that functions like faerie fire, so they can become visible and terrify victims even if its pitch black.

I'd like to give them a cut-down Telekinesis equivalent to mage hand - maybe by touch only? - and the normal Rejuvenation.

Give them half a ghost's racial bonus (i.e. +4) on Hide, Listen, Search and Spot? Give them a hefty racial bonus on Intimidation? (+8? or +12?)

That should be a good start.

Blast, I meant to put Manifestation, not Malevolence in the above list.

Anyhow, here are writeups for the other Ghost-based Powers I fancy for them. Any ideas on how to overcome their Rejuvenation?:

Eldritch Glow (Su): A galley beggar can surround itself with an eerie light with the same effects as the faerie fire spell. This light allows the galley beggar to use its frightful appearance power in conditions of darkness. Galley beggars can create or extinguish their eldritch glow as a free action.

Ghostly Hand (Su): A manifested galley beggar can telekinetically move small objects as by the mage hand spell, except its ghostly hand has a range of touch.

Manifestation (Su): A galley beggar spends most of its time on the Ethereal Plane were, as an ethereal creature, it cannot affect or be affected by anything in the material world. When a galley beggar manifests, it partly enters the Material Plane and becomes visible but incorporeal on the Material Plane. Galley beggars can not manifest in daylight (either natural or from the daylight spell) or within the area of a consecrate, hallow, magic circle or similar apotropaic spell - they have to manifest during the night, underground or in other areas of darkness.

A manifested galley beggar can be harmed only by other incorporeal creatures, magic weapons, or spells, with a 50% chance to ignore any damage from a corporeal source. A manifested galley beggar can pass through solid objects at will. A manifested galley beggar remains partially on the Ethereal Plane, and can be attacked by opponents on either the Material Plane or the Ethereal Plane.

A galley beggar has two home planes, the Material Plane and the Ethereal Plane. It is not considered extraplanar when on either of these planes.

Rejuvenation (Su): It's difficult to destroy a galley beggar through simple combat: The "destroyed" spirit will often restore itself in 2d4 days. Even the most powerful spells are usually only temporary solutions. A galley beggar that would otherwise be destroyed returns to its old haunts with a successful level check (1d20 + galley beggar's HD) against DC 13. As a rule, the only way to get rid of a galley beggar for sure is to X.

Turn Resistance (Ex): A galley beggar has +2 turn resistance. Should a manifested galley beggar be successfully turned it is forced to stop manifesting, remaining ethereal for the duration of the turning.

 

[Shade]

I'd really prefer to leave 'em as straight incorporeal creatures, avoiding all the ethereal references, if possible.

 

[freyar]

I agree with Shade about incorporeal and not ethereal, since the original monster clearly says they're not AD&D ghosts. Also, I'm not seeing much call for rejuvenation in any of the source stats we're considering.

 

[Cleon]

I agree with Shade about incorporeal and not ethereal, since the original monster clearly says they're not AD&D ghosts. Also, I'm not seeing much call for rejuvenation in any of the source stats we're considering.

I'm beginning to think it's time for another Cleon Special.

From what I read they are a kind of ghost. They suddenly appear on rare occasions, to terrify or victimize folk, then vanish mysteriously. If we aren't making them ethereal I think they need invisibility to explain why no-one notices them when they're not on the job.

Hmm... maybe they are a kind of Undead Fey which are trying to scare away the humans who have taken over their land? That'd fit with invisibility, which is a common Fey power. It also explains why I can't find any mention of a Galley Beggar being a ghost of a specific human - they never were humans!

So are we keeping Eldritch Glow, Ghostly Hand and the +2 turn resistance.