Special Conversion Thread: Moldvay's Undead

[freyar]

That seems reasonable to me. The only question is if we want it to have a round/minute limit at all.

 

[Shade]

I suppose it's not necessary, but it seems rather harsh since the methods of escape are so limited.

 

[freyar]

Well, maybe Cleon will weigh in over the weekend. In the mean time, should we add the blood drain to the aura or write it as a separate ability? I think I'd like to stick it in the aura.

 

[Cleon]

The aura may be the best approach, as there are no rules to really adjudicate where a shadow falls.

Here's a stab at a first draft...

Shadowtrap Aura (Su): A ghost-stone continually projects an aura to a radius of 10-feet that grabs hold of creatures' shadows. Any creature within the area that casts a shadow must succeed on a DC X Will(?) save or become tethered to the ghost-stone via its shadow for x rounds/minutes. The save DC is Charisma-based.

A creature trapped by the aura may not physically move (or be physically moved by others) outside the aura's area, but is otherwise unhindered. The area within the shadowtrap aura is treated as a dimensional anchor for purposes of teleportation and other forms of extraplanar escape. A creature with the shadow jump ability or other mode of shadow travel (such as the shadow walk spell) may escape the area as normal for the spell or ability.

A ghost-stone may employ its blood drain upon any creature trapped by its aura. A ghost-stone's shadowtrap aura does not function in areas of total darkness.

That looks a reasonable beginning although I'd remove the duration limit.

I think it still needs some method of temporary suppressing the effect to allow a chance of escape, such as positive energy channeling (e.g. turning, or the consecrate or hallow spells), and I have no objection to allowing a "one chance per day" to escape via teleportation/planar magic involving a level check of some kind.

Something like:

Shadowtrap Aura (Su): A ghost-stone continually projects an aura to a radius of 10-feet that captures creatures' shadows. Any creature within the area that casts a shadow must succeed on a DC X Will(?) save or become tethered to the ghost-stone via its shadow. The save DC is Charisma-based. A ghost-stone's shadowtrap aura does not function in areas of total darkness.

A creature trapped by the aura may not physically move outside the aura's area (or be physically moved by others), but is otherwise unhindered. A trapped creature can use teleportation or other forms of extraplanar escape to leave the shadowtrap area if they succeed at a level check (DC X plus the ghost's Hit Dice) but is only permitted one such attempt, a dimensional anchor like effect prevents any further transplanar escape attempts. A consecrate or hallow spell cast within the shadowtrap area will temporarily disrupt the aura, allowing trapped creatures to leave the aura if they succeed at a Will save (DC X, with a +2 bonus on the save if hallow was used). A creature with the shadow jump ability or other mode of shadow travel (such as the shadow walk spell) may escape the area as normal for the spell or ability.

The ghost-stone can attack all creatures within its shadowtrap aura with its blood drain power at the end of every round.

 

[freyar]

Hmm, here's going to be another variant. As far as teleportation, I'd rather allow a caster level check every time or not at all. The once per day bit seems too exception-based and fiddly.

I like the idea of the consecrate or hallow spells, but hallow isn't going to help much since it has a 24 hour casting time. (Consecrate is fairly expensive, too, though it at least only takes a standard action to cast.) I'm uncertain about requiring a save to exit, though; maybe it should just let the victims out.

Here's my stab at it:

Shadowtrap Aura (Su): A ghost-stone continually projects an aura to a radius of 10-feet that captures creatures' shadows. Any creature within the area that casts a shadow must succeed on a Will save or become tethered to the ghost-stone via its shadow. The save DC is Charisma-based. A ghost-stone's shadowtrap aura does not function in areas of total darkness.

A creature trapped by the aura may not physically move outside the aura's area (or be physically moved by others), but is otherwise unhindered. A trapped creature can use teleportation or other forms of extraplanar escape to leave the shadowtrap area if they succeed at a caster level check (DC X plus the ghost's Hit Dice); otherwise they are affected as if by dimensional anchor. A consecrate spell cast within the shadowtrap area will temporarily disrupts the aura, granting trapped creatures one round to escape the aura. A creature with the shadow jump ability or other mode of shadow travel (such as the shadow walk spell) may escape the area as normal for the spell or ability.

At the end of its turn each round, a ghost-stone drains blood from each creature caught by its shadowtrap aura, doing 1d4? Con damage to each. Each time it drains blood, the ghost-stone gains 5 temporary hit points.

 

[Cleon]

Hmm, here's going to be another variant. As far as teleportation, I'd rather allow a caster level check every time or not at all. The once per day bit seems too exception-based and fiddly.

I like the idea of the consecrate or hallow spells, but hallow isn't going to help much since it has a 24 hour casting time. (Consecrate is fairly expensive, too, though it at least only takes a standard action to cast.) I'm uncertain about requiring a save to exit, though; maybe it should just let the victims out.

Here's my stab at it:

Shadowtrap Aura (Su): A ghost-stone continually projects an aura to a radius of 10-feet that captures creatures' shadows. Any creature within the area that casts a shadow must succeed on a Will save or become tethered to the ghost-stone via its shadow. The save DC is Charisma-based. A ghost-stone's shadowtrap aura does not function in areas of total darkness.

A creature trapped by the aura may not physically move outside the aura's area (or be physically moved by others), but is otherwise unhindered. A trapped creature can use teleportation or other forms of extraplanar escape to leave the shadowtrap area if they succeed at a caster level check (DC X plus the ghost's Hit Dice); otherwise they are affected as if by dimensional anchor. A consecrate spell cast within the shadowtrap area will temporarily disrupts the aura, granting trapped creatures one round to escape the aura. A creature with the shadow jump ability or other mode of shadow travel (such as the shadow walk spell) may escape the area as normal for the spell or ability.

At the end of its turn each round, a ghost-stone drains blood from each creature caught by its shadowtrap aura, doing 1d4? Con damage to each. Each time it drains blood, the ghost-stone gains 5 temporary hit points.

I can go along with dropping the hallow but I prefer the single-attempt teleportation, based on the planar binding spell. Why, I was being kind allowing one chance to escape.

Oh well, I would happier going along with multiple attempts if they got progressively more difficult (maybe a +1 DC per repeated attempt?).

I'd also fancy allowing clerics to "turn" the aura, something like:

A cleric can turn or rebuke the shadowtrap aura as if it were an undead creature with Y hit dice; a successful turn check temporarily disrupts the aura, granting trapped creatures one round to escape the aura. A consecrate spell cast within the shadowtrap area will also temporarily disrupts the aura for 1 round per caster level.
​

Oh, and as for the blood drain damage I was thinking of something pretty low. I was thinking we could make it 1d3 points per round or even just 1 point. It'd give the PCs a bit more chance to find a way to escape.

Anyhow, putting all that together...

Shadowtrap Aura (Su): A ghost-stone continually projects an aura to a radius of 10-feet that captures creatures' shadows. Any creature within the area that casts a shadow must succeed on a Will save or become tethered to the ghost-stone via its shadow. The save DC is Charisma-based. A ghost-stone's shadowtrap aura does not function in areas of total darkness.

A creature trapped by the aura may not physically move outside the aura's area (or be physically moved by others), but is otherwise unhindered. The shadowtrap area is under an effect similar to dimensional anchor, a trapped creature must succeed at a caster level check to escape via plane shift, teleport or other forms of extraplanar travel (DC 10 plus the ghost-stone's Hit Dice plus 1 per additional attempt). A cleric can turn or rebuke the shadowtrap aura as if it were an undead creature with Y hit dice; a successful turn check temporarily disrupts the aura, granting trapped creatures one round to escape the aura. A consecrate spell cast within the shadowtrap area will also temporarily disrupts the aura for 1 round per caster level. A creature with the shadow jump ability or other mode of shadow travel (such as the shadow walk spell) may escape the area as normal for the spell or ability.

At the end of its turn each round, a ghost-stone drains blood from each creature caught by its shadowtrap aura, doing 1d3 Con damage to each. Each time it drains blood, the ghost-stone gains 5 temporary hit points.

 

[Shade]

Hmm, here's going to be another variant. As far as teleportation, I'd rather allow a caster level check every time or not at all. The once per day bit seems too exception-based and fiddly.

Agreed. My vote is still for "not at all".

I'd be OK with a successful turn check working on the aura, though.

 

[freyar]

Not at all is just fine with me. Really, I just didn't want anything too fiddly. Here's the variant plus turning minus teleporting. Simplifying the turning bit, also.

Shadowtrap Aura (Su): A ghost-stone continually projects an aura to a radius of 10-feet that captures creatures' shadows. Any creature within the area that casts a shadow must succeed on a Will save or become tethered to the ghost-stone via its shadow. The save DC is Charisma-based. A ghost-stone's shadowtrap aura does not function in areas of total darkness.

A creature trapped by the aura may not physically move outside the aura's area (or be physically moved by others), but is otherwise unhindered. The shadowtrap area is under an effect similar to dimensional anchor: a trapped creature cannot escape via plane shift, teleport, or other forms of extraplanar travel, although a creature with the shadow jump ability or other mode of shadow travel (such as the shadow walk spell) may escape the area as normal for the spell or ability. If the ghost-stone is successfully turned or rebuked, the shadowtrap aura is disrupted for 1 round, granting trapped creatures a chance to escape the aura. A consecrate spell cast within the shadowtrap area also temporarily disrupts the aura for 1 round per caster level.

At the end of its turn each round, a ghost-stone drains blood from each creature caught by its shadowtrap aura, doing 1d3 Con damage to each. Each time it drains blood, the ghost-stone gains 5 temporary hit points.

 

[Shade]

Perfect!

 

[Cleon]

The latest version is OK by me.

What's next to do?