Special Conversion Thread: Unicorns

[Shade]

That has a nice ring to it.

 

[Cleon]

That has a nice ring to it.

The Gray Unicorn Non-Partisanship Committee points out they do not support the favouritism towards the Good alignment, Sonic energy attacks or the use of finger-mounted Magic Items implied by the phrase "nice ring".

 

[Shade]

Those lousy fence-sitters.

Getting back to the pinto, what's left?

 

[freyar]

I think it may be done!

And all the names work for me.

 

[Shade]

Sea Unicorn
CLIMATE: Temperate
TERRAIN: Oceans
FREQUENCY: Very rare
ORGANIZATION: Family
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Herbiv.
INTELLIGENCE: Very
TREASURE: Nil
ALIGNMENT: LN
NO. APPEARING:1-6
ARMOR CLASS: 4
MOVEMENT: 24, Sw 36
HIT DICE: 3+4
THAC0: 17
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3 or 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: l-6/1-6/1-12 or 2-16
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See text
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See text
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: L
MORALE: Steady
XP VALUE: 650

Sea unicorns have three forms. The first form is that of a small whale with a long unicorn’s horn, the second is that of a sea horse with the same horn, and the third is that of a unicorn with a blue-white coloration. In all three forms, the unicorn’s eyes are deep blue. It takes one round for it to change shape, during which time it cannot attack; all shape-changing must be done while submerged in water.

Combat: Aside from being able to switch between its three forms at will, a sea unicorn or narwal can breathe water in any form. The last form allows the unicorn to breathe air. Narwhals can control weather (as per the cleric spell) once per day at the 11th level of ability. The last form can also walk on water at will at normal ground speed.

Habitat/Society: Sea unicorns can be found in any body of water larger than a large lake. They are very ordered creatures who carefully cultivate kelp beds to graze on. They generally stay out of conflicts. Narwhals mate for life and have very carefully mapped-out territories.

Narwhals can be ridden by sea-elven maidens of pure heart.

Ecology: Narwhals feed on the kelp beds that they carefully cultivate. A narwal’s horn can be used to brew potions of water breathing.

 

[Shade]

3e narwhal stats can be found here.

I believe they were updated to 3.5 in the Tome of Horrors.

Those stats should prove useful for the alternate form.

 

[Cleon]

Those lousy fence-sitters.

Getting back to the pinto, what's left?

Looks done to me.

 

[Cleon]

3e narwhal stats can be found here.

I believe they were updated to 3.5 in the Tome of Horrors.

Those stats should prove useful for the alternate form.

Four Hit Dice for a Huge Animal?! Seems a bit low for a Narwhal.

Anyhow, getting back to the Sea Unicorn, I would just have the alternate forms provide different movement rates - high swim speed in "whale" form, high swim speed and low land speed in "hippocampus" form, high land speed, the amphibious trait and water walking in "unicorn" form.

I also don't like having a "whale" that breathes water instead of air. Do you mind describing it as a "fish"?

Whales have 120 ft. blindsight in 3E, so I would give the Sea Unicorn (even if we call it a fish) blindsight, although maybe cut it down a bit.

Statswise, I'm thinking something like this for a start:

Sea Unicorn
Large Magical Beast (Aquatic)
Hit Dice: 3d10+18 (34 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), swim 80 ft.
Armor Class: 16 (–1 size, +3 Dex, +4 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 13
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+12
Attack: Horn +10 melee (1d6+8)
Full Attack: Horn +10 melee (1d6+8) and 2 hooves +3 melee (1d4+2)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Alternate form
Special Qualities: Blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 60 ft., immunity to poison, charm, and compulsion, low-light vision, scent, spell-like abilities, water walking, wild empathy
Saves: Fort +9, Ref +6, Will +6
Abilities: Str 20, Dex 17, Con 22, Int 10, Wis 21, Cha 24
Skills: Jump +28 [+2 out of water], Listen +11, Move Silently +9, Spot +11, Survival +8*, Swim +13
Feats: Alertness, Skill Focus (Survival)
Environment: Any water
Organization: Solitary, pair, or balance (3–10)
Challenge Rating: 3
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always lawful neutral
Advancement: 4–6 HD (Large)
Level Adjustment: +4 (cohort)

Despite their name, sea unicorns are found in large freshwater lakes and rivers as well as the sea.

Alternate Form (Su): A sea unicorn can assume three forms, a hippocampus with a long unicorn's horn (The front half of a unicorn with a fish's tail) with the stats given above, a half-whale/half-fish creature with the same horn, or a unicorn of normal shape. All three forms have a blue-white coloration and blue eyes. A sea unicorn can only change form if it is submerged in water. It does not change form if it is slain.

In whale-fish form the sea unicorn's horn does 2d6 damage, its blindsight range increases to 120 ft and it loses water walking.

Whale-Fish Form
Speed: swim 80 ft.
Attack: Horn +10 melee (2d6+10)
Full Attack: Horn +10 melee (2d6+10)
Special Attacks: Maybe give it powerful charge?
Special Qualities: Blindsight 120 ft., darkvision 60 ft., immunity to poison, charm, and compulsion, low-light vision, scent, spell-like abilities, wild empathy

In equine form the sea unicorn gains the Amphibious quality so it can breathe air but loses its blindsight.

Unicorn Form
Speed: 50 ft. (4 squares), swim 50 ft.
Special Qualities: Amphibious darkvision 60 ft., immunity to poison, charm, and compulsion, low-light vision, scent, spell-like abilities, water walking, wild empathy
Skills: Jump +16, Listen +11, Move Silently +9, Spot +11, Survival +8*, Swim +13

 

[Cleon]

That leaves the question of Spell-Like Abilities.

Since these fellows are Lawful Neutral we may want to give them detect chaos instead of detect evil. I'd be happy to leave them with detect evil though, since their aren't many Chaotic Neutral threats to the life of the sea.

They original creature had control weather 1/day as an 11th level caster.

That's a 7th level spell, so I'm thinking we should up the CL to 14.

 

[Shade]

That's all looking pretty good. Why the lower Dex, though? Both the standard unicorn and the almost-identical-statwise gray have Dex 17. If it was simply to lower the AC, I'd rather drop the NA by another notch than lower Dex.

Agreed to the higher CL for SLAs. I'm fine with either detect evil or detect chaos. They aren't particularly champions of law, so I can see where the greater threat of evil see creatures lends support to detect evil, though.

And yes, the narwhal is apparently in bad need of an update! It's not in the Tome of Horrors, as I'd suspected, so it's fair game for an overhaul.