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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 7029171" data-attributes="member: 20323">Step 5: Making Monsters (part 4 – Hard-to-Convert Monsters)So far the monsters I've converted have been straight forward or taken a bit of creative thinking. However, every now and then you will find an old monster (or invent a monster of your own) with some trait or action or concept that just won't translate well into existing game terms. That's when it gets really interesting.In this case, I'm converting the <a href="http://creaturespotlight.blogspot.com/2015/01/maelephant.html" target="_blank">Maelephant</a>, a large pachyderm-headed guardian fiend who breathes gas that induces total memory loss. And the memory loss is the sticky wicket.I'm planning to use some of them as guardians of Krak al-Mazhar bound by The Bonfire or his predecessors. More on how I'll be using them later...<img src="http://www.lomion.de/cmm/img/maelepha.gif" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pWqcDJo9r2Y/VL72slefjxI/AAAAAAAAAt8/4PmIzw1mr_o/s1600/50080.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />I'm going to start by looking at possible comparisons: modify memory and feeblemind (which also happens to be the effects of the River Styx, acc. to the DMG). Modify memory isn't strong enough for what I'm looking for. However, feeblemind is weird...It makes you an idiot, essentially, strips you of your communication ability, strips away spellcasting but.... if you have Extra Attack or other class abilities or proficiency with a poisoner's kit you can still use those just fine... and you still remember who your friends are. Feeblemind doesn't feel like a good fit either, but it's moving in the right direction.However, what I have been able to gauge is that the maelephant is able to use an ability which allows it to kind-of-but-not-feeblemind a group of creatures. By comparison, a PC would only get the ability to feeblemind one creature at around 15th level (when a full caster would gain 8th level spells). Something to think about when establishing the maelephant's CR.Challenge RatingIn fact, I'm going to do this right now. It's something I usually have in the back of my head when converting monsters – a rough estimate of the target CR I'm aiming for. To do this, I generally look at the monster across a couple editions of D&D and also compare it to another monster of approximately similar power level that is already in 5e's Monster Manual (or Volo's Guide). Generally I look at XP value, Hit Dice, and any CR ratings.There are two versions of the maelephant for me to compare: AD&D PLANESCAPE and the 3e Fiend Folio. And for comparison, I'm going to look at the AD&D, d20, and 5e versions of the horned devil (cornugon...renamed to malebranche in 5e).EDIT: Tables apparently don't work on ENWorld anymore?AD&D Maelephant: 8+2 HD; 10,000 XP3e Maelephant: 8d8+24 HD; CR 10AD&D Horned Devil: 10 HD; 10,000 XP3e Horned Devil: 15d8+105 HD; CR 165e Horned Devil: 17d10+55 HD; CR 11 (7,200 XP)What this reveals is that horned devils got a major power-up in 3e that maelephants did not. Why? Well besides having a boatload of hit points, they had damage reduction, regeneration, could invoke fear and shoot a lightning bolt, could stun with their spiked chain, and delivered a really nasty ongoing wound that could only be stopped by a DC 24 Heal check, a cure spell, or a heal spell (and the caster had to make a DC 24 caster level check!).5e reined the horned devil's power back to closer to AD&D levels. What we see in AD&D is that even though the horned devil is a tougher in a physical fight, the maelephant is worth the same amount of XP. Why? I have two theories: blade barrier 3/day and it's memory-wiping breath weapon (trunk weapon?).So my target for the maelephant is going to be somewhere around CR 10 – 12. Definitely CR 9+, because CR 9 is meant to be a medium challenge for a 9th level party, and a 9th level party could have access to greater restoration...which is the first spell that can restore memories lost to a maelephant.The Tricky Ability: Memory-Wiping Breath WeaponBoth AD&D and 3e list this as 3/day; which is the same as what AD&D dragons get for their breath weapon, so I'm going to make it a recharge (5-6).In AD&D and 3e it's 10’ wide and 30’ long. So I'm going to make that a 30-foot cone in 5e terms.The AD&D saving throw is vs. poison, and in 3e it's vs. Fortitude. Instead, I'm going to require an Intelligence save because (a) it matches up with Feeblemind & the Enchanter's 14th level Alter Memories feature, and (b) there need to be more Intelligence saves in the game!Next, thinking about memory loss, that's like a devastating event for a PC. Right up there with petrification maybe. So I'm going to look to how the medusa works; the first failed save vs. her Petrifying Gaze means you're restrained and starting to turn to stone (unless you fail by 5+, in which case you're screwed), and then if you fail your second save you actually turn to stone. I'm going to mimic that.[SECTION]Breath Weapon (recharge 5-6). The maelephant exhales a cloud of noxious gas inducing memory loss in a 30-foot cone. Creatures caught in the gas must make a DC 14 Intelligence saving throw. If the saving throw fails by 5 or more, the creature instantly suffers total memory loss. Otherwise, a creature that fails its save begins to lose its memories, losing concentration on any spells and becoming incapacitated. The incapacitated creature must repeat the saving throw at the end of its next turn, suffering total memory loss on a failure or ending the effect on a success. The memory loss lasts until the creature is freed by the greater restoration spell or other magic....[/SECTION]So that's half the write-up. Now I need to define what "total memory loss" means in game terms. AD&D is vague of course, but the 3e maelephant has some clues....What I like about this is that it doesn't touch the PC's language capacities or ability scores (like 5e's feeblemind). Losing your class abilities sucks enough, no need to make the PC unable to communicate whatsoever. In 5e terms, I might translate this as...[SECTION]A creature creature suffering total memory loss no longer applies their proficiency bonus to any rolls, loses all class features including spellcasting, and is unable to recall friends and enemies, past events, even its own name. However, the creature retains the ability to speak, read, and write its dominant language. The memory loss lasts until the creature is freed by the greater restoration spell or other magic.[/SECTION]Wordy, but that does the job nicely!Other AbilitiesWith the hard part done, I move onto the other abilities of the maelephant, listing them out:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Frenzied Charge = the Charge ability on many monsters in the 5e MM</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">True seeing at will = Truesight in 5e</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Spellcasting (at-will: alarm, bind, entangle, gust of wind, light, true seeing, warp wood; 3/day: blade barrier, polymorph other) = 5e Innate Spellcasting (at-will: alarm, entangle, gust of wind, light; 3/day each: blade barrier, polymorph - others only)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Never surprised & Keen senses alternately described as hearing/smell or sight = well, that feels a bit redundant with Truesight, elephants lack Keen Senses, so I'm just going to go with double proficiency bonus to Perception (I seem to remember other AD&D "never surprised" monsters receiving Expertise in Perception in the 5e MM)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Immune to attack from nonmagical weapons, or DR 20/+1 = 5e resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Auto-damage grapple, Improved Grab = auto-grapple attack with ongoing damage if creature ends its turn grappled</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">AD&D mentions that they never make morale checks when guarding (which is significant in that they bothered mentioning that for a creature of already fearless morale), though 3e makes no mention of it = I'm including to give them immunity to the frightened condition, along with immunity to memory loss</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">3e's Defensive Stance (1/encounter, free action, dodge bonus to AC and saves, STR and CON) = a boosted Dodge action option granting advantage to all saves (yah for concentrating on blade barrier!), and opportunity attacks don't require expending a reaction while dodging</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><s>Regeneration / Fast Healing</s> I cut this one because the Horned Devil had 2 hp/round regeneration in AD&D (like the maelephant) but doesn't in 5e. Seem like it wasn't an iconic ability or wasn't potent enough to warrant inclusion, so I'm following suit for the maelephant.</li> </ul>Ability ScoresI'll compare the AD&D and 3e versions of the maelephant, along with the 5e horned devil, and 5e elephant for good measure.AD&D Maelephant: Strength (a -5 Str penalty to a victim's escape check implies it may be 20-21), Constitution (a +2 HD modifier, suggests it may be 14-15), Intelligence 13-143e Maelephant: Strength 22, Dexterity 11, Constitution 16, Intelligence 14, Wisdom 19, Charisma 155e Horned Devil: Strength 22, Dexterity 17, Constitution 21, Intelligence 12, Wisdom 16, Charisma 175e Elephant: Strength 22, Dexterity 9, Constitution 17, Intelligence 3, Wisdom 11, Charisma 6So, triangulating its ability scores from that information, I end up going with precisely its 3e stats.Saves & SkillsLooking at its 3e stats: Concentration skill and Iron Will stand out to me. I translate these as Constitution and Wisdom saving throws. Strength also makes sense to me, judging from the art. And "an elephant never forgets" so I'm give it Intelligence saves too. Why not. This also mirrors the Horned Devil's 4 proficient saves.For skills, definitely double prof. in Perception. Let's see...its 3e stats also highlight a high Sense Motive and Spellcraft! So maybe regular prof. in Insight and Arcana.Hit Dice, AC, and Other StuffI'm taking an educated gamble when it comes to reaching its Hit Dice. The Horned Devil, remember him? Went from 10 HD in AD&D to 17 HD in 5e. That's about a 7 HD increase. Now, assuming we can translate that to any other monsters is a dangerous game in 5e because often it just isn't true. In this case, because the two monsters work decently well as comparisons, and because an elephant fiend feels like it should be pretty burly, I am boosting the maelephant's HD to 15.Hit Points 127 (15d10+45)If I were using the elephant as the basis for its AC, I'd assume +3 natural armor (since the Dex 9 elephant has AC 12). However, stronger fiends often have really good natural armor; point-in-case the horned devil has +5 natural armor (inferred from Dex 17 and AC 18). Back in AD&D the horned devil had AC -2 and maelephant AC 0, so I anticipate its natural armor to be less than the horned devil's by 2...which actually does leave me back at a +3 natural armor like the elephant.AC 13 (natural armor)Putting it all together (Rough Draft)<img src="http://i.imgur.com/peCNZsx.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />[SBLOCK=Monster Maths: Maelephant]Defensive CRHP 127, calculated with a *1.25 modifier for damage resistances for an expected CR 11-16. That's 159 effective HP. CR 6. Should expect AC 15.The maelephant has AC 13, but it also has four proficient saves, boosting its effective AC to 15.  So it's good. CR 6.Offensive CRThis one is going to be tricky to calculate, but I'm just going to go with the most extreme assumption – the maelephant casts blade barrier each round of combat, utilizing it to catch the largest number of targets possible. Again going by "Targets in Area of Effect" (DMG 249), I divide the 100 foot wall of the blade barrier by 30 to get 3 targets. Is a DM actually likely to use the maelephant this way? Probably not, but it does drive home how dangerous the monster can be in ways that are harder to account for the monster math.3 * (6d10) = 3 * (33) = 9999 DPR is CR 16, but save DC 16 bumps that down one to CR 15.CR 15.Total CR(6 + 15) / 2 = 10.5Now, I'm uncertain whether to round up or down. I'm leaning toward up because... First, I assumed a lower damage resistance multiplier (since I was anticipating CR 11-16). Second, I still think that its breath weapon is super nasty. But still, I'm uncertain.In a case like this, where a monster is on the border line between two CRs and it's not clear to you which way it should go, I suggest trying a different effective HP multiplier for damage resistances. So, let's say I assume it's meant to be a CR 5-10, that means I multiple it's HP by 1.5.....which is 190 HP.That will give me a Defensive CR of 8!Working the math that way, the maelephant's total CR would be (8 + 15) / 2 = 11.5 !So, in this case, my intuition to bump its CR up to 11 is right.The maelephant is CR 11.[/SBLOCK][SECTION]Resources: Monster Conversion<a href="https://media.wizards.com/2015/downloads/dnd/DnD_Conversions_1.0.pdf" target="_blank">Official WotC Conversion Guide</a><a href="http://brentnewhall.com/games/1e5e.html" target="_blank">Brent Newhall's 1e-3e-5e Converter</a><a href="http://marklenser.com/5econverter/" target="_blank">Pathfinder to 5e Converter by [MENTION=6670944]Kryx[/MENTION]/Mark Lenser</a><a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?358550-Equating-AD-amp-D-2e-XP-to-5th-edition-CR" target="_blank">Equating AD&D 2e XP to 5th edition CR (my thread on ENWorld)</a>[/SECTION]</blockquote>

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