Spelljammer Unconverted Spelljammer creatures

[Big Mac]

Beholder Zombie located in SJA1 Wildspace

Over at The Piazza, I've been talking to a guy about beholders and he said there was a beholder zombie in SJA1 Wildspace that doesn't seem to be in your list. The basic stats are the monster summary table and a slightly better description is on page 44.

 

[Echohawk]

Nice catch! I've added it to the list. Curiously, there doesn't seem to be a beholder zombie in any 3rd edition source yet, but there is a 4th edition version in Dungeon #155.

 

[Shade]

Does it differ significantly from the death tyrant (also a "beholder zombie")?

 

[Echohawk]

Yes

 

[Big Mac]

unnamed eagle-like giant bird - SJR4 Practical Planetology

I've just been wikifiying information from Practical Planetology and have noticed stats for an unnamed eagle-like bird on page 35. Here is the very sparse amount of information that is there:

The First Layer

The first layer is home to a bewildering variety of birds, and virtually nothing else. These birds form a complex interlocking avian food chain. Every ecological nich - from scavenger to predator - is filled by some form of bird. At the bottom of the food chain are small birds the size of terrestrial sparrows that feed on the 'plankton' that rises from the second layer. At the top is a massive eagle-like predator with a 20' wing span. [This creature has the following statistics: AC 5; MV 30; HD3; #AT 3; Dmg 1-3/1-3/2-8;THAC0 17; AL N. It can attack by biting with its curved beak, or by raking with the claws at the end of its powerful wings.]

Most of these birds are similar in apperance to terrestrial species, with one major difference: They have no legs. Predatory species make up for this lack with claws at the end of their wings, similar to those of some species of bats. The fact that there's nowhere to roost also necessitates another significant difference: females give birth to live young, rather than laying eggs, and these young can fly from the moment of birth.

So is a giant eagle-like bird, with claws on its wingtips, no legs and the ability to give birth to live young different enough from other birds to qualify as something that should be converted?

If so, can we call it an Alabeth Giant Eagle (after the planet it comes from)?

One thing missing from this description is that this giant eagle-like bird either never sleeps, or sleeps with one half of its brain (while flying in a circle) then switches to let the other half of their brain sleep.

Apart from that, I would say this conversion could start with a Giant Eagle (from the SRD), moving the claws, remove the intellegence (and the legs ), and than making a pass through the rest of the text to pull out any inappropirate skills or feats and change the combat section to remove any mention of nests.

I'm not sure if this creature could be tamed, as I'm not sure it can "land" and "take off", like a normal bird can. That would possibly make hand-rearing impossible. On Alabeth there are no sentient creatures on the same 'layer' to train this bird, so it doesn't get discussed, but if someone was going to recycle this monster into a non-Spelljammer game, they might want to give this a go. Maybe only flying characters can try to train the creatures.

 

[Big Mac]

Jade Spider - Ship Recognition Manual (War Captain's Companion)

I found another hidden Spelljammer monster called the Jade Spider (which is found on the drow spelljamming ship of the same name). Here is the statblock:

Jade Spiders: Int Non; AL N; AC 5; MV 10; HD 6+6; Hp 54; THAC0 15; #AT 3; Dmg 3d4x2/2d4; ML 20; SD saves as 16th Mage; SZ H (15' tall); XP 10,000

This is backed up a bit by some text in the ship description. Unfortunately, the fact that they gave the ship and the monster the same name means that some things are a bit ambiguous:

If the drow ship is attacking the neogi (their primary enemy in wildspace) they send several jade spiders (see box below) into the belly f the opposing ship first. Umber hulks, the preferred slave for the neogi, are violently allergic to and deathly afraid of these mechanical spiders, running in fear whenever they encounter them. Each ship carries 4-24 (4d6) jade spiders for just this purpose.

So you have a special attack (targeted only at umber hulks) and the number appearing. You also have the creature type (construct) and the number appearing.

I think you can also base the description of the spiders on the description of the ship:

These attack craft are constructed from rock, precious metals, and radiant substances found only in the drow's Underdark realm. These elements bind together to form the hard (AR0) shell around the body of the craft. The only way into or out of the craft is a man-sized hatch out of which the ship's main weapon, an adamantine drill assembly, protudes during its attack.

The legs are constructed of a metallic substance highly resistant to heat (+2 save). The legs end in spiked claws used to bring a captured ship adjacent to the body of the Jade Spider. In order to capture a ship, the helmsman must roll a successful hit against the AR of the opponent's ship. If this occurs, the legs hit and stick, pulling the crafts together by the end of the round.

Once adjacent, the Jade Spider ship extends its drill assumbly and begins boring into the side of the enemy ship. It takes but a single round for the drill to penetrate the opponents hull, inflicting 5 Hull Points damage and causing an immediate Hull Holled critical hit in the process.

If the jade spider construct is built like a mini-version of the ship, perhaps they could be made of the same materials and perhaps they could grapple onto umber hulks before injecting them with some sort of radiant substance that they are allertgic to.

 

[Shade]

Great find! Thanks.

 

[Echohawk]

I found another hidden Spelljammer monster called the Jade Spider (which is found on the drow spelljamming ship of the same name). Here is the statblock:

Please excuse the thread necromancy, but I think this might be the same creature as the Jade Spider in City of the Spider Queen (2002).

 

[Cleon]

Please excuse the thread necromancy, but I think this might be the same creature as the Jade Spider in City of the Spider Queen (2002).

If they are the same, then we don't need to do a conversion.

Does it have anything about Umber Hulk's being especially susceptibility to their venom?

 

[Echohawk]

If they are the same, then we don't need to do a conversion. Does it have anything about Umber Hulk's being especially susceptibility to their venom?

Okay, I've looked at these two a little more closely, and they do seem similar, except that the CotSQ version is bigger and a lot meaner than its Spelljamming sibling. There isn't anything specific about Umber Hulks in the description, but they do have a bite that instantly turns the victim to stone, so I can see why they'd make an Umber Hulk (or anyone else) nervous.

If these are converted, the CotSQ version can probably just be downgraded from a 24HD CR14 Gargantuan construct to something less powerful.