Converting monsters from Tales From The Infinite Staircase
Cleon
Legend
Updating the Phlegamor's Servant Working Draft.
Yup!
I guess we might as well wait to see if Oryan needs a particular monster before picking our next Infinite Staircase conversion.
Cleon
Legend
How about the Nightmare Rat for the next creature? Hopefully that will be an easier conversion for you guys.
That's an easy one. Or at least I found my Homebrew of it pretty straightforward.
Cleon
Legend
Nightmare Rat Original Stats
Unlike the other holes, however, this one presents a danger, for a giant rat—particularly nasty and demonic in appearance—lives in the hole and lunges at anyone coming near. If the character puts her hand into the hole, the rat automatically bites the PC. If she merely comes close to the hole but remains near, the rat leaps out for a single attack (automatic surprise) and then retreats back into the hole.
The bite of this rat carries with a terrible sort of “mental poison.” If the victim fails a saving throw vs. poison after suffering a bite from the rat, the dreamer is suddenly presented with an image from one of her own personal nightmares. This should be treated as a phantasmal killer spell. If the dreamer dies as a result of the nightmare, she awakens in a cold sweat. The shock of dying, even in her dream, shakes the character to the point that any die roll she makes for the next day is modified against her favor by –1. If the character successfully disbelieves in the nightmare (as per phantasmal killer), she avoids the effect but then awakens.
NIGHTMARE RAT: AC 7; MV 15; HD 1; hp 8; THAC0 19; #AT 1; Dmg 1d3; SA Poisonous bite; SZ T (2′ long); ML unsteady (7); Int semi (2); AL NE; XP 35.
Originally appeared in Tales From the Infinite Staircase (1998)
Unlike the other holes, however, this one presents a danger, for a giant rat—particularly nasty and demonic in appearance—lives in the hole and lunges at anyone coming near. If the character puts her hand into the hole, the rat automatically bites the PC. If she merely comes close to the hole but remains near, the rat leaps out for a single attack (automatic surprise) and then retreats back into the hole.
The bite of this rat carries with a terrible sort of “mental poison.” If the victim fails a saving throw vs. poison after suffering a bite from the rat, the dreamer is suddenly presented with an image from one of her own personal nightmares. This should be treated as a phantasmal killer spell. If the dreamer dies as a result of the nightmare, she awakens in a cold sweat. The shock of dying, even in her dream, shakes the character to the point that any die roll she makes for the next day is modified against her favor by –1. If the character successfully disbelieves in the nightmare (as per phantasmal killer), she avoids the effect but then awakens.
NIGHTMARE RAT: AC 7; MV 15; HD 1; hp 8; THAC0 19; #AT 1; Dmg 1d3; SA Poisonous bite; SZ T (2′ long); ML unsteady (7); Int semi (2); AL NE; XP 35.
Originally appeared in Tales From the Infinite Staircase (1998)
freyar
Extradimensional Explorer
Well, it's not quite a phantasmal killer spell, but we can certainly base it on that. Unless, of course, that's how a 2e phantasmal killer worked, in which case we get to upgrade the effect a bit. 
Anyway, 1HD Tiny magical beast. I guess we should base it on a rat with improved mental stats.
Anyway, 1HD Tiny magical beast. I guess we should base it on a rat with improved mental stats.
Cleon
Legend
Well, it's not quite a phantasmal killer spell, but we can certainly base it on that. Unless, of course, that's how a 2e phantasmal killer worked, in which case we get to upgrade the effect a bit.
In the scenario the PC is having a dream in which they encounter the Nightmare Rat. It's not actually real, hence the "If the dreamer dies as a result of the nightmare, she awakens in a cold sweat" bit.
So the scenario's slapping an "it was all a dream" on top of the Nightmare Rat's phantasmal killer.
That's pretty much what I had in mind.
My Homebrew Nightmare Rat used a Dire Rat as the base creature, but I fancy using a standard rat just to shake things up a bit.
Cleon
Legend
The adventure takes place in a ruined Githyanki city on the Astral Plane. The city contains the "Dream Well", an enchanted object that causes anyone who falls asleep in the city to have one of four dreams that seem real to those dreaming them, in all of which they can dream they are climbing down the Dream Well to discover different things.
The third of the dreams has the Nightmare Rat at the bottom of the Well.
freyar
Extradimensional Explorer
Ugh. Let me get this straight. The nightmare rat may not even be a real monster. It's presented as a monster with a phantasmal killer power, but then that's all part of another dream? Double ugh.
My vote is to make a rat monster with a straight-up phantasmal killer attached to the bite. How's that sound?
My vote is to make a rat monster with a straight-up phantasmal killer attached to the bite. How's that sound?
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