D&D 3E/3.5 Converting monsters from Mayfair Games Role Aids product line

Dream Monster Working Draft

Dream Monster
Medium Aberration
Hit Dice: 3d8+3 (16 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 5 ft. (1 squares), climb 5 ft.
Armor Class: 10, touch 10, flat-footed 10
Base Attack/Grapple: +2/+2
Attack: Bite +3 melee (1d6 plus sleep venom)
Full Attack: Bite +3 melee (1d6 plus sleep venom)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Detect thoughts, sleep venom, veil of illusion
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, telepathy 100 ft., tremorsense 60 ft., web strand
Saves: Fort +2, Ref +1, Will +4
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 11, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 13, Cha 16
Skills: Climb +8, Hide +10, Listen +4, Move Silently +7*, Spot +8
Feats: Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus (bite)
Environment: Underground
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 2
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 4-5 HD (Medium); 6-9 HD (Large)
Level Adjustment: —

A gray spider-like creature with a bloated globular body and numerous wispy legs.

A dream monster is a mysterious predator that is little known and even more rarely seen, since it constantly hides behind a veil of illusions. So great is a dream monster's skill in illusory phantasms that it can kill and eat its victims without being noticed. There is a fierce scholarly argument as to whether these aberrations hail from the Plane of Nightmares or the Far Realms, but the truth is no-one knows their origins.

Dream monsters are very rare, but can be found anywhere they can find prey. They normally lair in ruins and cave systems, but a dream monster could live and hunt in a crowded apartment block without being detected. Places inhabited by a dream monster often gains the reputation of being haunted, due to the "accidents" and "disappearances" of the monster's victims.

A typical dream monster has a body 3 to 4 feet long and stands roughly two feet tall. It weighs about 80 pounds.

Dream monsters can communicate telepathically, but have no interest in speaking to their victims.

COMBAT
A dream monster hides in its veil of illusion, attacking unsuspecting victims. Many victims of dream monsters don't even realize they're being attacked. If a dream monster realizes it has been detected, it will usually flee.

Detect Thoughts (Su): A dream monster can continuously use detect thoughts as the spell (caster level 13th; Will DC 14 negates). It can suppress or resume this ability as a free action. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Sleep Venom (Su): A dream monster's fangs inject a supernatural poison. Any creature injured by its bite attack must succeed at a DC 14 Fortitude save or fall into a coma-like sleep for 1 hour plus 1d20 minutes. The comatose victim seems to be dead, an appearance augmented by the monster's Veil of Illusion power (see below). A DC 15 Heal or Search check can detect signs of life in the victim. The status spell or similar ability will also reveal the victim is still alive. Noticing a sleep venom victim is not dead allows the observer to attempt a Will save to disbelieve the dream monster's Veil of Illusion.

Any remedy, resistance, or immunity that counteracts a poison or sleep effect will similarly counteract a dream monster's sleep venom. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Veil of Illusion (Su): A dream monster can conceal itself and its actions behind powerful illusions. The monster is effectively undetectable to all senses (sight, smell, tremorsense, et cetera). Furthermore, if a dream monster attacks an opponent, its veil of illusion makes the attack appear to be a accident or trap of some kind, not a monster attack. e.g. the monster's foes perceive its attacks as a falling rock, arrow-trap, stepping on a spike, and so forth. If the dream monster's opponents suspect an illusion is at play, or carefully study part of the illusion, they can attempt a DC 14 Will save to disbelieve the Veil of Illusion. If they succeed, the Veil of Illusion is broken and the opponents can view the dream monster and its actions normally.

Veil of Illusion can not occlude supernatural sensory abilities, divination spells such as detect thoughts and locate creature, or telepathic psionic powers such as detect hostile intent. A creature with true seeing always sees the dream monster normally. This is a mind-affecting illusion (phantasm) effect. The saving throw is Charisma-based.

Web Strand (Ex): Dream monsters often wait over doors or on ceilings, then lower themselves silently on silk strands to attack prey passing underneath. A single web strand is strong enough to support the monster and one creature of the same size.

Skills: A dream monster has a +4 racial bonus on Hide and Spot checks and a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks. A dream monster can always choose to take 10 on Climb checks, even if rushed or threatened.

*Dream monsters have a +4 racial bonus on Move Silently checks when using their web strands.

Okay, the original Dream Monster has a pathetic AC of 10 and can barely move with its speed of 1". That suggests a Dex that's much lower than a Monstrous Spider's 17. Presumably it relies on its illusion power for defense.

How about giving it Dex 8 or 9?

Works for me.

Cha should be good for the illusions. Maybe Cha 16? Wis maybe average, so 11?

We doing a target CR or just guessing what it would be after we are done?

Nookie said:

We doing a target CR or just guessing what it would be after we are done?

Click to expand...

I'd rather set the CR once we figure out the special abilities.

There's no mention of a saving throw in the original illusion power(s), the "dream reality" only dissipates if the Dream Monster is killed.

Maybe require an "I disbelieve!" statement plus a Will save?

t should have a save if they ask for one. The nature of the monsters powers feel to me like living an illusory version of final destination. Lots of off the wall accidents i'm picturing. Imagine a whole dungeon that is just happening in the players heads.

Nookie said:

t should have a save if they ask for one. The nature of the monsters powers feel to me like living an illusory version of final destination. Lots of off the wall accidents i'm picturing. Imagine a whole dungeon that is just happening in the players heads.

Click to expand...

Hmm, rereading the original it uses the equivalent of a "Wisdom save" if the players attempt to "disbelieve":

Wizard's Vale said:

If the Players get suspicious and say that their Characters believe that this is an illusion, then the PC with the highest INS should "save against his/her INS." On a successful roll, the illusion fades and the party sees the actual form of the dream monster: a tw-foot-tall gray spider.

Click to expand...

If I remember my Mayfair AD&D-clone rules aright, INS is INSight, which is the same as Wisdom in AD&D.

Substituting a Will save to disbelieve matches 3E rules for illusions, so I think we should go for that as I suggested earlier:

SRD Spell Descriptions said:

Saving Throws and Illusions (Disbelief)
Creatures encountering an illusion usually do not receive saving throws to recognize it as illusory until they study it carefully or interact with it in some fashion.

A successful saving throw against an illusion reveals it to be false, but a figment or phantasm remains as a translucent outline.

A failed saving throw indicates that a character fails to notice something is amiss. A character faced with proof that an illusion isn’t real needs no saving throw. If any viewer successfully disbelieves an illusion and communicates this fact to others, each such viewer gains a saving throw with a +4 bonus.

Click to expand...

So, something like this...

"Veil of Illusion?" (Su): A dream monster can conceal itself and its actions behind powerful illusions. The monster is effectively undetectable to all senses (sight, smell, tremorsense, et cetera). Furthermore, if a dream monster attacks an opponent, its veil of illusion makes the attack appear to be a accident or trap of some kind, not a monster attack. E.g. the monster's foes perceive its attacks as a falling rock, arrow-trap, stepping on a spike, and so forth. If the dream monster's opponents suspect an illusion is at play, or carefully study part of the illusion, they can attempt a DC X Will save to disbelieve the Veil of Illusion. If they succeed, the Veil of Illusion is broken and the opponents can view the dream monster and its actions normally.

Veil of Illusion can not occlude supernatural sensory abilities, divination spells such as can detect thoughts and locate creature, or telepathic psionic powers such as detect hostile intent. A creature with true seeing always sees the dream monster normally. This is a mind-affecting illusion (phantasm) effect. The saving throw is Charisma-based.

looks good

Nookie said:

looks good

Click to expand...

Updating Working Draft.

How about this for the sleepy-time bite? I happened to write it up while waiting to see Snow White and the Huntsman.

Sleep Venom (Su): A dream monster's fangs inject a supernatural poison. Any creature injured by its bite attack must succeed at a DC X Fortitude save or fall into a coma-like sleep for Y hours. The comatose victim seems to be dead, an appearance augmented by the monster's Veil of Illusion power (see below). A DC 15 Heal or Search check can detect signs of life in the victim. The status spell or similar ability will also reveal the victim is still alive. Noticing a sleep venom victim is not dead allows the observer to attempt a Will save to disbelieve the dream monster's Veil of Illusion.

Any remedy, resistance, or immunity that counteracts a poison or sleep effect will similarly counteract a dream monster's sleep venom. The save DC is Charisma-based.

You have an extra "can" in "such as can detect thoughts" in the veil.

The venom works. I might go for a standard poison, but I like how you've tied it to the veil.