Converting monsters from Dragon magazine

[freyar]

Yes, I'd prefer the shorter range blindsense if that's all right with you.

Hmmm, so Alertness, Blind Fight, Diehard, Endurance, Improved Critical, Iron Will, Skill Focus (Hide)? That can work.

Swallow Whole damage sounds fine.

Let's do the 40 ft range for the Vortex Maw. These suckers are big.

CR 12? Seems like a purple worm is a good comp.

 

[Cleon]

Yes, I'd prefer the shorter range blindsense if that's all right with you.

Hmmm, so Alertness, Blind Fight, Diehard, Endurance, Improved Critical, Iron Will, Skill Focus (Hide)? That can work.

Swallow Whole damage sounds fine.

Let's do the 40 ft range for the Vortex Maw. These suckers are big.

CR 12? Seems like a purple worm is a good comp.

That all sounds good. They don't have the Purple Worm's nasty poison but do a lot of damage with their bite and can suck in multiple foes at once with their Vortex Maw.

I'll update the Working Draft tomorrow.

 

[Cleon]

That all sounds good. They don't have the Purple Worm's nasty poison but do a lot of damage with their bite and can suck in multiple foes at once with their Vortex Maw.

I'll update the Working Draft tomorrow.

The Yellow Belly Working Draft has been duly updated.

It looks like we're only missing skill distribution.

A Cachalot Whale has 8 ranks in Spot and 7 in Listen. How about doing the same for our overgrown tadpole and put the extra 6 ranks in Hide?

EDIT: Oops! the Cachalot's skills are 8 Listen and 7 Spot. See 2 posts down.

That'd make it:

Skills: Hide –2* (+10 on sea floor, +20 if buried), Listen +11, Spot +12, Swim +20

Hmm... is the Hide too high? I guess it explains why no one sees them in the real world!

Maybe cut the base racial bonus to Hide to +8, so it has the same numbers as a marine saurian waiting in ambush.

e.g.:

Skills: Hide –2* (+6 on sea floor, +16 if buried), Listen +12, Spot +12, Swim +20

*When it is lying still along the seafloor, a yellow belly has a +8 racial bonus on Hide checks. Further, yellow belly can bury itself in silt or mud with only its eyes showing, gaining a +10 cover bonus on Hide checks.

I like those numbers better.

 

[Cleon]

Speaking of numbers, I've just noticed our Sea Bat conversion has the "on sea floor" value for Hide in its Skill line instead of the base entry:

Skills: Hide +4*, Listen +9, Spot +8, Swim +14

It ought to be:

Skills: Hide -8* (+4 on sea floor, +14 if buried), Listen +9, Spot +8, Swim +14

I'd better make a note on our corrections thread to fix it if (when) we get the CC back up running.

 

[Cleon]

A Cachalot Whale has 8 ranks in Spot and 7 in Listen. How about doing the same for our overgrown tadpole and put the extra 6 ranks in Hide?

Dang it, I got those the wrong way round - it's 8 ranks in Listen and 7 in Spot.

After thinking it over, how about shifting all its Hide ranks to Spot/Listen. This gives it the same bonuses in Listen & Spot as the SRD Cachalot Whale and the same Hide skill as the Sea Bat:

Skills: Hide –8* (+4 on sea floor, +14 if buried), Listen +15, Spot +14, Swim +20

That seems appropriate, although I'm still considering something with more Hide and weaker sensory skills.

 

[freyar]

Let's take a rank or two each out of Listen and Spot and shuffle them into Hide.

 

[Cleon]

Let's take a rank or two each out of Listen and Spot and shuffle them into Hide.

So, are we shifting one rank in each sense skill:

Skills: Hide –6* (+6 on sea floor, +16 if buried), Listen +14, Spot +13, Swim +20

Or two:

Skills: Hide –4* (+8 on sea floor, +18 if buried), Listen +13, Spot +12, Swim +20

I think either of them would work.

 

[freyar]

Yeah, either would be fine. I guess let's go for the 2nd option, just to choose.

 

[Cleon]

Yeah, either would be fine. I guess let's go for the 2nd option, just to choose.

Updating the Yellow Belly Working Draft.

 

[freyar]

Tactics: A yellow belly lies in wait on the sea floor, hoping to ambush prey. While they are not averse to direct attacks, they prefer to suck in smaller prey from a distance using their vortex maw.