Converting monsters from Tales From The Infinite Staircase

[Cleon]

Can't say I mind either way about the size of the family.

In that case I'll add me preferred "full span" version" of the organisation.

I think we'd agreed to cut the swim speed (but you'd leave it in your Cleon Special(TM) version).

I thought we'd agreed to give it a speed of 40 ft., climb 20 ft. like the Dire Rat, based on the original having MV 15, but I don't remember us deciding definitely on the Swim - which is why I asked!

Still, I don't mind cutting it to differentiate it from my conversion (and the SRD's standard rat).

Updating Nightmare Rat Working Draft.

Are they ready to go after that?

I believe so.

 

[freyar]

What do we have up next? I believe [MENTION=18701]Oryan77[/MENTION] was making requests, but maybe I've slowed us down too much...

 

[Cleon]

What do we have up next? I believe [MENTION=18701]Oryan77[/MENTION] was making requests, but maybe I've slowed us down too much...

The last request I recall Oryan making was the Nightmare Rat. Do you want to wait for him to suggest the next conversion from the Staircase?

 

[freyar]

Well, I was hoping he'd respond to the mention and make a request, but perhaps he doesn't need any more of these critters (any more). Last call to [MENTION=18701]Oryan77[/MENTION]!

 

[Cleon]

Well, I was hoping he'd respond to the mention and make a request, but perhaps he doesn't need any more of these critters (any more). Last call to [MENTION=18701]Oryan77[/MENTION]!

Quiet round these parts, isn't it.

 

[Oryan77]

I'm around. Just been out of town a lot this past week.

How about doing the The "Nupperibo," Maturing Baatorian (page 127, NEW MONSTER)?

 

[Cleon]

I'm around. Just been out of town a lot this past week.

How about doing the The "Nupperibo," Maturing Baatorian (page 127, NEW MONSTER)?

Works for me.

I'll post the original stats.

 

[Cleon]

"Nupperibo" Maturing Baatorian Original Stats

THE “NUPPERIBO,” MATURING BAATORIAN: AC 6 (10 while in chains); MV 12 (0 while in chains); HD 6; hp 35; THAC0 15; #AT up to 10; Dmg 1d6 (×10); SA Touch drains 1 point of Constitution (recovered later at a rate of 1 per 10 minutes of rest); SD immune to cold, fire, and electricity, regenerate 1 hit point a round; SW Recover from wounds inflicted from blessed or holy weapons at half normal rate; MR 15%; SZ M (5’ tall); ML unsteady (5); Int low (7); AL LE; XP 2,000.

The stats alone are of little use as far as the flavour goes, but the text of the encounter adds a decent amount of info:

The tower holds a single nupperibo, trussed up in thick black chains of particularly strong construction. Planewalkers who know a little of the chant regarding baateze can recognize that this is no ordinary nupperibo. For one thing, it mewls in pain and frustration at its predicament. Nupperibos are mute. Further, it looks at the PCs as they enter the room. Nupperibos are blind.

Quaheim was given this nupperibo by a nycaloth yugoloth as a mysterious gift. When the kyton saw that the creature exhibited extraordinary qualities for its kind, he believed that it was a slain baatezu high up accidently put into the form of this least baatezu when its spirit returned to Baator. He quickly hid it away in the tower, hoping to gain information or ransom from it.

Quaheim was wrong. What the yugoloths gave him was a maturing nupperibo. The baatezu covertly change nupperibos into lemures before they can mature. Nupperibos are neither real baatezu nor petitioners. Instead, they are a race indigenous to Baator, older than even the baatezu. Only a few of the highest ranking baatezu (the Lords of the Nine and perhaps some of the Dark Eight) know this secret, and seek to never let a nupperibo mature into one of these rival baatorians. Rumors exist of these creatures, sometimes called ancient baatorians, inhabiting far-flung and isolated portions of the plane.

And now one grows within Panos Qyiel.

The maturation of a nupperibo, even to the stage that this one has reached, requires nearly uncountable centuries. The yugoloths have been holding this captive for a long time, and now they’ve given it to the kytons—perhaps hoping to see the kytons strike against the baatezu and create an internal war on Baator. Perhaps their motives are something else entirely. (No one ever really knows for sure…)

As the PCs enter, the creature turns toward them. After a few moments, it pleads with them to let it go, but in a tongue foreign to all ears. If they do not respond, it begins to alter its shape, proceeding to the next stage of its development. Suddenly, the pale, bloated stomach of the disgusting creature bursts open, and dozens of tiny, pinkish tentacles shoot out, attempting to grab the chains which confine it, the PCs, and anything else in the room.

Each round, the baatorian has a 10% chance to burst its bonds. Until it does so, it attacks everyone in the room. Once it’s free. It attempts to flee the citadel.

 

[freyar]

We need to double check that this is in fact the same monster, but there's a nupperibo in both the Tome of Horrors (plus ToH Revised) and the Fiendish Codex II. In that case, I don't think we should do a CC conversion. My understanding is that part of the deal creating the CC was not to convert monsters WotC did an official version of.

 

[Cleon]

We need to double check that this is in fact the same monster, but there's a nupperibo in both the Tome of Horrors (plus ToH Revised) and the Fiendish Codex II. In that case, I don't think we should do a CC conversion. My understanding is that part of the deal creating the CC was not to convert monsters WotC did an official version of.

We're converting a "Maturing Baatorian" here, not a Nupperibo.

The scenario claims that the Nupperibo is only a "larval stage" of a Baatorian, and after many eons they metamorphose into the creature under discussion.

A Nupperibo is a mindless 3 HD dough-man who's barely smart enough to thump an enemy with a weapon.

This creature is intelligent, has double the HD, additional special defenses and has sprouted a collection of blood-draining tentacles.

Nupperibos being Baatorians contradicts the Nupperibo's official AD&D writeups (all 3 of them), which say they are merely damned souls who aren't wicked enough to become larva. I'd suggest this means only a few "Nupperibos" are actually Baatorians, and the rest are just Baatezu.

Here's an extract of the Planescape Appendix (1994) version of the Nupperibo, to show some of the differences:

BAATEZU, LEAST—NUPPERIBO
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Baator
FREQUENCY: Common
ORGANIZATION: Army
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: None
INTELLIGENCE: Non- (0)
TREASURE: Nil
ALIGNMENT: Lawful evil
NO. APPEARING: 1–100
ARMOR CLASS: 9
MOVEMENT: 6
HIT DICE: 1
THAC0: 19
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2 or 1 (by weapon)
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d2/1d2 or by weapon
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Regeneration
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: M (5 feet tall)
MORALE: See below
XP VALUE: 120

* SNIP *

Nupperibos are blind, deaf, and mute.

COMBAT: Nupperibos, like lemures, attack any nonbaatezu they encounter in Baator, heedless of their own safety. They need never check morale, for they fight until destroyed.

A nupperibo attacks with two claws (1d2 points of damage each). When they form armies, they receive weapons, though seldom anything better than a club. In these cases, they do damage as per weapon type.

They regenerate 1 hit point per round in Baator or any other lower plane. Any piece of a nupperibo, including its burnt ashes, regenerates. Only holy water, a holy sword, or other sanctified weapon can destroy one permanently.

The mindless nupperibos are immune to all mind-affecting spells such as charm person or illusions. Of the special powers common to all baatezu, nupperibos use cause fear, and that only under orders and when at least 10 nupperibo all attack the same defender.