Converting Psionic Creatures

[Cleon]

Hmmmm. These are probably closer to the ceremorphs, so let's do the magic and psionic versions separately. But I might suggest revising some of the spell equivalencies to unique abilities. Mind thrust or psychic crush (or both?) could probably be replaced with something like a mind flayer's mind blast.

A phantasmal killer spell is pretty close to the 3E version of psychic crush. I'd be OK considering an alternative to mind thrust. I'd be OK considering an alternative to magic missile for mind thrust, but it seemed a neat match to the "counter-power" of shield in the proposal.

I'm not keen on spending much time on it, though.

What about the suggestions to increase the Con and/or Cha and possibly add Unholy Toughness to account for the original's high hit points?

There was no mention of Cessirids having especially good saves against poison or the like, so I'm currently leaning towards a higher Charisma plus Unholy Toughness.

Its highest level psionic power is psychic crush, which normally requires Cha 15+ to manifest, so I'm thinking maybe Cha 15?

That'd give it an additional 16 hit points with Unholy Toughness.

 

[freyar]

Unholy Toughness sounds a bit weird for an aberration without the Evil subtype. I'm ok with increasing the Cha for other reasons, but I'd prefer to boost the Con for the hp. As noted above, the +16 hp in the Dragon 150 stats should translate into a boosted Con in 3e terms.

 

[Cleon]

Unholy Toughness sounds a bit weird for an aberration without the Evil subtype. I'm ok with increasing the Cha for other reasons, but I'd prefer to boost the Con for the hp. As noted above, the +16 hp in the Dragon 150 stats should translate into a boosted Con in 3e terms.

There's nothing particularly evil about the mechanic of "gains a bonus to its hit points equal to its Charisma modifier × its Hit Dice", the Unholy in the name is merely a legacy of it first appearing as a HP-boosting power for undead. It'd have been better if the original author had disconnected the ability from morality by calling it "Uncanny Toughness" or something, but they didn't.

Now personally, I'd rather increase their Constitution and Charisma AND give it Unholy Toughness. A +16 hp bonus is extraordinarily high for an AD&D monster.

Now I'd be game to change the name of the ability to something more alignment-neutral. It'd would be a bit confusing to use the same name for an identical power though, so how about adding a wrinkle to it.

How about:

Uncanny Constitution (Ex): A cessirid adds its Charisma modifier to its Fortitude save and gains a bonus to its hit points equal to its Charisma modifier × its Hit Dice.

 

[freyar]

So you're kind of crossing it with Unearthly Grace? Hmmm. Tell you what, let's settle on the Con while I think about that proposal. They are currently at Con 15. How about Con 21?

 

[Cleon]

So you're kind of crossing it with Unearthly Grace? Hmmm. Tell you what, let's settle on the Con while I think about that proposal. They are currently at Con 15. How about Con 21?

I'd rather we decided on the Con score and the "Uncanny Toughness" at the same time, since they're interrelated. For that matter, I'd prefer we address the Charisma question simultaneously.

Since the original creature had a +16 bonus, I'd rather the Cessirid had a +4 Con bonus - it just seems neater.

My preference would be this:

Hit Dice: 8d8+48 (84 hp)
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +5, Will +8
Abilities: Str 15, Dex 16, Con 19, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 15

Uncanny Constitution (Ex): A cessirid adds its Charisma modifier to its Fortitude save and gains a bonus to its hit points equal to its Charisma modifier × its Hit Dice.

 

[freyar]

I'm just not sold on Uncanny Constitution. There just isn't anything in the original monster that relates to that. I'd rather just boost the Con a bunch.

 

[Cleon]

I'm just not sold on Uncanny Constitution. There just isn't anything in the original monster that relates to that. I'd rather just boost the Con a bunch.

It's just that it'd require a very big Con boost to give it something comparable to the original's +4 per die, and there's nothing in the original monster about them being incredibly resilient. It does say they're "shockingly powerful", but I read that as being more about how strong they are, presumably in connection to the original's impressive bite damage of 2-16.

If they had better-than-average saves or something I'd be happier about a large Con boost, but at the moment I prefer Unholy Toughness to explain their high hit points, simply because it doesn't have the other effects of a higher ability score.

Incidentally, that "shockingly powerful" bit is leading me to favour giving them a higher Strength score and reduce their base bite damage to counterbalance it. Maybbe Str 19 and a 1d10+6 bite instead of the current Str 15 and 2d8+3?

 

[freyar]

The original is +2 per HD, right? 8+16?

But my trouble with your logic is mostly that we've dealt with lots of monsters with "+hp" and always taken that to mean a boosted Con rather than a special ability, unless there's something spelled out about their hp (say, HD are always maximized) in the original description. Besides, your proposed ability makes them more resilient, too (by boosting the Fort save).

I'm ok with boosting Str and Con, though.

 

[Cleon]

The original is +2 per HD, right? 8+16?

Yes that's right. A +16 to hp is highly unusual for AD&D. There are very few monsters with such a high bonus. Off the top of my head I can only think of a few Daemons.

Besides, your proposed ability makes them more resilient, too (by boosting the Fort save).

I'm ok with boosting Str and Con, though.

That's why I originally preferred Unholy Toughness to explain their high hit points, but I believe you didn't like it for the Cessirid. The "Uncanny Constitution" was a compromise suggestion.

Although come to think of it, I wouldn't mind giving improving Fort save. Aberrations have poor Fort, but these critters seem physically tough, more like a Magical Beast than a standard Aberration.

Hmm, I wouldn't mind tweaking the "Uncanny Constitution" so it grants a good Fortitude save instead of adding the Cessirid's Charisma modifier to its Fort save, in addition to the extra Cha mod × HD hit points.

Anyhow, what sort of Strength and Constitution scores were you thinking of? It'd help me feel how large the gap between our expectations is.

 

[freyar]

I previously suggested Con 21, though that's negotiable. Your suggested Str 19 is ok. But I still don't like the Uncanny Constitution ability.