Spelljammer Converting Spelljammer creatures

[Cleon]

Yeah, I would say that it's either a tactics change or boost the Gossamer Noble to have the tactics make sense.

(My preference would have been to boost the Gossamer Noble to keep the same tactics, but I do realize I'm in the minority for that one... so probably a tactics change.)

Yes, I'd definitely prefer to change the Gammaroid's tactics against Noble Gossamers.

In game mechanical terms the Gammaroid's stated anti-Gossamer tactics have a couple of problems in both AD&D or 3E.

The Noble Gossamers have hundreds of tentacles. The Gammaroid can only target three of them per round with its claw/claw/bite routine, so it'll get fatally stung way before it can remove all the Gammaroid's tentacles. That's ignoring the fact that the AD&D version of the Gossamer gives no rules for targeting the tentacles, which have neither an Armor Class or individual hit points listed.

Even if we assume that the Gammaroid only has to sever twenty tentacles (the number of sting attacks it can make) rather than the hundreds the Gossamer has available, that'll still take the Gammaroid seven rounds - by which time it'll almost certainly have been paralyzed.

However, all is not lost. The Gammaroid entry says they use their "whirling attack" against Noble Gossamers, so if we modify the 3E tentacle rules a bit so the Gossamer's tentacles are vulnerable to area attacks as well as Sunder attacks we could have the Gammaroid burn off the Gossamer's tentacles with the fire damage from its Flame Sheath.

 

[freyar]

Well, as long as we change the gammaroid tactics to something sensible, I'm ok with it (even if I think your 1/30 estimate is a bit too high given the other probabilities).

 

[Arnwyn]

Okay, that works for me. (And yeah - saying there are problems with 2e mechanics and tactics is an understatement... and I played 2e and its awesome settings for years.)

 

[Cleon]

Okay, that works for me. (And yeah - saying there are problems with 2e mechanics and tactics is an understatement... and I played 2e and its awesome settings for years.)

Good, we seem to be agreed then.

We didn't mention any specific anti-gossamer tactics in our Gammaroid conversion, so are we OK leaving those to the Gossamer entry rather than altering the Gammaroid?

If so, that can wait until we've finished the stats of the Noble Gossamer Working Draft. I suppose we should start with ability scores.

The original monster only tells us its Intelligence is 2-4, beyond that it's up to us.

Advancing a standard gossamer to Colossal would produce:

Standard: Str 1, Dex 3, Con 11, Int –, Wis 10, Cha 1
Noble: Str 43, Dex 1, Con 29, Int 2–4?, Wis 10?, Cha 1?

Hmm, the Strength and Constitution feel a bit high to me. Gossamers are excessively lightweight creatures, so I'd rather not have their physical stats rival a Colossal Cachalot Whale (Str 43, Con 28).

Perhaps a better comparison would be some existing Third Edition monster that's basically a giant living balloon - there are such things in AD&D like the Floaters in Dungeon #70's Kingdom of the Ghouls, but offhand I can't think of a 3E example.

However, I'm pretty sure there's a flying giant jellyfish or man-eating-clouds-with-tentacles in the roster of 3E monsters that could serve as an alternative base creature.

 

[freyar]

Yes, I'm away from my books, but that does seem familiar. I'll have to try to remember to flip through tonight.

 

[Cleon]

Yes, I'm away from my books, but that does seem familiar. I'll have to try to remember to flip through tonight.

Good luck - I've got most of my D&D sources within easy reach and still couldn't find it!

Maybe we should look at it from another direction, since they're mostly vacuum-filled balloons they shouldn't be that much denser than air, so perhaps an Air Elemental is a good gauge for a suitable Strength for them?

Air Elemental Monoliths are Gargantuan and Primal Air Elementals are Colossal, but both have Strength 32, which suggests somewhere in the low 30s should be OK.

 

[freyar]

I think I was remembering the MM2 windghost (the picture was at least vaguely similar to my idea of what I wanted). That's a Huge aberrateion with Str 28, Dex 23, and Con 18. Upsizing to Colossal gives Str 39, Dex 23, Con 26. We could downgrade that a bit.

 

[Cleon]

I think I was remembering the MM2 windghost (the picture was at least vaguely similar to my idea of what I wanted). That's a Huge aberrateion with Str 28, Dex 23, and Con 18. Upsizing to Colossal gives Str 39, Dex 23, Con 26. We could downgrade that a bit.

Eh? Upsizing from Huge to Colossal is +16 Strength, not +11. That'd make a Colossal Windghost Str 44, which is even more than a standard gossamer upsized to Colossal.

 

[freyar]

Oh for heaven's sake, I don't know what I was typing. I need more sleep.

But anyway, Str 30-34 is ok with me.

 

[Cleon]

Oh for heaven's sake, I don't know what I was typing. I need more sleep.

But anyway, Str 30-34 is ok with me.

OK, how about a nice round 33 for the Strength then?

The Constitution of 26 is OK, since it "scales down" to a Medium sized Con 10, although I'd have no objection to making it a little lower if you preferred.

Is Dex 3 like the standard Gossamer OK?