Spelljammer Converting Spelljammer creatures

[Cleon]

Description: A tremendous cylinder of rocky material hangs in space. A gigantic opening appears at one end.

Hmm, the text and picture show the maw being rectangular when at rest:

How about...

A tremendous cylinder of rocky material hangs in space. What appears to be the "front" end narrows to a rectangular opening, the other end tapers to a blunt tip. The gigantic opening is almost as wide as the central thickness of the cylinder.

 

[freyar]

Looks good. Don't forget treasure and advancement when you update that.

Tactics: Nay-churr aren't sophisticated enough to follow any strategy. Instead, they attempt to swallow anything they encounter that seems like it will fit in their maw. A nay-churr rarely retreats from a fight, largely because it's too simple to realize when it is in great danger.

 

[Cleon]

Looks good. Don't forget treasure and advancement when you update that.

Updating Nay-Churr Working Draft.

Tactics: Nay-churr aren't sophisticated enough to follow any strategy. Instead, they attempt to swallow anything they encounter that seems like it will fit in their maw. A nay-churr rarely retreats from a fight, largely because it's too simple to realize when it is in great danger.

Hmm, from what I remember of the flavour text their combat behaviour is even simpler than that. They try to swallow anything that gets in their way, and if it's too big they vomit out disgorge their gullet contents and continue on their way.

 

[freyar]

The quote is a little ambiguous:

The nay-churr spends its lifetime cruising through whatever environment it occupies, taking in any object or substance it happens to run across, as long as the object is small enough to fit in its maw.
...
A nay-churr does voluntarily disgorge the contents of its stomach on occasion: whenever the creature happens to be inside the air envelope of some object that it isn’t capable of swallowing, such as a planet or a large ship (100 tons or more). The result is a rain of debris in the direction of the gravity plane of the planet or ship.

It seems they just disgorge themselves when they happen upon something too large to swallow. But I'm willing to consider revised tactics if you want to present some.

 

[Cleon]

The quote is a little ambiguous:

It seems they just disgorge themselves when they happen upon something too large to swallow. But I'm willing to consider revised tactics if you want to present some.

How's this presentation:

Nay-churr fly through space, attempting to swallow anything that gets in their path that seems like it will fit in their maw. If it encounters an object too big to swallow, such as a planetoid, it will disgorge the entire contents of its gizzard towards the obstacle, then change course and continue flying on its way. Nay-churr do not retreat from fights, they are too simple-minded to even understand that they are being attacked.

 

[freyar]

Let's just tidy up that last run-on:

Nay-churr fly through space, attempting to swallow anything that gets in their path that seems like it will fit in their maw. If it encounters an object too big to swallow, such as a planetoid, it will disgorge the entire contents of its gizzard towards the obstacle, then change course and continue flying on its way. Nay-churr do not retreat from fights, as they are too simple-minded to even understand that they are being attacked.

Looks good!

Nay-churr are a rare and ancient breed of spelljamming creatures. Although they swallow nearly everything they encounter, they instead gain nourishment from the ether. The reason they swallow and carry around so much is a great mystery.

 

[Cleon]

Let's just tidy up that last run-on:

Nay-churr fly through space, attempting to swallow anything that gets in their path that seems like it will fit in their maw. If it encounters an object too big to swallow, such as a planetoid, it will disgorge the entire contents of its gizzard towards the obstacle, then change course and continue flying on its way. Nay-churr do not retreat from fights, as they are too simple-minded to even understand that they are being attacked.

Updating Nay-Churr Working Draft.

Nay-churr are a rare and ancient breed of spelljamming creatures. Although they swallow nearly everything they encounter, they instead gain nourishment from the ether. The reason they swallow and carry around so much is a great mystery.

Hmm, I think the "great mystery" bit could do with some rephrasing.

Better mention they are widespread? (From "widely dispersed species") and are mostly found in the phlogiston.

The original text says Nay-Churrs in the phlogiston and in crystal spheres are different "types" but doesn't go into specifics.

Hmm, I'm not feeling very inspired at the moment. Might come up with something better later, or maybe I'm just waiting to see if you do!

 

[freyar]

Nay-churr are a rare and ancient breed of spelljamming creatures, far-flung through the phlogiston and even found in some crystal spheres. The physical characteristics of nay-churr can vary a great deal, but all nay-churr have a giant maw. Although they swallow nearly everything they encounter, nay-churr instead gain nourishment from the ether. The reason they swallow and carry around so much is a great mystery. Is it simply a defensive instinct, or are they collecting material for some antediluvian masters?

 

[Cleon]

Nay-churr are a rare and ancient breed of spelljamming creatures, far-flung through the phlogiston and even found in some crystal spheres. The physical characteristics of nay-churr can vary a great deal, but all nay-churr have a giant maw. Although they swallow nearly everything they encounter, nay-churr instead gain nourishment from the ether. The reason they swallow and carry around so much is a great mystery. Is it simply a defensive instinct, or are they collecting material for some antediluvian masters?

How's this counter-proposal...

Nay-churr are a rare and ancient breed of spelljamming creatures that can be encountered throughout the phlogiston. Once in a while, a nay-churr wanders through a portal into a crystal sphere and becomes trapped, and as a result some crystal spheres have their own population of these creatures. Crystal sphere nay-churr develop into separate breeds from the phlogiston variety, usually one breed per sphere, and are often characterised by a different color and/or body shape.

The most noteworthy habit of a nay-churr is they'll try to swallow anything it encounters. Why they should do so is obscure, for nay-churr do not eat material objects, instead subsisting off ether they collect with their maws as they fly through space. A nay-churr's treasure is made up of whatever objects it has swallowed that have material value. Swallowed objects usually accumulate inside a nay-churr until it wanders into the air envelope of a large body, whereupon it disgorges its entire gizzard contents into the body's gravity field.

A typical nay-churr is roughly 200 feet long when its maw it at rest, and can expand its maw into a cone 150 feet wide and long. It weighs at least [four or ten?] thousand tons.

 

[Cleon]

A typical nay-churr is roughly 200 feet long when its maw it at rest, and can expand its maw into a cone 150 feet wide and long. It weighs at least [four or ten?] thousand tons.

Regarding their weight, if they have the same shape and density as a Right Whale, I calculate a 200 foot long Nay-Churr should weigh about 4,000 tons.

If it's as dense as stone to go with its "rocky skin" it'll likely weigh 2.5 to 3 times as much, or about 10,000 tons.