Topic: Creature Conversion

[providence13]

I'm sure that there's a topic already started for this but it eludes me..

Converting from AD&D (no higher than 2nd ed.), I'm trying to stat the Mind Flayer/Illithid.

Creatures  Size Lvl BMR  Hits   AT(DB)  Spd        Attacks                       Special
Mind Flayer M  10F 50 160G   1(50)   Dash(30)  30SPi«30SPi«30SPi«30SPi  Mentalism Spells

I was thinking Mentalist, of course with a good deal of Spell Mastery to make Mind Shout into cone effects and other spell to affect more targets. Also, throw in a couple of Evil Mental Lists for good measure.

The Hits (160G) may be high, but they are listed as tougher than a Minotaur. Illithid are 8+4 Hit Dice where Minotaur are 6+3. Hit Dice are a measure of hits the creature can withstand and serve as level for the creature for RR. HD are D8, or 8 sided die.
  RMFRP lists Minotaurs as 160F, Large sized and 2 crit reduction! That's tough.
  I don't think I'll give them crit reduction and they are only man-sized creatures.

The attacks are it's four tentacles. If all four succeed in combat they have latched onto the head of a victim and it's extracting the brain in 1 rnd.

That's all for now, more later.

[rdanhenry]

There's a lot of apples and oranges in those comparisons.

AD&D "hit points" aren't necessarily an indication of physical toughness, while RM "concussion hits" are.

Hit Dice are doing at least a triple role equating to RM OB, level (saving throws v. RRs), and damage-taking ability.

Minotaurs are genuine mythological creatures, not D&D inventions. As such, there are multiple possible interpretations and the D&D version has no priority. Just because monster A is tougher than monster B in D&D does not imply anything about their relationship in another game, unless both are D&D inventions. The RM Minotaur is a different creature.

I'd be inclined to reduce the hits somewhat and replace it with stun-immunity, which fits better with their mental powers. I also think more should be put into level (good RRs) rather than hits. 100 hits seems a more reasonable number. Level somewhere 12 to 14 base, stun immune.

I'd also combine the four tentacles into a single attack; multiple attacks are a rarity in RM and almost never from identical body parts. SGr, followed by a MPi or MBi if successful (modeled on the octopus/squid attack) -- upgrade to Medium/Large attacks if you want to represent their power as more than their head size. RM monsters don't need special instant-kill abilities, since that potential is held by all in critical hits, just make that follow up attack have a high OB.

A suitable array of Mentalism lists should do the work of providing their psi powers. You'll need to decide how many PPs to give them, too.

[markc]

  IMHO if you have SM:P I would use the Psi rules from there with some default ranks do to race. You can also modify the area of the attack by a racial talent also.


MDC

[providence13]

markc,
 Good ideas. I'll look into Talents. There may be something to help, but it's never my first source.
 SM:P- I'm trying to keep this within the realm of RMFRP, so I can't/don't want to introduce another "Realm" of Magic. I like the SM:P psi rules but, I think Mentalism will work for now. I don't even use Arcane. Haven't seen a need for it, yet. 3 is enough for now.

rdanhenry,
  You're right about the hits/level/RR. That is a bit high. I do want them high level but 10F is 4th (fresh Tadpole just bonded with a host) to 23rd. Maybe they need a higher potential max level.
   The octo/squid attack matrix is a good idea. I think I'll use that. They really aren't known for combat, just mental prowess. Stun immunity is going to work out, I think. This makes them immune to Jolts, Stunning Blindness lights (no pupils), etc.
   For PP... they are Genius level Intelligence in the old game, which translates to 17 to 18 on 3D6. That would be a 99 to 100 in RMFRP.
But if I just use the Intelligence chart for C&M, it would be Exceptional or 100 to 102. Sounds good.

  I like the Squire of Gothos style Mentalism vs the Presence Cheerleader style of RM Mentalism. Still, they're going to have some Presence...

Thanks for the ideas everyone.

[markc]

You could get crazy and make them up as a race and not just a monster.
MDC

[mightypawn]

Seeing the difficulty Transposing Creatures from D&D to RMFRP, a question came to mind...

Are there any game systems out there that are easy to modify ( or easier )

Has anyone created a "Formula" for such conversions?  I realize this could actually be impossible, but there may be a way to approximate a creatures stats.. with Human Intuition being the polish for the final result?

If you work out the conversion for this creature, please post it, sounds wonderful!

[Marc R]

There is an entire conversion board full of info here:

http://www.ironcrown.com/ICEforums/index.php?board=52.0

I'd go with "Evil Mentalist" FTW.