Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Chronomage 06-18-04, 05:09 AM	In The Sunless Citadel, there is a monster called the twig blight. This was created in 3rd edition, and here are its stats: Twig Blight: CR 1/3; Small plant; HD 1d8+1; hp 5 (average); Init +1 (Dex); Spd 20 ft.; AC 15; Atk +0/+0 melee (1d2, 2 claws); SA Poison sap; SQ Low-light vision, plant, half damage from piercing weapons; AL CE; SV Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +0; Str 8, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 5, Wis 11, Cha 5. Skills and Feats: Hide +6, Move Silently +6, Spot +3. Special Attacks: Poison Sap: Claw, Fort save (DC 16) or take 1 extra point of damage (no secondary effects). Special Qualities: Plant: Immune to Poison, sleep, paralyzation, stunning, mind-influencing effects, and polymorph; not subject to critical hits. Climate/Terrain: Any temperate land and underground. Organization: Copse (3-6) or thicket (6-15). Advancement Range: Up to +3 HD. I am now working to convert everything from the adventure into 3.5, and here is how I have progressed with the creature. Twig Blight: CR 1/3 (I am trying to hew close to the original concept and so the CR should stay the same); Small Plant; HD 1d8+1; hp 5; Init +1; Spd 20 ft.; AC 15, touch 12, flat-footed 14 (decided that the best way to give the creature it's previous armor class was by assigning it a natural bonus of +3); Base Atk: +0; Grp: - 5 (BAB 0, - 4 size, -1 Str); Atk; +0 melee (1d2/20 plus poison sap, claw; please note standard damage die for a claw is 1d3 at this size category, however I would then apply str modifier making it 1d3-1, which is more likely to roll a 1 for damage, rather than even chance of 2 for a 1d2); Full Atk: +0/+0 melee (1d2/20 plus poison, 2 claws); SA: Poison sap; SQ: Low-light vision, plant traits, DR 5/bludgeoning or slashin; AL CE; SV: Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +0; Str 8, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 5, Wis 11, Cha 5. Skills and Feats: Hide +6, Move Silently +6, Spot +3 (Explanation: Hide and Move Silently get a +1 each from Dex and Hide gets +4 from small; We then give Hide +1 skill point/rank, Move Silently +3 skill points/ranks, and a +2 racial bonus; and Spot gains +3 from skill focus); Skill Focus (Spot). Alternately: Might give the creature an additional racial bonus to spot, and change the feat to weapon finesse. Oh, wait, can't. Finesse requires +1 BAB. Same for wpn foci. Poison Sap: Claw, Fort Save DC 11 (10 + 1/2 HD (0) + con modifier (+1); Initial and Secondary Dmg: 1d2 Dex (my reasoning, the body becomes more rigid, more tree-like). Plant: Immune to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, polymorph, and stunning. Not subject to Critical Hits. (Possibly immune to all mind-affecting effects, but I'm not sure if this is particular to plants that are mindless, which these are not as I have given them skill points and feats) Climate/Terrain, Organization, and Advancement Range all stay the same. Any thoughts or comments? The two questions I suppose I have are: whether or not the creature needs to be mindless for the immunity to mind affecting effects; Should I increase the creatures ability scores, notably the Str to increase AB (seems rather weak); Is the Poison Sap appropriate? That was the biggest change I made, as previously the poison was weak, doing hp damage. Other abilities I considered doing damage to were Constitution or Charisma, maybe Str. Okay, three questions. Thoughts, comments?
SirGog 06-18-04, 05:18 AM	I'd change the poison to just deal 1 Dex damage. Ability damage cannot be healed by any means except rest at level 1, and as such, taking 4-6 hits from a group of your blights could be quite debilatating AND take a full week to heal.
Chronomage 06-18-04, 05:26 AM	Thanks, Sirgog! Yeah, I agree that it's a nasty thought, a guy flanked by 4 of these creatures, each with 2 attacks. But then I also consider the creatures extremely low attack bonus, and the low DC. Dunno. Still, I'll probably do as you suggest, and only increase the damage if the characters best the creature too easily (not retroactive of course, but as the adventure progresses). Also, consider that idea of the adventurer surrounded by 4 of the Twig Blights: Each twig blight would get a +2/+2 attack (with flank). I see the twig blights getting no more than 1 attack each. Of those attacks, I see a 50% chance of failure on the poison, so 2 attacks, each doing 1d2 dex. Average of 3 points, with 6 points of damage. Of course, I'll admit the flaw, which is that each time the dexterity damage is applied, his ac drops. *sigh*, Yeah, okay, 1 point of dex damage.
Walter Russ 06-18-04, 08:43 AM	Twig Blights appeared in Monster Manual II and were updated to 3.5 with the 3.5 update booklet. Here's the changes they listed, and they said everything else should remain the same: Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft. Damage Reduction: 5/blugeoning or slashing Hide +8, Move Silently +4, Spot +1 Feats: Stealthy Level Adjustment: +2 Twig Blights gain skills (and feats) as Plants, not Fey. Replace partial immunity to piercing weapons with damage reduction. So if you want the "official" changes, there you go.
Chronomage 06-18-04, 05:18 PM	Looks good. Thanks, didn't know about this.