Let’s Convert the Fiend Folio: Babbler, Giant Bat, and Berbalang

While there is a lot I like about the Fiend Folio, not every monster is equally cool. It is completely okay to have utilitarian monsters. This book has a few monsters which are either completely utilitarian, or relatively uninteresting. Sometimes there is a good monster lurking in the shadows, but the author failed to get their intent across adequately.

Other times, as is the case with giant bats, the monsters are so obviously useful that they already appear in Dungeon Crawl Classics. There are going to be times when I simply refer you to the core rulebook, an adventure, or some other published source. In other cases, I might re-imagine or expand upon already published work. There is no reason that every goblin needs to use the same statistics, and a lot of good reasons (Make Monsters Mysterious!) why they should not!

This time, though, we are also converting the Berbalang, a creature from Filipino folklore, and one of the most interesting (to my mind) monsters in the Fiend Folio. The original writing was by Albie Fiore, who also wrote the Carbuncle, the Dragonfish, the Fire Newt, the Giant Strider, the Grimlock, the Quipper, the Susurrus, and the Vodyanoi. I am not prepared to say that these are all great monsters, but I have used more than half of them!

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Babbler

Babbler: Init +3; Atk bite +3 melee (1d8) or claw +1 melee (1d6); AC 14; HD 5d8+5; MV 20’ or slither 40’; Act 3d20; SP: Camouflage +6, scent, slither; SV Fort +4; Ref +2; Will +2; AL C.

Sometimes called marsh-gibberers, babblers are wetland-dwelling, 8-foot-long reptiles which resemble small carnosaurs when upright. While slow upright, they can slither along on their bellies at twice their walking speed. When prone, they are hard to see, gaining a +6 bonus to stealth checks. A prone babbler can only attack with its bite, and has only one Action Die. When upright, it gains two additional Action Dice to make claw attacks.

Babblers give off an odor which animals find disturbing. Animals detect this scent from a considerable distance, so that those travelling with animals are forewarned of a marsh-gibberer attack.

These creatures are named for the sound they create, which is perhaps a language, but which has defied non-magical analysis thus far. They are cunning enough to work with lizardmen, and some sages believe that babblers are a weird offshoot, or mutation, of the more common lizardman strains.

 

Giant Bat

See Core Rulebook, pp. 396-397

 

 

Berbalang

Berbalang (Astral Form): Init +2; Atk Bite +0 melee (1d6) or claw +2 melee (1d4); AC 14; HD 1d6+1; MV 20’ or fly 60’; Act 2d20; SP Infravision 120’, astral projection; SV Fort +1; Ref +2; Will +6; AL C.

Berbalang (Material Form): Init +2; Atk By weapon +2 melee (by weapon); AC 12; HD 1d6+1; MV 30’; Act 1d20; SP Infravision 120’, astral projection; SV Fort +1; Ref +2; Will +6; AL C.

The dread berbalang, when hunting, appears to be a humanoid with leathery skin and bat-like wings, but this is the form of its ghoulish soul, sent forth from its body as a solidified form of astral projection. Berbalangs walking in their daytime bodies appear like normal human beings, save their pupils are slitted like a cat’s. Berbalangs are said to be solitary, but this is merely wishful thinking. Whole villages of the hateful creatures exist, posing as human. In other cases, human villages may protect one or more berbalangs, under the hopes that the ghoulish monsters will prey on neighbors and rivals instead of the host village.

Berbalangs spend most of the month hibernating in a well-protected or well-hidden location, while its astral form is projected forth, hunting and killing creatures weaker than itself. Berbalangs only eat in their astral form, which is another way to identify them, but they are driven to consume human flesh at least once a month. It is believed that their astral form also consumes the soul, and that it is this which sustains them.

It takes a berbalang a mere 1d20 rounds to enter into a trance and project its solidified astral form. However, a roaming berbalang takes 1d100 rounds to return to its material body if that is discovered. If the material body is slain, the bereft astral form is also slain 75% of the time. Otherwise, it becomes an astral searcher.

If its astral body is damaged, the berbalang immediately attempts to return to its material body. If it is able to merge, the material form is undamaged, and the astral body is completely healed. If the astral body is slain, the material body dies with it.

Let’s Convert the Fiend Folio: Assassin Bug and Astral Searcher

The Fiend Folio might well be known as the book of monsters that want to lay eggs in you! The Monster Manual came out in 1977, and the Fiend Folio in 1981, but smack dab between them in 1979, Alien made its first appearance on the big screen. And late 1979 was when the Fiend Folio was first slated to come out. Of course, this might be coincidence, and the monsters were selected from the Fiend Factory column in White Dwarf, but it is hard to imagine that Alien had no effect, if not on the creatures themselves, then on their selection.

In effect, it is as though Gary Gygax said, “This dungeon delving is serious stuff! It could kill you!” Then Don Turnbull came along and said, “If you’re lucky!” There is a certain lesson in cruelty here, taking different forms with different monsters, but always reminding the participants that monsters can target more than your hit points. More even than your hard-won experience points and levels. Dying a clean death is not every unsuccessful adventurer’s fate.

If you wonder whether or not I learned this lesson, take a look at Bone Hoard of the Dancing Horror, Mermaids from Yuggoth, or The Imperishable Sorceress. If you ever wonder where I learned the lesson, crack open the original Fiend Folio. It wasn’t the last place I learned from, and I had started devising my own monsters going back to Holmes Basic, but it was the first lesson in just how far the judge could go.

 

Assassin Bug

Assassin Bug: Init +3; Atk bite +1 melee (1d4 plus paralysis) or implant eggs; AC 14; HD 1d8+1; MV 20’ or fly 50’; Act 1d20; SP: Paralysis (Fort DC 12, 1d3 turns), implant eggs; SV Fort +2; Ref +5; Will +0; AL N.

Resembling nothing so much as humanoid bluebottle flies standing no more than two feet high, these creatures are predominantly scavengers which avoid larger beings, including humans. While either gender can deliver a powerful bite in extremis, they are only truly dangerous during their mating season, when the females become gravid with eggs (roughly one day in every two months). During this time, males develop a paralyzing saliva (Fort DC 12 or paralysis for 1d3 turns), and mated pairs fly in search of a host for their offspring.

Males always attack first, attacking until destroyed. As soon as a victim is paralyzed, the female (detecting the scent of the activated male saliva) attacks the affected area, implanting 1d6+6 eggs if successful. The female dies as soon as her eggs are implanted.

Eggs hatch 1d12+12 hours after they are implanted, and the newly-hatched larvae cause 1 hp damage per hour per larvae as the consume the host’s internal organs. After two weeks, the larvae leave the host, burrowing out through the area where the eggs were originally implanted. If the host still survives, this causes 1d4+4 damage. The larvae are then fully formed assassin bugs, although they are small and have only 2 hp each.

Nothing short of Divine Aid or similar magic can remove the eggs once implanted, without killing the victim, but 1d6 hatched larvae can be killed per HD with a successful clerical Lay on Hands for this purpose. Unfortunately, assassin bug eggs are regarded as great delicacies by trolls, troglodytes, and bugbears, all of which can smell them up to 200 feet away, and none of which are at all troubled by killing the victim to get at them.

 

Astral Searcher

Astral Searcher: Init +0; Atk Special (2d5); AC 10; HD 2d6; MV fly 30’; Act 1d20; SP Ignore armor, illusory damage, possession, magic resistance (50%); SV Fort +0; Ref +0; Will +0; AL Varies.

Mindless shells of nebulous humanoid shape, astral searchers are created by concentrated human thoughts, trauma, violent death, and travelers involved in violence or lost upon the astral plane. Some people, whether through magic, psionics, or training, can learn to leave their bodies so that their souls can travel on the astral plane; it something happens to their bodies, they may become astral searchers. Driven by their past connection with material beings, astral searchers seek material bodies with complete singleness of purpose, seeking weak points in the fabric of the planes, and clustering at such points, waiting for stresses to create enough of a tear that they can pass from the astral into the material plane.

Astral searchers attacks ignore all protection from armor. They inflict illusory damage, which faded in 3d4 rounds once the astral searchers' attack ends. A victim reduced to 0 hp has its mind and personality destroyed. The astral searcher possesses the body, acquiring the victim's physical abilities and hit points (with all damage from the astral searcher's attack disappearing immediately). The alignment, personality, and purpose of the now-embodied searcher depends upon how the astral searcher was first created, as determined by the judge. If desired, the judge may even allow the original player to play the new character, but most astral searchers become mindless embodiments of rage, grief, or violence, even when they have managed to possess another.

Astral searchers can be ejected from a body with a successful exorcise spell but the original victim must succeed in a Luck check, or its psyche was completely destroyed and cannot be restored. The empty corpus will then be an open invitation to possession by a demon or other similar creature (at the discretion of the judge) .

The strange nature of astral searchers means that spells and similar magics are 50% likely to ignore them entirely, as though the creatures did not exist.

Let’s Convert the Fiend Folio: Algoid, Al-Mi’raj, and Apparition

I am covering three monsters with this post, because I have already done a conversion of one of them. That also means that, with the next post, the letter A will be finished. I really hope that my love for the Fiend Folio is shining through!

Of the three creatures we are doing on this post, the Al-Mi’raj is the closest to my heart. I have used both of the others, but teleporting blink bunnies just have a certain appeal to me. The Apparition is a variant of the ghost, which was required in a system where monsters were not mysterious. I will be building my version of the Apparition largely from the Ghost entry in the Core Rulebook. I think it is useful to see how specific monsters can be built from the materials supplied therein.

The Algoid offers a challenge in that it can control trees. Neither animated trees nor treants are included in the core, but I did create animated tree statistics for Creeping Beauties of the Wood, and they are useful in this context.

As always, the intent is to convert these monsters into creatures which would fit within a Dungeon Crawl Classics adventure!

 

Algoid

Algoid: Init +2; Atk fists +3 melee (1d10) or mind blast; AC 15; HD 5d8; MV 20’; Act 2d20; SP: Mind blast, control trees, immunity to mind-affecting, immunity to piercing weapons, half damage from non-magical edged weapons, half damage from fire-based attacks; SV Fort +3; Ref +4; Will +4; AL C.

Although an algoid appears to be a green humanoid with coarse, rough features, it is actually a colony of algae which has taken on this form to develop mobility and rudimentary intelligence. Its form is only of a temporary nature, and if reduced to 0 hp, an algoid collapses again into undifferentiated algae.

Non-magical edged weapons can pass through an algoid doing little harm (half damage), but blunt weapons do full damage. Piercing weapons – including arrows and spears – do no damage at all, even if magical.

Once per day, an algoid can produce a mind blast, which affects all animals within a 30’ radius. These must succeed in a DC 15 Will save, or be stunned and able to take no action for 1d3 rounds. Algoids can also control trees native to their habitat, spending 1 round to establish control over 1d6 trees for up to 1 turn. These trees become animate while under an algoid’s control. No algoid can control more than 6 trees at a time. Controlling trees requires that the algoid uses one Action Die for this purpose each round; if it does not, the trees become inanimate after 1d3 rounds.

Sample Animated Tree: Willow

Animated willow tree: Init +2; Atk lashing branch +2 melee (1d3); AC 14; HD 4d12; MV 20’; Act 2d20; SP 10’ reach, immune to piercing, half damage from bludgeoning, +4 vs. fire, twice normal damage from axes; SV Fort +15; Ref –4; Will +2; AL N.

An animated willow tree attacks with long, thin branches that strike like lashes. They can strike a target up to 10 feet away. Their trunk splits into rudimentary legs to allow locomotion. 

An animated willow takes no damage from piercing weapons, and half damage from bludgeoning ones.  Their plentiful watery sap grants them a +4 bonus to saves against fire and heat. They take double damage from any type of axe. 

 

 

Al-Mi’raj

Al-mi'raj:  Init +4; Atk impale +0 melee (1d3); AC 12; HD 1d4; MV 20’ plus teleport; Act 1d16; SP teleport; SV Fort -2, Ref +8, Will +0; AL N.

This is a conversion previously posted on my blog. Check out the original post, and you will see my drawing of the critter!

An al-mi’raj appears to be a large rabbit, often with yellowish, blue, or black fur.  It has a one-foot-long pearly horn rising from its forehead.  Al-mi’raj have a natural ability to sense open spaces within 15 feet of them, as well as a limited ability to teleport.  They live in warrens, often built around abandoned burrows, sealed tombs, and other spaces without any obvious entrance or egress.  They are not aggressive, unless their warrens are breached.  Even then, al-mi’raj tend to flee rather than fight.  To many treasure-seekers, al-mi’raj are less of a challenge than an indication that a hidden tomb might exist nearby. Any treasure thus found is incidental, being part of the al-mi’raj lair rather than something intentionally collected by the creatures.

Al-mi’raj can teleport up to a distance of 20 feet as part of their movement each round.  They can also do so when, gaining a Reflex (DC equal to attack roll total) to avoid the attack.  An al-mi’raj who makes this save may automatically places itself into a position where it gains a +2 bonus to its own attack roll.

Whenever possible, al-mi'raj flee via teleportation, teleporting into any hidden open space within 15 feet.  Since al-mi’raj burrows tend to be rabbit-like warrens, there is almost always such a space available.  In their lair, however, al-mi’raj stand to fight.  In this case, they gain a +2 bonus on their attack rolls anytime they successfully teleport away from an attack.

Attempts to domesticate these creatures have, thus far, been utter failures.  Indeed, with their ability to teleport, even managing to keep them captive is nearly impossible.

 

Apparition

Apparition: Init +2; Atk Special (see below); AC 10; HD 3d12; MV fly 60’; Act 1d20; SP Un-dead traits, immune to non-magical or silver weapons, sense living up to 100’ away, surprise, spectral strangling attack, create spawn; SV Fort +2; Ref +4; Will +6; AL C.

An apparition is a form of powerful, non-corporeal ghost (see the core rulebook, pp. 413-414). Because it can be harmed by silver, it is reluctant to approach mirrors, or anything else made of that metal. Otherwise, the apparition has a 5 in 6 chance of surprising victims due to its uncanny appearance from a wall, floor, or ceiling. It appears  as an Insubstantial  skeletal being In a thin white robe.

An apparition is unable to physically attack. Its chosen victim feels bony, claw-like fingers at their throat (even through armor), and must succeed in a DC 15 Will save or be overcome with horror, unable to act for the next 1d3 rounds. Worse, for each round a creature is overcome, it must succeed in a DC 12 Fort save or take 1d8 temporary damage. A creature who succeeds in its Will save is thereafter immune to that apparition’s attacks. A creature who survives discovers that all the damage caused by the spectral choking was illusory (and is healed). A creature who is slain by this choking suffers a massive, and fatal, heart attack.

A slain victim which is not blessed by a cleric rises as a new apparition 2d4 hours later, 50% of the time. Such an apparition immediately seeks out its former companions if they are still within 100’.

Let’s Convert the Fiend Folio: Adherer and Aleax

The next two creatures in the Fiend Folio are the Adherer and the Aleax. While the adherer is a fairly straight-forward creature, the Aleax is not, and requires significant work to really make it fit in with Dungeon Crawl Classics!

While the Adherer is a kind of “gotcha!” monster (it looks like a mummy, but you can’t use your anti-mummy tactics against it without some potential harm), the Aleax is a divine servant sent to punish those who stray from their chosen path. It appears to have been an attempt to make the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons alignment system meaningful in actual play. For Dungeon Crawl Classics, with its vast conflict between Law and Chaos occurring in the background, and with its patrons as well as gods, a slightly different approach was needed.

I have seldom used an Aleax in actual play. When I did, back in the halcyon days of High School, I always felt more than a little guilty, which made me even less likely to use them in the future. Punishing someone for straying from their alignment always seemed a little problematic, unless the PC in question was a paladin or a cleric, and then the system had other ways to deal with that.

Adherer

Adherer: Init -2; Atk flailing fists +2 melee (1d3); AC 17; HD 4d8; MV 20’; Act 1d20; SP: Adhesion, half damage from weapons, involuntary shield, camouflage (+5), magic immunity, fire and magic missile vulnerability; SV Fort +5; Ref +2; Will +0; AL C.

This creature appears to be a mummy at first glance, with loose folds of dirty white skin appearing like bandages. This skin  constantly exudes a sour-smelling  glue-like substance with very powerful  adhesive properties; any  material except stone  will adhere to  It and only  fire, boiling  water  or  the creature's own  voluntary   secretions will break the adhesion, which lasts 1d3 turns after the creature is slain.

Weapons which hit an adherer stick to it (causing only half damage). Similarly, the creature adheres to any opponent it hits with its two­handed flailing fist attack. Its favorite tactic is to bind up an opponent in this fashion and use them as an involuntary shield. In this case, the adherer gains a +4 bonus to AC from the stuck opponent, and any attack that misses due to this bonus instead hits the unlucky stuck victim (unless their AC without Agility modifier is higher).

Boiling liquid (from a large bucket, or larger) causes 1d3 damage to the adherer and any involuntary shield it may have captured. This undoes any current adhesion, and prevents further adhesion for 1d3 rounds.

The creature’s natural resinous glue makes it vulnerable to fire; taking twice the normal damage from any fire-based attack. However, if the creature catches fire, so too does any victim it has trapped. It is immune to all 1^st level wizard spells, except magic missile, which likewise causes the creature double damage. If an adherer cannot use its adhesion due to boiling liquid (see above), it does not experience fire vulnerability for the same period of time.

Adherers often camouflage themselves by rolling in dirt, sticks, and leaves, and then artfully arranging larger pieces of debris to conceal their form (gaining a +5 bonus to conceal themselves).

Adherers never attack spiders, and may actually cooperate with them.

 

Aleax

Aleax: Init as victim; Atk as victim; AC as victim; HD as victim; MV as victim; Act as victim; SP As victim, only visible/tangible to victim, exponential regeneration, immune to mind-affecting spells, crit vulnerability, victim ascension, treasure loss, never kills victim; SV Fort as victim; Ref as victim; Will as victim; AL as victim.

The physical manifestation of vengeance generated by certain gods and patrons, an aleax is sent to punish and redeem those who stray from their alignment, who turn on the goals of their god or patron, who fail to sacrifice enough treasure, or who otherwise anger a supernatural being which considers them a thrall. An aleax is never met by chance, and is usually reserved for egregious offenses by powerful or important servants.

An aleax closely resembles its intended victim, but there are clear signs of the aleax’s progenitor. An aleax serving Bobugbubilz has a swampy odor and an amphibian cast to its features. One serving Justicia is female, and her face is a blend between that of goddess and victim. The aleax appears to be bathed in shimmering light: golden for Lawful gods or patrons, muted sepia tones for Neutral, and ever­changing purple and red hues for Chaos.

An aleax can only be detected by its intended victim, and only the victim’s attacks or spells affect it in any way. To observers, the victim appears to be in conflict with a totally invisible, totally intangible being. It would seem like the victim suffered a hallucination, were it not for the completely real wounds left by the aleax’s attacks. It appears, speaks a few words to indicate the nature of the offense committed by the intended victim, and then immediately attacks. Aleaxs cannot be bargained with, and ignore threats or banter.

An aleax regenerates exponentially. When first injured, it regenerates 1 hp/round. When injured again, this doubles to 2 hp/round. Each subsequent injury doubles the regeneration rate (4 hp/round, 8 hp/round. 16 hp/round, etc.) until the creature is killed.

Aleaxs are vulnerable to critical hits, so that the critical hit range against them is increased by +1, and the Crit Die is increased by +2d on the dice chain. If an Intended victim kills an aleax, that person is immediately taken into the presence of their patron or deity (in Heaven, Olympus, Hell, Valhalla, or wherever is appropriate) to serve their god or patron personally for a year and a day. On return, the character has a 95% chance of having gained en extra reward, such as a powerful magical Item, a class level, a unique ability, or greatly increased Luck, at the judge's discretion. The judge should consider the player’s wishes and the character’s goals when making this determination. While having ascended generally takes the intended victim from the game milieu for the full year and a day, if the remaining characters undertake a quest for the patron or deity in question, the victim may be “loaned back” to them for a brief period.

If the victim is instead reduced to 0 hp, all of the victims monetary wealth, even if cached or hidden elsewhere, disappears immediately. Land holdings, honorifics, and the like are immediately nullified as though they had never been. The victim’s magical items lose their magical properties – scrolls become blank, potions become inert, and so on. Only quest for penance can restore goods, chattels, or magical properties of items, to the extend that the judge deems appropriate.

 

Let’s Convert the Fiend Folio: Aarokocra and Achaierei

In the summer of 1981, I worked at a Youth Conservation Camp in Minong, Wisconsin. When I got home, one of the first places I went was a gaming store in Waukesha, Wisconsin, which has long since disappeared. And there, for the first time, I laid eyes, hands, and possession on the Fiend Folio.  This was the original TSR version, for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (the first, and only, edition then).

It was love at first sight.

Where the Monster Manual was about creatures of myth and folklore, the Fiend Folio was about the truly bizarre creatures which might lurk within a fantasy world. Not all were great, but some of those monsters endure to this day. What the Fiend Folio did was open the doors wide to inspiration. While the book garnered mixed reviews among the adults, teenage me was more than happy to open its glorious pages and throw a few garbugs into the mix.

So, here we are today. And this is the first of a series of blog posts converting (and in some cases reframing) these critters for Dungeon Crawl Classics!

Aarokocra

Aarokocra: Init +0; Atk claw +0 melee (1d3) or javelin +2 melee (1d6) or javelin +2 ranged (1d6); AC 13; HD 1d10; MV 20’ or fly 90’; Act 1d20; SP: Dive (2 javelin attacks, +4 to hit and damage each, but -4 to AC until next action); SV Fort +1; Ref +3; Will +0; AL N.

Aarokocra Shaman: Init +1; Atk claw +0 melee (1d3) or javelin +1 melee (1d6) or javelin +1 ranged (1d6) or spell; AC 15; HD 3d10; MV 20’ or fly 90’; Act 1d20; SP: Spells (as cleric), summon air elemental; SV Fort +0; Ref +5; Will +4; AL N.

These birdmen live in small tribes of 1d20+10 individuals, dwelling in the high mountain peaks, where they can soar all day on the thermals, seeking prey. They have little to do with humans, save poaching the occasional animal, as they seem unable to grasp the concept of domestication.

Aarokocra are shorter than the average human, at about 5 feet high, and have a 20-foot wingspan. Their wings muscles are anchored to a bony keel that projects a foot from their chests. In addition to “hands” at the crest of their wings, aarokocra can use their feet as fully functional hands.

These creatures carry 1d5+1 javelins each. While diving, an aarokocra can hold a javelin with each foot, pulling out of the dive Just as it reaches Its target, snapping the javelins forward to gain a +4 damage to the attack rolls and damage. An aarokocra has a -4 penalty to AC once it has done this, until it takes its next action.

Aarokocra are known to have tribal shamans, who cast spells as clerics (including disapproval; roll 1d3 to determine effective level).  Five aarokocra can summon an 8 HD air elemental by chanting end flying through an intricate aerial dance, if at least one of the birdmen is a shaman. Roll 1d30 on the first round, 1d24 on the second, 1d20 on the third, and so on down the dice chain, until a “1” is rolled (which indicates success). The elemental will generally do a single favor for the aarokocra, but will not fight to the death.

 

Achaierai

Achaierai: Init +0; Atk bite +4 melee (1d10) or claw +8 melee (1d8); AC 21 (legs) or 12 (body); HD 8d8 (body) and 2d8 per leg; MV 50’; Act 3d20; SP Hard-to-reach body, toxic smoke, +5 on saves vs. magic; SV Fort +8; Ref +3; Will +5; AL C.

These foul four-legged birds come from some infernal plane, but they now haunt shadowy places, underground passages, and lonely wastelands. Each has a huge spherical head-body, with a powerful   beak and feathery crest, atop four long metallic legs ending in strong claws. Its typical attack is two claws and one bite.

Because the creatures are so large, melee weapons can seldom reach the more vulnerable body until at least two legs have been destroyed. A warrior or dwarf may use a Mighty Deed to attack the head-body when the creature makes a peck attack, and ranged weapons may target the head-body with a reduced chance (1 in 8) of a miss accidently targeting another being in melee with the achaierai. Each destroyed leg reduces the achaierai’s move by 10’, and a legless monster cannot effectively move at all. If the monster is not slain, its legs regrow in 2d3 days.

If a  bird  loses  three  legs, or  Is otherwise seriously  wounded, it releases a cloud  of  black  toxic smoke extending 10’ from the achaierai in all directions (2d6 damage plus DC 12 Fort save or 1d8 temporary Intelligence damage, which heals at a rate of 1 point per hour).

DCC Day at the Sword & Board

 These events will be occurring at the Sword & Board in Toronto, 1193 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON M6H 1N4. There is a mask & vaccine mandate in place, so be ready to show proof of vaccination!

Journey to the Crypts of Orderly Death

For Free RPG Day (Saturday, 25 June 2022), I will be running a 3rd level adventure, Journey to the Crypts of Orderly Death, at The Sword & Board in Toronto. Mask and vaccine mandates are in place. You must be able to show proof of vaccination.

System: Dungeon Crawl Classics

Time: 12 Noon to 4 PM. 2 PM to 6 PM

The Sword & Board has notified me that they will not be open until 2 that day (I had provided 2 hours grace from their listed opening time!). Still, they have continued to support FRPG Day and DCC Day through the pandemic, and for that I am truly grateful.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

This is a playtest for eventual publication. Pregenerated characters will be provided, but feel free to bring your own!

Converting NPCs to Dungeon Crawl Classics

 

Tuirgin left a comment that I managed to delete trying to publish it. To wit:

I've seen people mention that you've run multiple DCC Xyntillan campaigns. I've been prepping Xyntillan for my group and finally decided to use DCC for it after considering several other options. While I've run DCC before, it's been a while—I took a year away from it to solidify my referee foundation with B/X—and I've never converted adventures for DCC. I'm familiar with two or three of your articles about conversions, but one question I haven't figured out is whether to adjust NPC (especially classed NPCs) and creature levels/hd. The group wisdom seems to be that 1 DCC level is roughly equivalent to 2 D&D levels. I'm curious what you think of this. I've not really run enough games beyond low levels to have a good sense of the implications. Any insight you have to share would be much appreciated.

I am going to try to answer this here. Germaine to this discussion, see my overall notes on conversion here (somewhat revised in DAMN #1), and some examples here and here. You will find a breakdown of the monster statblock here, and some notes on NPCs overall here and here.

For NPCs, the “Men and Magicians” section of the core rulebook (pages 432-434) is the most relevant, as is the “Monsters Don’t Play By the Rules” section on page 383. 

In general, you have three choices when it comes to converting NPCs: (1) Use the examples in the book, (2) Make a fast and loose conversion, or (3) Make a fully leveled conversion following the same rules the PCs use. The core rules don’t encourage that last options, but many published adventures use it, so you might also want to use it for important characters. We will look more closely at each of these options below.

(1)    Use the Examples in the Book: For many NPCs, you don’t need to be concerned about how to convert them. You just give them NPC stats using the examples in the “Men and Magiicians” section of the book. For instance, Gilbert Malévol the Fox in Castle Xyntillan might simply be treated as a bandit captain from page 433 of the core rules. There. Done. You may choose to make some adjustments to the core stats, to better reflect the weapons and armor in the original module. Or you may not. It’s up to you. 

(2)    Make a Fast and Loose Conversion: Gilbert Malévol the Fox has the following statblock in Castle Xyntillan: 

Gilbert Malévol the Fox: Thief 3; AC 7 [12]; Atk sword 1d6 or 2*bow 1d6; Spec backstab, thievery; ML 9; AL C; gold pocketwatch 400 gp.

Hp 7

Working from this as a basis, we probably want to keep Hit Dice the same, at least up to 5^th level, after which we need to consider how powerful we want our NPC to be in comparison to the rest of the world. I find that assuming a bonus to hit of +1 per 2 HD rounded up usually works well, although this should be adjusted up or down depending upon the nature of the NPC being converted. From this, we might get a DCC statblock like this:

Gilbert Malévol the Fox: Init+2; Atk short sword +1 melee (1d6) or short bow +3 ranged (1d6); AC 12; HD 3d6; hp 7; MV 30’; Act 1d20; SP +6 to sneak and hide, x2 damage when attacking from surprise; SV Fort +1; Ref +3; Will +0; AL C. Gold pocket watch (40gp). 

(3)    Make a Fully Leveled Conversion: If you want to go this route, my recommendation is to go to Purple Sorcerer and use their online tools to generate the character, and then modify as desired to create an appropriate statblock. As a pro tip, consider making four characters, using the “Upper Level Text” style, and then select the one that is closest to what you want for the NPC. Tweak as necessary. In this case, I went for 10 versions, so that I could be certain of getting a +2 bonus to Agility, and it still took me multiple tries. (I did not want to have to recalculate thief skills.) In this case, I have selected: 

Gilbert Malévol the Fox: Init+2; Atk short sword +2 melee (1d6) or short bow +4 ranged (1d6); AC 12; HD 3d6; hp 13; MV 30’; Act 1d20; SP thief abilities; SV Fort +1; Ref +4; Will +1; AL C.  Str 9, Agi 16 (+2), Sta 11, Per 11, Int 9, Luck 10.

Thief Abilities: Luck Die (d5), Backstab +7; Sneak Silently: +9; Hide In Shadows +7; Pick Pocket +4; Climb Sheer Surfaces +7; Pick Lock +7; Find Trap +5; Disable Trap +4; Forge Document +3; Disguise Self +7; Read Languages +1; Handle Poison +7; Cast Spell From Scroll (d12)

Gold pocket watch (40gp).

The inevitable question will be: Which one of these builds is right? And the answer is: Any of them or none of them. Whatever the judge chooses to use is right.

If the NPC in question is a spellcaster, you have a few more choices to make. None of these have “right” answers; do what feels best to you:

A.      Should the spellcaster even cast spells? This is especially important when converting NPCs from systems where everyone (or almost everyone) is a spellcaster. If you can make the character work without casting spells, you might want to consider going this route. This is also a good tactic if the NPC is of some goofy species that your setting doesn’t support. If a warrior is a gnoll just to be edgy, consider making him a human wearing a hyena skin instead. 

B.      Can you just go the “special ability” route? If you look at some of the write-ups in the core rules, like Acolyte and Magician, you will see that their spells are not fully fleshed out. For minor characters, this is a great option because you are not wasting a lot of time figuring out how to convert spells. Just choose the effects you most want, come up with some cool presentation (i.e., what the spell looks like when cast) and call it a day. 

C.      Do you need full-on spells? This does facilitate a spell duel, after all, but it is a bit more complicated. The best solution is to decide what spells the NPC should have, and then give the NPC an appropriate spell check modifier. Feel free to add unique visual or knock-on effects to these spells. They do not have to match the Mercurial Magic and/or Manifestation results in the book. When you are done with that print the NPCs spells out using the Sorcerer’s Grimoire at Purple Sorcerer. It will save you time at the table. This is a good practice for NPCs found in purchased adventures as well.

Finally, consider the words of Joseph Goodman when putting the finishing touches on your conversion:

Spellcasters in particular, whether human or monstrous in nature, should have powers that are unavailable to the players. This does not mean fully defined spells of the same sort learned by the characters. This means a unique power of some kind that would provide a plot hook, leading the player characters to seek out the wizard character and attempt to enlist his services, either as a an ally, hireling, or hostage. On the next page [p. 384] is a table of inspiration, but note that these powers should not be spells. The NPC should be able to use these powers with predictability and accuracy in a way that player characters cannot. It is left up to you to flesh out these ideas, which can apply to any wizard, sorcerer, shaman, witch, warlock, acolyte, priest, cult leader, or other such figure.

TL;DR: Don’t let worrying about how to do it “right” detract from the game. DCC fully empowers you to make it up!

Shudder Mountains Dragon

Michael Curts posted this image to Facebook (artist unknown). and the call immediately arose for game stats. Well, here are some game stats you can use! This is built off of the dragon generator from the core rules, by way of the Purple Sorcerer dragon generator, modified to make the creature better fit the image.

Opossum Dragon (average-sized dragon): Init +11; Atk antlers +12 melee (1d8) or bite +12 melee (1d12); AC 21; HD 11d12; hp 63; MV 40' or climb 30'; Act 2d20 (attacks) plus 1d20 (spells); SP see below; SV Fort +11, Ref +11, Will +11; AL N.

Breath Weapon: Type (sleep gas); Save (Fort 21); Damage (sleep for 1d6 hours or no effect with save); Shape (Cloud, radius 1d3 x 10’, aimed up to 90’ away).

Martial Power 1: Play dead. When reduced to 20 hp, the opossum dragon rolls over and pretends to be dead, giving off an awful stench. Living creatures (apart from opossum dragons) must succeed in a DC 21 Fort save to remain (or approach) within 30', and creatures which succeed suffer a -1d penalty on the dice chain while within this radius. This state lasts for 1d3 x 10 turns, or until the dragon is reduced to 10 or fewer hp (at which point it will flee or fight).

Martial Power 2: Retinue. The dragon is always accompanied by a retinue of 1d4+2 loyal followers (young opossum dragons, stats below).

Unique Power 1: Speak with animals (1/hour). The dragon can designate one animal and communicate effectively in that animal’s native tongue for the remainder of the hour. The animal still cannot communicate beyond the limits of its intelligence and physical abilities.

Spells: The opossum dragon can cast spells with a +2 bonus to the spell check:

Level 1 Spells: Animal summoning, magic shield

Level 2 Spells: Invisibility

Young Opossum Dragon (cat-sized dragon): Init +1; Atk claws +2 melee (1d8); bite +2 melee (1d12); AC 11; HD 1d12; hp 10; MV 30 or climb 20'; Act 2d20; SP see below; SV Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +1; AL N.

Breath Weapon: Type (sleep gas); Save (Fort 13); Damage (Fall asleep for 1d6 hours, no effect with save); Shape (Cloud, radius 1d4 x 10’, aimed up to 60’ away)

Unique Power: Charm (1/hour). The dragon can charm one living creature. Target considers the dragon its closest friend for 1d4 days or until attacked or betrayed by the dragon. Will DC 13 resists.