The D&D Monster Conversion Thread

[Jürgen Hubert]

Originally Posted by Andreas

2 DC per GURPS modifer seems like a good choice, but I would probably put 0 at DC 10-11. A basic level one commoner with 10 in all stats have a 50% chance to resist a DC 11 effect, while a GURPS character with 10 in all stats would have slightly more than 50% chance to resist an effect with a 0 modifier.

Most character classes will likely have some bonuses to their saving throws even at first level, though. And almost no d20 player character will have penalties to one of their saving throws, while having a GURPS PC with a 10 in HT or Will is readily conceivable.

Also why use +1 for all low DCs? Should not a DC 5 effect be easier to resist than one with DC 8?

I don't think there are that many effects with a DC lower than 10 in the first place. DC 10 pretty much represents: "This is as easy to resist as possible", and the GURPS counterpart is an affliction which gives a +1 to the resisting attribute.

[Andreas]

Originally Posted by Jürgen Hubert

Most character classes will likely have some bonuses to their saving throws even at first level, though. And almost no d20 player character will have penalties to one of their saving throws, while having a GURPS PC with a 10 in HT or Will is readily conceivable.

That is because the default assumption in D&D is that player characters are exceptional people. Average people just have ~10 in their attributes and classes that mostly give bad saving throw progressions.

High point value characters in GURPS are also likely to have above 10 in some of their "saving throws". This is not certain because you have more freedom in how to make your character in GURPS, but they would certainly have the points to do so if they tried to give their character roughtly the same capabilities as a D&D PC.

I don't think there are any DF character template with neither of HT or Will above 10 (probably not even among the 125 point henchmen templates).

[trechriron]

Originally Posted by Jürgen Hubert

Well, you know the basics. ;)

I've given you admin access. If you feel you are up to it, you can also come up with a better CSS scheme for the wiki - I've never gotten around to coming up with something better than the default scheme, and I don't have the time to delve into that.

I have a test wiki for CSS/layout testing purposes - if you want, I can give you admin access for that as well, so that you can play around with it before testing it on the GURPS Repository.

Indeed. Furthermore, I added new forms which make use of the Pathfinder fan site policy (which differs from the WotC one.

That would be a good idea. Test first! As a tester, I appreciate that approach...

[Andreas]

I tried out converting a creature and uploaded it to the google drive folder.

Wraith

Spoiler:  

ST: 0 HP: 22 Speed: 6.00
DX: 13 Will: 10 Move: 9
IQ: 12 Per: 15
HT: 10 FP: n/a SM: 0
Dodge: 9 Parry: n/a DR: 0

Constitution drain: (15): Living creatures who are hit by this attack loses 1d HT (resisted by HT-2). The attack also deals 1d-1 crushing damage and for each successful attack on a living creature the wraith heals 3 HP. Reach C (Affects Substantial).

Create Spawn: Humanoids killed by a wraith have their spirits torn from their bodies and transformed into new wraiths 4d seconds after being killed. These new wraiths follow the commands of the wraith that spawned them.

Traits: Dark Vision; Dependency (Mana); Doesn’t Breathe; Doesn’t Eat or Drink; Doesn’t Sleep; Dread (sunlight); Fragile (Unnatural); Frightens Animals; Immunity to Metabolic Hazards; Immunity to Mind Control; Intolerance (Living Beings, Total); Insubstantial(Affect Substantial, Always On); Unaging.
Skills: Brawling-15; Intimidation-11; Stealth-12.
Class: Undead.

This is the first D&D creature I have converted so feel free to point out any mistakes I might have made or anything you would have done differently.

[Sassy Psionic Space Squid]

Originally Posted by Jürgen Hubert

I just had a look at GURPS Dragons how they statted dragons there. Even the biggest "generic" dragon template, the "Monstrous Dragon" with SM +5 has a template ST of 30 and DR 7 - and no additional Lifting ST.

In contrast, the "Wyrm Black Dragon" at the Repository, which also has SM +5, has ST 35, and a DR of 16 (while the GURPS Dragons version only has DR 7).

Hmm, that's the most powerful GURP Dragon template? Aren't the strongest D&D dragons ludicrously powerful? Seems underpowered for that.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Sassy Psionic Space Squid

Hmm, that's the most powerful GURP Dragon template? Aren't the strongest D&D dragons ludicrously powerful? Seems underpowered for that.

Yeah, GURPS Dragons seems to be mostly "these are dragons that are useful for 3e fantasy level campaigns". My rule of thumb is '5 ST per hex', and if that means a mountain that's actually a sleeping dragon has a ST of a million (a ridge 12 miles long or so), so be it. That's actually not that weird a size for a fantastic dragon.

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by Jürgen Hubert

I've finished with adding the conversions by Collective Restraint.

Someone needs to go through and dot the Is and cross the Ts. Namely, make sure Combat Effectiveness Rating is calculated, melee attacks have Reach, missile attacks have Range and Acc, added Weight where I could find it (it has a spot according to the SJ Games Bestiary stat block format in the formatting guide), made sure stuff like Class represents GURPS terms (like "Mundane") instead of D&D terms (like "Monstrous Humanoid"). I did this for about 200 monsters from sources I respected (like you, Faolyn, Mailanka, Bruno, one or two others), though looking back I don't think I managed to represent all of Mailanka's goodies right, and I'm sure I screwed up a few CERs early on. It sounds kind of tedious because it is, but if you do a few a night, it's good practice.

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by robertsconley

I recommend looking at the list of monsters included in Swords & Wizardry Core edition as a starting to figure out which creatures to convert first. And covert any missing creatures from that list first using the d20 stats as a guideline.

Or just use the Wikipedia, and go book by book. Doing this makes a bunch of smaller lists, and it isn't as daunting to look at seven different lists of 40 monsters as it is to look at 280 monsters. Just go in order Monsters and Treasure, Greyhawk, Blackmoor, Eldritch Wizardry (which is mostly psionic monsters), Moldvay Basic, Cook Expert, then look at the SRD to fill in the gaps. It's a psychological thing, and lets everyone prioritize.

[Jürgen Hubert]

Originally Posted by Andreas

I tried out converting a creature and uploaded it to the google drive folder.

Wraith

Spoiler:  

ST: 0 HP: 22 Speed: 6.00
DX: 13 Will: 10 Move: 9
IQ: 12 Per: 15
HT: 10 FP: n/a SM: 0
Dodge: 9 Parry: n/a DR: 0

Constitution drain: (15): Living creatures who are hit by this attack loses 1d HT (resisted by HT-2). The attack also deals 1d-1 crushing damage and for each successful attack on a living creature the wraith heals 3 HP. Reach C (Affects Substantial).

Create Spawn: Humanoids killed by a wraith have their spirits torn from their bodies and transformed into new wraiths 4d seconds after being killed. These new wraiths follow the commands of the wraith that spawned them.

Traits: Dark Vision; Dependency (Mana); Doesn’t Breathe; Doesn’t Eat or Drink; Doesn’t Sleep; Dread (sunlight); Fragile (Unnatural); Frightens Animals; Immunity to Metabolic Hazards; Immunity to Mind Control; Intolerance (Living Beings, Total); Insubstantial(Affect Substantial, Always On); Unaging.
Skills: Brawling-15; Intimidation-11; Stealth-12.
Class: Undead.

This is the first D&D creature I have converted so feel free to point out any mistakes I might have made or anything you would have done differently.

Looks good at a first glance. I've added it to the wiki.

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by abe ray

how would you fine people make the flumph anyway?

Without trying to actually do it, but working through a rough version:

1. Start with the version of the flumph in the Tome of Horrors. I get something like ST 10, DX 13, IQ 10, HT 10. Subattributes are normal, other than Per and Will 12.
2. The flumph is Small, about 2 feet athwart. Its sub-attributes aren't unusual at all, it has 6 points of natural armor, BAB +1, Weapon Finesse. It would be about SM -3, DR 3* (Tough Skin), Brawling-11, Innate Attack-11. Its skill points went into Hide 2, Listen 2, Move Silently 2, Search 2, Spot 2, so we'll give it Acute Vision 1, Acute Hearing 1, Stealth-14, Observation-12.
3. It has Flight (Air Move 3) but doesn't move at all on the ground, so it has No Legs and No Manipulators. Its alignment (LG) and description as being "non-offensive" means some kind of Pacifism, like Cannot Harm Innocents. They like to be with others; Congenial? Chummy? You get the idea. Its Darkvision and Low-Light Vision would mean it can see well in the dark, which it needs being underground. Infravision is my guess.
4. Its spikes are strikers, and so they do 1d-1 impaling plus follow-up 1d-2 corrosive. Reach C. The acid keeps dealing damage for the next 1d seconds, with the special effect that you can run it under water or someone can make a First Aid check.
5. The spray from its, uh, let's not go there. Its spray is a jet that is 1 yard wide and has a range of 1/10, Acc 3. The victim must Resist HT or be nauseated for a number of seconds equal to the amount by which he missed the roll. Normally, DC 11 gives the resistance roll a +2, but I'm dropping that since in GURPS, to take effect, the flumph must hit, AND the foe must Dodge or Block, and he has to fail the resistance roll. D&D dispenses with the defense roll. I'll still give the +2 bonus to those folks who smell the lingering smell.
6. Your call whether to give it Reputation -4 (Really lame monster).