#(PF1e is still 3.5)

[chimaerabutt]

Apropos of nothing, except tangentially my watching WotC start exploding after I had finally STOPPED playing d20 systems for a good 3+ years, but..

Now that everyone is suddenly scrambling to try new systems (meaning I’m watching people who have ONLY EVER PLAYED D&D have to play things that aren’t d20 for the first time) I find it funny that, as someone who has also played Shadowrun for a very long time, (2e in to 5e, baby!) in my experience, it’s veteran d&d only players that complain about finding shadowrun difficult to grok, the most.

Ttrpg neophytes actually pick up shadowrun 5e faster than veteran d&d players. Consistently.

(This is 100%!! Not me endorsing SR5e’s rules as good. They are not. But it is a humorous observation lol. Mind, my observation as a long time d&d player and GM, as well, is that most long term “d&d and ONLY d&d” players still don’t grok d&d’s rules, either. )

[thecreaturecodex]

Spawn of Rovagug, Xotani

Image © Paizo Publishing

{Sponsored by @tar-baphon​. Although I imagine that @monstersdownthepath​ will be happy to see it too, since they had to sort of average the 3.5 and PF2e statistics of Xotani. PF1e skipped it completely, maybe because it appeared in literally the last D&D 3.5 adventure Paizo published. I did run Legacy of Fire, and loved it. Personally, I made a few tweaks. Even if Jhavhul had succeeded, his consciousness was just going to be overwritten by Xotani; you don’t compromise with a Spawn of Rovagug. The sponsor asked me to adjust its CR up by 1, which was really only a matter of deciding how many HD to give it. Besides that, and the lava bombs borrowed from PF2e, this is a pretty straightforward conversion.]

Spawn of Rovagug, Xotani CR 21 CE Magical Beast This creature is a living magma flow, a cross between a wingless dragon and a centipede. It is the size of a building, jagged obsidian plates rising from its back and sides, and gouts of flames shooting from cracks in its surface and drool from its maw. It has eight empty eye sockets, but still seems able to see just fine. 

Xotani the Firebleeder is the weakest of the Spawn of Rovagug, but this still makes it one of the most deadly creatures in Garund. When Xotani is awake, it avoids the sun. It finds sunlight blindingly bright and surprisingly painful, and so remains underground by day, creating a network of tunnels from its own burrowing and from the lava that it spews and leaks. By night, it emerges, setting everything ablaze in its path. It has no desires or intentions other than pure destruction, although it will consume the ashes of what it destroys as a mockery of natural predation. It does take extra damage from the touch of cold, but cold damage enrages Xotani more than dissuades it.

Xotani is an unstoppable force in combat, moving like a lava flow over anything that stands in its path. Its very touch sets combustible objects ablaze, and weapons turned against it melt into slag. Xotani’s main strategies are either breathing a torrent of fire over clustered enemies, or grabbing and swallowing a single powerful foe. Wounds that open in Xotani’s flesh spew magma reflexively, and Xotani can fire lava bombs from its back. Xotani is barely sapient, but knows enough to avoid using its breath weapon against foes that are immune to fire: these it just eats after softening them up with claws and teeth.

The Firebleeder was “slain” by a powerful order of mages millennia ago, and is currently slumbering beneath Pale Mountain in Katapesh, where the color of the rock is said to come from the crushed bones of those who died in battle.  However, Xotani came very close to being awakened in the recent past. The lovesick Jhavhul, an efreet general, attempted to possess Xotani in order to have a form worthy of the object of his obsession, Ymeri the Queen of the Inferno. Without the twisted wishcraft used by Jhavhul, Xotani will not awaken for centuries. But it does now stir in his slumber, and droughts, wildfires and heat waves are more common around the Obari Ocean because of it. And plenty of other doomsday cults, misguided fire worshipers or simply bad actors may be able to wake Xotani yet. 

Xotani the Firebleeder       CR 21 XP 409,600 CE Colossal magical beast (fire, spawn of Rovagug) Init +8; Senses blindsight 120 ft., darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, Perception +26 Aura frightful presence (300 ft., Will DC 27) Defense AC 38, touch 6, flat-footed 34 (-8 size, +4 Dex, +32 natural) hp 403 (26d10+260); regeneration 30 Fort +25, Ref +21, Will +20 DR 15/epic; Immune ability damage, ability drain, bleed, disease, electricity, energy drain, fire, mind-influencing effects, paralysis, permanent wounds, petrifaction, poison, polymorph; SR  32 Defensive Abilities heat, hibernation, supreme regeneration; Weaknesses cold, sunlight blindness Offense Speed 60 feet, burrow 40 ft., climb 60 ft. Melee bite +32 (4d8+14 plus grab and 5d6 fire), 2 claws +32 (2d8+14 plus 5d6 fire) Space 30 ft.; Reach 30 ft. Special Abilities breath weapon (70 ft. cone, 1d4 rounds, 16d10 fire, Ref DC 33), firebleed, lava bomb, swallow whole (AC 26, 40 hp, 2d8+21 plus 20d6 fire), trample (2d8+21 plus 5d6 fire, Ref DC 37) Statistics Str 38, Dex 19, Con 30, Int 3, Wis 17, Cha 18 Base Atk +26; CMB +48 (+52 grapple, +68 overrun); CMD 62 (cannot be tripped) Feats Combat Reflexes, Critical Focus, Greater Vital Strike, Improved Critical (claw), Improved Initiative, Improved Vital Strike, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Nimble Moves, Power Attack, Staggering Critical, Stunning Critical, Vital Strike Skills Climb +27, Perception +26, Survival +23; Racial Modifiers +8 Perception, +8 Survival Languages Aklo (cannot speak) SQ unstoppable force Ecology Environment any land or underground Organization unique Treasure incidental Special Abilities Blindsight (Ex) Xotani’s blindsight is based on hearing. If it is deafened, Xotani cannot use its blindsight. Firebleed (Ex) As an immediate action upon taking at least 10 points of slashing or piercing damage, Xotani can spew lava from its wound in a 30 foot cone. All creatures in the area must succeed a DC 33 Reflex save or take 10d6 points of fire damage. Creatures that fail the save are coated in cooling sticky lava, being entangled and taking 5d6 points of fire damage for the next 1d3 rounds or until they spend a full round action to scrape the lava off. The save DC is Constitution based. Heat (Ex) All of Xotani’s attacks deal an additional 5d6 points of fire damage, and any creature touching or striking it with a unarmed strike or natural weapon take that damage. A manufactured weapon that strikes Xotani is incinerated and destroyed; a magical weapon may attempt a DC 33 Fortitude save in order to survive. The save DC is Constitution based. Hibernation (Ex) Spawn of Rovagug can sleep for years, decades, or even centuries and do not need to eat or breathe during these periods of dormancy, though they breathe normally and eat ravenously and almost constantly once they’ve been awakened. If a spawn of Rovagug is forced into an environment where it cannot breathe and would suffocate, it goes into hibernation until conditions are right for it to reawaken. Lava Bomb (Su) Once every 1d4 rounds, Xotani can create lava bombs as a standard action. Treat this as a supernatural version of the meteor swarm spell (ranged touch +22, Reflex DC 27) with a range of 400 feet. The save DC is Charisma based. Sunlight Blindness (Ex) Xotani’s light blindness is only activated by true sunlight. Supreme Regeneration (Ex) All spawn of Rovagug possess regeneration, and no form of attack can suppress this regeneration; they regenerate even if disintegrated or slain by a death effect. If a spawn of Rovagug fails a save against an effect that would kill it instantly, it rises from death 3 rounds later with 1 hit point if no further damage is dealt to its remains. It can be banished or otherwise transported as a means to save a region, but a method to kill Spawn of Rovagug has yet to be discovered. Unstoppable Force (Ex) A spawn of Rovagug can always charge, even if its movement is impeded or its path is blocked by another creature. It receives a +20 racial bonus on combat maneuver checks to overrun and Strength checks to break or destroy objects, and can make one such check as a free action as part of a charge. In addition, the natural weapons of a spawn of Rovagug ignore all forms of damage reduction and hardness.

[monstersdownthepath]

Tracking stuff down for research and found out that Baba Yaga is actually the first CR 30 monster released in Pathfinder proper, with her appearing in the world in July 2013! Achaekek predates her by quite a bit (June 2008!), but he was released back when PF was still using D&D 3.5 rules.

2013 is where the big boom of CR 30 monsters began, it seems. Cthulhu, Pazuzu, and Cernunnos were all released in Bestiary 4 (November 2013), and Nocticula’s stats were revealed in December 2013!

The last CR 30 monster released in PF1e was the Leviathan, showing up in Planar Adventures in 2018. Just some fun facts for all of you!

[arionwind]

that hatemail made me sad so im gonna give you something to infodump about, which edition of dnd do you like the best? right now i basically only play 3.5 because i heard iffy things about 4 and 5 is so new that its a lot harder to find pdfs for the low low price of piracy compared to 3.5 but if 5th edition has any genuinely good mechanics overhauls comparatively i might consider giving it a try?

I was expecting the hate mail, I am fine. Sorry for upsetting you though! And to other followers who may be upset, the “hate mail” tag catches all the anon hate I publish for my own amusement.

As for the question … That’s a tough one. That also got more bloated than I expected again, so under the cut.

I think 3.5 is a mechanical mess with an accumulation over years of bad and worse ideas and Pathfinder 1e refined the base classes and mechanical assumptions in ways that make the whole thing much more playable. But at the same time, because they could only use OGL content, some of my favourite options had to be omitted. It’s petty, but the lack of the Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil, Geometer, Spellfire Adept, and all the hybrid PrCs make it a bit harder for me to have the same kind of fun I did with 3.5.

Even then though, for all I miss those nostalgia options, Pathfinder gives enough options to base classes and enough benefits for taking them all the way to 20 that PrCs are basically unnecessary unless they enable a hyperspecific concept that is worth losing baseline utility for. And while there’s likewise some feat chains from 3.5 that I enjoyed a lot (like tactical feats specifically I miss a lot) there’s enough flexibility in PF1e to satisfy me and a much healthier suite of support materials for running it than 3/3.5 ever had outside of the now-defunct RPGA. In an ideal world I’d rebalance and port over some of my favourite options from 3.5 and just play PF1e for all my D&D needs. I’ve even got half-fleshed out conversions for some of the PrCs and feat chains I love dearly that in all liklihood I’ll never get to use (who is ever going to want to run me through a FR game that allows either Spellfire or the more broken Shadow Magic/Ruathar tricks? No one sane, that’s who.)

As for 5th edition’s mechanical overhauls … it’s gonna depend on what you want from your D&D. If you want a tactical battle sim and are happy roleplaying with minimal dice involvement the more social/exploration-y things, I’d honestly say to use 4e. It got a lot of hate for being a wild departure from 3.5, and it was, but I have yet to see another game do the granular tactical battle-mat fighting tabletop thing more than half as well as 4e did it. The balance was immaculate at every level and rewarded picking and sticking to roles and using teamwork in a way no other edition of D&D has before or since, even counting the spin-offs like Pathfinder.

I’m less familiar with 5e and honestly have no interest in spending money on it as long as Wizards is still pretending Mike Mearls didn’t enable some of the worst actors in the industry. But from what I’ve heard and what little I’ve seen it’s closer to 3.5 than 4e was, but with harshly flattened numeric curves. You’re not going to run into that 3.5 issue where if the warrior doesn’t constantly keep her armor and weapon upgraded to the max she is gonna be a chump, because ACs just don’t hit the 40s like they fairly easily can in 3.5. Spellcasting also seems to be rebalanced some, so while there’s still the issue of a control wizard trivializing encounters with the right tricks you’re not going to have a fifth level wizard putting out as much melee damage as the barbarian with a 1st level spell anymore either.

Whether or not this is a good thing is going to depend on your playstyle and preferences. There’s a lot less overwhelming character options and notably fewer trap builds that seem good at first blush but fall apart in actual play (though there are some). But that also means there’s a lot less room for weird combinations that can enable things like a halfling barbarian dual-wielding two swords the size of ranch houses.

Maybe you want that! I know that if I played Garbanzo (the aforementioned halfling from my 3.5 days) at some tables that wanted a more serious game I’d get kicked out. Personally if I want a grittier down-to-earth and low magic game of D&D I am gonna pitch Iron Heroes instead. But admittedly that may overcorrect and be too low magic, in which case 5e is probably a good fit?

I guess what I am trying to get at is that 5e (and 4e) does what it tries to do well. It just doesn’t try to do all the same things 3.5 did, and depending on what you did or didn’t like about 3.5 it might not be the right fit.

[cyberkevvideo]

Monster Conversion - Blessed Ring (3.5 to PF1e)

Five years ago, I did a few conversions of monsters that could be used for/added to Throne of Night. One was the cavernivore and the other is what I’m posting today. What I didn’t realize is unlike the cavernivore, I hadn’t posted the blessed ring here. It was only ever on the Paizo forum. Whoops. That’s definitely on me. So today, since I’m done with the builds for Throne of Night, I thought I’d rectify my mistake and finally post the creature. No sense in it going to waste.

Like the cavernivore, this monster originally came from Complete Minions by Bastion Press. It was a CR 6. With the Pathfinder bestiary building rules, I’ve tried to keep it as such. When I first did a conversion, I didn’t realize just how unbalanced the original was, and kept it as it was. There was both a 3.5 and a 3.X version, both having different stats, and the DC for some of its abilities were incredibly deadly for evil characters. I mean, the 3.5 version had Con 20, 8 HD, and Ability Focus, on an ability that should only be DC 16. Instead, it was DC 21. I made sure to not keep the feat, but it was still a 19. I have since fixed this.

I said back then: here's a converted creature that you can put into the game. The DC's are a little high, but then it's save for half, and it doesn't have much in the way of standard attacks, so it's fine. This is a creature that absolutely should be found in the mushroom forest. Especially if you're playing good or neutral aligned characters. Maybe not so much for the drow. Although, that could be an interesting turn of events as well. Of course, just because the original is large-sized, doesn't mean that's what the PCs have to find. It's more than possible to find huge-sized ones to fit larger parties.

I was told that that this was already converted in “Malevolent and Benign“, but looking over it, they didn’t change anything other than adding CMB and CMD, and giving it Perception instead of Spot/Listen.

Before I get to it, I hope everyone’s staying safe right now.

Without further ado, the Blessed Ring.

BLESSED RING These large-sized mushrooms form a perfect ring pattern on the ground, but there is an odd lack of plant growth within their circle. Blessed Ring (CR 6; 2,400 XP) LG Large plant Init +2; Senses blindsight 30 ft., low-light vision; Perception +14 DEFENSE AC 19, touch 7, flatfooted 19 (–2 Dex, +12 natural, –1 size) hp 68 (8d8+32); regeneration 5 Fort +10, Ref +2, Will +5 Defensive Abilities plant traits; Immune acid OFFENSE Speed 0 ft. (immobile) Space 10 ft.; Reach 0 ft. Special Attacks acid spray (R-DC 18), digest (F-DC 18) TACTICS Combat The blessed ring does not enter combat directly, but if attacked in dome form, it sprays acid to defend itself. If attacked from the inside, it begins to digest the attacker. STATISTICS Str —, Dex 6, Con 19, Int 1, Wis 13, Cha 8 Base Atk +6; CMB —; CMD — Feats Alertness, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes Skills Perception +14, Sense Motive +3 SQ camouflage, soul sense SPECIAL ABILITIES Acid Spray (Ex) The blessed ring defends itself by spraying attackers with a 15-foot cone of acid as a standard action. The acid inflicts 8d6 points of damage (Reflex half). The save DC is Constitution-based. Camouflage (Ex) A blessed looks like a normal plant when at rest, a DC 25 Perception check is required to notice it before it attacks for the first time. Anyone with ranks in Survival or Knowledge (nature) can use either of those skills instead of Perception to notice the plant. Digest (Ex) If the blessed ring detects an occupant that is evil, or if it is attacked from the inside, it attempts to digest all within its dome as a standard action. Creatures within the dome are heavily sprayed with acid, inflicting 8d6 points of damage (Reflex half). After four rounds of digestion, all items within the dome risk dissolving. Attended or magical items can make DC 18 Fortitude saves to survive; determine which of a character's items are affected as when rolling a natural 1 on a saving throw against a magical attack. The save DCs are Constitution-based. When the dome recedes after 8 hours, no trace is left of anything digested by the blessed ring. Anyone attempting to break through the dome must deal damage equal to one-third of the dome's total hit points (22) in order to make room for a Medium creature to pass through. As the dome heals 5 hit points per round, this is more difficult than it sounds. Soul Sense (Su) Five minutes after its dome is formed, the blessed ring uses this ability to determine the alignment of everyone within it and whether or not they are pure of heart. This ability acts as detect alignment. If it detects any evil-aligned creatures, the blessed ring attempts to digest its contents. It is possible to fool the ring with spells such as undetectable alignment. The blessed ring gets to make a Will save to see through the spell in these cases.

ECOLOGY Environment temperate forests Organization solitary Treasure none

To the weary adventurer, the blessed ring is a gift from the gods. Although rare, these simple rings of common toadstools can be found scattered throughout the wilderness. They are distinguished from normal mushrooms by their perfect ring pattern on the ground and the odd lack of plant growth within their circle. Close inspection reveals nothing special about the ring, but if any living creature lies down within the circle and remains still for 5 minutes, the ring begins to grow up around it, quickly forming an impenetrable dome of mushrooms roughly 10 feet across and 5 feet high. This dome can comfortably hold four Medium creatures. Anyone within the dome can rest completely protected from the elements, as well as from any marauding predators. After precisely 8 hours, the dome recedes, and within 1 minute, only the original ring of mushrooms remains.

There is little chance that anyone within the dome may be disturbed, as any attempt to attack or harm the dome during these 8 hours (whether from the inside or outside) earns the offender a spray of powerful acid.

The blessed ring is, however, something of a mixed blessing--five minutes after the dome is formed, the fungus uses its soul sense power on everyone inside of it. If anyone within the circle is evil, the blessed ring attempts to digest everything within it. Creatures trapped inside have only a few rounds to cut themselves out before they become fertilizer for the blessed ring.

Campaign

The standard use for the blessed ring is as a safe place for good or neutral adventurers to camp in the wilderness. How the heroes find out how to use the campsite is the challenge before them. The most common way is to have an NPC tell the players about the ring. If the PCs are passing through a dangerous wilderness, a trusted friend may explain to them its location and use.

Characters with the Knowledge (nature) skill can make a DC 20 check to recognize a blessed ring for what it is. Another way to tip the heroes off is to mark the ring on a map that the players find. Perhaps someone has scrawled "Safe camp here, Blessed Ring" on the map. Allow the PCs to figure the rest out on their own.

A less common use for the ring is as a rite of passage for certain tribes or religions. A clan of druids may require all new aspirants to stay a night in the blessed ring in order to prove their purity. Some primitive tribes also use the ring as a rite of passage into adulthood or as a final test for a new chieftain.

Of course, the heroes may find their own use for the ring. Perhaps they can trick an enemy into lying down in the ring, or maybe they can use the ring to destroy an evil magical item or artifact. The ring is as useful as it is deadly.

One last word of caution: Trust. It is quite an act of faith to lie down within the blessed ring with another person— make sure you know them well!