So I am trying my hand at converting a D&D/Pathfinder monster to Legend and I have gotten stuck. In my example, I have used the Aboleth, as I would like this to be the unseen, controller in the background, only being faced at the end of the campaign.

I am stuck with the Spell-like effects that the creature is assigned in D&D and Pathfinder. Does one just use Common Magic or make the Aboleth skilled in both Sorcery and Common Magic to simulate these?

Any assistance is highly appreciated!

The beauty of being he GM is that you can design these things however you wish. Personally, I would just give it the spells it needs as special abilities and not worry too much about the specifics, i.e it casts Dominate at 5 Intensity and a skill of 75% (or POW/WIS*#, whatever gives it a reasonable skill level).

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When I converted monster for Eberron, I tried sticking with sorcery for tough opponents - it is more MP effective and that flexibility might come in handy.

With regards to spell-like effects, supernatural abilities and the like you can just give it a special trait which you create for the occasion. Sometimes the original text can be surprisingly easy to convert - other times they can be a pain.

- Dan

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Thanks for the quick responses guys!

I think I will use Sorcery here as the abilities are mainly illusion-types. I will post the critter once completed for your feedback/critique.

Please take a look at the below and let me have your thoughts. I haven't GMed a Legend campaign, as yet, so have no real frame of reference as to whether or not this version of an Aboleth is powerful, or not. I really quite like the wikipedia description and will probably use that:

Aboleth
Dice Average 1d20 Hit Locations AP/HP
STR 4D6+6 20 1-10 Body 2/12
CON 3D6+1 12 11-12 Tentacle 1 2/12
SIZ 6D6+24 45 13-14 Tentacle 2 2/12
INT 4D6+1 15 15-16 Tentacle 3 2/12
POW 4D6+3 17 17-18 Tentacle 4 2/12
DEX 3D6+1 12 19-20 Head 2/12
CHA 4D6+3 17
Combat Actions: 3
Damage Modifier: +2D6
Traits: Darksight up to 20 m, Tough Hide (2 AP, with no armour penalty), Poison (Mucus Cloud), Poison: Slime
Magic Points: 17
Movement: 16m (swim), 3m (crawl/slither)
Strike Rank: +14
Skills: Athletics 65%, Evade 65%, Influence 90%, Language (Aboleth) 100%, Language (Aklo) 95%, Language (Aquan) 95, Language (Undercommon) 95%, Lore(Arcane) 95%, Lore(The Oceans) 95%, Manipulation 100%, Perception 95%, Persistence 95%, Resilience 75%, Sorcery 100% (Aboleth), Stealth 75%, Swim 100%
Spell-like Abilities: Entrancing Glow, Illusion, Phantasm (Sight), Phantasm (Sound), Dominate (Humans), Dominate (Marine Animals)
Combat Styles: Bite 80%, Tentacle 75%
Poison: Aura mucus cloud (2 metres)
While underwater, an aboleth exudes a cloud of transparent slime. All creatures adjacent to an aboleth are affected.
Application: Contact
Onset time: Immediate
Duration: On-going as long as exposure remains.
Resistance Time: The victim must succeed a Resistance roll each round or lose the ability to breathe air (but gain the ability to breathe water) for 3 hours. Renewed contact with an aboleth’s mucus cloud and failing another save extends the effect for another 3 hours.
Success indicates the victim has resisted the mucus for the remainder of the encounter.
Potency: 95
Resistance: Resilience.
Conditions: Water Breathing. If the victim fails the Resistance roll he loses the ability to breathe air but is able to breathe water for a 3 hour period. This condition is cumulative based on the number of times exposed to the mucus cloud.
Potentially, the Asphyxiation condition could come in to effect.
Antidote/Cure: There is no known method, save magic, that can counteract the effects.
Poison: Slime
A creature hit by an aboleth’s tentacle must succeed on a Resilience roll or have his skin and flesh transform into a clear, slimy membrane over the course of a few rounds. The creature’s new “flesh” is soft and tender, reducing its CON for as long as the condition persists.
Application: Contact
Onset time: Immediate
Duration: On-going as long as exposure remains.
Resistance Time: If the creature’s flesh isn’t kept moist, it dries quickly and the victim takes 1d6 points of damage every 10 minutes.
Success indicates the victim has resisted the Slime once only, a new Resilience roll is required after each successive strike
Potency: 95
Resistance: Resilience.
Conditions: CON Reduced by 4 for as long as the condition persists. Additional damage to area afflicted applies if not kept moist – Apply the Agony condition, as per the Legend Rule Book.
Antidote/Cure: There is no known method, save magic, that can counteract the effects.
Weapons
Type Size Reach Damage AP/HP
Bite M T 2D4
Tentacles L H (5m) 1d6+5 plus slime As per tentacle

Hm, the format is really hard to read.

One thing that strikes the eyes is the number of CA. When it has tentacles (and likely a part of the brain dedicated to each) I would give it more CAs. Almost no matter how tough your creature - if it has 3 CAs and the party has 12 - it will loose. Horribly.

- Dan

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http://runequill.com/files/Eberron_Legend.pdf

Thanks Dan. I'll reformat and repost, thanks for the advice on the CAs for the tentacles.

For instance I gave my Mindflayer/Ilithid 5 CA. I gave the beholder 4, but allowed it to use its eyestalks without using a CA.

- Dan

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I like the idea, however, the difference is that the Beholder's eye doesn't do physical damage, other than the resultant spell damage. The Aboleth's tentacles each do damage and have an associated poison effect.

So I will up the CAs to 5, 1 per tentacle and 1 other and see how that goes.

I hope this format is better!

Aboleth

Dice Average 1d20 Hit Locations AP/HP

STR 4D6+6 20 1-10 Body 2/12
CON 3D6+1 12 11-12 Tentacle 1 2/12
SIZ 6D6+24 45 13-14 Tentacle 2 2/12
INT 4D6+1 15 15-16 Tentacle 3 2/12
POW 4D6+3 17 17-18 Tentacle 4 2/12
DEX 3D6+1 12 19-20 Head 2/12
CHA 4D6+3 17

Combat Actions: 5

Damage Modifier: +2D6

Traits: Darksight up to 20 m, Tough Hide (2 AP, with no armour penalty), Poison (Mucus Cloud), Poison: Slime

Magic Points: 17

Movement: 16m (swim), 3m (crawl/slither)

Strike Rank: +14

Skills: Athletics 65%, Evade 65%, Influence 90%, Language (Aboleth) 100%, Language (Aklo) 95%, Language (Aquan) 95, Language (Undercommon) 95%, Lore(Arcane) 95%, Lore(The Oceans) 95%, Manipulation 100%, Perception 95%, Persistence 95%, Resilience 75%, Sorcery 100% (Aboleth), Stealth 75%, Swim 100%

Spell-like Abilities: Entrancing Glow, Illusion, Phantasm (Sight), Phantasm (Sound), Dominate (Humans), Dominate (Marine Animals)

Combat Styles: Bite 80%, Tentacle 75%

Poison: Aura mucus cloud (2 metres)
While underwater, an aboleth exudes a cloud of transparent slime. All creatures adjacent to an aboleth are affected.
Application: Contact
Onset time: Immediate
Duration: On-going as long as exposure remains.
Resistance Time: The victim must succeed a Resistance roll each round or lose the ability to breathe air (but gain the ability to breathe water) for 3 hours. Renewed contact with an aboleth’s mucus cloud and failing another save extends the effect for another 3 hours.
Success indicates the victim has resisted the mucus for the remainder of the encounter.
Potency: 95
Resistance: Resilience.
Conditions: Water Breathing. If the victim fails the Resistance roll he loses the ability to breathe air but is able to breathe water for a 3 hour period. This condition is cumulative based on the number of times exposed to the mucus cloud.
Potentially, the Asphyxiation condition could come in to effect.
Antidote/Cure: There is no known method, save magic, that can counteract the effects.

Poison: Slime
A creature hit by an aboleth’s tentacle must succeed on a Resilience roll or have his skin and flesh transform into a clear, slimy membrane over the course of a few rounds. The creature’s new “flesh” is soft and tender, reducing its CON for as long as the condition persists.
Application: Contact
Onset time: Immediate
Duration: On-going as long as exposure remains.
Resistance Time: If the creature’s flesh isn’t kept moist, it dries quickly and the victim takes 1d6 points of damage every 10 minutes.
Success indicates the victim has resisted the Slime once only, a new Resilience roll is required after each successive strike
Potency: 95
Resistance: Resilience.
Conditions: CON Reduced by 4 for as long as the condition persists. Additional damage to area afflicted applies if not kept moist – Apply the Agony condition, as per the Legend Rule Book.
Antidote/Cure: There is no known method, save magic, that can counteract the effects.

Weapons
Type Size Reach Damage AP/HP
Bite M T 2D4
Tentacles L H (5m) 1d6+5 plus slime As per tentacle

Yes, much better.

Well, it probably won't stand up much in a straight fight - but, why on earth should it fight straight anyway. The fact that it casts sorcery at 100% and has Dominate(Human) (what about other humanoids, elfs etc?) makes it rather scary. A party has 4 CA before it has cast Manipulate with manipulated targets, range and magnitude - hence any who fail an opposed test against 100% comes under its spell.

Auch. As it should be. But don't forget to foreshadow this fact Else you'll have tpk

- Dan

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http://runequill.com/files/Eberron_Legend.pdf

Dan, please could you explain the way you handled Spell-like abilities in a bit more detail? I was working off your Eberron Monster guide but got confused as the monster had Spell-Like Abilities and Sorcery ... I think at 65 or 75%. Is the premise that the monster gets these spell-like effects regardless, a number of times per day, but they are still bound by the monsters sorcery and manipulation skills as well as the Power Points?

The difference is mostly for flair. If it is listed as a spell-like ability, the GM can describe the creature concentrating or shimmering before the spell goes of. If it is pure sorcery skill, he could describe it as making arcane gestures. Ruleswise they follow the same rules precisely - except if a creature has some specific extra-rules in it's "Spell-Like abilities" trait. For instance many Demons can teleport, but only on self and 25 kg of carried material, but with no need to be able to see the destination. But the casting of teleport works exactly as any other sorcery spell unless otherwise noted.

- Dan

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Check out my RuneQuest 6 blog!. It now has an adventure idea generator

Author of the Eberron for Legend/MRQ2 conversion:
http://runequill.com/files/Eberron_Legend.pdf

Thanks for the help Dan, much appreciated!

I have reduced the Manipulation and Sorcery Skills to 75%, by the way

Wow, this monster can seriously wreck human parties that are not protected against magic.

It can pretty easily hide in ponds with it's illusions and 75% stealth. And when it wants to, it can ambush by casting a Target + Range modified Dominate (Human), and have that party hack each others to pieces. When one of the humans survive, it can just have the human drop his items and go for a swim. Then eat him.

Aboleths in D&D are probably equally dangerous (if played right they are actually one of the toughest monsters I've ever seen), so it's probably okay, but be careful of wiping the party out entirely.

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