Thursday, December 14, 2017

Winter Holiday: A partial Pathfinder conversion

"Winter Holiday" was a Christmas-themed AD&D adventure by Steven A. Hardinger that appeared in Polyhedron Newszine #56 (November 1990). The adventure involves a plot against the Giftmaster, and encounters are based on a parody of "The Twelve Nights of Christmas":

...Six geese melee-ing,
Five golden rings,
Four colliebirddogs,
Three French Horns, 
Two turtledoves...

I ran it for some friends back in early 2000, and we had great fun with it. I've occasionally considered running it again, but would need to convert it to another system because I no long play AD&D 2nd Edition. Around this time last year, I got as far as converting the adventure's encounters to Pathfinder and having some friends start creating characters for it, but scheduling is always difficult around the holidays and we failed to find the time for it. 

This year, I've decided to share some of the weird creatures that appear early on in the adventure, which won't spoil the surprises too much if I do run it again someday. These were also the easiest monsters to convert to Pathfinder, as I needed to do little beyond applying templates (from the Pathfinder Bestiaries or Green Ronin's Advanced Bestiary) to existing animals.

Turtledove (CR 6)

XP 2,400
Avian archelon (Bestiary 3 192; Advanced Bestiary 39)
N Huge animal
Init +7; Senses low-light vision; Perception +20
Defense
AC 19, touch 11, flat-footed 16 (+3 Dex, +8 natural, -2 size)
hp 52 (7d8+21)
Fort +8, Ref +8, Will +5
Offense
Speed 15 ft., fly 50 ft. (average), swim 50 ft.
Melee bite +10 (2d8+9)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks capsize (DC 25)
Statistics
Str 22, Dex 17, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Base Atk +5; CMB +13; CMD 26 (30 vs. trip)
Feats Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lunge, Weapon Focus (bite)
Skills Fly -1, Perception +20, Swim +18; Racial Modifiers +10 Perception
SQ avian
Ecology
Environment warm or temperate water or coastlines
Organization solitary or bale (2-6)
Treasure none

Special Abilities
Avian (Ex)
A turtledove has a lightweight body structure, weighing 20% less than a non-flying archelon. They can weigh up to 4,000 lbs.

A turtledove is a huge turtle with four white-feathered wings in place of flippers. They are aggressive, but easy to outmaneuver as they are slower than most flying creatures. Dead turtledoves continue to float, so their bodies are valuable sources of components for spells and magic items granting flight.

Flying Reindeer (CR 5)

XP 1,600
Fey awakened elk (Bestiary 3 116, 147)
N Large fey
Init +4; Senses low-light vision; Perception +12
Defense
AC 15, touch 13, flat-footed 11 (+4 Dex, +2 natural, -1 size)
hp 47 (5d8+25)
Fort +9, Ref +8, Will +2
Defensive Abilities +4 to saves vs. mind-affecting effects; DR 5/cold iron; Resist cold 20, electricity 10
Offense
Speed 50 ft., fly 75 ft. (perfect); trackless step
Melee gore +8 (1d8+6), 2 hooves +6 (1d4+3)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 5th; concentration +5)
3/day--dancing lights
1/day--entangle (DC 11), faerie fire, glitterdust (DC 12)
Statistics
Str 22, Dex 19, Con 20, Int 13, Wis 23, Cha 11
Base Atk +3; CMB +10; CMD 24 (28 vs. trip)
Feats Lightning Reflexes, Multiattack, Run[B], Skill Focus (Perception)
Skills Acrobatics +12 (+20 jumping), Fly +18, Perception +12, Knowledge (geography, history) +6, Stealth +6, Survival +6
Languages Common, Sylvan
Ecology
Environment cold or temperate plains
Organization solitary, pair, or herd (3-50)
Treasure none

The Giftmaster's reindeer are indistinguishable from normal animals of their type except for their size and noble bearing. When hitched to the Giftmaster's sleigh of delivery, their speed is effectively instantaneous.

(These reindeer were advanced by adding HD, with a size increase because their HD were more than doubled. Unlike other fey creatures, they are wingless, but still gain the ability to fly.)

Colliebirddog (CR 4)

XP 1,200
Awakened avian riding dog (Advanced Bestiary 39)
N Medium animal
Init +4; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +18
Defense
AC 14, touch 14, flat-footed 10 (+4 Dex)
hp 22 (4d8+4)
Fort +5, Ref +8, Will +2
Offense
Speed 40 ft., fly 40 ft. (average)
Melee bite +5 (1d6+3 plus trip)
Statistics
Str 15, Dex 19, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8
Base Atk +3; CMB +5; CMD 19 (23 vs. trip)
Feats Flyby Attack, Skill Focus (Perception)
Skills Acrobatics +8 (+16 when jumping), Fly +4, Perception +18, Survival +1 (+5 scent tracking); Racial Modifiers +4 Acrobatics when jumping, +10 Perception, +4 Survival when tracking by scent
Languages Auran, Common
SQ avian
Ecology
Environment any
Organization solitary, pair, or pack (3-12)
Treasure none

Special Abilities
Avian (Ex) A colliebirddog has a lightweight body structure, weighing 20% less than a non-flying dog of its size.

Colliebirddogs are large collies with feathered wings sprouting from their backs. They are employed as watchdogs, despite being more friendly and inquisitive than trustworthy or brave.

Goose Knight (CR 1)

XP 400
Manimal trumpeter swan fighter 1 (Bestiary 4 257; Advanced Bestiary 197)
N Small monstrous humanoid
Init +2; Senses low-light vision; Perception +2
Defense
AC 21, touch 12, flat-footed 20 (+9 armor, +1 Dex, +1 size)
hp 12 (1d10+2)
Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +1
Offense
Speed 10 ft., fly 100 ft. (average) (fly 70 ft. in armor)
Melee longsword +3 (1d6/19-20), bite -3 (1d4), or
bite +2 (1d4+1), 2 wings -3 (1d3)
Statistics
Str 10, Dex 15, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 13, Cha 9
Base Atk +1; CMB +0; CMD 12
Feats Precise Strike (Advanced Player's Guide 167), Weapon Focus (longsword)[B]
Skills Fly -3, Intimidate +3, Perception +2
Languages Auran, Common
SQ animal blood
Ecology
Environment temperate lakes or swamps
Organization solitary, pair, or flock (3-10)
Treasure NPC gear (full plate, longsword)

Special Abilities
Animal Blood (Ex) A manimal counts as an animal, a monstrous humanoid, and a humanoid for any effects that specifically affect creatures of those types. It is allowed a Will save to resist spells and effects that specifically target animals, even if the effect does not normally allow a Will save. Success renders the manimal immune to that particular effect for 24 hours.

Manimal Swan Characters

As a monstrous humanoid with only 1 racial HD, a manimal swan replaces that racial HD with class levels (just as a humanoid would).

Goose knights consider themselves honorable and chivalrous. They will challenge the party to send a champion to fight the group of them, then will use Precise Strike to "goose" their surrounded foe for extra damage. As long as their opponents obey the rules the geese set, they will only seek to render opponents unconscious, not dead.

Some of the geese in "Winter Holiday" use flails or spears instead of longswords. Adjust their damage (flail 1d6/x2, spear 1d6/x3), feats, and gear accordingly.


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