Re: (TFT) Carrion Crawler

[Chris Nicole <chris@loran.karoo.co.uk>]

Dan Tulloh wrote:
> 
> >CARRION CRAWLER
> >Chis. This is a write up of the conversion I did from AD&D to TFT of the
> >carrion crawler for my Up the Creek adventure.
> >ST 40           MA 12
> >DX 9            Size Multi-hex (4-hex)
> >IQ 4            HS 3
> >Attacks 8 paralysing tentacles! The Crawler is 4 hex's long,  it can
> >

> 
> Someone refresh my memory: What does HS mean again?
> 

That puzzled me too at first :o), going back to my original post; 
I think it's Hits Stopped =3, (The crawlers armour value)

> I dunno ... an ST of 40 seems high for a 3HD creature.  

40 is high, there are various reasons for this. The original AD&D stats
from the scenario are [AC 3/7; MV 12"; HD 3+1; hp 16; #AT 8;
D=paralysis]. Steve Jackson's guide to converting AD&D to TFT (on Ty's
tft site) suggested: "If a creature has 3 or 4 hit dice, multiply its
average hit points by 2.5. "
2.5 times 16hp gave 40. An average 3D+1 crawler would have 12 hp = ST
30. Steve's hit-die to ST formula does tend to give high ST attributes
for converted monsters. It's based on comparing starting AD&D characters
with starting TFT characters. I would treat a starting tft character as
third level AD&D. The hp-ST formula could be amended to reflect this.
[Rod/Yendorian has produced a conversion table that may do a much better
job.]

I treat converted ST as the amount of generalised damage that the
crawler can take rather than it's physical strength. I still think that
this is rather high, but...
The Crawler was going up against a party including a wizard, a gargoyle,
a lizardman and 2 or 3 other capable fighters. I wanted to give it some
chance, or at least have it last long enough to be entertaining!

ST for new TFT creatures should be given as a range rather than a fixed
value. In this case my Crawler was a big one at the high end of it's
range. A more reasonable value might be 20-40+, Crawlers less than ST 30
are only 3 hexes long, larger ones are 4 hex long creatures.


> There
> ought to be some provision for both cutting off the creatures
> tentacles and getting in a stunning shot to the brain (perhaps
> a hit to the head hex of the creature that does more than 8
> points of damage (assuming you weren't aiming for the tentacles).
> 
> Dan

Use the aimed shots rules from Advanced Melee p20: e.g. Treat tentacles
as weapon arms; (DX -4, 6-7 hits renders it unusable, 8+ sever!). 
I suspect that a Crawlers brain is very small or it has a decentralised
nervous system, it might not actually notice for a few rounds if you did
destroy its brain! (This is another excuse for a high ST value!)

Have fun,

Chris

-- 
Chris Nicole	
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