The first combat scene in
Legacy of Fire feature loathsome little gremlins called pugwampis. With their
unluck aura, the aim in the original Pathfinder module is obviously to have an infuriating and hated creature for the players to face. In 4th Edition, making the power an aura seems a little too powerful to my mind, and so I've ruled it as a minor action (except for the minion types, who don't benefit from an
unluck ability), which gives them the ability to use their move and/or standard actions in a turn to gain further use of the power. I've also given them the ability to use the power without revealing themselves in combat to fit the flavour of them hidding and watching the ill fortune that their presence brings, which will particularly come into affect in the players' first encounter with the pugwampis in the cactus patch. The
shatter ability has been reserved for the pugwampi "king" in the monastery.
Pugwampi Whelp
Level 1 Minion
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Pugwampi Sniveller
Level 1 Lurker
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Pugwampi Jinx
Level 1 Elite Soldier
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Rad. It's cool to see these guys statted up in 4e.
ReplyDeleteI too just started a Legacy of Fire Adventure Path as an online 4E game with my old gaming group. We've only just gotten organized and finished the character creation process. I've been retooling the monsters in the book, and your site is a valuable resource. I found it interesting to compare your Pugwampi solution to my own. I too ditched the shatter ability and found the unluck ability too powerful in the 4E environment. I left the ability as an aura, but had it apply as written only to skill rolls and saving throws. To attack rolls I had it merely give a -2 luck penalty. This kept me from worrying about targets and attack rolls for the unluck, and kept the frustrating follies aspect of the chapel intact, but made King Mokknokk (who I made elite) touchable in combat.
ReplyDeleteI also made three varieties of Pugwampi to help fill out the greater numbers necessary for a 4E combat challenge (although mine were named Pugwampi Nuisance, Pugwampi Conniver, and Pugwampi Imbecile (a sort of mentally deficient Pugwampi brute the others abuse and send in to distract the PCs in melee).