Converting Rules Cyclopedia Monsters to 5E

[Dread Delgath]

Oh, next thing you know Hugin is drawing up a 5e version of the tree leech and the bush shark and the tree squid!

Where does it end? (With a TPK, of course.)

[Hugin]

Dread, I guess you can consider yourself lucky I'm only doing conversions at the moment and not barking up any trees looking to make something new!

Although I almost whipped up a monster called a "Teepeekay" that was silly powerful, but had second thoughts when I figured someone would post that their PCs could take it on. Feelings of DM insecurity I guess?

Besides, there's nothing preventing the giant leech from climbing a tree and dropping on those poor, unsuspecting, misguided PCs.

P.S. Thanks for making this (more) fun for me, guys

[Coronoides]

Dread, I guess you can consider yourself lucky I'm only doing conversions at the moment and not barking up any trees looking to make something new!

Although I almost whipped up a monster called a "Teepeekay" that was silly powerful, but had second thoughts when I figured someone would post that their PCs could take it on. Feelings of DM insecurity I guess?

Besides, there's nothing preventing the giant leech from climbing a tree and dropping on those poor, unsuspecting, misguided PCs.

P.S. Thanks for making this (more) fun for me, guys

Pleased. As a content creator myself there is nothing worse than shouting into the dark and getting no response. Conversely, we are a community because we are interested in each others ideas.

[Coronoides]

D

Besides, there's nothing preventing the giant leech from climbing a tree and dropping on those poor, unsuspecting, misguided PCs.

Me as DM to player of Cleric "Where is your god now!?"

[Dread Delgath]

"As a cleric of Wastri the Hopping Prophet, I implore the to look at yon tree limb and tell me that thou do not yet see another messenger of the Prophet - thee colorful tree frog! She is poisonous, lest thou think to reach out to pluck it for closer inspection - oh, too late. No, sorry. My order does not condone the healing of those who profane my Prophet's lowly messengers. Get thee thy own potion of healing, oaf."
-- Wambuli the Fat, CE cleric 6 Trickery domain...

[Hugin]

Hahaha!

[Hugin]

GIANT GECKO
Medium beast, unaligned
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Armour Class 14 (natural armour)
Hit Points 22 (4d8 + 4)
Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft.
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STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA
14 (+2)|16 (+3)|13 (+1)|2 (-4)|9 (-1)|6 (-2)
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Skills Acrobatics +5
Senses darkvision 30 ft., passive Perception 9
Languages -----
Challenge ¼ (50 XP)
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Spider Climb. The lizard can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.

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ACTIONS
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) piercing damage.

[Hugin]

GIANT DRACO
Medium beast, unaligned
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Armour Class 14 (natural armour)
Hit Points 45 (6d8 + 18)
Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft., glide 50 ft.
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STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA
16 (+3)|13 (+1)|17 (+3)|2 (-4)|9 (-1)|5 (-3)
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Skills Athletics +5, Perception +1
Senses darkvision 30 ft., passive Perception 11
Languages -----
Challenge 1 (200 XP)
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Glide. Using flaps of skin stretched out between its legs, the lizard can glide through the air if launched from a higher position. It can glide 5 feet horizontally for every 2 feet it falls vertically.

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ACTIONS
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 9 (1d12 + 3) piercing damage.

[Hugin]

GIANT HORNED CHAMELEON
Large beast, unaligned
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Armour Class 16 (natural armour)
Hit Points 59 (7d10 + 21)
Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft.
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STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA
18 (+4)|12 (+1)|16 (+3)|2 (-4)|10 (+0)|11 (+0)
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Skills Stealth +3, Perception +2
Senses darkvision 30 ft., passive Perception 12
Languages -----
Challenge 2 (450 XP)
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Chameleon Skin. The chameleon can change the color of its skin to match the color and texture of its surroundings. As a result, it has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks to hide.

Grappler. The chameleon has advantage on attack rolls against any creature grappled by it.

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ACTIONS
Multiattack. The chameleon makes two attacks: one with its horn and one with its bite.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 9 (2d4 + 4) bludgeoning damage.

Horn. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 7 (1d6 + 4) piercing damage.

Sticky Tongue. Melee Weapon Attack: + 6 to hit, reach 15 ft., one creature. A Medium or smaller creature hit by the chameloen's sticky tongue is grappled by it (escape DC 14) and must succeed on a Strength contest against the chameleon. If the target creature fails, it is pulled to the chameleon's mouth, and the chameleon can make a bite attack against the grappled creature. Until the grapple ends, the chameleon can't bite another target.

[Hugin]

GIANT TUATARA
Large beast, unaligned
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Armour Class 15 (natural armour)
Hit Points 68 (8d10 + 24)
Speed 20 ft.
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STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA
19 (+4)|11 (+0)|16 (+3)|2 (-4)|9 (-1)|10 (+0)
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Saving Throws Str +6
Skills Perception +1
Senses darkvision 90 ft., passive Perception 11
Languages -----
Challenge 2 (450 XP)
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ACTIONS
Multiattack. The tuatara makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its claw.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) bludgeoning damage.

Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 9 (2d4 + 4) slashing damage.

[Coronoides]

Did you know the Antipodean Tuatara is not a lizard and has three eyes?

[Hugin]

Did you know the Antipodean Tuatara is not a lizard and has three eyes?

Ya, I looked into it to see if there was any other abilities it should have.

The "third eye" is quite a misnomer though - it is photo-receptive but has nothing to do with vision.

It does have two rows of teeth on the upper jaw and one on the lower. Makes for nasty bites since they don't let go easily. It toyed around with incorporating this idea but it ended up being a higher CR than I wanted (to keep the relative CR between the Rules Cyclopedia and 5E).

There could be a tougher version in 'lost world' setting with a special benefit from the third eye and a nastier bit - and thus higher CR.

[Hugin]

GIANT LOCUST
Small beast, unaligned
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Armour Class 14 (natural armour)
Hit Points 9 (2d6 + 2)
Speed 30 ft., jump 50 ft.
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STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA
10 (+0)|13 (+1)|13 (+1)|1 (-5)|5 (-3)|3 (-4)
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Senses passive Perception 7
Languages -----
Challenge ⅛ (25 XP)
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Standing Leap. The locust's long jump is up to 50 feet and its high jump is up to 20 feet, with or without a running start.

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ACTIONS
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 2 (1d4) piercing damage.

Leaping Charge. Melee Weapon Attack: + 2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 2 (1d4) bludgeoning damage and the target is knocked prone. Instead of fighting, locusts usually attempt to flee by jumping away. Unfortunately, they often jump before determining the best direction to jump in. The locust must make a DC 5 Intelligence check. On a failure, the locust jumps toward a creature within its jump distance. To determine which creature is targeted by the leaping charge when there is one then one available, each creature must make a Charisma (Intimidation) check. The lowest result is targeted by the leaping charge.
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REACTIONS
Shriek. When the locust is frightened or takes at least one point of damage, it creates a loud shrieking noise to warn other locusts and scare away the threat. This shriek may also attract the attention of other creatures in the vicinity.

[Hugin]

WEREBAT
Medium humanoid (human, shapechanger), chaotic evil
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Armour Class 13
Hit Points 44 (8d8 + 8)
Speed 20 ft., (fly 50 ft. (hover) in bat form)
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STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA
11 (+0)|16 (+3)|12 (+1)|12 (+1)|11 (+0)|9 (-1)
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Skills Perception +2
Damage Immunities bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons that aren't silvered
Senses blindsight 60 ft., passive Perception 12
Languages Common, (can't speak in bat form)
Challenge 2 (450 XP)
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Echolocation. (Bat or Hybrid Form Only) The werebat can't use its blindsight while deafened.

Shapechanger. The werebat can use its action to polymorph into a bat-humanoid hybrid or into a giant bat, or back into its true form, which is humanoid. Its statistics, other than its size, are the same in each form. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying isn't transformed. It reverts to its true form if it dies.

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ACTIONS
Multiattack. (Humanoid or Hybrid Form Only). The werebat makes two attacks, only one of which can be a bite.

Dagger (Humanoid or Hybrid Form Only). Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., . one target.
Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage.

Sling (Humanoid or Hybrid Form Only). Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range range 30/120 ft., one target.
Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) bludgeoning damage.

Bite (Bat or Hybrid Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 3 (1d6) piercing damage. If the target is a humanoid, it must succeed on a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or be cursed with werebat lycanthropy.

[Coronoides]

Shouldn’t the blindsight be ‘hybrid or bat form only’

[Hugin]

Shouldn’t the blindsight be ‘hybrid or bat form only’

Yes, absolutely! Thanks for the catch. (Too bad I can't tip you some GeekGold, or at least give you a 'thumbs up'. )

[Seethyr]

I might have actually posted this before, but have you tried to use this?

http://thegeniusinc.com/dd-monster-maker-download

[Hugin]

I might have actually posted this before, but have you tried to use this?

http://thegeniusinc.com/dd-monster-maker-download

Thanks for reposting this, Seethyr! I did see this posted before but didn't have any luck getting it to run. I almost gave up again this time, but it suddenly popped up!

So I've spend the past 15 minutes or so playing around with it and love what it outputs. However, I really don't like the imputing of content (I'm sure it gets easier and quicker the more you use it). It's so much easier on my excel sheet, especially since it also spits out the statblock formatted for posting here on the forums.

But thanks again. While it would be a whole a lot of work, I might just see about getting those beautiful statblocks created and posted!

[Hugin]

WEREFOX
Medium humanoid (human, shapechanger), chaotic evil
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Armour Class 12
Hit Points 44 (8d8 + 8)
Speed 30 ft., (40 ft., swim 30 ft. in fox form)
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STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA
11 (+0)|15 (+2)|13 (+1)|14 (+2)|11 (+0)|12 (+1)
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Skills Arcana +4, Perception +2
Damage Immunities bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons that aren't silvered
Senses darkvision 60 ft. (fox form only) , passive Perception 12
Languages Common, (can't speak in fox form)
Challenge 2 (450 XP)
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Shapechanger. The werefox can use its action to polymorph into a fox-humanoid hybrid or into a fox, or back into its true form, which is humanoid. Its statistics, other than its size, are the same in each form. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying isn't transformed. It reverts to its true form if it dies.

Cunning Action. On each of its turns, the werefox can use a bonus action to take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide Action.

Spellcasting. (Humanoid or Hybrid Form Only) The werefox is a 2nd-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 12, + 4 to hit with spell attacks). The werefox has the following wizard spells prepared:

Cantrips (at will): message, minor illusion, true strike
1st level (3 slots): alarm, charm person, expeditious retreat, magic missile

Keen Smell. The werefox has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.

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ACTIONS
Multiattack. (Humanoid or Hybrid Form Only). The werefox makes two attacks, only one of which can be a bite.

Rapier (Humanoid or Hybrid Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) piercing damage.

Sling (Humanoid or Hybrid Form Only). Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 30/120 ft., 30/120 ft., one target.
Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) bludgeoning damage.

Bite (Fox or Hybrid Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage. If the target is a humanoid, it must succeed on a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or be cursed with werefox lycanthropy.

[Hugin]

Well, ya really gone and done it now, Seethyr! Look what you made me do.

[Seethyr]

Well, ya really gone and done it now, Seethyr! Look what you made me do.

Lol I had a feeling... Once you get used to it, it really does make it easier. My suggestion is to start with a target CR, all the cosmetics (name, size, etc), then move on to your hit points. I end up going around for two rounds through the whole creature double checking I got it the way I want.

[Dread Delgath]

I get a 404 Not Found message immediately when I click the link.

[Seethyr]

I'm getting the same message now too...

Hugin, what did you do?!!!!!

[Hugin]

I'm getting the same message now too...

Hugin, what did you do?!!!!!

Mine, all mine I say!

Perhaps give it another try. I just tried it again and I didn't get the 404 message.

However, the program does lock up on me from time to time, usually when trying to save the PNG file. I can't even close it when that happens and have to force it to close. I've even tried to let it sit for a while to see if it would recover but nada.

I was up way too late playing with this. I went back to the first of my conversions, to re-enter them into my much-updated excel template and to create the new stat block.

Of course, after all the experience I've gained working on all these conversions, I've found myself doing some slight tweaks and changes. But if it wasn't fun I wouldn't be doing it!

[Dread Delgath]

It works for me now, although I am currently downloading it, I don't know if it will work with ubuntu 10.14 because it says,

Prerequisites:

.net 4 and C++ 2012 redistributable.

C++ 2012: http://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/download ... x?id=30679

Please Note: Grab the x86 C++ redist not the x64, even if you’re on 64 bit. The library I use for preview uses x86!

.net 4.0 : https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/librar ... .100).aspx

...and I know next to nothing about these kinds of things.