ULTAN's DOOR CONVERSION FINISHED??

As mentioned in a previous post, I have been converting the monsters and NPCs from the first issue of Through Ultan's Door, by Ben L. The conversions are now (I think) complete.

You can check the completed conversion out here. I may yet lay them out more properly if there is any demand.

I haven't had the chance to test the conversions out, but I should get my first opportunity on Monday when the party takes their first step through Ultan's Door and into the sewers of Zyan.

One thing that doing this project has really drive home to me is just how boring I find monsters in 5E. Ultimately, a lot of the conversions actually have more abilities than their OSR-style counterparts but they feel less interesting in some way. I find that 5E stat blocks sit in an uncomfortable position between Classic D&D stats and 4E stat blocks. 

Classic D&D stat blocks are short, and intended for generally quick and lethal combat. The monsters don't need a ton of stuff to do because they aren't going to be on screen for long enough for it to matter. In addition, the simple stat block feel ripe with opportunities to improvise, because the relatively simplicity (not quite the right word, but HD and highly constrained AC/to-hit maths provide some simple guideposts) of the maths makes adjudicating novel actions relatively easy.

By contrast, 4E stat blocks are much more detailed, but they also provide everything needed to run a monster that has a defined role in an encounter, and at least one or two tricks that will make them memorable and feel different from other monsters.

In 5E stat blocks, you get a large amount of detail but there usually isn't much there in terms of memorable tricks or unique abilities. Usually there's just AC, some HP, an attack or two that does HP damage. Occasionally there is the odd interesting special ability, but not much that changes the tactical situation. 

It feels like the worst of both worlds where the monster is designed with a Classic D&D mentality in terms of how complex its abilities need to be, combined with a very detailed stat block, and the fact that combats lasts longer and the monsters takes up more screen time.

5E's task resolution systems mean that you need all that additional stat block detail to resolve improvised actions, but that extra detail doesn't come with the benefit of more interesting mechanical game play. Whereas, I would argue, 4E's more complex stat blocks do meaningfully add to the tactical combat elements of the game.

I have tried to find some opportunities to add a few unique abilities, but 5E's "natural language" approach and monster design philosophy doesn't give the design language or mechanical tools that I would like for those sorts of things. I also feel a little bit weird assigning gimmicks to Ben L's creations without more input from him because if those unique abilities are properly designed they can imply a lot about monster and its place in the world.

For what it is worth, I think that Kobold Press do a much better job with this kind of monster design in their Tome of Beasts and Creature Codex products.

Anyways, enough waffle from me, here are a couple of the conversions:

The Sweating Maiden
Medium construct, unaligned 

Armor Class 14
Hit points 35
Speed 30ft.
Senses  passive perception 10
Languages - 
Challenge 2
Saves Dex +3, other saves +0

Actions
Bladed Parasol. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. 
Hit: 15 (3d6 +5) slashing  damage.

Reactions
Parry. The Maiden adds 4 to is AC against one ranged attack that would hit it. To do so, the Maiden must see the attacker and be wielding the Bladed Parasol. The first time the Maiden takes this reaction each round, it does not use up its reaction.

The Groomsman
Medium construct, unaligned 

Armor Class 14
Hit points 35
Speed 30ft.
Senses  passive perception 10
Languages - 
Challenge 2
Saves Dex +3, other saves +0

Whirling Dance. The Groomsman may take a bonus action on each of its turns in combat. This action can be used only to take the Dash or Disengage action.

Actions
Multiattack. The Groomsman makes two Scissor Stilts attacks.

Scissor Stilts. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 10ft., one target. 
Hit: 9 (2d6 +2) piercing  damage.

Shadow Puppet Sorcerer

Medium elemental, chaotic

Armor Class 13

Hit points 1

Speed 30ft.

Damage immunities poison, psychic 

Condition immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened, grappled, poisoned, restrained, stunned, unconscious.

Senses darkvision 120ft., passive perception 13

Languages  - 

Challenge 1

Number 1

Saves Dex +5, other saves +0

Skills 

• moving silently, blending into shadow +7.

Shadow Body. If a Shadow Puppet starts its turn in  light shed by the Light or Sunlight spells (or similar magical illumination),  it must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or be destroyed.

Innate Spellcasting. The Shadow Puppet's innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 11, +3 to hit with magical attacks). It can cast the following spells, requiring no material components, only by taking the Random Spellcasting action on its turn. 

At will: darkness, magic missile, phantasmal force, stinking cloud

Actions

Random Spellcasting. The Shadow Puppet Sorcerer casts one of the following spells (roll a d4):

1. darkness
2. magic missile
3. phantasmal force
4. stinking cloud

TARTARUS INCURSION THREATS or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Make Random Tables

If there is one thing that can be said about me it is this: I never do new work when I could just recycle old work.

The Nightmares Underneath provides a number of tables for designing Nightmare Incursions (that game’s equivalent of dungeons). Many of those tables can work for The Long Bright Dark with a little bit of creativity and some judicious reskinning, but I wanted to add a few extra tables for inspiration.

Fortunately for me, I had pretty much already done the hard work when I wrote up a set of threats for creating investigations and arcs in my PbtA game Malleus (with a significant debt owed to Monster of the Week). A little bit of re-jigging, and some re-formatting, later and I had several random tables for inspiring Tartarus Incursions in The Long Bright Dark—how good!

I think that these tables should work reasonably well for any dungeon, particularly ones with some horror theming. Anyways, I have reproduced the table below.

THE CROWN

The Crown, as in The Nightmares Underneath, is the spawn of Tartarus that represents the main risk or threat in an Incursion. If you are creating a nightmare from scratch, using the nightmare creation rules in TNU, you can roll a d10 on the table below to determine the nature of the Crown:

Roll	Nature	Motivation
1	Brood	to breed, spread and overrun
2	Carnifex	to torment, murder and butcher
3	Deceiver	to sow doubt and create instability
4	Frenzy	to run rampant and destroy
5	Glutton	to eat, devour and consume
6	Imperator	to dominate, possess and control
7	Leech	to infect, exploit and drain
8	Mutilator	to hurt, torture and disfigure
9	Seducer	to sway and tempt to damnation
10	Witch	to usurp the power of Tartarus

THRALLS

Thralls are lesser nightmares that inhabit an Incursion. In many cases they are beholden or subservient to the Crown; however, some Thralls have their own motivations and may be opposed to the Crown. They may also serve a Location or Tartarus directly in certain circumstances. The following table provides inspiration for creating Thralls:

Roll	Nature	Motivation
1	Hunter	to kill with skill and cunning
2	Swarm	to infest and infect
3	Stalker	to track, observe and report
4	Thief	to steal and sabotage
5	Charlatan	to trick, confuse and betray
6	Slave	to do the Crown’s bidding
7	Guardian	to protect a person, place or thing
8	Beast	to terrorise and attack

LOCATIONS

Locations represent important physical, or meta-physical places, within the incursion. Not every single room or location the PCs might encounter need to be treated as a ‘capital-L’ Location—just the ones where the location will form a notable obstacle or serve as a backdrop for a major conflict. For certain kinds of incursion, a Location might even stand in for the Crown and have its own Thralls if its influence is strong enough. The following table can be used to provide inspiration for Locations:

Roll	Type	Purpose
1	Haven	to provide sanctuary to Tartarus and its children
2	Confluence	to be at the centre of things, to bring things together
3	Breeding Ground	to provide fertile ground for, and birth the seeds of Tartarus
4	Labyrinth	to trap and confuse
5	Temple	to draw worshippers
6	Charnel House	to bring death and destruction to those within
7	Ossuary	to harbour the dead and restless souls
8	Monument	to form a place of power
9	Ruin	to hide the ancient and the unknown
10	Mirage	to inveigle, entrance, and tempt to Tartarus

TARTARUS

Tartarus itself, separate from the Crown, may have its own wants and desires that affect the Incursion. Tartarus can be used as a thematic overlay on an incursion, a uniting principle that can operate anywhere in the incursion. There are seven aspects of Tartarus—I think you can guess why! You can pick one, roll a d7 or figure out some other way to make a random choice:

Roll	Aspect	Theme
1	Lust	intense longing and desire for a person or living thing
2	Gluttony	overindulgence and overconsumption, selfishness
3	Avarice	desire and greed for the accumulation of power and possessions
4	Apathy	indifference to duties and obligations, avoidance of exertion
5	Wrath	uncontrolled anger, rage and hatred
6	Envy	insatiable jealousy and covetousness
7	Pride	hubris, narcissism, corrupt selfishness and the perversion of dignity

NPCs

NPCs represent other people or beings that may be present in or near an incursion. In general, they are not antagonists and some of them may not even really be an obstacle in and of themselves. NPCs such as the Meddler or the Storyteller may get in the way of the PCs and require them to change tack. Allies, Investigators, Victim and Witnesses might be able to aid but are also likely to be endangered by the incursion—the threat they represent is that the PCs might not be able to save them or may end up making them collateral damage:

Roll	Archetype	Motivation
1	Ally	to provide aid and assistance to the PCs
2	Witness	to provide information
3	Investigator	to looks for answers or ancient knowledge
4	Meddler	to interfere and pursue their own ends
5	Storyteller	to pass on rumours and hearsay
6	Victim	to put themselves in the clutches of Tartarus