A Formian Problem.

[Grim_Greg]

Sorry that I keep coming here and asking if someone would help me convert a random-ass monsters into a playable character. But, I promise this time will be the last time :smallsmile:! I’ve been looking around to try and see whether someone has managed to convert the Formian (Ant-Centaurs found in MMI.. http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/formian.htm) Race, and came across this… http://completesrd.wikidot.com/the-formian-project And. It looks like the guy who created it gave it a go at the bottom. But, my god does it just confuddle me.

If any of you could give me some tip/help/give me the damned stats for these guys it would be very much appreciated!


---EDIT---

P.s. mainly looking for the stats for the warrior caste, thanks!

[Yitzi]

Firstly, what he did involves some homebrew beyond just making it playable, which I don't think is what you want. So instead, let's just take the stats from d20srd and add what they need to make them playable:

The first type of formian is a formian worker. By the usual rules for monsters as races, they have the following skill modifications and abilities:

+2 Strength, +4 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, -4 Intelligence, -2 Charisma
Small size, with all that implies
40 feet land speed
+4 natural armor bonus
Natural Weapon: Bite (1d4)
Hive Mind (Formian ability)
immunity to poison, petrification, and cold
resistance to electricity 10, fire 10, and sonic 10
make whole (as the entry in the SRD)
Cure Serious Wounds (as the entry in the SRD)


So we have some pretty good ability modifiers, and good energy resistance and NA, plus a bite attack...the rest of the effects other than size aren't really relevant unless there are a group of formians.

We can estimate an LA by comparing to a dretch (+2 LA); the formian is faster and has slightly better stats, but the dretch has darkvision, damage reduction, better natural armor, better natural attacks, and some SLAs, though the dretch also has 2 racial hit dice. I'd estimate the formian worker at +3 LA, though it may be unsuitable for an adventurer for concept reasons.


Next is the formian warrior. Its stats are:

+6 Strength, +6 Dexterity, +4 Constitution, +2 Wisdom
Medium size
40 feet land speed
+5 natural armor bonus
Racial hit dice: 4d8 (plus CON bonus), giving 4 BAB, base saves of +4 Fort, +4 Reflex, +4 Will, 2 feats, and 7X(8+INT modifier) skill points. Its class skills are Climb, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Survival, Tumble.
Natural Weapons: Sting (2d4 plus poison), 2 claws (1d6), and bite (1d4). The claws and bite are secondary weapons, and so get half STR bonus and have -5 to the attack roll (the multiattack feat reduces this penalty to -2).
Poison (Ex): Injury, Fortitude DC 12+CON modifier, initial and secondary damage 1d6 Str
Hive Mind (Formian ability)
immunity to poison, petrification, and cold
resistance to electricity 10, fire 10, and sonic 10
SR 18+class levels


This is looking pretty strong; the spell resistance amount suggests an LA of +4, and that seems about right for something with these sorts of bonuses.

Next is the taskmaster. Its stats are:

+8 Strength, +6 Dexterity, +4 Constitution, +6 Wisdom, +8 Charisma
Medium size
40 feet land speed
+6 natural armor bonus
Racial hit dice: 6d8 (plus CON bonus), giving 6 BAB, base saves of +5 Fort, +5 Reflex, +5 Will, 3 feats, and 9X(8+INT modifier) skill points. Its class skills are Climb, Diplomacy, Hide, Intimidate, Listen, Move Silently, Search, Sense Motive, Spot, Survival.
Natural Weapons: Sting (2d4 plus poison) and 2 claws (1d6). The claws are secondary weapons, and so get half STR bonus and have -5 to the attack roll (the multiattack feat reduces this penalty to -2).
Poison (Ex): Injury, Fortitude DC 13+CON modifier, initial and secondary damage 1d6 Str
Dominate Monster (Su): At will, but a creature that successfully saves cannot be affected by the same taskmaster's dominate for 24 hours. DC is equal to 13+CHA modifier. Effective CL is 10, up to 4 subjects may be dominated at a time.
Hive Mind (Formian ability)
immunity to poison, petrification, and cold
resistance to electricity 10, fire 10, and sonic 10
SR 21+class levels
Telepathy 100'


This is somewhat stronger, but also has 2 more racial HD; let's give it an LA of +5, so it's the same investment as a troll.

The mymarch has enough abilities, and high enough HD, that it probably shouldn't be playable before epic levels. Queen is of course definitely not possible until epic levels.

[Grim_Greg]

Thank you again Yitzi, your input is always refreshing. Although quick questions, granted I don’t understand how the conversions work. But, would the worker not have +3 Str, +4 Dex, +3 Con, -4 Int, -1 Cha? And the warrior, +7 Str, +6 Dex, +4 Con, +2 Wis, +1 Cha. Again, I’m new to this so no doubt I’m completely wrong, just a bit curious!

[Ashtar]

If I remember the rule, it's remove 11 if odd, 10 if even from the score to get the racial modifier. It's mostly to have uneven scores in monster attributes so that you can get a boost when they level up (or advance).



Ability Scores for Monster PCs
While a monsters statistics give the ability scores for a typical creature of a certain kind, any “monster” creature that becomes an adventurer is definitely not typical. Therefore, when creating a PC from a creature, check to see if the creature’s entry has any ability scores of 10 or higher. If so, for each score, subtract 10 (if the score is even) or 11 (if the score is odd) to get the creature’s modifier for that ability based on its race or kind. Generate the character’s ability scores as normal, then add the racial ability modifiers to get their ability scores.

Note: Some monsters have base ability scores other than 10 and 11. If alternate scores were used this will be indicated in the monster entry. Also, some monsters that make good PCs have their racial ability modifiers and other traits already listed in their monster entry.

For ability scores lower than 10, the procedure is different. First, determine the character’s ability scores, and compare that number to the monster’s average ability score, using either the table below that applies to Intelligence or the table that applies to the other five ability scores.

[Grim_Greg]

Ahh I see, again thanks very much!