Merwyn conversion

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NukeHavoc
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Merwyn conversion

Post by NukeHavoc »

I'm planning on converting Merwyn for Sunday's game. It's a bit of an archeological effort because I lost the one page of the character sheet that had his vast collection of potions and scrolls, but I can accept the fact that those were never converting over. :)

His signature magic items are:

Cryobane (swortsword +2): If I recall correctly, this was a +2 flaming sword, so it should be a straight forward conversion.

Nate -- if there's something I'm missing about that weapon, please let me know.

Headband of Intellect (requires attunement) Previously, this was a +4 bump to Intelligence which accounted for Merwyn's Intelligence of 23. In 5th Edition, it raises his intelligence to 19. That's fair.

Ring of Elemental Command (fire) (requires attunement) Holy shit is *this* a great magic item. :) It exists in 5th Edition. At its base, you get advantage on attacks against elementals to the linked plane, and they have disadvantage against Merwyn. You can also expend 2 charges to cast dominate monster on a fire elemental, have resistance to fire, and can speak Ignan.

If you have defeated a fire elemental while wearing the ring (and I think surviving the Temple of Elemental Evil qualifies) then you become immune to fire damage and can expand charges to cast the following spells: Burning Hands (1 charge), Fireball (2 charges), and Wall of Fire (3 charges).

Merwyn also had a variety of protective magic items (ring of protection +2, bracers of armor +4, amulet of natural armor +1, cloak of resistance +2.). Thematically, I think that all wraps up into a ring of protection +2, which is a good utility magic item).

Just because he must have *some* miscellaneous magic items I'll give him a few potions and scrolls, but nothing over the top (there are rules for crafting potions and scrolls in the new Downtime UA http://media.wizards.com/2017/dnd/downl ... wntime.pdf)

Character Build

As far as his character build goes, Merwyn was a potion and scroll making machine in his downtime, but in the field he was an evoker who was all about defeating spell resistance via the spell penetration feats (he had both). Late in his adventuring career he became a follower of Kelanen, the Prince of Swords (Hero God of Swords, Sword Skills, and Balance) after being saved by a priest of that god (saved, raised -- I'm a little fuzzy on the details). As such he picked up two levels of fighter, making him Fighter 2 / Wizard 13.

In 5th edition, that gets me a fighting style, second wind, and action surge) and up to 7th level spells. That keeps him one tantalizing level away from oversurge (which lets you do extra damage once a day, or multiple times a day if you take some damage yourself) but that's something to work towards.

I looked at eldritch knight, but while the whole weapon bond thing is very cool, I'd have to sink a lot of levels into eldritch knight to make it effective. That wouldn't be keeping with the spirit of Merwyn, who is very much a mage first, fighter second.

There are no spell penetration feats in 5th Edition (for obvious reasons) but there is Elemental Adapt. That lets you choose an elemental damage type, and then ignore resistance to damage of that type. It also lets you treat any 1 on a damage die as a 2. You can take it multiple times, so I could continue with the Fire theme and then pick up another element as well (maybe cold?). War Caster also seems like a logical feat.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Forgive me. I'll try and be a tad more quiet as I desperately struggle to break free -- and save all creation!" -- Doctor Strange
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EvilGenius
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Re: Merwyn conversion

Post by EvilGenius »

Wait, we can have +2 Rings of Protection? :)
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NukeHavoc
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Re: Merwyn conversion

Post by NukeHavoc »

EvilGenius wrote:Wait, we can have +2 Rings of Protection? :)
Nah, I said:
Thematically, I think that all wraps up into a ring of protection +2, which is a good utility magic item).
What I meant by that is that all of Merwyn's protective gear could be wrapped up into a single ring of protection +2 (or maybe +3, given his dearth of other magical items, but given 5e power levels, +2 is probably more reasonable).
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Forgive me. I'll try and be a tad more quiet as I desperately struggle to break free -- and save all creation!" -- Doctor Strange
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EvilGenius
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Re: Merwyn conversion

Post by EvilGenius »

NukeHavoc wrote:
EvilGenius wrote:Wait, we can have +2 Rings of Protection? :)
Nah, I said:
Thematically, I think that all wraps up into a ring of protection +2, which is a good utility magic item).
What I meant by that is that all of Merwyn's protective gear could be wrapped up into a single ring of protection +2 (or maybe +3, given his dearth of other magical items, but given 5e power levels, +2 is probably more reasonable).
Right, but in 5e there is only the Ring of Protection, which gives +1 to AC & saves. I don't have a problem with homebrewing more powerful versions of existing magical items though ('cause, DUH). :D
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EvilGenius
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Re: Merwyn conversion

Post by EvilGenius »

Although there is only one Ring of Protection, which grants the +1 to AC and Saves, it should be noted that the Staff of Power grants a +2 to AC and Saves (and spell attack rolls). So there is at least 1 item already which is a more powerful Ring of Protection.
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Hardcorhobbs
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Re: Merwyn conversion

Post by Hardcorhobbs »

Sword would require attunement at that level (only straight +1 weapons do not)... so if he's keeping that, the headband and the Ring of Elemental Command the other one is something we can hash out later.
setanta14
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Re: Merwyn conversion

Post by setanta14 »

Just keep the multiple items requiring attunement around so they can be swapped out depending on the adventure.

For the fighter arch-type, Champion would probably be best suited for a follower of Kelanen trained by their priesthood.
setanta14
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Re: Merwyn conversion

Post by setanta14 »

PS- I don't recall Cryobane having powers beyond Flaming
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NukeHavoc
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Re: Merwyn conversion

Post by NukeHavoc »

EvilGenius wrote:Right, but in 5e there is only the Ring of Protection, which gives +1 to AC & saves. I don't have a problem with homebrewing more powerful versions of existing magical items though ('cause, DUH). :D
Oh, ok. I hadn't realized that. I just thought they went up to +3, but hadn't checked.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Forgive me. I'll try and be a tad more quiet as I desperately struggle to break free -- and save all creation!" -- Doctor Strange
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NukeHavoc
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Re: Merwyn conversion

Post by NukeHavoc »

Here's my conversion of Cryobane:

Flame Tongue shortsword
* Flame Tongue - any sword, rare, and requires attunement
* Creator: Elemental Fire - This item is warm to the touch and any metal parts are crafted from black iron. Sigils of flame cover its surface. Shades of red and orange are the prominent colors.
* Minor property: Temperate - The bearer suffers no harm in temperatures as cold as -20 degrees F or as warm as 120 degrees F.
* Quirk: Metamorphic - Like the flames themselves, the sigils on the blades surface are ever shifting.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Forgive me. I'll try and be a tad more quiet as I desperately struggle to break free -- and save all creation!" -- Doctor Strange
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NukeHavoc
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Re: Merwyn conversion

Post by NukeHavoc »

In forged anvil (the new 2.22 version), how do you add the AC bonus for a ring of protection? I can't figure out where to do that. I could account for it as a magical bump to "mage armor" but I'd like to break it out as its own bonus.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Forgive me. I'll try and be a tad more quiet as I desperately struggle to break free -- and save all creation!" -- Doctor Strange
setanta14
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Re: Merwyn conversion

Post by setanta14 »

I'll have to check that version, but in the one i'm using there is a section for other armor under where regular armor is, and you adjust Saves at the end of where the stats are.
NukeHavoc wrote:In forged anvil (the new 2.22 version), how do you add the AC bonus for a ring of protection? I can't figure out where to do that. I could account for it as a magical bump to "mage armor" but I'd like to break it out as its own bonus.
setanta14
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Re: Merwyn conversion

Post by setanta14 »

Ah, now I remember where this was from, it was the name we gave at the table to the Sword of Fire, taken from the Fire Champion at the Fire Temple within the Crater Ridge Mines that the cult of the Elder Elemental God (Tharizdun) had made into the Temple of All Consumption.

In 3E, it was a +2 Shortsword that also acted as a Minor Ring of Elemental Resistance (Fire), and once per day it could shoot a blast of fire 40' similar to Scorching Ray.

Conversion as a Flametongue is probably better, since it's RAW.
NukeHavoc wrote:Here's my conversion of Cryobane:

Flame Tongue shortsword
* Flame Tongue - any sword, rare, and requires attunement
* Creator: Elemental Fire - This item is warm to the touch and any metal parts are crafted from black iron. Sigils of flame cover its surface. Shades of red and orange are the prominent colors.
* Minor property: Temperate - The bearer suffers no harm in temperatures as cold as -20 degrees F or as warm as 120 degrees F.
* Quirk: Metamorphic - Like the flames themselves, the sigils on the blades surface are ever shifting.
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NukeHavoc
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Re: Merwyn conversion

Post by NukeHavoc »

setanta14 wrote:Conversion as a Flametongue is probably better, since it's RAW.
Yeah, and the Ring of Fire Elemental Command offers many of the same capabilities, only better. :)
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Forgive me. I'll try and be a tad more quiet as I desperately struggle to break free -- and save all creation!" -- Doctor Strange
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NukeHavoc
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Re: Merwyn conversion

Post by NukeHavoc »

One of the big things about Merwyn is that he had a pile of scrolls and potions he rarely used but kept acquiring (partly because no one else was a mage, partly because he was the utility wizard). To that end, I've given him the following scrolls and potions. Happy to scale back if this is too excessive.

Scrolls

- Scroll of Comprehend Languages
- Scroll of Detect Magic
- Scroll of Identify
- Scroll of Tenser's Floating Disk

Potions

- Potion of Animal Friendship
- Potion of Climbing
- Potion of Healing (x2)
- Potion of Mind Reading
- Potion of Water Breathing
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Forgive me. I'll try and be a tad more quiet as I desperately struggle to break free -- and save all creation!" -- Doctor Strange
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