Another year has come and gone, and another Monster Week has arrived (April 20-24). This year, it's everything that has to do with the fey. When I did Kraken Week, I did species options, and when I did Dragon Week, I converted monsters to add to the game. I figured this year I'd go back to converting a playable to race to the newly minted 5.5 (formally 2024) rules.
Reminder that this was originally created and hosted by Point Hat and Ginny Di, for YouTubers to come together and do videos on that year's chosen monster. It’s been encouraged for others to join in as well. I’m not a YouTuber, so I post to this Tumblr blog.
The artist is for the logo is Antonio Demico, aka Pointy Hat himself.
For this entry, we're looking at the killoren from the Races of the Wild 3.5 book that came out in February 2005, over 22 years ago.
Without just copying and pasting everything here, the Forgotten Realms wiki has ecology lore on the killoren. When I mentioned the Races of the Wild book, I linked that to the original 3.5 design so you could compare this version with that one, if you wanted to. Overall, I think I did a pretty good job in keeping it close to the original, while balancing the aspects to each other.
As before with my entries, there’s no real “official” way to judge how powerful a creature is. There are definitely a lot of 3PP supplements and homebrew out there, which I tend to have to use as a guide. For this, I used the updated Detect Balance Plus, which did both 2014 5e and 2024 5.5 breakdowns on the same spreadsheet. This worked out to be around 32 points, which is close to where the elf and gnome sit. I was thinking of doing more, as dragonborn, goliath, and warforged are even more powerful, but ultimately decided against it. You'll notice this species doesn't have darkvision, which is rare in current day D&D, but a lot of fey like the changeling, fairy, and centaur do not.
Now, let's talk stats.
I'd forgotten how bare bones 5.5e design is. You're defaulted to a narrow choice of alignment and age, available languages are determined by DM, and your ability scores are now determined by your Background.
Fey Ancestry. You have advantage on saving throws you make to avoid or end the charmed condition on yourself and magic can’t put you to sleep.
Manifest Nature's Might. After you finish a Long Rest, choose one of the options below. The manifested aspect lasts until you choose a different one with this trait.
Here are the aspect options:
Aspect of the Ancient. Your hair becomes snow white and your eyes turn sky blue. You have Expertise in the Intelligence (Nature) skill, gain resistance to Psychic damage, and are immune to the Charmed condition.
Aspect of the Destroyer. Your hair and eyes turn coal black. When you hit a target with an attack roll and deal damage to it, you can also deal 1d6 Radiant damage to that target. The damage increases by 1d6 if the target is an aberration, construct, fiend, humanoid, ooze, or undead. You can use this trait a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest.
Aspect of the Hunter. Your hair and eyes turn forest green, and your skin color becomes an earthy-tone brown. When you roll Initiative, you can add your Proficiency Bonus to the roll. In addition, you gain proficiency in the Perception and Stealth skills if you don't already have it, and you have Advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) and Wisdom (Perception) checks.
Naturalist. You have proficiency in the Animal Handling, Nature, or Survival skill.
As always, if you like what I do, whether it’s monster conversions, adventure path add-ons, or race builds, I have a Ko-Fi page (linked) for those who would like to support me monetarily. There is no pressure or obligation to do so. A like and/or a share would also be appreciated just as much. It lets people know I exist out there.
EDIT: Learned that Alluria Publishing changed the name of "oakling" to "treefolk" when it was converted to a PF2E ancestry. While I don't have the supplement itself, the sample of it showed enough of a change to update the Plant Physiology trait. There are now different heritages in PF2E's version, similar to the subraces of 5e and lineages of the 2024 rules, but it wasn't enough for me to completely revise what I wrote here. That said, it does talk about specific treefolk rations for 40 sp that are bottles containing the equivalent of artificial or "specially formulated" sunlight.
First off, apologies for being silent for this long. It's been a rough few months with lots of doctor appointments, and having to go to the hospital for extensive tests after I had a really bad and terrifying medical episode. Still have to visit a hospital in another city altogether. What I can say is that it's not cancer, and the findings weren't bad enough that I'll need surgery (yet). I will need to get scans once a year to monitor things. I'll take the wins where I can though. For now, I'm doing alright and getting through the days.
Now, for what people actually want to see.
I don't know how many of you have been following or care about the 5.24/5r/5.5e PHB that WotC released last month, or any of the other books coming out in the upcoming months and years. I'm still unsure myself on this change to the game, but I will say that I really liked the Path of the World Tree barbarian subclass. I'm a sucker for Greek and Norse mythology, and absolutely love stories that involve Yggdrasil and the Nine Realms. So the fact that a barbarian subclass that revolves around that very mythology just made me giddy during the One D&D playtest. I really want to play one some day.
A bit of a side tangent before continuing: one of the first 3PP books I ever bought for Pathfinder 1e was the Remarkable Races supplement from Alluria Publishing. It was something I came across when looking for a race that would best represent a player wanted, which was a cat race. This was before the catfolk came out, and Alluria had released the anumus, which was a person with an animal head. While going through that book, I came across the oakling, essentially a treant PC race, and it's one that's stuck out to me. There was even a 4e version of the book.
Now, why did I bring up that book? Because I had a really ridiculous idea that I'd love to try out. A sentient tree, possibly tied to the Tree of Life itself, that visits the different realms using its power to aid adventurers and save the realms from evil. Essentially, a Path of the World Tree tree. It's bordering on a Dad Joke, but still. That thought process led me down a rabbit hole and eventually I converted the oakling for my own benefit. I even took the Race feats, merged, and converted them too. I ended up with four feats just for the oakling. I didn't add them here, but if there's interest, I could post them later.
Note: the conversion I'm doing today, will be for 5e (even though I'm still calling it species and not race in the stat block), not for the new 5.24 book, but it wouldn't be hard to convert it over. I'll be keeping in line with the Monsters of the Multiverse book specifically. If you want to use this in the new edition, you'd mostly just remove the ability score bonuses (which are now tied to Backgrounds), remove the Age and Alignment, and minimize the text for Creature Type and Size, and Languages. You'd likely have to lose the Natural Armor too. Elves are allowed skills, so you should be allowed to keep that too.
Much like the Wyvaran, this will essentially be a simple 1-to-1, and taking from a couple of different feats. If you're curious to learn more about the oakling, you can check out its lore and original PF1e stats here.
Art from Alluria Publishing's 4e Remarkable Races.
As always, if you like what I do, whether it’s monster conversions, adventure path add-ons, or race builds, I have a Ko-Fi page (linked) for those who would like to support me monetarily. There is no pressure or obligation to do so. A like and/or a share would also be appreciated just as much. It lets people know I exist out there.
I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy.
Now, let’s talk stats.
Unlike Pathfinder, there’s no real “official” way to judge how powerful a creature is. There are definitely a lot of 3PP supplements and homebrew out there, which I tend to have to use as a guide. For this, I used the updated Detect Balance Plus, which did both 5e and 5.24 breakdowns on the same spreadsheet. This worked out to be around 30-31 points, which is around firbolg, giff, half-drow, and lizardfolk.
Oakling/Treefolk Species 5e
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 2 and your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Age. As humanoids related to treants, oaklings have long lifespans. An oakling reaches adulthood around 30, and the oldest of them can live for 600 years.
Alignment. Oaklings often lack malice and do not take pleasure in killing, nor do most feel that deception and corruption are logical paths. They don’t fully understand the concept of sympathy, and tend to have expressionless eyes. They are typically neutral.
Creature Type. You are a Humanoid. You are also considered a Plant for any prerequisite or effect that requires you to be a plant.
Size. Oaklings are between 6 and 8 feet tall and weigh between 300 and 450 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 ft.
Leaf Speech. Through high frequencies beyond the range of human hearing, you can communicate in a limited manner with Plants and vegetation. These are typically one-word remarks regarding each of your statuses; hungry, thirsty, injured, and so on.
Natural Armor. You have tough, bark-like skin. When you aren't wearing armor, your AC is 12 + your Dexterity modifier. You can use your natural armor to determine your AC if the armor you wear would leave you with a lower AC. A shield's benefits apply as normal while you use your natural armor.
Nature’s Heritage. Your connection to nature and plants gives you an intuitive connection to the natural world. You have proficiency in one of the following skills of your choice: Insight, Medicine, Nature, or Survival.
Plant Physiology. You have advantage on saving throws you make to avoid or end the poisoned or stunned condition on yourself. Moreover, through a combination of photosynthesis, absorbing minerals with your roots, or scavenging decaying matter, you can gain enough nourishment to sustain you for one day.
Plant-like Demeanor. You have advantage on saving throws you make to avoid or end the charmed or frightened condition on yourself. You also don't need to sleep, and magic can't put you to sleep.
Rooted Foot. When you are prone, standing up uses only 5 feet of your movement.
Sentry's Rest. When you take a long rest, you spend at least 6 hours in an inactive, motionless state, instead of sleeping. In this state, you appear inert, but you remain conscious.
Solar Healing. As an action, while in sunlight, you regain a number of hit points equal to your level. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Sylvan.
Here's hoping I can play this character, even for a one-shot some day. Also hoping that someone sees this and wants to do the same.
Monster Conversion - Frostwind Virago (3.5 to PF1e)
Found this and decided to share it. Back before the pandemic happened, my group was playing the “Reign of Winter” Paizo AP. Needless to say they took a major detour, and as such I had to come up with something, and I recalled this cold lady. Given the fey they’d already come across over the adventure, this made sense. Unfortunately, our game was called short for obvious reasons, then one of our players got a transfer, and a couple of us lost contact. Needless to say they’ll never see this creature now, which is a shame.
Art is from Monster Manual V.
If you like what I do, I have a Ko-Fi page (linked) for those who would like to support me monetarily. There is no pressure or obligation to do so. A like and/or a share would also be appreciated just as much.
I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy.
Anyone curious about these creatures can give them a read on the Forgotten Realms wiki. They’re one of my favourite creatures in Monster Manual V.
Her charm effect is a little higher a DC than I would have liked, but it’s better than the original CR 31 she had back in 3.5e, and I made sure the other abilities are more balanced comparatively. Also fixed her very unbalanced unearthly grace that seemingly gave her 1.5x her Charisma modifier. One of the bigger downsides of fey is definitely them only having d6 hit points and 1/2 Base Attack. Makes balancing monster more difficult.
FROSTWIND VIRAGO
A pale female with smooth, attractive features and glossy blue eyes, this creature is draped in a fur cloak. Despite the fact that flakes of frost dust her shoulders, face, and arms, she seems charming.
Frostwind Virago (CR 16; XP 76,800)
NE Medium fey
Init +7; Senses low-light vision; Perception +30
Aura mind freeze (30 ft.)
DEFENSE
AC 31, touch 23, flat-footed 23 (+7 Dex, +5 deflection, +1 dodge, +8 natural)
hp 228 (24d6+144)
Fort +18, Ref +26, Will +22
DR 10/cold iron; Immune cold; SR 27
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (perfect), swim 20 ft.
Melee 2 frostbite touches +20 each (2d6+12 plus 3d6+12 cold)
Special Attacks captivating call, icy vortex
STATISTICS
Str 17, Dex 24, Con 20, Int 16, Wis 17, Cha 20
Base Atk +12; CMB +19; CMD 38
Feats Agile Maneuvers, Combat Expertise, Dodge, Flyby Attack, Improved Disarm, Mobility, Persuasive, Spring Attack, Toughness, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (frostbite touch), Whirlwind Attack
Skills Acrobatics +32, Bluff +30, Diplomacy +30, Escape Artist +30, Fly +26, Intimidate +30, Knowledge (nature) +18, Perception +30, Sense Motive +30, Stealth +30, Survival +30, Swim +23; Racial Modifiers +8 Fly, +4 Intimidate, +4 Survival, +8 Swim
SQ unearthly grace
Languages Auran, Common, Elven, Sylvan
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Captivating Call (Su) When a frostwind virago speaks and wills it to be so, all creatures (other than frostwind viragos) within a 300-foot-radius spread must succeed on a DC 27 Will save or become captivated. This is a language-based, sonic mind-affecting ability. A creature that successfully saves cannot be affected again by that same frostwind virago’s call for 24 hours. The save DC is Charisma-based.
A captivated victim walks toward the frostwind virago, taking the most direct route available. If the path leads into a dangerous area, that opponent receives a second saving throw. Captivated foes can take no actions other than to avoid attack. A captivated victim within 5 feet of a frostwind virago stands there and offers no resistance to the fey’s attacks. The effect continues for as long as the frostwind virago speaks and for 1d4 rounds thereafter. A bard’s countersong ability allows a captivated victim to attempt a new Will save.
Frostbite Touch (Su) A frostwind virago’s touch disrupts matter and freezes it. Each set of damage is modified by the frostwind virago’s Dexterity and Charisma bonus. The damage dealt is piercing and cold damage.
Icy Vortex (Su) A frostwind virago can produce a whirling mass of ice shards that lasts 1 round in a 30-foot radius around herself. Creatures in the area take 6d6 points of piercing damage plus 6d6 points of cold damage unless they make a Reflex DC 27 for half. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Mind Freeze Aura (Su) At the end of each of a frostwind virago’s turns, creatures within 30 feet of her must succeed on a DC 27 Will save or be shaken for 1 round. Those who fail by 5 or more are dazed for 1 round, and those who fail by 10 or more are stunned for 1 round. The save DC is Charisma-based. A frostwind virago can suppress this ability at will as a free action. Frostwind viragos are immune to this aura.
Unearthly Grace (Su) A frostwind virago adds her Charisma modifier as a racial bonus on all her saving throws, and as a deflection bonus to her Armor Class.
ECOLOGY
Environment cold mountains
Organization solitary or court (frostwind virago plus 1-4 frost giants)
Treasure standard
