HeXetic
2011-04-01, 11:31 PM
Has anybody ever converted the monsters from the classic PC game "Quake" for D&D? There's some cool and creepy bad guys in Quake and I'd like to throw a set of them at my PCs for something of a one-off side-track. They're playing in the Forgotten Realms but I have been dropping ever-increasing hints of some kind of planar intersection with a "Far Realm" type plane, the perfect opportunity to bring in Quake's Cthonic horror for a little while.
If nobody's ever heard of these monsters being converted before, I think I'll create them myself. I'd like to post up some sample stats as I work on them, but as I've never created a monster before I would appreciate help getting them balanced & correct.
The "Quake" monsters I'd like to use are as follows:
- Zombie
http://quake.wikia.com/wiki/Zombie_%28Q1%29
Slow and ponderous. Attacks at range by ripping bits of flesh out of its own body and chucking them at the player. Can't be killed except with high explosives -- simply gets knocked down, sleeps for a bit, then gets back up (similar to the D&D Troll).
- Fiend
http://quake.wikia.com/wiki/Fiend
Fast, hard-hitting melee fighter. Four-legged-ish but walks on rear legs, front legs end in claws. Has a mean jump-attack with horns and claws, up close slashes. Moves quickly. No apparent eyes, mouth is just a facefull of teeth. Decent HP.
- Scrag
http://quake.wikia.com/wiki/Scrag
Floating torso with no arms, a tail, and not much of a neck. No mouth, just a pair of creepy eyes. Attacks at range with green goo. Moves slowly. Lowish HP. Usually teleports in at opportune places (e.g., behind or above the player).
- Spawn
http://quake.wikia.com/wiki/Spawn
Blob of purple goo that crawls slowly along the ground when it hasn't yet seen the player. In combat, bounces towards the player like silly putty. Does damage by slamming into the player. Explodes violently upon death, damaging the player if he's too close.
- Vore
http://quake.wikia.com/wiki/Vore
Three-legged anthropomorphic spider thing. No face, just teeth. Chucks big explosive floating magic balls at the player that move relatively slowly, but will home in and even follow around corners to a limited degree. High HP.
- Shambler
http://quake.wikia.com/wiki/Shambler
Biggest & baddest non-boss enemy in Quake. Towering humanoid monster, beefy and covered in white gooey fur (flame retardant, resistant to explosive weapons in Quake). Face is just a head full of teeth. Hands end in three huge claws. Attacks at range with lightning blast that takes a small amount of time to charge up. Attacks up close with a hugely damaging high-to-low slam, or with alternating claw swipes.
So far the players have seen rooms in basements rearrange themselves with an extraplanar influence, a floor has turned into a pool of blood, a back-alley was covered with a fleshy goo that was doubly disgusting for the sorcerer because it also trashed the Weave, and at our next game I am planning on introducing some actual Quake monsters plus a few other touches to make the planar intersection explicit and the reason for the PCs being affected very straightforward -- the Big Villain On The Other Plane has seen the future, and it knows the PCs are going to try to stop its entry into the Realms!
Of course stopping the planar intersection means travelling to a long-abandoned temple, where the players will encounter the minions of the Big Villain mainly in the form of the Quake monsters.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. This is the first campaign I've ever DM'd, and once I bring in the Quake guys it will be my first time running "off the books" -- we'd been following Mysteries of the Moonsea up until this point, and we'll cap it off before taking care of the planar event.
If nobody's ever heard of these monsters being converted before, I think I'll create them myself. I'd like to post up some sample stats as I work on them, but as I've never created a monster before I would appreciate help getting them balanced & correct.
The "Quake" monsters I'd like to use are as follows:
- Zombie
http://quake.wikia.com/wiki/Zombie_%28Q1%29
Slow and ponderous. Attacks at range by ripping bits of flesh out of its own body and chucking them at the player. Can't be killed except with high explosives -- simply gets knocked down, sleeps for a bit, then gets back up (similar to the D&D Troll).
- Fiend
http://quake.wikia.com/wiki/Fiend
Fast, hard-hitting melee fighter. Four-legged-ish but walks on rear legs, front legs end in claws. Has a mean jump-attack with horns and claws, up close slashes. Moves quickly. No apparent eyes, mouth is just a facefull of teeth. Decent HP.
- Scrag
http://quake.wikia.com/wiki/Scrag
Floating torso with no arms, a tail, and not much of a neck. No mouth, just a pair of creepy eyes. Attacks at range with green goo. Moves slowly. Lowish HP. Usually teleports in at opportune places (e.g., behind or above the player).
- Spawn
http://quake.wikia.com/wiki/Spawn
Blob of purple goo that crawls slowly along the ground when it hasn't yet seen the player. In combat, bounces towards the player like silly putty. Does damage by slamming into the player. Explodes violently upon death, damaging the player if he's too close.
- Vore
http://quake.wikia.com/wiki/Vore
Three-legged anthropomorphic spider thing. No face, just teeth. Chucks big explosive floating magic balls at the player that move relatively slowly, but will home in and even follow around corners to a limited degree. High HP.
- Shambler
http://quake.wikia.com/wiki/Shambler
Biggest & baddest non-boss enemy in Quake. Towering humanoid monster, beefy and covered in white gooey fur (flame retardant, resistant to explosive weapons in Quake). Face is just a head full of teeth. Hands end in three huge claws. Attacks at range with lightning blast that takes a small amount of time to charge up. Attacks up close with a hugely damaging high-to-low slam, or with alternating claw swipes.
So far the players have seen rooms in basements rearrange themselves with an extraplanar influence, a floor has turned into a pool of blood, a back-alley was covered with a fleshy goo that was doubly disgusting for the sorcerer because it also trashed the Weave, and at our next game I am planning on introducing some actual Quake monsters plus a few other touches to make the planar intersection explicit and the reason for the PCs being affected very straightforward -- the Big Villain On The Other Plane has seen the future, and it knows the PCs are going to try to stop its entry into the Realms!
Of course stopping the planar intersection means travelling to a long-abandoned temple, where the players will encounter the minions of the Big Villain mainly in the form of the Quake monsters.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. This is the first campaign I've ever DM'd, and once I bring in the Quake guys it will be my first time running "off the books" -- we'd been following Mysteries of the Moonsea up until this point, and we'll cap it off before taking care of the planar event.