My 1e Leucrotta conversion

[R. Scott Kimsey]

From my forthcoming adventure. My main concern is whether the XP is
enough. I considered two special abilities - the rear attack and the
mimicry. Can't decide if I should bump it more due to the powerful
bite:

LEUCROTTA

NO. ENCOUNTERED: 1-4
SIZE: Large
HP: 6 (d8)
MOVE: 40 ft.
AC: 16
ATTACKS: 2 Hooves (1-6); Bite (3-18)
SPECIAL: Mimicry; Powerful Bite
SAVES: P
INT: Average
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil
TYPE: Magical Beast
TREASURE: 6
XP: 210 + 6 per hp

The leucrotta is a strange and fearsome creatures that haunts the
remote, rocky regions of the world. This large creature may appear
from a distance to be a small, emaciated horse, but closer examination
reveals its truly bizarre features – a badgers head framing a large
maw of sharp, bony protrusions that are extensions of the jawbone
rather than actual teeth; the body of a starved cat; legs like those
of a stag ending in razor-edged, cloven hooves.
Leucrotta are evil creatures, delighting in the torment and misery of
others. They are canny as well, and may attack foes of greater number,
using their wits to cull weaker enemies from the group or to cause
their guard to be let down.

COMBAT: In combat, the leucrotta seeks to bite with its powerful jaws
(see below) and pummel its foe with its deadly hooves. The creature is
able to attack to its rear as well, kicking backwards with its hind
legs.

SPECIAL: The leucrotta can mimic the voice of a human male or female.
It will use this ability to lure unsuspecting prey, preferring to stay
hidden until the last possible moment.
The leucrotta's powerful jaws allow it to deliver more damage when
biting than a creature of comparable size.

[Chris Perkins]

In the the 2nd edition Monstrous Compendium (my 1st edition Monster Manual is packed away at the moment), the bite of a leucrotta could damage armor and shields.  When a shield-using opponent is bitten by a leucrotta, its shield must make a saving throw versus crushing blow or be destroyed.  After the shield is destroyed the armor must make a save or be destroyed too!  That's pretty nasty.

[R. Scott Kimsey]

Ah...I like that. I have a 2e monstrous compendium around here
somewhere. I'm going to dig it up and take a look. Thanks for the
information.

[Guamae]

I'd just like to comment on the wisdom of posting your Big-Bad-Super-
Monster to a group you invited all your players to BEFORE they figured
out what it was in play.

Past that, 6 HP is a colossal let down for a massive beast with a 3d6
bite ... Is there not minimum monster-levels in this? I guess that's
nice and all ... but i have trouble believing that a good damage roll
with a short bow could bring something like that down.

[R. Scott Kimsey]

Well, the party wasn't intended to try to fight it even though you all
made the attempt :)

But the HP is, of course, a typo. It is 6 hit dice. Should be "HD"

[Guamae]

Ahh, that makes A LOT more sense ... so if all of those were rolled,
it'd be near 40 hp ... at this point i like the 6 foot deep spiked pit
idea ... actually, it could probably jump out of that, make that a 20
foot deep spiked pit ...

[R. Scott Kimsey]

It was good that you guys had the second set of traps. After the
horse ran through the first one and went down, the leucrotta got back
to its feet and surveyed the rest of the trailside. It saw the decoy
rope you had already placed, and being pretty smart decided it wasn't
worth heading any further down into an area where people were clearly
prepared for it. So it took off. If those second set of traps hadn't
been there for it to see, we might have had a TPK. Although if those
second traps hit it you guys might have been able to prevail, but not
without losing some people I think.

[Guamae]

I dunno ... with me and the druid dumping our spell load on it, we
might have had a chance. Of course noone would be able to go in Melee
range, but i, at least, don't know how something would deal with
Obscuring Mist coupled with Faerie Fire [there might be a standardized
answer, that i just don't know from not playing excess amounts of D&D,
but i can't think of one].

Even at 6 HD, it'd need to make DC 19 with it's +6 or be Stunned for a
round, twice. The Monk had his trident, so could still attack even
from Total Concealment. So those 2 rounds would be 2d6+1d8+2 each
(averaging 25 damage). Even if it found the Monk, he'd probably not
get knocked down below -10 with one hit ...
It would take a lot of luck and not be possible without the prep time.
I imagine the trap hurt it to some extent, and we could have
theoretically pelted it with a few arrows/stones during that time.

[R. Scott Kimsey]

Ah...it all sounds nice on paper :)

Here's kind of how I'd see it playing out. The plan was hit it with
faerie fire, then obscuring mist (at least for that portion of the
plan). This wouldn't have worked that great, because the faerie fire
would not longer be visible once the obscuring mist was in place. So
now the leucrotta can't see the party and the party can't see the
leucrotta, and we've got a mist covering a decent part of the area.
Now I'm envisioning PCs and or the leucrotta striking out in the last
good direction they saw (or maybe the PCs fleeing or just holding
still), and party members hearing screams of pain as opponents
encounter each other while everyone is waiting 3 or 4 rounds for the
wind to blow the mist away.

By this time it's not inconceivable that one PC is dead. When things
clear, the rest of the combat proceeds. If all the rolls go horribly
for the creature, it decides after a couple rounds that its time to
get out of there, whereupon it flees (and no PC is fast enough to
catch it). If every roll goes great for the leucrotta, there's a
scene of horrible savagery, with bits of elf and gnome being tossed
about in a scene of carnage reminiscent of Black Mamba going after
O-Ren Ishi and her minions. If the rolls are fairly balanced, not too
heavy in favor of either side, the leucrotta probably kills one more
party member before it has to flee the scene.

You guys know where it is...I suppose you could always go after it.
But I'd suggest waiting a couple levels :)

Anyway - for the rest of the list we're discussing a game session from
last night. All in all, the PCs did a very nice job wrapping up one
adventure and taking care of some side business.

[Deen Mor'iarty]

so THAT is what it was, eh? Yea, it's a good thing the clock cried
2am before we scraped the nerve to enter its lair! I have to say,
having to brainstorm about those traps is a lot more interesting than
rolling a skill check. It's too bad the second group of traps didn't
get some action. I'm curious to know how that would have worked out.
4 spears (1d8) per trap might have taken quite a chunk off of that big
bad 6HD. Had the knight chosen not to get dragged away by trap
setting fish demons early in the evening you might have been passing
out a lot more xp by the end of the night!