TEXT: By JD Wiker
  Converting Monsters for the d20MODERNRoleplaying Game
  MONSTERS
  THAT TIME FORGOT
  CONVERTING MONSTERS
  When I was asked to help write the Menace Manual for
  the d20 MODERN Roleplaying Game, I was overjoyed to
  see so many monsters on the list from the Dark•Matter
  Campaign Setting for the ALTERNITY Roleplaying Game.
  After all, I’d had a great time writing Xenoforms: Aliens,
  Demons, & Aberrations with Rich Redman, and I was
  really looking forward to converting some of those
  creatures to the d20 MODERN rules.
  Then reality sank in: Converting monsters from
  ALTERNITY to the d20 MODERN rules wouldn’t be the
  same as converting monsters from DUNGEONS &
  DRAGONS, with its built-in d20 System compatibility.
  Heck, it was starting to look like work. So I put
  together a system for conversion, which I’ll share with
  you now. We’ll see how it works with the conversion
  of a pretty basic Dark•Matter creature, El Chupacabras
  (from Xenoforms).
  The Original
  El Chupacabras is a small creature with 2 Hit Dice that
  can climb, attacks with claws and bite, and has psion-
  ics and a blood drain attack. It gains its sustenance by
  sucking the blood from warm-blooded animals. So
  let’s see how the conversion process works.
  Size and Type
  El Chupacabras fits nicely into the Small category for
  size. It resembles an animal in many ways, but its psionic
  powers make it a good candidate for magical beast.
  Ability Scores
  The first thing I needed to change Dark•Matter mon-
  sters into d20 MODERN creatures was a method of con-
  verting ability scores from ALTERNITY to the d20
  
  d20MODERN
  2
  System. The first part of that job was converting the ALTERNITY
  abilities themselves (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution,
  Intelligence, Will, and Personality) to the corresponding abil-
  ities in the d20 System.
  Fortunately, that’s a pretty easy conversion: Strength,
  Dexterity, Constitution, and Intelligence all have direct d20
  equivalents, and Will and Personality are just different ways
  of describing Wisdom and Charisma, respectively. So I was
  off to a good start.
  To make things even easier, page 243 of the ALTERNITY
  Gamemaster Guide provides the following handy “ALTERNITY
  to AD&D” conversion table, which takes a lot of the guess-
  work out of the second part of the process (the numerical
  conversion).
  ALTERNITY
  AD&D
  4
  3–4
  5
  5–6
  6
  7
  7
  8
  8
  9–10
  9
  11–12
  10
  13–14
  11
  15
  12
  16
  13
  17
  14
  18
  15
  19
  16
  20
  Now let’s see how this works for El Chupacabras. Using the
  table above and figuring that the AD&D column is accurate for
  d20 MODERN, the creature’s ability scores convert as follows.
  XENOFORMS
  D20 MODERN
  Strength 7
  Strength 8
  Dexterity 13
  Dexterity 17
  Constitution 11
  Constitution 15
  Intelligence 5
  Intelligence 6
  Will 9
  Wisdom 12
  Personality 9
  Charisma 12
  Attacks and Damage
  El Chupacabras has only two claws and a bite for attacks, and
  those work fine in d20 MODERN, with the claws as primary
  attacks and the bite as secondary. The damage they deal is
  another issue.
  Because damage works differently in ALTERNITY than it does
  in the d20 MODERN game, we can’t use the same damage fig-
  ures, and even just converting them can produce some weird
  numbers. So the smart route is to consult Table 8–11: Magical
  Beasts, in the d20 MODERN rulebook, to get an idea of the base
  damage El Chupacabras’s claws and bite should deal. According
  to that table, the bite of a Small magical beast deals 1d4 points
  of damage, on average, while its claws deal 1d3 points of dam-
  age. But, since those numbers are only guidelines, and El
  Chupacabras is already taking a –1 penalty on damage rolls
  because of its low Strength, we’ll go ahead and nudge those
  damage figures up to 1d6 and 1d4, respectively.
  Defense
  Considering that El Chupacabras has armor under the
  ALTERNITY rules, it only makes sense that we should give the
  d20 MODERN version either natural armor or damage reduc-
  tion (but not both—it doesn’t have that much armor). Giving
  our creature natural armor would mean that it wouldn’t get
  hit as often, but it would take more damage when it does.
  Giving it damage reduction would mean that it would get hit
  more often but take a little less damage each time. Since El
  Chupacabras as described in Xenoforms should appear to be
  strangely bulletproof but not have enough DR to shrug off
  melee attacks, the logical step is to give it a few points of
  natural armor bonus, so that it takes damage slightly less
  often. A natural armor bonus of about +3 should do the trick.
  Allegiances
  We should also decide whether El Chupacabras has any kind
  of allegiances. “Alien” might be one choice if we assume that
  the monster is some kind of alien animal. But if we’re defin-
  ing El Chupacabras simply as a strange creature, “none” is
  actually more appropriate.
  Action Points/Reputation
  Besides special qualities, which we’ll get to later, all that’s left
  now are the Action Points and Reputation entries. But a mag-
  ical beast doesn’t get either one unless it has levels in a char-
  acter class. So at this point, El Chupacabras looks like this:
  El Chupacabras: Small magical beast; HD 2d10+4; hp 15; Mas 15;
  Init +3; Spd 30 ft., climb 20 ft.; Defense 17, touch 14, flat-footed 14
  (+1 size, +3 Dex, +3 natural); BAB +2; Grap –3; Atk +2 melee (1d4–1,
  claw); Full Atk +2 melee (1d4–1, 2 claws) and –3 melee (1d6–1, bite)
  or +6 ranged; FS 5 ft. by 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.; SQ blood drain, darkvi-
  sion 60 ft., low-light vision, psionics; AL none; SV Fort +5, Ref +6,
  Will +1; AP 0; Rep +0; Str 8, Dex 17, Con 15, Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 12.
  Skills
  A magical beast gets a number of skill points equal to 2� Int
  score, plus 1 per Hit Die beyond 1. With an Int score of 6 and
  2 Hit Dice, that works out to 13 skill points.
  We already know from the ALTERNITY statistics what skills El
  Chupacabras has—but we have to remember that some of
  those are covered by d20 MODERN feats, the creature’s Base
  Attack Bonus, or even just its speeds. A few of its ALTERNITY
  skills don’t really fit with the d20 MODERN skills list, but those
  can be covered when we get to special qualities. So the only
  necessary skills we’re looking at are Climb and Jump (from
  Athletics), Hide and Move Silently (from Stealth), and maybe
  Listen or Spot (from Awareness).
  We could spread out El Chupacabras’s skill points evenly, giv-
  ing it 2 ranks in each of those six skills (plus 1 rank left over), but
  there are two good reasons not to do that. First, it’s usually a
  good idea to max out a creature’s ranks in whatever it’s best at.
  Second, all these skills can be used untrained, so the bonus from
  the appropriate ability score might actually cover the desired
  effect fairly well.
  MONSTERS THAT TIME FORGOT
  
  d20MODERN
  3
  To call the process of assigning skills “calculating” might actu-
  ally be giving it more credit than it’s worth—it’s more of a series
  of estimates than anything else. Essentially, this process involves
  subtracting the value of the broad skill from the total of the spe-
  cialty skill in the ALTERNITY statistics. The logic here is that the
  value of the broad skill is derived from the ability score that gov-
  erns it, and since the d20 System already takes that into account,
  we’re pretty safe just using the difference as our baseline “ranks.”
  Using that rule, we get the following skill rank totals:
  Climb 2, Jump 5, Hide 5, Move Silently 3, and Listen/Spot 3.
  Simply converting skill points on a one-for-one basis in
  this manner gives us more points than we have to spend—a
  total of 18 out of our available 13. So we need to get rid of 5
  skill points somewhere.
  Based on the above, El Chupacabras’s two most important
  skills are Jump and Hide, so those two should get the most skill
  points. Giving each of them the maximum of 5 skill points
  leaves us with only 3, and dividing those among the other skills
  gives them only 1 point each, with one (either Listen or Spot)
  losing out altogether. For the time being, we’ll make Listen the
  loser. Using this arrangement of skill points and adding in the
  relevant ability scores, the size modifier for Hide, and the +8
  species modifier on Climb checks for having a climb speed
  gives El Chupacabras the following skill modifiers:
  Climb: 1 rank –1 Str +8 species = +8
  Hide: 5 ranks +3 Dex +4 size = +12
  Jump: 5 ranks –1 Str = +4
  Listen: 0 ranks +1 Wis = +1
  Move Silently: 1 rank +3 Dex = +4
  Spot: 1 rank +1 Wis = +2
  As it stands, then, El Chupacabras is really good at hiding
  (which fits in well with its legend) and climbing. It’s also rea-
  sonably good at jumping and moving silently, but not so keen
  on listening or spotting. Now it’s time to get creative.
  Since the ALTERNITY system didn’t have darkvision or low-
  light version per se, perhaps we can assume that part of El
  Chupacabras’s good Perception score was due to those abili-
  ties—both of which it gets for being a magical beast. That
  lets us skip putting that 1 skill point into Spot.
  We could add that point to Climb, which has only 1 rank and
  a Strength penalty to boot, but that +8 species bonus on Climb
  checks for having a climb speed makes it quite unnecessary.
  We could also add that skill point to Move Silently, since El
  Chupacabras is known for its ability to come and go without
  detection. But what good is a high Hide modifier if you don’t
  notice intruders before you have a chance to vanish into the
  trees? So let’s put that extra skill point into Listen. 
  That arrangement still gives El Chupacabras a Listen modifier
  of only +2, which is almost not worth the effort. So to balance
  it out a bit more, let’s take that 1 skill point out of Climb (which
  still leaves El Chupacabras with a +7 Climb modifier) and put it
  into Listen. That gives us the following skill breakdown.
  Climb: 0 ranks –1 Str +8 species = +7
  Hide: 5 ranks +3 Dex +4 size = +12
  Jump: 5 ranks –1 Str = +4
  Listen: 2 ranks +1 Wis = +3
  Move Silently: 1 rank +3 Dex = +4
  Spot: 0 ranks +1 Wis = +1
  Feats
  Next, we need to decide what feats El Chupacabras has. A
  quick perusal of the information on magical beasts in the d20
  MODERN Roleplaying Game reveals that El Chupacabras, with
  only 2 HD and Intelligence 6, gets one feat. According to the
  formula for calculating feats for magical beasts (see Chapter
  8: Friends and Foes in the d20 MODERN Roleplaying Game) an
  Intelligence score of 6 gives El Chupacabras a total of 1 feat
  (1 + Int modifier [minimum 0], plus 1 feat per 4 HD beyond 1
  HD). That comes to 1 (base) + 0 (Int modifier) + 0 (extra Hit
  Dice), or one feat. Since we were concerned about his Listen
  ability before and actually removed a skill point from Spot,
  let’s go ahead and give him Alertness to boost those skills.
  Now the stat block for El Chupacabras looks like this.
  El Chupacabras: Small magical beast; HD 2d10+4; hp 15; Mas
  15; Init +3; Spd 30 ft., climb 20 ft.; Defense 17, touch 14, flat-
  footed 14 (+1 size, +3 Dex, +3 natural); BAB +2; Grap –3; Atk +2
  melee (1d4–1, claw); Full Atk +2 melee (1d4–1, 2 claws) and –3
  melee (1d6–1, bite) or +6 ranged; FS 5 ft. by 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.;
  SQ blood drain, darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, psionics;
  AL none; SV Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +1; AP 0; Rep +0; Str 8, Dex
  17, Con 15, Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 12.
  Skills: Climb +7, Hide +12, Jump +4, Listen +5, Move Silently
  +4, Spot +3.
  Feats: Alertness.
  Special Qualities
  Now we’re ready to give El Chupacabras the special qualities
  that make it so fearsome: psionics and blood drain.
  Let’s start with blood drain because, even though it’s not
  one of the special qualities described in either the d20 MODERN
  Roleplaying Game or the d20 MODERN Menace Manual, it’s in
  DUNGEONS & DRAGONS because stirges have it. The ability is
  pretty specific to stirges—in fact, its description references
  their attach special ability. So we need to reword it a bit and
  get rid of the references that don’t apply. We also need to
  assign a condition under which El Chupacabras can use this
  ability, so we’ll say that it has to begin its turn each round grap-
  pling its victim. Now, the goat-sucker isn’t really good at grap-
  pling, but maybe the next special ability can fix that.
  The ability to deal Constitution damage is fairly impressive,
  but clearly, few animals are just going to sit around while a
  horrible monster sinks its fangs into their soft flesh and starts
  gulping down hemoglobin. And El Chupacabras isn’t strong
  enough to grapple most creatures long enough to get the job
  done. So it needs another way to get its victims to hold still.
  In its Dark•Matter incarnation, El Chupacabras accomplished
  this task with psionics. In that game, telepathy—suggest is a
  potent power with which to convince the average farm animal to
  sleep through an exsanguination. But the ALTERNITY suggest skill
  works a bit differently than d20 MODERNtelepathy powers; in par-
  ticular, suggestion in d20 MODERN requires that the user commu-
  nicate the suggestion. So a different power will have to suffice. 
  A few different powers, namely brain lock, charm person,
  false sensory input, and perhaps even lesser domination,
  look like they could do the same basic job. Let’s look at each
  of them in turn. Charm person sounds pretty good on the
  surface, but even a charmed goat isn’t likely to sit still for
  being bitten and blood-drained. Brain lock might work—what
  MONSTERS THAT TIME FORGOT
  
  d20MODERN
  4
  with the “standing still and taking no actions” part—but the
  affected creature can still defend itself, which means that El
  Chupacabras would still have to maintain a grapple. False
  sensory input doesn’t actually convince the target to stand
  still, so it’s not as useful as it would appear. And lesser dom-
  ination, while it sounds promising, doesn’t work if the user
  and the target don’t share a language. (Domination might
  work, though, so we’ll put that one aside as a “maybe.”)
  Hmm. None of these really seems to fit the bill precisely,
  so let’s take a second look at the psionic powers list and see
  if something couldn’t work just as well as suggest. Daze looks
  promising, but it works for only 1 round at a time. However,
  the 3rd-level psionic power mental blast has the same basic
  mechanics (a Will save) but stuns the target for 3d4 rounds.
  Mental blast it is, then! But since it’s a 3rd-level power and El
  Chupacabras is only a 2-HD creature, we’ll put a restriction
  on it. Let’s say that El Chupacabras can use mental blast a lim-
  ited number of times per day (two or three should be plenty).
  ow let’s address El Chupacabras’s Biokinesis—control metab-
  olism and rejuvenate skills. Control metabolism allows El
  Chupacabras to survive in hostile environments or appear
  dead. That’s not a terribly important ability for our magical
  beast, so let’s just go ahead and skip it for a moment. The other
  skill, rejuvenate, allows the user to regain stun or fatigue points
  quickly. Looking over our list of d20 MODERN psionic powers,
  lesser body adjustment looks pretty tempting. In fact, since it
  can also give the user a +1 bonus on a Fortitude save against
  disease or poison, it might actually cover control metabolism
  reasonably well too. No other psionic power in the d20
  MODERN game covers both so neatly, so we’ll just go with that
  and say that El Chupacabras can use it three times a day.
  Challenge Rating
  Despite a couple of decent special abilities, El Chupacabras is
  still only a 2-HD creature with a low attack bonus. As such,
  it’s likely to drain about 25% of the resources of a group of
  four 3rd-level heroes. Thus, CR 3 is a good guess.
  FINAL STATISTICS
  Now that we have El Chupacabras’s d20 MODERN stat block
  completely filled out, it’s all down to the wording of the spe-
  cial qualities. Here’s the final version.
  El CChupacabras: Small magical beast; CR 3; HD 2d10+4; hp
  15; Mas 15; Init +3; Spd 30 ft., climb 20 ft.; Defense 17, touch 14,
  flat-footed 14 (+1 size, +3 Dex, +3 natural); BAB +2; Grap –3; Atk
  +2 melee (1d4–1, claw); Full Atk +2 melee (1d4–1, 2 claws) and
  –3 melee (1d6–1, bite) or +6 ranged; FS 5 ft. by 5 ft.; Reach 5
  ft.; SQ blood drain, darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, psion-
  ics; AL none; SV Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +1; AP 0; Rep +0; Str 8,
  Dex 17, Con 15, Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 12.
  Skills: Climb +7, Hide +12, Jump +4, Listen +5, Move Silently
  +4, Spot +3.
  Feats: Alertness.
  Blood Drain (Ex): El Chupacabras drains blood from a tar-
  get that has previously been wounded, dealing 1d4 points of
  Constitution damage in any round when it begins its turn
  grappling a victim. El Chupacabras continues to feed until its
  victim either escapes or dies.
  Psionics (Sp): 3/day—lesser body adjustment, mental blast.
  Manifester level 5th (Telepath); save DC 10 + key ability mod-
  ifier + power level.
  Additional Notes
  So there’s El Chupacabras! Despite the fact that much of the
  “conversion” process involves making guesses and fudging
  numbers, these steps work for just about any Dark•Matter
  creature. You might have to redefine the background and
  even the nature of the creature, but if that’s what it takes to
  get some use out of your old Dark•Matter sourcebooks, it’s
  really a small price to pay. 
  ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  JD Wiker worked in Wizards of the Coast’s RPG R&D depart-
  ment on the ALTERNITY line, including the Dark*Matter cam-
  paign setting, before joining the fledgling Star Wars
  Roleplaying Game design team. Some of JD’s Star Wars titles
  include the core rulebook, The Dark Side Sourcebook, The
  New Jedi Order Sourcebook, and the Power of the Jedi
  Sourcebook. JD is currently freelancing while working as
  president of The Game Mechanics, a d20 design studio.
  MONSTERS THAT TIME FORGOT
  Credits
  Design:
  JD Wiker
  Editing:
  Penny Williams
  Typesetting:
  Nancy Walker
  Design Manager:
  Christopher Perkins
  Web Production: 
  Julia Martin
  Web Development: 
  Mark A. Jindra
  Graphic Design:
  Cynthia Fliege
  This d20™System game uses mechanics developed for the new DUNGEONS
  & DRAGONS® game by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich
  Baker, and Peter Adkison. This game also uses mechanics developed for
  the Psionics Handbook by Bruce R. Cordell, the Call of Cthulhu®
  Roleplaying Game by Monte Cook and John Tynes, and the Star Wars®
  Roleplaying Game by Bill Slavicsek, Andy Collins, and JD Wiker.
  d20 MODERN, AD&D, Alternity, Dark*Matter, D&D and DUNGEONS &
  DRAGONS are registered trademarks, and d20 and the d20 System logo are
  trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro,
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  thereof are trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
  This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States
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  This product is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual people, organ-
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  This Wizards of the Coast game product contains no Open Game
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