Lesser Magma Paraelemental 2nd ed

Rules AD&D 2nd Edition
#1

Dark Sun introduced the idea of Athasian paraelementals, lesser, normal, and greater in “Earth, Air, Fire, and Water.” However, TSR never gave them stats, so I am attempting to do so. I’m starting with the magma paraelemental, because a normal strength magma paraelemental was published in a planescape monstrous compendium. So, here’s my take on a lesser magma paraelemental.
Please make suggestions for improvement.

Lesser Magma Paraelemental
Climate/Terrain: Magma
Frequency: Rare
Organization: Solitary
Activity Cycle: Any
Diet: Magma
Intelligence: Low (5-7)
Treasure: Nil
Alignment: Neutral
No. Appearing: 1
Armor Class: 4
Movement: 6
Hit Dice: 2, 4, or 6
Thac0: 2 Hit Dice: 19
4 Hit Dice: 17
6 Hit Dice: 15
No. of Attacks: 1
Damage/Attacks: 2 Hit Dice: 1-8
4 Hit Dice: 2-16
6 Hit Dice: 3-24
Special Attack: See Below
Special Defense:+1 or better weapon to hit
Magic Resistance: Nil
Size: S-M (2’-6’) Height = HD
Morale: 2 HD: Steady (11-12)
4 - 6 HD: Elite (13-14)
XP Value: 2 Hit Dice: 420
4 Hit Dice: 650
6 Hit Dice: 975

Magma Paraelemental
From the waist up, a magma paraelemental resembles a stocky humanoid being, but the lower portion of its body is nothing but an amorphous mass of molten stone. Most of its upper body is black rock, but a reddish heat shines from within – particularly from the eyes and mouth of the creature. Lesser magma paraelementals enjoy melting solid objects into liquid forms.
Combat
When it comes to combat, the magma paraelemental uses its super-heated touch to inflict damage to a victim and sets combustibles (like wood) aflame. Any natural weapon used against a magma paraelemental inflicts 1d4 heat damage against the attacker.
Lesser magma paraelementals can be struck only by +1 or better weapons, and they’re immune to the effects of heat and flame. They suffer normal damage from cold-based attacks. However, if they sustain a number of points of cold damage equal to their Hit Dice – in other words, if an 4-HD paraelemental suffers 4 points of cold damage – the cold affects them as would a slow spell.
All damage against magma or fire-based creatures is automatically halved. In addition, conjuring/summoning a lesser magma paraelemental during the cold Athasian nights is a risky proposition at best. If exposed to the cold of the night , the lesser magma paraelemental may not last the full length of its conjuration/summoning. After 5 rounds in the cold, the creature must make a successful saving throw versus death magic or return to the Paraelemental Plane of Magma.

3 Likes
#2

Good stuff, most of it lines up quite nicely with the lesser elementals we’ve seen so far. The only critique I can really offer is the damage. It’s damage is identical to a lesser earth elemental’s damage, however a lesser earth elemental’s special power is it inflicts a significant amount of damage against any foe in contact with the earth (note they mention this damage is halved when the foe is in the water or in the air).

I would instead recommend giving the Magma Paraelemental damage comparable to a fire elemental along with the Lesser Fire Elemental’s ability to ignite its foes. The problem this brings up is it is now basically the exact same as the Lesser Fire Elemental, so a possible way around this is to make the saving throw against being ignited easier to pass (+1 instead of -1) and give it an aura of heat that does an automatic 1d3 damage to anyone within 5 feet of it.

This is a very rough suggestion I made off the top of my head, but I hope my critique helps and good luck :^)

#3

I did add the ability to ignite foes. I’m still questioning the heat aura, it just feels too powerful for a lesser elemental.

#4

I’m inclined to agree with you on the heat aura being quite powerful. The best options I see to it is to limit the range (perhaps only a yard? melee range in AD&D is admittedly vague) as well as possibly lowering the heat aura’s damage to only 1 damage per round. That being said it is certainly not necessary, simply something different to help magma paraelementals stick out.

#5

I agree that the magma elemental needs to be different than the fire or earth. I like the idea of only 1 point of damage for the aura, as full strength magma elementals have a heat aura as well.

It would certainly encourage my players to use long spears and lances to fight them.

#6