Worlok
2010-10-06, 10:18 AM
As the 'witty' play on the druid class ability in the title may already imply, this thread will primarily serve to introduce some creatures, predominantly revamped standard issue animal- and plant-type creatures and fey varieties (Because, honestly? I love those) I have come up with. Usually, I'll throw in some flavor fluff or add in items, templates or house rules I think may work with the concept. Feel free to read, review, recommend changes or adjustments and ask any question that you may have. Of course, showing off your own creations in a similar vein is wholeheartedly appreciated and encouraged. The system I brew for will be D&D 3.5e (usually, that is), but of course that is not a rule or restriction.
Having put that down, I think I'll just get going: I've never been too fond of the SRD Ape. I see how they are modelled after the carnivorous types of ape from earlier editions and the occasional encounter in the "Conan the Barbarian"-Novels (they have a claw attack, I mean, seriously...), but personally, I always thought more could be done with great apes. I present my first ever venture into the realm of creature creation (Funny thing, that: "Creature" = "Created being"? Is that actually some adapted religious term? Who knows...): Plain ol' gorillas.
Gorilla
Size/Type: Medium Animal (Young: Small)
Hit Dice: 4d8+12 (30 hp) (Young: 1d8+3 (7 hp))
Initiative: +2
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares), climb 30 ft.
Armor Class: 15 (+2 Dex, +3 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 13
Base Attack/Grapple: +2/+8
Attack: Slam +5 melee (1d8+5, Young: 1d6)
Full Attack: 2 slams +5 melee (1d8+5, Young: 1d6) and bite +3 melee (1d8+3, Young: 1d6)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./ 5 ft.
Special Attacks: Desperate rage (Not young)
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent, natural stability, humanoid beast
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +2
Abilities: Str 20 (Young: 10), Dex 14, Con 16, Int 2, Wis 14, Cha 8
Skills: Climb +10 (Young: +5), Listen +5, Spot +5, Survival +5 (Young: +0)
Feats: Alertness, Run
Environment: Warm forests
Organization: Solitary (Not young), posse (2-5 males) or family (1 dominant male, 3-5 males, 3-10 females with young)
Challenge Rating: 2-4 (Young 1/2)
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 2-3 HD (Small), 5-6 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: -
These peaceful omnivores are social and intelligent animals. They have been known to fashion and employ crude tools. An adult male gorilla is 5-6 feet tall and weighs 300-500 pounds. Females are usually smaller, averaging 4-5 feet and 200-300 pounds, respectively. Young Gorillas are about the size and mass of a baboon.
Combat
Gorillas are not usually aggressive, although posses of young adult males do allegedly occasionally abduct female young adults of humanoid species in bordering territories (Homebrewer's note: For all your "King Kong"-type needs :smalltongue:). Adult males will try to intimidate approaching strangers, usually by means of drumming on their chests with both front paws or cacophonies of barking, grunting and howling. Dominant males will fight when their warning signal goes unheeded or the group is threatened, other males join in when the patriarch falls or snaps into a rage (see below). Females prefer to flee, taking their young with them, and only fight if the young are threatened. Young gorillas are of Small size, making use of the attached hide bonus and their climbing abilites when in doubt, never fighting unless compelled to do so by an outside influence.
Adolescent males prove an exception to the tactics detailed above: When encountered as a posse, they will all attack whenever one of their number is engaged in combat. The two gorillas standing closest to the originally attacked one will occasionally try to flank the attacker, but they do nonetheless fight as individuals. Treat younger dominant males and trained adults as having 5 HD rather than 4. Treat old trained and older dominant males as having 6 HD and knowing the Endurance feat.
Natural stability (Ex): A gorilla may move through any sort of undergrowth (such as natural thorns, briars, overgrown areas, and similar terrain) at its normal speed and without taking damage or suffering any other impairment. However, thorns, briars, and overgrown areas that have been magically manipulated to impede motion still affect it. A gorilla gains a +4 bonus on ability checks made to resist being bull-rushed or tripped when standing on the ground (+2 when climbing; not when flying, or otherwise not standing firmly on the ground or climbing).
Humanoid beast (Ex): A gorilla's slam attacks deal nonlethal damage. A young gorilla may learn how to use certain tools or perform simple tasks and can therefore gain proficiency with simple melee weapons, light and medium armor and shields (but not tower shields) and add three of the following to its list of class skills when trained by a master: Use Rope, Sleight of Hand, Escape Artist, Disguise, Ride, Swim, Jump, Balance, Tumble and any Craft and Perform skill. These skill checks are always treated as if the gorilla had a key ability score of 8. The gorilla's master must succeed on a DC 20 Handle Animal check for this purpose. The training takes three weeks for weapons which deal bludgeoning or piercing damage or armor, and four weeks for weapons which deal slashing damage or shields. Training adults raises the check DC to 25 and adds two weeks to the training period required. The proficiencies gained this way are for all intents and purposes treated as bonus feats: If the gorilla loses its Intelligence score, it may no longer make use of them. For every proficiency to be gained, another skill check is necessary. The animal may not learn more than three special skills.
An untrained young gorilla confronted with any simple melee weapon (or object capable of being used as one, as an improvised weapon) which deals bludgeoning or piercing damage can succeed on three DC 15 (DC 20 for adults) Survival checks over a period of six days or a single DC 20 (DC 25 for adults) on one day in order to figure out how it is used and gain proficiency with it. This requires the animal to not be engaged in combat or lose sight of the object for more than ten minutes during the learning period.
Desperate rage (Ex): This ability functions as the Barbarian class ability „Rage“. However, the gorilla does not trigger it at will, but it is automatically activated whenever the gorilla's hit points or the hit points of a young gorilla in an adjacent square drop below 5. A male gorilla which starts its turn in the same square or a square adjacent to one in which another gorilla has been slain last round must succeed on a DC 10 Will save or experience the effects of a rage. Females and youngs must in this case succeed on the same Will save to avoid becoming nauseated. When in a rage, the gorilla's slam attacks deal lethal damage which threaten a critical hit at an attack roll of 18 or higher.
Skills: Gorillas have a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks and can always choose to take ten on Climb checks, even if rushed or threatened. A gorilla can use the run action while climbing, provided the surface scaled is approximately even (such as the side of a large tree or a cliff) or provides special help for the climber (such as tree branches or aerial roots of sufficient stability). Young gorillas use their Dexterity modifier instead of their Strength modifier for Climb checks.
Having put that down, I think I'll just get going: I've never been too fond of the SRD Ape. I see how they are modelled after the carnivorous types of ape from earlier editions and the occasional encounter in the "Conan the Barbarian"-Novels (they have a claw attack, I mean, seriously...), but personally, I always thought more could be done with great apes. I present my first ever venture into the realm of creature creation (Funny thing, that: "Creature" = "Created being"? Is that actually some adapted religious term? Who knows...): Plain ol' gorillas.
Gorilla
Size/Type: Medium Animal (Young: Small)
Hit Dice: 4d8+12 (30 hp) (Young: 1d8+3 (7 hp))
Initiative: +2
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares), climb 30 ft.
Armor Class: 15 (+2 Dex, +3 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 13
Base Attack/Grapple: +2/+8
Attack: Slam +5 melee (1d8+5, Young: 1d6)
Full Attack: 2 slams +5 melee (1d8+5, Young: 1d6) and bite +3 melee (1d8+3, Young: 1d6)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./ 5 ft.
Special Attacks: Desperate rage (Not young)
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent, natural stability, humanoid beast
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +2
Abilities: Str 20 (Young: 10), Dex 14, Con 16, Int 2, Wis 14, Cha 8
Skills: Climb +10 (Young: +5), Listen +5, Spot +5, Survival +5 (Young: +0)
Feats: Alertness, Run
Environment: Warm forests
Organization: Solitary (Not young), posse (2-5 males) or family (1 dominant male, 3-5 males, 3-10 females with young)
Challenge Rating: 2-4 (Young 1/2)
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 2-3 HD (Small), 5-6 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: -
These peaceful omnivores are social and intelligent animals. They have been known to fashion and employ crude tools. An adult male gorilla is 5-6 feet tall and weighs 300-500 pounds. Females are usually smaller, averaging 4-5 feet and 200-300 pounds, respectively. Young Gorillas are about the size and mass of a baboon.
Combat
Gorillas are not usually aggressive, although posses of young adult males do allegedly occasionally abduct female young adults of humanoid species in bordering territories (Homebrewer's note: For all your "King Kong"-type needs :smalltongue:). Adult males will try to intimidate approaching strangers, usually by means of drumming on their chests with both front paws or cacophonies of barking, grunting and howling. Dominant males will fight when their warning signal goes unheeded or the group is threatened, other males join in when the patriarch falls or snaps into a rage (see below). Females prefer to flee, taking their young with them, and only fight if the young are threatened. Young gorillas are of Small size, making use of the attached hide bonus and their climbing abilites when in doubt, never fighting unless compelled to do so by an outside influence.
Adolescent males prove an exception to the tactics detailed above: When encountered as a posse, they will all attack whenever one of their number is engaged in combat. The two gorillas standing closest to the originally attacked one will occasionally try to flank the attacker, but they do nonetheless fight as individuals. Treat younger dominant males and trained adults as having 5 HD rather than 4. Treat old trained and older dominant males as having 6 HD and knowing the Endurance feat.
Natural stability (Ex): A gorilla may move through any sort of undergrowth (such as natural thorns, briars, overgrown areas, and similar terrain) at its normal speed and without taking damage or suffering any other impairment. However, thorns, briars, and overgrown areas that have been magically manipulated to impede motion still affect it. A gorilla gains a +4 bonus on ability checks made to resist being bull-rushed or tripped when standing on the ground (+2 when climbing; not when flying, or otherwise not standing firmly on the ground or climbing).
Humanoid beast (Ex): A gorilla's slam attacks deal nonlethal damage. A young gorilla may learn how to use certain tools or perform simple tasks and can therefore gain proficiency with simple melee weapons, light and medium armor and shields (but not tower shields) and add three of the following to its list of class skills when trained by a master: Use Rope, Sleight of Hand, Escape Artist, Disguise, Ride, Swim, Jump, Balance, Tumble and any Craft and Perform skill. These skill checks are always treated as if the gorilla had a key ability score of 8. The gorilla's master must succeed on a DC 20 Handle Animal check for this purpose. The training takes three weeks for weapons which deal bludgeoning or piercing damage or armor, and four weeks for weapons which deal slashing damage or shields. Training adults raises the check DC to 25 and adds two weeks to the training period required. The proficiencies gained this way are for all intents and purposes treated as bonus feats: If the gorilla loses its Intelligence score, it may no longer make use of them. For every proficiency to be gained, another skill check is necessary. The animal may not learn more than three special skills.
An untrained young gorilla confronted with any simple melee weapon (or object capable of being used as one, as an improvised weapon) which deals bludgeoning or piercing damage can succeed on three DC 15 (DC 20 for adults) Survival checks over a period of six days or a single DC 20 (DC 25 for adults) on one day in order to figure out how it is used and gain proficiency with it. This requires the animal to not be engaged in combat or lose sight of the object for more than ten minutes during the learning period.
Desperate rage (Ex): This ability functions as the Barbarian class ability „Rage“. However, the gorilla does not trigger it at will, but it is automatically activated whenever the gorilla's hit points or the hit points of a young gorilla in an adjacent square drop below 5. A male gorilla which starts its turn in the same square or a square adjacent to one in which another gorilla has been slain last round must succeed on a DC 10 Will save or experience the effects of a rage. Females and youngs must in this case succeed on the same Will save to avoid becoming nauseated. When in a rage, the gorilla's slam attacks deal lethal damage which threaten a critical hit at an attack roll of 18 or higher.
Skills: Gorillas have a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks and can always choose to take ten on Climb checks, even if rushed or threatened. A gorilla can use the run action while climbing, provided the surface scaled is approximately even (such as the side of a large tree or a cliff) or provides special help for the climber (such as tree branches or aerial roots of sufficient stability). Young gorillas use their Dexterity modifier instead of their Strength modifier for Climb checks.