Owlbear's Twice-Removed Cousin [Creature Concept]

[Maroon]

So, I'm kind of new to this thing. I'm also bad with numbers, so I wonder if any feels like statting this creature out.

Molebear

"Are you sure we didn't take a wrong turn?" Carol asked, examining the damp tunnel.
"I'm... pretty sure this is the right one," Yartez answered. "It's a bit wetter than I remember, and a bit muddier, and I guess a bit unstable, but I'm reasonably sure this is the secret tunnel to the castle."
"Reasonably sure?" Carol replied, glancing at the warrior. "It looks as if we're under a body of water of sorts. And this tunnel is certainly not man-made." She stopped to listen, and went on: "Do you hear that? Some kind of rumbling, as if something is digging... and its coming this way."
The other could hear it now, and feel it as well, a deep thumping, growing closer and closer. Sand started dropping from the ceiling.
"Not good," Carol said, just before something large burst out of the wall a few yards ahead.
At first glance, it looked like a huge, black badger, mud and sand streaming from his shimmering fur. When it noticed the group of adventurers, it walked closer, and they could discern it had an ursine posture, but possessing mole-like forelimbs. It had a pink snout, and hardly noticable eyes.
It growled.
"Not good indeed," Stennis Longleaf said, "but at least we know what made these tunnels. I hope we'll be able to tell other people about it."
Yartez held up his torch, and as he did so, the creature groaned and stumbled back, away from the torch.
"Hey, it's afraid of fire," Yartez said to his companions. He started driving the mole-like beast back through the tunnel.
"It's probably sensitive to light, Yartez," Carol corrected him. "And I don't think it's very wise to do that-"
At that point, the animal roared, stood on its hind legs, and took a swing at Yartez. Its immense paw struck Yartez's arm and broke it, the torch was flinged away into a pool. It went out, sizzling, and the tunnel went black.
"I knew we took a wrong turn."

The molebear is, as the name suggests, a large mammal resembling a cross between a mole and a bear. It has shimmering black fur all over its body, except on its snout and claws, which usually have a pink tone. It is a burrowing animal, creating immense tunnels wherever it goes. It prefers temperate climes, and good, solid soil, but some live in deserts. It is omnivorous, eating nearly anything in its path, but likes giant vermin. It sometimes comes above ground to search for honey, before going back below the surface, leaving a massive mound of earth. The molebear's eyes are nearly blind and very sensitive to bright light, but it can sense even the slightest of vibrations. Its origin is still a mystery, although we can safely assume a wizard and a lack of shovels are involved.

It's just flavor right now, but maybe someone can find a use for it. I imagined it having tremorsense and light sensitivity, and possibly awesome blow as a monster feat. It's up to you, of course.

EDIT: And some visual stimulation too.
http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/3679/molebearresizeym6.png

[Kevka Palazzo]

Well, I liked the concept so I statted it for ya. Hope it's to your liking.

I looked at the owlbear entry and some various burrowing creatures. I gave its claws a bigger damage because mole claws are very large compared to their bodies, and it doesn't have a bite. It doesn't have a spot because, obviously, it's made for underground caverns, not temperate forests.

I gave it a strength boost because it would need it to dig underground like it does and a dexterity penalty mostly to cancel out the strength boost. Overall, though, I still think it deserves a higher CR. So here's your Molebear.

Molebear
Large magical beast
HD 5d10+25 (52 HP)
Speed 30 ft. (6 squares); burrow 20 ft. (4 squares); swim 15 ft. (3 squares)
Init: -1
AC 13; touch 10; flat-footed 13
(-1 size, -1 Dex, +5 natural)
BAB +5; Grp +16
Attack Claw +11 melee
(1d8+7, x2)
Full-Attack 2 claws +11 melee
(1d8+7, x2)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Qualities Tremorsense 120 ft.; light sensitivity; scent
Saves Fort +9 Ref +3 Will +2
Abilities Str 24, Dex 8, Con 21, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10
Skills Listen +10
Feats Track, Awesome Blow
Environment Underground tunnels and caverns
Organization Solitary, pair or labour (3-8)
Challenge Rating 5
Treasure None
Alignment Always neutral
Advancement by 6-8 HD (Large); 9-15 HD (Huge)
Level Adjustment --

COMBAT
Molebears, deprived of decently-sized meals underground, occasionally wait near the surface of the soil at night, waiting for large prey to come by when hungry enough, though they are usually well-mannered and passive.

[bosssmiley]

Dire Mole? This is even kewler than the Brain Mole! Dwarves need to tame these things as war/mining-beasts.
Only criticism: maybe needs a swim speed. Bears are good swimmers and, perhaps strangely, so too are moles.

I *love* this 'wizard did it' mish-mash madness. Some of the best creatures in D&D are just oddball combos of two others. Things like the Owlbear, the Peryton (stag head + eagle body + evil temperment) and the Leucrotta (deer + mastiff + buzzsaw) are just great. I think that's part of why I love China Mieville's Bas-Lag book so much (Aspises and Vinhogs and Wyrmen and...).

Maybe I'll suggest to VT that January's monster contest be a monster mash-up special.

[henebry]

I love this, but I've a few questions for Kevka Palazzo:

Strikes me as beyond odd that the Molebear gets a higher burrow speed than its ordinary move speed. Do you really mean to suggest that the creature finds it harder to move through mere air than through hardpacked earth?

Also, might you give the creature a feat to allow it to fight without penalties in constricted tunnels? (I'm no combat whiz, but I recall large creatures getting some sort of penalty...)

[Maroon]

Great job, Kevka. Although I should add that molebears are quite passive creatures. It really only gets aggressive at things in its path (although, in its own tunnel, anything is in its path. But I suspect it will just barge by if it's looking for honey, and just uproot a few trees that are in its way). Second, I don't think improved grab is really something for a molebear - its claws are basically shovels. And I think scent is limited to star-nosed molebears. Also, a group of moles is called a labour, just thought you might want to know.


Only criticism: maybe needs a swim speed. Bears are good swimmers and, perhaps strangely, so too are moles.You're right, some moles (like the Desman tribe) are semi-aquatic. Perhaps you could something like ogres and merrows. Looking up the star-nosed mole, it says they're swimmers as well. So maybe molebears are just the best of all worlds and have scent, swim speed and a burrow speed. I still think it should lose the improved grab, though.

[Kevka Palazzo]

We'll just assume that a wizard used the best kind of moles that he could find, or even made up on that suited his needs before mashing it into a bear.

I switched the burrow and land speeds (I had actually meant for them to be this way, I was thinking of burrow speeds when I wrote them down, so I got them mixed up) and added the swim. As for fighting in a constricted space...well I usually figured that they dug the tunnels in such a way as for comfortable movement.