Rappy's Beasts and Races

[Rappy]

Like bhu, I am a creature crafter and immigrant from the Wizards of the Coast board. Like him, I decided to chronicle some of my many monster and race creations here. As another one of the "refugees", my enjoyment of crafting monsters has compelled me to once again show off the history of my work. You folks seem like a nice lot, so I might as well try again to get the ball rolling for a new crowd. If you want amusement, head toward bhu's thread: you will find mostly real world creatures, cryptids, mythological beasts, and aberrant monstrosities within these walls. I will start off with two of some of my personal favorites, and move onward as time passes.

Bestiary List
Devil Monkey (Opening post)
Dodo (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4401133&postcount=9)
Gashadokuro (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4629758&postcount=12)
Neanderthal (Opening post)
Troodon (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4437298&postcount=11)
Vampiric fruit (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4401133&postcount=9)

Devil Monkey
Large Animal
Hit Dice: 3d8+12 (25 hp)
Initiative: +2 (+2 Dex)
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares), climb 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 13 (-1 size, +2 Dex, +2 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 11
Base Attack/Grapple: +2/+9
Attack: Bite +4 melee (1d8+3) or 2 claws +4 melee (2d4+3)
Full Attack: Bite +4 melee (1d8+3) or 2 claws +4 melee (2d4+3)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Rake
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, unbridled leaper, scent
Saves: Fort +7, Ref +5, Will +2
Abilities: Str 17, Dex 14, Con 18, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 5
Skills: Jump +12, Listen +3, Spot +2
Feats: Endurance, Track
Environment: Temperate forests
Organization: Solitary or gang (2-7)
Challenge Rating: 2
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 4-6 HD (Large); 7-9 HD (Huge)
Level Adjustment: -

Leaping out from the foliage is a beast resembling a dire monkey gone horribly wrong. Its woolly mane trails in the cool night air, teeth gleaming in the moonlight.

Named for their ferocity, Devil Monkeys are the largest known species of baboon, and dwell in the temperate forests of the Northlands. Their mournful and chilling howls can strike fear into even the bravest warriors, and their teeth and claws make for dangerous melee weapons. While normally quadrupedal in motion, Devil Monkeys are also (in)famous for suddenly shifting gears into side-leaping movement like that of a Sifaka lemur, often leaping right into the paths of oncoming carts, grappling horses that are seen as prey. A disturbing tactic of Devil Monkeys is to grab onto prey with their front claws then "kangaroo kick" their back claws into the target's flesh, performing a quad-slash against the opponent. These large primates are sometimes mistaken for werewolves during surprise attacks.

Combat
A Devil Monkey will attempt to hide until it can get an enemy in a compromising position, in which it will use its prodigious leaping ability to close the gap fast and use its claws and teeth to rend
Unbridled Leaper (Ex): The DC for any Jump check across long distances is decreased by 5, and the Devil Monkey only receives a double DC penalty for jumping after 10 feet rather than 20 like most creatures.

Skills: Devil Monkeys have a +6 bonus to Jump checks.

Neanderthals

"The shaman has foreseen a great war in our futures. We must prepare ourselves for battle, for we cannot let the orcs take our land!"

Neanderthals are masters of the cold, people marvelously adapted for the cold lands of the Great North. They are the premier hunter-gatherer race, and have a long history of war, since they are always under the threat of the orcs of the Great North for control of their homeland. Most Neanderthals do not live as long as other humanoid races due to their rough lives, but they live them to the fullest anyway.

Neanderthal Racial Traits

+2 Strength, -2 Dexterity, +2 Constitution.
Medium-size.
Humanoid.
30 foot base speed.
Made for the Cold (Ex): Neanderthals gain a +4 bonus to Fortitude saves to resist the effects of cold.
Humanblood (Ex): Due to their close relations to humans, Neanderthals are considered humans for all purposes, and gain the extra feat and skill points as per a human.
Bonus Feat: Neanderthals gain the bonus feat Archaic Weapons Proficiency.
Automatic language: Neanderthalese; bonus languages: Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Giant, Terran, Undercommon.
Level Adjustment: +1.
Favored Class: Ranger.


Starting Age

Adulthood: 18.
Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer: +1d4
Bard, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger: +1d6.
Cleric, Druid, Monk, Wizard: +2d6.


Aging Effects

Middle Age: 30
Old: 45
Venerable: 55
Maximum Age: +1d10.


Height and Weight

Base Height: 5'8
Height Modifier: +2d6 inches
Base Weight: 120 lb.
Weight Modifier: +1d10 lb.


Neanderthal Characters
Neanderthals make fine warriors and scout characters, and Neanderthal shamans practicing druidic magic is not uncommon.

Adventuring Neanderthals: The most common reason for a Neanderthal to become an adventurer is to hunt for far-flung prey or to fight for his village with other individuals willing to help his cause.
Character Development: The best methods of using a Neanderthal to his fullest is in the Barbarian or Ranger classes. Applying a good score roll to Dexterity is a must for any spear-throwers and fast Rangers, because the Neanderthal's penalty to that score makes him a bit behind the standard.
Character Names: Neanderthal names tend to have their own symbolic meaning in Neanderthalese, but those traveling with humans tend to drop their Neanderthal name and gain a more human one. Examples of traditional Neanderthal names "humanized" including Blinding Snows, Mammoth Slayer, and Cloud Walker.


Roleplaying a Neanderthal
You often have to fight adversity when adventuring, since many peoples of the lands to the South believe your kind to be "subhuman primitives, no smarter than trolls".

Personality: You are determined and sometimes distant to those who do not know you, but you are jovial and kind-hearted to your comrades and village family.
Behaviors: Neanderthals are best described as "brave in the face of great adversity". A neanderthal will behave with the same courage when facing a mammoth as he would a goblin.
Language: Neanderthalese is a complex tribal language, somewhat sounding like a mix of West Valleys Common (German), dwarven, and deeper-toned "musical" words.


Neanderthal Society
Neanderthals are close-knit people, trading in between tribes and treating their home village's residents as an extended family.

Alignment : As true team players for the benefit of their tribe, neanderthals tend to be Lawful Neutral or Lawful Good.
Lands : Neanderthals live in the lands of the Great North, living in the Far North steppes in the summer, then retreating farther to the Low North cavernlands when winter grasps the steppes in ice and snow even more than they can handle.
Settlements: Neanderthals build temporary "villages" out of caves in their winter home, as well as true villages built from mammoth bones and hides in the Far North.
Beliefs: Neanderthals mostly worship nature deities, their shaman (usually a Druid or Cleric) acting as a "speaker of the spirits" for their chosen god/dess.
Relations: Neanderthals make wary friends of humans, and make fast friends with arctic elves and dwarves, having the mutual enemies of the goblinoid races and orcs of the Far North.


Neanderthal Adventures

The village's shaman has gone missing in the middle of the most important religious festival of the year, causing disarray and fears of an ill omen. The orcs of the nearby forest are the prime suspects.
A neanderthal adolescent was killed by a short-faced bear in his right of passage. The grief-stricken parents want a brave adventurer group to retrieve his bones for proper burial.
In a dangerous twist of fate, a white dragon has wiped out the orc tribe nearby, but is not satisfied, and wishes to do in the neanderthal village as well. A group of surviving orcs wish to make a truce to vanquish the beast, but can they be trusted?

[Falconer]

Good stuff, I like it. Especially the neanderthals, who i've been thinking of putting in a homebrew world...

[Silence]

Ahem....

Neanderthals are already covered in Frostburn.

[brian c]

Ahem....

Neanderthals are already covered in Frostburn.

People frequently homebrew different versions of things that have already been done officially but they don't agree with. There are a lot of homebrew martial artist classes, because the 3e Monk is terribly underpowered.


The Neanderthals are great; seem like they'd make very good Barbarians, and the +1 LA is just what it should be.

[Bandededed]

The Neanderthals are great; seem like they'd make very good Barbarians, and the +1 LA is just what it should be.

Yes, good barbarians... and, with a dex penalty, not good rangers. So perhaps the favored class is a bit off? And +1 LA, for what? An (positive) uneven stat adjustment and a +4 bonus to resist weather effects? It's different from the other +0 races, yes, but I doubt it's more powerful in the long run. I'd go +0, but then again I'm bad at optimizing anyway.

[brian c]

Yes, good barbarians... and, with a dex penalty, not good rangers. So perhaps the favored class is a bit off? And +1 LA, for what? An (positive) uneven stat adjustment and a +4 bonus to resist weather effects? It's different from the other +0 races, yes, but I doubt it's more powerful in the long run. I'd go +0, but then again I'm bad at optimizing anyway.

They also get human skill points and bonus feat. Humans are slightly strong for a +0 already, so the unbalanced stats and +4 resistance are enough to make them a weak +1; you could get away with giving them something else and still be +1. My opinion at least, it's very hard to calculate these things

[Rappy]

The reasoning behind the creation of another neanderthal race was to offset the "Ug, me Thog, me subhuman brute!" type that Frostburn crafted. I have a long history of going against the grain with Wizards if I don't like what they have done, and I doubt it will ever end, honestly. Heck, the Neanderthals and Subanterthals could even be used in the same world as two sides of the same coin, I wouldn't mind. On the criticism: This is a big thank you from me for that. This was my first ever race, made some time back in early-mid '07, and I never really got any positive or negative feedback on how to craft it better.

[Bhu]

Awright Rap! Nice to see you havent given up!

[Rappy]

Vampiric Fruit
Small Undead
Hit Dice: 1d12 (6 hp)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares)
Armor Class: 11 (+1 size), touch 11, flat-footed 11
Base Attack/Grapple: 0/-6
Attack: 1d6 seeds -1 melee (1d3-2)
Full Attack: 1d6 seeds -1 melee (1d3-2)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks: Seed spit
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60ft., undead traits
Saves: Fort +0, Ref +0, Will -1
Abilities: Str 7, Dex 10, Con 0, Int 1, Wis 5, Cha 2
Skills: Concentration +1, Hide +4, Listen -3, Spot -3, Tumble +3
Feats: Endurance
Environment: Any land
Organization: Solitary or vine swath (2-5, each with 1d2 assassin vines attached.)
Challenge Rating: 1/4
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 2 HD (Small); 3 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: -

The creature shambling at you is...a pumpkin. Yet it is no ordinary pumpkin, not of any kind you have seen. Red swaths of bruises are scored across its otherwise ripe hide, and it shambles forth, its vines writhing behind it. It makes a burbling growl as it shambles forth.

Common in the rural regions, vampiric fruit are watermelons and pumpkins that have set out ten days beyond Christmas (or holiday your cultures celebrate...Orcish Winter's Eve, elven End of Winter, whatever..), or that have been left out on the nights of the full moon. These fruits come to life, and begin to harass the living on moonlit nights. Not many people truly fear them, however, as they have no teeth to actually produce any infectious undead blight. They are not, however, to be taken lightly: some vampiric fruit have animated vines as well, usually more dangerous than the actual plant.

Combat
It's a living fruit...it can spit seeds at a surprisingly good rate of speed and distance for a plant. What did you expect it to do, dance the hula? Seriously, though, it uses spit attacks until its "prey" is either so pestered it moves or fights back. Vine swaths use their deadly hangers on as well, making them the more ferocious enemy. If they didn't, there'd be no reason to take them seriously.

Seed Spit (Ex): The vampire fruit has a seed spit attack as a ranged touch attack (range: 10 feet). If this attack has been used at least twice, the ground becomes a slimy mess within every 5-foot square that the vampire fruit has spat at. Any creature moving at a speed of 15 feet per round or faster must make a Balance check (DC 15) or slip and fall into the filth. A creature that has fallen into the seed pool must make a Fortitude save (DC 15) or become nauseated until he bathes or magically cleans himself. Creatures with a lack of or impaired sense of smell do not become nauseated, while creatures with Scent are automatically considered nauseated. Any creature wearing armor or clothes negates damage dealt by the spat seeds, but still must make these saves.

Dodo
Small Animal
Hit Dice: 1d8+3 (7 hp)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 15 ft. (3 squares)
Armor Class: 11 (+1 size), touch 11, flat-footed 11
Base Attack/Grapple: 0/-3
Attack: Bite +2 melee (1d6 +1)
Full Attack: Bite +2 melee (1d6 +1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: -
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, poison resistance
Saves: Fort +7, Ref +2, Will -1
Abilities: Str 13, Dex 11, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 9, Cha 7
Skills: Hide +4, Listen +1, Spot +1
Feats: Great Fortitude
Environment: Warm island forests
Organization: Solitary or colony (5-20)
Challenge Rating: 1/2
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 2 HD (Small); 3 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: -

An unusual bird scuttles through the foliage, making an awful racket when it comes across another member of its kind. The two birds begin a sort of beak clash as an individual duller in color watches intently.

The dodo (raucouscaw to those in Eberron) is a flightless bird only found on small islands away from predators. Despite its appearance, the dodo can be a formidable fighter with its sharp beak. Few people choose to actually hunt dodos since their flesh is more or less a lean and grotesque meal to humans, but orcs find the taste of dodo flesh delightful, reveling in the so-called flavor of the plump-reared birds. During the breeding season, the male dodos often perform "beak duels" to impress females. Dodos are renowned for the cast-iron stomachs: one unverified account states that one dodo managed to swallow an entire potion vial's worth of monstrous spider venom and suffer no ill effects.

Combat
Dodos mostly bite and harass in combat, more of a disorientation rather than a full threat of any sort.
Poison Resistance (Ex): Dodos gain a +4 bonus to Fortitude saves against poison.

Dodos as familiars: A dodo familiar grants its master a +2 bonus to Survival checks and Fortitude saves against poison.

[Debihuman]

Hi Rappy. Good to see you here too. I remember this vampiric fruit well.

Shouldn't the attack lines read:

Attack: 1d6 seeds slam -1 melee (1d3-2)
Full Attack: 1d6 seeds slam -1 melee (1d3-2)

Another way way would be

Attack: Spits seed -1 melee (1d3-2)
Full Attack: Spits 1d6 seeds -1 melee (1d3-2)

Debby

[Rappy]

Terribly sorry: it was meant to just say seeds, but I had accidentally left the leftovers from when the slam attack was there. Nice to see you here, too. Now then, I went through some of my older prehistoric animal creations. Some of the oldest are so messed up due to inexperience that I feel they are not salvagable and will need a full makeover. There are some, however, that I feel can work with few adjustments. Here is one of those.

Troodon
Medium Animal
Hit Dice: 2d8+6 (15 hp)
Initiative: +3 (+3 Dex)
Speed: 50 ft. (10 squares)
Armor Class: 15 (+3 Dex, +2 natural), touch 13, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+2
Attack: Bite +2 melee (1d4+1) or claw +2 melee (1d6+1)
Full Attack: Bite +2 melee (1d4+1) or 2 claws +2 melee (1d6+1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Pounce
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +2
Abilities: Str 12, Dex 16, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 14, Cha 8
Skills: Jump +7, Listen +9, Spot +10, Survival +7
Feats: Track
Environment: Cold or temperate forests and plains
Organization: Solitary or pack (4-7)
Challenge Rating: 1
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 3-4 HD (Medium); 5-6 HD (Large)
Level Adjustment: -

Bobbing its head up and down like some aberrant bird, the green and red feathery animal in the clearing appears to be some forest relative of the velociraptor, or at least a distant cousin.

With feathers of a deep forest green and eye-rings of vibrant red, troodon are most certainly fascinating and beautiful dinosaurs. The typical troodon stands about 3 feet at the shoulder and 6 1/2 feet in length, similar in proportion to velociraptor. Troodon have strong nocturnal and binocular vision, allowing the small theropods to dart through the night after prey. They are creatures of the plains and forests of the north, hunting both small animals and raiding nests like swift bipedal monitor lizards. Some rangers have had success in taming troodon as "watchdogs".

Combat
In combat, a troodon will attempt to manage a sneaking blow with its pounce attack, rendering the target clear for an easy shot. If that fails, it moves straight to step B: circling and snapping at a target when it is distracted or open, then retreating and letting the next member of the pack attack the new opening caused by the shift of focus.
Skill Bonuses: Troodon gain a +4 to Jump and Survival checks, and +6 to Spot and Listen checks.

[Rappy]

I'm back from vacation, and am presenting a refined version of a monster I did before I left.

Gashadokuro
Huge Undead
Hit Dice: 9d12 (58 hp)
Initiative: +1 (+1 Dex)
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 16 (-2 size, +1 Dex, +7 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+18
Attack: Bite +8 melee (2d6+6)
Full Attack: Bite +8 melee (2d6+6)
Space/Reach: 15 ft./15 ft.
Special Attacks: Improved grab
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60ft., spell-like abilities, undead traits
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +7
Abilities: Str 22, Dex 12, Con 0, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 15
Skills: Climb +9, Hide +7, Intimidate +8, Move Silently +21, Search +5
Feats: Blind Fighting, Die Hard, Endurance, Power Attack
Environment: Any underground
Organization: Solitary or cluster (2-5)
Challenge Rating: 6
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always Neutral Evil
Advancement: 10-18 HD (Huge); 19-27 HD (Gargantuan)
Level Adjustment: -

A ringing snaps through your ears, causing you to turn around just in time to see a massive lumbering skeleton. Its bleached white bones have swirling ethereal matter, blood red and filled with the lingering stench of a butcher shop.

Massive skeletons made from the souls of those that have tortuously died in groups (2d8 individuals, 2d10 for a Gargantuan Gashadokuro) from starvation, the mighty Gashadokuro dwell in the deep underworlds of the material plane. They live alone or in small groups and wait for up to months at a time, waiting to fulfill their endless hunger. These ferocious giant undead are wafting with heavy arcane magic, snapping at the tortured souls and dragging them further and further into madness and gluttonous revelry of consuming humans.

Combat
Brutish warriors, Gashadokuro fight by snapping their jaws violently around prey, or slamming down their huge fists. They prefer to use their spell-like abilities to disorient the target and then hide, sneaking up the best they can.
Spell-like Abilities (Sp): At will—Chill touch, deathwatch, inflict light wounds; 2/day—Blindness/deafness, invisibility, silence. Caster level 16. The save DCs are Charisma-based.

Peripheral Invisibility Through the despair and hungering of its components, a Gashadokuro is clouded by invisibility as cast by a 10th-level Wizard. Unlike the invisibility spell, however, anyone taking an attack action while looking in the Gashadokuro's general direction may make a Spot check (DC as per the Gashadokuro's hide check) can see the beast in plain view if the check succeeds. Upon seeing the Gashadokuro, a character is immune to its peripheral invisibility for 1 hour.

Body of Bones (Sp): When a Gashadokuro is reduced to 0 hp or lower, it explodes in a violent clash of bones and an unearthly wailing. After 5 days, 1d8 of the spirits that made up the Gashadokuro (1d10 for Gargantuan) leave their remains as animated human skeletons with a sworn allegiance to any Gashadokuro within a 1-mile radius of their spawning point. If no other Gashadokuro are in the area, the skeletons simply attack anyone and anything that enters their field of vision.