Homebrew DesignRoll up your sleeves and get working: there's lots of homebrewin' to be done! Post your custom creation for critiques or review those of your peers.
Seeing as how the Anthropomorphic Creature template in Savage Species is both 3.0 and sucky, I thought I'd whip this together.
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Creating an Anthropomorphic Creature
"Anthropomorphic" is a template that can be applied to any non-swarm animal, vermin, or--at DM's discretion--magical beast.
Size and Type
An anthropomorphic creature's size is dependent on the size of the base creature. If the base creature was Tiny or smaller, the new creature's size is Small. If the base creature was Small, Medium, or Large, the new creature's size is Medium. If the base creature was Huge or bigger, the new creature's size is Large.
An anthropomorphic creature's type changes to Monstrous Humanoid, and it gains the (Augmented) subtype. The new creature also retains all subtypes of the original creature. If the base creature had the Aquatic subtype, the new creature also gains the Amphibious special quality (see below).
Since it is assuming a humanoid shape, an anthropomorphic creature's limbs change. Half the creature's limbs (round up to the nearest number evenly divisible by 2) become legs, so that a six-limbed creature would have two arms and four legs. If the base creature has no limbs (such as a snake or eel), the anthropomorphic creature gains two arms. If the base creature has two limbs, the anthropomorphic creature gains two legs.
Creatures with more than four arms as a result of this qualify for Multiweapon Fighting (see below), while those with more than four legs gain the Stability special quality (see below).
HD
The base creature loses half its hit dice (rounded down), to a minimum of 0. Creatures with 0 or 1 HD advance by class. Most anthropomorphic creatures havea favored class of Fighter, though Barbarian, Rogue, and Sorceror are not unheard of. This is largely up to DM discretion though.
Speed
An anthropomorphic creature has speed according to its size and original form. If the new creature is Small, it has a base speed of 20' or 1/2 the speed of the original form, whichever is greater. If the new creature is Medium or Large, it has a base speed of 30', or the speed of the original form, whichever is greater.
If the base creature has a fly speed, the new one does as well. This fly speed can only be used under a light load or less, and has a maximum speed of 1/2 the base creature's fly speed or 20', whichever is greater. The base creature's maneuverability also degrades one class: perfect to good; good to average; average to poor; poor to clumsy. If the base creature's maneuverability was clumsy, the new creature has wings but cannot fly under their power. Instead, it can glide for a distance equal to half the base creature's fly speed with a maneuverability of clumsy.
An anthropomorphic creature also retains any other forms of movement (swim, burrow, climb, etc.), though these speeds are halved (or are set at 20', whichever is greater).
AC
An anthropomorphic creature has half the natural armor of the original form (rounded down).
Attacks
An anthropomorphic creature keeps any natural attacks or special attacks of the base creature that do not require the use of hind legs. These natural attacks scale according to the creature's size.
Special Qualities
An anthropomorphic creature retains any extraordinary special qualities (such as darkvision) of the base creature as-is. Further, an anthropomorphic creature retains the spell-like and supernatural abilities of the base creature, but changes the caster levels on such to equal to "one-half HD, rounded down (minimum 1)." Supernatural and spell-like abilites with uses per day are reduced to once per day; those with unlimited uses per day are reduced to three times per day.
Certain anthropomorphic creatures gain special qualities based on their forms.
Stability: An anthropomorphic creature with more than two legs gains a +4 bonus on ability checks made to resist being bull rushed or tripped when standing on the ground (but not when climbing, flying, riding, or otherwise not standing firmly on the ground).
Multiweapon Fighting: An anthropomorphic creature with more than two arms qualifies for the Multiweapon Fighting tree.
Amphibious: An anthropomorphic creature whose original form is aquatic gains the ability to survive equally well on land and in water.
Saves
An anthropomorphic creature retains any racial saving throw bonuses of the base creature, though they are halved (round down).
Abilities
An anthropomorphic creature's physical racial ability modifiers can be determined by subtracting ten (or eleven, if odd) from the base creature's ability scores. Treat the base creature's strength and constitution scores as two points higher for each size category the anthropomorphic creature increases, or as two points lower for each size category the anthropomorphic creature decreases.
An anthropomorphic creature's mental racial ability modifiers can be determined by the score itself. If the score is below 10, the creature has a -2 to that ability score. If the score is above ten, the creature has a +2 to that ability score.
If a creature has a nonability (such as many vermin do, demarcated by "-" or "Ø"), it is considered to have a modifier of +0 for that statistic.
Skills
An anthropomorphic creature retains any racial skill bonuses of the base creature, though they are halved (round down to the nearest number evenly divisible by two).
Feats
An anthropomorphic creature loses all feats of the original form, gaining feats as per the normal method of gaining Hit Dice.
Challenge Rating
Equal to Level Adjustment (see below).
Alignment
Usually TN.
Advancement
By character class. Anthropomorphic creatures do not advance by racial hit dice.
Level Adjustment
+0, modified by the following:
+1 for each extra pair of arms. +1 for Large size. +1 for total ability modifiers greater than +0. +1 for natural armor greater than +2. +1 for a fly or burrow speed.
Sample Anthropomorphic Creature Glenn
Small Monstrous Humanoid (Augmented Animal)
Fighter 1 HD 1d10+4 (14 HP) Speed 20 ft. (4 squares) Init: +2 AC 20; touch 14; flat-footed 17
:(+1 size, +5 armor, +1 shield, +2 Dex, +1 dodge) BAB +1; Grp -3 Attack longsword +1 melee (1d6) Full-Attack longsword +1 melee (1d6) Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft. Special Attacks Power Attack Special Qualities Amphibious, Low-Light Vision Saves Fort +6 Ref +2 Will +3 Abilities Str 11, Dex 14, Con 18, Int 13, Wis 16, Cha 12 Skills Ride +4, Swim +4, Hide +6 Feats Combat Expertise, Dodge Equipment longsword, breastplate, light steel shield Challenge Rating 1 Alignment Neutral Good Advancement by character class; Favored Class Fighter Level Adjustment +0
Unskilled writers use "said" and "asked".
Amateur writers use "whispered", "shouted" and "questioned"
Skilled writers use "demonstrated", "ejaculated", "murmured", "explained", "queried" and "demanded"
Masterful writers use "said" and "asked".
Dreamer Pony is by Akrim.elf.
Spoiler
Baiyan, God of Joy, by GryffonDurime, while the C.U.T.E Scardycat and Dreamer are by Tomb Raven.
I think the strength might be a bit off. Let me try something out:
Bruno is an average anthropomorphic brown bear. His stats, before the racial modifications, are Str 13, Dex 8, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 9
Bruno
Medium Monstrous Humanoid (Augmented Animal) HD 3d8+12 (29 HP) Speed 40 ft. (8 squares) Init: +0 AC 12; 10 touch ; 12 flat-footed
:(+2 natural) BAB +3; +11 Grp Attack Claw +11 melee (1d8+8) Full-Attack 2 claws +11 melee (1d8+8) and bite +6 melee (2d6+4) Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft. Special Attacks Improved Grab Special Qualities Low-Light Vision, Scent Saves Fort +5 Ref +3 Will +4 Abilities Str 27, Dex 10, Con 18, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 7 Skills Listen +3, Spot +5, Swim +10 Feats Endurance, Track Equipment None Challenge Rating 1 Alignment Neutral Advancement by character class; Favored Class Fighter Level Adjustment +1
As a PC, Bruno would far outstrip a 4th level fighter. Equip him with gear appropriate for his level and he's truly gruesome. Even without he's quite fearsome.
I think the CR needs work; mere "Level Adjustment" is insufficient. Note that while easier to hit and not as hardy as the Brown Bear, Bruno is capable of just as much damage.
Also, strength needs to scale differently. According to the MM, a size change garners 4- or 8-point changes in Strength, not 2 (except for the very bottom of the scale). A Medium-size brown bear, for instance, would only have a strength of 19, not 27, giving the anthtopomorphic bear a +8, not a +14. This might be more balanced.
This template also gives almost every anthropomorphic animal a -2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom and -2 Charisma. Some come out to -2 Intelligence, +0 Wisdom, -2 Charisma instead. Is this intended?
Natural weapons need to explicitly scale, as well. Bruno's bite should be a d8, and his claws d6s, but as written, that is not what happens.
Bruno comes out a little less powerful if his racial hit dice are animal, not monstrous humanoid. Perhaps this should be written into the 'HD' section.
You went the wrong way with his strength adjustment. He got smaller, so his strength goes DOWN.
Right. The Large Brown Bear, which he is anthropomorphed off of, has a Strength of 27 - +16. Since he got smaller, he only got +14 of that.
He should have only gotten +8 of it, though.
Quote:
Also, the CR is ADDED equal to the LA, not EQUAL to.
That's not the way it reads. It reads that the CR is equal to the Level Adjustment. Period. There needs to be a manner to adjucate the CR based off the base creature, but, obviously, it can't just be "As base creature plus level adjustment, see below", because the halving of the hit dice hurts especially high-CR animals a lot, severely lowering their CR.
The CR adjustment rules in the MM are written for adding Hit Dice, and I don't think they work very well in reverse.
That's not the way it reads. It reads that the CR is equal to the Level Adjustment. Period.
Now you're just being picky.
The way all templates are written, the CR entry adds to the base creature's CR. Every. Single. Time.
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Unskilled writers use "said" and "asked".
Amateur writers use "whispered", "shouted" and "questioned"
Skilled writers use "demonstrated", "ejaculated", "murmured", "explained", "queried" and "demanded"
Masterful writers use "said" and "asked".
Dreamer Pony is by Akrim.elf.
Spoiler
Baiyan, God of Joy, by GryffonDurime, while the C.U.T.E Scardycat and Dreamer are by Tomb Raven.
The way all templates are written, the CR entry adds to the base creature's CR. Every. Single. Time.
Yes, they do have 'as base creature +', generally. But that doesn't work for this. A 5 Hit Die anthropomorphic Elephant is not CR 7, let alone the CR 10 his +3 Level Adjustment (for stats, natural armour, and size) would make him.
Unskilled writers use "said" and "asked".
Amateur writers use "whispered", "shouted" and "questioned"
Skilled writers use "demonstrated", "ejaculated", "murmured", "explained", "queried" and "demanded"
Masterful writers use "said" and "asked".
Dreamer Pony is by Akrim.elf.
Spoiler
Baiyan, God of Joy, by GryffonDurime, while the C.U.T.E Scardycat and Dreamer are by Tomb Raven.
Yes, they do have 'as base creature +', generally. But that doesn't work for this. A 5 Hit Die anthropomorphic Elephant is not CR 7, let alone the CR 10 his +3 Level Adjustment (for stats, natural armour, and size) would make him.
I disagree, I think that's a reasonable CR. Just by comparison, you could have a: Clay Golem, 11 Headed Hydra, Couatl, Noble Salamander, or Guardian Naga. I would go with any of those over the Elephant in an instant.
Sure, the Elephant may look scary with its big strength and con stats and what not, but this is where we look back at Ogres. Those things are scary as hell when you're at the appropriate level. You let them get close to you and you can kiss your character goodbye. Yet, they have a low AC and their hit points aren't that great. If you have enough room to get some shots it before it gets to you, it's not all that bad. What's more, for all their strength they may as well be a joke at higher levels where you can fell one in 2 rounds with just about any character (probably by level 6).
So, while it may look BA, it's a lot easier to defeat than other creatures of its CR. Mind, also, that I don't think a player character should be playing an Anthropomorphic Bear or Elephant to begin with. Unless, of course, they're coming into the campaign later on.
You're thinking in the wrong direction. The Anthropomorphic Elephant is less than CR 10 - probably less than CR 7, even - not more. I'm not saying it's not enough CR; I'm saying it's too much.
You're thinking in the wrong direction. The Anthropomorphic Elephant is less than CR 10 - probably less than CR 7, even - not more. I'm not saying it's not enough CR; I'm saying it's too much.
Ok, and if you are following the conversation, I said that I Disagree and believe that it should be, if anything at all, less than a CR 10.
I'm saying that it's not too much
Glenn
Small Monstrous Humanoid (Augmented Animal)
Fighter 1 HD 1d10+4 (14 HP) Speed 20 ft. (4 squares) Init: +2 AC 20; touch 14; flat-footed 17
:(+1 size, +5 armor, +1 shield, +2 Dex, +1 dodge) BAB +1; Grp -3 Attack longsword +1 melee (1d6) Full-Attack longsword +1 melee (1d6) Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft. Special Attacks Power Attack Special Qualities Amphibious, Low-Light Vision Saves Fort +6 Ref +2 Will +3 Abilities Str 11, Dex 14, Con 18, Int 13, Wis 16, Cha 12 Skills Ride +4, Swim +4, Hide +6 Feats Combat Expertise, Dodge Equipment longsword, breastplate, light steel shield Challenge Rating 1 Alignment Neutral Good Advancement by character class; Favored Class Fighter Level Adjustment +0
How can he have Power Attack with 11 strength? Is it a special attack of a frog? I also think Glenn is more of a paladin than fighter, and obviously lawful good at least.
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Birdman of the Church of Link's Hat
At last, I can populate the Egyptian part of my setting with more than humans and Jann!
Catfolk, dogfolk, ravenfolk, crocfolk, snakefolk, eaglefolk! My only misgiving is that dogfolk are always inherently better than catfolk. I'm having to mix around the ability scores to make them about equal.
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[Template] Anthropomorphic Creature
