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View Full Version : What Colossal creatures have low enough HD to Shapechange into?



Brock Samson
2009-06-25, 11:57 PM
Since you can only shapechange into creatures up to 25 HD, and I don't think I've seen a single one creature that's colossal other than I think a monstrous centipede with 25 HD or less, does anyone know or ANY other creatures? And please site book.

Tsotha-lanti
2009-06-26, 12:04 AM
They're pretty sparse in the SRD (but there's a whole mess of Monster Manuals out there)...

Advanced baleen and cachelot whales (Colossal at 19+ HD; probably not allowed)
...

That's it, in addition to the centipedes.

Adumbration
2009-06-26, 12:05 AM
Ha-naga. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/monsters/haNaga.htm) Although if you change into it, you will very soon face DM retribution in the form of a book to the head.

Tsotha-lanti
2009-06-26, 12:08 AM
Hah, serves me right for not checking the epic and psionic sections.

Behemoth eagle

... out of monsters again.

Sstoopidtallkid
2009-06-26, 12:09 AM
Keep in mind, 99% of the time you shouldn't be Collossal due to space concerns. Shapechange can grant any number of useful abilities. The only usable ones that Collossal grants over any other size is Reach and Grapple. The first is weak unless you are optimized for it, and the second is handled fine by the bugs.

Brock Samson
2009-06-26, 12:13 AM
I think you Shapechange into these things more for effect when necessary. I'll reserve using them as combat forms unless it's ever truly called for. Btw, I'm dumb, are these epic monsters located in the epic handbook? Or in the MM?

Eldariel
2009-06-26, 12:24 AM
I think you Shapechange into these things more for effect when necessary. I'll reserve using them as combat forms unless it's ever truly called for. Btw, I'm dumb, are these epic monsters located in the epic handbook? Or in the MM?

Epic Level Handbook, although the 3.5 versions are all in SRD and SRD only.

Brock Samson
2009-06-26, 12:30 AM
Is there much of a difference?

And does anyone know of any other creatures?

Eldariel
2009-06-26, 12:54 AM
Is there much of a difference?

And does anyone know of any other creatures?

The only notable difference between 3.0 and 3.5 versions is the Damage Reduction; 3.0 used the "only +X weapon can penetrate this DR"-rules, while 3.5 has the blanket "only Epic weapons pierce this DR"-rules.

But yeah, as it's in System Reference Document, it should be accessible in literally all games (although yeah, it may be a tad badass, but Shapechange in general is nuts).


Quick search through the MMs (I may have missed some, but probably not) only revealed one more creature that suits your needs:
Dread Linnorm [MMII] (20HD Dragon) - most of the Colossals are just over 25 HD; lowest HD Colossal other than that I could find was at 28 [Garngrath in MM V].