Crab Mount

[thewiredone]

Ive been wanting to make a 3.5 knight who rides a monstrous crab but have no idea how to do so or if there is any rules for? So im throwing myself to the play ground for help.

[ArcturusV]

I believe the 3.0 book Arms and Equipment Guide had rules for unusual mounts, unusual mount tack, etc. That'd be where I'd start the search.

[Flickerdart]

You can take Leadership and get an entomanothrope kobold cohort, who transforms into the crab when you need to ride it and can fit in your backpack when stowed.

[NeoPhoenix0]

A major hurdle is that crabs are mindless vermin. You need to give them an intelligence score (and change their type) so they can be trained or communicated with. Maybe you could get a celestial crab? or even a feindish, anarchic, or axiomatic crab. You can then work out a deal with it or enslave it (intelligence 3 is too intelligent to be trained like an animal.)

Edit: If you work with your DM, you might be able to get it as a kind of cohort from leadership or something.

[thewiredone]

weird reply to the koblod thing but cool idea.ill check out arms and equipment. thx for the replys

[Tvtyrant]

A major hurdle is that crabs are mindless vermin. You need to give them an intelligence score (and change their type) so they can be trained or communicated with. Maybe you could get a celestial crab? or even a feindish, anarchic, or axiomatic crab. You can then work out a deal with it or enslave it (intelligence 3 is too intelligent to be trained like an animal.)

Edit: If you work with your DM, you might be able to get it as a kind of cohort from leadership or something.

Drow can take a feat to apply handle animal to vermin. This can net you colossal crabs or siege crabs, which are pretty awesome.

[Jeff the Green]

Wild cohort will work. There are rules for vermin animal companions here (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20040705a), and wild cohort lets you choose anything available to a druid as an animal companion. Also, because of the wording of wild cohort, you can use Handle Animal on it, and it gains tricks (though rather slowly). Unlike the druid's vermin animal companions, though, a vermin wild cohort will never gain skills or feats.

[Coidzor]

You can take Leadership and get an entomanothrope kobold cohort, who transforms into the crab when you need to ride it and can fit in your backpack when stowed.

IIRC, emantothropes (https://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20040621a) become one size smaller than the base creature when they transform into the vermin form, so a kobold would become a Tiny Monstrous Crab. You'd need him to be a Half-Ogre or something Large sized in order to have a Medium sized crab to ride.

One of, IIRC, two versions of vermin companion druids. (https://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20040705a)

[CyberThread]

a swarm of crabs....


getting itchy around here

[ArcturusV]

Does the Int really matter on the Vermin? I ask because I"m pretty sure there are other Int: -- stuff that can be used as a mount. Zombies, Oozes, etc.

[Curmudgeon]

Does the Int really matter on the Vermin? I ask because I"m pretty sure there are other Int: -- stuff that can be used as a mount. Zombies, Oozes, etc.
I don't think there's any easy way you can use those as workable mounts. The Ride skill has some big blank areas if you attempt to use an untrained mount: basically, you can't do anything with it in combat. And to train a mount it needs to be an Animal or Magical Beast. Vermin Trainer gives a Drow an exception to that rule.

[Cirrylius]

Maybe you could get a celestial crab?
I don't know why I'm laughing so hard at this.

[Sith_Happens]

I don't think there's any easy way you can use those as workable mounts. The Ride skill has some big blank areas if you attempt to use an untrained mount: basically, you can't do anything with it in combat. And to train a mount it needs to be an Animal or Magical Beast. Vermin Trainer gives a Drow an exception to that rule.

Or you can use a


siege crab

Best 360000+ gp you'll ever spend.:smallcool:

[Brookshw]

Why do I feel like it should only be allowed to charge sideways :smalltongue:

[NeoPhoenix0]

Why do I feel like it should only be allowed to charge sideways :smalltongue:

I thought everyone charged sideways... and frontways and backways and none of the above.

[Flickerdart]

IIRC, emantothropes (https://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20040621a) become one size smaller than the base creature when they transform into the vermin form, so a kobold would become a Tiny Monstrous Crab. You'd need him to be a Half-Ogre or something Large sized in order to have a Medium sized crab to ride.
This appears to be optional, judging by the language that the example scorpion's "normal vermin form would be Large."

[Brookshw]

I thought everyone charged sideways... and frontways and backways and none of the above.

and twirling, always twirling :smalltongue:

[sumptesh]

A major hurdle is that crabs are mindless vermin. You need to give them an intelligence score (and change their type) so they can be trained or communicated with..

Admittedly I'm sitting in class so I don't have my books with me, but from the D&D wiki crabs are classed as animals.

http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Crab_(3.5e_Creature)
(http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Crab_(3.5e_Creature))

with that you could train it as normal, just use the other adjustments to scale it up in size that could be ridden by whatever race your playing.

[Red Fel]

but from the D&D wiki

No. Bad. Stop.

Never cite to D&D Wiki. That is a place of mindless chaos.

At least Limbo has warning signs that let you know you're in peril. (We call them Slaads.)

[ArcturusV]

Yes, Crabs are Vermin, as noted in their entry in Stormwrack. Which is why I was happy when a DM let me slide on an exception to make Jillian, the Crab, my sorcerer's familiar (With toad HP bonus).

[Flickerdart]

Admittedly I'm sitting in class so I don't have my books with me, but from the D&D wiki crabs are classed as animals.

http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Crab_(3.5e_Creature)
(http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Crab_(3.5e_Creature))

with that you could train it as normal, just use the other adjustments to scale it up in size that could be ridden by whatever race your playing.

That's not an SRD link. It's terrible homebrew.

[sumptesh]

That's not an SRD link. It's terrible homebrew.

My apologies, I'm attempting to marginally pay attention to accounting and missed that it was in the homebrew section.

[Coidzor]

Yes, Crabs are Vermin, as noted in their entry in Stormwrack. Which is why I was happy when a DM let me slide on an exception to make Jillian, the Crab, my sorcerer's familiar (With toad HP bonus).

That Damned Crab? (https://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fw/20040221a) Also Vermin.

[thewiredone]

If you where dm at what lvl would you allow a monstrous crab cohort? I ask because i think at 7th lvl it seems fair imho.

[Flickerdart]

The guidelines for unusual Paladin mounts say to use CR+3 (for grounded creatures) or CR+4 (for fliers) to determine when they are appropriate mounts. A surface scan of monsters that have a cohort LA indicates that they are available roughly two levels later as a cohort than a Paladin's mount. As a CR3 creature, the Monstrous Crab would be a 6th level Paladin mount, and so an 8th level cohort.

[thewiredone]

Thanks for all the help gonna make me that drow crab knight now