PDA

View Full Version : Dinosaur Redux



Lemur
2007-02-15, 12:58 PM
Rargh! I've begun slowly working on a Dinotopia based campaign setting. If you haven't read the two Dinotopia books by James Gurney, then this thread probably won't make much sense to you. For those not familiar with the setting: Dinosaurs are not dumb beasts, but in fact intelligent beings who live side by side with humans.

The first order of business therefore, is remaking dinosaurs (as well as making new dinosaurs) into intelligent beings, at least some of which should be viable for PCs to play as.

To accomplish this, I've created a new creature type, the Dinosaur:
Dinosaurs with only 1 hit die may exchange the features of their dinosaur Hit Die for the class features of a PC or NPC class. Dinosaurs may choose to advance with classes, or with Dinosaur Hit Dice- Dinosaurs who stay away from “civilization” such as those living out at sea, or in wild areas usually use the latter option.
Features:
-d10 hit die
-Base attack equal to 3/4 hit die
-Good Fortitude saves
-Skill points equal to (2+Int modifier, minimum 1) per hit die, with quadruple skill points for the first hit die, or by character class
Traits:
-Low-light vision
-Proficient with their natural weapons only.
-Take a -10 penalty on all Craft checks

Here are two dinosaurs, one of which exists in the MM1, one of which has been newly made. I'm leaving out the fluff for now, since I just want things to be analyzed from a mechanics perspective.

Deinonychus:
Deinonychus
Large Dinosaur (Raptor)
HD 2d10+6 (17 hp)
Speed 60 ft. (12 squares)
Init: +2
AC 14 (-1 size, +2 Dex, +3 natural); touch 11; flat-footed 12
BAB +1; Grp +8
Attack Talons +4 melee (2d6+3)
Full-Attack Talons +4 melee (2d6+3) and 2 foreclaws -2 melee (1d3+1) and bite -2 melee (2d4+1)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks Pounce
Special Qualities Low-light vision, Raptor qualities
Saves Fort +6, Ref +2, Will +0
Abilities Str 17, Dex 15, Con 17, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 8
Skills Hide +2, Jump +9, Spot +4, Listen +4, Intimidate +1, Survival +2
Feats Weapon Focus (Talons)
Environment
Organization Solitary, pair, or pack (3-8)
Challenge Rating 1 or 2 (about 1.5 using Vorpal Tribble’s method)
Treasure
Alignment Usually neutral
Advancement 3-10 HD (Large) or by character class
Level Adjustment +2

Raptor Traits:
+4 racial bonus on Jump checks
+2 racial bonus on Spot, Listen, and Hide checks


Velociraptor:
Velociraptor
Medium Dinosaur (Raptor)
HD 1d10 (5 hp)
Speed 60 ft. (12 squares)
Init: +1
AC 11 (+1 Dex); touch 11; flat-footed 10
BAB +0; Grp +0
Attack Talons +1 (1d8)
Full-Attack Talons +1 melee (1d8) and 2 foreclaws –4 melee (1d2) and bite –4 melee (1d6)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks Pounce
Special Qualities Low-light vision, Raptor Qualities
Saves Fort +2, Ref +1, Will +0
Abilities Str 10, Dex 13, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 8
Skills Hide +4, Jump +6, Spot +4, Listen +4, Survival +1
Feats Weapon Finesse
Environment
Organization Solitary, pair, or pack (3-8)
Challenge Rating 1/2
Treasure
Alignment Usually neutral
Advancement 2-8 HD (Large) or by character class
Level Adjustment +0

Raptor Traits:
+4 racial bonus on Jump checks
+2 racial bonus on Spot, Listen, and Hide checks

The first, the Deinonychus, you'll notice, is less powerful than it's Monster Manual counterpart. This is done to allow more freedom in taking classes. Also, I used the Hombrew Guide sticky to help calculate CR, and got about 1.5, and as such, am not sure whether I should round up or down.

The second, the velociraptor, is meant to be fairly accessible to players. In general, I'm aiming for small and medium dinosaurs to be easy to play, as well as having some options for large, and possibly huge size dinosaurs at higher levels.

I'm still fairly new at monster creation and modification, so I'm open to any ideas or advice on the topic. I'm mainly curious about the Dinosaur creature type- are the features, like hit die and saving throws about right?

In addition, I'm curious at any good sources for ideas about steampunk type environments in D&D. So far the only things I've seen were in the Warcraft setting book, but I've heard things about a setting called Iron Kingdoms, and was wondering if it, or anything else, was worth taking a look at for ideas about making steampunk technology work (in the books, Dinotopia has some budding technology as well).

Lord Sidereal
2007-02-15, 01:36 PM
planescape is pretty steampunk, i am told