Help coming up with appropriate lizardfolk mounts!

[M3tal_H3llth]

Hello hello!

This will be my first post besides the hello thread, so i apologize ahead of time if i commit any posting sins!!

Anyway, on to the meaty bits. I'm dm'ing a campaign, built more or less from scratch (using the frame of the last campaign i played in) and lizardfolk are an integral part of the story.
I have several different tribes in various areas, undergoing varying degrees of 'evolution' (closer to a civilized society than monster manual lizardfolk). Basically what I'm trying to find, is a good, reptilian animal, that isn't a dinosaur, to be used as mounts and pack animals/livestock. I put in the qualifier no dinosaurs, because in this campaign, riding a dinosaur is a rite of passage that very few lizardfolk achieve. What i need is something exotic and reptilian that could be used for general cavalry, scouts, and commoners, and something else for a pack animal/livestock, both preferrably of the reptilian varieties.

As far as cavalry goes, my first thought was the giant strider, but this tribe is located in a coastal swamp region so it didn't fit all too well. That and while i want exotic, i need something a little less shoots-fireballs-out-of-its-eyes. So perhaps a rebuild of the giant strider with different abilities, but I'm not sure exactly what to do to make that work, or what abilities I would swap around.

For the pack animal, I really have no idea. I've searched through MM1-4, savage species, and probably a dozen other books and nothing is really jumping out at me. Something along the lines of a cross between a dewback and a cow.

anyway, I've rambled long enough, I appreciate any feedback I can get!

[RedWarlock]

Conceptually, that is what dinosaurs are for, as diverse reptilian (not really but close enough) creatures that aren't just reptilian reskins of mammals. All the reptiles of sufficient size in D&D are giant versions of small predators, or turtles. That's about it.

So, maybe make dinosaurs less prohibited, or homebrew some new reptilian monsters to suit your needs, taking points of reference from existing mammals. Maybe only specific dinosaurs, like the predators, are the special status. Anybody can ride a sauropod or a hadrosaur, but only chieftans can ride ceratopsians or tyrannosaurs.

[Suteinu]

I once ran a campaign where a tribe of nomadic barbarians had their homes/ villages/ fortifications built onto the backs of a herd of ever-migrating sauropods. Druids & shamans were their holy men and had quite a lot of social standing and responsibility, seeing they had the most control over the village via Animal Empathy. Few dared attack them, so they wound-up being pretty peaceful in nature, though as stand-offish toward outsiders as any barbarian culture.

This may not be a great example for you, directly, because sauropods were definitely not swamp-dwellers, but think along those lines: what can help shape the culture, not just look cool. For a large, swamp-dwelling reptile of a potentially threatening nature, watch Bakshi/Frazetta's Fire and Ice. There's a great scene in which a giant (dire?) lizard ambushes a group of sub-humans; harness that.

[daremetoidareyo]

Why not giant insects? Draft riding beetles. Heavy war bombardier beetles. Giant mole cricket oxen. If your location is warm enough for human sized reptiles to set up a culture, all you need is additional oxygen in the atmosphere for giant insects.

[Suteinu]

Why not giant insects? Draft riding beetles. Heavy war bombardier beetles. Giant mole cricket oxen. If your location is warm enough for human sized reptiles to set up a culture, all you need is additional oxygen in the atmosphere for giant insects.

TMNT: Mutants Down Under! Rock! :smallbiggrin:

[Sian]

or go obivous and pick Riding Lizards (FRCS p308)

[oldkingkoal]

What about some kind of Dire alligator or Dire komodo dragon? (Not sure it that is a thing But I would imagine it being easy to make if not)

[Kymme]

I think that giant insects might be an interesting idea if you can be swayed from the "reptiles only" mindset. Spider Eaters (http://dwenty.pbworks.com/f/Spider%20Eater.jpg) are cool.

[Maglubiyet]

What about just using the same stats as a cow and calling it a "lizard ox" or something?

Or, if you want to follow the "rules", apply the 3.0 Reptilian Creature template to some basic animal with the stats you want. In Savage Species it says the template is only for humanoids, monstrous humanoids, and giants, but I don't see why you couldn't use it on an animal, like a Dire Wolf, War Pony, Bison, or Camel.

What about lizardfolk riding giant snakes? That would be creepy and cool.

[M3tal_H3llth]

Wow thank you so much! I never thought I'd get so many replies so quick!

Ya know, the more i think about it, i like giant insects. Giant beetles and the like would make a great heard animal.

I also think lizardfolk mounted on dire alligators would be downright terrifying for my PCs.

Suteinu, it's funny you Menton TMNT, because I've actually got a humanoid rat ninja in the party, whose back story is that he used to train with several juvenile shelled amphibians.

[j_spencer93]

dragon magazine gives them a giant snapping turtle, with stats even.

[Exegesis]

Drakes

Draconic terrorbirds

A mindraped diplodocus

Tenser's floating disc, because what's allowing them to expand is a huge cache of artifacts they found in a swamp-eaten Atlantis, including a ring of the disc whose discs last forever

Flying steel chairs and flying steel orbs that contain cargo

Rodent-mammoths that can suck things telekinetically to their mouths, like foliage and enemies

Huge golden darkmantles who fly with their head-cones downward, like stalactites, and cup cargo in their fan

Voodoo mannequins and zombies

Treants carved with glowing runes

Bicycles; their knights ride war-bicycles and attack with magic eye rays.

A tame herd of sickening white things that just absorb magic, their rubbery skin bonding with it to make a glowy protective coating.

An ark-menagerie controlled by drums that make their hearers march in step. The lizardfolk drummers and riders wear thick earmuffs.

A natural hyperloop formed by ambient magical energy.

[Dormammu]

Suteinu, it's funny you Menton TMNT, because I've actually got a humanoid rat ninja in the party, whose back story is that he used to train with several juvenile shelled amphibians.

Turtles are not amphibians they're reptiles. Speaking of amphibians why not giant frogs, toads, or salamanders? Giant frogs have been a staple of D&D since first edition and you could just tweak crocodile stats for the giant newts.