MitP: [Creature] Ork Cow

[Leperflesh]

This creature was first concieved-of as an extention of a pun. I'm sorry.

Description:
Ork Cows are a unique breed of cattle raised and domesticated by certain tribes of orks. While these animals resemble ordinary cattle in a superficial manner, they differ from them in substantial ways.

Ork Cows of both sexes are thick and strongly built, with large muscles standing out from their frames. Small, beady red eyes glimmer beneath a viscious pair of razor-sharp horns. Shorter and stockier than ordinary cattle, Ork Cows are much more sure-footed, and are almost as adept at scrambling among rocks as mountain-goats. A few have even reported seeing Ork-Cows successfully climbing small trees.

Ork Cows are usually mostly hairless, with ugly odd patches of scraggly, wiry black or brown hair sticking up around their horns, and in splotchy patches here and there on their bodies.

Ork Cows are relentlessly aggressive, towards each other and everyone else. They have a mean disposition and cruel temper. They will go out of their way to injure other animals. Left alone, they constantly squabble and fight: if they spot another creature, however, they will collaborate against it, using team tactics to corner and abuse it. Once the ‘fun’ is over, however, the temporary alliance is gone, and they quickly take any opportunity to harass or assault each other once more.

Tribes of Orks who maintain herds of Ork Cows make use of these animals in a number of ways. They are of course primarily of use as a food source, providing a mobile dinner for wide-ranging tribes of orks. Ork-cows, like goats, can eat almost any kind of vegetation, and are happy to strip bare whatever environment they may be left in. Orks also use them for their milk, which has useful properties: raiding parties usually secure a supply of milk and chug it just before battle, to give themselves extra prowess in the fight. Ork cows have particularly thick, tough skins, which make excellent leather for armor. Unlike ordinary cattle, Ork Cows do not make effective beasts of burden in most cases: they are too temperamental and aggressive. This does not prevent some ambitious orks from making the attempt, however, and if the ork in question is even more aggressive and viscious than the ork cow, these attempts can result in limited successes.

Typically, Ork tribes designate two or three individuals who are in charge of their Ork Cow herd: these individuals are called Cow-Orkers. Cow-Orkers are always carefully and meticulously shaved bald, with no body hair on them anywhere. They usually wear thick leather clothing, including boots and gloves, and wield long, spiky hooked implements to help wrangle the Ork Cows. Few other orks will willingly approach the Ork Cows – indeed, only the Cow-Orkers are likely to be able to mingle with them without being seriously injured.

In addition to the above uses, Ork Cows are commonly bred and trained for ring-fighting purposes. Individual, particularly aggressive animals are separated from the herd. Separating an individual and preventing all contact with the herd allows its natural hair to grow back – any Ork Cows kept together will quickly strip each other of most of their hair, leading to their normal, scruffy-naked appearance. A lone Ork Cow however is unable to reach most of its own hair, and soon grows a shaggy pelt over its back, shoulders, and head.

When the time comes for a fight, bets are taken, and then two hairy Ork-Cows are shoved into a corral together. At the sight of eachother’s hair, they invariably go after eachother in a frenzied attempt to rip out the opponent’s hair and eat it. Goring is typical, and sometimes one or the other cow is killed – however, the contest is deemed complete when one ork cow manages to pin the other and strip out (for example) at least five good mouthfuls of hair. (Exact victory conditions vary from one tribe to the next).

Ork Cows are also sometimes used in a combat role. They may be staked out around an encampment to serve as guards, with the knowledge that intruders will probably disturb them and their bellowing Frightful Moo will be heard. Ork Cows are also sometimes led to battle, driven before a fighting horde to sew confusion among the enemy as they rampage and assault the hairiest members.

Aside from Orks, no other species has ever managed (or desired, really) to domesticate or maintain herds of these animals. In some wilderness areas, escaped Ork Cows have formed wild herds – these animals represent a substantial danger, due to their aggressiveness, although a well-armed party can usually stave them off, especially if all hair is concealed from view.

Stats:

Ork Cow
Large Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 3d10+9 (25 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 16 (+2 Dex, -1 Size, +5 Natural), touch 11, flatfooted 14
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+10
Attack: Gore +6 melee (1d8+3)
Full Attack: Gore +6 melee (1d8+3) and Bite +1 melee (1d4+1) or Special (Scalp)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: {Pounce*}, Scalp, Frightful Moo
Special Qualities: Pilophage, Ork Cow Milk
Saves: Fort +6, Ref +5, Will -1
Abilities: Str 17, Dex 15, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 7, Cha 5
Skills: +5 Spot, +5 Listen
Feats: Alertness, Endurance
Environment: Temperate plains, forest, or mountains
Organization: Domesticated, solitary, or wild herd (6-30)
Challenge Rating: 2
Treasure: none
Alignment: usually CE
Advancement: 4-7 HD (Large, + Pounce*, CR3+)
Level Adjustment: -

{Pounce: (Ex)
When a creature with this special attack makes a charge, it can follow with a full attack – including Scalp attacks.}
*Ork Cows with the Pounce ability are CR 3.

Scalp: (Ex)
When an Ork Cow makes a Bite attack, if its opponent has any exposed hair, it attempts to bite and tear off its opponents hide. Instead of a normal bite, the attack is a Grab, in an attempt to start a grapple (use the normal grappling rules). If a grapple is started, the Ork Cow makes an immediate opposed grapple check – if successful, it tears off and swallows a hunk of hair and whatever it was attached to, dealing 1d8 damage. A creature which is successfully Scalped is forced to make a Fortitude save, DC = 10 + number of points of damage dealt, or else Bleed (1 HP of damage per round) for 1d4 rounds. If the Scalp is successful, the grapple is immediately (instantly) broken. If unsuccessful, it will attempt to maintain the grapple and make additional Gore and Scalp attempts in subsequent rounds.

Frightful Moo (Ex)
Ork Cows project an aura of menace at all times, but when they let loose with their Frightful Moo, they can reduce even hardened warriors to a quivering wreck. At will, as a standard action, an Ork Cow unleashes a haunting, hyper-aggressive bellow, affecting all opponents within a 60-foot spread. Opponents hearing the Frightful Moo must make a DC 14 Will save, or be Shaken for 1d6 rounds. (The save is CON based). Although an Ork Cow can use its Frightful Moo repeatedly (and they often do), once a creature has succeeded at its Will save it is immune to any Ork Cow’s Frightful Moo for the rest of the encounter.

Pilophage (Ex)
Ork Cows are largely herbivorous, like their ordinary cow cousins. However, they have an unusual (and powerful) dietary habit – they love to eat animal hair, and will do almost anything to get to it. Typically an Ork Cow will charge as soon as it spots another creature having hair, no matter how much larger or more dangerous that creature might appear to be. If possible, it will attempt to charge and attack, aggressively goring with its horns before attempting to rip out a mouthful of hair (often with scalp or hide still attached). Ork Cows' appetite for hair is insatiable. Pilophagia allows Ork Cows to successfully digest animal hair (most animals cannot do so).

Ork Cow Milk (Su)
The milk of a lactating Ork Cow has special properties. If one can manage to acquire it (female lactating Ork Cows are usually even more aggressive, ill-tempered, and downright evil than normal), ork cow milk is found to be a pale greenish-white color, with an intensely sickening odor and a thick, lumpy semi-curdled texture. While Orks claim to find it palatable, few other species can stomach Ork Cow Milk. Non-orks must succeed at a DC 14 Fortitude roll to successfully drink (and keep down) a pint of Ork Cow Milk. (This save is CON based).

Drinking a pint or more of Ork Cow Milk (and keeping it down) causes the following affects:
1d4 x 10 minutes after drinking: +1d4 temporary hit points; +1 temporary STR bonus; -1 temporary WIS penalty; +1 temporary Morale bonus to all attacks.
2d4 x 10 minutes after the above affects begin, the temporary hit points, STR bonus, WIS penalty, and Morale bonus wear off. They are replaced by a splitting headache and nausea: the affected creature becomes Sickened for 1d4 hours.

Ork Cow milk must be consumed within 48 hours of milking, or it spoils and all special affects are lost. Additional drinkings of Ork Cow milk (either simultaneously, or during the recovery period) has no affect.

Combat
Typically, a lone Ork Cow will only attack a dangerous foe if there is noticeable, exposed hair – in which case it does not hesitate to Moo, charge, and then make a gore attack; on its next attack it will try to grapple and Scalp. If there is no visible hair, an Ork Cow may still act aggressively – sometimes by charging, and sometimes by attempting to intimidate foes, or ward them away.

A herd of Ork Cows will behave even more aggressively, cooperating to surround and flank any creature, whether it has hair or not, and then harassing or outright attacking them. If there is no obvious hair to snack on, Ork Cows rarely fight to the death – they will break off and retreat if seriously injured. If the possibility of a delicious hair snack is held out, however, they will frequently fight long past any reasonable point. A herd must suffer substantial losses before they will break and scatter – often as much as half their number.

Unlike ordinary cattle, Ork Cows do not stampede. When they break, they usually veer off in all directions, and still retain enough sense to avoid leaping off of cliffs, etc.

Ork Cows have been known to leap down upon foes from atop small bluffs, high rocks, or short, strong trees.

[hr]
This is the first 3.5 creature I've tried to make, so, I'd appreciate folks checking my math. One thing I was unsure about is how to determine the number of feats are allowed for a given creature type and HD.

Also: re the challenge rating. I wanted a CR1. If the ork cow is too strong, I'd suggest dropping the Moo ability and, if that is insufficient, also Pounce. Your feedback is requested!

--after edits, I've bumped it to 2, with a 3 if you use the Pounce ability.

-Lep
[hr]
This is a submission for the Monsters in the Playground project.

[hr]
Edits made 9.10.2006 and 9.14.2006
[hr]
By the way, I shouldn't take 100% credit for this creature. A friend of mine, Lincoln, and I were discussing the original pun when we came up with this. All of the work on this page is mine... but he deserves partial credit for the idea. Thanks, Lincoln.

[kailin]

Re: Pun. GRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOAAAANNNN :P

That said, it's too powerful for a CR1 right now.

The scalp ability is a nasty save-or-lose attack, making you a sitting duck for the cow's full attack for 1-4 rounds if you fail a fairly tough fort save (a good save at level 1-2 will be +5, a poor one around +1). If you fail, you will be torn to pieces. Dazed is badass, you should make it shaken, or wounded (bleed 1 hp/rd), or something else still very nasty, but less terminally so. After all, who wants to get torn to pieces by some kind of uber cow.

Giving it free actions is also pretty iffy, especially when those actions, which cost it nothing, impose a steep penalty on the party. PCs will fail a DC 13 will save much of the time. Mooing should take a standard action.

You'll also want to note that the effects of multiple pints of their milk aren't cumulative, unless you want barbarians chugging multiple litres before barrelling into combat with 3 Wis and a ton of free, unnamed Str bonuses.

And yeah, you should definitely lose the Pounce if you're going for CR 1. A creature that can move 80 feet and full attack with a +6/+1 (1d8+3 plus scalping bite) routine, and with enough hp to probably withstand a round of sniping or tank damage and attack again, is too durn big for CR 1 britches.

[Lord Iames Osari]

Cow-Orkers. Hehe.

[NEO|Phyte]

Poor dwarves. :(

[Leperflesh]

Great feedback, kailin. I like the Wounded for scalping much better. I can make Mooing be a standard action, that's fine.

I guess I'll also lose Pounce. It's a shame - I really like the mental image of insane cattle leaping onto their foes. But at the same time, you're right - if the cow went for the non-tank in the party and got to go first, it'd probably drop them to negatives in the first round. Too dangerous.

Okay, see the first post for edits. Note that I'm leaving the Pounce in the post, but putting it in brackets - it is now only available for a CR2 Ork Cow.

-Lep

[Winged One]

It's spelled "orc." Yes, I know you spelled it with a k just for that horrible, horrible pun. Also, note under organization that a lot of them could be found with an orc tribe.

[ShipWrecked]

lol i like this think your headin in the right direction with it, umm chanlenge ratings a little low though .

[Leperflesh]

It's spelled "orc." Yes, I know you spelled it with a k just for that horrible, horrible pun. Also, note under organization that a lot of them could be found with an orc tribe.

I think they cover that with 'domesticated'. Look at the entry in the MM for Animal: Horse.

And yeah. Spelling is for the pun. Again... sorry. :-/

ShipWrecked: do you think the CR should be 2, even leaving out Pounce? If I did push it up to 2, do you think it should get another hit die?

-Lep

[ShipWrecked]

I would leave pounce in add 2 hit dice and bring it to CR3 then players are a little more meaty and you don't have to worry about scalp being to overpowering, unless you want to leave it around CR 1 or 2 then yea add another hit dice and make it a CR 2 it all depends on if you want to give the creature anough time to end up using scalp on one or more creatures

it cant be CR 1 because if it scalps doing 1d8 and then gets a 4 round bleeding period anything besides a barbarian or high con. character pretty much dies

[Zeal]

Ork-Cow? Am I the only one who doesn't see the pun in that?

[Umbral_Arcanist]

Ork-Cow? Am I the only one who doesn't see the pun in that?

No.......

It is pretty strong..... for CR 1,

[Leperflesh]

Consider the term applied to the Ork Cow wranglers in the text: Cow-Orkers. Note there are always at least two.
sorry

Due to popular demand I am raising the CR to two. I really don't want it too high if I can avoid it.

Thanks everyone

-Lep

[ShipWrecked]

I Think this could be an interesting monster for all people who read through the MITP book,

MITP VOTE: YES

[LincolnX]

The K in Ork Cow is intentional.

A right of passage, or bold dare is to milk a female Ork Cow.

Very, very rarely an Orc with enough daring will attempt to ride an Ork Cow into battle.

Orcs will force feed the milk to captives as an amusing torture since most creatures can not tolerate the milk.

As is obvious, Ork Cows LOVE Dwarves.

[Lord Iames Osari]

MitP Vote: Yes.

[MrSeth]

This is made of Ossome and Win. You, sir, win the Greyhawk.

[fangthane]

Seems to me these things would have a great time with Gossamer. (now let's see who actually remembers old-school cartoons...)

You don't specifically say it doesn't, thus currently as written its Scalp attacks do provoke attacks of opportunity; is that by design, or omission? I'd change it to be an ability whereby a normal melee attack is rolled for the bite, and it instantly gets the grapple attempt to deal an additional 1d8 (no strength mod?) on top of the 1d4+1 (remember, bite is half strength because it's a secondary) dealt initially.

If the scalp succeeds, it's no longer attached to its target anyway, because the 'scalp' got torn away; it must make a new bite attack each turn to continue to scalp, realistically. :)

Frightful Moo: what's the DC basis? It has 3 HD for a +1, and I can't see why it would be dex-based (the only +2 stat the cow has) I'd think it'd either be cha-based (which is an easy save at DC 8 ) or con-based (which is level-appropriate at DC 14)

[asromta]

MitP Vote: Yes

[Leperflesh]

Seems to me these things would have a great time with Gossamer. (now let's see who actually remembers old-school cartoons...)

Nope. Lost me on that one.

You don't specifically say it doesn't, thus currently as written its Scalp attacks do provoke attacks of opportunity; is that by design, or omission?

Intended. Actually my intention with Scalp is that it still has to do all the normal things to grapple, but it gets this one special additional grapple-action it can take. The combat text indicates that it will attempt to break off a grapple after a successful scalp, so, I didn't see an issue with what happens in the next round after scalping... but I can clarify if need be.

I'd change it to be an ability whereby a normal melee attack is rolled for the bite, and it instantly gets the grapple attempt to deal an additional 1d8 (no strength mod?) on top of the 1d4+1 (remember, bite is half strength because it's a secondary) dealt initially.

I looked at other Animals when fixing the damage for Bite - some seemed not to get any beneft from strength for their secondary attacks, while others did. I'll make this adjustment, though.

As for getting a free Scalp with a bite, that would imply every hit Bite is to the head (or some other hairy part). But really, it should be much harder to bite the head, than it is to just generally beat an opponent's AC, so, I used the grapple rules to represent that.

If the scalp succeeds, it's no longer attached to its target anyway, because the 'scalp' got torn away; it must make a new bite attack each turn to continue to scalp, realistically. :)

Yes. In fact as written, it will break off the grapple, and then must start a new grapple to get a second Scalp attempt off.

Frightful Moo: what's the DC basis? It has 3 HD for a +1, and I can't see why it would be dex-based (the only +2 stat the cow has) I'd think it'd either be cha-based (which is an easy save at DC 8 ) or con-based (which is level-appropriate at DC 14)

Hmm. Good point. I just made up the DC, but it should be based off of something. Since I don't want to raise their charisma, I'll use Con (healthier Ork Cows moo harder!)

Thanks!

-Lep

[fangthane]

Do a google image search for "Gossamer" - he's the big red dude. :) I have a suspicion that these cows would make Marvin very angry. Very angry indeed.

I suspect the animals you were looking at which applied full strength to their bites were also animals for which the bite is the primary attack form too; in this guy's case, he's got the Gore as primary so the bite is perforce a secondary attack.

I think I see what you mean about the bite versus the grapple; I'm not sure there really is any truly elegant solution but yours works adequately, and is better than the standard free-grapple mechanism in that it doesn't mean an all-or-nothing huge damage attack.

It might be an idea to reword things though; if the cow is successful at scalping, the grapple is automatically (and instantly) broken as its bleeding victim pulls free, less a bit of hair and flesh. Otherwise, it's written more as a preference than a mandatory break in the grapple (which doesn't make a lot of sense since it's using its mouth to grapple)

MitP vote: Yes. (but do we have to keep the puns intact?! :P )

[Leperflesh]

Good idea! It fits with how I wanted it to work anyway. Consider it done.

Thanks!

-Lep

[LordOfNarf]

Ok, horrible pun, good creature.

I loke the concept, but it is usually not done in a save and be immune rest of the encounter for abilities such as frightful moo.

it should read, if it follows the SRD monsters:

After a creature succesfully saves against an Ork-Cow's Frightful Moo, they are immune to the effect for x hours.

(x is usually 24, but it can be less or more if you want.)

provided thet is changed, Mitp Vote: Yes, Though I cn't belive I'm helping the pun get published.

[fangthane]

Ok, horrible pun, good creature.

I loke the concept, but it is usually not done in a save and be immune rest of the encounter for abilities such as frightful moo.

Actually, now that you mention it you're right that most stuff is slightly different.

it should read, if it follows the SRD monsters:

After a creature succesfully saves against an Ork-Cow's Frightful Moo, they are immune to the effect for x hours.

(x is usually 24, but it can be less or more if you want.)

Actually I think it's usually also just that one creature's effect - "regardless of the saving throw's success or failure, the subject cannot be affected by that Ork Cow's Frightful Moo for 24 hours" or thereabouts.

Though I cn't belive I'm helping the pun get published.

I had the same thought - but, it's a pretty decent critter nonetheless.