Stats for a Deer or Gazelle?

[mockingbyrd7]

Hey all, I've got a question for you.

How would you stat a deer, a gazelle, a fawn, a stag, an elk, a caribou, etc. etc.?

I don't need these stats for anything in particular, I was just curious as to what your input would be, since the closest thing to these creatures I can find in the SRD is a Bison, which isn't very close in the first place.

Thanks in advance.

P.S. While we're at it, why not try statting some other real animals that aren't in the SRD too?

[Lolzords]

That's a toughie, because animals of that type aren't in the monster manual because they just tend to run away instead of fight.

That said, I don't see why we need the stats for a toad or an owl, since toads cannot attack and an owl does 1d4-3 damage.

[Bag_of_Holding]

That said, I don't see why we need the stats for a toad or an owl, since toads cannot attack and an owl does 1d4-3 damage.

Because Harry and Neville need 'em

[Collin152]

Attacking? Psh! We needs stats for attacking them! Plus, we need the small ones for Baleful Polymorph!

[Treguard]

I'm curious as to how a hippopotamus would stat out. Not too differently from the rhinoceros I suppose.. Vicious buggers they are, too. I'm surprised they weren't in there already.

[bluish_wolf]

Attacking? Psh! We needs stats for attacking them! Plus, we need the small ones for Baleful Polymorph!

The thing is, something that pathetic doesn't really need stats. Don't even bother rolling- you attack it, it dies.

[kpenguin]

Someone should make an Animalia Codex or something.

[Lemur]

They have caribou in Frostburn.

:P

[KIDS]

Silver Marches (3.0 regional Forgotten Realms book) in its monsters section has Deer and Elk. They're pretty much like slightly nerfed horses and while some of their weapon entries are a bit innacurate, I found them quite reasonable.

[Hallavast]

For a stag or an elk, just use the light horse stats and give it a primary antler attack and hoof secondary attacks.

For a deer or gazelle use the pony stats.

Problem solved.

[Treguard]

But what about the skinks? THE SKINKS

[Hallavast]

But what about the skinks? THE SKINKS

What the hell is a skink?

[Nada Rakshasa]

I'm curious as to how a hippopotamus would stat out. Not too differently from the rhinoceros I suppose.. Vicious buggers they are, too. I'm surprised they weren't in there already.

Apparently there's a hippopotamus and a dire version in the Sandstorm accessory.

[Treguard]

What the hell is a skink?

skiiiiiiink

[Hallavast]

skiiiiiiink

EPA! EEEPAAA!

[Collin152]

The thing is, something that pathetic doesn't really need stats. Don't even bother rolling- you attack it, it dies.

Pah! With that kind of logic, suicide shouldn't require a roll!

[Nada Rakshasa]

What the hell is a skink?

And a skink is a sort of lizard. Sometimes they lack legs.

[Collin152]

Oh, yeah. i confused them with Minks. And... Ermines?

[WhyBother]

For the record, there's an Elk stated out in Dragon #333's article on mounted druids (p87). without saying too much (or at least I hope not): CR 2, 3 HD, one gore and one hoof attack.

[tyckspoon]

Apparently there's a hippopotamus and a dire version in the Sandstorm accessory.

There's also a hippopotamus-based PrC. It's.. rather silly.

[horseboy]

Prior editions had them at 2 HD. Which made archery hunting near impossible.

[John Campbell]

In prior editions, it didn't cost an arm and a leg just to be able to use your Strength bonus to damage with your bow, and a 1st level character could shoot two arrows per round, at full THAC0. Even with a 20 THAC0, an archer'd need only a little luck to drop a 2 HD deer in a single round.

[Nowhere Girl]

Pah! With that kind of logic, suicide shouldn't require a roll!

Yesh, suicide in D&D is tough to pull off. You're not a helpless defender, so you can't coup de grace yourself. Also, if you're high level, you can easily shrug off dozens of knife wounds.

If all you have is a knife or similar weapon, you're basically relegated to stabbing yourself repeatedly until you finally hit negative hit points, then hoping you don't accidentally stabilize.

Luckily, no matter how hurt you are ... even if you're at 1 of 175 hit points ... as long as you have positive hit points, you don't weaken even slightly, so you can keep right on stabbing full-strength until you get there.

Getting back to the actual thread topic, I think that whatever you do for statting out the deer or gazelle, you should make one special one with obnoxiously powerful stats, so that it's the equivalent of a BBEG. An epic gazelle of doom.

Make it a memorable hunting trip!