Night_mane said:
Some time ago a wizard class specailizing in creature combining was published in Dragon. It was back in 2dn ed so it was probably a kit. Does anyone know the issue number or if there's been a conversion? I found nothing similar in the Complete Arcane. These guys were supposedly the source of owlbears, venom dogs, and the like.
If I can fine the rules I'd love to use someone like this as a villan in a game.
Thanks.
The Merlane was the name IIRC
The monsters in a similar article;
Duckbunny [ first experiments of those not yet insane tend to be on non lethal critters]
Armadillophant; Armor plated Elephant.
Dragon fly turtle; Snapping turtle with bug wings.
Spider horse:Horse with spider legs and abdomen
Scorpion tailed Dogs {eventually became 3e chaimail abyssal ravagers]
Poisonous Snake headed dogs
Honestly, creative descriptions matter more for monster making than stats. Pick a beast or animal and start changing its description. A small bell and whistle here and there and bing;
Take a dire lion, slap a vulture head on it, give it a short ranged acid spit, maybe nausiating the creature for one round afterwards to balance the effect out, upgrade it's stats to magical beast [adds a few HP and BAB becomes HD]. Add 1 or 2 to the CR depending on what it does for the critter.
http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=151900