Cleon
Legend
Building a Better Stegosaurus
Stegosaurs
Stegosaurs lived from the Mid Jurassic to Early Cretaceous (175-100 MYA)
Stegosaurus
Late Jurassic (150-145 MYA)
Huge Animal
Hit Dice: 13d8+78 (136 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares)
Armor Class: 18 (–2 size, –1 Dex, +11 natural), touch 7, flat-footed 18
Base Attack/Grapple: +9/+25
Attack: Tail-spikes +16 melee (3d8+12/×3) or offensive armour +15 melee (2d6+8)
Full Attack: Tail-spikes +16 melee (3d8+12/×3) and offensive armour +10 melee (2d6+4)
Space/Reach: 15 ft./10 ft. (15 ft. with tail-spikes)
Special Attacks: Offensive armour 2d6+12, thagomizer
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 6/–, fortification, low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +14, Ref +7, Will +5
Abilities: Str 26, Dex 9, Con 23, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 6
Skills: Listen +11, Spot +11
Feats: Alertness, Endurance, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (tail-spikes)
Environment: Temperate or warm plains and forests
Organization: Solitary, pair or herd (3-6)
Challenge Rating: 7
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 14–20 HD (Huge); 21–39 HD (Gargantuan)
Level Adjustment: —
A Stegosaurus has a bulky body, a powerful tail tipped with 4 formidable spikes and small, narrow head with a tortoise-like beak. A double row of triangular plates runs the length of its back. The tail is thick and powerful, taking up almost half the animal's body length, so the dinosaur's huge hind legs are set near the middle of the animal. Its front legs are sturdy but much shorter than the hind legs, so its head is normally held low to the ground.
These dinosaurs are solitary herbivores, usually only congregating to breed. They can graze on low vegetation or rear up to browse on taller plants. A Stegosaurus's centre of balance is near its massive hind legs, which allows it to rear up onto a tripod formed from its hind legs and tail to reach tall vegetation or get a better sense of its surroundings. It can also turn around with surprising alacrity by pushing sideways with its forelegs.
A Stegosaurus has excellent defences. Its thick skin provides good armour, and is reinforced with bony ossicles over its throat and flanks, fortifying those vulnerable areas from attack. The large plates along its back are too thin to be effective armour. The cluster of four spikes at the tip of its tail is a lethally effective weapon called a Thagomizer, named after the late Neanderthal zoologist-adventurer Thag Simmons,.
A full grown Stegosaurus is between 25 and 30 feet long from nose to tail-tip, and weighs from 5,000 to 10,000 pounds. Extremely large individuals can approach a Gargantuan 40 feet in length. A typical 25-30 foot long Stegosaurus is 11-13½ tall, including 2-2½ feet of height from its largest dorsal plates, with the actual back standing 9-11 feet above the ground. The spikes on their thagomizer can exceed a yard in length.
Combat
A Stegosaurus will pugnaciously defend itself from threats, responding surprisingly promptly for such a bulky animal. They attack with body-slams and swings of their tail-spikes, and can use the plates and spikes of their armour to cut and stab at any creature grappling with them.
Damage Reduction (Ex): A Stegosaurus has a Damage Reduction equal to half its Hit Dice.
Fortification (Ex): Whenever a critical hit or sneak attack is scored on a Stegosaurus there is a 50% chance that the special attack is negated and its damage is rolled normally.
Offensive Armour (Ex): A Stegosaurus can use its spikes, plates and body-slams to do 2d6+12 crushing, slashing and piercing damage on a successful grapple attack. They can also use their armour to make standard or secondary melee attacks.
Thagomizer (Ex): A Stegosaurus's tail-spikes attack is treated as a 2-handed weapon, so it gains 1½ times the creatures Strength bonus and the Power Attack feat adds +2 damage per –1 attack penalty. The thagomizer inflicts piercing damage, has a reach equal to a tall creature of the Stegosaurus's size, and does ×3 damage on a confirmed critical.
Gargantuan Stegosaurus
Gargantuan Animal
Hit Dice: 21d8+168 (262 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares)
Armor Class: 20 (–4 size, –1 Dex, +15 natural), touch 5, flat-footed 20
Base Attack/Grapple: +15/+39
Attack: Tail-spikes +24 melee (4d8+18/19-20×3) or offensive armour +23 melee (3d6+12)
Full Attack: Tail-spikes +24 melee (4d8+18/19-20×3) and offensive armour +18 melee (3d6+6)
Space/Reach: 20 ft./15 ft. (20 ft. with tail-spikes)
Special Attacks: Offensive armour 3d6+18, thagomizer
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 10/–, fortification, low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +20, Ref +15, Will +10
Abilities: Str 34, Dex 9, Con 27, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 6
Skills: Listen +15, Spot +15
Feats: Alertness, Endurance, Improved Critical (tail-spikes), Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (tail-spikes)
Epic Feat: Epic Reflexes
Environment: Temperate or warm plains and forests
Organization: Solitary, pair or herd (3-6)
Challenge Rating: 10
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 22–39 HD (Gargantuan)
Level Adjustment: —
A Stegosaurus of truly extraordinarily size, 40 feet in length and weighing 25000 pounds or more.
It's possible these dinosaurs never reached such spectacular dimensions in real life.
Other Stegosaurs
The genus Stegosaurus includes the largest known species of Stegosaur although Dacentrurus armatus may rival it in size. Some of the other Stegosaurs are a bit smaller than Stegosaurus but still Huge-sized, for example Tuojiangosaurus multispinus. The smaller species are Large-sized, such as Chungkingosaurus (10-12 feet long) or Kentrosaurus aethiopicus (12-15 feet long).
Most Stegosaurs do not have dorsal plates as large and broad as Stegosaurus. Many genera, like Tuojiangosaurus, have pointier dorsal plates that become more spike-shaped as they get closer to their tail, the change in shape is quite dramatic in such Stegosaurs as Dacentrurus or Kentrosaurus , whose dorsal armour abruptly switches from plates to spikes above the animal's hips. Some Stegosaurs, such as Chungkingosaurus or the aforementioned Kentrosaurus have an additional large spike upon each shoulderor, in the case of Huayangosaurus, above each hip. It is possible other Stegosaurs had these additional shoulder- or hip-spikes, and they haven't been found in the fossil record, or have just not been identified yet.
The 'spikier' Stegosaurs' more bellicose dorsal plates may be enough to give them slightly higher damage, a +2 or +4 racial bonus on grapple checks when attacking with their Offensive Armour, or the Spiny Defence quality (see Chungkingosaurus for details).
Tuojiangosaurus
Late Jurassic (160-155 MYA)
Huge Animal
Hit Dice: 11d8+66 (115 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares)
Armor Class: 18 (–2 size, –1 Dex, +11 natural), touch 7, flat-footed 18
Base Attack/Grapple: +8/+23
Attack: Tail-spikes +14 melee (3d8+10/×3) or offensive armour +13 melee (2d6+7)
Full Attack: Tail-spikes +14 melee (3d8+10/×3) and offensive armour +8 melee (2d6+3)
Space/Reach: 15 ft./10 ft. (15 ft. with tail-spikes)
Special Attacks: Offensive armour 2d6+10, thagomizer
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 5/–, fortification, low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +13, Ref +6, Will +4
Abilities: Str 24, Dex 9, Con 23, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 6
Skills: Listen +10, Spot +10
Feats: Alertness, Endurance, Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus (tail-spikes)
Environment: Temperate or warm plains and forests
Organization: Solitary, pair or herd (3-6)
Challenge Rating: 6
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 12–20 HD (Huge); 21–33 HD (Gargantuan)
Level Adjustment: —
Typical of a medium to big sized Stegosaur. Huge in size, but not as enormous as Stegosaurus proper.
An average Tuojiangosaurus is around 20 to 25 feet long and weighs between 4000 and 5000 pounds.
Chungkingosaurus
Late Jurassic (160-145 MYA)
Large Animal
Hit Dice: 6d8+24 (51 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares)
Armor Class: 17 (–1 size, +8 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 17
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+12 [+16 with Offensive Armour]
Attack: Tail-spikes +8 melee (2d8+6/×3) or offensive armour +7 melee (1d10+4)
Full Attack: Tail-spikes +8 melee (2d8+6/×3) and offensive armour +2 melee (1d10+2)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft. (10 ft. with tail-spikes)
Special Attacks: Offensive armour 1d10+6, thagomizer
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 3/–, fortification, low-light vision, scent, spiny defence 1d10+4
Saves: Fort +9, Ref +5, Will +3
Abilities: Str 18, Dex 11, Con 19, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 6
Skills: Listen +8, Spot +7
Feats: Alertness, Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus (tail-spikes)
Environment: Temperate or warm plains and forests
Organization: Solitary, pair or herd (3-6)
Challenge Rating: 3
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 7–10 HD (Large); 11–18 HD (Huge)
Level Adjustment: —
One of the smallest of Stegosaurs, these dinosaurs have an abundance of armour spines which give them a +4 racial bonus on the Offensive Armour grapple checks and increases the armour's damage to 1d10.
An adult Chungkingosaurus is typically between 10 and 13 feet long and weighs over 500 pounds.
Combat
Damage Reduction (Ex): A Chungkingosaurus has a Damage Reduction equal to half its Hit Dice.
Fortification (Ex): Whenever a critical hit or sneak attack is scored on a Chungkingosaurus there is a 50% chance that the special attack is negated and its damage is rolled normally.
Offensive Armour (Ex): A Chungkingosaurus can use its spikes, plates and body-slams to do 1d10+6 crushing, slashing and piercing damage on a successful grapple attack with a +4 racial bonus on this check. They can also use their armour to make standard or secondary melee attacks.
Thagomizer (Ex): A Chungkingosaurus's tail-spikes attack is treated as a 2-handed weapon, so it gains 1½ times the creatures Strength bonus and the Power Attack feat adds +2 damage per –1 attack penalty. The thagomizer inflicts piercing damage, has a reach equal to a tall creature of the Chungkingosaurus's size, and does ×3 damage on a confirmed critical.
Spiny Defence (Ex): Any creature that hits a Chungkingosaurus in melee using a handheld or natural weapon (but not a reach weapon) must succeed on a DC 13 Reflex save or take 1d10+4 points of damage from one of the creature’s spikes or dorsal spines. The save DC is Dexterity-based.
Stegosaurs
Stegosaurs lived from the Mid Jurassic to Early Cretaceous (175-100 MYA)
Stegosaurus
Late Jurassic (150-145 MYA)
Huge Animal
Hit Dice: 13d8+78 (136 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares)
Armor Class: 18 (–2 size, –1 Dex, +11 natural), touch 7, flat-footed 18
Base Attack/Grapple: +9/+25
Attack: Tail-spikes +16 melee (3d8+12/×3) or offensive armour +15 melee (2d6+8)
Full Attack: Tail-spikes +16 melee (3d8+12/×3) and offensive armour +10 melee (2d6+4)
Space/Reach: 15 ft./10 ft. (15 ft. with tail-spikes)
Special Attacks: Offensive armour 2d6+12, thagomizer
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 6/–, fortification, low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +14, Ref +7, Will +5
Abilities: Str 26, Dex 9, Con 23, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 6
Skills: Listen +11, Spot +11
Feats: Alertness, Endurance, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (tail-spikes)
Environment: Temperate or warm plains and forests
Organization: Solitary, pair or herd (3-6)
Challenge Rating: 7
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 14–20 HD (Huge); 21–39 HD (Gargantuan)
Level Adjustment: —
A Stegosaurus has a bulky body, a powerful tail tipped with 4 formidable spikes and small, narrow head with a tortoise-like beak. A double row of triangular plates runs the length of its back. The tail is thick and powerful, taking up almost half the animal's body length, so the dinosaur's huge hind legs are set near the middle of the animal. Its front legs are sturdy but much shorter than the hind legs, so its head is normally held low to the ground.
These dinosaurs are solitary herbivores, usually only congregating to breed. They can graze on low vegetation or rear up to browse on taller plants. A Stegosaurus's centre of balance is near its massive hind legs, which allows it to rear up onto a tripod formed from its hind legs and tail to reach tall vegetation or get a better sense of its surroundings. It can also turn around with surprising alacrity by pushing sideways with its forelegs.
A Stegosaurus has excellent defences. Its thick skin provides good armour, and is reinforced with bony ossicles over its throat and flanks, fortifying those vulnerable areas from attack. The large plates along its back are too thin to be effective armour. The cluster of four spikes at the tip of its tail is a lethally effective weapon called a Thagomizer, named after the late Neanderthal zoologist-adventurer Thag Simmons,.
A full grown Stegosaurus is between 25 and 30 feet long from nose to tail-tip, and weighs from 5,000 to 10,000 pounds. Extremely large individuals can approach a Gargantuan 40 feet in length. A typical 25-30 foot long Stegosaurus is 11-13½ tall, including 2-2½ feet of height from its largest dorsal plates, with the actual back standing 9-11 feet above the ground. The spikes on their thagomizer can exceed a yard in length.
Combat
A Stegosaurus will pugnaciously defend itself from threats, responding surprisingly promptly for such a bulky animal. They attack with body-slams and swings of their tail-spikes, and can use the plates and spikes of their armour to cut and stab at any creature grappling with them.
Damage Reduction (Ex): A Stegosaurus has a Damage Reduction equal to half its Hit Dice.
Fortification (Ex): Whenever a critical hit or sneak attack is scored on a Stegosaurus there is a 50% chance that the special attack is negated and its damage is rolled normally.
Offensive Armour (Ex): A Stegosaurus can use its spikes, plates and body-slams to do 2d6+12 crushing, slashing and piercing damage on a successful grapple attack. They can also use their armour to make standard or secondary melee attacks.
Thagomizer (Ex): A Stegosaurus's tail-spikes attack is treated as a 2-handed weapon, so it gains 1½ times the creatures Strength bonus and the Power Attack feat adds +2 damage per –1 attack penalty. The thagomizer inflicts piercing damage, has a reach equal to a tall creature of the Stegosaurus's size, and does ×3 damage on a confirmed critical.
Gargantuan Stegosaurus
Gargantuan Animal
Hit Dice: 21d8+168 (262 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares)
Armor Class: 20 (–4 size, –1 Dex, +15 natural), touch 5, flat-footed 20
Base Attack/Grapple: +15/+39
Attack: Tail-spikes +24 melee (4d8+18/19-20×3) or offensive armour +23 melee (3d6+12)
Full Attack: Tail-spikes +24 melee (4d8+18/19-20×3) and offensive armour +18 melee (3d6+6)
Space/Reach: 20 ft./15 ft. (20 ft. with tail-spikes)
Special Attacks: Offensive armour 3d6+18, thagomizer
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 10/–, fortification, low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +20, Ref +15, Will +10
Abilities: Str 34, Dex 9, Con 27, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 6
Skills: Listen +15, Spot +15
Feats: Alertness, Endurance, Improved Critical (tail-spikes), Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (tail-spikes)
Epic Feat: Epic Reflexes
Environment: Temperate or warm plains and forests
Organization: Solitary, pair or herd (3-6)
Challenge Rating: 10
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 22–39 HD (Gargantuan)
Level Adjustment: —
A Stegosaurus of truly extraordinarily size, 40 feet in length and weighing 25000 pounds or more.
It's possible these dinosaurs never reached such spectacular dimensions in real life.
Other Stegosaurs
The genus Stegosaurus includes the largest known species of Stegosaur although Dacentrurus armatus may rival it in size. Some of the other Stegosaurs are a bit smaller than Stegosaurus but still Huge-sized, for example Tuojiangosaurus multispinus. The smaller species are Large-sized, such as Chungkingosaurus (10-12 feet long) or Kentrosaurus aethiopicus (12-15 feet long).
Most Stegosaurs do not have dorsal plates as large and broad as Stegosaurus. Many genera, like Tuojiangosaurus, have pointier dorsal plates that become more spike-shaped as they get closer to their tail, the change in shape is quite dramatic in such Stegosaurs as Dacentrurus or Kentrosaurus , whose dorsal armour abruptly switches from plates to spikes above the animal's hips. Some Stegosaurs, such as Chungkingosaurus or the aforementioned Kentrosaurus have an additional large spike upon each shoulderor, in the case of Huayangosaurus, above each hip. It is possible other Stegosaurs had these additional shoulder- or hip-spikes, and they haven't been found in the fossil record, or have just not been identified yet.
The 'spikier' Stegosaurs' more bellicose dorsal plates may be enough to give them slightly higher damage, a +2 or +4 racial bonus on grapple checks when attacking with their Offensive Armour, or the Spiny Defence quality (see Chungkingosaurus for details).
Tuojiangosaurus
Late Jurassic (160-155 MYA)
Huge Animal
Hit Dice: 11d8+66 (115 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares)
Armor Class: 18 (–2 size, –1 Dex, +11 natural), touch 7, flat-footed 18
Base Attack/Grapple: +8/+23
Attack: Tail-spikes +14 melee (3d8+10/×3) or offensive armour +13 melee (2d6+7)
Full Attack: Tail-spikes +14 melee (3d8+10/×3) and offensive armour +8 melee (2d6+3)
Space/Reach: 15 ft./10 ft. (15 ft. with tail-spikes)
Special Attacks: Offensive armour 2d6+10, thagomizer
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 5/–, fortification, low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +13, Ref +6, Will +4
Abilities: Str 24, Dex 9, Con 23, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 6
Skills: Listen +10, Spot +10
Feats: Alertness, Endurance, Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus (tail-spikes)
Environment: Temperate or warm plains and forests
Organization: Solitary, pair or herd (3-6)
Challenge Rating: 6
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 12–20 HD (Huge); 21–33 HD (Gargantuan)
Level Adjustment: —
Typical of a medium to big sized Stegosaur. Huge in size, but not as enormous as Stegosaurus proper.
An average Tuojiangosaurus is around 20 to 25 feet long and weighs between 4000 and 5000 pounds.
Chungkingosaurus
Late Jurassic (160-145 MYA)
Large Animal
Hit Dice: 6d8+24 (51 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares)
Armor Class: 17 (–1 size, +8 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 17
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+12 [+16 with Offensive Armour]
Attack: Tail-spikes +8 melee (2d8+6/×3) or offensive armour +7 melee (1d10+4)
Full Attack: Tail-spikes +8 melee (2d8+6/×3) and offensive armour +2 melee (1d10+2)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft. (10 ft. with tail-spikes)
Special Attacks: Offensive armour 1d10+6, thagomizer
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 3/–, fortification, low-light vision, scent, spiny defence 1d10+4
Saves: Fort +9, Ref +5, Will +3
Abilities: Str 18, Dex 11, Con 19, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 6
Skills: Listen +8, Spot +7
Feats: Alertness, Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus (tail-spikes)
Environment: Temperate or warm plains and forests
Organization: Solitary, pair or herd (3-6)
Challenge Rating: 3
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 7–10 HD (Large); 11–18 HD (Huge)
Level Adjustment: —
One of the smallest of Stegosaurs, these dinosaurs have an abundance of armour spines which give them a +4 racial bonus on the Offensive Armour grapple checks and increases the armour's damage to 1d10.
An adult Chungkingosaurus is typically between 10 and 13 feet long and weighs over 500 pounds.
Combat
Damage Reduction (Ex): A Chungkingosaurus has a Damage Reduction equal to half its Hit Dice.
Fortification (Ex): Whenever a critical hit or sneak attack is scored on a Chungkingosaurus there is a 50% chance that the special attack is negated and its damage is rolled normally.
Offensive Armour (Ex): A Chungkingosaurus can use its spikes, plates and body-slams to do 1d10+6 crushing, slashing and piercing damage on a successful grapple attack with a +4 racial bonus on this check. They can also use their armour to make standard or secondary melee attacks.
Thagomizer (Ex): A Chungkingosaurus's tail-spikes attack is treated as a 2-handed weapon, so it gains 1½ times the creatures Strength bonus and the Power Attack feat adds +2 damage per –1 attack penalty. The thagomizer inflicts piercing damage, has a reach equal to a tall creature of the Chungkingosaurus's size, and does ×3 damage on a confirmed critical.
Spiny Defence (Ex): Any creature that hits a Chungkingosaurus in melee using a handheld or natural weapon (but not a reach weapon) must succeed on a DC 13 Reflex save or take 1d10+4 points of damage from one of the creature’s spikes or dorsal spines. The save DC is Dexterity-based.