Converting "Real World" Animals and Vermin

[Shade]

Here's the stat range we came up with at the beginning of this project for a worm of this size:

Colossal: Str 42-43, Dex 6-9, Con 26-29, Int —, Wis 9, Cha 5

 

[freyar]

Str 42, Dex 9, Con 28, Int —, Wis 9, Cha 5 ?

 

[Cleon]

Str 42, Dex 9, Con 28, Int —, Wis 9, Cha 5 ?

I'd give it a a higher Dex (13?) and lower Con (26?), since peacock worms have lightning reactions but are fragile outside their shells. Upsizing & expanding from my proposed stats in post #916 I suggest:

Colossal Vermin
Hit Dice: 32d8+256 (400 hp)
Initiative: +1
Speed: 0 (immobile)
Armor Class: ?? (-8 size, +2 Dex, +?? natural), touch 4, flat-footed ??
Base Attack: +24/+1
Attack: Tentacle +32 touch (1d4+8 plus poison?) or bite +27 melee (2d6+8)
Full: 8 tentacles +32 touch (1d4+8 plus poison?) and bite +27 melee (2d6+8)
Space/Reach: 30 ft./20 ft. (60 ft. with tentacles)
Special Attacks: chew (2d6+16), improved grab, poison, swallow whole, tentacles
Special Qualities: Armoured tube, accelerated healing, darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 60 ft., vermin traits
Saves: Fort +26, Dex +19, Will +9
Abilities: Str 42, Dex 13, Con 26, Int —, Wis 9, Cha 5
Advancement: 33-64 HD (Colossal)

I think it will have lots of tentacle attacks with which it grabs its "food particles and sticks them in its mouth to chew & swallow. May only be able to swallow Medium-sized or smaller creatures. The tentacles SA is because I fancy it having up to 8 Attacks of Opportunity with its tentacles, like a Hydra can make one AoO per head with its Combat Reflexes despite it not having very high Dex.

As for AC, I'm divided. Its body may be soft but it uses its tube to protect itself. So it may have quite a high NA, or even armour or DR.

 

[freyar]

Those ability scores are fine. Since this is a big version of something wimpy, I don't want to go too far with the attacks. Let's drop chew and not allow 8 AoOs. Poison maybe as one of those weird defensive abilities that only affects people who bite it.

As for natural armor, what about low natural armor, but it gets a boost to AC or cover of some type when in its tube?

 

[Cleon]

Those ability scores are fine. Since this is a big version of something wimpy, I don't want to go too far with the attacks. Let's drop chew and not allow 8 AoOs. Poison maybe as one of those weird defensive abilities that only affects people who bite it.

As for natural armor, what about low natural armor, but it gets a boost to AC or cover of some type when in its tube?

But I like the AoOs.

Well if nobody else cares for the idea, we could give it Combat Reflexes as a bonus feat.

Don't mind making the poison only affect creatures that use bite attacks against it. We can drop the chew and the bite if you like, and just have it do chew-level damage after a successful Swallow Whole attack. It'd be simpler.

I imagine it fighting with most of its body inside the tube, so it would get a fair defensive bonus normally which improves when it "withdraws". NA/DR/cover are all options worth considering. This thing probably has a tube a cubit or two feet thick, so it should offer fair protection.

 

[demiurge1138]

Yeah, I agree with freyar. This doesn't have to be super-powerful, and agreed to not having one AoO per tentacle. Also, I don't like that the tentacles are touch attacks, but still have full Str to damage behind them. I would prefer real attacks, but if we keep touch, they should be grapple only.

 

[freyar]

Grapple only touch attacks is a nice idea, but I think the consensus would be regular melee attacks.

 

[Shade]

I'd prefer standard tentacles, no super-AoOs.

I see these things as little more than a giant hazard, not a combat machine.

 

[Cleon]

All right, I'll give. It appears no-one else fancies a hydra-inspired version.

So, the consensus appears to be touch with grapple/entangle for the tentacles rather than, say, standard melee with half damage bonus.

Shall we still give it Combat Reflexes as a bonus feat?

Oh yes, the number of tentacle attacks was plucked out of thin air, since I couldn't remember how many fan-worms have, apart from "lots". They have two fans of tentacles, each with dozens of the things. I ended up picking 8 in homage to the classic Carrion Crawler.

 

[Shade]

Cleon, I though the consensus was standard tentacle/grapple attacks (rather than touch attacks).

I'm fine with Combat Reflexes as a bonus feat.

8 tentacles seems reasonable. Its huge reach and Combat Reflexes can serve as a reasonable approximation for additional tentacles.