Send In The Clowns… (or, Converting the Oddballs)

[freyar]

3HD magical beast (aquatic) with amphibious and water dependent?

 

[Shade]

That sounds about right. Use physical stats of a cheetah or leopard, but increase Int to 3 or 4 and boost Cha to 8 (like a displacer beast)?

Cheetah: Str 16, Dex 19, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Leopard: Str 16, Dex 19, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Displacer Beast (L): Str 18, Dex 15, Con 16, Int 5, Wis 12, Cha 8

 

[Cleon]

Send it out, if it's not too late!

Dang it, looks like I missed the party!

The Armadillephant looks fine.

Personally, I wouldn't have given it Int 4, since the original had the same Intelligence as an AD&D elephant I'd have just made it Int 2 like the SRD elephant.

The same proviso applies to the Moat Cat. Both leopards and cheetahs have Int 2-4 in 2E, same as the Moat Cat.

Thus I think making it Int 2 like the 3E big cats makes more sense. Besides, newts aren't noted for being smarter than cats, so it wouldn't feel right to me to make a crossbreed of the two smarter than both.

Looking at its AD&D stats they're very similar to those of a Leopard (AC, Move, claw/claw/bite/rake) or a Cheetah (HD, sprint).

So, I'd take a Leopard and modify its stats a bit - add Aquatic, Amphibious and Water Dependent as previously mentioned, together with a Swim speed and a cut-down version of a Cheetah's Sprint SQ.

Monitor Lizards, Snakes and Crocodiles all have Cha 2, so how about averaging that with the Cheetah/Leopard's Cha 6 to give it a Charisma of 4?

I suppose we could tweak the physical stats a bit if we wanted to. Maybe cut down the Dex by a couple of points (since Giant Frogs and the previously mentioned SRD creatures all have lower Dexterity than the big cats). If we do we should up the natural armour a point to compensate on the presumption its skin may be smooth but is thick and tough, like a killer frog.

So I'm suggesting:

Stats as Leopard, plus:

Magical Beast (Aquatic)
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares), climb 20 ft., swim 30 ft.
AC: 15 (+3 Dex, +2 natural), touch 13, flat-footed 12
Abilities: Str 16, Dex 17, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 4
Special Qualities: Amphibious, low-light vision, scent, sprint, water dependent
Feats: Alertness, Multiattack

 

[freyar]

Sounds reasonable.

 

[Shade]

Added to Homebrews.

Added rake because of this:

SPECIAL ATTACKS: Surprise, rear claws 1-4/1-4

"Surprise" usually involves a racial bonus on Hide and/or Move Silently checks, plus Improved Initiative as a bonus feat.

SPECIAL DEFENSES: Surprised only on a 1

This usually equats to a racial bonus on Listen and Spot checks and/or Alertness as a bonus feat.

Moat cats, able to breathe water or air with equal ease, often stay completely submerged, then spring up to attack intruders. Opponents suffer a penalty of -3 to their surprise rolls when this occurs.

This further supports the Hide and/or Move Silently bonus.

It should be noted that moat cats are silent creatures. Like the newts that are used in their creation, they make no vocalizations, so no great cat’s growl or roar will alert prey to the moat cat’s existence. More often than not, intruders first become aware of the aquatic predator when it pounces up at them—and by then, its usually far too late.

And even further support for a decent Move Silently bonus.

Like true amphibians, moat cats cannot survive in salt water.

Convert this ability to "saltwater sensitivity"?

Freshwater Sensitivity (Ex): A sahuagin fully immersed in fresh water must succeed on a DC 15 Fortitude save or become fatigued. Even on a success, it must repeat the save attempt every 10 minutes it remains immersed.

 

[Cleon]

Sounds reasonable.

Right-ho.

Now what about the Sprint. They aren't as fast as AD&D Cheetah's (Move 30 vs Move 45), so how much slower do we want them?

Six times instead of the Cheetah's ten times?

Sprint: Once per hour, a moat cat can move six times its normal speed (240 feet) when it makes a charge.

 

[Cleon]

Added to Homebrews.

Added rake because of this:

"Surprise" usually involves a racial bonus on Hide and/or Move Silently checks, plus Improved Initiative as a bonus feat.

This usually equats to a racial bonus on Listen and Spot checks and/or Alertness as a bonus feat.

This further supports the Hide and/or Move Silently bonus.

And even further support for a decent Move Silently bonus.

All the above was included in my assumption of "Stats as Leopard, plus".

I was also presuming they'd have Improved Grab and Pounce like the SRD Leopard as well.

Convert this ability to "saltwater sensitivity"?

Freshwater Sensitivity (Ex): A sahuagin fully immersed in fresh water must succeed on a DC 15 Fortitude save or become fatigued. Even on a success, it must repeat the save attempt every 10 minutes it remains immersed.

Makes sense, just swap the names around:

Saltwater Sensitivity (Ex): A moat cat fully immersed in saltwater must succeed on a DC 15 Fortitude save or become fatigued. Even on a success, it must repeat the save attempt every 10 minutes it remains immersed.

Do we want to keep the Water Dependency at 1 hour per 2 points of Constitution like a sahuagin or make the period shorter? It says "they usually stray only a mile or so", so maybe they can't stay out of water that long? They'd only need a couple of hours in the dry to travel that far.

 

[Shade]

All the above was included in my assumption of "Stats as Leopard, plus".

Ahh...gotcha.

Updated.

I'd recommend increasing the Move Silently bonus to +8, since they seem even more silent than leopards based on the emphasis in the text.

Do we want to keep the Water Dependency at 1 hour per 2 points of Constitution like a sahuagin or make the period shorter? It says "they usually stray only a mile or so", so maybe they can't stay out of water that long? They'd only need a couple of hours in the dry to travel that far.

I'm fine with keeping it the same, or simply making it flat 2 hours. I have no strong feelings either way.

 

[Cleon]

Ahh...gotcha.

Updated.

I'd recommend increasing the Move Silently bonus to +8, since they seem even more silent than leopards based on the emphasis in the text.

I prefer a +4 racial like a Leopard.

Leopards in the 2E Monstrous Manual get -3 on their surprise roll, just like moat cats, so I would give them the same modifiers in 3E as well.

I'm fine with keeping it the same, or simply making it flat 2 hours. I have no strong feelings either way.

A flat 2 hours if a fine solution. Let's do that.

What damage shall they suffer once the time runs out?

A creature suffering from thirst must make Constitution check each hour (DC 10, +1 for each previous check) or take 1d6 points of nonlethal.

Knock out the Con checks and just make it 1d6 nonlethal damage per hour?

 

[Shade]

You've convinced me on the Move Silently bonus, and the 1d6 nonlethal/hour seems elegant.

Updated.

Skills: 6

Feats: Alertness, Improved Initiative (B), Multiattack?

Environment: Freshwater aquatic?

Challenge Rating: x

Advancement: x

A moat cat is 4 to 5 feet long and weighs x to x pounds.