Converting "Real World" Animals and Vermin

[freyar]

You can drop the question marks if you ask me.

CR looks to be about 3.

But we should change "Kenn Scent" to "Keen Scent" in the SQ line.

EDIT: But I'm not too bothered if you go with Cleon's suggestions. As for CR, they're clearly worse than the CR 4 brown bear, so I think they're probably more CR 3.

 

[Shade]

Updated.

 

[Cleon]

Updated.

The trip should have a +9 modifier.

I'd expand the flavour text with some of the stuff in my previous post.

A hyena the size of a small lion. It has a heavyset body with stocky legs. The head has a short muzzle with powerful jaws.

Short-faced hyenas are a giant, prehistoric variety of hyena. These tough, adaptable carnivores can be found in many climates and environments. They lair in earthen dens or caves. Short-faced hyenas are too slow to chase down most healthy prey animals, so get most of their meat by ambushes (usually at night), scavenging, or stealing kills from swifter but less powerful predators. They have a particular fondness for the taste of brains.

Short-faced hyenas have a well deserved reputation as maneaters. In the ages before civilization, short-faced hyenas preyed upon the ancestors of many humanoid races. They have little fear of humanoids, and still view them as prey.

A short-faced hyena is 5 to 6 feet long, stands about three feet at the shoulder and weighs 250 to 400 pounds.

COMBAT

A short faced hyena prefers to sneak up to an unattentive victim and bite them. A pack of these creatures usually attacks from many different directions to make it more difficult for their opponents to escape.

 

[Shade]

Looks great! Updated.

Next!

Spotted Hyena
FREQUENCY: Common
NO. APPEARING: 2-12
ARMOR CLASS: 7
MOVE: 15”
HIT DICE: 3
% IN LAIR: 5%
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-7
SPECIAL ATTACKS: NIl
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Semi-
SIZE: M (140 lbs.)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
LEVEL/XP. VALUE: II/35+3/hp

Spotted Hyena: Spotted hyenas are dirty orange in color, with small black spots. The spotted hyena has a large repertoire of calls, including the famous .laugh,. which really does sound like it ought to be coming out of a lunatic asylum in a third-rate movie. This laugh brings other scavengers and predators on the run, for it means the hyenas have made a kill. Swift runners, spotted hyenas hunt cooperatively, and will attack anything that doesn.t put up too much of a light.

Where they depend on refuse, spotted hyenas may start in on the human population if the supply of garbage falls off. These hyenas can be tamed and used as hunting beasts if they are caught when young. They inhabit open country in tropical climates, in settled and wilderness areas.


Spotted hyena - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[freyar]

Hmmmm. Should the laugh have some sort of mechanical effect? Otherwise, these might just be an advanced SRD hyena.

 

[Cleon]

Hmmmm. Should the laugh have some sort of mechanical effect? Otherwise, these might just be an advanced SRD hyena.

They're significantly bigger than a striped hyena (50-120 lbs vs 90-180 lbs). That might not be enough to justify giving them an increased Strength, but I suppose it would do little harm.

So, I'd increase the bite to a d8 and maybe give them +2 Strength. That would match nicely with the larger (or, rather Large sized) Short-Faced Hyena's 2d6 bite.

Apart from that and an extra HD they should probably have "Warm plains" for an environment.

That ought to do it.

 

[Shade]

Let's skip the Str boost and just increase the bite damage.

Added to Homebrews.

It gets one more skill rank and one more feat.

 

[Cleon]

Let's skip the Str boost and just increase the bite damage.

That's acceptable.

Added to Homebrews.

It gets one more skill rank and one more feat.

From my limited zoological knowledge I don't think there's that much difference in their habits. If I remember correctly, they hunt for food at night quite a bit, so maybe a point in Move Silently so they're a bit less likely to be heard by their prey (or the humanoids who's garbage they're riffling through)?

 

[Shade]

From my limited zoological knowledge I don't think there's that much difference in their habits. If I remember correctly, they hunt for food at night quite a bit, so maybe a point in Move Silently so they're a bit less likely to be heard by their prey (or the humanoids who's garbage they're riffling through)?

That'll work. Since we didn't boost the Str, give 'em Power Attack for added damage?

 

[Cleon]

That'll work. Since we didn't boost the Str, give 'em Power Attack for added damage?

That's what I was thinking of giving them, so it's obviously a wonderful idea.