D&D 5E Better Beasts?

[Tonguez]

Downtime to Tame a Wild Animal
Tame threshold = Animal XP (reduce by Animal Handling check/day)

Eh, that’s fine. I don’t care if the baseline is realistic, I just care if things feel right in relation to eachother.

So, the cheetah should move faster than a human or a wolf. Probably 50-60ft, with a bonus action dash and a trait that adds an extra 10-20 ft when dashing, or soemthing like that.

doesnt the dash mechanic take care of animals sprinting? Wolves and Cheetahs both walk at the same rate and its only when they need to dash that the Cheetahs top speeds are achieved. 3 second acceleration from 0 to 90kph is impressive, but that might be once or twice a day, the animal spends just over 40% of its time walking around looking for prey and over 50% of its day is spent resting.

Unfortunately the Spd rules dont account for the fact that wolves and humans are endurance hunters who can maintain speed for longer.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Unfortunately the Spd rules dont account for the fact that wolves and humans are endurance hunters who can maintain speed for longer.

I don't think that this would matter in the timescales of typical D&D combats.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Downtime to Tame a Wild Animal
Tame threshold = Animal XP (reduce by Animal Handling check/day)



doesnt the dash mechanic take care of animals sprinting? Wolves and Cheetahs both walk at the same rate and its only when they need to dash that the Cheetahs top speeds are achieved. 3 second acceleration from 0 to 90kph is impressive, but that might be once or twice a day, the animal spends just over 40% of its time walking around looking for prey and over 50% of its day is spent resting.

Unfortunately the Spd rules dont account for the fact that wolves and humans are endurance hunters who can maintain speed for longer.

Again, I don’t care about granular realism based arguments. It’s a game. All that matters is that things feel right next to eachother. The cheetah needs to be capable of incredible acceleration and top sprinting speed.

If you think that soemthing like the Tabaxi’s sprint ability would be better than a bonus action dash or similar, in open to hear that argument.

 

[dave2008]

Well maybe I was expecting more than adding more damaging attacks.
Things like adding rage to a chimp or a bluff to a gorilla are cool.
More attacks, however, don't pull beasts out of blandness to me.

Every single one as something more than just "more damage." If you can't see that, I don't know how to help you. However, I do think you could do more with some of them. But there is a fine line to play with complexity. For instance, I think you could come up with an ongoing bleeding effect or "vorpal bite" for the shark (and I still might make such a beast), but you have to decided how much you want to add.

 

[dave2008]

I'm just saying that some animals are boring. A lion claws and bites. You can give it all the extra attacks, grapples, dashes, and pushes you want but to me it doesn't make a lion more interesting. A big cat who claws and bites is gonna seem bland to me.

I don't know what you were expecting if adding grapples, dashes, pushes, etc. wasn't part of it. Now I think the throat bite of big cat is more interesting than a crocodiles bite, but maybe not its death roll. Also, you could give cats a claw rake attack or reaction. I think mundane animals can be much more interesting than they are in the MM, I don't have the time to help you if you can't figure out how to use them in exciting ways.

That's why I like the use of some of the more unique animals in this topic.

Sure, why don't you make some and contribute. However, I still think there is a lot of design space with existing beasts.

 

[dave2008]

That's a given. But how fast to cheetahs walk when they aren't in a rush? How fast can birds fly? Speed in 5E is way off.

Agreed, but the speed listed doesn't have to be its walking speed. Or perhaps we need a sprinter trait that grants extra speed on dash.

 

[dave2008]

Again, I don’t care about granular realism based arguments. It’s a game. All that matters is that things feel right next to eachother. The cheetah needs to be capable of incredible acceleration and top sprinting speed.

If you think that soemthing like the Tabaxi’s sprint ability would be better than a bonus action dash or similar, in open to hear that argument.

I think I am going to add something like that to the tiger.

EDIT. Just added Feline Speed. Let me know what you think.

 

[Weiley31]

bluff to a gorilla are cool.

Manager fails DC check
Why no that isn't a Gorilla wearing glasses, a dress suit, and a tie while carrying a briefcase. That's Dylan from Accounting and our current Employee of the Month.

 

[dave2008]

Rex by Fred

Tyrannosaurus Rex	Challenge 10
Huge beast, unaligned	5,900 XP

Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
Hit Points 136 (13d12 + 52; bloodied 68)
Speed 50 ft., swim 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
25 (+7)	10 (+0)	19 (+4)	4 (-3)	12 (+1)	9 (-1)

Saving Throws Str +11, Con +8
Skills Athletics +11, Perception +5
Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 15
Languages --
Proficiency Bonus +4 Maneuver DC 19

Dreadful Charge. If the tyrannosaurus moves at least 10 feet straight toward a creature and then hits it with a bite attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 19 (3d12) piercing damage

Keen Smell. The tyrannosaurs has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.

Mega-Predator. The tyrannosaurus' bite attacks do double damage to Large and larger targets.

Pack Tactics. The tyrannosaurs has advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of the tyrannosaurs' allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn't incapacitated.

Trample. When the tyrannosaur moves it can enter the space of Medium or smaller creatures. The first time it enters a creature's space it can make a claw attack against the creature.

ACTIONS
Multiattack. The tyrannosaurus makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its tail. It can't make both attacks against the same target.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 26 (3d12 + 7) piercing damage or 59 (8d12 + 7) piercing damage on a critical hit. If the target is a Medium or smaller creature, it is grappled (escape DC 19). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, and the tyrannosaurus can't bite another target. This attack is a critical hit if the tyrannosaurus succeeds on its attack roll be 5 or more.

Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 20 (3d8 + 7) bludgeoning damage and if the creature fails a DC 19 Strength saving throw it is knocked prone.

Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (3d6 + 7) slashing damage. If the target is a Larger or smaller creature it is also knocked prone and grappled (escape DC 19). Until the tyrannosaurus uses its claw again, moves, or the target escapes, the target is restrained.

REACTIONS
Chomp. If a creature ends its turn grappled by the tyrannosaurus, the tyrannosaurus makes a bite attack against the grappled creature.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Tiger
Large beast, unaligned

Armor Class 14
Hit Points 37 (5d10 + 10)
Speed 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
18 (+4)	16 (+3)	14 (+2)	3 (-4)	12 (+1)	8 (-1)

Saving Throws DEX +4, CON +4
Skills Athletics +6, Perception +5, Stealth +6
Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 13
Languages --
Challenge 2 (450 XP)

Feline Agility. The tiger can take the Dash or Disengage action as bonus actions. Additionally,
Feline Speed. When the tiger takes the Dash action it can move twice its speed until the end of its next turn. The tiger can move at this speed for two turns, after which it must make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw at the end of each of its turns. On a success it can continue moving twice its speed. On failure it can only move its normal speed and mush take a short rest before it can use this feature again.
Grappler. If the tiger hits the same target with two claw attacks in the same turn, the target is also grappled.
Keen Smell. The tiger has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.
Pounce. If the tiger moves at least 20 feet straight toward a creature and then hits it with a claw attack on the same turn, that target must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. If the target is prone, the tiger can make one bite attack against it as a bonus action.

Actions
Multiattack. The tiger makes two claw attacks.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) piercing damage. Additionally, if the tiger chooses, he target must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be grappled.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) slashing damage.

Reactions
Throat Bite. If a creature is grappled by the tiger at the end of the creature's turn, the tiger makes a bite attack against it with advantage and on a hit the target takes an additional 9 (2d8) piercing damage.

I really like Feline Speed. Especially the fact that the tiger and Cheetah will play very differently simply due to their differing base speeds.

I think if I stat a cheetah, I’d also give it a trip effect on its attacks, bc Cheetahs tend to take out a leg to take down prey, causing the prey to faceplant and be easy prey from there.

I really love how distinct these beast will feel in a game, without relying on distinct widgets like powers or spells.