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General Monster Talk
Cleon Specials – SRD Redux Monsters and Related Creatures
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<blockquote data-quote="Cleon" data-source="post: 7961878" data-attributes="member: 57383"><p><span style="font-size: 18px"><span style="color: green"><strong>Design Notes</strong></span></span></p><p><span style="color: green">The SRD Octopus is actually extremely big for an octopus. The Pacific Giant Octopus <em>Enteroctopus dofleini</em>, formerly also known as <em>Octopus Apollyon</em>, is the only species I could find that normally reaches such a size, although I suppose exceptional specimens of some other octopuses might grow that big – a few other species of <em>Enteroctopus</em> seem the most likely candidates.</span></p><p><span style="color: green"></span></p><p><span style="color: green">I see no justification for the SRD Octopus having a +2 natural armour bonus. Although their bodies are surprisingly tough and elastic, their skin is certainly not as tough to penetrate as, say, a decent sized Dog, which has a +1 natural armour bonus in the SRD.</span></p><p><span style="color: green"></span></p><p><span style="color: green">The Gnawing Beak ability was substituted for the SRD Octopus's automatic bite damage during a grapple since I prefer there to be some random element in whether the octopus can inflict damage or not. It went through a lot of iterations during which I considered whether it should require a grapple check instead or as well, i.e.:</span></p><p><span style="color: green"></span></p><p><span style="color: green"><span style="color: blue"><strong>Gnawing</strong> <strong>Beak</strong> <strong>(Ex) #1:</strong> An octopus can bite an opponent it is grappling as a primary attack (bite +5 melee for 1d3+1 damage).</span></span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: green"><span style="color: blue"><strong>Gnawing</strong> <strong>Beak</strong> <strong>(Ex) #2:</strong> An octopus can bite an opponent it is grappling by succeeding at an opposed grapple check, dealing damage as a primary attack (bite 1d3+1).</span></span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: green"><span style="color: blue"><strong>Gnawing</strong> <strong>Beak</strong> <strong>(Ex) #3:</strong> An octopus can bite an opponent it is grappling as a primary attack (bite +5 melee for 1d3+1 damage) or by succeeding at an opposed grapple check (for the same damage).</span></span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: green">The penetrating hardness was a late addition based on real-life octopodes’ talent for gnawing through tough shells to get at the juicy meat inside.</span></p><p><span style="color: green"></span></p><p><span style="color: green">In earlier drafts the Octopus Redux had the All-Around Tentacles special ability of the Giant Octopus Redux but eventually I decided that was going too far even for me.</span></p><p><span style="color: green"></span></p><p><span style="color: green">I pretty much only added the Larger Pacific Striped Octopus because it's such a cool animal, there's little chance stats for one would actually be used during a D&D session.</span></p><p><span style="color: green"></span></p><p><span style="color: green">A Mimic Octopus though might have some <em>slight</em> relevance.</span></p><p><span style="color: green"></span></p><p><span style="color: green">Incidentally, an earlier version of Chameleon Mimicry allowed the octopus to substitute Hide for Disguise, but eventually I decided that was pointless.</span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: blue"><strong>Chameleon Mimicry (Ex):</strong> By altering the shape and colour of its body and tentacles the octopus can imitate the appearance and movement of another species of aquatic animal. Anyone who examines the octopus can detect the ruse with a successful Spot check opposed by the octopus’s Disguise check. An imitating octopus can substitute its Hide skill ranks for its Disguise skill ranks when calculating its chameleon mimicry Disguise check if it has more ranks in Hide. If it uses Hide skill ranks, abilities that modify Disguise checks such as the Deceitful feat still apply to the chameleon mimicry check while abilities that modify Hide checks such as the Stealthy feat are irrelevant. The imitating octopus has a +# racial bonus on chameleon mimicry Disguise checks, but a –# penalty applies to checks against creature of smart animal intelligence (Int 2), which worsens to –# against intelligent creatures.</span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: red"><strong>Skill Breakdown:</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="color: red"><strong>Octopus (5 SPs):</strong> Climb 0S+Dex3+6R, Escape Artist 0S+Dex3+10R, Hide 0S+Dex3+4size+8chameleon, Listen 0S+Wis1+Alertness2, Move Silently 3S+Dex3, Spot 2S+Wis1+Alertness2, Swim 0S+Dex3+8R</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="color: red"><strong>Medium Octopus (7 SPs):</strong> Climb 0S+Str3+6R, Escape Artist 0S+Dex3+10R, Hide 2S+Dex3+8chameleon, Listen 0S+Wis1+Alertness2, Move Silently 3S+Dex3, Spot 2S+Wis1+Alertness2, Swim 0S+Str3+8R; 3 HD ability advancement in Dex</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="color: red"><strong>Common Octopus (4 SPs):</strong> Climb 0S+Dex3+6R, Escape Artist 0S+Dex3+10R, Hide 0S+Dex3+8size+6chameleon, Listen 0S+Wis1+Alertness2, Move Silently 2S+Dex3, Spot 2S+Wis1+Alertness2, Swim 0S+Dex3+8R</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="color: red"><strong>Diminutive Octopus (4 SPs):</strong> Climb 0S+Dex2+6R, Escape Artist 0S+Dex2+10R, Hide 0S+Dex2+12size+4chameleon, Listen 0S+Wis1+Alertness2, Move Silently 2S+Dex2, Spot 2S+Wis1+Alertness2, Swim 0S+Dex2+8R</span></span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Cleon, post: 7961878, member: 57383"] [SIZE=5][COLOR=green][B]Design Notes[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE] [COLOR=green]The SRD Octopus is actually extremely big for an octopus. The Pacific Giant Octopus [I]Enteroctopus dofleini[/I], formerly also known as [I]Octopus Apollyon[/I], is the only species I could find that normally reaches such a size, although I suppose exceptional specimens of some other octopuses might grow that big – a few other species of [I]Enteroctopus[/I] seem the most likely candidates. I see no justification for the SRD Octopus having a +2 natural armour bonus. Although their bodies are surprisingly tough and elastic, their skin is certainly not as tough to penetrate as, say, a decent sized Dog, which has a +1 natural armour bonus in the SRD. The Gnawing Beak ability was substituted for the SRD Octopus's automatic bite damage during a grapple since I prefer there to be some random element in whether the octopus can inflict damage or not. It went through a lot of iterations during which I considered whether it should require a grapple check instead or as well, i.e.: [COLOR=blue][B]Gnawing[/B] [B]Beak[/B] [B](Ex) #1:[/B] An octopus can bite an opponent it is grappling as a primary attack (bite +5 melee for 1d3+1 damage).[/COLOR][/COLOR] [COLOR=green][COLOR=blue][B]Gnawing[/B] [B]Beak[/B] [B](Ex) #2:[/B] An octopus can bite an opponent it is grappling by succeeding at an opposed grapple check, dealing damage as a primary attack (bite 1d3+1).[/COLOR][/COLOR] [COLOR=green][COLOR=blue][B]Gnawing[/B] [B]Beak[/B] [B](Ex) #3:[/B] An octopus can bite an opponent it is grappling as a primary attack (bite +5 melee for 1d3+1 damage) or by succeeding at an opposed grapple check (for the same damage).[/COLOR][/COLOR] [COLOR=green]The penetrating hardness was a late addition based on real-life octopodes’ talent for gnawing through tough shells to get at the juicy meat inside. In earlier drafts the Octopus Redux had the All-Around Tentacles special ability of the Giant Octopus Redux but eventually I decided that was going too far even for me. I pretty much only added the Larger Pacific Striped Octopus because it's such a cool animal, there's little chance stats for one would actually be used during a D&D session. A Mimic Octopus though might have some [I]slight[/I] relevance. Incidentally, an earlier version of Chameleon Mimicry allowed the octopus to substitute Hide for Disguise, but eventually I decided that was pointless.[/COLOR] [COLOR=blue][B]Chameleon Mimicry (Ex):[/B] By altering the shape and colour of its body and tentacles the octopus can imitate the appearance and movement of another species of aquatic animal. Anyone who examines the octopus can detect the ruse with a successful Spot check opposed by the octopus’s Disguise check. An imitating octopus can substitute its Hide skill ranks for its Disguise skill ranks when calculating its chameleon mimicry Disguise check if it has more ranks in Hide. If it uses Hide skill ranks, abilities that modify Disguise checks such as the Deceitful feat still apply to the chameleon mimicry check while abilities that modify Hide checks such as the Stealthy feat are irrelevant. The imitating octopus has a +# racial bonus on chameleon mimicry Disguise checks, but a –# penalty applies to checks against creature of smart animal intelligence (Int 2), which worsens to –# against intelligent creatures.[/COLOR] [COLOR=red][B]Skill Breakdown:[/B][/COLOR] [SIZE=3][COLOR=red][B]Octopus (5 SPs):[/B] Climb 0S+Dex3+6R, Escape Artist 0S+Dex3+10R, Hide 0S+Dex3+4size+8chameleon, Listen 0S+Wis1+Alertness2, Move Silently 3S+Dex3, Spot 2S+Wis1+Alertness2, Swim 0S+Dex3+8R [B]Medium Octopus (7 SPs):[/B] Climb 0S+Str3+6R, Escape Artist 0S+Dex3+10R, Hide 2S+Dex3+8chameleon, Listen 0S+Wis1+Alertness2, Move Silently 3S+Dex3, Spot 2S+Wis1+Alertness2, Swim 0S+Str3+8R; 3 HD ability advancement in Dex [B]Common Octopus (4 SPs):[/B] Climb 0S+Dex3+6R, Escape Artist 0S+Dex3+10R, Hide 0S+Dex3+8size+6chameleon, Listen 0S+Wis1+Alertness2, Move Silently 2S+Dex3, Spot 2S+Wis1+Alertness2, Swim 0S+Dex3+8R [B]Diminutive Octopus (4 SPs):[/B] Climb 0S+Dex2+6R, Escape Artist 0S+Dex2+10R, Hide 0S+Dex2+12size+4chameleon, Listen 0S+Wis1+Alertness2, Move Silently 2S+Dex2, Spot 2S+Wis1+Alertness2, Swim 0S+Dex2+8R[/COLOR][/SIZE] [/QUOTE]
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