Converting Monsters from Polyhedron Magazine

[freyar]

I think that suggests these should be the same as light horses, so 3HD. I don't mind whether we go with light horses or light warhorses for the abilities, though.

 

[Shade]

I concur. There are precedents for 3 HD "playable races", such as the bugbear.

I'm also indifferent as to the horse from which we pull ability scores.

 

[Cleon]

I concur. There are precedents for 3 HD "playable races", such as the bugbear.

I'm also indifferent as to the horse from which we pull ability scores.

All right, I'll yield. Let's have it with 3 Hit Dice.

Come to think of it, the original 2+2 HD matches up to a 2E AD&D Medium warhorse, which doesn't have a 3E SRD equivalent. I'm still thinking a Light Warhorse is probably closer for the physical stats.

So, what about the other points I raised.

Advancement by character class?

Do we want an entry for the Philosopher leaders?

Shall we make something of their reported fearlessness?

 

[freyar]

Ok, then, starting from the light warhorse, how about Str 16, Dex 13, Con 17, Int 14, Wis 11, Cha 14?

Advancement by character class, sure.

I could go either way on the philosophers. In particular, I'm not sure if the "no disease" thing is a property of the Houyhnhnms, the island, or just a reflection of the fact that they have a very "clean" society.

I could see a bonus on saves vs fear effects.

 

[Shade]

I agree with all of freyar's assessments in the previous post.

As for using weapons, I could see giving them non-proficiency with all weapons (including simple weapons) other than those Cleon suggested.

 

[freyar]

I'll agree about the weapon nonproficiency.

 

[Cleon]

Ok, then, starting from the light warhorse, how about Str 16, Dex 13, Con 17, Int 14, Wis 11, Cha 14?

Advancement by character class, sure.

I prefer them having Wisdom as their highest mental stat - they are philosopher horses, after all - which is why I suggested Int 13, Wis 14, Cha 12.

What about favoured class? The idea of Monk is starting to grow on me, just the idea of Kung Fu Horses.

I could see a bonus on saves vs fear effects.

I'd go for a bonus on Fear saves as well, assuming Houyhnhnms don't just have good Will saves due to high Wisdom or maybe Iron Will.

 

[Cleon]

As for using weapons, I could see giving them non-proficiency with all weapons (including simple weapons) other than those Cleon suggested.

I'll agree about the weapon nonproficiency.

As for the weapons, my original concept was that a "typical Houyhnhnm" would be a 1st level Expert, so would get proficiency in simple weapons from its Expert class which it would use to wield spiked gauntlets (or, rather, spiked horseshoes), while Houyhnhnm in their equivalent of the militia would have levels in Warrior (or a PC combat class like ranger or fighter, for the elite ones), which would give them Martial Proficiency and hence armour spikes.

Still, giving them weapon proficiency only in the two forms of spikes works just as well for me, and it fits better with the SRD rules on monster weapon proficiency.

I'm presuming these will be Magical Beasts, which are not usually skilled in artificial weapons, but armour & horseshoe spikes are pretty well an extension of their natural weapons.

Oh, and what about armour proficiency? The text mentions they wear barding, so I'm thinking even a non-warrior Houyhnhnm would put on leather armour if they've been mustered to defend their lands. Not having much of a technology, I doubt they'll manufacture any armour tougher than Hide, but they may trade for something better with friendly or neutral neighbors.

 

[Shade]

Cleon, I agree with your suggested mental ability scores and favored class.

Added to Homebrews.

 

[freyar]

These are looking pretty good (except for the bugbear text in the PC section). I'm divided as to whether to give the basic Houyhnhnm weapons or barding, though. I'm not sure that we should present them as decked up for a fight (though we could put that stuff in as an alternative). I don't think we should give them any character levels, though.