Converting monsters from the second edition Monstrous Compendiums
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Shade
Monster Junkie
Yeah, we gave the manotaur a special ability to allow it to take "rider feats". But it is quite a bit more powerful than these fellas, and I wouldn't want the centaur variants to completely outshine the originals.
Weapon Focus would work fine, but what if we played up their role as hunters and gave them Track?
For skills, how about:
Hide 1, Listen 2, Move Silently 2, Spot 2, Survival 5?
Weapon Focus would work fine, but what if we played up their role as hunters and gave them Track?
For skills, how about:
Hide 1, Listen 2, Move Silently 2, Spot 2, Survival 5?
Shade
Monster Junkie
CR 2? (Centaurs are 4HD and CR 3)
A zebranaur is about 6 feet tall and weighs about X pounds. (Centaurs are 7 feet tall and weigh about 2,100 pounds)
Zebranaurs speak Common and xx (Halfling)? (Original text mentioned Common; centaurs speak Sylvan and Elven)
A zebranaur's favored class is ranger (?). Zebranaur clerics worship Skerrit(?) and can choose any two of the following domains: Animal, Good, or Plant (assuming Skerrit).
Automatic Languages: Common, XX. Bonus Languages: XX. (Centaur has Automatic Languages: Sylvan, Elven. Bonus Languages: Common, Gnome, Halfling.)
A zebranaur is about 6 feet tall and weighs about X pounds. (Centaurs are 7 feet tall and weigh about 2,100 pounds)
Zebranaurs speak Common and xx (Halfling)? (Original text mentioned Common; centaurs speak Sylvan and Elven)
A zebranaur's favored class is ranger (?). Zebranaur clerics worship Skerrit(?) and can choose any two of the following domains: Animal, Good, or Plant (assuming Skerrit).
Automatic Languages: Common, XX. Bonus Languages: XX. (Centaur has Automatic Languages: Sylvan, Elven. Bonus Languages: Common, Gnome, Halfling.)
Shade
Monster Junkie
Centaur-Kin, Dorvesh
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Temperate hill or mountians
FREQUENCY: Very rare
ORGANIZATION: Clan
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Day
DIET: Omnivorous
[NTELLIGENCE: Average (8-10)
TREASURE: M, Q (B)
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
NO. APPEARING: 2-12 (80-120)
ARMOR CLASS: 4 (7)
MOVEMENT: 12
HIT DICE: 4
THACO: 17
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2 hoof or 1 weapon
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d6/1d6 or by weapon
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil
SPECIAL DEFENSES: +4 save vs. spell and poison
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: L (5' and taller)
MORALE: Elite (13-14)
XP VALUE:
Normal: 270
Chief 420
Dorvesh have the upper body of a dwarf and the lower body of a donkey. Their donkey hindquarters are covered with coarse hair which varies from light brown to black. The dwarfen upper half is usually well-muscled and earthy brown. They retain the full beards of their dwarven cousins.
Dorvesh clans are distrustful of outsiders, but they are not overly aggressive. They will fight only to defend themselves or their homesteads. When not expecting combat, dorvesh wear simple tunics of tough leather or hide; otherwise, they wear chain mail vests and carry shields. They wear their hair long and braided to keep it out of the way when they work in the mines.
Since dorvesh avoid contact with other races as much as possible, they speak only their own dialect of dwarvish. Anyone who speaks dwarvish has a 75% chance to understand the dorvesh dialect.
Combat: Dorvesh do not use magic of any kind, and only rarely to they use magical items. Dorvesh have an inherited resistance of spells and poison, and they can detect the slop of a passageway (1-3 on 1d6) and new tunnel construction (1-4 on 1d6). They have 30-foot infravision.
Although not warlike, dorvesh are well-organized and disciplined when forced to fight. They aer intuitive strategists. They wear chain mail vests and tough leather barding, and they carry shields.
Dorvesh wield a variety of weapons: hammers (35%), swords (50%), and light crossbows (15%). If unarmed, dorvesh attack with their front hooves, inflicting 1d6 damage with each.
In a group of more than eight dorvesh, there is a 60% chance that the clan chief will be with the group. The chief has 5 HD and AC 4.
Habitat/Society: An average dorvesh clan numbers 80 to 120 members, 20% of them children and 20% females. Dorvesh females are skilled fighters who will fight beside the males if the homestead is being attacked.
Dorvesh live in towns constructed aroudn their mine entrances. Since dorvesh do not construct deep mines, they sometimes have to move to a new site. Though their settlements are well constructed, they are not permanent. Abandoned dorvesh settlements may occasionally be found in remote valleys, often inhabited by goblins or kobolds.
Dorvesh produce all their own metalwork. These items are sturdy and reliable, but htey are less likely to be engraved or decorated than similar dwarven items. Dorvesh prefer the classic lines of a plain hammer, chisel, or axe. They hoard precious metals and gems, gold being particularly prized.
Dorvesh are a stubborn and tenacious people, often considered deliberately obtuse by outsiders. Unlike their dwarf counterparts, the dorvesh do not wage war against orcs, goblins, giants, or drow, preferring to remain detached from the other races.
Ecology: Though dorvesh are skilled miners and metal-workers, they rarely sell the goods they produce. Thus limited in commerce, they hunt their own food and cultivate mushrooms and tubers to support their diets.
Dorvesh usually live from 150 to 200 years.
Originally appeared in Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Two (1995).
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Temperate hill or mountians
FREQUENCY: Very rare
ORGANIZATION: Clan
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Day
DIET: Omnivorous
[NTELLIGENCE: Average (8-10)
TREASURE: M, Q (B)
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
NO. APPEARING: 2-12 (80-120)
ARMOR CLASS: 4 (7)
MOVEMENT: 12
HIT DICE: 4
THACO: 17
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2 hoof or 1 weapon
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d6/1d6 or by weapon
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil
SPECIAL DEFENSES: +4 save vs. spell and poison
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: L (5' and taller)
MORALE: Elite (13-14)
XP VALUE:
Normal: 270
Chief 420
Dorvesh have the upper body of a dwarf and the lower body of a donkey. Their donkey hindquarters are covered with coarse hair which varies from light brown to black. The dwarfen upper half is usually well-muscled and earthy brown. They retain the full beards of their dwarven cousins.
Dorvesh clans are distrustful of outsiders, but they are not overly aggressive. They will fight only to defend themselves or their homesteads. When not expecting combat, dorvesh wear simple tunics of tough leather or hide; otherwise, they wear chain mail vests and carry shields. They wear their hair long and braided to keep it out of the way when they work in the mines.
Since dorvesh avoid contact with other races as much as possible, they speak only their own dialect of dwarvish. Anyone who speaks dwarvish has a 75% chance to understand the dorvesh dialect.
Combat: Dorvesh do not use magic of any kind, and only rarely to they use magical items. Dorvesh have an inherited resistance of spells and poison, and they can detect the slop of a passageway (1-3 on 1d6) and new tunnel construction (1-4 on 1d6). They have 30-foot infravision.
Although not warlike, dorvesh are well-organized and disciplined when forced to fight. They aer intuitive strategists. They wear chain mail vests and tough leather barding, and they carry shields.
Dorvesh wield a variety of weapons: hammers (35%), swords (50%), and light crossbows (15%). If unarmed, dorvesh attack with their front hooves, inflicting 1d6 damage with each.
In a group of more than eight dorvesh, there is a 60% chance that the clan chief will be with the group. The chief has 5 HD and AC 4.
Habitat/Society: An average dorvesh clan numbers 80 to 120 members, 20% of them children and 20% females. Dorvesh females are skilled fighters who will fight beside the males if the homestead is being attacked.
Dorvesh live in towns constructed aroudn their mine entrances. Since dorvesh do not construct deep mines, they sometimes have to move to a new site. Though their settlements are well constructed, they are not permanent. Abandoned dorvesh settlements may occasionally be found in remote valleys, often inhabited by goblins or kobolds.
Dorvesh produce all their own metalwork. These items are sturdy and reliable, but htey are less likely to be engraved or decorated than similar dwarven items. Dorvesh prefer the classic lines of a plain hammer, chisel, or axe. They hoard precious metals and gems, gold being particularly prized.
Dorvesh are a stubborn and tenacious people, often considered deliberately obtuse by outsiders. Unlike their dwarf counterparts, the dorvesh do not wage war against orcs, goblins, giants, or drow, preferring to remain detached from the other races.
Ecology: Though dorvesh are skilled miners and metal-workers, they rarely sell the goods they produce. Thus limited in commerce, they hunt their own food and cultivate mushrooms and tubers to support their diets.
Dorvesh usually live from 150 to 200 years.
Originally appeared in Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Two (1995).
freyar
Extradimensional Explorer
First zebranaur and now these. I think there is an excess of centaur-kin! 
Monstrous humanoid, then, and Large. Put Int at 8 like centaurs? Should we just apply dwarven racial ability bonuses/penalties to the centaur? That would give Str 18, Dex 14, Con 17, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 9.
I think we should use the dwarven +2 racial bonus vs poison and spells/spell-like effects. That seems clear from the original.
Regarding "they can detect the slop of a passageway (1-3 on 1d6) and new tunnel construction (1-4 on 1d6)," should we give them stonecutting?
Also, it seems clear that these should not get attack bonuses against giants, goblins, etc.
Monstrous humanoid, then, and Large. Put Int at 8 like centaurs? Should we just apply dwarven racial ability bonuses/penalties to the centaur? That would give Str 18, Dex 14, Con 17, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 9.
I think we should use the dwarven +2 racial bonus vs poison and spells/spell-like effects. That seems clear from the original.
Regarding "they can detect the slop of a passageway (1-3 on 1d6) and new tunnel construction (1-4 on 1d6)," should we give them stonecutting?
Also, it seems clear that these should not get attack bonuses against giants, goblins, etc.
Shade
Monster Junkie
freyar said:First zebranaur and now these. I think there is an excess of centaur-kin!
Oh, most certainly. In fact, 2 more are waiting in the queue.
Most of the rest you mentioned makes sense. Here are the dwarf traits, minus those you suggested we exclude:
+2 Constitution, –2 Charisma.
A dwarf ’s base land speed is 20 feet. However, dwarves can move at this speed even when wearing medium or heavy armor or when carrying a medium or heavy load.
Darkvision out to to 60 feet.
Stonecunning: This ability grants a dwarf a +2 racial bonus on Search checks to notice unusual stonework, such as sliding walls, stonework traps, new construction (even when built to match the old), unsafe stone surfaces, shaky stone ceilings, and the like. Something that isn’t stone but that is disguised as stone also counts as unusual stonework. A dwarf who merely comes within 10 feet of unusual stonework can make a Search check as if he were actively searching, and a dwarf can use the Search skill to find stonework traps as a rogue can. A dwarf can also intuit depth, sensing his approximate depth underground as naturally as a human can sense which way is up. Dwarves have a sixth sense about stonework, an innate ability that they get plenty of opportunity to practice and hone in their underground homes.
Weapon Familiarity: Dwarves treat dwarven waraxes and dwarven urgroshes as martial weapons, rather than exotic weapons.
Stability: Dwarves are exceptionally stable on their feet. A dwarf has a +4 bonus on ability checks made to resist being bull rushed or tripped when standing on the ground (but not when climbing, flying, riding, or otherwise not standing firmly on the ground).
+2 racial bonus on saving throws against poison. *Not reflected in the saving throw numbers given here.
+2 racial bonus on saving throws against spells and spell-like effects. *Not reflected in the saving throw numbers given here.
+2 racial bonus on Appraise checks that are related to stone or metal items.
+2 racial bonus on Craft checks that are related to stone or metal.
Automatic Languages: Common, Dwarven. Bonus Languages: Giant, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, Terran, Undercommon.
Favored Class: Fighter.
Centaur's racial modifiers:
+8 Strength, +4 Dexterity, +4 Constitution, –2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom.
Applying the dwarf's +2 Constitution, –2 Charisma yields:
+8 Strength, +4 Dexterity, +6 Constitution, –2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom, –2 Charisma.
Which yields the same results as your suggested stat modification above.
About the only other thing I'd change is to drop stability.
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