Converting prehistoric animals

[freyar]

Downsizing bite seems fine.

Could give them Endurance as a bonus feat or a temperature acclimatization special ability...

 

[Shade]

I say we downsize the bite to 1d4. Keeping the claws at d8 I'm okay with. We can mention something in the flavor text about them being good parents, and about how that's how they would come into conflict with adventurers.

Added to Homebrews with those suggestions.

They were native to desert climes. Is there anything we can do with that?

Heat tolerance?

Survive without water for longer periods?

Something like this?

Sure Feet (Ex): Dromedary camels have broad feet that help them travel easily over sand and similar loose surfaces. They treat shallow sand as normal terrain and deep sand as shallow sand. See Sand Travel, page 18 of Sandstorm, for descriptions of shallow and deep sand.

 

[freyar]

Let's do all three...

 

[demiurge1138]

I don't know about the sand feet (we have ichnofossils of related species, and they're not especially broad), but heat tolerance and a bonus on saves vs. starvation and thirst I'd be all for.

 

[Cat Moon]

Great! Feel free to chime in if you have any suggestions.

Will do.

 

[demiurge1138]

Rather off topic, but Cat Moon, have you seen my World of Kong project over in Homebrews? Here. It sounds as if it'd be relevant to your interests.

 

[RavinRay]

Massospondylus breaks the mold for sauropods. In fact, with its modest size and only partly-quadrupedal habits, it hearkens to its prosauropod forebears.

It should be able to rear on its hind legs and tail in a tripodal stance, giving it a chance to strike with its foreclaws. If you saw Diplodocus defend itself against Allosaurus in Walking With Dinosaurs that's exactly how it behaved. And anyone who's been to the American Museum of Natural History in New York (as I was ten years ago—a dream visit for me) wouldn't fail to be impresses with the adult Barosaurus skeleton mounted in a tripodal stance defending its juvenile against an Allosaurus.

 

[Shade]

How's this?

Arid Adaptation (Ex): A massospondylus does not need to make Fortitude saves to avoid taking nonlethal damage in conditions between 90 degrees and 110 degrees. In conditions of severe heat (above 110 degrees) it must make Fortitude saves like any other creature, but gains a +4 racial bonus on this save. (see Heat Dangers in the DMG).

Additionally, a massospondylus needs to drink only one-quarter the normal amount of water per day require for a creature of its size.

 

[freyar]

Looks good to me.

 

[Shade]

Updated.

Anything else?