Converting prehistoric animals

[Shade]

Added to Homebrews.

 

[demiurge1138]

Do we want to keep the frightful roar? The nefundusaurus was a specialist scavenger and kill-thief that chased other predators away from their food. We might want to give it... improved grab? Worry?

 

[freyar]

Let's drop the roar, I guess. Imp Grab, Worry, and possibly also Swallow Whole seem like good fits.

 

[demiurge1138]

It's not going to be able to swallow much, since it's only Large. We might want to give it a secondary tail attack and tail sweep (the tripping variation seen in Megalania), but that would reduce its bite damage from Str x 1.5

 

[freyar]

Well, it can swallow Medium things. That's not too bad. And it's got the big head! But the tail attack would be ok instead, if you all prefer.

 

[demiurge1138]

Being Large, it could only Swallow Whole on Small creatures.

Which still might be worth it, what with halflings and gnomes and things.

 

[freyar]

Being Large, it could only Swallow Whole on Small creatures.

Which still might be worth it, what with halflings and gnomes and things.

This is weird. The SRD I'm using says

Swallow Whole (Ex): If a creature with this special attack begins its turn with an opponent held in its mouth (see Improved Grab), it can attempt a new grapple check (as though attempting to pin the opponent). If it succeeds, it swallows its prey, and the opponent takes bite damage. Unless otherwise noted, the opponent can be up to one size category smaller than the swallowing creature. Being swallowed has various consequences, depending on the creature doing the swallowing. A swallowed creature is considered to be grappled, while the creature that did the swallowing is not. A swallowed creature can try to cut its way free with any light slashing or piercing weapon (the amount of cutting damage required to get free is noted in the creature description), or it can just try to escape the grapple. The Armor Class of the interior of a creature that swallows whole is normally 10 + 1/2 its natural armor bonus, with no modifiers for size or Dexterity. If the swallowed creature escapes the grapple, success puts it back in the attacker’s mouth, where it may be bitten or swallowed again.

My bold. I do think you're right that they often require 2 categories smaller, though.

 

[demiurge1138]

Yeah, I've never seen something without any supernatural abilities able to swallow only one size category smaller. Not once.

 

[freyar]

How about Swallow Whole (vs Small and smaller) and a secondary tail slap but no tripping tail sweep?

 

[demiurge1138]

Sounds good to me. Damage on the tail slap? 2d8 is one size higher than 1d12 (the tail slap on a Medium crocodile).