Converting prehistoric animals

Shade · Mar 28, 2008

Here's the megaraptor. What should we change?

Megaraptor
Large Animal
Hit Dice: 8d8+43 (79 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 60 ft. (12 squares)
Armor Class: 17 (–1 size, +2 Dex, +6 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +6/+15
Attack: Talons +10 melee (2d6+5)
Full Attack: Talons +10 melee (2d6+5) and 2 foreclaws +5 melee (1d4+2) and bite +5 melee (1d8+2)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Pounce
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +10, Ref +8, Will +4
Abilities: Str 21, Dex 15, Con 21, Int 2, Wis 15, Cha 10
Skills: Hide +9, Jump +27, Listen +12, Spot +12, Survival +12
Feats: Run, Toughness, Track
Environment: Warm forests
Organization: Solitary, pair, or pack (3–6)
Challenge Rating: 6
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 9–16 HD (Huge); 17–24 HD (Gargantuan)
Level Adjustment: --

This creature is a larger version of the deinonychus, standing about 12 feet tall with a total length of 24 feet. It has the same appearance, habits, and abilities of the smaller version.

Combat

Pounce (Ex): If a megaraptor charges, it can make a full attack.

Skills: A megaraptor has a +8 racial bonus on Hide, Jump, Listen, Spot, and Survival checks.

freyar · Mar 31, 2008

Well, we could drop the HD back to 7 for a start, though since these look to be Huge, maybe they should actually have more HD. Also, I think they should be immune to fear, as indicated here.

Utahraptors are intelligent for dinosaurs, but still rather stupid. This makes them utterly fearless. They do not check morale unless all adults in the pack are slain (the morale rating is for young and hatchling raptors). Utahraptors are genetically driven to attack creatures much larger than themselves and are immune to magical fear.

Shade · Mar 31, 2008

Wikipedia states that it is "Up to 6.5 m (21 ft) long, 2 m (6.6 ft) tall, and 700 kg (1,500 lb) in weight, Utahraptor would have been a formidable predator."

That could put in either Large or Huge size category, depending on which portion you which to focus.

If we went with Large, and allowed advancement to Huge, that would cover the next two size categories for the "raptor tree".

Thoughts?

demiurge1138 · Apr 1, 2008

Keep it Large. Ironically, the dinosaur that Megaraptor really is (rather than the raptor), should be Huge.

...oh, WoTC...

Demiurge out.

freyar · Apr 1, 2008

I guess we should start large and stick with 7HD.

Shade · Apr 1, 2008

Rather than just copying the megaraptor's stats, let's try advancing a deinonychus to Large...

Large Animal
Hit Dice: 7d8+42 (73 hp)
Initiative: +1
Speed: 60 ft. (12 squares)
Armor Class: 17 (-1 size, +1 Dex, +7 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +5/+17
Attack: Talons +7 melee (2d6+8)
Full Attack: Talons +7 melee (2d6+8) and 2 foreclaws +2 melee (1d4+4) and bite +2 melee (2d6+4)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Pounce
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +12, Ref +6, Will +3
Abilities: Str 27, Dex 13, Con 23, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10
Skills: Hide +6, Jump +30, Listen +10, Spot +10, Survival +10
Feats: Run, Track, 1 more
Environment: Warm forests
Organization: Solitary, pair, or pack (3–6)
Challenge Rating: 5
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: x
Level Adjustment: -

Pounce (Ex): If a utahraptor charges, it can make a full attack.

Skills: A utahraptor has a +8 racial bonus on Hide, Jump, Listen, Spot, and Survival checks.

Does that look OK, or are the megaraptor stats closer to how you'd envision the utahraptor?