Converting prehistoric creatures

[demiurge1138]

I'm already having this argument on Paizo's forums--I argued that the Dragon 318 Liopleurodon stats are good enough, especially since Liopleurodon was actually Huge (10 meters), whereas the stats, and Predator X, are both Colossal.

Agreed to generally docile unless provoked.

 

[Shade]

Yeah, good point. They are very close. Plus, our kronosaurus provides advancement to Colossal for folks that don't have that issue.

In that case, shall we move on to something else, like this fellow?

Metridiochoerus (giant warthog)
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Tropical forests
FREQUENCY: Uncommon
ORGANIZATION: Family group
DIET: Omnivore
NO. APPEARING: 1-10
ARMOR CLASS: 6
MOVEMENT: 15
HIT DICE: 5
THAC0: 15
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE/ATTACKS: 2-12/2-12
SIZE: M (3½ . high at shoulder, 5. long)
MORALE: Average (8-10)
XP VALUE: 175

Metridiochoerus was a giant warthog and a contemporary of the earliest humans. It had the same squat body and long head as the modern species. Its tusks were long and sharp.

Combat: The giant warthog fights with slashes from its two sets of tusks. Females are equal to males. This swine fights for 1-3 rounds at 0 to -8 hp, but greater damage kills it instantly. (Those who do not think pigs are dangerous should rent the video Razorback.)

Habitat/Society: Giant warthogs live in family groups. If more than one is encountered, the largest is the male, while the others are females (50%) and young (50%).

Normally rooters and browsers, warthogs also eat carrion and small animals. Giant warthogs are in the middle of the food chain. The young fall prey to many predators, while lions can take the adults.

Originally appeared in Dragon Magazine #167 (1991).

Metridiochoerus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[InsanePsychoRabbit]

Easy. We can just take the statistics for the boar and advance it to 5 HD, and beef up its physical ability scores a bit. We should probably improve the natural attack too - look at those tusks!

 

[demiurge1138]

Yeah. It seems to be intermediate in size and power between a boar and a dire boar. Not too terribly exciting.

 

[InsanePsychoRabbit]

Boar, Giant Warthog (Metridiochoerus)
Medium Animal
Hit Dice: 5d8+15 (37 hp)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 16 (+6 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+8
Attack: Gore +8 melee (2d6+7)
Full Attack: Gore +8 melee (2d6+7)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Ferocity
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +7, Ref +4, Will +2
Abilities: Str 21, Dex 10, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 4
Skills: Listen +8, Spot +6
Feats: Alertness, Toughness
Environment: Warm forests
Organization: Solitary or herd (5-8)
Challenge Rating: 3?
Advancement: x
Level Adjustment: —

This large boar has knob-like protrusions on its face and very long, curved tusks.

Though not carnivores, these wild swine are bad-tempered and usually charge anyone who disturbs them.

A giant warthog is about 5 feet long and weighs x pounds.

Combat
Giant warthogs charge at opponents and stab them with their long tusks.

Ferocity (Ex): A boar is such a tenacious combatant that it continues to fight without penalty even while disabled or dying.


I set the strength halfway between the ordinary boar's and the dire boar's. I kept the Con score the same because the ordinary and dire boar both have Con scores of 17. I also increased the gore base damage.

 

[Shade]

Looks good! Any interest in adding augmented critical for the extra-set of wicked-looking tusks?

 

[InsanePsychoRabbit]

That would be cool. What do you think about the Challenge Rating, though?

 

[Shade]

Added to Homebrews. I gave it the dire ability as well.

For CR, I'm thinking with the addition of augmented critical, that it may also be CR 4. It could be a strong CR 3, though.

 

[Cleon]

Sorry for being late to the party.

Just to play devil's advocate, I would take it one of two ways:

Firstly, just use the SRD stats for a 4-5 HD boar, a 5' long wild pig is nothing unusual, so the regular rules could work fine. Failing that, PsychoRabbit's stats look basically OK to me, although I'd put the Strength considerably lower. A warthog that size would weigh about 300 lbs, which is a lot closer to an 'average' boar than the ~2000 lb dire boar. I'd this +3 Strength for Str 18 would be fine.

Secondly, the AD&D version of the warthog has two tusk attacks, while the AD&D boar has a single gore attack. How about a giant warthog with two tusk attacks?

Stats as PsychoRabbit's Boar, Giant Warthog (Metridiochoerus) except:

Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+7
Attack: Tusk +7 melee (1d8+4)
Full Attack: 2 tusks +7 melee (1d8+4)
Abilities: Str 18, Dex 10, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 4

 

[Shade]

I'm not really seeing the second gore attack (in 3e, extra attacks with the same body part tend to be iterative attacks), but I could definitely see lowering the Str and weight as you pointed out.

What do the rest of you think?