Converting prehistoric creatures

[Cleon]

Transferred to Homebrews.

Next!

Placodont
Placodonts are Triassic reptiles that live in and near the sea and eat molluscs. Some forms are encased in bony armor and may be treated as marine chelonians. Others are more lizardlike in form, having a long broad tail and limbs that are less flipper-like. These may also be treated as chelonians, except that they are 3” faster on land, have an armor class of 5, and are 50% longer. Either form may have up to 4 HD.

Originally appeared in Dragon Magazine #112 (1986).

I reckon we need something halfway between a crocodile and a turtle as far as the stats go.

Maybe give it an improved Hold Breath, so they can dive deeper and longer while foraging for shellfish.

 

[Shade]

I reckon we need something halfway between a crocodile and a turtle as far as the stats go.

Maybe give it an improved Hold Breath, so they can dive deeper and longer while foraging for shellfish.

That sounds about right, and the Stormwrack snapping turtle has Hold Breath.

Snapping Turtle
Small Animal
Hit Dice: 2d8+4 (13 hp)
Initiative: -1
Speed: 5 ft. (1 square), swim 20 ft.
Armor Class: 15 (+1 size, -1 Dex, +5 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/-2
Attack: Bite +3 melee (1d4+1)
Full Attack: Bite +3 melee (1d4+1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Improved grab
Special Qualities: Hold breath, low-light vision
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +1
Abilities: Str 12, Dex 8, Con 15, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 4
Skills: Spot +6, Swim +9
Feats: Improved Natural ArmorB, Weapon Focus (bite)
Environment: Temperate marshes
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 1
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 3-4 HD (Small)
Level Adjustment: -

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a snapping turtle must hit an opponent of up to Medium size with its bite attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking attacks of opportunity.

Hold Breath (Ex): A snapping turtle can hold its breath for a number of rounds equal to 8 times its Constitution score before it risks drowning. For a typical snapping turtle, this is 120 rounds, or 12 minutes.

Skills: A snapping turtle has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight line.

 

[Cleon]

That sounds about right, and the Stormwrack snapping turtle has Hold Breath.

Snapping Turtle
Small Animal
Hit Dice: 2d8+4 (13 hp)
Initiative: -1
Speed: 5 ft. (1 square), swim 20 ft.
Armor Class: 15 (+1 size, -1 Dex, +5 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/-2
Attack: Bite +3 melee (1d4+1)
Full Attack: Bite +3 melee (1d4+1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Improved grab
Special Qualities: Hold breath, low-light vision
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +1
Abilities: Str 12, Dex 8, Con 15, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 4
Skills: Spot +6, Swim +9
Feats: Improved Natural ArmorB, Weapon Focus (bite)
Environment: Temperate marshes
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 1
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 3-4 HD (Small)
Level Adjustment: -

That looks a pretty good start. We can cut the Improved Natural Armor and swap the Weapon Focus for some other feat - I fancy Endurance.

The Placodons have a better swim speed - I'd make it Swim 30 ft. rather than the 40 ft. or so that the original stat's 15" swim suggests, since placodonts were so heavily built it's unlikely they were fast swimmers.

Better check the Dragon #112 Dinosaur article's stats for the "Chelonians" it mentions, to see what they're talking about...

CHELONIAN, MARINE FREQUENCY: Common
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 3
MOVE: 3”//18”
HIT DICE: 1 hp to 7HD
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1 (bite)
DAMAGE/ATTACK: Nil to 2-8
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Capsize boat
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Shell
INTELLIGENCE: Non-
SIZE: S to L, (2 to 12’ long)

They vary with size as shown below:

Hit Dice . Damage . Size
to ¼ . . . Nil . . S(2-3)
½ . . . . . 1 . .. M(4)
1 . . .. . 1d2 . . L(5)
2 . . .. . 1d3 . . L(6)
3 . . .. . 1d4 . . L(7)
4-5 . .. . 1d6 . . L(8-10)
6-7 . .. . 2d4 . . L(11-12)

​

Aquatic chelonians, also known as sea turtles, may be found in Cretaceous settings as well as in modern ones, with the difference that Cretaceous forms may exceed 3 HD in size. Though large, they are inoffensive eaters of sea grasses and jellyfish. Modern leatherback and hawksbill turtles are typical, while Archelon is an extremely large Cretaceous form. If attacked, they usually flee; if this fails, they retaliate with a bite. Chelonians that are not attacking or swimming have an armor class of 2.
​

So, we're going from Small (2 foot long) to Large (8-10 feet long) for the Placodonts. That matches neatly with the fossil record.

I'm thinking we should have separate stat blocks for each size like we did for the Pliosaurs, and give the Large version a Capsize special attack.

 

[freyar]

I don't see much support for capsize, and something Large shouldn't be able to capsize much of a boat anyway.

And why do we need to be so fond of non-standard advancement? I'd rather choose a size and just list the advancement.

 

[Cleon]

I don't see much support for capsize, and something Large shouldn't be able to capsize much of a boat anyway.

And why do we need to be so fond of non-standard advancement? I'd rather choose a size and just list the advancement.

I'm not that set on Capsize, but I thought if we go for separate stat-blocks we'd want something to distinguish them from standard advancement and Capsize seemed a good pick, since it's listed as the Placodont's special attack.

We should consider Achelon when coming up with the stats. The Stormwrack version is Huge-sized, 12 HD, +15 NA and Str 28, Dex 7, Con 22, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 7, and has Hold Breath with a 10 × Con multiple.

So, something like this for the Placodont?

Advancement #1
1 HD Small
2-3 HD Medium
4-6 HD Large

Advancement #2
1-2 HD Small
3-4 HD Medium
5-8 HD Large

I don't think they should be as vicious as a Snapping Turtle. I'm leaning towards Advancement #2 at the moment, since Crocodiles and Monitor Lizards are 3 HD Medium-sized animals.

 

[Shade]

I'm leaning toward #2 as well, and agree that we don't need nonstandard advancement.

 

[freyar]

#2 advancement works. I would rather have standard advancement; if we want to put in capsize, we can just use an underbar about the largest ones.

 

[Cleon]

#2 advancement works. I would rather have standard advancement; if we want to put in capsize, we can just use an underbar about the largest ones.

Or do a Huge-sized Dire Placodont with a capsize attack that specializing in tipping over rowboats and crunching heavily armored adventurers.

Guess I can start a Working Draft then.

 

[Cleon]

Placodont Working Draft

Placodont
Small Animal
Hit Dice: 1d8+2 (6 hp)
Initiative: -1
Speed: 20 ft. (4 square), swim 30 ft.
Armor Class: 15 (+1 size, -1 Dex, +5 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +0/-3
Attack: Bite +2 melee (1d4+1)
Full Attack: Bite +2 melee (1d4+1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: ---
Special Qualities: Hold breath, low-light vision
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +1, Will +1
Abilities: Str 12, Dex 8, Con 15, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 4
Skills: Hide +6, Spot +2, Swim +9
Feats: Endurance
Environment: Warm aquatic
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 1/2
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 2 HD (Small); 3-4 HD (Medium); 5-8 HD (Large)
Level Adjustment: ---

A broad-bodied reptile resembling a cross between a turtle and a marine iguana. It has no shell, but its heavy body is armoured with small bony plates. A long, flattened tail and short legs with webbed feet suggest it's faster in the water than on land.

Placodonts are primitive marine reptiles that specialize in eating shellfish, which they crush with the broad, flat teeth in their mouths. They are slow-moving creatures with poor natural armaments, so rely on size, armor or stealth to protect them from predators. Placodonts live in shallow tropical waters, where they do not have to dive deep to find food and big predators are unlikely to venture due to the risk of them being beached on a shoal.

The various species of placodont range between 3 feet and 10 feet in size (nose to tail). The typical example detailed above is about 3 or 4 feet long and weighs from 10 to 50 pounds. Placodonts tend to be small, and few species grow larger than a human. A placodont's shape and weight varies a lot - some species have lizard-like bodies, others are as broad as turtles, but most are somewhere in-between.

COMBAT

If a Placodont can't hide or flee from a threat it will bite in self-defense.

Hold Breath (Ex): A placodont can hold its breath for a number of rounds equal to 10 times its Constitution score before it risks drowning.

 

[Cleon]

Don't you know all Pliosaurs are Pirates?

I just realized I forgot to put Hold Breath in the Generic Pliosaurs Special Qualities line.

Duh!

Updating the Working Draft.