Converting "Real World" Animals and Vermin

[freyar]

Int 3, Str 14? I'd go with Multiattack rather than WF.

 

[Shade]

Updated with those suggestions.

We have 1 more skill rank to assign.

Advancement: x

A drop bear is x feet long and weighs x pounds.

Rake (Ex): Attack bonus +x melee, damage x.

 

[freyar]

I'd say put the rank into Move Silently so it can get a drop on more PCs.

3-5 HD (Small), 6-8 HD (Medium)

3 ft long and 50-75 lb?

+5, 1d8+2?

 

[Shade]

Updated.

CR 2? Their damage output is pretty heavy.

 

[freyar]

Yeah, that works for me. Done?

 

[Shade]

I think so.

Let's give the "and Vermin" portion of this thread a shot!

Daddy Longlegs
FREQUENCY: Common
NO. APPEARING: 2-15/15-25
ARMOR CLASS: 6
MOVE: 18“
HIT DICE: 2 + 2
% IN LAIR: 50%
TREASURE TYPE: J-N, Q
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1/1
DMG/ATTACK: 1-6/3-12
SPECIAL ATT.: See text
SPECIAL DEF.: See text
MAGIC RES.: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Animal
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: M
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

This creature is an oddity, even among spiders, and can provide dungeon adventurers with unexpected difficulty. The Daddy Longlegs, also known as the “harvester” or “mower” spider because of the scythe-like action of her legs, is especially numerous in the late fall of the year during harvest.

The cephalothorax and abdomen are fused into one unit which is supported by eight extremely long, thin legs. The legs effectively and speedily lift and carry the body beyond the reach of raiding giant ants and any thrusting sword, javelin, or standard spear (about 20 to 25 feet up). A pike mightr each, but this would require at least two strong men to wield it in that awkward position. Arrows have the standard effect.

The Daddy Longlegs is also equipped with a pair of glands, one on each side of her body, that emit a reddish, acrid vapor similar to that of the bombardier beetle. Like the bombardier beetle if continually disturbed or attacked, there is a 50% chance each round that the spider will lift her body to the full extension of her legs and fire an 8’x8’x8’ cloud of gas that will cause 3-12 points of damage. The gas can be fired every third round, but no more than twice in an eight-hour span.

The Daddy Longlegs will attempt to flee just after using her gas attack. In nature, the Daddy Longlegs has one other way to escape detection. She can hang from a web strand and rotate, or stand and vibrate, at so fast a rate that she becomes a near-invisible blur. In an AD&D adventure, characters seeking the Daddy Longlegs need to be very sharpsighted, or of the elven race, to detect a “spinning” spider, and then only if they are looking for it.

Originally appeared in Dragon Magazine #67 (1982)

 

[Shade]

Note that the creature above is actually drawn from two different creatures:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opiliones
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daddy_long-legs_spider

Giving this some thought, I think we should make the Opiliones the basic entry, and make the Pholcidae a variant.

A Medium monstrous spider has the following ability scores:

Str 11, Dex 17, Con 12, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 2

I could see raising the Dex a bit for these guys, and maybe reducing the Str and/or Con. Thoughts?

To simulate the great height, I'm toying with the idea of giving it 20 ft. reach, and noting in a special ability that only the legs can be attacked by anything with less reach.

Alternatively, we could make them Huge, but give them a modification of something like this ability:

Airy (Ex): Since a plague brush is constantly turning over and its anatomy is made up of a (relatively) small amount of plant matter and lots of empty space, it is difficult to know where to attack the creature. Any melee or ranged attack with a piercing weapon directed at a plage brush has a 20% miss chance. The blow or missle may pass through the creature's body without harming it. Even a true seeing effect is useless for determining where and how to strike the creature.

 

[demiurge1138]

I like the idea of Huge + airy. I'd also consider something similar to the narrow berth ability we gave that forest elephant--allowing it to fit into 10 or even 5 foot spaces.

 

[Shade]

So how about Huge and Str 11, Dex 19, Con 12, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 2?

Here's a stab at the abilities...

Long-Legged (Ex): Since a daddy longlegs is mostly long, thin legs, its space/reach is much larger than its actual body. As a result, it is difficult to to attack the creature. Any melee or ranged attack directed at a daddy longlegs has a 20% miss chance. Even a true seeing effect is useless for determining where and how to strike the creature.

Narrow Berth (Ex): Due to its long legs and small body, a daddy longlegs is treated as being one size smaller than it actually is for the purposes of squeezing (see page 149 of the Player’s Handbook for the rules for squeezing).

 

[freyar]

Looks good to me! Incidentally, should we call these "monstrous daddy longlegs" to distinguish them from the smaller mundane kind?

The Daddy Longlegs is also equipped with a pair of glands, one on each side of her body, that emit a reddish, acrid vapor similar to that of the bombardier beetle. Like the bombardier beetle if continually disturbed or attacked, there is a 50% chance each round that the spider will lift her body to the full extension of her legs and fire an 8’x8’x8’ cloud of gas that will cause 3-12 points of damage. The gas can be fired every third round, but no more than twice in an eight-hour span.

Converting from the bombadier beetle:

Acid Spray (Ex): When attacked or disturbed, the creature can release a X-foot cone of acidic vapor once per round. Those within the cone must succeed on a DC X Fortitude save or take XdX+X points of acid damage. The save DC is Constitution-based.

I'm going to suggest 40-ft cone and either 1d4+Con (same as the beetle) or 1d6+Con. What do you think?