Converting "Real World" Animals and Vermin

[Shade]

Added to Homebrews.

 

[freyar]

Looking good! Can we give the hoof Str and a half?

 

[Shade]

Sure. Updated.

Giraffes also have slightly elongated forelegs, about 10% longer than their hind legs. The pace of the giraffe is an amble, though when pursued it can run extremely fast, up to 55 km/h. It can not sustain a lengthy chase.

Something like sprint?

As noted above, males often engage in necking, which has been described as having various functions. One of these is combat. Battles can be fatal, but are more often less severe. The longer the neck, and the heavier the head at the end of the neck, the greater the force a giraffe is able to deliver in a blow.

After a necking duel, a giraffe can land a powerful blow with his head — occasionally knocking a male opponent to the ground. These fights rarely last more than a few minutes or end in physical harm.

Slam attack with head? This could be where the reach comes in.

has been speculated that their characteristic spotted pattern provides a certain degree of camouflage.

Racial bonus in certain terrain?

 

[freyar]

Sprint sounds good.

The slam attack with the head should probably only be useful against Large or larger, though.

Maybe a +4 Hide bonus in grasslands?

 

[demiurge1138]

Sprint, except it only lasts 5 rounds. +4 bonus in forested areas. Giraffes prefer the scrubby woodlands that dot savannas, for obvious reasons.

 

[freyar]

Yeah, I was trying to think about how to explain that. Could we say Hide bonus in lightly-forested areas?

 

[demiurge1138]

We should allow it to include all forests, then explain in their flavor text that they prefer the scrubby kind.

 

[freyar]

Fair enough.

 

[Echohawk]

Slam attack with head? This could be where the reach comes in.

I'm afraid I'm not convinced that a head slam attack makes sense for a giraffe. They do use their heads/necks in combat, but only when fighting other giraffes. When faced with any other hostile animal, a giraffe will either run away (most likely) or kick.

Also, the giraffes we have around here seem to actively steer clear of anything more than quite sparse woodland. I think that they find it hard to move around in foliage that is too dense, and it also make it tricky for them to see approaching predators. They mostly inhabit open grasslands or savannas, moving from one sparse patch of trees (usually our indigenous thorny acacias) to another to graze. So I don't think their terrain should include "forests".

 

[Shade]

So, temperate or warm plains? +4 Hide bonus in areas with sparse trees?