Converting "Real World" Animals and Vermin

[Cleon]

A spotted brown cat with pointed and tufted ears, this creature has a short tail and large paws.

That's based a bit on the wikipedia page.

I'd prefer "pale brown", since Lynxs tend to have light-coloured fur.

If you're going by Wikipedia I also like the "silvery brown" it uses to describe the fur of the Canada Lynx.

A silvery-brown cat with small, dark brown spots. It has long legs with big paws, a short tail, and large ears that end in pointed tufted.

Tactics: Like other felines, a giant lynx prefers to pounce from stealth, making use if its rake attacks quickly. Their native intelligence also allows them to orchestrate elaborate ambushes, but their snaresensing skill allows them to avoid traps very well themselves.

That looks fine, except for the "making use if its rake".

I'd add a bit about their relationship to humanoids.

How's this?:

The giant lynx almost never attacks humanoids, except in self defense. Like other felines, a giant lynx prefers to pounce on prey and opponents from stealth, then quickly make use of its rake attacks. Their native intelligence also allows them to orchestrate elaborate ambushes, while their snaresensing ability allows them to avoid traps very well themselves.

 

[freyar]

Another typo: "pointed tufted" should be "pointed tufts" in the description. But I like that and the tactics.

I can't say I have many ideas about the background, but I do have one about languages. The 1e version speaks its own language, while the 2e version doesn't say. I suggest Sylvan and sometime Common.

 

[Cleon]

Another typo: "pointed tufted" should be "pointed tufts" in the description. But I like that and the tactics.

Updating Giant Lynx Working Draft.

I can't say I have many ideas about the background, but I do have one about languages. The 1e version speaks its own language, while the 2e version doesn't say. I suggest Sylvan and sometime Common.

Well obviously they speak Elven Cat!

I'd rather they not be able to speak Common. They only speak their own language in the original, and having them speak Common makes them a lot less mysterious.

How about "a dialect of Sylvan"?

 

[freyar]

But elven cats just speak Elven. Boring!

Some "dialect of Sylvan" works for me.

 

[Cleon]

But elven cats just speak Elven. Boring!

Some "dialect of Sylvan" works for me.

Not in AD&D they didn't, they had their own language.

Seem's were agreed on Sylvan.

 

[Cleon]

I've come up with the following for the background, it includes a slight tweaking of the description (I added in a "bobbed" tail and a shoulder height):

A silvery-brown cat with small, dark brown spots. It has long legs with big paws, a short bobbed tail, and large ears that end in pointed tufts.

The giant lynx is a larger, slightly magical relative of a normal lynx. They are nocturnal and prefer to live in boreal forests and cold scrublands. Giant lynx hunt most of the smaller animals that live in the taiga forests, stalking everything from lemmings to the smaller deer. They are fast and stealthy enough to catch birds. A giant lynx is as intelligent as most humanoids, but has little or no interest in "civilization". It uses its intelligence for survival, adapting its behavior to fit its habitat rather than trying to change the habitat to suit them like civilized humanoids might. These great cats are renowned for being extraordinarily perceptive, and can easily spot snares and tracks.

A giant lynx is about 4 feet long and weighs around 80 pounds. They typically stand 2¼ feet tall at the shoulder, due to their long legs.

Giant lynx speak a dialect of Slyvan. They rarely know any other language.
​

I've updated the Giant Lynx Working Draft with the above, and also fixed the "lynxes" to "lynx" so it has consistent pluralisation.

The AD&D sources used "lynx" for a plural, so I decided to use that.

We're about done. Just the red questions to go.

The only change I'd like to make is altering Environment to "Cold forests", since.

(a) Although lynx may live on arctic tundra and temperate scrubland, they're mainly a forest animal.
(b) The Monstrous Manual entry has "Climate/Terrain: Subarctic forest".

It looks like we're done with the Lynx if the above meets your approval.

Any thoughts?

 

[Cleon]

Oh, incidentally, the exists of a "Giant Lynx" begs the question of what stats does a regular Lynx have?

I came up with the following. Shall we add it to the "beasts batch" we're posting this weekend?:

Lynx [Homebrew]
Medium Animal
Hit Dice: 2d8+2 (11 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 40 ft (8 squares), climb 20 ft.
Armor Class: 15 (+4 Dex, +1 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 11
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+1
Attack: Claw +5 melee (1d2)
Full Attack: 2 claws +5 melee (1d2) and bite +0 melee (1d4)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Improved grab, pounce, rake 1d2
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +7, Will +1
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 19, Con 13, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Skills: Balance +12, Climb +12, Hide +8*, Jump +8, Listen +6, Move Silently +8, Spot +9, Swim +4
Feats: Alertness, Weapon Finesse (B)
Environment: Cold or temperate forests and plains
Organization: Solitary or family (2-4)
Challenge Rating: 1
Advancement: 3 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: —

A silvery-brown cat with small, dark brown spots. It has long legs with big paws, a short tail, and large ears that end in pointed tufts.

Lynx are a medium-sized species of wild cat. They prefer to live in forests, but may also roam tundra or temperate scrublands. A family of lynx consists of a mother and her cubs.

A lynx is between 3 and 4 feet long and can weigh up to 80 pounds.

Combat
A lynx never hunts humanoids, but might attack one in self defense. It prefers to pounce on prey and opponents from stealth, then quickly make use of its rake attacks.

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a lynx must hit with its bite attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can rake.

Pounce (Ex): If a lynx charges a foe, it can make a full attack, including two rake attacks.

Rake (Ex): Attack bonus +5 melee, damage 1d2.

Skills: Lynx have a +4 racial bonus on Jump, Hide, Move Silently, Spot and Swim checks. Lynx have a +8 racial bonus to Balance and Climb checks and can use their Dexterity or Strength for Climb and Jump checks. A lynx can always choose to take 10 on a Climb check, even if rushed or threatened.

*In areas of tall grass or heavy undergrowth, the Hide bonus improves to +8.

 

[Cleon]

Wild Cat Wonder Working Draft

Come to think of it, we don't have a conversion of the MM Wild Cat yet. I came up with the following stats for them.

Since I'm on a "feline roll" I'd like to add them to my half of the pending CC batch too:

Cat, Wild
Small Animal
Hit Dice: 1d8+1 (5 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 40 ft (8 squares), climb 20 ft.
Armor Class: 15 (+1 size, +3 Dex, +1 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +0/-5
Attack: Claw +4 melee (1d3-1)
Full Attack: 2 claws +4 melee (1d3-1) and bite -1 melee (1d4-1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Improved grab, pounce, rake 1d3-1
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +5, Will +1
Abilities: Str 8, Dex 17, Con 13, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 7
Skills: Balance +11, Climb +11, Hide +11*, Jump +7, Listen +5, Move Silently +7, Spot +5
Feats: Alertness, Weapon Finesse (B)
Environment: Any forests, hills, or plains
Organization: Solitary or family (2-5)
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Challenge Rating: ½
Advancement: 2 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: —

This entry describes a large male wildcat (Felis silvestris), a bobcat, or another feline of similar size. Smaller wild cats such as the margay use the stats of the lesser wild cat (see below) or the Cat entry in the Monster Manual. Wild cats are adaptable animals that can be found in many terrains, but are commonest in forests. A wild cat family consists of a mother and her cubs.

A wild cat is 2 to 4 feet long and can weigh up to 60 pounds, although 20 pounds is a more typically weight.

Combat
A wild cat avoids humanoids, but may attack them savagely if it feels threatened. They prefer to pounce on prey and opponents from ambush, then quickly use rake attacks.

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a wild cat must hit with its bite attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can rake.

Pounce (Ex): If a wild cat charges a foe, it can make a full attack, including two rake attacks.

Rake (Ex): Attack bonus +4 melee, damage 1d3-1.

Skills: Wild cats have a +4 racial bonus on Hide and Move Silently checks. Wild cats have a +8 racial bonus to Balance and Climb checks and can use their Dexterity or Strength for Climb and Jump checks. A wild cat can always choose to take 10 on a Climb check, even if rushed or threatened.

*In areas of tall grass or heavy undergrowth, the Hide bonus improves to +8.

Lesser Wild Cat
Tiny Animal
Hit Dice: ½d8+1 (3 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 40 ft (8 squares), climb 20 ft.
Armor Class: 15 (+2 size, +3 Dex), touch 15, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +0/-11
Attack: Claw +5 melee (1d2-3)
Full Attack: 2 claws +5 melee (1d2-3) and bite +0 melee (1d3-3)
Space/Reach: 2½ ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks: Improved grab, pounce
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +5, Will +1
Abilities: Str 4, Dex 17, Con 13, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 7
Skills: Balance +11, Climb +11, Hide +15*, Jump +7, Listen +5, Move Silently +7, Spot +5
Feats: Alertness, Weapon Finesse (B)
Environment: Any forests, hills, or plains
Organization: Solitary or family (2-5)
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Challenge Rating: 1/3
Advancement: —
Level Adjustment: —

Lesser wild cats include the margay, smaller specimens of wildcat and jungle cat, and similarly-sized wild felines. It can also represent an exceptionally large and ferocious domestic cat (feral or otherwise).

A lesser wild cat is between 1½ and 2 feet long and weighs between 8 and 15 pounds.

COMBAT

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a lesser wild cat must hit with its bite attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold.

Pounce (Ex): If a lesser wild cat charges a foe, it can make a full attack.

 

[freyar]

We should probably figure out the final list of 10 critters for this weekend and split them up.

I think the lynx and wild cat look ok, but I'm a bit concerned about their sizes. The largest species of lynx (the Eurasian one) is only 32-51 in long and 28 in tall with max weight of 66 lb (see wikipedia), which says Small to me. Plus the giant lynx is only Medium, so I wouldn't want the regular lynx to be Medium also. Similarly with the wild cat; 2-3 ft long and 10-20 lb is Tiny, maybe with advancement to Small. The wild cats I've seen in zoos certainly weren't much larger than housecats if at all (fishing cats were slightly larger). But, anyway, if they're down to Tiny, I'm not sure they rate an entry distinct from the SRD cat.

We should work through these before posting them.

 

[Cleon]

We should probably figure out the final list of 10 critters for this weekend and split them up.

I think the lynx and wild cat look ok, but I'm a bit concerned about their sizes. The largest species of lynx (the Eurasian one) is only 32-51 in long and 28 in tall with max weight of 66 lb (see wikipedia), which says Small to me. Plus the giant lynx is only Medium, so I wouldn't want the regular lynx to be Medium also. Similarly with the wild cat; 2-3 ft long and 10-20 lb is Tiny, maybe with advancement to Small. The wild cats I've seen in zoos certainly weren't much larger than housecats if at all (fishing cats were slightly larger). But, anyway, if they're down to Tiny, I'm not sure they rate an entry distinct from the SRD cat.

We should work through these before posting them.

I'm not going to upload the Lynx to the CC, it already has official 3E stats, so we needn't worry about that.

My Lynx homebrew is supposed to be one of the larger Lynxes, so would be around the 50 pound minimum for a Medium creature. It's also worth noticing that the Great Cats in the SRD tend to have a bigger size category than their weight would indicate - a typical lion is around 300 pounds, for example, but their Large creature despite that size normally being 500-4000 pounds.

The Wild Cat stats I give above is meant to include the smaller lynx species, which is why it mentions Bobcats (that are a type of Lynx - Lynx rufus, to be exact). I didn't want to mention the lynx specifically in the text because Lynx already have officially stats.

A Wild Cat is well within the 8 pound lower limit of the Small size category, so it doesn't need a "size boost" like the SRD Lion.

Mainly, I want an intermediate feline between the Tiny SRD cat and the Medium SRD Jaguar, and converting the AD&D Wild Cat seems the best solution.

The MM Wild Cat is up to twice as large as a housecat (1' tall vs 1' -2' tall), has twice the HD (½ vs 1) and speed (Mv 9 vs Mv 18) and average just over two times the damage (1-2/1 & 1-2 vs 1-2/1-2/1-2 & 1-2/1-2; or 3.5 vs 7.5 average hps).

They're both "Tiny" in the Monstrous Manual, but the Wild Cat is so much more powerful it deserves to be Small.