Converting "Real World" Animals and Vermin

[Cleon]

Hmmm, I might make it immediate to inflate and standard to deflate, but any of these options is ok by me.

Immediate is tempting for the inflation.

Standard or move-equivalent to deflate?

 

[freyar]

Either way is ok by me.

 

[Shade]

Let's go with immediate and move actions.

Updated.

Skills: 4
Spot?

Feats: 1
Weapon Focus (spines)?

Challenge Rating: 1?

Advancement: 2-3 HD (Small)?

A giant porcupine fish is 2 to 3 feet long and weighs x pounds.

 

[Cleon]

Either way is ok by me.

Both move or standard action are fine by me too, so shall we leave it to Shade or flip a d2?

 

[Shade]

I already decided (see post above yours).

Take that, d2!

 

[Cleon]

I already decided (see post above yours).

Take that, d2!

Poor d2, the least loved of the random number generators.

 

[Cleon]

Let's go with immediate and move actions.

Updated.

Skills: 4
Spot?

Feats: 1
Weapon Focus (spines)?

Well I don't know what their eyesight is like but they've got pretty big eyes, so Spot is OK by me.

WF (spines) doesn't feel right to me, since the real-world variety are not aggressive.

They're tough little fellows though, and have a nasty neurotoxin, so Endurance or Ability Focus (poison)?

Speaking of that poison, the real-world porcupine fish has poisonous internal organs, not spines. I don't mind giving the monster version poison spines, but feel we should keep the ingested poison for creatures that try to eat them. Maybe make the latter nastier.

How about:

Poison (Ex): A porcupine fish's spines and many of its internal organs are poisonous.

Spine poison - Injury by spines, Fortitude DC 12 [or 14 with Ability Focus], initial and secondary damage 1d6 Con.

Organ poison - Ingestion, Fortitude DC 12 [or 14 with Ability Focus], initial and secondary damage 2d6 Con.

The save DCs are Constitution-based.

Challenge Rating: 1?

Advancement: 2-3 HD (Small)?

A giant porcupine fish is 2 to 3 feet long and weighs x pounds.

The CR looks good, but I'd have them advance to at least Medium and possibly even Large. They are supposedly giant porcupine fish, and the real-world variety can reach 3 feet long in the wild.

So, Advancement: 2 HD (Small); 3-4 HD (Medium); 5-6 HD (Large) ?

As for the weight, some googling has found that these fish range from 15-90 cm in length and weigh from 40-100 grams for the smaller (20 cm or so) species and 500-3000 grams for the larger (30-90 cm) ones.

I suggest we scale the giant variety to a 30 cm, half-kilo specimen. Scaling that up to 2 feet would give it a weight of 9.25-31.25 pounds.

Which would give us something like...

A giant porcupine fish is 2 to 3 feet long and weighs 10 to 30 pounds.

 

[freyar]

I'm happy to go with Cleon's suggestions here.

These guys are probably shaping up as CR 1 except for that quite deadly poison, so I wouldn't add an ability focus. Endurance for the feat, then?

 

[Shade]

Poor d2, the least loved of the random number generators.

Yeah, I'd rather spend my d2s on other things, like more dice.

All the rest sounds good.

Updated.

 

[Cleon]

Yeah, I'd rather spend my d2s on other things, like more dice.

All the rest sounds good.

Updated.

It needs a description and I'm not sure about the tactics entry:

A giant porcupine fish is not aggressive, but can be dangerous. If threatened, it attempts to flee to its lair at the earliest opportunity. If provoked, it may bite, but if attacked, it immediately inflates its body, revealing long, sharp spines. These spines not only deter attacks, but allow the fish to making offensive impalements.

Since it mentions a lair, we'll need to say what these are like. I'd suggest amending the description:

How about:

This fish has a thick, sturdy body entirely covered with long spines. Its wide head has a large eye on each side, with a slit-like mouth set between.

Giant porcupine fish are found near rocky coasts and coral reefs, where they lair in caves or crevices. They are highly territorial, never straying far from their feeding grounds.

A giant porcupine fish feeds primarily on coral, clams, and small crustaceans.

A giant porcupine fish is 2 to 3 feet long and weighs 10 to 30 pounds.

Combat
A giant porcupine fish is not aggressive, but may bite when provoked. If it sees danger, the fish flees to its lair at the earliest opportunity. When attacked or threatened the giant porcupine fish immediately inflates its body, erecting its knife-long poisonous spines. These spines not only deter attacks, but the fish can use them to make impaling attacks.