Converting "Real World" Animals and Vermin

[Cleon]

I can go for that.

Updated.

Since mice have such hard teeth, how about adding a variation on the Gnawing special attack I came up with for the Goat-Demon?

Inexorable Gnawing (Ex): A goat demon can chew its way through almost anything with its powerful jaws and teeth. As a standard action, the goat demon can deal 2d6+3 damage to any immobile object, including victims of its paralysis attack and opponents the goat demon has grappled and pinned. Inexorable gnawing ignores damage reduction and hardness of less than 10.

Something like...

Inexorable Gnawing (Ex): A giant mouse can chew its way through almost anything with its incredibly hard teeth, dealing 3d6+16 damage to any immobile object. It can also gnaw an opponent for the same damage with a successful grapple check.

Inexorable gnawing ignores damage reduction and hardness of less than 10.

 

[freyar]

How about a "store in cheeks" kind of ability instead of swallow whole? Or the chewing one; I think we've called that "gnaw" before.

Edit: since Cleon got a ninja attack in there: I don't really like inexorable gnawing too much, but I do like the regular gnaw by biting on a grapple check. Maybe I could see adding a "hard teeth" SQ to ignore a little hardness, up to 5 maybe. These aren't supernatural.

 

[Shade]

Wow...spontaneous gnawing inspiration!

I'll go for the strong teeth, but nothing supernatural, and the "store in cheeks"/gnaw.

 

[Cleon]

How about a "store in cheeks" kind of ability instead of swallow whole? Or the chewing one; I think we've called that "gnaw" before.

Edit: since Cleon got a ninja attack in there: I don't really like inexorable gnawing too much, but I do like the regular gnaw by biting on a grapple check. Maybe I could see adding a "hard teeth" SQ to ignore a little hardness, up to 5 maybe. These aren't supernatural.

I remember using Gnaw for my Otyugh Redux, and I'm fine with using just regular gnaw sans the armour-piercing.

Shall we keep the 3d6+16 damage or is that too much?

As for the "cheek pouches" I don't think they should be usable in combat - as far as I know mice only carry harmless food in their cheeks, not live prey.

I'd just add a bit in the background text that they can store items in their cheeks.

 

[Shade]

Added to Homebrews.

Let's just stick with "automatic bite damage" for the gnaw.

I'd recommend we reconsider trample, since the original had it:

SA:Trample (4-16)

Also, it has "SD: Digs", which implies either a burrow speed or something like the tunnel ability.

 

[Cleon]

Added to Homebrews.

Let's just stick with "automatic bite damage" for the gnaw.

I'd recommend we reconsider trample, since the original had it:

SA:Trample (4-16)

How could I have missed that!

Okay then, in that case I'll yield on Trample.

3d6 damage?

Also, it has "SD: Digs", which implies either a burrow speed or something like the tunnel ability.

...or it lives in student accommodation.

Does it give any explanation in the AP1 as to what the "Dig" SD means? Can it burrow quickly into the dirt like an aardvark?

 

[freyar]

The original trample damage looks like 4d4, but 3d6 is ok by me.

As for "digs," a burrow speed is probably sufficient, but a tunneling ability as well could explain how they make their nests.

 

[Shade]

The original trample damage looks like 4d4, but 3d6 is ok by me.

As for "digs," a burrow speed is probably sufficient, but a tunneling ability as well could explain how they make their nests.

I concur with all of that.

 

[Cleon]

The original trample damage looks like 4d4, but 3d6 is ok by me.

4d4 just looked an odd set of dice for a 3E trample attack, which normally use pretty big dice (d8s to d12s), so I changed it to the next closest number.

How about 2d8 or 2d10 instead? That's pretty close to the average damage and I prefer the wider spread.

As for "digs," a burrow speed is probably sufficient, but a tunneling ability as well could explain how they make their nests.

It wouldn't feel right to make them any good as burrowers, so how about giving it a 5 ft. burrow speed and note that it can only dig through soil?

 

[Shade]

4d4 just looked an odd set of dice for a 3E trample attack, which normally use pretty big dice (d8s to d12s), so I changed it to the next closest number.

How about 2d8 or 2d10 instead? That's pretty close to the average damage and I prefer the wider spread.

That works for me. Let's go with 2d10.

It wouldn't feel right to make them any good as burrowers, so how about giving it a 5 ft. burrow speed and note that it can only dig through soil?

The note is unnecessary:

Burrow: A creature with a burrow speed can tunnel through dirt, but not through rock unless the descriptive text says otherwise. Creatures cannot charge or run while burrowing. Most burrowing creatures do not leave behind tunnels other creatures can use (either because the material they tunnel through fills in behind them or because they do not actually dislocate any material when burrowing); see the individual creature descriptions for details.