Converting "Real World" Animals and Vermin

[Cleon]

Hmm, don't like giving them a Listen and Spot lower than a standard dog.

I'd either give them a racial bonus to those skills or Alertness as a bonus feat.

Thoughts?

 

[Shade]

Let's stick with Alertness as a standard feat, and make Endurance a bonus feat.

 

[Cleon]

Let's stick with Alertness as a standard feat, and make Endurance a bonus feat.

Okay by me.

I'll update it.

 

[Shade]

Anything else besides flavor n' tactics?

 

[Cleon]

Anything else besides flavor n' tactics?

Don't think so, no.

It's got a broken bracket in "3-6)" I need to fix, and X, Y and Zs for the height, length, and weight.

 

[Shade]

From Wikipedia:

Their limbs are moderately long, and their thoraxes proportional.[32] Along with African wild dogs, dholes are often referred to as "cat-like" canids, due to their long fine limbs and backbones.[30] They have great jumping and leaping abilities, being able to jump 3-3.5 m (10–12 ft) high, and leap 5–6 m (17–20 ft) long distances in one leap with a running start.[33] Their tails measure 16-17 inches long,[30] and are almost half the length of their bodies, nearly touching the ground when in full winter fur.[34] They are smaller than African wild dogs.[35] Adult males may reach 18 kg (40 lbs) in weight, with females being on average 4.5 kg (10 lbs) lighter. They stand 17-22 inches in shoulder height and 3 feet (0.91 m) in length.

3 feet long, 1-1/2 to 2 feet tall, and 30-40 lbs.?

We may need a higher racial bonus for Jump. Their current skill modifier makes jumping those heights and distances difficult to impossible.

 

[Cleon]

From Wikipedia:

3 feet long, 1-1/2 to 2 feet tall, and 30-40 lbs.?

A typical dhole is 3 feet long and stands 18 to 22 inches tall at the shoulder, it weighs 30 to 40 pounds?

We may need a higher racial bonus for Jump. Their current skill modifier makes jumping those heights and distances difficult to impossible.

No, with Jump +9 they can jump 20 ft. (DC20) on an 11+, or 50% of the time.

As for the height, I'd assume that 10-12 ft is the height they can reach rather than what they can clear (i.e. they can jump up to bite a bird flying 10 ft. above the ground).

A Small creature has a base reach of 4 ft., so it needs a 6 ft. jump to reach a target 10 ft. in the air. That's DC 24, for 15+, or a 30% chance.

So I see no reason to increase the racial bonus.

 

[Shade]

OK, I'm convinced.

The height/weight looks good.

 

[Cleon]

OK, I'm convinced.

The height/weight looks good.

Updating Working Draft.

That just leaves the flavour & tactics.

 

[Shade]

This small dog has reddish fur with a white underside. It is long-limbed for its size.

Dholes are social canids, traveling and hunting in packs. They dig dens varying from simple one-entrance affairs to complex, interconnected cavernous dens.

Dhole packs maintain frequent communication, using whistling “coo-coo” sounds to guide each other through difficult terrain. When attacking prey, their screams sound like “KaKaKaKaa”.

Tactics

Dholes hunt using pack tactics. They primarily hunt wild boar, water buffalo, and other herbivores. Dholes are nearly fearless, and have been known to attack leopards, tigers, bears, and even elephants. On rare occasions, dholes have been seen hunting alongside wolves, although the two species are generally antagonistic toward each other.