Converting "Real World" Animals and Vermin

[Cleon]

Pretty similar to 3.X stunning, I guess. Well, a brief paralysis poison would be fairly close to stunning and is more consistent with most monsters. I'm fine with paralysis from the poison and + 1-1/2 Str on the sting damage.

So, 2d4 rounds paralysis for primary damage?

What effect for the secondary damage, ability damage of some sort? I was thinking something like 1d4 Dex.

Incidentally, the Tome of Horrors Stingray had a poison with paralysis as a primary effect and Strength damage as a secondary effect.

EDIT: Correction, that should be Tome of Horrors II.

 

[freyar]

2d4 paralysis and 1d4 Dex secondary works for me.

 

[Cleon]

2d4 paralysis and 1d4 Dex secondary works for me.

Suits me.

Should we give them tremorsense, so they can sense prey while buried, or do we use the Crocodile's "buried except for the eyes" skill bonuses?

Do we wait for Shade to be around to update the Homebrew, or start a Working Draft so we can keep track of the updates?

 

[Shade]

Do we wait for Shade to be around to update the Homebrew, or start a Working Draft so we can keep track of the updates?

Wait no longer!

Updated.

I'm OK with tremorsense. What range?

 

[freyar]

60 ft, maybe, but I think I actually prefer the crocodile version.

 

[Cleon]

60 ft, maybe, but I think I actually prefer the crocodile version.

Hold on, sharks have 30 ft Blindsense, so how about giving the Sea Bat that?

Rays are closely related to sharks and have similar sense organs, after all.

 

[freyar]

Good grief. Is that echolocation? Yes, give it to the sea bats. It'd be like bats too.

 

[Cleon]

Good grief. Is that echolocation? Yes, give it to the sea bats. It'd be like bats too.

That settles that question.

The original creature had pretty good treasure - J-N(×10), Q(×5), X.

I'm thinking 1/10 coins; 50% goods (stone or metal only); 50% items (stone or metal only), since the valuables are either in their guts or are lying around their lair after being spat out.

Challenge Rating 6? Stunning and Swallow Whole is pretty nasty.

Advancement 9-16 HD (Huge); 17-24 HD (Gargantuan)?

 

[Shade]

I'm in agreement with all that. Updated.

 

[Cleon]

I'm in agreement with all that. Updated.

It's starting to look good!

Weren't were going to give it Crocodile-type "only the eyes are visible" skill bonuses? Hmm, come to think of it the "burying in the silt" skill bonuses we used for our Yohoia and Opabinia conversions. I'd also like to increase the racial bonus to +8, or maybe even +12 like a lion in undergrowth, to compensate for its Huge creature's -8 to Hide. That gives it a +10 or +14 Hide modifier, which means it's actually got a decent chance to surprise CR-appropriate opponents.

Thus:

Skills: *When it is lying still along the seafloor, a sea bat has a +8 racial bonus on Hide checks. Further, a sea bat can bury itself in silt or mud with only its eyes and claws showing, gaining a +10 cover bonus on Hide checks.
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I think we'd better add the description from the shark's underwater Blindsense:

Blindsense (Ex): A sea bat can locate creatures underwater within a 30-foot radius. This ability works only when the sea bat is underwater.
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