Crocodile mummies

[Casimir Liber]

Hey Cleon (or anyone)
was gonna make some crocodile mummies after seeing a youtube video on Kom-Ombo (temple of Sobek). Found normal and giant croc mummies - seem o check out on calculator...do they look internally consistent?

Also tempted to make Fasolasuchus (large ambulatory hunting croc) into a dnd monster to complement the croc theme. Has anyone made other mesozoic croc variants for dnd before?

 

[Cleon]

Looks pretty straightforward, but I have a few suggestions.

Surely they should have darkvision 60 ft. in Senses like a Mummy. How can they see their way around an unlit pyramid without it?

I'd have the Giant Croc Mummy's Tail and Bite do the same necrotic damage. Why would the tail inflict a less virulent rotting curse than its bite?

For that matter, I'd have the Crocs do slightly less necrotic damage with their Rotting melee attacks - maybe 4d6 for the Croc and 6d6 for the Giant Croc?

Finally, I'd consider adding another Proficiency Bonus or just a +2 bonus to the Croc Mummy's Dreadful Glare so it's DC 11 like a regular Mummy.

Which reminds me, the Giant Croc should have DC 11 Glare (8 -1 +4). If we give it the Plus Two or Double Prof modifier too that'd become DC 13 or DC 15.

 

[Casimir Liber]

Ok - good point - I'll redo them - also start on fasolasuchus for a croc-themed ancient lizard settlement devoted to Sobek (or Semanuaya)

 

[Cleon]

Ok - good point - I'll redo them - also start on fasolasuchus for a croc-themed ancient lizard settlement devoted to Sobek (or Semanuaya)

There are some unusual species among the extinct terrestrial "crocodiles" such as the Notosuchia. Not only fast-running predatory ones like you'd expect, but probable omnivores and herbivores too, some of which looked more like an ankylosaur or armadillo than a crocodile.

Don't really need to ask why you went for Fasolasuchus, as it's one of the largest of the predatory land crocs so is the most dangerous to PCs.

 

[Casimir Liber]

So looking for things of comparable size to start off with and find Allosaurus ...aaand, wait, what??? Allosaurus is large and not huge??

 

[Cleon]

So looking for things of comparable size to start off with and find Allosaurus ...aaand, wait, what??? Allosaurus is large and not huge??

Yes, that's about right.

While the largest Allosaurs probably reached around 40 feet and two tons, but the average size of Allosaurus fragilis was probably a lot smaller, somewhere in the range 1,500 to 3,000 pounds.

That's a weight ranging from a big draft horse like a Shire Horse (~2,000 pounds) to a Rhinoceros of unexceptional size (~4,000 pounds), both of which are Large in 5E D&D.

It's near the border of being a Huge creature like an Elephant, but those tend to be over 2 tons in weight like a Tyrannosaurus rex (maybe about 10,000 pounds average adult weight?). An Allosaurus has a fairly lightweight build compared to an adult T rex, so even if it's of a similar length it'd be a lot lighter.

Incidentally, I did a 3E homebrew for an Allosaurus as a 10 HD Large animal with a Greater Allosaurus that was a 15 HD Huge animal.

 

[Casimir Liber]

Sounds like 5e followed your lead in shrinking it a little anyway. Is funny both official 5e and SRD seem to have fewer dinosaurs than 1e. Do you want to convert the Greater Allosaurus to 5e? That might be fun (like a rogue bull allo or Saurophaganax or whatever). Musing...SRD has spinosaurus as sacred to lizardfolk but I like keeping a crocodile them come to think of it.....

 

[Casimir Liber]

Okay - have started on it - trying to think of combat tactics to make it interesting - buffed the HD by 1 as an active predator (used giant croc as template - does teh grapple really do no damage on subsequent rounds?)

 

[Cleon]

Sounds like 5e followed your lead in shrinking it a little anyway. Is funny both official 5e and SRD seem to have fewer dinosaurs than 1e. Do you want to convert the Greater Allosaurus to 5e? That might be fun (like a rogue bull allo or Saurophaganax or whatever). Musing...SRD has spinosaurus as sacred to lizardfolk but I like keeping a crocodile them come to think of it.....

Sure, why not.

It'd be a fairly straightforward job. Just increase the 5E Allosaurus to Challenge 4 or so.

 

[Cleon]

Okay - have started on it - trying to think of combat tactics to make it interesting - buffed the HD by 1 as an active predator (used giant croc as template - does teh grapple really do no damage on subsequent rounds?)

Maybe give it another attack it can only use against a grappled foe?

Say it shakes its head from side to side, worrying the victim like a dog with a rat in its mouth.

Maybe a "does half damage on a miss" attack that does more damage than a straight bite?

Maybe one of the following:

Death Shake #1. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target grappled by its bite. Hit: 16 (2d10 + 5) piercing damage plus 16 (2d10 + 5) slashing damage. If it misses the target must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or takes half damage.​

Death Shake #2. If the Fasolasuchus has grappled a target smaller than itself with its jaws it can savagely shake its head. The grappled creature must make a DC 16 Constitution saving throw, taking 16 (2d10 + 5) piercing damage plus 16 (2d10 + 5) slashing damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.​