Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Dire Animal Template
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="77IM" data-source="post: 7443262" data-attributes="member: 12377"><p>I like it a lot. Feedback:</p><p></p><p> - The "add 30 HP" feels incongruous. What would happen if you just tripled the hit points? I note your Dire Wolf has substantially more HP than the one in the MM, which has only 37 HP. OTOH the attack value of your Dire Wolf is pretty close to the one in the book. However the one in the MM does not have multiattack, which is pretty potent on this creature because of its knocking prone.</p><p></p><p> - How about increasing the saves in which it is proficient by 2, also? And skills in which it is proficient. This is similar to just increasing the proficiency bonus by 2 but is not exactly the same because some animals have Expertise and I don't think it's fair to ask DMs to figure that out on-the-fly; just +2 it all is fine. In your examples, Dire Wolf goes up to Perception +5 and Stealth +6, and Dire Giant Constrictor goes up to Perception +4. Since most monsters suck at Perception I think this is a good change.</p><p></p><p> - I'm not sure why we're increasing Int to 6. Dire Wolf doesn't get any Int increase, nor do the giant versions of most creatures. If I were you I'd make this like a separate template (awakened creature or something). Eagles and Owls get it because of Tolkien lore. I guess this is more of a setting question because it doesn't really matter mechanically.</p><p></p><p> - Finally, if your goal is to increase an entire tier, that's going to be really tough. I have just enough experience with the CR system to know that monsters without a lot of special abilities need to have tremendous damage and hit points to get into even mid-level CRs. Your Gargantuan constrictor is roughly CR 8, and he's a giant sack of hit points, and the base creature is already CR 2.</p><p></p><p>So my question is: can you apply this template twice. Your Dire Wolf is in the CR 1-2 range. If we dire it again, a Dire Dire Wolf winds up with 219 hit points and 3 attacks at 22 damage each, for roughly CR 10. That... actually seems like it could work. I do think we would need better terminology than Dire Dire. ;} Or it might be better to phrase it as a whole new template. "Primal Beast"?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="77IM, post: 7443262, member: 12377"] I like it a lot. Feedback: - The "add 30 HP" feels incongruous. What would happen if you just tripled the hit points? I note your Dire Wolf has substantially more HP than the one in the MM, which has only 37 HP. OTOH the attack value of your Dire Wolf is pretty close to the one in the book. However the one in the MM does not have multiattack, which is pretty potent on this creature because of its knocking prone. - How about increasing the saves in which it is proficient by 2, also? And skills in which it is proficient. This is similar to just increasing the proficiency bonus by 2 but is not exactly the same because some animals have Expertise and I don't think it's fair to ask DMs to figure that out on-the-fly; just +2 it all is fine. In your examples, Dire Wolf goes up to Perception +5 and Stealth +6, and Dire Giant Constrictor goes up to Perception +4. Since most monsters suck at Perception I think this is a good change. - I'm not sure why we're increasing Int to 6. Dire Wolf doesn't get any Int increase, nor do the giant versions of most creatures. If I were you I'd make this like a separate template (awakened creature or something). Eagles and Owls get it because of Tolkien lore. I guess this is more of a setting question because it doesn't really matter mechanically. - Finally, if your goal is to increase an entire tier, that's going to be really tough. I have just enough experience with the CR system to know that monsters without a lot of special abilities need to have tremendous damage and hit points to get into even mid-level CRs. Your Gargantuan constrictor is roughly CR 8, and he's a giant sack of hit points, and the base creature is already CR 2. So my question is: can you apply this template twice. Your Dire Wolf is in the CR 1-2 range. If we dire it again, a Dire Dire Wolf winds up with 219 hit points and 3 attacks at 22 damage each, for roughly CR 10. That... actually seems like it could work. I do think we would need better terminology than Dire Dire. ;} Or it might be better to phrase it as a whole new template. "Primal Beast"? [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Dire Animal Template
Top