Help with Awakened Gorilla Monk

[ReeboKesh]

Thanks guys.

My issue atm seems to be that the Ape in Savage Spieces has different stats to the Ape in the Monster Manual. And if u calculate its' stats it has like +10 STR!

Reebo

 

[Pielorinho]

Chimpanzees are ridiculously strong. I think gorillas are even stronger. This article is eye-opening and cringe-inducing. +10 str for a chimp sounds about right:

A 165-pound male chimpanzee named "Boma" registered a pull of 847 pounds, using only his right hand (although he did have his feet braced against the wall, being somewhat hip, in his simian way, to the principles of leverage). A 165-pound man, by comparison, could manage a one-handed pull of about 210 pounds. Even more frightening, a female chimp, weighing a mere 135 pounds and going by the name of Suzette, checked in with a one-handed pull of 1,260 pounds. (She was in a fit of passion at the time; one shudders to think what her boyfriend must have looked like next morning.) In dead lifts, chimps have been known to manage weights of 600 pounds without even breaking into a sweat. A male gorilla could probably heft an 1,800-pound weight and not think twice about it.

Daniel

 

[Nyaricus]

WotC had, in their ASk Wizards Archive, the anthromorphic templates from SS. Here's the link: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/files/articles/awakened.zip

In any case, I own Stormwrack and the Hadozee fits your concept almost spot-on

cheers,
--N

 

[ElectricDragon]

And remember that a Break Enchantment spell can ruin your day if you are an Awakened animal.

Ciao
Dave

 

[Kularian]

Well, if you're dead-set on playing an awakened animal, you might want to try the baboon as a base. Still a monkey, and it could look more like a chimp or an ape if you wanted.

Baboon's Stats:
1 Racial Hit die, which the rules state can be replaced w/ class levels. So you'd only have 2 rhd from Awaken

Medium Sized, Base speed 40ft, climb 30ft, 1 natural armor, low-light vision, scent, only a bite attack at 1d6. Stat mods would be: Str +4, Dex +4, Con +2, Wis +2, Cha -4 (-6 as baboon, +2 from awaken) Still got hands...

I guess it's a bit more powerful than I thought at first glance. Probably a +2 LA, but I'm not very good at judging that.


I'm thinking the best choice is to make a gorilla race, or use one of the ones already given. But it's your character, not ours, so to quote the infamous Captain Planet: "The power is yours!"

 

[frankthedm]

Baboon's Stats:
1 Racial Hit die, which the rules state can be replaced w/ class levels. So you'd only have 2 rhd from Awaken

Awaken happens before it can be a PC, That is 3 irreplaceable HD.

 

[Kularian]

Awaken happens before it can be a PC, That is 3 irreplaceable HD.

Ouch, good point. I tend to get ahead of myself sometimes, It's a bad habit, hehe.

 

[kigmatzomat]

One reason the awakened animals may not have that much of an LA are skill points. Until the creature is awakened it has an Int of 2, which for a 4HD ape means it has 7 skill points (4x1 @ 1st HD, +3 @ 2-4 HD). The 2HD from awaken may give them up to 12 more skill points if they have an 18 Intelligence (2+4 Int x2) yeilding a max of 19 skill points at 6HD.

Assuming you're in a game that actually uses skill rolls that's a pretty serious nerf, moreso if there are any RP issues involved in being a talking ape (People freak out, can't wear off-the-rack armor, lack of bananas, etc) since you won't be able to use Diplomacy worth drek.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The LA's on the Anthropomorphs in Savage Species are typically in the +2 or more range...they tend to have nice stats and usually still have some kind of natural attack.

Last year, I was actually trying to decide between an Anthro Ape and a Githzerai for a Monk- as I recall, both of them had +6 Dex- but the Githzerai fit my concept and the campaign much better.

OTOH, there is a Size M monkey-like race in OA that has no LA...

 

[glass]

Basically I want a intelligent talking Gorilla. I can't see why this 'Awakened' ability should cost any LA? I just want to use a Gorilla as a player character?
Reebo

It's not the intelligent bit that is costing, it is the gorilla bit.


glass.