The Lockjaw

[Chunklets]

Lockjaw
Medium Animal
Hit Dice: 9d8+9 (50 hp)
Initiative: +3 (+3 Dex)
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares), Climb 15'
Armour Class: 20 (+3 Dex, +7 Natural), touch 13, flat-footed 17
Base Attack/Grapple: +6/+12
Attack: +7 (1d6 plus poison)
Full Attack: Bite +10 (1d8+1 plus poison) and 2 claws +5 (1d4)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Poison, improved grab
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60', scent
Saves: Fort +7, Ref +9, Will +2
Abilities: Str 12, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 2, Wis 8, Cha 9
Skills: Balance +11, Climb +11, Hide +7, Jump +5, Listen +6, Move Silently +3
Feats: Improved Grapple, Improved Natural Attack (bite), Run, Weapon Finesse
Environment: Underground
Organization: Pack (11-22)
Challenge Rating: 5
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always Neutral
Advancement: 10-12 HD (medium)
Level Adjustment: --

A 4' tall mottled gray lizard, standing on its hind legs with a long slender tail stuck out behind it, utters a hiss through an abnormally large mouth filled with sharp teeth.

Lockjaws are pack-hunting lizards native to the upper underdark. They hunt by attaching their strong jaws to their prey (hence the name) and injecting poison until the victim is paralyzed. A lockjaw stands about 4 feet tall and weighs about 90 lbs.

Combat
A lockjaw pack attacks by swarming around its victims, using their powerful jaws to cling on and then injecting venom. Lockjaws will stop to feed on a felled opponent (automatic hit with the bite, but no poison, and not a coup de grace), even ignoring combat going on around them. A lockjaw pack reduced to fewer than half its original number will flee, wait until their opponents have left the area, and then return to feed on their fallen companions.
Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a lockjaw must hit with a bite attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. A lockjaw automatically does bit damage (including poison) on a successful grapple check.
Poison (Ex): Injury, Fortitude DC 17, initial damage paralysis (1d6 hours), no secondary damage. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Skills: Lockjaws have a +8 racial bonus on balance and climb checks. They also have a +4 racial bonus on jump and hide checks.

 

[Chunklets]

Some notes

The lockjaw came about out after my players (gently, and justifiably) complained that they were fighting too many single "big" opponents, and I couldn't find anything in the various MMs that seemed to fit the bill for the party's level. The lockjaw is basically designed to come at a party in numbers, knock the characters down with its venom, and eat them.

It is my first attempt at a "from scratch" 3E homebrew, so I very much look forward to your comments and suggestions!

 

[Knight Otu]

12 HD is quite a lot for a small animal. The only small animal that has that many HD is the legendary eagle. Most have 1/2-2 HD. You might want to turn it into a magical beast if you want to keep the number of Hit Dice.

Full Attack: Bite +14 (1d6 plus poiston) and 2 claws +5 (1d3)

Poison. Also, Weapon Finesse applies to all attacks, meaning that the claws should use a +8 attack modifier.

Saves: Fort +11, Ref +13, Will +6

Fort should be +9, Ref +11, and Will +3. If you switch some of the abilities, that might of course change.

Abilities: Str 10, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 2, Wis 8, Cha 10

Since it is more of a predator, I'd switch Wisdom and Charisma. Maybe even increase Wisdom and increase Cha in the process (the lizards in the MM have Wis 12 and Cha 2).

Feats: Improved Grapple, Improved Natural Attack (bite), Run, Weapon Finesse (bite), Weapon Focus (bite)

As I said above, Weapon Finesse applies to all attacks.

Skills: Lockjaws have a +8 racial bonus on balance checks. They also have a +4 racial bonus on climb, jump, and hide checks.

The bonus to Climb checks should be +8, since the lockjaw has a climb speed.

Climb: A creature with a climb speed has a +8 racial bonus on all Climb checks.

 

[Chunklets]

Thanks for the comments! I was completely unaware of the Weapon Finess and Climb issues, so thank you for setting me straight on those. I've worked most of your suggestions in - I will have to go back and check my notes to see how I screwed up the saving throws so badly. I obviously misread something when I was creating the lockjaw.

On the subject of its ability scores, I still haven't made up my mind what exactly to do with those. The CHA does seem rather high, and I don't recall exactly what I was thinking there (I didn't bring my original notes in today - just the 'finished product'). I left the wisdom score a bit low for a predator to reflect a critter that will stop in the middle of combat to eat.

As far as the Lockjaw's type and HD are concerned, I agree that 12 HD is high for a small animal, but I was trying to create a monster that was tougher than the run-of-the-mill little lizard, at least partially to reflect its Underdark environment. I was also, I freely confess, shooting for a particular CR, which I may or may not have hit dead-on. I may lower the HD and give it some other bonuses to compensate (more natural armour, maybe). I was actually thinking along the lines of a small dinosaur when I created the monster, and I think in 3.5 those have the animal type, so I'll probably leave that alone.

Thanks once again for your very helpful suggestions!

 

[Knight Otu]

As far as the Lockjaw's type and HD are concerned, I agree that 12 HD is high for a small animal, but I was trying to create a monster that was tougher than the run-of-the-mill little lizard, at least partially to reflect its Underdark environment.

A few comparisons: a polar bear (large) has 68 hit points, only two more than the lockjaw. An elephant (huge) has 11 hit dice, one less than your creature. A megaraptor (large, after errata) has 8 HD and 79 hit points.

I was actually thinking along the lines of a small dinosaur when I created the monster, and I think in 3.5 those have the animal type, so I'll probably leave that alone.

Yep, dinosaurs are animals (and rightfully so, IHMO). But they don't usually have much more hit dice for their size than normal animals.

 

[Krishnath]

hmmm.... looks good, the only changes I would do would be to increase their size to medium, upping their natural armor by 1 or 2 (to make up for the decrease in AC with the size increase), and giving them an advancement line such as 13-18 HD (Medium), 19-24 HD (Large).

But looks good, quite solid.

 

[robjh]

It looks like most of the issues I had have been covered. 12 HD is extremely high for a small animal, especially one that comes in large packs. You'd almost have to be around level 12-13 just to stand a chance against a pack of these. A natural armor rating of 6 is also very high for a small animal. I don't know of any animal that has Darkvision 60 ft. This seems more like a magical beast.

As an alternative, you could make the individual creatures weaker and convert this into a swarm. That'd give you the higher HD, skill points, and feats. The natural armor could then be replaced by DR. I haven't seen a swarm that had improved grab, so it'd be an interesting effect to add.

Hope this was helpful...

 

[Knight Otu]

Krishnath: Even for a Medium Animal, 12 HD is quite a bit. Most of them run from 1 to 6 HD. The Desmodu Warbat has 10 HD, the Legendary Ape has 13 HD, and the Legendary Wolf has 14 HD.

Rob: The Indricothere from the Fiend Folio has Darkvision. I like your suggestion of the creatures being a swarm, but swarms cannot normally grapple. They coul potentially attach...

 

[Krishnath]

Krishnath: Even for a Medium Animal, 12 HD is quite a bit. Most of them run from 1 to 6 HD. The Desmodu Warbat has 10 HD, the Legendary Ape has 13 HD, and the Legendary Wolf has 14 HD.

True, but nothing specifically prevents an animal from having that many HD, he probably should drop it to 6 HD however, and drop their CR as well, they do come in large numbers after all, and are pack hunters.

 

[Chunklets]

When actual work attacks...

Thanks once again to everyone who's responded. I've been super busy at work this week, but I have been thinking about your suggestions, and will make some changes to the critter when I get a little free time! Thanks again!