The Alexandrian

Template: Dire Animals

June 17th, 2007

Today I’ve got a D20 dire animal template for you. This template is something of a “pseudo-peek” for Rule Supplement 1: Mounted Combat. I say pseudo-peek because, if it was a true sneak peek, it would be content which would actually be appearing in the book. It is, however, a tool I developed in order to create some of the content which will be in the book.

This template is being released under the OGL. It was developed from a template originally published by someone else (check the Section 15 of the OGL). Unfortunately, the original template was poorly designed in several respects and needed to be fixed. (Its most egregious error was creating a non-standard sub-type so that dire animals created with the template would be a completely different type of creature than standard dire animals. It then compounded this error by attempting to create a special-case rule in order to nerf the Ranger’s favored enemy class ability. So, obviously, that’s been corrected along with a handful of other minor errors and problems.)

TEMPLATE: DIRE ANIMALS

Dire animals are larger, tougher, meaner versions of ordinary animals. Each kind tends to have a feral, prehistoric, or even demonic appearance.

CREATING A DIRE ANIMAL

“Dire” is an inherited template that can be added to any animal that is not already a dire animal. A dire animal uses all the base animal’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Size: If the base animal is Tiny or smaller, increase its size to Small. Otherwise, increase its size by one size category. The dire animal gains all the benefits and detriments that arise from increased size (see below).

Hit Dice: If the dire animal is Small, it has 1 HD or the HD of the base animal +1, whichever is greater. If the dire animal is Medium or larger, its HD is equal to the minimum value listed for its size category in the base animal’s advancement +2. If a Medium or larger animal has no advancement or its size does not normally increase with advancement, then the dire animal’s HD is equal to the maximum HD given the base animal +2.

Speed: Same as the base animal + 10 ft.

Armor Class: Natural armor increases by +2. If the base animal has not natural armor bonus, it gains a natural armor bonus of +2. This bonus stacks with the bonus gained from the increase in size.

Special Attacks: A dire animal retains all the base animal’s special attacks. The damage of its special attacks is adjusted for the increased size and ability scores, where applicable.

Special Qualities: A dire animal retains all the base animal’s special qualities. These special qualities are adjusted for the increased size and ability scores, where applicable.

Saves: All saves are good for a dire animal. The base value of each save is equal to (1/2 HD) + 2.

Abilities: Dire animals gain the following ability score increases: Strength +4, Dexterity +2, and Constitution +2. These bonuses stack with any bonuses or penalties gained from a size increase (see below).

Skills: A dire animal receives (2 + Intelligence bonus) skill points per HD, or four times this amount for the first HD. Any skill given in the base animal’s statistic block is considered a class skill for the dire animal.

Feats: Same as the base animal, with additional feats gained normally from the increase in HD. If the base animal has Weapon Finesse and the feat would become useless after its increase in HD and Strength, then trade Weapon Finesse for Weapon Focus with one of its primary natural attack.

Challenge Rating: Increased by +1. In addition, if the dire animal is increased to size Large or larger, increase it’s CR by +1.

Advancement: Dire animals can advance to three times their new HD.

SIZE INCREASES

A size increase affects any special ability the creature has that is affected by size. Increased size also affects a creature’s ability scores, AC, attack bonuses, and damage values as indicated on the tables below.

CHANGES TO STATISTICS BY SIZE

Old Size*New SizeStrDexConNatural ArmorAC/Attack
FineDiminutiveSame-2SameSame-4
DiminutiveTiny+2-2SameSame-2
TinySmall+4-2SameSame-1
SmallMedium+4-2+2Same-1
MediumLarge+8-2+4+2-1
LargeHuge+8-2+4+3-1
HugeGargantuan+8Same+4+4-2
GargantuanColossal+8Same+4+5-4

* Repeat the adjustment if the creature moves up more than one size.

INCREASED DAMAGE BY SIZE

OLD DAMAGE (Each)*
NEW DAMAGE
1d2
1d3
1d3
1d4
1d4
1d6
1d6
1d8
1d8
2d6
1d10
2d8
2d6
3d6
2d8
3d8

* Repeat the adjustment if the creature moves up more than one size category.

One Response to “Template: Dire Animals”

  1. Justin Alexander says:

    ARCHIVED HALOSCAN COMMENTS

    Justin Alexander
    It was actually designed for 3.5. Do you mean update it for 4th? Possibly. I’m still assessing whether or not to dedicate the time necessary to learn 4th Edition in order to develop competently for it.

    There also doesn’t seem to be much utility for it yet in 4th Edtion because most animals aren’t given stats in the MM. The exception are things like wolves (which already have dire versions). I think the onl thing you could apply such a template to would be the horses.
    Friday, May 30, 2008, 11:09:14 PM


    Bill Trost
    Interesting; have you thought about updating this (if necessary) for 3.5?
    Friday, May 30, 2008, 9:49:32 PM


    Aranamarunda
    I’m on a roll! Third comment. I like your site. How I came to be here will soon be explained in muy comment of your death rules. But takes a bit longer to write.

    I think you balanced this one very well. I’m all for well balanced templates. Just a thumbs up, this one.
    Thursday, March 06, 2008, 9:30:59 AM

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