SRD Rewrites
- Dire Ape (CR 4)
- Dire Badger (CR 2)
- Dire Bat (CR 2)
- Dire Bear (CR 7)
- Dire Boar (CR 4)
- Dire Lion (CR 5)
- Dire Rat (CR 1/2)
- Dire Shark (CR 9)
- Dire Tiger (CR 8)
- Dire Weasel (CR 2)
- Dire Wolf (CR 3)
- Dire Wolverine (CR 4)
Ones that aren't silly, but should be made
- Dire Bison (CR 4)
- Dire Camel (CR 3)
- Dire Constrictor Snake (CR 7)
- Dire Crocodile (CR 6)
- Dire Elephant (CR 9)
- Dire Eagle (CR 2, also dire hawk)
- Dire Hippopotamus (CR 10, ?)
- Dire Horse (CR 4)
- Dire Hyena (CR 3)
- Dire Owl (CR 2)
- Dire Polar Bear (CR 8)
- Dire Rhinoceros (CR 8)
- Dire Toad (CR 1/2)
- Dire Viper Snake (CR 5)
Fun(ny) Ones
-
Dire Chicken(CR 1) -
Dire Skunk(CR 3) -
Dire Ostrich(CR 4) -
Dire Hummingbird(CR 1/2) -
Dire Hummingbird Swarm(CR 3) - Dire Squirrel (CR 1)
- Dire Wallaby
- Dire Snail (CR 2, acid slime trail, defensive shell)
- Dire Platypus
Random Thoughts
- The whole "animal" type in D&D is generally pretty lame. Animals take the role of just being fighters with little to no special abilities.
- Although I like the 4e merging of magical beast and animal into the same type, I'd rather not make my dire animals magical beasts. Instead, I'd like to make them animals with magical-ish abilities.
- For the most part they will just be really savage versions of an actual animal, but I'm going to take the definition of "dire" to mean animals touched by the supernatural. They are still a species of their own and are still animals, but they have some sort of supernatural lineage.
- As a result, I can make a bloodthristy hummingbird or a snail that leaves a trail of bubbling acid. Stuff that isn't really "realistic" for an animal and probably should be a magical beast, but at least adds some interesting foes to the animal category of monsters.
- Summoning these monsters and stuff won't be compatible. I want to have the CR scale such that there are dire animals at practically any level of play to fight.
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Note
This monster is balanced to fit in a rogue level game. I have taken the liberty of not using the standard D&D rules for determining various statistics for this monster. As a result, it may seem a bit stronger (or weaker) than some SRD monsters of the same CR and that is fine. I think it will pose an appropriate challenge for rogue-level characters of its CR.
Dire Ape
| N Large Animal | |
| Init/Senses | +0/Listen +7, Spot +3 |
| AC | 21, touch 17, flat-footed 19 |
| hp | 40 (4 HD) |
| Fort/Ref/Will | +8/+6/+6 |
| Speed | 35 ft. (7 squares) |
| Melee | +13/+13 Claws (1d6+2) +9 Bite (1d6+1) |
| Space/Reach | 10 ft./10 ft. |
| Base Atk/Grp | +3/+8 |
| Atk Options | Rend (2d6+4), Blood Curdling Roar, Bloodlust |
| Abilities | Str 22, Dex 10, Con 16, Int 2, Wis 14, Cha 8 |
| Skills | Intimidate +7 |
| Advancement | — |
| Rend (Ex) | If both its claw attacks hit, the dire ape deals an additional 2d6+4 damage (2 claw attacks). |
| Blood Curdling Roar (Ex) | As a move action, a dire ape can ferociously roar, taking 10 on an intimidate check against all opponents within 30 ft. These opponents must make a Will save, adding in any bonuses against fear, with a DC equal to the intimidate check (17 in this case) or else be shaken. They make make a new saving throw at the end of their turn to end the effect. |
| Bloodlust (Ex) | A dire ape hungers for blood. It gets a +4 bonus to attack and damage rolls with its bite attack when its opponent is below half their hitpoints. |
Strategies and Tactics
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