Post/Author/DateTime	Post
The Vorpal Tribble 10-01-06, 10:51 PM	I got the idea for this while I was doing a bit of hiking in the woods of this nature preserve thats literally in my backyard. It was getting dark and the area has always been a little creepy when suddenly several deer jumped out of nowhere not but ten feet in front of me and went pounding off in a panic. -=-=-=-=- Wary Wary creatures are common peoples and animals that have lived so long in the terrifying shadow of supernatural beings that they have evolved extraordinarily sharp instincts and been passed down skills to survive. Intelligent wary creatures may be found within or on the outskirts of strange forests, nearby a vampire or lich's keep, or have a long history of invasions by horrible creatures for unknown reasons. Constant fear and dread is the norm, and stories and special training have been taught while drills continuously prepare for whatever may prey upon them. Wary animals instead have had to hone their instincts to a razor edge to survive and compete with the paranormal inhabitants with which they share the land. -=-=-=-=-=- Sample Wary Creature Wary Human Commoner 2 Medium Humanoid (human) Hit Dice: 2d4 (5 hp) Initiative: +5 Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares) Armor Class: 11 (+1 dex), touch 11, flat-footed 10 Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+4 Attack: Sickle +4 melee (1d6+3) Full Attack: Sickle +4 melee (1d6+3) Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft. Special Attacks: - Special Qualities: Fear innured, flighty, low-light vision, source of terror Saves: Fort +0, Ref +1, Will +1 Abilities: Str 16, Dex 12, Con 11, Int 9, Wis 12, Cha 8 Skills: Handle Animal +4, Hide +5, Move Silently +5, Profession (farmer) +6, Spellcraft +3 Feats: Darkstalker (http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/feats.pl?Darkstalker,LoM), Improved Initiative, Open Minded (http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/feats.pl?Open_Minded,CAd) Environment: Temperate Plains Organization: Village Challenge Rating: 1 Treasure: Standard Alignment: Lawful Neutral Advancement: By character class Level Adjustment: +2 Johnson's family has lived on this bit of land on the far outskirts of the village for hundreds of years. A sturdy fence is built within a hundred feet of the nearby forest the overlooks his fields. Strange things have happened to folk who went exploring more than a mile or two within, and several times a year theirs a moaning or singing followed by the disapearances of a number of his livestock. His granny told him many a story of the enscribed stones out there, and the beings who put them there. To die she said would not be the end of it, for many a body got up and was seen walking about after disapearing for weeks in them woods, fungus and slime molds growing on their greying skins. He'd tried to sneak in with his friends, curious, and it was a night of terror that'd claimed half their number. Johnson remembers the grain sickle he'd taken with him, slashing at the shadows that fought. The ichor that'd been left on it wouldn't wash off and eventually disolved the blade. Since then he'd been cursed they said, and it was hardly a night he could sleep with peace without the windows rustling or dream plaguing him. He had a living to do though, and he'd not let them bogies get to'em! Combat Anything that comes upon Johnson in the dark after that night in the woods risks being cut first and asked questions after. If snuck up on however he's likely to launch himself forward without looking back. Fear Innured (Ex): Johnson has lived so long in constant dread that it is second nature to him. He gains a +4 bonus to saves against fear effects. Flighty (Ex): During a surprise round Johnson, even if he would be caught flat-footed, may still roll for initiative. On his turn he may use the run action to flee at top speed that does not provoke an attack of opportunity, but may not perform any other action until the surprise round is over. Johnson may run at 5 times his base speed on these occassions. Once he stops running he is fatigued for a full minute. Low-Light Vision (Ex): Johnson can see twice as far as a human normally would in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. Source of Terror (Ex): Johnson gains a +2 bonus on Bluff, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival checks when using these skills against Aberrations and Undead. He also gains a +4 bonus on all appropriate Knowledge checks to identify and gauge the abilities of creatures of this type. Likewise, he gets a +2 dodge bonus to AC against such beings. Skills: Johnson gains a +4 competence bonus on Hide, Move Silently and Spellcraft checks. These are considered trained skills. -=-=-=-=-=- Creating A Wary Creature "Wary" is an inherited template that can be added to any animal or humanoid with no racial supernatural abilities, hereafter referred to as the base creature. Size and Type: Creature type is unchanged. Size is unchanged. Speed: All of a wary creature's speeds increase by 10 ft. Special Qualities: A wary creature retains all qualities of the base creature plus the following qualities. Fear Innured (Ex): A wary creature has lived so long in constant dread that it is second nature to them. They gain a +4 bonus to saves against fear effects. Flighty (Ex): During a surprise round a wary creature, even if they would be caught flat-footed, may still roll for initiative. On their turn they may use the run action to flee at top speed that does not provoke an attack of opportunity, but may not perform any other action until the surprise round is over. The wary creature may run at 5 times their base speed on these occassions. Once they stop running they are fatigued for a full minute (minus a number of rounds equal to the wary creature's Constitution modifier. Minimum 1 round.). Improved Scent (Ex): A wary creature with the scent ability has its range of smell doubled and can pinpoint the exact location of creatures of its source of terror at 15 feet. Low-Light Vision (Ex): A wary creature can see twice as far as a human normally would in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. The wary creature retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions. If the creature already has low-light vision the range of this vision increase by one half. Source of Terror (Ex): A wary creature may select up to two types of beings that has caused its wariness (these creature types are drawn from the Ranger's favored enemy table plus Mage, which covers any creature type with levels in a spell using or psionic using class). The wary creature gains a +2 bonus on Bluff, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival checks when using these skills against beings of this type. These bonuses stack with any gained from a Ranger's favored enemy. They also gain a +4 bonus on all appropriate Knowledge checks to identify and gauge the abilities of their chosen source of terror. Likewise, the wary creature gets a +2 dodge bonus to AC against such beings. If a specific creature falls into more than one category of source of terror, the wary creature’s bonuses do not stack. Abilities: Increase from the base creature as follows: Dex +2, Wis +2. Skills: A wary creature gains a +4 competence bonus on Hide and Move Silently checks. Sentient wary creatures also gain a +4 bonus on Spellcraft checks and consider it a trained skill. Feats: A wary creature gains Darkstalker (http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/feats.pl?Darkstalker,LoM) and Improved Initiative as bonus feats. Otherwise same as base creature. Challenge Rating: Same as the base creature. Level Adjustment: Same as base creature +2.
cog_and_taz 10-01-06, 11:11 PM	Yes, yes, quite good in a realistic kind of way. In monster infested areas and so on, would it be too absurd to create a villageful of, well, normal villagers but all with the wary template?
The Vorpal Tribble 10-01-06, 11:18 PM	Yes, yes, quite good in a realistic kind of way. In monster infested areas and so on, would it be too absurd to create a villageful of, well, normal villagers but all with the wary template? Sure, thats what this was basically made for. It'd also be a reason for going through woods and wondering why no animals are around. They are, they are just keeping reeeeally low profile.
The Vorpal Tribble 10-02-06, 11:19 AM	And for your villages... -=-=-=-=- Wary Dog Small Animal Hit Dice: 1d8+2 (6 hp) Initiative: +8 Speed: 50 ft. (10 squares) Armor Class: 16 (+1 size, +4 Dex, +1 natural), touch 15, flat-footed 12 Base Attack/Grapple: +0/–3 Attack: Bite +2 melee (1d4+1) Full Attack: Bite +2 melee (1d4+1) Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft. Special Attacks: — Special Qualities: Improved scent, low-light vision, scent Saves: Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +2 Abilities: Str 13, Dex 19, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 14, Cha 6 Skills: Hide +12, Jump +7, Listen +6, Move Silently +8, Spot +6, Survival +2* Feats: Alertness, TrackB Environment: Temperate plains Organization: Solitary or pack (5–12) Challenge Rating: 1/3 Advancement: — Level Adjustment: — The statistics presented here describe a fairly small dog of about 20 to 50 pounds in weight. They also can be used for small wild canines such as coyotes, jackals, and African wild dogs. Combat Fear Innured (Ex): A wary dog has lived so long in constant dread that it is second nature to it. It gains a +4 bonus to saves against fear effects. Flighty (Ex): During a surprise round a wary dog, even if it would be caught flat-footed, may still roll for initiative. On its turn it may use the run action to flee at top speed that does not provoke an attack of opportunity, but may not perform any other action until the surprise round is over. The wary dog may run at 5 times its base speed on these occassions. Once it stops running it is fatigued for 8 rounds. Improved Scent (Ex): A wary dog has its range of smell doubled and can pinpoint the exact location of creatures of its source of terror at 15 feet. Source of Terror (Ex): The wary dog gains a +2 bonus on Bluff, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival checks when using these skills against magical beasts and monsterous humanoids. Likewise, the wary dog gets a +2 dodge bonus to AC against such beings. Skills: Dogs have a +4 racial bonus on Jump checks. A wary dog also gains a +4 competence bonus on Hide and Move Silently checks. *Dogs have a +4 racial bonus on Survival checks when tracking by scent. -=-=-=-=-=- Wary Horse, Heavy Large Animal Hit Dice: 3d8+6 (19 hp) Initiative: +6 Speed: 60 ft. (12 squares) Armor Class: 14 (–1 size, +2 Dex, +3 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 12 Base Attack/Grapple: +2/+9 Attack: Hoof –1 melee (1d6+1*) Full Attack: 2 hooves –1 melee (1d6+1*) Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft. Special Attacks: — Special Qualities: Flighty, improved scent, low-light vision, scent Saves: Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +3 Abilities: Str 16, Dex 15, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 14, Cha 6 Skills: Hide +6, Listen +5, Move Silently +6, Spot +5 Feats: Darkstalker, Endurance, Improved Initiative, Run Environment: Temperate plains Organization: Domesticated Challenge Rating: 1 Advancement: — Level Adjustment: — The statistics presented here describe large breeds of working horses such as Clydesdales. These animals are usually ready for heavy work by age three. A heavy horse cannot fight while carrying a rider. Combat Fear Innured (Ex): A wary horse has lived so long in constant dread that it is second nature to it. It gains a +4 bonus to saves against fear effects. Flighty (Ex): During a surprise round a wary horse, even if it would be caught flat-footed, may still roll for initiative. On its turn it may use the run action to flee at top speed that does not provoke an attack of opportunity, but may not perform any other action until the surprise round is over. The wary horse may run at 5 times its base speed on these occassions. Once it stops running it is fatigued for 8 rounds. Improved Scent (Ex): A wary horse has its range of smell doubled and can pinpoint the exact location of creatures of its source of terror at 15 feet. Source of Terror (Ex): The wary horse gains a +2 bonus on Bluff, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival checks when using these skills against fey and magical beasts. Likewise, the wary horse gets a +2 dodge bonus to AC against such beings. Skills: A wary horse gains a +4 competence bonus on Hide and Move Silently checks. Carrying Capacity: A light load for a heavy horse is up to 200 pounds; a medium load, 201–400 pounds; and a heavy load, 401–600 pounds. A heavy horse can drag 3,000 pounds.
The ShapeLess One 10-02-06, 01:36 PM	Thats great.
The Vorpal Tribble 10-03-06, 03:23 PM	Thats great. :bravo:
The Vorpal Tribble 10-30-06, 11:28 PM	Being only a few minnutes from Halloween I thought I might bump up a few of my more appropriately themed critters.