I think I'm probably espousing a general philosophy of how to treat dinosaurs and megafauna by writing this. I'm definitely advocating that other DCC authors follow my lead and add a Crit entry to the end of the standard stat-block. Most of the time, it just saves having to cross-reference your monster entry against that table of crits by monster type and HD. Sometimes though, like this, having the entry come standard makes it easier to show that a monster has an unusual crit. Danny Prescott edited the entire mountain lion series, and he provided the art for this entry.
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| Art by Danny Prescott |
Sabretooth cougar: Init +3; Atk claw +4 melee (1d6+1) or bite +6 melee (1d10+2); AC 16; HD 4d10; MV 40' or climb 20'; Act 1d24; SP pounce, crit on 20+; SV Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +1; AL N; Crit G/d4.
The sabretooth cougar is megafauna from an earlier era. It stands a foot taller and a foot longer than other mountain lions with orange fur and a tawny belly. Its most notable features are its namesake foot-long fangs, which give it a vicious bite.
If the sabretooth cougar makes the first attack of combat it will pounce; otherwise it attacks normally. Thereafter, it will alternate attacks between claw and bite, pouncing when possible.
Pounce: The sabretooth cougar can pounce to gain an extra d24 attack die and attack that round with both claw and bite. The sabretooth cougar can only pounce if it surprises its victims, attacks first due to initiative, or has taken no damage since its previous attack.
Giant crit: The sabretooth cougar uses d24 action dice to attack, and crits on any roll of 20+. Its crits roll 1d4 on the giant crit table.
So you mention approaching a theory of giant monsters - this got me all excited. I am sure though that this can be something more then extra HD & Damage dice. I love to imagine monstrous creatures like the Jabberwocky - whiffling through the wood, eyes aflame. Needing more then a couple more crossbow bolts to take down.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like the answer to any higher HD higher damage monster is to bring more mercenaries (or cavemen - or whatever) - extra victims to absorb a single high damage attack each and/or peck the thing to death at range with the power of 50 heavy crossbow attacks. Even without the mercenary army a party of adventurers tends to really surround and beat down single targets with astonishing speed (spells, backstabs, braced spears, feats - whatever, in a way that's fundamentally depressing when faced with a glorious monster.
I don't want this - I want flaming eyes and whiffling. Errr.. Well I want monstrous enemies to require heroic activity to do in. Not sure if it means automatic per attack damage reduction, cleave attacks, terror auras or whatever (I do think 3E dragons are pretty well designed to be terrifying big monsters)but there must be more when something moves from being simply a big cat into being a primordial terror that stalks the ancestral nightmares of humanity.
Sorry for getting your hopes up and then dashing them. The thing is, when I look at dinosaurs or Ice Age megafauna, I just see animals, not "real monsters" like the maticore or jabberwock. Fundamentally, I think the sabretooth cougar IS just a big cat.
ReplyDeleteIn DCC, being a "giant" means that there's something like a 1-in-5 chance, every time it attacks, that it'll break your arm or shatter your spine. But the really supernatural creatures in this particular menagerie are the cactus cougar, wampus cougar, and were-cougar. They're the ones who can just meow at you and make you drunk or make you just. die. instantly. The were-cougar is intelligent, she's making war on civilization, she wants to marry one of your characters, and if she meows just right, she'll dominate your will as surely as the Purple Man, and you'll WANT to marry her too.
For a terrible, primordial sabretooth? Your dogs bay, your horses bolt, your mercenaries all have to check morale. Chill arctic wind blows across the land, your canteens freeze, your torches go out, the glass in your lanterns frosts over. When it bites, it clamps down, grappling you instantly, shaking you til your neck snaps, tossing you aside like a doll. If you survive it, there will always be a pair of holes where its teeth went through you, you can see daylight through them.
Perhaps in the new year I'll write up a few of the monsters from "The Neverending Story." Those, certainly, are real monsters, not just big animals.
I can see treating megafauna as animals like that and I enjoy your take on the primordial terror tooth. I still think that for something truly monstrous with signs and portents there needs to be mechanical back-up. Players only get so much from evocative detail before their dice rolling impulses kick in and a frosted lantern becomes meaningless unless there's mechanical effects. I don't think creature designers should fear things like "The terrortooth ignores all armor (but not DEX, skill or magical AC bonuses) with its bite attack and on a hit, the target saves vs. wands - on a failed save the great ivory fangs transfix the chest, neck or head killing the victim instantly in a shower of gore, a successful save takes normal damage".
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