Garudos Celestar wrote:It's worth noting that humanoid hippopotami (and jackals, ibises, cats, etc.) are part of Egyptian mythology, so the existence of a were-hippo-like creature would not be totally out of place in Har'Akir or Sebua... the bigger issue is that since Har'Akir is based around a single oasis, rather than being representative of the bulk of the prime Akiri empire, there's not really a good place for it to live.
Perhaps rather than making the were-hippo a true lycanthrope, it could be used as a kind of spirit worshipped by an Akiri cult. Use the stats for a hybrid were-hippo, drop the ability to assume other forms or spread the curse of lycanthropy, and change its type to outsider. Just because the rest of the Akiri empire is still sitting happily in its prime world doesn't mean that there aren't hints of a broader world in the tombs and temple of Mudar (or is it Muhar... I can never remember which name became the canon one.)
I like that.
You could add water underground. Maybe the were-hippo/outsider haunts a an underground lake and river?
Or add a marshy/river region along one edge of the existing map, as a new pocket domain.
The water will attract humans and animals.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.
They are mercenaries who work for smoke powder, and not that bright.
Given the availability of gunpowder in the civilised domains, if a group of Giff were to become trapped in the domains, they might well become "muscle" for unscrupulous characters.
What if an unscrupulous Mordentish archaeologist wished to utilise Akiri "superstition" in her investigation of local tombs? Might Giff bodyguards be portrayed to the Akiri as "servants of the gods" and the Akiri tricked into servitude? (I'm thinking like helmeted Gua'uld from Stargate)
Physical stats of the animal - 11 = Bonus to physical abilities in hybrid and animal form.
Bonus to natural armor equal to the base animal.
Bonus feats like any the animal had.
Any senses or movement speeds the animal has normally.
Add DR and chemical bane as appropriate.
So I suppose the trick is finding the base stats for a hippo.
"...Well that just happened." - Nora, upon failing her first powers check.
Rotipher of the FoS wrote:I've never even heard of a werehippo. It sounds more like something that belongs in Spelljammer or Mystara than Ravenloft, to be honest (too zany ).
OTOH, there is a canon precedent for an herbivorous werebeast in Professor Arcanus, the were-gorilla from CotN:Werebeasts. He's a maladictive werebeast, not a natural or afflicted one, so if you really want a were-hippo in your Ravenloft game, that's probably the way to go; it's contagious strains of lycanthropy that should remain limited to meat-eating animals, IMO.
The gorilla is an omnivore, so that part still stands.
If you wanted another basis to try and do the hybrid form you could look at the giff race from spelljammer. They had it in one of the Dragon Magazines. Those are hippo men.
Resonant Curse wrote:If you wanted another basis to try and do the hybrid form you could look at the giff race from spelljammer. They had it in one of the Dragon Magazines. Those are hippo men.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.
Resonant Curse wrote:If you wanted another basis to try and do the hybrid form you could look at the giff race from spelljammer. They had it in one of the Dragon Magazines. Those are hippo men.
Resonant Curse wrote:If you wanted another basis to try and do the hybrid form you could look at the giff race from spelljammer. They had it in one of the Dragon Magazines. Those are hippo men.
Giff always looked fun to me, but I've never used them in play.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.
Resonant Curse wrote:The giff from the novels for Spelljammer was kind of fun.
IIRC, only the Giff could
VIEW CONTENT:
laugh in enjoyment as they literally destroyed everything they owned from the backlash of continuous fire from the quadruple bombard built into the roof.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.
Start with the hippo stats as the baseline. Go down item by item and add the template modifications.
Then double check the math.
I recommend doing the work on scratch paper first.
I would consider changing the DR/silver to something else, just as Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts suggests for other types of lycanthrope.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.
).
