SKPE0920 - 3.5E Cooper’s Compendium of Corrected Creatures Troll Hunter and Owl Animal Companion

COOPER ’S COMPENDIUM OF CORRECTED CREA TURES TURES T ROLL  AND  AN D OWL  A  OMP P AN  ANIO ION N UNTER  AN ROLL HUNTER  NIMAL COM A NIMAL

By John Cooper and the Skirmisher Game Development Group For ewor  e wor d by Shane O ’Connor 

COOPER ’S COMPENDIUM OF CORRECTED CREA TURES TURES T ROLL  AN  A ND OWL  A   AN NION UNTER  A A NIMAL ROLL HUNTER  NIMAL COMP A

By John Cooper and the Skirmisher Game Development Group Foor  r ewor d by Shane O ’Connor  or ewor 

Cooper ’s Compendium of Corrected Creatures

COOPER ’S COMPENDIUM OF CORRECTED CREA TURES TURES T ROLL  AN  A ND OWL  A   AN NION UNTER  A A NIMAL ROLL HUNTER  NIMAL COMP A By John Cooper and the Skirmisher Game Development Group Skirmisher Publishing LLC P.O. Box 150005 Alexandria, VA VA 22315 Email: [email protected] Website: www.skirmisher.com Interactive Forum: www.skirmisher.com/forum Skirmisher Game Stor Store: e: skirmisher  skirmisher.cerizmo.com .cerizmo.com Publishers: Robert “Mac” McLaughlin, M cLaughlin, Michael Mic hael J. Varhola, Varhola, Geoff Weber 

Varhola Editor-in-Chief/Layout Editor-inChief/Layout and Design: Michael J. Varhola Series Editor: Shane O’Connor  Technical Editor: Edito r: Jessica McDevitt Artist: Sharon Daugherty PDF Publications Manager: Jessica McDevitt

This book is published under Open Game License version 1.0a. “Wizards of the Coast” is a registered trademark of Wizards of the Coast Inc. and is used with permission. Designation of Open Game Content: Open Game Content may only be used in accordance with the terms of Open Game License version 1.0a, 1.0a, which is found on page 129. All text and tables in this  book other than the Foreword Foreword,, Introdu Introduction, ction, and Cooper ’s Comments — Comments  — but not art art — are are desig designat nated ed as Open Open Gam Gamee ConContent and may be used pursuant to the terms of Open Game License version 1.0a. Designation of Product Identity: Product Identity is not Open Game Content. The following is hereby designated as Product Identity in accordance with section 1(e) of Open Game License version 1.0a: Skirmisher Publishing and any and all associated logos and identifying marks, including all Skirmisher Publishing  product  prod uctss and prod product uct line line names; any and all artwork, artwork, designs, designs, depictions, illustrations, maps, likenesses, symbols, and graphic designs presented in the context of this book; and any and all

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dialogue, incidents, plots, stories, storylines, thematic elements, and concepts contained herein. Images on the front cover and page 3 are from the Dover  Pictorial Archive Series and are used by permission of Dover Publications Inc. “Owl” image on page 4 by Sharon Daugherty. All contents of this book, regardless of other designation, are copyright 2009 Skirmisher Publishing. All rights reserved. Reproduction of non-Open Game Content contained in this work by any means without written permission from the publisher is expressly forbidden, except for purposes of review. This book is protected under international treaties and the copyright laws of the United States of America. Mention or reference to any company, product, or other copyrighted or trademarked material in no way constitutes a challenge to the respective copyright or  trademark concerned. This book is a work of fiction and any resem blance  bla nce of its conten contents ts to actual actual people, people, organiz organizati ations, ons, place places, s, or  events is purely coincidental. First PDF publicatio publication: n: July Jul y 2009. SKP E 0920.

T roll r oll Hunter and Owl Animal Companion

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Cooper ’s Compendium of Corrected Creatures

Foreword “The devil is in the details,” someone once said. While it’s unlikely unlikely that the person who said it played 3.5, they might as well have. After all, as any 3.5 Game Master will tell you, it’s a system that’s all about the details, and nowhere is this more true than with the game’s monsters. Just pick any monster in the SRD and take a look: from skill ranks to save bo nuses, even the simplest of creatures has an impressive arrangement arrangem ent of interrelated stats, all carefully crafted to faultlessness … right? Well, Wel l, as it turns out, no. Looking through the Monsters section of the SRD with a close eye will turn up numerous errors throughout the various creature entries. While none of them are game-breaking, it is distressing to know that incorrect material could affect the course of your game. Even the official errata doesn’t help much. After all, it’s burdensome burdensome to consult a separate collection of fixes, just to be safe, every time you use a monster. Even worse, the errata overlooks a significant number of errors. What is needed is a complete overhaul of all the monsters in the SRD, deconstructing and examining each and every single stat block, fixing any errors found along the way. But who, you ask, would ever undertake such a herculean effort? Enter John Cooper. Having made a name for himself reviewing various third-party products and inexorably ferreting out errors in their stat blocks, John has turned his unflinching gaze to the core monsters of the SRD. The series of  which this book is a part is the result. Here, you will find the monsters you have been playing with all this time, meticulously combed over and, where necessary, corrected. Some of the changes are small (just what is the correct Survival bonus for an allip?). Others are large (the retriever demon has way too many hit points!). Some have been incorporated from the official errata (mariliths can’t polymorph). And others are fixed here for the first time (the hound archon hero’s hero’s CR). Even if you think many of these fixes are nothing more than minute, superfluous details, now you will have them on hand for that unexpected instance when you need them. After all, an athach’s athach’s Jump skill skill bonus doesn’t seem very important — until until you have one leap out at your player characters! The SRD has been reprinted and reproduced many times since its inception, but only in Cooper’s Com-   pendium of Corrected Creatures  will  will you find its monsters checked and corrected correct ed to perfection. After all, the devil may be in the details, but now John Cooper has fixed the details in the devils … and demons, aboleths, couatls, and more.

Shane O’Connor , , Ju ly 20 09

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T roll r oll Hunter and Owl Animal Companion

Introduction For the benefit of those who have not yet heard of me, my name is John Cooper, Cooper, and I am an EN World staff  reviewer.. Each of the staff reviewers brings his own perspective when looking at RPG products; one of my reviewer particular strengths has been an eye for detail when it comes to the correct application of the 3.5 SRD rules to creature stat blocks. Over the years, I’ve made something of a name for myself as the “nit-picky stat block guy,” guy ,” and in fact I usually include an “unofficial errata” section to my reviews of those products that have stats included in them, including including my suggestions on how to correct the stat blocks so as to conform to the 3.5 rules. I’ve always believed that one of the many strengths of the 3.5 rules set is the standardized way the stat  block components components all work together together,, and it has has always irritated me to no end end when when the the rules rules are overlooked and a stat block gets published riddled with errors. Unfortunately, Unfortunate ly, not all products with incorrect SRD creature stats are necessarily the fault of the publisher of that work, as the SRD itself is riddled with errors. Publishers use the SRD in good faith, never suspecting that in many cases they are just promulgating the same errors over and over again. Well, let’s try to put an end to that, shall we? This product is the fourth in a series of four PDFs in which I go through each of the monsters in the SRD, finding and correcting any such errors. If you are a publisher of 3.5 material, I trust you will find these corrected monster stats a big help in your quest to put out the best possible product. If you are just a DM interested in making your yo ur game run that much more efficiently, efficientl y, then this product should likewise prove to be  beneficial.  benefici al. Throughout the work, I have added “Cooper’s “Cooper’s Comments” sidebars explaining exactly what it was that I changed in a particular stat block, so you can be aware of the original errors in the stats and the steps I took in correcting them. After all, in some cases — most arguably in skill point alloca tion — there is not really just one “right” way to fix a given g iven error, and you may very well feel that the solution sol ution I have provided is not the one you would have chosen. By pinpointing the changes I’ve made, it makes it that much easier for you to make your own alterations to the monster stats in the areas where they need to be fixed. I also use these sidebars to point out some areas where the specific choices you make may end up changing a particular stat block. This is most often a situation where a creature has a “generic” skill — like “Knowledge (any)” or “Craft (any)” — that, when the specifics are chosen, might provide synergy bonuses to related skills. Besides the corrections to the stat blocks in the SRD, I also took the liberty of cleaning up some of the verbiage, correcting the occasional punctuation mistake, and fixing typographical errors. When necessary, I reworded a few sections to make them more user-friendly. Finally, in a couple of instances here and there, I went ahead and built a separate stat block for a variant creature described in a monster’ monster’ss entry, so those of  you interested in using these variants have the work all done for you. (Here I’m talking about such things as the Bactrian camel and Indian elephant; sahuagin mutants and malenti; the juvenile bronze dragon mounts serving hound archon heroes; noble djinn; all subraces of dwarves, elves, gnomes, and orcs; stone giant elders; pyrohydras and cryohydras; cryohydras ; and the aquatic versions of the gargoyle, ghoul, ogre, and troll. I also took the liberty of splitting all of the monstrous spiders into hunting and web-spinning varieties, and giving separate stat blocks for each.) I hope you enjoy this series of products. And be on the lookout for possible additional products along the same lines.

John Cooper , , July 2009

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Cooper ’s Compendium of Corrected Creatures

TROLL HUN TER  TE R  , 6T 6THH-LE LEVE VEL L RA RANG NGER  ER  HUNTE Hit Hit Dice: Di c e : Initiative: I ni t i a t i v e : Speed: Speed: Armor Armor Class: Cl a s s : Base Attack/ Grapple: Grapple: Attack: A tt a c k : Full Full Attack: Att ttac ack: k: Space/Reach: Space/Reach: Special Special Attacks: Attacks: At Special Qualities: Special Qualiti Qua lities: es: Saves: Sa ve s: Abilities: A b i l i t ie s : Skills: Skil Sk ills ls:: Feats: Fea ts: Environment: Environment: Organization: Organization: Challenge Rating: Challenge R a t ing : Treasur e: easure: e: Alignment: Alignment: Advancement: Advancement: Level Level Adjustment: Adjustment: Ad

Large Giant 6d8+6d8+72 (126 hp) +1 30 ft. (6 squares) 21 (–1 size, +1 Dex, +6 natural, +5 +1 chain shirt ), ), touch 10, flat-footed 20 +10/ +1 0/+2 +21 1 Claw +16 melee (1d6+7) or +1 battleaxe +17 melee (2d6+8/×3) or javelin +10 ranged (1d8+7) 2 claws +16 melee (1d6+7) and bite +11 melee (1d6+3); or +1 battleaxe +17/+12 melee (2d6+8/×3) and claw +12 melee (1d6+3) and bite +12 (1d6+3); or javelin +10 ranged (1d8+7) 10 ft./10 ft. Rend 2d6+10, spells Anim An imal al com compa pani nion on,, dark darkvi visi sion on 90 90 ft., ft., favo favore red d enem enemy y elve elvess (+4) (+4),, favored enemy humans (+2), low-light vision, regeneration 5, scent, wild empathy Fort +16, Ref +8, Will +8 Str 25, Dex 12, Con 22, Int 10, Wis 15, Cha 10 Knowledge (dungeoneering) +6, Knowledge (nature) +8, Listen +13, Move Silently +9, Search +6, Spot +13, Survival +11 (+13 above- or undergrou underground nd and following tracks) Alertness, Cleave, Endurance B, Improved Natural Armor, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting B, Iron Will, Power Attack, Attack , Track Track B, Two-Weapon Two-Weapon Fighting B Cold mountains Solitary 11 Standard Usually chaotic evil — +5

Trolls walk upright but hunched forward with sagging shoulders. Their gait is uneven, and when they run, their arms dangle and drag along the ground. For all this seeming awkwardness, trolls are very agile. A typical adult troll stands 9 feet tall and weighs 500 pounds. Females are slightly larger than males. A troll’s rubbery hide is moss green, mottled green and gray, or putrid gray. The hair is usually greenish black or iron gray. Trolls speak Giant.

COMBA T  T  Trolls have no fear of death: They launch themselves into combat without hesitation, flailing wildly at the closest opponent. Even when confronted with fire, they try to get around the flames and attack. Rend (Ex): (Ex) : If a troll hits with both claw attacks, it latches onto the opponent’ opponent’ss body and tears the flesh. This attack automatically deals an additional 2d6+9 points of damage. Regeneration Regenera Rege neration tion (Ex): (Ex) : Fire and acid deal normal damage to a troll. If If a troll loses a limb or body part, the lost portion regrows in 3d6 minutes. The creature can reattach the severed member instantly by holding it to the stump.

TROLL HUNTER  Some trolls, more cunning than most, are not satisfied with merely eating civilized beings but train to hunt them relentlessly. These troll hunters are fearsome rangers who focus on slaying and devouring humanoid prey.

COMBA T  T  A troll hunter makes full use of its scent ability to track its favored enemies and generally prefers to hunt in darkness. The troll hunter uses its limited repertoire of spells to protect itself from damaging forms of energy and to immobilize enemies. Typical Ranger Spells Prepared (2; save DC 12 + spell level): 1st—entangle, 1st—entangle, resist energy.

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T roll r oll Hunter and Owl Animal Companion Cooper ’s Comments I dropped the troll hunter’s hunter’s average hit points by 4, as it looks like it was originally given maximum hit points for its first level in ranger — which it shouldn’t get, as it already had 6 HD at that point as a standard troll. I also added “animal companion” to its special qualities, as this is a class ability it gains from its levels as a ranger. Finally, Finally, I added in the +2 synergy bonus to Knowledge (nature) it earned by having 5 or more ranks in Survival.

OWL  AN  ANIM IMAL AL CO COMP MP AN  ANIO ION N Hit Hit Dice: D ic e : Initiative: Initia tiv e: Speed: Speed: Armor Armo Ar morr Class: Class Cla ss:: Base Attack/Grapple: Base Attack/G Atta ck/Grap rapple ple:: Attack: At t a ck : Full Full Attack: A t ta c k : Space/Reach: Space/Reach: Special Special Attacks: At t ac k s : Special Special Qualities: Qualities Quali ties:: Saves: Sav es : Abilities: A b i l it i e s : Skills: Sk il l s : Feats: Feat s: Environment: Environment: Organization: Organization: Challenge Rating: Cha ll e nge R a ti ng : Treasur e: easure: e: Alignment: Alignment: Advancement: Advancement: Level Level Adjustment: Adjustment: Ad

Tiny Magical Beast (Augmented Animal) 3d8 (13 hp) +8 10 ft. (2 squares), fly 40 ft. (average) 20 (+ (+2 si size, +4 +4 De Dex, +4 na natural), to touch 16, fl flat-footed 16 16 +2/+2 /-9 9 Talons +7 melee (1d4–3) Talons +7 melee (1d4–3) 2-1/2 ft./0 ft. — Evas Ev asio ion, n, li link nk,, low low-l -lig ight ht vi visi sion on,, sha share re sp spel ells ls Fort +3, Ref +7, Will +3 Str 5, Dex 18, Con 10, Int 2, Wis 14, Cha 4 Listen +15, Move Silently +17, Spot +7* Alertness, Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse B Temperate fo forests Solitary — None Always neutral 4-7 HD (Small) —

The troll hunter’s hunter’s owl animal companion is a nocturnal bird of prey about 2 feet long, with a wingspan of 6 feet. It combines both talons into a single attack.

COMBA T  T  Owls swoop quietly down onto prey, attacking with their powerful talons. Skills: Skil ls: Owls have a +8 racial bonus on Listen checks and a +14 racial bonus on Move Silently checks. *They have a +8 racial bonus on Spot checks in areas of shadowy illumination. Bonus T ricks: Tricks: ricks : Heel, seek.

Cooper ’s Comments I decided to go with an owl as the troll hunter’s hunter ’s animal companion for a very good goo d reason: with its flight ability,, it stands the best chance of actually staying alive on those instances when the troll’s hunger ability overrides its desire for companionship! companionship! It can also serve as a very effective airborne scout for its master. All of the changes to the owl’s stats are the result of applying the “upgrades” an animal companion gets (as described in the druid’s section of the Player’s Handbook ). ). When it came time to decide on how to spend its two extra skill points (the result of its bonus 2 HD), I put a point each into Listen and Spot, and chose Improved Initiative as its 3rd-level feat.

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Cooper ’s Compendium of Corrected Creatures

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re your game’s Tarrasques and Thoqquas distinctly unobservant? Are  your Vargouill Vargouilles es not as stealth stealthy y as they should be? Are your Wig Wights hts not reaching their full potential? These are just a few of the monsters in the SRD that have significant errors in their stat blocks, bringing their mistakes into your game. But now Cooper’s Compendium of Corrected Creatures fixes the problems you didn’t even know your monsters had! This critical new series of books by ENWorld staff reviewer and 3.5 rules guru John Cooper presents thoroughly revised and corrected stats for the myriad creatures in the v.3.5 SRD. This sample booklet includes revised statistics for the Troll Troll Hunter 6th-Level R anger and his Owl Animal Companion; Companion ; the former appears in Cooper’s Compendium of Corrected Creatures: OGL Monster Stats latter is unique unique to this publication. publication. T – Z (Tarrasque – Zombie)  , while the latter This publication also contains an Introduction to the series by author John Cooper and a Foreword by series editor edi tor Shane O’Connor O’Connor.. Features of the Cooper’s Compendium of Corrected Creatures   series overall include corrected stats for all the monsters in the v.3.5 SRD that address oftenoverlooked elements like skill synergy bonuses, size modifiers, and shapechanging abilities; stat blocks for OGL creatures described or referred to in the SRD but not given statistics there; improved organization of material, especially items not listed in the proper order; and “Cooper’s Comments” sidebars throughout the volume, which explain specific speci fic changes and provide guidance on how to most effectively apply them in the game. This book and the series of which it i t is part are designed to be an invaluable resource for OGL game masters, players, and publishers alike. alik e. It is fully bookmarked and designed to be printer-friendly and easy-to-use. Incorporating all official errata as well as corrections for errors that went unnoticed until now, this book presents the monsters from the SRD as they should be. Fix up your foes and run a better game with Cooper’s Compendium of Corrected Creatures! 

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