Fantasy Monster: Treeraffe

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Treeraffe

A very tall creature looking like a cross between a giraffe and a palm tree.

CR 6; XP 2,400
N Large Plant

Init +2; Senses far vision, low-light vision; Perception +15

Defense
AC 19, touch 11, flat-footed 17 (+2 Dex, +8 natural, –1 size)
hp 75 (10d8+30)
Fort +10; Ref +5; Will +5; +4 vs. being knocked prone

DR 2/slashing; Immune plant traits

Offense
Speed 50 ft.

Melee 2 slams +10 (1d6+4)

Ranged coconut +10 touch (2d6 plus 2 splash)

Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.

Special Attacks throw coconuts

Statistics
Str 18, Dex 15, Con 16, Int 2, Wis 14, Cha 7
Base Atk +7; CMB +12; CMD 24 (32 vs trip)

Feats Acrobatic Steps, Nimble Moves, Run, Throw Anything, Weapon Focus (coconut)

Skills Perception +15

SQ long legs

Ecology
Environment plains and forests
Organization solitary, pair, or herd (5–10)
Treasure standard

Special Abilities

Far Vision (Ex) A treeraffe extreme height lets it notice objects and creatures from faraway. Its visual Perception checks increase DC by 1 per 100 feet of distance, and it ignores range penalties to its throw coconut attacks.

Long Legs (Ex) A treeraffe can move through spaces occupied by Medium or Smaller creatures, though it provokes attacks for doing so. It can walk through water 15 feet deep without having to swim or hold breath (though it moves at half speed when doing so, and can't run or charge through water deeper than 5 feet). They are also surprisingly stable, gaining additional +4 bonus to CMD against trip attempts, and saving throws against effects that would knock them down.

Throw Coconuts (Ex) A treeraffe grows many small but hard coconuts on its leafy head-crown. It can shake its head in a way that causes one or more of those coconuts to fall off and land on enemies with a surprising accuracy. Each coconut dropped counts as thrown splash attack—though it doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity—with the usual 20 ft. range increment dealing 2d6 points of bludgeoning damage on a direct hit, and 2 points of piercing damage in a 5-ft. splash. When taking a full attack action, a treeraffe can either throw one coconut in addition to making its two slam attacks, or throw up to three coconuts at different targets.

Treeraffes are motile plants that can be confused with giraffes from a distance, especially when sharing habitats with them. They seem to be a four-legged palm trees roaming grassy plains and sparse forests, either alone, or in small groups. While they might look like they are foraging through the day, they are actually seeking water, and patches of particularly fertile soil to root for the night.

As plant creatures, they are often at odds with herbivore animals and beasts, including giraffes that they resemble, but they often peacefully coexist with carnivores, birds, many vermin, and some small primates that travel on them between groves, and patches of suitable woodlands. They also seem to carry windborne seeds or even occasional saplings of other plants with them.

A few nomadic tribes discovered how to tame treeraffes, using them as beasts of burden—while they require far more effort to load or unload than horses, donkeys, or camels, they are much safer from predator attacks. Particularly old and big treeraffes (with giant template added once, or twice) can even carry small huts build around their torsos.

Giant Treeraffe (CR 7) has AC 20 (+1 Dex, +11 natural, –2 size), 95 hp, Fort +12, Ref +4, DR 3/slashing. Atk slam +11 (1d8+6), coconut +8 (3d6 plus 3 splash), CMB +15, CMD 26 (34 vs. trip).

Elder Treeraffe (CR 8) has AC 20 (+14 natural, –4 size), 115 hp, Fort +14, Ref +3, DR 5/slashing; Atk slam +11 (2d6+8), coconut +5 (4d6 plus 4 splash, 10 ft.), CMB +19, CMD 29 (37 vs. trip).

*Both retain their Acrobatic Step and Nimble Moves due to their long legs, despite technically not meeting Dexterity requirement.

Twelve Years A Game Designer

I started this blog over twelve years ago, in anticipation of my first (English) publication and the first paid-one.

It was Commander, released by Amora Game exactly twelve years ago (or at least I posted about that on 2nd of November).

And it was funny, in that my first publication was sort-of-happy accident...

Wait... How do you get published accidentally?!

Oh, boy...

I was—just for funsies—designing a Captain class, in a forum posts on Paizo message boards. It was an attempt to capture the spirit of the class of the same name from Lord Of The Rings Online for Pathfinder (1st edition). And then, unexpectedly, I was contacted by Greg LaRose from Amora Game, who told me that he wanted to publish a similar class when he saw my creation and he wanted to use my work as the basis for rework of what he had in mind.

After shaking off the initial dazed condition, I somehow negotiated a very neat deal with Greg, and the commander was born as a fusion of what I had in mind, and what Greg had in mind...

After some less than stellar initial release, we went through revision that ended receiving four out of five stars from Endzeitgeist.

I collaborated with Greg multiple times after that over years, as well as doing some things for Green Ronin, Jon Brazen Enterprise, Little Red Goblin Games, LPJ Designs, Wayward Rogue Publishing, and Zenith Games. I hope I haven't missed anyone.

I ended writing things for 1st edition of Pathfinder, 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons, Chronicle System (that's Green Ronin's Saga Of Ice And Fire mechanics), and Savage Worlds.

With that said, it has been years since my last publication—currently I am doing little when it comes to designing beyond writing weekly blog posts, though I am in no way shape or form rejecting the possibility of more things coming in the future (I have no intention of dabbling in self-publishing).