Spelljammer Converting Spelljammer creatures

[Cleon]

OK, looks good.

Feats: Flyby Attack, Snatch, Iron Will, Diehard (in decreasing order of how much I prefer them).

That selection seems fine to me, but doesn't Diehard have a prerequisite?...

...oh, yes it does. It'd need Endurance first - how about just giving it that feat instead?

Feats: Endurance, Flyby Attack, Iron Will, Snatch

 

[freyar]

Ugh, forgot the prereq. I'm not sure Endurance gives it very much. What about Alertness instead? Generic, but at least useful.

 

[Cleon]

Ugh, forgot the prereq. I'm not sure Endurance gives it very much. What about Alertness instead? Generic, but at least useful.

Works for me.

Updating Skykine Working Draft with Alertness, Flyby Attack, Iron Will, Snatch.

I was using the SRD Whale for inspiration for the feats, and they have both Alertness and Endurance, and Skykine presumably make rolls to hold their breath less often than cetaceans.

 

[freyar]

CR and Org are probably ok.

Environment: ummmm.... I suppose it would be "any sky" but the MM2 Tempest and FF Thunder Worm both have "land" environments. Any land, maybe?

 

[Cleon]

CR and Org are probably ok.

I think you're right. Probably.

Environment: ummmm.... I suppose it would be "any sky" but the MM2 Tempest and FF Thunder Worm both have "land" environments. Any land, maybe?

Yes, I guess so. They have to come down to reproduce so they're not entirely free from the ground.

 

[freyar]

Tactics: Skykine only willingly attack creatures much smaller than themselves, fleeing if faced with a larger opponent (or even a smaller one, if it's aggressive enough), all the while emitting loud barks to warn their herd of the danger.

 

[Cleon]

Tactics: Skykine only willingly attack creatures much smaller than themselves, fleeing if faced with a larger opponent (or even a smaller one, if it's aggressive enough), all the while emitting loud barks to warn their herd of the danger.

I'd rather quote a particular size or size-relationship.

A skykine may try to eat any flying creature less than half its own size. Larger opponents (or smaller ones who prove dangerous) prompt a skykine to flee toward its herd while barking in alarm. The skykine normally only stops and fights if it is unable to escape from pursuers who have injured or beleaguered it. However, bulls defending their mates, or adults defending their family's young, will initiate combat, and mother skykine willingly fight to the death to defend their offspring.

Hmm, you know there's not much in the way of actual tactics there - shouldn't most of this be in background information?

Do we need a weight too? They seem to be shaped roughly like a whale, and are the same length as a Right Whale (which are up to 65 feet / 100 tons), so we could use those figures.

100 tons seems too heavy, though, and flying creatures are almost always lighter than swimmers. Let's just halve it for the sake of argument.

How about:

A bulky dragon-shaped creature the color of the sky. Its batlike wings and four spindly legs are small and spindly, looking far too weak to support its whale-sized body. The beast's large head is as broad as its body, with long crocodilian jaws. A pair of globular eyes jut from opposite sides of a skull who's sloping forehead is far too flat to house much in the way of a brain.

Skykine are whale-sized flying creatures who spend their lives in the air, save for the brief periods the female skykine need to land to give live birth to their young. They are normally encountered in families or herds led by a single adult male – although that's nigh impossible to tell, since both bull and cow skykine appear identical to other species. Skykine hide is abrasively rough while being supple and tough, much like shagreen. Its color matches the sky – from azure blue to storm grey and cloud white.

Skykine are carnivorous but cowardly. They only eat flying creatures less than half their own size; but unfortunately are dull-witted enough to occasionally mistake small aerial vehicles for food. Encounters with larger predators, or supposed "prey" who prove dangerous, prompt a skykine to flee toward its herd while barking in alarm. The fleeing skykine normally only stops and fights if it is injured or beleaguered by pursuers it is unable to escape. However, bull skykine defending their mates, or adults defending their family's young, will initiate combat, and mother skykine willingly fight to the death to defend their offspring.

A skykine is 60 to 70 feet long. Its levitation organ means it's effectively weightless, but its mass is about 50 tons.

Combat
A skykine is a timid combatant who is only willing to attack opponents of a smaller size category than itself. It will flee anything larger than this, or whenever it takes significant damage. Only a cornered skykine will fight to the death, or a skykine cow who is defending her calf. An attacking skykine normally starts by ramming an enemy or, if its opponent is much smaller than itself, by charging and making a bite attack. It then lashes out with bites and tail slaps until the skykine wins or decides to run away.

 

[freyar]

That looks pretty good to me, though I would probably cut the weight by another factor of 2 (or even more, really).

 

[Cleon]

That looks pretty good to me, though I would probably cut the weight by another factor of 2 (or even more, really).

Well its levitation ability likely obviates a normal flying creature's need to save weight, so I listed the weight of a relatively slender whale of that length.

A 65-foot crocodile might weigh 30 to 40 tons, while a sauropod that size is likely to be something like 15 to 25 tons. However, sauropods are thought to be surprisingly light and have long necks and tails. The Skykine are described as fairly bulky.

Of course, all of these weights are speculative guesstimates, since we don't have such animals to actually weigh in real life.

 

[freyar]

I just looked up dragon weights in the 3e Draconomicon, since these are supposed to be built like dragons. A Gargantuan dragon is 80 tons, so I'll go along with the 50 ton weight you have. I did figure the levitation ability actually went along with a reduced weight, but it's all magic after all.