Stats for a chimpanzee?

[boxstop7]

Okay, okay...I had a merchant send a chimpanzee on an errand last night and never expected anything to come of it. One of the players sought fruit in the open market, and of all things she picked bananas. Keeping with the stereotype (though chimps rarely subsist on bananas), the chimp followed the party around (the discarded banana peels drawing its attention), and they eventually gained its trust. I never expected the chimp to be more than an insignificant, if not comical, cameo. But they ended up keeping it and now it's the party's "pet". I suspect they'll send it to climb things, carry grappling hooks, etc. It's even got a vest that functions as natural armor +1. So my question is this: I couldn't find any stats for chimps (or even monkeys in general, beyond the Girallion) in the MM. Are there any stats in the MMII, or other books out there? Has anyone bothered to work up the stats for a chimp? If so, where could I find them? Thanks!

~Box

 

[ced1106]

You could just use the thief class for the chimp! Make the obvious changes (1d4 HD, some skills not available), then let the players create a new character for him. Tumbling... pick pockets... stealth... plenty of thief skills overlap those of a chimp!

And yes, the chimp can gain xp! Use the normal NPC rules.


Cedric.
aka. Washu! ^O^

 

[Pielorinho]

I would use the halfling stats, just with a higher intelligence and wisdom.

And remember to calculate in that +1 racial bonus to ranged attacks when it's flinging poo.

Daniel

 

[jRocket]

I believe there is a monkey listing in the MM. It's in the back with the rest of the animals.

 

[Dingleberry]

There's definitely a monkey in the Animals appendix of the MM, though lacks the "feces +X ranged" attack I was hoping for when my druid picked one up as an animal companion.

 

[Demon Knight]

MM pg 198. Monkey (which would cover chimpanzees)

 

[Celebrim]

The following is based on the 'Ape' entry in the MM, and regressing it to medium-size (with a little tweaking). The assumption being that 'ape' refers to something more like a Gorilla or more likely a fantasy ape. Medium-Size is a little large for a chimp, but reasonable for a large male. Bumping the creature down to size small isn't at all unreasonable, but I wouldn't change the stats all that much. Even a small chimp is as physically powerful as a human.

Ape (Chimpanzee)
Medium-Size Animal
Hit Dice: 2d8 (h.p. 9)
Initiative: +3 (Dex)
Speed: 30 ft., climb 30 ft.
AC: 14 (+3 Dex, +1 natural)
Attacks: 2 slams +4 melee, bite -1 melee
Damage: Slam 1d4+2, bite 1d4+1
Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: -
Special Qualities: Scent
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +1
Abilities: Str 14, Dex 16, Con 10, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 7
Skills: Climb +14, Listen +6, Spot +6
Feats: -
Alignment: Always neutral

Chimps use an all out failing attack (charge) to try to force thier foes onto the defensive, the prefer to initiate a grapple. The thier opponent pinned they will employ thier fangs to finish the contest.

Although outside of the rules, I'd prefer the range of animal intelligence to be extended up to around 4, and that Chimps, Apes, Dolphins, and Grey Parrots be given intelligence in this range. Cats, Dogs, Monkeys, Octopi, and Elephants would have an intelligence around 3. There is just quite a range between a chimp and a mouse, and labelling both int 2 just doesn't cut it for me.

Chimps can be trained to perform a variaty of tasks, and you should probably allow fantasy chimps to be trained to do anything you've seen chimps do in a movie.

As a final aside, since chimps/apes already have natural armor of +1 or better, the vest you mention would have no effect.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Although outside of the rules, I'd prefer the range of animal intelligence to be extended up to around 4, and that Chimps, Apes, Dolphins, and Grey Parrots be given intelligence in this range.

Yeah - I have a druid with a Chimp companion, and the DM pegged the Int at 4.

Given that creatures with an Int greater than 3 understand one language, he can follow Common to a certain extent, and the DM let me use up a bunch of tricks (and some skill points for the druid) on sign language...

-Hyp.