Please let me know if I did anything wrong or if this beast is too strong. Thanks.
This towering ape ripples with muscle and bears a slightly regal bearing as it looks at you while pounding its chest and issuing forth a mighty roar.
TYRANT APE (MEGAPRIMATUS) CR 12
19,200 XP
N huge animal
Init +2; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +10
Defense
AC 26, touch 10, flat-footed 24; (+2 Dex, +16 natural, –2 size)
hp 295 (20d8+100); fast healing 3
Fort +17, Ref +14, Will +9
DR 5/–
Offense
Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft.
Melee bite +24 (2d8+9),2 claws +24 (2d6+9)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
Special Attacks rend (2 claws, 2d6+14)
Statistics
Str 28, Dex 14, Con 20, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 8
Base Atk +15; CMB +26; CMD +28
Feats Awesome Blow, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Natural Attack (bite, claw), Improved Overrun, Improved Sunder, Iron Will, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Perception), Snatch
Skills Acrobatics +8, Climb +18, Perception +10, Stealth +5
Ecology
Ecology warm forests
Organization solitary or pair
Treasure incidental
I think having King Kong/Mighty Joe Young is cool, but I think just some "supersize my animal" template makes more sense.
King Kong, Paul Bunyan's blue ox, the Giant Chicken of Bristol--they're all just regular animals magnified to huge size.
So what I did was compare this guy to a comparable creature of CR 12 fame: Purple Worm.
Defense: The Purple Worm has equal or less in almost every area, however he has the ability to burrow, which means escaping combat from most attackers is simply "go where they can't".
The Tyrant Ape has fast healing and DR and gobs of hitpoints on his side.
As a Brute, the Ape should be as good, or even better at handling attacks.
Attack: The Purple Worm has far greater damage and damaging abilities. Between the swallow whole option, 4 dice damage rolled, higher Strength (from Gargantuan sized), and poison, he's better in almost every way.
He has a higher perception too, so he likely won't be snuck up on.
I think the Tyrant Ape, being different from the Dire and Gorilla versions, shouldn't keep the Sneak ranks, and instead put them into Perception. Big things usually don't try and be stealthy... cover is usually too small.
A +5 Sneak is not going to do anything anyways against 12th level opponents.
A +15 Perception though, that could make him harder to sneak around. (I'm assuming 5 ranks in Sneak because Dex +2 Size -2).
One thing to note, if you use the Improved Natural Attack feat, 2d6 (Huge Bite damage) goes up to 3d6, not 2d8. It's weird, it's not the same as a Gargantuan Bite, so the wording is wrong (it's not "as if he went up a size"). 3d6 does higher average damage, and can help with potential alternative feat options...
Which is something else I wanted to mention. His attack strength could be made more deadly if he dumped a few "improved" feats for stuff like Vital Strike (and Improved), so he can take advantage of his movement speed/climbing and do "flyby style" attacks at 9d6 damage.
I definately don't see an animal using Sunder attacks that much. Improved Overrun and Bull Rush could be fun, but if you can give up all three of those feats you can go the route of:
Improved Critical (bite)
Critical Focus
Bleeding Critical
This is like the Purple Worm's Staggering Critical. This allows for a much needed "scary effect" from a lucky hit from this guy, and would up the damage he's doing without having to make him Gargantuan.
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Lastly, I might increase the base speed of the creature to 40'.
If we look at the Dire Ape and compare it to a similar CR and Sized creature (Ogre), the Ogre has 10' faster speed (when he's not wearing his armor). To me, this would mean that his "mode of travel" (probably a combination of legs and arms, knuckle dragging style) means "a little slower" than the same sized creature.
A similar CR and sized "long-legged" creature would be a Cloud Giant (CR 11, Huge), who has 50' speed. So 40' speed would work well here.
This would mean he could catch up or escape to "regular sized" opponents (the PCs).
Rather than go the Vital Strike route, I'd give him 1 more Hit Die and then assign the Dire Charge epic feat from the SRD.
Made some changes. Please let me know if this is an improvement. ^_^
This towering ape's body ripples with muscle and bears a slightly regal bearing as it looks at you while pounding its chest and issuing forth a mighty roar.
TYRANT APE (MEGAPRIMATUS) CR 12
19,200 XP
N huge animal
Init +2; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +10
Aura frightful presence (180 ft., DC 19)
Defense
AC 26, touch 10, flat-footed 24; (+2 Dex, +16 natural, –2 size)
hp 295 (20d8+100); fast healing 3
Fort +17, Ref +14, Will +9
DR 5/–
Defensive Abilities rock catching
Offense
Speed 40 ft., climb 30 ft.
Melee bite +24 (3d6+9), 2 slams +24 (2d8+9 plus grab)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
Special Attacks constrict (2d8+9), rock throwing (140 ft.), trample (2d8+13, DC 29)
Statistics
Str 28, Dex 14, Con 20, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 8
Base Atk +15; CMB +26; CMD +28
Feats Awesome Blow, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Natural Attack (bite, claw), Improved Sunder, Iron Will, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Perception), Snatch, Vital Strike
Skills Acrobatics +8, Climb +18, Perception +15
Ecology
Ecology warm forests
Organization solitary or pair
Treasure incidental
Forgot to change Improved Natural Attack (claw) to Improved Natural Attack (slam). Please ignore that little blunder. Does anyone like the improvement?
I like the Rock Throwing and Trample additions, it seems more like a King Kong encounter (overbearing). It also gives a nice surprise attack from afar. Vital Strike means potentially scary damage even when closing in.
Slams and Constrict feels more "big ape" than claws and rend too.
Overall, I think it would give as much of a fight to the PCs (for an animal) as comparative CR 12 creatures.
Behold! The Tyrant Ape in it's final glory:
This towering ape's body ripples with muscle and bears a slightly regal bearing as it looks at you while pounding its chest and issuing forth a mighty roar.
TYRANT APE (MEGAPRIMATUS) CR 12
19,200 XP
N huge animal
Init +5; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +
Aura frightful presence (180 ft., DC 18)
Defense
AC 27, touch 10, flat-footed 26; (+1 Dex, +18 natural, –2 size)
hp 210 (20d8+120); fast healing 2
Fort +18, Ref +13, Will +8
DR 5/–
Defensive Abilities rock catching
Offense
Speed 50 ft., climb 30 ft.
Melee bite +18 (3d6+10), 2 slams +18 (2d8+10 plus grab)
Ranged rock +14 (2d6+10)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
Special Attacks constrict (2d8+10), rock throwing (140 ft.), trample (2d8+10, DC 30)
Statistics
Str 30, Dex 12, Con 22, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Base Atk +15; CMB +27; CMD +38
Feats Awesome Blow, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Initiative, Improved Natural Attack (bite), Improved Natural Attack (slam), Improved Sunder, Iron Will, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Perception), Snatch
Skills Acrobatics +9, Climb +17, Perception +9
Ecology
Ecology warm forests
Organization solitary or pair
Treasure incidental
Known to few scholars as the megaprimatus, the tyrant ape is a towering monstrosity capable of picking up a man and ripping him apart limb by limb! Tyrant apes have so far only been encountered on the most largest and remote islands or in the densest parts of the Mwangi Expanse (where the bekyar and charau-ka cultists of Angazhan usually worship them as living incarnations of their demonic patron). More than one female adventurer traveling in the Mwangi Expanse learns to fear being bound to a sacrificial altar of Angazhan to be sacrificed to a tyrant ape.
They will usually pelt well armed parties with large rocks from an advantageous point in their territory but if forced into close combat they truly become walking engines of destruction, making full use of their size and muscle by trampling over small foes and grappling then squeezing the life out of heavily armored foes before biting their heads off with its powerful teeth! An adult male tyrant ape stands 25 feet tall and weighs 2,270 pounds. It is not afraid to tackle more powerful foes than itself (such as the jungle dwelling yellow dragons) if it means to defend it’s territory.
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I like the imagery, but I wonder what you'd do with it. It's not a threat to a level 12 party, and it's not smart enough to be a BBEG for lower-level party.
The thing's got Faye Wray on it's shoulder, screaming in horror as it bullrushes into combat. "DON'T HIT THE HOT BABE, MAN!!!"
What the party doesn't realize is Faye Wray is a bait-and-switch.....she's really a high-level evil druid and part of a cabal that wants to endeavor to bring these giant siege engines back to the mainland and destroy all the cities, thus restoring Golarion to it's primal glory. That oughtta keep the party wizard from blasting the thing with area effect evocations for a round or two; maybe make the fight somewhat more interesting. Then when she unleashes a few high-level druid spells on them, they get the picture.
"It's" = "it is."
"Its" = possessive.
Yes, English sucks.
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