Lenihan's Elven expeditionary force
- Thread starter lenihan
- Start date
lenihan
Moderator
Good question! Couldn't find any ideal substitutes flicking quickly through the bestiary. Just to get things going, we used a statline for wood elf beastmaster with warhounds modified down a bit (e.g. lower intelligence, so could be affected by clap of thunder; the one improvement being possibility of armour save on 6 to represent shells of the Crustaceans, and so on - as it happens, they caused things to flee rather than actually engaging in combat, so we didn't see how well this worked in the heat of battle). But it's obviously not the most satisfying solution. The problem is really as follows:
- Ideally each creature would have different characteristics - but that would be hellish to play out, all the different rolls for different attacks etc.
- Easiest thing is to have a fixed statline for everything, but then they lose their characteristics
- I did wonder about a compromise version - a low general statline with an armour save on a 6, but then rolling a special dice (D12?) to see if any special attack characteristics came into affect in that round of combat - e.g. jellyfish sting (poisonous attack), squid ink attack (lowers opponents initiative by blinding them with ink), crab claw attack etc., or whether you should just proceed as normal)... needs more thought
- Ideally each creature would have different characteristics - but that would be hellish to play out, all the different rolls for different attacks etc.
- Easiest thing is to have a fixed statline for everything, but then they lose their characteristics
- I did wonder about a compromise version - a low general statline with an armour save on a 6, but then rolling a special dice (D12?) to see if any special attack characteristics came into affect in that round of combat - e.g. jellyfish sting (poisonous attack), squid ink attack (lowers opponents initiative by blinding them with ink), crab claw attack etc., or whether you should just proceed as normal)... needs more thought
24_Cigarettes
Member
Interesting unit you have there, I have a great love of animal handlers in 3rd edition and I use them whenever possible. As with many MANY things in 3rd edition room for player creativity is implied if not mandatory. In the interests of keeping things relatively fair for your opponent but still including a sense of the random game elements we all know and love I would implement the following;
1- the wood elf beastmaster stat line is definitely the one you want to use. They should be given weapons and equipment OPTIONS that are indicative of their marine heritage; nets (pg 85 in rulebook), javelins or throwing (boarding) axes, double handed weapons and light armour. I found these to be the most fitting but that's just me.
2- the beasts should automatically move through water themed terrain without penalty though NOT the beastmasters. This special rule is no big deal if you're initiating a charge (beasts can use their own movement during a charge they are not constrained by the slowest member of their unit) but still demands they be played tactically on your part. As with many marine animals they should also be given poisoned attacks (more on that below).
3- whichever creature you are basing your stat line on use that creature's base size as well. I personally think giant rats are fitting for the beasts you are seeking (pg 247 rulebook) of course you will want to omit the will not attack skaven or other rats rule. They already come with poisoned attacks and their movement value is fair as well. I would still include their chaos attributes but I would make it d4 -2 attributes to counteract their moving through water bonus. If you want to give them a hard chitinous shell then you should price out the cost using the multiplier rules found on pg 83; so for example a giant rat would be 1/2 pt for a shield (6+ save) 1.5 Pts for shield and light armour (5+) and so on.
That's just my two cents, I hope it is useful for you. Good luck with whatever you decide.
My blog: http://fullashtraygaming.blogspot.ca/?m=1
1- the wood elf beastmaster stat line is definitely the one you want to use. They should be given weapons and equipment OPTIONS that are indicative of their marine heritage; nets (pg 85 in rulebook), javelins or throwing (boarding) axes, double handed weapons and light armour. I found these to be the most fitting but that's just me.
2- the beasts should automatically move through water themed terrain without penalty though NOT the beastmasters. This special rule is no big deal if you're initiating a charge (beasts can use their own movement during a charge they are not constrained by the slowest member of their unit) but still demands they be played tactically on your part. As with many marine animals they should also be given poisoned attacks (more on that below).
3- whichever creature you are basing your stat line on use that creature's base size as well. I personally think giant rats are fitting for the beasts you are seeking (pg 247 rulebook) of course you will want to omit the will not attack skaven or other rats rule. They already come with poisoned attacks and their movement value is fair as well. I would still include their chaos attributes but I would make it d4 -2 attributes to counteract their moving through water bonus. If you want to give them a hard chitinous shell then you should price out the cost using the multiplier rules found on pg 83; so for example a giant rat would be 1/2 pt for a shield (6+ save) 1.5 Pts for shield and light armour (5+) and so on.
That's just my two cents, I hope it is useful for you. Good luck with whatever you decide.
My blog: http://fullashtraygaming.blogspot.ca/?m=1