Varsks?

[Birthright-L]

A minor question, but does anyone have a 3E write-up of the varsk (I think
that`s the name)? The furry lizard native to Vosgaard that can`t survive for
long in warm climates?

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[Azrai]

Try this one....

Varsk
Large Beast
Hit Dice : 5d10 + 20 (47 hp)
Initiative: +1 (Dex)
Speed: 40 ft.
AC: 14 (-1 size, +1 Dex, +4 natural)
Attacks: Bite + 7 melee
Damage: Bite 1d8 + 7
Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 10 ft./5 ft.
Special Qualities: Low-light vision 60 ft., Cold defenses,
ignores terrain penalties
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +5, Will +1
Abilities: Str 20, Dex 13, Con 19,
Int 2, Wis 10, Cha 12
Skills: Spot +5, Listen +2, Hide +2,
Climb +6
Climate/Terrain: Cold plains, hills, and mountains
Organization: Solitary or brood (2-5)
Challenge Rating: 2
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement Range: 5-7 HD (Large)
Varsk are aggressive, white–furred giant lizards found
in the cold wilderness of Vosgaard. These beasts have
been domesticated by the Vos for use as battle-steeds.
The weather and poor forage of lands make it difficult for
Vos to keep horses but varsks are adapted to cold
weather and can go for as long as two weeks with minimal
food.
A varsk costs about 250 gp, although an outstanding
animal might fetch twice that price. They are normally
only available in Vosgaard, since they don’t fare well in
warmer climates and don’t get along well with horses or
other domestic animals.
Combat
The varsk is not a subtle hunter. It relies primarily on its
speed to bring down its prey. Varsks are well adapted to
moving over snow and ice, and ignore movement penalties
in such terrain.
Cold defenses: The varsk ignores the first 5 points of
cold damage each round.

[Eosin the Red]

First, nice write up.

The CR is a LITTLE bit low :) Should be 5-6 maybe a 7.

On the BAB +7? Str gives +5 and 5d10 hitdie should give +5 or you might want to lower the die type to d8 and only give +3. Maybe you figured it out some other way?

How do you get +7 damage to the bite?

Other than that (which may be fine, I just may be missing smething) thats a good write up.

Eosin_the_Red


>> Azrai wrote:
> Try this one....
>
> Varsk
> Large Beast
> Hit Dice : 5d10 + 20 (47 hp)
> Initiative: +1 (Dex)
> Speed: 40 ft.
> AC: 14 (-1 size, +1 Dex, +4 natural)
> Attacks: Bite + 7 melee
> Damage: Bite 1d8 + 7
> Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 10 ft./5 ft.
> Special Qualities: Low-light vision 60 ft., Cold defenses,
> ignores terrain penalties
> Saves: Fort +8, Ref +5, Will +1
> Abilities: Str 20, Dex 13, Con 19,
> Int 2, Wis 10, Cha 12
> Skills: Spot +5, Listen +2, Hide +2,
> Climb +6
> Climate/Terrain: Cold plains, hills, and mountains
> Organization: Solitary or brood (2-5)
> Challenge Rating: 2
> Treasure: None
> Alignment: Always neutral
> Advancement Range: 5-7 HD (Large)
> Varsk are aggressive, white–furred giant lizards found
> in the cold wilderness of Vosgaard. These beasts have
> been domesticated by the Vos for use as battle-steeds.
> The weather and poor forage of lands make it difficult for
> Vos to keep horses but varsks are adapted to cold
> weather and can go for as long as two weeks with minimal
> food.
> A varsk costs about 250 gp, although an outstanding
> animal might fetch twice that price. They are normally
> only available in Vosgaard, since they don’t fare well in
> warmer climates and don’t get along well with horses or
> other domestic animals.
> Combat
> The varsk is not a subtle hunter. It relies primarily on its
> speed to bring down its prey. Varsks are well adapted to
> moving over snow and ice, and ignore movement penalties
> in such terrain.
> Cold defenses: The varsk ignores the first 5 points of
> cold damage each round.
>
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[Birthright-L]

On Sun, 5 Jan 2003, Eosin the Red wrote:
> On the BAB +7? Str gives +5 and 5d10 hitdie should give +5 or you
> might want to lower the die type to d8 and only give +3. Maybe you
> figured it out some other way?

I don`t know for sure what he included, but you may have left off the size
modifier. -1 to attack for large critters, I think. It`s listed as a
beast, too, not a magical beast, so Attack Bonus is HD x 3/4. I`d put it
at BAB +3 HD, +5 str, -1 size = +7.

> > Varsk
> > Large Beast
> > Hit Dice : 5d10 + 20 (47 hp)
> > Attacks: Bite + 7 melee
> > Abilities: Str 20, Dex 13, Con 19,

--
Communication is possible only between equals.
Daniel McSorley- mcsorley@cis.ohio-state.edu

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[Sir Justine]

Very good varsk, Azrai.
As for the attack bonus, its right, as Eosin pointed out.
The damage is right too. When the primary attack of a creature is its bite, the bite applies 1 1/2 of the creature Strenght bonus. The varsk has Str 20, for a modifier of +5. +5 x 1.5 = +7.
When creating new monsters, the guidelines on the Monster Manual II are very good. They explain the creature types in greater detail than in MM I, and have a table that shows the typical statistics of a monster by its type and size .
A large beast has the following statistics, according to MM II:
Str: 18-19
Dex: 12-13
Con: 16-17
I don't know if this is what Azrai did, but this is how I would explain the varsk:
The crature is strong, so we can take the best typical statistics. Beyond this, to survive in Voosgard, an animal has to be really tough, so we could increase his Con by 2 points above the average. As it has more than 4 hd, it receives a bonus ability point, that could be applied to his Str.
The final statistics:
Str: 20
Dex: 13
Con: 19
I would only increase his natural armor to +6 (the same of the boar) and his CR to 3.
And I would say that a varsk trained for war should cost 500 gp. A varsk that is not trained for war forces its rider to make a Ride check (DC 20) at each round as a move-equivalent action to control the beast or dismount. If the rider fails this check, he spends his full round trying to control the varsk.

[Azrai]

Sorry, this is not "my" Varsk. It's Travis's "official" 3. Edition Varks. Forgot to give some credits...

[irdeggman]

Correction - it was not Travis' "Official" version, but from his version 3.08 (I think that was the latest version he posted).

The "official" version has yet to be published. There will be a varsk write up in the BRCS coming out soon for comment/testing etc. by the netforce. Again, nothing in it will be "official" until there is a majority agreement from the netforce that it should be.

Sometimes it looks like people confuse what Travis (Doom) had posted as being "official" just because he is on the development team or because it has been out there and used the longest. He has pointed out pretty much the same things I said above concerning the use of the "Official" label.:)