One of the things that's always bothered me about D&D is that a lot of 'dire' and 'fiendish' animals never really get any mention besides the fact that they exist; the same goes with half-dragon creatures. Sure, there are things like the dracolisk, which are apparently interesting enough to get their own entries, but they're the exception. This thread aims to correct that.
TL;DR either describe fiendish, dire, and/or half-dragon versions of animals or come up with species descended from such creatures, a la the dracolisk.
Drawfags welcome
>>48078973
I like to think 'dire' animals are merely particularly potent mutants of an otherwise normal species. Paragons of their brethren, so to speak. Nothing exactly magical about them, but heroes of wild boars can arise just as easily as heroes of humans.
>>48079058
But what exactly would that entail? Quills on the back? Thicker hide? Claws instead of hooves?
>>48078973
Are celestial animals cool too? I've always wanted to see a Celestial Bulette.
Or a Celestial Dire Shark. Either works.
>>48079138
Larger size, battle scars, severe coloration, scar tissue-like natural armor, exaggeration of features distinctive to the species (ie. extra sets of tusks/horns) , a raised stripe of off-color hair down the spine, forehead plates, oddly-colored sclera, split jaws, etc.
>>48079202
Yeah, sure.
>>48078973
>Stygian Lurker
>Measuring 20 feet long, this vicious aquatic predator has the blood of devils running through its veins, and can be found both swimming through the River Styx and lurking in the marshes of the world.
>With rough jet-black hide that looks like it was hewn from raw basalt, fiery orange flesh, and glowing red eyes, Stygian lurkers are true monsters among crocodiles. Immune to fire and heat, these highly aggressive creatures are quite fond of killing for fun; their territories are often marked by dismembered limbs and heads arranged in small piles at the water's edge.
>The monster's teeth are rough and jagged, like shards of white obsidian, and wounds inflicted by them do not close without the aid of magical healing.
>Aquatic devils are fond of using these crocodiles as guard beasts, as do some evil lizardfolk.
>>48080704
Is 20 feet supposed to be impressive for a crocodile?
>>48080803
For modern crocs? Yeah. It's a fiendish crocodile, for chrissakes; it's not supposed to be too huge.
>>48078973
>Flamehog
>The spawn of a long-dead red dragon known for his eagerness to rut with anything that moved and a massive awakened dire boar sow known for her fecundity in the bygone age when she lived, flamehogs are rapacious carnivores native to the Shivering Hills.
>Easily growing to the size of a large rhinoceros, the flamehog is a crimson-furred beast with jagged bony plates shaped like warped maple leaves growing out of its back and shoulders, blazing red eyes, and dozens of razor-sharp draconic teeth in its maw. Living alone, these highly aggressive beasts are capable of exhaling blasts of fire, courtesy of their draconic ancestor, and are totally immune to heat and flames. The boars will feast on anything from week-old carrion to deer to halflings; they'll even kill and eat their own kind should two or more meet snout to snout.
>Piglets are born in small litters of up to eight, and they follow their mother for the first two years of their lives until they can fend for themselves. It's not uncommon for most of the litter to get eaten by either another flamehog, their own mother, or their siblings.
>The native orcs of the Shivering Hills greatly value flamehogs; hunting one is a rite of passage for all orcs to be considered adults, and the hides are used to make durable fireproof hide armor and shields, as well as incredibly warm hide clothing. To farmers, however, the boars are a much bigger problem, raiding crop stores, eating livestock, and killing men and women working in the fields alone.
>>48079202
Astral sharks are a thing
>>48078973
>Dire Cassowary
>Lurking deep in forgotten jungles and dark rainforests, these deadly creatures go by many names: taloned terrors, razorclaws, and warbirds, to name but a few. But their most well-known moniker is also perhaps the most simple one: dire cassowary.
>Enormous versions of an already-dangerous bird, the dire cassowary is a 14-foot-tall beast with enormous scythe-like talons on its feet, a coat of shaggy black feathers, and a long bare neck crowned with a serrated razor-sharp beak shaped like that of an eagle combined with the beak of a vulture and dozens of sharp horns and spikes atop the head. Solitary, dire cassowaries, unlike their smaller kin, are omnivores, feasting on fruit and flesh alike. They're primarily pursuit predators, chasing their prey through the jungle for hours on end at speeds greater than the average warhorse can gallop at, leaping over fallen logs, weaving around trees, and simply bulldozing their way through even the thickest underbrush in their mad dash for their meal.
>Capable of shrugging off most attacks and tearing through metal like wet paper with their wicked talons, dire cassowaries are universally feared by everything in their native jungles; battles between yuan-ti tribes and jungle elf clans have been known to cease entirely when a dire cassowary burst out of the jungle foliage and started to carve its way through soldiers on both sides of the conflict, prompting the warring species to both call hasty retreats.
>>48080704
Mate, I'm from 'Straya and here crocs aren't intimidating until they're at least 25ft long a couple hundred kilos and most salt water crocs would murder the shit out of you for entering their territory regardless, all that's new here is the sense of theatrics.
>>48081904
Ah, my mistake. How should I improve it, then?
Does anybody know how old dire animals get compared to their normal animal counterparts?
My character got a dire boar as a pet so I would really like to know, since the campaign will go over a few years and possibly decades.
>Emerald Fangs
>The result of a paranoid Green Dragon who feared the machinations of a pair of Red Dragon Twins set out to fortify it's forest domain. In doing so it took the various animals nearby and through various trials found the strongest female specimens with which it would forcibly mate to produce it's half draconic prodginy. While many such spawn were made, the most successful would later become known as Emerald Fangs.
> Born of the union of the local wolf species, these sleek monsters sport smooth scales and what would appear as fur would in fact be more flexible scales. However, unlike their progenitor they did not gain the ability to breath acid but instead have powerful directed roars with enough force to knock a large man in armor off of his et and possibly deafen them as well.
>Their natural cunning combined with the new found intelligence of the draconic lineage made them apex preadators and the perfect bodyguards for their "Father" though , ironically, the plan of the Twin Red Dragons to kill him and take his horde did succeed and now the Emerald Fangs roam and rule the once fortified forest of their late father hunting any foolish enough to enter their realm and extorting humans and other races for their treasures when it suits them.
>>48082343
Awesome work, dude!
>Mountain Monks (Celestial Dire Apes)
>Heavenward is the tallest mountain in the world with it's peak said to breach the heavens and no living man having been able to scale it and come back down.
>One such adventurer didn't make it as far as others but admits the insane ramblings of his ordeal he speaks of a group of great ape like creatures that saved him when he was at the mountain's mercy
>Human like creatures with long arms that would often found sitting belaying their actual height when they stood. Their Fur was pure white with a golden trim of fur forming a triangular pattern down their chest. Their faces were oddly serene for such wild animals and their foreheads were bald almost with the appearance of an asetetic wearing a plain and simple miter.
>They gentle carried him from the ever changing weather of the cliff side into their caves where they set him in the natural hot spring where many of them could be found and brought him water and fruit to eat.
>They did not speak a word save for various grunts that sounded more then the random noises an animal would make and when he was healed one would gently take him by the hand and guide him along a winding path of various obstecles of wild magic to a safe spot that he could descend back to the firmaments of the world.
>Try as he might, he could never find the creatures again and the fear of the mountains unforgiving fury kept him from the height he had achieved before.
>Thunderspear
>Born long ago when a blue dragon mated with an escaped Triceratops that had been destined for a gladiatorial arena, thunderspears are brutal, aggressive omnivores of the blasted wastes of the Ruined Sands, living alone or in mated pairs.
>A thunderspear is a massive 30-foot-long ceratopsian covered in thick blue scales, rendered dull and lusterless from long-term exposure to the elements of their habitat, with enormous bear-like forelimbs armed with massive claws suited for digging on each forefoot, especially thick scales like the armor plating of a crocodile on the back, three straight horns atop its head shaped like smaller versions of the enormous cranial horn of a blue dragon, and a serrated beak as well-suited for tearing flesh as it is for cropping plants combined with sharp fangs in the back of its jaws. When angered, electrical sparks jump across the short spikes on the dinosaur's frill, and electric currents begin to dance up and down the horns in preparation to fire a lightning blast.
>When engaged in combat, thunderspears bite with their terrible beaks, slash with their front claws, which are capable of tearing through flesh just as easily as they do earth and stone, and fire blasts of lightning from their horns; up to three at a time.
>Despite the many efforts to try it, nobody has yet tamed a thunderspear; the beasts are simply too foul-tempered and too stubborn to be trained to respond to commands. Their horns, however, can be used to make spears and arrowheads infused with electricity, while armor made from their scales is almost totally impervious to such attacks.
>>48082000
Domestic pigs can live 20 years. I imagine something dire and not bred for edibility can double that.
>Stygian Lurker (revised)
>Measuring over 35 feet long, this vicious aquatic predator has the blood of devils running through its veins, and can be found both swimming through the River Styx and lurking in the marshes of the world.
>With rough jet-black hide that looks like it was hewn from raw basalt, fiery orange flesh, and glowing red eyes, Stygian lurkers are true monsters among crocodiles. Immune to fire and heat, these highly aggressive creatures are quite fond of killing for fun; they take their time killing their prey, often pausing their 'death roll' to let the unlucky victim get a gulp of air before continuing its attack.
>The monster's teeth are rough and jagged, like shards of white obsidian, and wounds inflicted by them do not close without the aid of magical healing; without magical aid, the flesh around the wound starts to blacken and become saturated with burning pain, eventually literally melting off of the victim's bones. The monstrous reptile can also vomit out a torrent of boiling-hot pitch that sticks tightly to the skin; peeling it off also tears away the skin of a victim.
>Aquatic devils are fond of using these crocodiles as guard beasts, as do some evil lizardfolk.
>>48081904
Hey Ausfag, this intimidating enough for you?
>>48079058
So basically just animal versions of PCs?
I like it.
