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Bipedal Creature
A bipedal creature possesses the body of a humanoid and the features of some other creature. It has two legs and at least two arms that are capable of wielding weapons and manipulating tools, and it stands either erect or hunched like an ape. Bipedal races often form stable societies, cultures, and nations, even if the multilegged or legless creatures they resemble are solitary beings or simple hunter-gatherers.
Creating a Bipedal Creature
“Bipedal creature” is an inherited or created template that can be added to any living creature that does not have a generally humanoid form (referred to hereafter as the base creature). A bipedal creature uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.
Shape: Two of the base creature’s limbs (usually the last pair) become legs, and any other limb except a head that has a natural attack becomes an arm capable of either wielding a weapon or making a natural attack, as the creature chooses. Arms need not be jointed limbs in the typical sense; tentacles or other limbs could also be capable of wielding weapons and objects. If these transformations do not grant the bipedal creature at least two arms and two legs, it either converts limbs that do not have natural attacks or grows limbs until it meets these minimum numbers.
If the base creature has wings or a tail that do not make natural attacks, these limbs remain as they were, adjusting in size to fit the bipedal creature’s body without dragging. Any of the base creature’s limbs not accounted for in this process become vestigial.
Speed: If the base creature has a land speed, it changes to the speed given on the following table. If the base creature lacks a land speed, the bipedal creature’s land speed is one-half the speed indicated on the table (minimum 5 feet).
| Size | Land Speed |
|---|---|
| Fine | 5 ft. |
| Diminutive | 10 ft. |
| Tiny | 20 ft. |
| Small | 20 ft. |
| Medium | 30 ft. |
| Large | 40 ft. |
| Huge | 50 ft. |
| Gargantuan | 60 ft. |
| Colossal | 60 ft. |
Attack: Th e bipedal creature retains all the base creature’s natural attacks except those employing limbs that have become legs. If its Intelligence score is 3 or higher, it can also wield weapons normally with its arms, and it retains all the base creature’s weapon and armor proficiencies. Any natural attacks it has retain the same primary or secondary status they had for the base creature.
Space/Reach: The base creature’s face and reach change according to the following table. If the base creature has a longer reach than normal for its size, however, the bipedal creature retains that reach.
| Size | Space/Reach |
|---|---|
| Fine | 1/2 ft./ 0 ft. |
| Diminutive | 1 ft./0 ft. |
| Tiny | 2-1/2 ft./0 ft. |
| Small | 5 ft./5 ft. |
| Medium | 5 ft./5 ft. |
| Large | 10 ft./10 ft. |
| Huge | 15 ft./15 ft. |
| Gargantuan | 20 ft./20 ft. |
| Colossal | 30 ft./30 ft. |
Special Attacks: A bipedal creature retains all of the base creature’s special attacks except rake.
Advancement: Same as the base creature, or by class if it has an Intelligence score of 3 or higher.
Bipedal Characters
Though the bipedal creature template has no level adjustment, it can be used to make normally unplayable monsters more feasible as characters. A bipedal creature favors whichever class the base
creature does.
Using the Bipedal Creature Template
The bipedal creature template can radically change how monsters fit into your game world. With it, you could make a race of bipedal deer that live like monkeys, or build whole nations of magical beasts that are normally relegated to random encounters in the wilderness. Good dragons could walk the land as giants do, while evil dragons might move on all fours like animals. The possibilities are endless.
The bipedal template is also useful for making monsters suitable for other templates. For instance, by using the bipedal template, you can turn nearly any creature into a candidate for the lycanthrope, quadrupedal, or half-giant template.
The material below originates in a 3PP source (License).
