Hippopotamus

Hippopotamus

Species	hoofed mammal
No. Appearing	5–30
Behaviour	subsocial
Range	intertidal, limnetic, savanna
Size	13 ft. long
Weight	3,310 lbs.
Intelligence	2
Armour Class	6
Hit Dice	8
Action Points	3
Max. Stride	{{{stride}}}
THAC0	14
Hp/Die	3d4
Attack Forms	bite
Damage	5–30
Special Attacks	jaws, surprise on a 1–4

The hippopotamus, also called the hippo, is a large, mostly herbivorous semi-aquatic mammal native to Africa. The name comes from ancient Greek for river horse. It is the third largest mammal after the elephant and rhinoceros, both of which are also found in Africa. Hippos are recognisable by their barrel-shaped torsos, wide-opening mouths revealing large canine tusks, nearly hairless bodies and pillar-like legs.

Behaviour

Hippos inhabit the littoral, or limnetic zones of rivers and lakes, where they are able to swim. They can also be found along intertidal saltwater coasts, where mangrove swamps predominate. When water is scarce during the dry season, they will migrate between watering holes, moving fairly well on their four legs. Hippos emerge from water at dusk to graze.

While congregating together, a single male bull, with at least 75% of maximum hit points, will preside over a territory about 250-300 yards in width, with about 8-10 females; the remaining herd will be a separate group of males (and females if the number appearing is more than 20), with typically 6-8 each, with sometimes a male on his own. They are not territorial when moving on land or grazing.

Hippos are extremely aggressive and unpredictable, making them quite dangerous. They have been known to attack boats moving on the water, with a 30% chance of capsizing river craft by lifting them up from the bottom, surfacing to put their front feet over the gunnels to swamp the boat, or even tearing a piece of the gunnel open with their powerful jaws. When the boat is attacked, those aboard must make a dexterity check (+4 bonus) or fall into the water. Hippos yawning is a threat display, to warn outsiders not to encroach too closely. Hippos can remain under water for as long as 15 minutes, and may attack boats moving overtop of them.

Advantages

These creatures have very powerful jaws. When a hippo rolls a natural 20, the damage done is quadruple, not double; each successive 20 then increases this multiplier by 1, so that a second 20 would mean quintuple damage and a third would be hextuple.

When attacking from the water, whether or not they can be seen beforehand, hippos have a 4 in 6 chance of surprising due to the speed and ferocity of their attack.

See Bestiary