Creating a Dire Animal
“Dire” is an inherited template that can be added to any living Animal (referred to hereafter as the base creature). A dire animal uses all the base creature’s statistics and abilities except as noted here.
Size and Type
The creature’s type changes to Beast.
If the base creature is size Tiny or smaller, its size increases to Small. If it’s already Small or larger, it increases size by one size category. A dire animal gains all of the benefits and penalties associated with increasing size.
Hit Dice
If the dire animal’s final size is Small or Medium, it has 1 Hit Die if the base creature had less than 1 full Hit Die or the base creature’s total Hit Dice plus 1.
If its final size is Large or Huge, it gains 2 additional Hit Dice. Gargantuan dire animals gain 3 additional Hit Dice, and Colossal ones gain an additional 4 Hit Dice.
If the base creature advances by Hit Dice and its new total Hit Dice would cause it to increase in size, do not also apply that size increase. Hit Dice gained from this template do not count towards the base creature’s size.
Speed
A dire animal’s primary movement speed (usually their land speed) is increased by 10 feet.
Armor Class
A dire animal’s natural armor increases by 2. This is in addition to any natural armor that may be gained from increasing in size.
Base Attack/Grapple
As a Beast, a dire animal has medium (3/4) base attack bonus, which potentially increases as its Hit Dice increase.
Attacks/Special Attacks
A dire animal retains all the natural attacks and special attacks of the base creature. The damage for its natural attacks increases based on its size increase.
Special Qualities
A dire animal gains Darkvision out to 60 feet and Low-Light Vision if it did not already possess it.
Base Saves
As a Beast, a dire animal has good Fortitude and Reflex saves and poor Will saves, all of which potentially increase as its Hit Dice increase.
Abilities
In addition to any changes that a dire animal may gain from changing size, it also gains a +2 bonus to all six of its ability scores.
A dire animal has a minimum Strength score of 10. (Increase Stregnth to 10 if the +2 Strength increase leaves the creature’s total Strength score below 10).
Skills
As a Beast, a dire animal gains (2 + Int modifier, minimum 1) skill points per Hit Die. Assign any additional skill points it gains from its increased Hit Dice. Any skill given in the base creature’s description is a class skill for the dire animal.
Feats
A dire animal may gain additional feats based on its increased Hit Dice.
Challenge Rating
If the base creature’s challenge rating was less than 1, the dire animal’s challenge rating is equal to 1. Otherwise, its challenge rating is increased by 1.
Advancement
Same as base creature. Hit Dice gained from the dire animal template do not count towards the base creature’s size. Ignore them when determining a creature’s progression and growth based on Hit Dice.