"They Never Did Catch That Rhino"

One of my gaming buddies recently acquired the Black Panther LEGO set 76099 Rhino Face-Off by the Mine, which prompted a discussion about the armored rhino model's size category and possible Pathfinder stats. Last month, I received the same set as a birthday present from my family, which has convinced me that I need to complete and share stats for using this model as a Pathfinder miniature.

The base creature is obviously a rhinoceros, but both the normal and woolly varieties are merely Large size. This model is 18 studs long (12 studs for just the torso), so is at least Gargantuan (Space 20 ft. = 4" on the battle map), if not Colossal (Space 30 ft.+ = 6"+).

The Pathfinder rules provide multiple ways to increase a creature's size. The simplest is to apply the Giant Creature simple template, which increases size by one category, and raises CR by +1. You can also increase the creature's Hit Dice. The Bestiary states that, "As a general rule, creatures whose Hit Dice increase by 50% or more should also increase in size, but GMs should feel free to ignore this rule if warranted by the individual creature or situation."

Outside the core rules, Green Ronin's Advanced Bestiary includes a Gigantean template, which increases a creature's size by a whopping four size categories. This is obviously meant for producing immense kaiju-like monsters. A gigantean rhino would be one step beyond Colossal--still Colossal, but twice as large as a standard Colossal monster. That's dramatically bigger than this model can justify!

Combining the size increase for added HD plus the giant creature simple template would give us a Gargantuan rhino:

IMPROVED GIANT RHINOCEROSCR 7

XP 3,200

N Gargantuan animal

Init -1; Senses scent; Perception +15

DEFENSE

AC 19, touch 5, flat-footed 19 (-1 Dex, +14 natural, –4 size)

hp 108 (8d8+72)

Fort +14, Ref +5, Will +3

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft.

Melee gore +14 (4d6+18)

Space 20 ft.; Reach 15 ft.

Special Attacks powerful charge (gore, 8d6+36)

STATISTICS

Str 34, Dex 8, Con 27, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 5

Base Atk +6; CMB +22; CMD 31 (35 vs. trip)

Feats Endurance, Great Fortitude, Skill Focus (Perception), Toughness

Skills Perception +15

The next step is to account for the rhino's armor. In the movie, the armor is clearly just that, but the LEGO model looks like it might be a cyborg. There is an Augmented Creature template in the Advanced Bestiary that can be used to build a fantasy cyborg, but that template requires more work because it requries Augmentation Points to be spent for new special abilities.

When I mentioned the Metal-Clad template to my friend, he asked, "So what are the stats for vibranium?" Perhaps that question can be answered using some of the starmetals from high-tech supplements for Pathfinder, but as written, the metal-clad template lacks any metals that exotic. However, it does include adamantine and mithral. Adamantine would reduce a Gargantuan rhino's Dexterity to 2, so I chose mithral instead. This gives us the following stat block--which you definitely don't want to see charging you on the battlefield!

MITHRAL-CLAD WAR RHINOCR 12

XP 19,200

N Gargantuan animal

Init -1; Senses scent; Perception +15

DEFENSE

AC 27, touch 5, flat-footed 27 (-1 Dex, +22 natural, –4 size)

hp 116 (8d8+80)

Fort +15, Ref +5, Will +3
Defensive Abilities heavy fortification; Resist fire 15
Weaknesses vulnerability to electricity

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft.

Melee gore +16 (4d6+21)

Space 20 ft.; Reach 15 ft.

Special Attacks powerful charge (gore, 8d6+42)

STATISTICS

Str 38, Dex 8, Con 29, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 5

Base Atk +6; CMB +24; CMD 33 (37 vs. trip)

Feats Endurance, Great Fortitude, Skill Focus (Perception), Toughness

Skills Perception +15, Swim +10
SQ mithral limbs