Plane of the Apes, Part I: Chimpanzees and Orangutans

I hope y'all like apes, because this month's Monster Mondays are all ape related. I'll explain why in a moment, but first: Today's Monster Monday (yes, I know it's Tuesday) is the chimpanzee and the orangutan. Both of these great apes are intelligent, tool-using forest dwellers. While orangutans are typically loners, chimpanzees have a complex social structure. Chimps will even form hunting parties and sometimes engage in inter-troop warfare.

Orangutan photo by David Arvidsson, via Wikimedia / Chimpanzee photo by Hans Hillewaert, via Wikimedia

At this point, some of you may be wondering, "Hey, but chimpanzees and orangutans are already statted up for Pathfinder. So are gorillas and gigantopitheci, two of the other apes I determined you were going to be profiling either by guessing, reading ahead, or through use of my own psychic powers. So why are you statting them up again?" A fair question. Several months ago, I set out to stat up a man-ape - the sort of monstrous beast that Conan might fight in a rad Frank Frazetta painting or an equally rad but problematically racist Conan short story. In so doing, I checked the pre-existing stat blocks for several apes in order to get a baseline to work off of. What I found was a bit of a mess. According to their stat blocks, chimpanzees and orangutans have 11 Strength - roughly what an average peasant NPC might have. If you know anything about apes, you know this is wrong. Chimps and orangutans have incredibly strong arm muscles. Like Kickpuncher, their punches have the power of kicks. In fact, unless you are pals with Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, adult chimpanzees are probably stronger than anyone you've ever met. The much stronger gorilla has a Strength score of 15, which you might recognize as the roll you got for your fighter's Strength shortly before the GM let you re-roll.

So I set to work doing what RPG nerds do best - pedantically correcting the products of hard-working professional game designers. I did some research into the strength of apes, the many attempts to measure ape strength compared to humans and the assorted downfalls of such trial methods. I read about how apes defend themselves in the wild, and what parts of their body they use when attacking each other. I looked at Wikipedia and saw that gorillas are usually 4'11"-5'11" tall, putting them squarely in the Medium size category, not Large as they had been statted up. I went to a zoo and stood next to a gorilla and confirmed that no, they are not as big as horses. I took all of this knowledge and used it to give you this wonderful month full of apes.

Next week, we will Return to the Plane of the Apes with the gorilla and silverback gorilla, then we'll journey Beneath the Plane of the Apes to dig up the aptly named gigantopithecus, also known as the Dire Ape. Finally, we'll witness the War for the Plane of the Apes with the terrifying and monstrous Man-Ape. But first, let's look at those stat blocks for the chimpanzee and orangutan.

The following text in gold is available as Open Game Content under the OGL. Open Game Content is ©2018 Jonah Bomgaars.

This knuckle-walking ape, somewhat smaller than a human, is covered with short black fur

Ape, Chimpanzee          CR 2

XP 600

N Medium animal (intelligent)

Init +3; Senses low-light vision; Perception +9

DEFENSE

AC 14, touch 13, flat-footed 11 (+3 Dex, +1 natural)

hp 22 (3d8+9)

Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +3

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft., climb 20 ft.

Melee 2 slams +5 (1d4+3), bite +0 (1d3+1)

Ranged rock +1 (1d3+3) 10 ft.

STATISTICS

Str 17, Dex 17, Con 16, Int 4, Wis 14, Cha 13

Base Atk +2; CMB +5; CMD 18

Feats Intimidating Prowess^B, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Perception)

Skills Acrobatics +7, Climb+11, Intimidate +5, Perception +9

ECOLOGY

Environment warm plains or forest

Organization solitary, pair, troop (3-6), tribe (7-24 plus 100% young), community (25-50 plus 100% young)

Treasure none

Chimpanzees are highly intelligent, social apes. They stand, on average, four to five feet tall, but they hunch over and walk with their arms, making them appear shorter. Chimpanzees are covered with course black hair except on their hands, feet, and faces. They are remarkably dexterous, able to climb and swing through trees with ease and use primitive tools to hunt and gather food. The apes have complex social structures, and can be found roaming alone, hunting or travelling in small groups, or convening in huge tribes or communities. Chimpanzee tribes control large territories extending across forests and grasslands.

This shaggy, orange-furred ape has long-arms and a broad, wizened face

Orangutan              CR 2

XP 600

N Medium animal (intelligent)

Init +3; Senses low-light vision; Perception +9

DEFENSE

AC 14, touch 13, flat-footed 11 (+3 Dex, +1 natural)

hp 25 (3d8+12)

Fort +7, Ref +6, Will +3

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft., climb 30 ft.

Melee 2 slams +5 (1d6+3) and bite +0 (1d4+1)

STATISTICS

Str 17, Dex 17, Con 18, Int 4, Wis 15, Cha 10

Base Atk +2; CMB +5; CMD 18

Feats Intimidating Prowess, Skill Focus (Perception)

Skills Acrobatics +7, Climb+11, Intimidate +4, Perception +9

ECOLOGY

Environment warm forests

Organization solitary, pair, troop (3-5)

Treasure none

Orangutans are among the most intelligent of the great apes. They live deep in the remote jungles and forested bogs of the tropics. They have long orange fur covering their entire bodies, except for their hands, feet, and face. Adult male orangutans have broad cheek-flaps that make their faces seem larger and rounder, and female orangutans are noticeably smaller than males. Orangutans spend most of their time in trees, where they use their long arms and dexterous hands and feet to climb and swing with ease. They even sleep in trees, braiding branches together to make secure and comfortable nests. Orangutans tend to live solitary lives, but they are social animals, sometimes traveling and feeding in small temporary troops. Males tend to be territorial, and will holler and throw things before rushing to attack rivals with their powerful arms and sharp teeth.

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Plot Hooks and Encounter Ideas

• The lost temple which the adventurers seek is inhabited by a troop of aggressively territorial chimpanzees.
• The party awakes just in time to see an orangutan grabbing their pack of food and swinging away into the jungle.
• The rogue sneaks through the halls of the eccentric baron's manor, only to come face to face with the baron's trained ape. 
• Oh no, it's an orangutan skeleton!

Orangutan skeleton photo by Michel Wal, via Wikimedia

Hey, here's a fun alternate ranged attack for a chimpanzee:
   Poop Throw (Ex): A chimpanzee can throw its own feces as a ranged touch attack, suffering a -4 improvised weapon penalty. Those struck by the feces take no damage, but must make a DC 10 Fortitude save or become sickened for 1 round.

-your troglodyte d20 despot