ECOLOGY

Environment cold plains
Organization solitary (male), family unit (2–8, 25% chance to be accompanied by a calf if 3 or more are encountered)
Treasure none

The oliphant is a 20-foot long creature resembling a mastodon. It is omnivorous and rarely makes its home near civilized or settled areas. Each of the creature’s tusks, if wholly pried from a dead oliphant, brings 400 gp on the market. The oliphant’s fur is thick, brown, and aids in protecting it from cooler climates and precipitation. Oliphants are sometimes trained as mounts or beasts of burden by various humanoid races. Oliphants seem to understand Common, but they do not speak it.

Training an Oliphant

An oliphant requires training before it can bear a rider in combat. To be trained, an oliphant must have a friendly attitude toward the trainer (this can be achieved through a successful Diplomacy check). Training a friendly oliphant requires six weeks of work and a DC 25 Handle Animal check. Riding an oliphant does not require an exotic saddle. An oliphant can fight while carrying a rider, but the rider cannot also attack unless he or she succeeds on a Ride check.

Oliphant young are worth 2,000 gp each. Professional trainers charge 1,000 gp to rear or train an oliphant.

Carrying Capacity: A light load for an oliphant is up to 2,400 pounds; a medium load, 2,401–4,800 pounds; and a heavy load, 4,801–7,200 pounds. An oliphant can drag 36,000 pounds.