I am planning to DM a game and I have a person wanting to be an artificer.
I was curious if the player could adjust attacks to fit the form of their mechanical servant? The following is stated in the UA:
Select a Large beast with a challenge rating of
2 or less. The servant uses that beast’s game
statistics, but it can look however you like, as long as its form is appropriate for its statistics.
So, could he for example use the statistics from the giant elk, but change the 'Hooves' attack, which is only allowed to be used on prone targets, to work on standing targets, if he describes the form to be a like a humanoid giant which he can ride?
Best Answer
You're better off having him choose a different creature
As GM it's always at your discretion that you can houserule such things, but generally it's a no. As your quote states, you take the stats as they are written.
There's also a small issue with your example of the creature your player likely desired. A Giant Elk is Huge, that's one whole size above Large. The stats of a Giant Boar would be a decent fit for your player's needs.
Should you want to browse all possible creatures that could be used as a base for the servant, I recommend you use Kobold Fight Club's extensive listing of creatures and where you can find their stats. You can filter for size, max/min CR as well as the source books/sites on there, so you can also explicitly search for SRD stuff that is available for free online.