Flame Snail...

It seems that not everyone is a fan of 1E AD&D's Fiend Folio. I kind of understand this, as initially upon first reading through it I wasn't sure how and why I could use the various monsters when so many have a frequency of Very Rare. Admittedly a fair few of the monsters are pretty left-field but, to be honest, that's what I find appealing about both the Fiend Folio and Monster Manual in general. I mean, why should any of the monsters in D&D make sense? Why can't there be Flumpfs?

Anyway, one of my favourite monsters from the Fiend Folio is the Flail Snail. To me, it ticks various boxes: it's a typically odd D&D monster, it has some interesting capabilities, and it just generally fits into the world of D&D in the sense that it seems to be something that's part-magical, part-mundane.

With that in mind, I thought I'd design a few other creatures inspired by it, the first being the...

FLAME SNAIL

FREQUENCY: Very rare
 
NO. APPEARING: 1
 
ARMOR CLASS: 4

MOVE: 4"

HIT DICE: 4-6

% IN LAIR: 0%

TREASURE TYPE: Nil

NO. OF ATTACKS: 1 per tentacle

DAMAGE/ATTACK: See below

SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below

SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil

MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard

INTELLIGENCE: Low

ALIGNMENT: Neutral

SIZE: L

PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

       Attack/Defense Modes: Nil

Flame Snails appear to be a smaller (6' tall) relative of the Flail Snail but, instead of clubs, each of its tentacles ends in a fiery bulb. When attacking, each of these can emit a globule of burning matter out to a range of 20' which inflicts 2-12 points of damage for 3 rounds, unless extinguished. At close range, these can instead strike a target and inflict 2-12 points of damage. 6HD Flame Snails have a single tentacle that can emit a Fireball, the snail casting as a third-level Magic User. It has one tentacle for every hit die that it possesses and each tentacle has its own hit points.

Should all of these tentacles be destroyed, the body will be quickly withdrawn into the shell and the snail will die in 1-4 turns. Upon death, the shell explodes violently, spreading burning matter and fragments over an area some 50' in diameter. Any creature within this area will receive 3-18 points of damage. There is a 50% chance that their clothing, skin, hair, fur, etc will continue to burn for 3 turns (unless extinguished by normal means) inflicting a further 1-6 points of damage per round.

The snail casts a faint glow and emits great heat out to 2' from it's body. This heat will ignite any flammable material it moves through or over and will temporarily blind any creatures possessing infravision unless they distance themselves from it by at least 50'. Flame Snails are not known for their speed, but should any victim fall beneath it they will receive 1-8 points of damage per round by being crushed by the snail's weight and burnt by the heat it generates. Flame-based attacks, magical or mundane, will have no effect upon it and will simply allow the snail to regain 1 HD of hit points per attack, should it have lost any previously. Cold-based attacks inflict double damage.

Intact shells are very rare and usually only found when a Flame Snail has died naturally. The shell weighs 150 pounds (1500 gold pieces weight) and can be fashioned into items that are completely resistant to heat and flames, magical or mundane. A complete shell is worth 7-8000 gold pieces, although artificers who can work the shell might prove difficult to find.

Flame Snails are a vivid orange in colour streaked with bright yellow and its tentacles are blackish-red. Its shell is yellow-white and semi-opaque. Strange flames and burning shapes seem to roil within it.