Carnyx...!

Inspired by an Iron Age war trumpet, here is the...

CARNYX

FREQUENCY: Rare
 
NO. APPEARING: 2-4
 
ARMOR CLASS: 5

MOVE: 14"

HIT DICE: 4

% IN LAIR: 15%

TREASURE TYPE: Nil

NO. OF ATTACKS: 2

DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-8, 1-6

SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below

SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil

MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard

INTELLIGENCE: Animal

ALIGNMENT: Neutral

SIZE: L (12' long)

PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

       Attack/Defense Modes: Nil

Carnyx are large serpent-like hunters that favour open grassland or lightly wooded areas. They are fearless and readily prey on creatures larger than themselves, including elephants and the like. They are also very territorial and will attack adventuring parties should they come close to an area the Carnyx has defined as its own, usually centred around an outcrop of rock, a large tree or some other distinct spot within the landscape. Their well-camouflaged lair will also be secreted somewhere with this territory and the Carnyx will defend it to the death. Although it may appear that they live in small bands of 2-4 individuals, they actually reside within a widely spaced group of 10-20 that will act co-operatively to face threats or to hunt herds of other animals should the need arise.

 

In combat these creatures will use their bite (for 1-8 points of damage) or lash out with their tail (for 1-6 points of damage). Against larger prey, including adventuring parties, they may choose to utter an extremely loud piercing howl. Individuals failing to make a saving throw at -2 will be subject to one of the following effects (rolled on a d100):

 

01-25: stunned for 1d3 rounds but with some mobility; all attacks at -2 and unable to speak.

26-50: stunned for 1d3 rounds but with some mobility; all attacks at -5, spell-casting time doubled.

51-75: drop all objects held in hands, fall to the ground and unconscious for 1d3 rounds.

76-00: drop all objects held in hands and flee in opposite direction for 1d3 rounds at full movement rate.

 

These effects will be focused on an area 2" wide and 8" long in whichever direction the Carnyx is facing. It may only utter this howl once every 3 rounds but each use has a 20% chance of attracting a further pair of Carnyx, who will arrive in 2-8 rounds.

Description: Carnyx have long sinewy bodies with yellowish bellies and rough skin mottled with various shades of green, dark yellow and brown. Their brownish-red heads are long with a pig-like snout. Their mouths are a vivid magenta and their eyes are yellow edged with red. Patches of blue-black bristles run from the top of their head and along their spine. The most remarkable feature of the Carnyx is a pair of large leaf-shaped objects projecting from their heads which have an appearance similar to burnished brass.

Carnyx eggs resemble rocks and could easily be mistaken as such. Normally found in clutches of two to three, they are prized because the young can be reared and used during sieges (wild adults are untameable). Because of this, a single egg is worth 1-2000 gold pieces. 

Fire-Tailed Drake

This week's monster was inspired by imagery for the very amusing Weird Medieval Guys Twitter account. I've included the picture that created this idea at the end of this post:

FIRE-TAILED DRAKE

FREQUENCY: Very Rare
 
NO. APPEARING: 1
 
ARMOR CLASS: 3

MOVE: 15"

HIT DICE: 5

% IN LAIR: 10%

TREASURE TYPE: T, V

NO. OF ATTACKS: 3

DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-8/2-12/2-12

SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below

SPECIAL DEFENSES: None

MAGIC RESISTANCE: 50%

INTELLIGENCE: Average

ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Neutral

SIZE: L  (8' tall)

PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

       Attack/Defense Modes: Nil

Fire-tailed Drakes are reclusive creatures who prefer to hunt at night in woodland. Despite their name, they are not dragons but do have some features that resemble them, especially their reptile-like skin and claws. Always encountered singly, it is not known how they reproduce and any lair encountered will be high within the trunk of an old rotting tree. They are very agile creatures, being able to jump up to 15 feet in one bound, and are adept at climbing.

 

In combat, they can attack with their bite (2-8 points of damage), the claws on their front or rear feet (2-12 points of damage) or lash out with their sharply-barbed tail (2-12 points of damage). They may also choose to attack with a magical flame that issues from their tail, and those struck by it will suffer 3-24 points of damage per round unless a saving throw vs wands is made. These flames will die out after 3 rounds and can only be extinguished by magical means (i.e. by casting Quench Fire).

 

Fire-tailed Drakes seem to be particularly interested in magical items and those individuals possessing the ability to cast spells. They have an odd habit of collecting their heads of such foes and their lairs will also contain the magical items that they once owned in life. 

 

If the creature is killed, its body will be immediately and wholly consumed by magical flames and anyone within 10' must save vs wands or receive 1-8 points of damage. However, its tail possesses one quarter of its hit points and, should any attacker successfully sever it, the remains of the creature will remain intact at death. Its claws may then be used in a similar way to flints for the purposes of creating fire. Should three of the numerous talon-like spines from its back be placed within a glass vessel or lantern and shaken, they will glow and provide light equivalent to a torch for one hour until agitated again.

The endmost part of its tail is a coral-like material that is brilliant white in colour. It will weigh 2d6 pounds and is highly prized in the manufacture of magical items that either protect from or emit flames. A pound of this material is worth 500 gold pieces.

 

Description: Fire-tailed Drakes are long-limbed and have dog-like faces with prominent and oddly curved ears. They see equally well by day and by night and have excellent hearing. Their bodies are pinkish yellow with distinct areas of russet red. Their claws are blue-black while their spines are a vivid blue-white.

 

Shrooms...! (Part Two)

FLUMPH MOTHER

FREQUENCY: Rare
 
NO. APPEARING: 1
 
ARMOR CLASS: 8

MOVE: 3"

HIT DICE: 4

% IN LAIR: Nil

TREASURE TYPE: Nil

NO. OF ATTACKS: 0

DAMAGE/ATTACK: Paralysis

SPECIAL ATTACKS: As above

SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below

MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard

INTELLIGENCE: Non-

ALIGNMENT: Neutral

SIZE: L  (20' wide, 20' tall)

PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

       Attack/Defense Modes: Nil

Flumph Mothers are so named because of their symbiotic relationship with flumphs (see the Fiend Folio, p.39). They are a large spherical fungus that contains numerous bladder-like chambers within which flumphs mate and deposit their young. After successfully breeding, the flumphs die and their bodies provide sustenance for the Mother. Despite their ungainly and bizarre appearance, seeing one is regarded as good luck by farmers, who welcome the deposits of fertilizing nutrients the Mother occasionally produces as it moves from place to place. At the same time, wilfully destroying one of them is seen as inviting bad luck, and will provoke the ire of the flumphs that reside with it.

 

The Mother has no means of attacking opponents but does have several ways of defending itself. Its skin and the numerous growths that festoon it will paralyse any creature that touches them (unless they make a successful save vs paralyzation). There is a 1-3 chance (on 1d6) that striking the Mother will create a small rupture from which noisome fluids will spurt forth out to a range of 1". These fluids create an appalling stink that lasts for 1-3 hours and any victim struck by them must be shunned by their companions out to a distance of 50 feet. This stink will also attract wandering monsters who feed on carrion or waste. 

 

The Mother will always be accompanied by a swarm of 2-8+2 flumphs, who will normally not attack unless provoked or if the Mother itself is attacked. 2-16 flumphs will reside within the Mother and will only venture outside to defend it if their host loses more than 50% of its hit points. If the Mother is destroyed, it will burst into large pieces that quickly become a vivid green and release great quantities of the liquids described above (with the same chance of being struck it them). Any creatures within 3" also have a 1-2 chance (on 1d6) of being struck by a caustic form of the liquid, which inflicts 1-3 points of damage for 1-6 turns unless it is negated by magical means. Flumphs are unaffected by this fluid. The destruction of the Mother will also attract wandering monsters (as described above) and pollute the ground below it for 2-8 years.

 

Flumph Mothers have a limited form of mobility, being mostly carried by the direction of strong breezes or draughts. Gasses contained within them (created by rotting matter) provide some buoyancy and they possess wing-like appendages that provide a limited form of propulsion when needed. These creatures are usually encountered in foothills and similar places close to mountains, and it's thought that this is where they might originally spore and grow. However, no-one has ever seen examples of this nascent form. One theory posits that flumphs themselves have the ability to create the Mothers by affecting mundane forms of fungus in some way. Flumph Mothers will only be encountered in dungeons possessing very spacious rooms and corridors, and even then only those connected to large and voluminous cave systems where they may have become trapped. If one of these creatures is encountered near a settled place, it will have been blown there. As it is so large, the flumphs that accompany it have no ability to steer it in any way.

 

Description: Flumph Mothers are yellowish white in colour and have random semi-opaque patches, within which indistinct shapes can be seen. Flumphs access the interior via a large tube-like growth close to its topmost part. The creature's body is resistant to both mundane and magical cold and fire attacks but is affected normally by those that are lightning-based. Flumph Mothers seem to have a lifespan of 10-20 years and their remains at the end of its life become bright red. These are highly prized by farmers as an additive to fertilizers and mulches, and they will pay up to 2000 gps for each hit dice-worth of remains they wish to acquire.    

Ironbeak...!

IRONBEAK

FREQUENCY: Rare
 
NO. APPEARING: 1-2
 
ARMOR CLASS: 4 (tail 6)

MOVE: 18"

HIT DICE: 4

% IN LAIR: 15%

TREASURE TYPE: E

NO. OF ATTACKS: 2

DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-10, 1-10

SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below

SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil

MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard

INTELLIGENCE: Animal

ALIGNMENT: Neutral

SIZE: L  (12' long)

PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

       Attack/Defense Modes: Nil

Ironbeaks are such an ungainly mix of shapes and forms that some believe them to be the result of a magical experiment gone awry. They live in mountainous areas and subsist on minerals that they leach from the rock itself, and their presence is usually an indication that iron ore can be found nearby. They can prove to be a danger to adventuring parties because of their predilection for refined metals, especially steel.

When attacking they will always focus on the most heavily armed or armoured opponent first. It can attack with its beak, which inflicts 1-10 points of damage, or grapple with its numerous tentacles. Each of these delivers a paralysing attack, and its victim must save vs paralysation or become immobile. Otherwise they may attempt to roll below their Strength in order to break free. The tentacles then secrete a powerful acid which instantly reduces metals to so many dessicated flakes. Fumbled attacks against the creature from its front quarter mean that any weapon has become entangled within these tentacles and any metal component will similarly be reduced to nothing. Magical weapons and armour are somewhat more resilient to the acid and have a 10% chance for each plus they possess of surviving intact, i.e. a +2 sword has a 20% chance of remaining intact. However, this must be rolled for every round that they are exposed to the acid. The acid also affects weapons and objects made from stone or minerals (including precious stones and minerals, except diamond), completely consuming them in two rounds.  The rearmost part of the creature is less resilient than its forequarter but does end in a sharp, curved talon that can inflict 1-10 points of damage.

 

Should the Ironbeak be engaged in combat but then lose more than 75% of its hit points, it will attempt to fly away. If any victim is still within the grasp of its tentacles, it has a 20% chance per round of making a successful escape attempt whilst grasping its prey, but its attacks are reduced to 1 in that time. If its victim is not paralysed they must roll below their Strength score in order to break free, but are possibly at risk of injury from falling. The Ironbeak will fly to its lair and kill any victim on the wing.

Ironbeaks will usually be encountered singularly, but should two of them be present it will be a mating pair. The creatures lair will be a rocky nest atop some high point and any treasure found there will be what remains of their victim's possessions. If a mating pair is encountered in their lair, they will be accompanied by 1-3 young who, whilst not possessing tentacles, can still deliver 1-3 points of damage with their beak or talon. Each possesses 3 hit points.

Description: Ironbeaks possess coarse fur that is reddish-mauve in colour. Their tentacles are a sickly yellow-white and their large globular compound eyes are green edged with orange. The rearmost part of their bodies is yellowish-brown, mottled with patches of deep crimson. Their insect-like limbs and wings are dark greenish-black. Their beak and talon is a blackish blue edged with a raw copper-like colour. Both are very resilient and are composed of the metals and minerals on which the creature feasts. If removed, the beak weighs 50lb, the talon 10lb and, should a specialist artificer be found and hired, they can be used to make +2 weapons or armour.  

Beetle Stag...!

 BEETLE STAG

FREQUENCY: Uncommon
 
NO. APPEARING: 4-16
 
ARMOR CLASS: 4

MOVE: 18"

HIT DICE: 2

% IN LAIR: 0%

TREASURE TYPE: Nil

NO. OF ATTACKS: 4

DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-10, 1-6, 1-6, 1-3

SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil

SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below

MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard

INTELLIGENCE: Non-

ALIGNMENT: Neutral

SIZE: M  (4' tall, excluding antlers)

PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

       Attack/Defense Modes: Nil

Beetle Stags are insectoid creatures somewhat similar in outline to small stags, with both male, female and young sharing this resemblance. They prefer to live in woodland but will sometimes stray into cultivated areas, especially orchards and groves, and thus are considered to be pests. The fact that they are generally not fearful and aggressively defend themselves means that they can prove to be a quite capable opponent. Although their eyesight is not particularly acute, their feet and antlers are very capable of detecting movement at a distance. They are greatly fearful of large fires and will immediately flee from any they encounter.

 

Despite their diet of wood, bark, plants, fruits and nuts they are not averse to consuming flesh if the situation presents itself. Usually this means that they will eat carrion but they will also readily attack dwarves, gnomes or halflings if they outnumber their quarry. In combat, they can strike out with their forelimbs or their antlers for 1-6 points of damage. Their large pincers inflict 1-10 points of damage and if the creature inflicts more than 5 damage in a single attack when using them, its victim will be trapped in their grip unless they make a successful roll below their Strength in order to break free. Otherwise, the creatures extendable mouth parts will inflict 1-3 points of damage per round (no attack roll required) until its target dies or escapes. The long thin spines that cover the front of the Beetle Stag can cause irritation to any exposed skin that comes into contact with them. This will cause painful sores that inflict 1 point of damage per day unless a successful saving throw vs poison is made. A Cure Light Wounds spell will also negate their effect.

 

Should more than 12 Beetle Stags be met in a single encounter, one individual creature will be larger than the others (6' tall, excluding antlers) and have 3 hit dice.  Aside from its normal attacks it also possesses the ability to fire an electrical charge from its antlers, striking as a Lightning Bolt cast by a 3rd level Magic User. However, this can only be used every other round.

If 14 or more creatures are encountered, there is a 20% chance that one individual is a Golden Beetle Stag. Its antlers are highly prized in the construction of magical composite bows and each branch is worth 2000 gold pieces.

 

Beetle Stags do not have a larval form but are born as eggs from which small fully-formed young emerge when hatched, although in this state they possess only one hit point.

Description: Beetle Stags are usually iridescent shades of dark blue, green or purple. Their antlers, pincers and feet are amber red whilst their hair-like spines are orange-brown. Golden Beetle Stags are a rich pearlescent golden yellow in colour, although their antlers are pale blue.

Shrooms...! (Part One)

The first in a series about fungoid critters for D&D. This week's creature is the...

RAGWING

FREQUENCY: Uncommon
 
NO. APPEARING: 2-8
 
ARMOR CLASS: 7

MOVE: 6/10"

HIT DICE: 2

% IN LAIR: Nil

TREASURE TYPE: Nil

NO. OF ATTACKS: 1

DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-6

SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below

SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil

MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard

INTELLIGENCE: Non-

ALIGNMENT: Neutral

SIZE: S

PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

       Attack/Defense Modes: Nil

Ragwings are colonies of spore-like organisms that have somehow developed the ability to fly. They can sense the heat generated by living creatures (out to a distance of 120') and derive sustenance from their blood. They also use the body of their victims as a host within which their spores can sprout. They possess a long needle-sharp proboscis and it is through this that they feed and pass spores into their victims.

In combat, if the creature inflicts more than 5 points of damage in a single attack it's target has been implanted with spores, and must save vs poison to prevent those spores taking hold. Should this fail, the wound will itch and appear to fester over the course of one day, after which the victim will become paralysed and will die within three days. If a limb was struck by such an attack, removing that limb within three days will rid the victim of the spores. Cure Serious Wounds will also negate the spores effect on any part of the body. The spores will otherwise consume the victim and after 10 days 2-6 Ragwings possessing 1HD will sprout from the remains. A single example will sprout in the same time from any amputated limb that has not been destroyed.

Alternatively, the Ragwing will remain attached to its victim if it inflicts more than 3 points of damage in a single attack. It will then drain blood at the rate of 1 hit point per melee round unless destroyed. Once it has consumed blood equivalent to 8 hit points, it will detach itself and attempt to escape.

Should the creature lose all of its hit points from a single attack, its body will shatter and scatter spores over a 10' wide area. Anyone within this cloud must save vs poison or become incapacitated for 1-4 melee rounds.

Ragwings inhabit a variety of environments but seem to prefer those with high points from which they can dive on their victims.

Description: These creatures vary in colour depending on their environment: greenish-yellow in woodland and swamps, greyish blue in mountains, brownish-black in caves. When full of blood they take on a distinct reddish hue. Their bodies are a tangled mass of fibres surmounted by a 'head' that is full of spores. The wings are tattered and seem to shed small pieces when the creature moves. They are not particularly graceful in the air as their flight appears uncoordinated and ungainly, and when moving along any surface their wings seem to haphazardly drag the creature around. However, this can make their movement in combat somewhat difficult to predict.

Tomb Guardians...! (Part Three)

Further to my previous post, here is another tomb guardian...

BARROW HOUND

FREQUENCY: Rare

NO. APPEARING: 1-4
 
ARMOR CLASS: 4

MOVE: 12"

HIT DICE: 4

% IN LAIR: 0%

TREASURE TYPE: Nil

NO. OF ATTACKS: 3 or special

DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-8, 2-8, 2-12

SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below

SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below

MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard

INTELLIGENCE: Non

ALIGNMENT: Neutral

SIZE: S

PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

       Attack/Defense Modes: Nil

On first appearance, Barrow Dogs appear to be earthenware statues depicting a seated animal of a form loosely resembling a dog. They are placed in a wide variety of locations within tombs, e.g. flanking doorways and similar entrances, guarding sarcophagi or remains, and also sometimes placed on pillars, platforms or pedestals. They might also be placed at the exterior of a tomb, perhaps resembling a gargoyle or grotesque in such a setting. A hound will remain dormant until something or someone triggers some preset condition decided upon by the Dungeon Master to suit their particular adventure or situation. So, for example, a guardian might only be activated when a tomb is opened in some way, or if anything passes within a certain distance of the guardian, or if something (i.e. treasure etc) is touched or removed from a tomb.

 

Once activated, a ghostly howl will sound (audible to any creature within 4"), the Hound's eyes will become balls of fire and a strange light will seem to glow dimly within its mouth. It will attack with claws (2-8) or by biting (2-12) and will fight until destroyed. It will relentlessly pursue any fleeing or retreating quarry until that quarry moves a certain preset distance, or passes beyond a certain preset point, or is killed. It may also choose to attack by emitting a fireball-like object from its mouth. This has a range of 6" and inflicts 2-12 points of damage. However, it can only attack in this way every other round.

Barrow Hounds are immune to edged weapons but maces, clubs and similar weapons affect them normally. They are also immune to fire-based attacks, magical or mundane. If they are destroyed in their dormant state (in which they posses only 8 hit points), they will crumble into pieces. However, this will release a small fireball that rises 4 feet into the air and then explodes. Anything within 1" of this explosion will receive 2-12 points of damage.

 

Description: When dormant, Barrow Hounds appear to be quite crudely-made hollow figures constructed from fired clay, and posed as if sitting. Despite their name, they only resemble dogs in a rather distorted way, being misshapen and with odd details such as overly large teeth, wide eyes and gaping mouths. Some might be decorated with paint or gold leaf and all have incised details picked out along their bodies. These glow when the creature is active.