Encounter Guide: Creatures: Fantastic Creatures

Fantastic Creatures: Aeagarsut

Eight tentacles extending from a blubbery face, hands ending in sharp, rending claws, one almost misses the vestigial leathery wings protruding from the tall creature’s back. This ancient race of underground creatures is as at home under deep waters as in caverns deep below the ground.

The Aeagarsut have white, pupil-less eyes that see clearly in even the darkest places of the world. Their greater members are all powerful psychics, with additional monk levels and Telepathic powers. Their most powerful members will also have Dimensional powers.

Aeagarsut may attack with their claws, or with four tentacle pairs, up to two pairs per opponent. If they can make a successful called shot with two pairs on a single opponent in the same round, they will begin to suck out their opponent’s brains. This causes d6 points of damage per round, and reduces intelligence by 1 point.

Aeagarsut regenerate 1 point damage per round unless they’re dead.

The race is old, older than most human cultures, but the legend of them sometimes remains in primitive lands. The one thing all cultures whose myths remember them recall is that their favorite delicacy is the brain of intelligent creatures. Whether, in the stories, they suck it out the ear, insert a straw, or lop the top of the skull off and dig in, the Aeagarsut are a feared portion of any culture’s mythologies if they appear at all.

Ash-shubab al-Muthlimum

The Ash-shubab are shambling, hairy creatures with a multitude of hooved legs and tentacled hoof-claws. They may attack with up to four clawed tentacles at a time, although only two on any one medium-sized creature, and only one on a small or smaller creature. It may attack more than one creature at once.

With the proper magical rituals, Ash-shubab can interbreed with humans. These half-breeds will vary in appearance from almost human (of primitive and rough appearance) to as inhuman as the Ash-shubab with only a hint of humanity remaining.

Barking spiders

The barking spider is relatively small for giant spiders, and usually blends into the ground. Barking spiders in different areas will have different colors—they seem to adapt to new surroundings within three to five years.

The barking spider is relatively weak and non-poisonous, living mostly on large insects or small rodents. It has developed a skunk-like defense, however, that meets the skunk and betters it. If the barking spider is losing to potential food, or threatened by something it doesn’t see as food, it can emit noxious fumes that cause any victims to run uncontrollably away. The fumes cover a 4 yard radius around the spider, and anyone in that radius must make a health roll or run for the nearest clear area. If the reaction roll is failed but running is not an option, the victim will be rendered immobile from retching until the fumes dissipate four rounds later.

It can emit the fumes up to three times in succession, and can regenerate one fume attack per hour. While unaffected by their own noxious fumes, a barking spider can be affected by another spider’s fumes. The reaction roll is at a bonus of 2.

The spiders get their name from the loud noise that they make when they emit their noxious defense.

Beaked Sweepers

Resembling brains with hooked beaks and long hanging tentacles, few creatures are more horrific than the beaked sweeper. Its tentacles resemble those of the octopus, and the pustules of its brain-like body writhe and pulsate as separate creatures.

On a successful tentacle called attack, opponents must make an evasion roll to avoid being injected with a strength 0 chronic poison whose action time is 1 round and whose effect is full paralyzation.

The creature attacks with all of its tentacles, for an attack bonus of 2. (This is also why the damage is so high for the tentacle attack.) When attacking a paralyzed opponent, the beaked sweeper uses its bite attack, essentially feeding off of the paralyzed creature.

The creature moves by floating, usually two or so yards above the ground. It can carry up to a hundred pounds while floating and can use this to carry paralyzed food sources out of danger.

Blood hawks

A fat hawk with red-tinged wings and red eyes, perhaps half again as large as a normal hawk. The talons and claws of the blood hawk are very sharp, and prized because of this. They are known to prize gemstones and other bright stones, though not coins, for their nests.

Bloodthorn bushes

Bloodthorn bushes grow extremely thick. A dark, rich green that would look right at home in a hedgerow or a maze garden, bloodthorn bushes normally grow slowly. Give them blood, however, and they grow prolifically and quickly.

The bloodthorn bush has no motility. It is a fully rooted plant. It is extremely prickly, however, and anyone who brushes against it must make an evasion roll or the bush is “stuck” to them. If they fail by more than 10, it is stuck hard, and pulling it away from them causes d4 points of damage. If the character tries to pull themself out of the bush, the player must make another evasion roll as above or be even more stuck, but this time at a penalty of two. Each failed evasion roll increases the penalty by two; each successful one reduces it by two. If reduced to zero, the character is free.

However, there is a chance that a thorn or piece of thorn remains under the character’s skin. A perception roll, at a penalty of four if the character was ever stuck hard, is required to remove all bits of the thorns.

If some thorn remains on the character, it will shoot threadlike tendrils into the character’s skin, doing d4 points damage per half day, until the character dies or falls asleep. When the character dies or is no longer awake, the bloodthorn will begin growing a bush across the character’s skin, causing d4 points damage per hour.

Bubbling eyes

Known in the underground as the santaeraeagar, these disgusting creatures are rumored to be the offspring of some demented power. These slimy creatures blurble through the tunnels of the underground, their myriad tongues mumbling all the languages of the worlds, always watching from their pulsating blinking eyes. They enjoy the brains of their prey, especially sorceror or magical brains.

These amorphous creatures are composed of myriad eyes, mouths, noses, gills, and ears protruding from a slimy black pudding. It moves by roiling and rolling across the ground. Their size ranges about one foot in radius per level. Bubbling eyes may move on land and underwater at the same speed.

A bubbling eye may bite once for every two levels it has. It can instead choose to engulf an equally-sized or smaller opponent and do 3d6 damage. It must make a called shot, and the opponent is allowed an evasion roll to avoid the attack. Bubblers can split into smaller bubblers to a minimum of second level. A bubbler will often split into three to four bubblers after a magical spell is cast, with two of the new bubblers converging on the caster.

Its sloshing skin is difficult to penetrate; sharp weapons do only half damage against it on a called shot to the eyes. They do only 1 point damage otherwise (with strength bonuses having no effect). Blunt weapons do 1 point damage on a called shot, or none otherwise, and again, strength bonuses have no effect.

A well-fed bubbler will regenerate one survival point every round. A hungry bubbler will regenerate one point every minute. A starved bubbler will not regenerate at all. Cold-based attacks do no damage to the bubbler. Heat-based attacks do half damage. Electrical attacks do damage as normal. Electrical energy and magical or psychic energy cause regeneration to increase to three per round for as many rounds as the attack did damage (at least one round).

Bubblers are very strong. If they can ooze beneath heavy objects, they can lift up to three hundred pounds per level. They can sunder stone and splinter wood that they can surround.

Bubblers live forever unless killed. They are bred for specific tasks. They can hibernate in adverse environments so that they don’t need nourishment or liquid, surviving in intense cold or heat, in dry deserts or underwater. When dormant even fire only does a quarter damage and lightning does no damage (both will wake the creature).

While they are normally single-minded towards their specific task, a bubbler can grow brains for special-purpose problem solving. This gives them a high intelligence for solving that problem. The problem must be something simple and mechanical, such as traversing a maze, raising a bridge, or overcoming some obstacle in their path.

They are excellent trackers, and gain a bonus of level to perception rolls.

Butterfliders

Known as eyanvir to the Elves they invariably live nearby, the beautiful butterfliders spin a web of utmost strength and resilience. This web may be carefully unraveled, treated, and spun into strong, supple clothing. The process is time consuming and expensive, making butterflider thread highly sought after in trade and sometimes war. In worlds where the butterflider exists, they are protected as a national resource and secret.

Butterfliders have a wingspan of seven to ten inches, and their wings are all the colors of the rainbow in almost hypnotic swirls across the wings. A flock of butterfliders in flight is a mesmerizing sight.

The true danger of the butterflider is their web. While they resemble normal spider webs, they are incredibly strong and quite sticky. Merely touching the web will require a strength roll at a bonus of five to detach from the web; on detaching a health roll is required to avoid d3 points damage.

When fully caught in a butterflider web, the victim must make a strength roll at a penalty of 3, and the resulting damage is d10 points if a health roll (at a penalty of two) is failed.

The butterflider’s bite is acidic. Besides de-activating their web it also corrodes metal and burns flesh. On being bitten by a butterflider that chooses to use its acid, the victim must make an evasion roll or the acid has taken effect. It will cause d4 points damage per round for d6 rounds. Every four points of damage also reduces worn armor’s defense by one. Butterfliders may use their acidic attack three times per day, though they always have enough to avoid being caught in a butterflider web.

Fantastic Creatures: Buzzflies

Buzzflies shine a shimmering iridescent green. In a swarm they appear as an iridescent cloud from a distance. Their buzzing back wings are sharp and constantly cut at whatever they fly near. A swarm of buzzflies flying through a forest will leave a trail of flying leaves and cut foliage behind them.

Buzzflies generally attack in swarms. Use the group effort rules.

Carrion Worms

Giant, segmented, centipede-like creatures with long, twitching tentacles extending from their heads, these are not things you want to see waking up in the forest at night. Carrion worms are mislabeled twice: they are more like a centipede than a worm, and they do not feed only on carrion. They are just as likely to attempt to paralyze sleeping victims, or surprise smaller victims.

Their tentacles can paralyze on a successful called shot if the victim fails an evasion roll. This chronic poison has a strength of 1, an action time of 1 round, and an effect of complete paralysis. If the poison takes effect, the effect will linger even after it is thrown off. For d6 minutes, movement is at half normal, initiative and attacks are at a penalty of 3, and defense is at a penalty of 1. (These lingering effects are cumulative if the victim was paralyzed more than once). The worm may attack up to three facing opponents with any combination of its eight tentacles. Once a victim is paralyzed, the worm will feed on it while still living.

The worm may tunnel through earth at half its movement rate, and lives in warrens in the ground. On any sort of normal earth, stone, or wood construction where its strong claws can take hold, the worm may crawl vertically up walls and across ceilings at its normal speed.

The worm’s segments are armored, but it is heavily armored up front. When attacked from a frontal position (which, with its ability to writhe it may easily maintain against any single opponent) it gains a further bonus of four to defense.

Creeping Slimes

The various creeping slimes are all conglomerations of monocellular organisms which combine into larger and more cunning organisms. While always of animal intelligence, the larger a slime, the more cunning and dangerous the slime can be. Slimes cannot be killed in normal ways. Cutting up a slime only results in multiple smaller (and somewhat stupider) slimes.

Sharp and pointed weapons cause no damage to slimes. Bludgeoning weapons generally also cause no damage; if they would have caused ten or more points of damage, they will cause one point of damage per ten points. For every two points of damage caused to the slime, the slime will divide into an extra slime.

Fire causes normal damage to slimes. Lightning causes a quarter damage, and also results in the division of the slime into one or more smaller slimes. The slime will divide into one extra slime for every two points of damage caused to it. Cold does no damage to a slime, but can slow it down. If a slime is frozen, it becomes immobile, but will be none the worse for wear on thawing out.

Slimes can break apart at will, though they will rarely do so except to escape. They can also ooze through any hole or opening that is larger than a quarter inch per level. They can traverse walls or ceilings as easily as floors.

Slimes attack by engulfing their potential victims. They do d6 points of damage in a normal attack. If they successfully make a called shot and the target fails an evasion roll, they have engulfed the victim and will do an automatic 2d6 points damage per round thereafter. Very small slimes (less than one level) will only do d6 points damage per round after engulfing. Levels one through three are small. Levels four through eight are medium, and levels nine through fourteen are large. Slimes can attack one opponent for every three levels. (Two at level four, three at level seven, four at level ten, etc.)

Slimes can regenerate in darkness if they are well fed, at level points per minute for up to level minutes in any hour.

Green Slime: Green slime is a nearly phosphorescent pale green. It can shoot blobs of a putrescent chunky green goo at its enemies, besides the normal slime attack. On a failed evasion roll, its victims are covered in the slippery goo. Vision will be obscured for at least one round (until the character finds time to wipe the goo away, which will take one full round). The sticky, slippery goo will make it difficult to grasp items until the goo is thoroughly cleaned off the victim’s hands, which will take d3 rounds. Until that time, the victim must make an evasion roll for every item used, or the item will slip out of the victim’s hands.

The green slime can slime the foremost characters in a cone half level feet across at its base and level feet across at its terminus level yards away. It may expel this goo three times per day.

If a green slime is killed before it has expelled its goo, it will generally expel it in the direction of the killing attack on its death.

Orange Slime: Orange slime is a bright orange, translucent, smooth, and jelly-like. If it has fed recently, bits of its meal may still be barely visible, suspended within its jelly-like body.

Orange slime is a telepathic reflector. When hungry its surface will bubble and will form into emotional scenes from the minds of potential victims within level yards. Victims who see these orange scenes reflected from their minds must make a willpower roll or be drawn towards the slime at their normal movement. Once within half level feet of the slime’s edge, the scene will morph into jellied orange tentacles that will grab onto the victim and either draw the victim into the slime’s body or detach as a smaller slime onto the victim.

Once attached, the slime will extend over the surface of the victim and dissolve the victim slowly away. Fortunately, most victims suffocate quickly, as per the normal slime rules.

Orange slimes may telepathically beckon up to half level victims at any one time. While digesting a victim, scenes from the victim’s memories will play out over the surface of the slime.

Red Slime: Red slime is so corrosive that it can degrade the quality of metal weapons used against it, and will corrode any susceptible metal worn by an engulfed victim. Metal must make a reaction roll or take 2d6 damage (or d6 for very small slimes) just like the victim. The reaction roll (vs. acid) is at a penalty of three due to the corrosiveness of the red slime’s acid.

Steaming Slime: These steaming, gray slimes build up a deadly, sticky, burning jelly within their cells, which they can expel as a burning cloud, up to three times per day. When the cloud is expelled, everyone within one foot per level of the slime must make an evasion roll or be struck for 2d6 points of damage. The jelly will stick to its victims. They will take d6 points for the next two rounds after that, and d3 for the three rounds after that. Those making their evasion roll will take only d6 points of damage, and only during the first round. If a steaming slime is killed before it has expelled its jelly, a burning jelly will generally be expelled on its death.

Cucumber, giant

Giant cucumbers (related to the sea cucumber) resemble long, well, snake-like cucumbers, covered with greenish skin and spiny red points. It has a rudimentary head and sharp beak (some actually have two such heads, and will thus receive two attacks per round).

The most disconcerting ability of the giant cucumber is its ability to expel its internal digestive and respiratory tract through the rear as a second attack form. The expelled innards may attack on their own and will live for 3d6 minutes following expulsion. The innards attack with sticky tentacles that do d4 points damage. On a successful attack, the target must make an agility roll or the tentacle is attached, doing d4 points automatically twice per round thereafter. (A successful fortitude roll, doing d6 points damage to the character, is required to disengage from the sticky tentacles.) A “stuck” victim is at a penalty of 1 to attack any opponent other than the internal organs.

The internal organs may attack up to two characters at once, with two tentacles each. They will attempt to attack the cucumber’s forward attackers. The cucumber will usually attempt to leave (so that it can regenerate its innards, a process that takes two days) after this tactic. Without its internal organs, the giant cucumber’s movement rate is increased by 2.

Fantastic Creatures: Gakemai

Gakemai are visitors from another place, some alien plane. They come to this world to mine metals from deep within mountains and deep underground. They vaguely resemble pastel-pink wasps with inhuman faces and paper-thin pink and grey wings. Their eight arms end in sharp pincers, and their prehensile tail is sharp as a scythe. Gakemai may attack up to three targets at once, two with pincers and one with their tail. They cannot attack the same victim with both tail and pincers, as this would cause them to lose their aerial balance.

When Gakemai walk on the ground, they scuttle like beetles, and can move up walls as quickly as on a flat surface. When they fly, they fly somewhat like hummingbirds, hovering in place or darting quickly from place to place.

While among themselves they ‘speak’ through color shifts in the transparent, crystalline antenna-like appendages on t heir faces, Gakemai may speak to their slaves through ‘normal’ language, although their voices resemble a high-pitched buzzing much like the noise that occasionally emanates from high-voltage power lines.

Gakemai are completely inhuman, and immune to all mental attacks. They usually build their mining operations with slaves captured from terrorized local populations. They also will build hybrid species from the various races they have enslaved. When a Gakemai dies, it slowly, over a few hours, degrades into an slimy black liquid.

Fantastic Creatures: Gangai

Gangai run swiftly on all fours, their ropy bodies undulating from the ends of their waving tail to the tips of their six writhing tentacles. They attack with powerful teeth behind short beak-like lips. They may manipulate objects using their tentacles. Their wide, pale eyes and their wide nostrils share space on a hound-like head. They have an acute sense of smell, so sensitive that it is nearly as useful as eyesight at short ranges, within three yards. Even small winds will confuse their sense of smell, however.

Gangai can shift short distances through strange angles. They can shift up to 8 yards and stay “shifted” for up to three rounds (though normally their shifts will take no time at all). They may do this up to three times per hour. They can detect any strong emotion, such as anger, lust, or fear, within thirty yards. They will know the location of the emotional person and can shift to that person unerringly. They can communicate with each other both through a low-pitched guttural growl and through rudimentary empathic signals. They are cunning hunters and will use all of these abilities to the best of their animal intelligence.

Gangai receive two actions per round if they intend to use their shift in a round. The second (or first, if they can see their target) action must be the shift.

Gangai are unused to light, and in filtered sunlight or in light as bright as sunlight they will be at a penalty of one to attack. In true sunlight they will be at a penalty of two to attack, and they will generally avoid sunlight if at all possible.

Fantastic Creatures: Gas molds

When they have a steady stream of creatures for food, gas molds are moderately dangerous. If their food supply dries up, however, the spores shrivel up and become a fine, dormant dust of spores. Even a slight touch to a dormant mold can send thousands of fine spores into the air. These fine spores, like any fine dust, are difficult to fully remove and can get absolutely anywhere.

Whenever a gas mold is touched or disturbed, it is likely to send up a cloud of “gas”. This gas is really the spores of the mold. If it takes root in a victim’s lungs or in a moist part of the character’s body, the mold will begin to grow and spread throughout the victim’s body.

Active molds will release spores 5% of the time if touched or moderately disturbed. If damaged, there is a 10% chance per point of damage that a gas cloud will be released. Gas clouds will be one yard in diameter per level and any patch can release four such patches per day. Dormant molds will release spores 50% of the time if touched or moderately disturbed, and 100% of the time if damaged. Such clouds will be two yards in diameter per level and can be released once per day.

The reaction roll vs. active mold is at a bonus of 4. The reaction roll vs. dormant mold is at no bonus or penalty. In each case, it is an evasion roll. In the latter case, even on a successful roll the mold will attach itself to the victim unless the victim made their roll by at least five points. The mold can then spread to other victims and can activate if the carrier sweats a lot or does not clean themselves thoroughly (as the mold spreads to a moist spot, such as the eyes, mouth, or scratchable areas of the body). In the latter case a health roll is required every day, at a penalty of three.

If mold activates on a victim, it acts like an ailment with a strength of four and an activation time of one day. Its effects are a loss of d8 survival points per day, one point of endurance per day, and one point of agility per day as the mold grows throughout the victim’s body. Once activated it cannot be washed off.

While active, gas molds live and die, with the living feeding off of the dead. When dormant, gas molds can remain potent, as far as has been observed, for ever. Molds are pretty much immune to any attack except fire, lightning, or other high-energy attacks. Acid can affect active mold, but not inactive mold.

Great lizard

News of their extinction has not yet reached the deep places these creatures live. They are descended from dinosaurs and walk upright, balancing themselves with a long tail. They can bend down (using their tail for balance) to walk through low caves, though they prefer not to. They can move quickly, and are ferocious fighters. They fight with their powerful teeth, rending flesh and snapping bone. They often travel in pairs, male and female and perhaps some cubs. They tend to prefer the warmer areas of the underground and the open spaces of great underground caverns. They are quite intelligent and will often work together to hunt prey—and mated pairs will also sometimes work together with other pairs to hunt dangerous prey.

Grey-hooked Bat

The feeding frenzy of the grey-hooked bat is a sickening sight. This fearsome creature attacks and eats large creatures, raking them from behind with deadly clawed tails and finishing off the injured victim with sharp teeth. They resemble bats by skin tone and their bat-like wings. They have no feet, only a sharp, clawed, twisting tail that can move them along the ground like a snake. Their tail can also throw them into the air where they may take flight.

Fantastic Creatures: Gryphon

The gryphon is a fearsome creature, with the body, feet, and claws of a lion and the wings, head, and beak of an eagle. It is said to have the strength of eight lions and claws like the horns of oxen.

The gryphon has a prodigious appetite and is likely to attack and carry off any domestic horses, cows, or oxen it sees. It is known to be aggressive towards humans also. It is territorial, and will fight off both other gryphons and hippogriffs.

Hanging vines

Hanging vines grow from the ceilings and outcroppings of the underground, and sometimes from the stunted grey trees of the underground’s demented forests. They may attack with their thorny vines for d3 points, but will usually only attack from surprise and with a called shot to the neck: the victim must then make an evasion roll or be caught in the vine. The vine will then tighten for d6 points of damage per round.

While strangling a victim, the vine has a penalty of two to defense.

Fantastic Creatures: Hippogriff

The hippogriff is a cross between a gryphon—a strange enough creature on its own—and a mare, normally the gryphon’s prey. Its back legs are like that of a horse, its front like a lion, and its wings and head like an eagle.

What possesses the gryphon to mate with a horse is unknown (the mare probably has no choice in the matter). The very thought of such a creature is a symbol of impossibility, “Jungentur jam grypes equis” something that cannot be done. The hippogriff can bear offspring with other hippogriffs, however, so this impossible state of affairs is not required in abundance.

Fantastic Creatures: Hop snakes

These brilliantly-striped, multicolored snake-like lizards come in three forms: the hoop snake grabs its tail in its mouth and rolls by undulating its body. The coil snake wraps itself into a helical shape and bounces to where it needs to go. The balloon snake blows up to an iridescent sphere and floats down hills and across fields. All of them can slither when necessary but (except for the balloon snake) move faster using their special form. The balloon snake moves at the speed of wind, and may be caught on updrafts.

Hop snakes appear to be all the same species with different forms or possibly genders. They may be tri-gendered species. Hop snakes are herbivorous, and almost never attack. When they do, their only weapon is a bite. They do have a tendency to knock things over, however, as they roll, bounce, or float about a room or anywhere people have set things up.

Kamekkipialo

Among the most fearsome creatures of the underground are the shadowy, slithering kamekkipialo. These grey, leathery creatures slide through the tunnels of the underground on long, snake-like bodies, their heads and chests supported by small wings. They can raise themselves up to five to seven feet on their wings, and can use their wings to cushion long falls, but may not use them for flying.

The kamekkipialo strikes with its powerful tail, slapping out at its enemies while its bright eyes dance in the darkness. When attacking medium or smaller creatures, it may choose to make a called shot; on a failed evasion roll the victim is coiled in the creature’s powerful body and takes 2d6 points damage per round thereafter.

The most feared ability of the kamekkipialo, however, is its poisonous stare. Within the pale, faceted eyes of the creature lurk deadly visions. Once per hour, the kamekkipialo can reflect these poisons back from the light of torch or lantern to any target within a thirty degree arc of the light’s bearer. This chronic mental poison has an action time of three rounds, a strength of two, and reduces strength and endurance by d3 points. The reaction to avoid the poison taking effect is a willpower roll.

Fantastic Creatures: Karuat

The Karuat are crab-like humanoids of the Underground. They have a hard exoskeleton, crab-like claws, and beaked heads.

The Karuat are relatively peaceful for underground dwellers, but they will defend their lands and sacred sites savagely. They generally have no respect for life forms without an exoskeleton. They are equally at home in the water as on land, and may survive underwater for as many hours as a human could survive for minutes.

Fantastic Creatures: Ketelekrae

Ketelekrae are more plant than animal. Their roots dig into the rock of the underground, but can be removed if necessary, allowing the ketelekrae to walk slowly on its roots. Ketelekrae consist of pale violet sac-like bodies atop bronze-red roots, with two to four beaked heads protruding from the sac on long necks and myriad tentacles protruding among the heads. They attack separately with each head. Ketelekrae range from one yard to three yards across. Their leathery, bulbous body is difficult to penetrate with even edged or pointed weapons.

Ketelekrae prefer to live in corners, cracks, or crevasses. As long as they are not killed they can re-grow roots, tentacles, and head at the rate of one damage point per ten minutes. They eat through their tentacles, which swarm over a fallen victim and slowly suck the fat and blood and liquids from the body.

Ketelekrae are intelligent creatures, their alien brains deep within their sac-like bodies. They collect treasures and can use some magical items. They can lull potential victims with an empathic burst three times per day, using one of the following forms of empathy:

Forgetfulness: Every creature within ten yards must make a perception roll or completely forget the last minute.

Sleep: Every creature within five yards must make a perception roll or fall to sleep for at least two rounds.

Anger: Every creature in four yards must make a perception roll or attack the nearest creature other than the ketelekrae for two rounds.

Love: Every creature within four yards must make a perception roll or immediately cease any hostilities in favor of a feeling of universal love and peacefulness. The effect lasts for three rounds, but may be broken after the first round if the victim is attacked.

Fantastic Creatures: Kugesum

The Kugesum sports a broad beaked face flanked by six snaking thorny tentacles and two large white eyes. They normally walk on all fours but may stand and walk upright, much as a bear does. Their pale grey skin, even to their tentacles, is covered in warts and thorny bumps. They are fierce and aggressive. They will attack with their claws and their beak. On a successful called shot with their beak, their tentacles will try to grab hold of their victim (an evasion roll is required to avoid this) and scrape a irritating poison across the affected region. This chronic poison is strength 3, has an action time of one round, and causes a penalty of two to attack, advantage, and defense. The skin will turn bright red, blister, and an intensely painful itching will ensue.

On killing a victim, they will usually drag it to their lair, but may crack open the skull and scoop out the brains immediately, dragging the rest of the body home only when the delicacy has been tasted.

Kugesum may mimic sounds they have heard with near perfect accuracy. They also have rudimentary telepathic ability, and may mimic sounds that their victims have recently heard if the victim fails a willpower roll. They also can detect any minds within ten yards if they are looking, or within twenty yards if the target fails a perception roll.

Kugesum are unused to light, and in filtered sunlight or in light as bright as sunlight they will be at a penalty of 1 to attack. In true sunlight they will be at a penalty of 2 to attack.

Kugesum regenerate 1 point damage every minute unless they’re dead.

Fantastic Creatures: Manticores

The manticore is at the same time silly and horrific. It has a tail like a scorpion’s that shoots off poisoned spikes. With the body of a lion, and the face of a man, its eyes burn blood red, its voice is like a flute, but it is the teeth that make its victims fearful: two sets of powerful teeth one inside the other. While carnivorous and able to live off of any flesh, the manticore strongly prefers human flesh.

The manticore has up to 12 poison spines in its tail which it may shoot off in pairs every other round towards one target. (When it does this, it cannot attack normally.) The spines do d4 points damage, and the victim must make an evasion roll or be inflicted with Poison of strength 3, action time of 1 round, and an effect of d3 injuries. It also has a paralysis effect which gives the victim a penalty of 1 to attack, defense, and concentration for one minute.

The manticore has powerful hind legs and may leap great distances, up to ten times its length given a running start, and four times its length from a standstill. It may scale nearly sheer cliffs with ease.

Mold zombies

Mold zombies appear as walking corpses of putrescent colors. They are actually a gelatinous mold that eats flesh and takes over the skeleton. They seek out flesh to eat and will spread to their victims’ skeletons. When the flesh is eaten from the bones, some mold will remain and animate the skeleton.

Mold zombies are not undead. They can animate any creature that they kill or that are found flesh intact. It takes about two days to eat (and thus animate) a human-sized creature. The mold prefers human-sized creatures but can animate any human-sized or smaller creature with an internal skeleton and musculature. Smaller mold zombies will have commensurately lower levels.

Mold zombies are difficult to kill. Thrusting weapons such as spears will cause only one point of damage, slashing weapons and bludgeoning weapons will cause only half damage.

The Mold can regenerate one point of damage every round as long as the temperature is above 70 degrees; they can regenerate two points of damage per round if the temperature is above 90 degrees and there is high humidity. Lightning will cause half damage; however, for the next ten rounds the mold will regenerate three points per round.

Cold will slow them. If the air turns 60 degrees or colder, the mold zombie’s movement drops to 6 and it has a penalty of 1 to attack. If the air turns 50 degrees or colder, the mold zombie’s movement drops to 4 and it has a penalty of 2 to attack. If the air turns 45 degrees or colder for longer than two rounds they will simply stop. Cold attacks do not regenerate immediately—it takes ten minutes for the mold to warm up enough to regenerate cold damage. This does not stop them from regenerating other damage, however.

On a successful attack, the victim must make an evasion roll or some of the mold attaches to the victim, causing one point of damage every ten minutes (20 minutes under seventy degrees, 40 minutes under sixty degrees, and every hour under fifty degrees).

The mold may be cleaned off; however, a perception roll is required. If failed, enough mold remains to begin again 2-5 days later.

Fantastic Creatures: Oruat

The Oruat are large, humanoid, flying bats. They live off of rats, snakes, giant rats, fish, and anything else that crawls in the underground, as well as certain fungi.

Oruat have no eyesight. Their eyes are useless and white. They see only through sound (with their keen hearing) and air motion (with their whiskers). Their ears can see out to 120 feet or more, and their whiskers can see out to six to ten feet.

Oruat attack with their hand claws when on the ground, or with their feet when flying. In either case, they may use two unarmed attacks or one armed attack. Once every three rounds, two or more Oruat can emit an inaudible scream rather than attack. Anyone in a 30 degree arc in front of those Oruat must make a fortitude roll or be paralyzed one round. (Additional Oruat can add 10 degrees to the arc each.)

Warrior Oruat have a higher charisma (average) than normal Oruat (low).

Fantastic Creatures: Owl, Great

The Great Owl, an immensely old, immensely large owl, will spend two to three hours every day reading. They are otherwise nocturnal, doing their sleeping and reading during the day.

The Great Owl lives off of color. Their lairs are usually black, devoid of color, where the Owl itself is pure white (the hungrier it is, the less white it will be). Great Owls tend to be fairly sociable and friendly, and will occasionally live in secrecy in towns or cities, otherwise preferring mountain retreats. Those that stay in one place tend towards Order, those that roam the known worlds tend towards Chaos.

Great Owls tend to sorcery as well. By their third creature level the Great Owl will usually have acquired d6 levels as sorcerors, usually gaining another d6 every three levels thereafter. This is not automatic—it requires study. But the nature of the Great Owl is towards intense study.

The Great Owl has several special abilities, besides eating the color of something (which leaves it black until the color restores itself naturally). The Great Owl may perform one of these abilities per eye per round instead of attacking physically.

Disenchant: Dispels magic and undoes enchantments as the sorceror spell, at twice the creature’s creature level plus the creature’s sorceror level, if any.

Violent Colors: There are colors in the Great Owl’s eyes that should not exist. The Owl can bring these colors forth so that all looking at the Owl must roll against fortitude or fall into a color trance, a counterfeit one-ness with the universe that allows no movement except for defense at half effectiveness.

Violent colors may also be thrown to a target, once per minute per eye, doing creature level d6 survival points. A fortitude roll is allowed for half damage. The violent colors otherwise never miss.

Attraction: The target must roll against willpower or start walking (or otherwise moving under their own power) towards the dragon, unable to perform any other action. When within level feet from the Owl, the Owl may ‘hold’ the target motionless (this requires the use of one eye; the eye can perform no other ability while holding the target, though the Owl may attack physically while so holding).

Shrink: The victim must make a fortitude roll or shrink to half their current size. The effect is permanent; Owls may also Grow targets, doubling their size, although they rarely do so.

Detection: The Great Owl may sight a target or location and know about that target and its history. They can see magic, invisible objects, illusions, and general information about a target. If they want specific information, such as what a spell is, who cast it, what a magic item does, or who slept here three weeks ago, they can concentrate with both eyes for a minute or more and usually get the answer.

Detection drains all color out of the target, leaving it black, and weakens the target (1 point of damage per round per eye). Detection may be used on anything within sight of the Owl.

Mindspell: The Great Owl can stare at a target with both eyes and do pretty much whatever it wants with the target’s memory. It can add plausible memories, remove existing ones, and mix them around. Targets are allowed a fortitude roll to resist the effects. Memories so modified will sort themselves out over a year or more (the target receives a new reaction roll every year and during specially relevant traumatic events).

Fantastic Creatures: Pegasi

These tan, black, or dappled grey horses with gold-tinged wings are said to arise from the foam of the sea at dusk, fly to the mountains, and centuries later return to the sea to die. Their wingspan as adults is eight yards or more; the strongest may bear an armored knight into the sky.

The pegasi live in the tallest mountains and shun civilization, though they may be curious about individuals in the wild. Pegasi have been known to lead Good folk lost in the wild to water, though they may be further lost by the time they get to it.

Pegasi often have archetype levels, usually warriors or prophets of a major sea god such as Poseidon.

Fantastic Creatures: Phoenix

Its feathers shining purple in the sun, their underside a metallic red, a gold mane upon its back, and a wing span that exceeds that of the eagle, the great Phoenix presents a majestic sight—when it is seen. The proverbial wise old bird, there is usually but one phoenix within any hundred mile radius, if any. The phoenix welcomes those seeking wisdom.

The full lifespan of the Phoenix is unknown. Every five hundred years, it arranges a bed of spices and lays down to die. On its death, a great pyre of flame consumes its body. Within three days, the corpse is forged into a golden egg—and the flames continue, pure white, for forty days beyond, after which a young phoenix pushes its way out of the egg. As it grows to maturity (a hundred-year process), it gains cognizance of all of its previous lives.

Few have seen the flame of the phoenix’s nest. The flame of the original pyre will cause 2d6 damage per round to anyone in five yards, and d6 to anyone within twenty. The white flame surrounding the egg will cause 2d6 damage to anyone within one yard, and d6 to anyone within five. The phoenix itself is immune to both magical and mundane fire.

The phoenix may command any birds in their area, and are usually on very friendly terms with the rest of the animals—even those on whom it feeds, for life and death are natural parts of the cycle of nature.

The song of the phoenix has an intoxicating pentatonic harmony similar to blues. Those hearing it must make a willpower roll or stand in rapture until it stops and for 2d6 minutes afterwards.

Fantastic Creatures: Pigasi

These mottled green wild boars are often hunted for their succulent meat, but they are dangerous prey. The pigasus has short wings that allow it to lift itself into the air, and a long crystalline orange horn that can pierce flesh and hard leather.

Pigasi are cute creatures by most standards but they are also aggressive, and defend their territories with deadly force.

Fantastic Creatures: Rocs

The Roc is a great eagle-like bird that dwarfs even elephants. Its wingspan is twenty yards and a single feather can be two yards long. They can lift huge creatures, and drop great stones carried from the mountains. (They can carry stones heavy enough to cause 4d6 points of damage.) Roc eggs are often mistaken for stony monoliths, pitted like granite and larger than a human, half-buried in the mountainside. If the roc attacks (and it will fiercely defend its young and its eggs) it will usually sweep its claws across its foes.

The wings of the roc can create a wind that will blow away smaller creatures. A fortitude roll is required to withstand the buffeting winds, at a penalty of two for tiny, a bonus of two for medium, and a bonus of four for large.

Rarely are more than two adult Rocs encountered together. Rocs are solitary and defend their hunting ranges against other rocs. They are intelligent, however, and do maintain friends among other rocs. If multiple rocs are encountered, it is the Adventure Guide’s call, but some will likely be young of lesser level and damage capability (level four to eight, damage from d8, 2d6, 2d8, 2d10, 2d12).

Fantastic Creatures: Saurians

Saurians, or Lizard-men, are bi-pedal lizard-like creatures, with long forking tongues, bulbous eyes, and ears behind eye-lid-like membranes. Their shiny, iridescent scales reflect green and blue in sunlight, and also make them appear wet or slimy even in dry conditions. They have underground vision, though they prefer not to be out at night.

Saurians will eat plants and animals, but find insects a delicacy, and farm them in their swampy lairs. They will hunt giant insects if such creatures exist near them.

They can move quickly on all fours, using their long arms as legs. When Saurians are slaves, they are sometimes bred for size and used as intelligent mounts.

Saurian females lay their eggs in warm marshy springs or beneath desert sand where they will stay very warm but not too hot.

Saurians will regrow arms, legs, and tails if they lose them. Regrowth of a single limb takes about a week for an adult lizard-man, and less for younger Saurians. Under extreme circumstances they may voluntarily break their tail, for example to escape capture. However, without their tail their movement drops by two.

Saurians gain a bonus of two to any death rolls, as well as to unconsciousness rolls brought on by gaining injury points. They don’t feel pain in the debilitating sense that other creatures do.

Fantastic Creatures: Sakmat

Sakmat are huge, pale white, vaguely humanoid spider-like creatures. They have six arms, two legs, and eight eyes clustered where a human’s head would be. Web-dwellers, they can also use their claws and legs to scuttle vertically up walls, as a spider.

The Sakmat prefer rocky and warmer areas of the underground. They will eat both plants and animals, but prefer animals—up to man-sized—and will store their prey in preserving webs. Sakmat will use large and huge spiders as pets, and giant spiders as guardians.

Sakmat may use two weapons at a time, or one weapon and a shield.

Their leadership is extremely hierarchical: at each level, the leader has full authority over their immediate underlings. The highest level of Sakmat authority is held by their prophets.

Sakmat will often have 1-4 levels in warrior or, less often, 1-3 levels in prophet. Prophet spirits will be charm, prophet, war, and death. Warrior Sakmat may use up to three weapons or two weapons and a shield, or even one weapon and two shields. A Sakmat using two weapons receives a penalty of 1 to attack; using three weapons, a penalty of 2 to attack.

Sakmat are difficult to surprise, having 270 degree vision and acute smell and hearing. Warriors and prophets will have higher morale (generally 12) than common Sakmat.

Spiders, giant

Giant spiders stand tall as a man, with a bulky, bulbous body the size of a small cow. Their grey, sometimes mottled brown or green, skin coloration allows them to blend in to the background of the underground, caves, or dark forests despite their size.

Anyone bitten by a giant spider must make an evasion roll or succumb to the giant spider’s powerful poison. It has an action time of one round and a strength of four. It paralyzes for d4 minutes.

A giant spider can wrap a tiny creature in a cocoon in two rounds, a small creature in three rounds, and a medium creature in four. Once cocooned, a creature must make a fortitude or evasion roll at a penalty of six to begin to escape: on a successful roll, they can do half damage with any sharp weapon to hand, and must do eight points to escape. However, the cocoon itself is coated with poison, and any struggling requires an evasion roll to avoid taking more poison (cocoon poison is only strength 2, but is otherwise the same as the spider’s bite poison).

Giant spiders are intelligent creatures, able to manipulate items and make long-term plans.

Fantastic Creatures: Splinters

Known as Pooka among the Celts, these creatures are branches off of the World Tree. They can take several forms at will: an old Odin-like man with horns covered by a large flat floppy hat; a goat with a vaguely man-like face; or a giant black raven with a piercing scream. They may take the form of a small tree, an old, lichen-covered trunk, or a fallen branch for years, decades, or centuries, but when a visitor to their forest passes by they can take many forms to vex them.

Splinters act as hinderers and dark pranksters, but may also act as a messenger of the World Tree. Splinters are only found in the wood and will never enter civilized dwellings. They tend to be more active in the spring and summer, less active in the autumn and especially winter.

A splinter may only be damaged by magic or by iron or steel. In human form they often use a gnarled wooden staff, with which they gain a bonus of 1 to attack and damage. Splinters of sixth level gain a further bonus of one to attack and damage in all forms, as well as an additional attack in tree form.

Within their forest, the ground, leaves, and weeds provide Pooka with intelligence. They are thus unaffected by any camouflage, such as invisibility, that does not affect all senses and plants. They are also unaffected by mental magics such as illusions.

Splinters are often found in the company of Pixies or other faerie.

Fantastic Creatures: Tentamort

A tentamort is a hideous creature. It has 1 tentacle per level minus 2, and can attack with any number of them at a time. Their body is two to four feet wide and bloated, a disgusting yellowish-purple. The tentacles are purplish, and twelve to fifteen feet long.

Tentamort eat metals, and can live for a long period slowly digesting a small amount of pure metal, for example metal armor. They need to augment their diet with animal flesh at least once every three months. They live underground, and burrow through dirt and through stone, at a tenth of their movement and a hundredth of it, respectively.

The tentamort live solitary lives, coming together only to mate. Their eggs hatch without benefit of mother or father.

Toads, killer

Killer toads are huge, big enough to swallow small mammals whole. Their dank yellowish skin is covered in dark green warts and their tongues reach out for at least a yard when attacking. Because of their leaping ability, killer toads have a bonus of 4 to surprise. They leap up to eight yards to attack. Their claw attacks gain a bonus of 2 to damage each if successful on a leap attack.

They can attack small creatures with their tongue, on a successful hit capturing any creature within two yards. The victim is allowed an evasion roll to avoid getting caught. If caught, a fortitude roll is required each round until the victim is drawn into the toad’s mouth, where the toad can bite each round in addition to clawing. There is a bonus to the fortitude roll for every 10 pounds above 100 the victim is, and a penalty for every 10 pounds below 100.

Killer toads won’t use their tongues on things too large to eat. While the tongue is extended, there is a bonus of 1 to attack and damage the toad.

Tree-herders

The tree-herders are tree-like creatures of wood and bark, with feet like roots that dig deep into the earth, and mossy hair among their branches. Their brown eyes, hidden beneath mossy brows, shine with wisdom and strength. Any branch may act as an arm; they may attack as many opponents as they have branches. The total dice divided up among their attacks must be less than half their level.

Though a tree-herder may move as fast as a human, they rarely do. Both their movements and their speech are deliberate, slow, and careful. When walking quickly, the tree-herder wades through the ground like a bird through water. Their walk tears through stone, and their branches may crush steel. The speech of the tree-herders rolls deep and slow, as thunder in dreams. Their conversations may cross seasons.

Tree-herders are voracious learners, given the opportunity, and will especially attempt to learn the languages of any races within and nearby their forest. The tree-herders “manage” or “herd” the trees of the forest. They may “speak” with trees, and learn of anything that has happened near a tree for as long as that tree has been alive, although such knowledge will be skewed towards things trees “find important”.

Tree-herders live forever, though some will fall to seed, a half-sleep, half-vegetable state of treeness. Such tree-herders may be awoken by other tree-herders for emergencies, but the longer the sleep, the less likely the sleeper will awake. There are male and female tree-herders, and their saplings are more active than their patient, gentle parents.

Tree-herders may, in an emergency, summon the spirits of the wood into normal trees, which then act nearly as powerfully as the tree-herders themselves. These lesser tree-creatures are sixth level with animal intelligence and charisma, but otherwise act as tree-herders. Each tree-herder may summon as many tree-spirits as their own level.

Fantastic Creatures: Unicorn

With a small beard like a goat and a single spiral horn twisting around itself pointing straight out of their foreheads, the unicorn makes a striking appearance. Unicorns are generally white, with a horn a foot and a half to two feet long.

The unicorn’s horn has great curative and purifying power. A Unicorn may purify poisoned water by dipping its horn into the water. A single unicorn may purify a well, a small pond, or bend in the river. Unicorns are themselves immune to poisons. The shavings from a unicorn’s horn, taken internally, can cure any natural disease, and grant a bonus of 3 to health rolls against unnatural diseases.

Unicorns are sometimes seen with Dryads, sometimes in groups, but are usually seen alone. The unicorn prefers solitude and appears to humans only at times of great portent. Unicorns are a bridge between the mortal and the divine, and can act as messengers of the divine or of fate. Their very appearance is itself a sign. When an upright ruler takes power, or at the death of a great sage, a unicorn may appear at the outskirts of the kingdom. They will occasionally seek out the wise.

If sought in the wild, they can lead upright seekers to wisdom: ancient ruins of importance, temples of the wise, sage hermits. They must be chased steadfastly; when found by a seeker they will usually run, and are very good at blending in with the forest, despite their unnaturally white appearance. Keeping a unicorn in sight requires a perception roll, at a penalty of up to five if the unicorn wills it.

Unicorns may lead imperfect seekers to their doom in bogs, quicksand, or sudden cliffs. Anyone considering giving chase to a unicorn should look first into their heart.

They are extremely gentle unless provoked, but can be deadly. They can charge with their horn as their initial attack and still attack normally that round.

Fantastic Creatures: Werebear

Werebears are generally hereditary creatures, another race, or almost another race, of a single line of born leaders, the remnants of a lost race of man or bear. What part the werebears played in the dim history of the world is known only to Elves and perhaps a few dedicated scholars. Today they appear to act, if they act at all, as protectors of the far outskirts of human civilization. They may speak with animals, and generally remain on friendly terms with them. They will often have stables of domesticated animals, such as horses and pigs. They will usually have some bears at their service, which they may call when trouble appears. A werebear may generally call d4 bears in d6 minutes, and up to 3d6 in d6 hours.

They are properly shape-shifters, or “wearers of bear-skin” in the most commonly-used euphemism to describe them. In human form they are large (but still medium-sized), generally quite hairy, and extremely solitary. While they may lead a tribe of fierce men, they will not live with that tribe, and will be considered chieftains of almost god-like status.

Werebears shun the eating of animals, although they have no problems with others eating animals or killing animals for the eating, and will even do the killing themselves and serve venison or other meats to their guests, suggesting that this is some form of taboo on the hereditary line. They do enjoy food from animals, such as milk, butter, honey, and eggs, and when entertaining guests often appear to subsist on nothing but those foods.

In human form, the werebear may fight unarmed for d4 points damage, or with a weapon at +2 damage. In bear form, they fight tooth and nail. If both claws successfully hit, and the target fails an evasion roll, the bear may bearhug the target for 2d6 points each round until the target escapes (a fortitude or evasion roll is required). Werebear in bear form are immune to normal weapons, and may be damaged only with magical weapons and cold iron (a more primitive form of iron no longer in general use). They are immune to both wood and steel.

Fantastic Creatures: Wererat

Wererats are an ancient race or family that has lived intermingled with mankind since the dawn of recorded history. Like the Werebear, they are more on the order of shapechangers than werewolves. They pass quite easily as humans in their human form. They may change from human to huge rat at will, though they do so only rarely. They are loathe to let any outsider see the change occur, and so wait until they are certainly alone and unobserved, even by their own kind. They must assume rat form at least once a month, however, and often wererat clans will hold monthly revels beneath a new moon. They are at home in ruins, cities, and forests, but always near or within large human settlements.

All wererats may hide in shadows or move silently as a thief, with a bonus equal to their total levels. On a bite, their victim must make a health roll or be stricken with plague, an ailment with a strength of 2 and an action time of one day. Its effects are the inability to heal and the loss of 1 point of endurance per day.

Wererats may also control rats and giant rats. Each wererat may command up to twice level giant rats, or four times level normal rats.

Wererats often have levels as thief or monk. They use cunning to spread plague and dissension, reveling in the death of civilization and culture. They infiltrate the political classes and seek power in all its forms.

Fantastic Creatures: Weresnake

Weresnakes are an immortal race with the power to shapeshift between the form of men and the form of snakes. In human form they are thin, shapely, and graceful, sensuously beautiful. In human form they have a bonus of 1 to advantage and a bonus of 2 to defense, though they will disdain deadly combat.

They may also form into a large snake with a human-like body and a long, coiling tail extending four to eight yards. In this form they may lash out with their tail to crush for 2d8 points damage; on a successful called shot, the victim must make an evasion roll or be crushed for d8 points each round automatically. The weresnake may also lash out with their tongue, doing d4 points, and on a called shot the victim must make an evasion roll or be poisoned. In snake form they gain a bonus of three to advantage. If they fight with a weapon in this form, damage will be at a bonus of 2.

Finally, they may form into a swarm of ten small snakes, each snake having a tenth of the weresnake’s survival points. The snakes will not be able to cause normal damage, but on a successful called shot the victim must make an evasion roll or be poisoned. The swarm will never spread further than five yards apart (or the lost snake will die in d4 rounds, and the weresnake will lose those survival points). To take this form they drop whatever they were carrying.

The poison of the weresnake has a strength of one, an action time of 1 round, and causes either unconsciousness for 2d10 minutes, or d3 injuries. (The choice of sleep or injuring poison is up to the weresnake.)

Weresnakes are more shapechangers than werewolves. They pass easily as humans. They may change from form to form at will. They will usually have levels in warrior or sorceror, or both, concentrating (or even specializing) in mental or summoning magics. As immortals, they have long-term goals and are willing to do anything to achieve those goals. They are determined, but often vain, and will horde treasure in special places.

Every two centuries or so, they must lose their skin and grow new skin. During this time they are more vulnerable; their defense is only +1, and they gain no advantage bonus. This period lasts for about a week.

Fantastic Creatures: Yeti

The Yeti are small, hairy, man-like animals, with monkey-like tails. Their hair is a reddish brown and covers their bodies lightly.

The yeti attacks with its sharp claws. They are reputed to be ancestors of the Monkey King and an Ogress who loved him. The Monkey King and his wife died in the mountains, but their evil children live on. Some mountaineers believe that a man killed by a yeti will become a wandering spirit on the mountain.

Yeti live in the highest, snow-covered mountains. They live in natural caves, or in caves built of snow. Yeti “palaces of snow” can be quite impressive.