Drop Wolves Art

A quick post about an old monster of mine. Remember drop wolves? Well, here’s what they look like.

Drop Wolves

(Or, at least, what a text to image AI thinks they would look like. Although maybe this pic is better for droplet wolves?)

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Wandering Monster: Consumer of Torment

Consumer of Torment (Demonic Hungry Monstrous Slug)
Solitary; 18+1 Dice, Extreme Armor, Move 9, 4 dice damage; swallow attack

A black slug 6 to 8 paces long and as wide as three men. Unlike a purple worm, it can’t charge and knock over opponents, but must bite with its enormous toothless maw to attack, but can swallow a standing human being on a critical hit.

Swallowed creatures take damage slowly, only 1 point per hour, but the demonic creature’s digestive juices bind both soul and spirit to the victim’s flesh, making them fully conscious of the entire digestion process even after death, even when only a few flecks of flesh or bone are all that remains.

Digestion lasts up to two weeks. If the victim is dead, but the Consumer is slain, the remains can be removed from the creature’s stomach. Make a roll to determine the victim’s corporeal status:

2d6 Roll	Status	Detailed Explanation
2	Very Bad	Angry Remnants, unable to do more than quiver. Fits in a small bucket.
3-5	Bad	Slithering Torso, Move 1, unable to speak.
6-8	Normal	Half-Corpse, just a torso and one random limb, either the head (able to speak) or an arm/leg (drag self across floor at Move 3.
9-11	Good	Damaged Corpse, but still intact. Max Charisma 3.
12	Very Good	Undamaged Corpse, may still pass for living being.
13+	The Best	Flicker of Life, returns to normal with magical healing.

If a victim with a flicker of life is not restored, or if the result is Corpse or Half-Corpse, the survivor is a free-willed undead. Reactions from NPCs aware of the survivor’s undead status will be worse, and the survivor’s body will continue to decay. Every month, make a 1d6 roll. On 5+, there’s no change. Otherwise, the state of decay becomes one stage worse: Undamaged becomes Damaged, Damaged loses one random limb at a time until reduced to Half-Corpse, which becomes a Slithering Torso and eventually an angry clump of flesh and bone. Even at this stage, survivors will still be aware of their surroundings, and other magic might be used to place the bound soul into some other form.

Because of the odd demonic properties, the digestive juices of the Consumer of Torment are a component of several necromantic concoctions, including life extension.

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Wandering Monster: Simple Demon

Some people might be interested in the “simple demon” I used in the Demonic Dangers pamphlet as an alternative to the detailed demons in, for example, Eldritch Wizardry. Here’s an expanded write-up.

Simple Demon (Chaotic Infernal Monstrous Beast)
1 to 2; 6 Dice, Heavy Armor, Move 12, 1+2 dice Damage, beast abilities, control flame/shadow, demonic invulnerability

Unholy, destructive beings from elsewhere. All demons combine body parts of two mundane creatures (head of one animal, body of another.) They will have the normal abilities of both types of creature. You can roll 2d6 twice on this table to select the head and the body. If doubles are rolled, use the lower half of the table.

2d6 Roll	Animal Form
2	rat (diseased bite)
3-5	toad (leap, tongue grab)
6-8	bat (winged flight)
9-11	goat (headbutt)
12	skeletal human
	If Doubles Rolled:
2s	spider (poison, climb, web)
3s	iron statue (Extreme Armor)
4s	ooze (climb, go thru cracks)
5s	snake (poison bite)

If “bat” is rolled for either the head or the body, the demon has bat-wings and can fly. For skeletal bodies, the GM can rule that arrows do only 1 point of damage. For other beast abilities, it’s the GM’s choice whether they only apply for a specific body part (bite only if head is selected, for example.)

In addition to their beast abilities, all demons can create human or animal-sized zones of fire or shadow, shape them into any form desired, or move them or other flames and shadows wherever they wish. Treat this as controlling a creature made of flame or shadow. Weapons pass through flame and shadow without damage; flame can be smothered, doused with water, or chilled with ice, and shadow can be damaged by light.

Demons take half damage from non-magical weapons, but take full damage from magic weapons, silver weapons, or blessed weapons. Holy water does 1d6 damage.

Some demons can assume an ethereal form, becoming nearly invisible and able to pass through physical material. In this form, they cannot attack directly, nor can they be attacked by physical means except by magic, silver, or holy items. An ethereal demon can pass into a physical being and attempt to take control (possession.) If the demon’s current hit points are greater than the victim’s hit points, possession works on 5+ (1d6.) Holy items and silver can drive a demon out of a possessed body, allowing the victim to regain control.

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Wandering Monster: Lumberjack Wolves

The forest really does need more custom beast threats.

Lumberjack Wolf (Aggressive Arboreal Predatory Beast)
2 to 12; 1+2 Dice, Light Armor, Move 12/6 leap/3 burrow, 1+2 dice Damage, ambush, treefelling

Pack predators with uncanny tree climbing and leaping abilities and a unnatural taste for wood. Instead of canine teeth, they have enlarged front teeth resembling beavers. Lumberjack wolves can climb trees to hide in the leaves, much like Drop-Wolves. If they ambush prey from above, it doubles their surprise chances (3+ on 1d6, instead of 5+) and does an extra 1d6 damage on the initial attack, if successful.

However, the lumberjack wolf’s preferred attack is to use deadfalls, They can chew through wood with their massive teeth, even burrow through wooden walls, With the element of surprise, they can drop logs and branches from above, doing 3d6 damage (half that on a successful save.) If they do not surprise their prey, the trap is easily avoided, but may cause other problems: blocking escape routes, destroying campsites.

If seriously threatened, a lumberjack wolf can leap into the trees to escape, jumping from treetop to treetop at Move 6 speed.

Lumberjack wolves and timber wolves are mutual enemies.

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Wandering Monster: Ash Cloud Wight

In the Cryptic Catacombs pamphlet I released on Monday, I added unique new undead to two specific rooms. For Hallowe’en season, I decided to do full write-ups of both here on the blog. I did the Ghostly Wight already. Now it’s time for the Ash Cloud Wight.

Ash Cloud Wight (Hateful Intangible Undead Cloud)
1 to 3; 3+2 Dice, Heavy Armor, Move 9/18, 1+3 dice Damage, cloud form, life drain, undead immunities

An Ash Cloud Wight is the hate-filled undead creature that remains after human beings or certain powerful undead are incinerated alive. Ash Cloud Wights are not ethereal They are swirling whirlwinds of ash and dust that smell of smoke and burning flesh. They can fly short distances, but rarely do so outdoors.

The touch of an Ash Cloud Wight drains one level, exactly as for an ordinary Wight, and leaves a red mark resembling a mild burn. Those engulfed by the wight are choked by the ash. A save vs. poison reduces this to half damage.

Because of its intangible form, an Ash Cloud Wight is harder to hit than ordinary walking corpses. It also takes half damage from ordinary weapons and attacks, but full damage from silver and magic weapons.

Because it has been killed once by fire and still retains a fiery nature, it is immune to fire. However, it takes 1d6 damage per minute from rain or other precipitation and half that from a strong wind. It cannot fly under those weather conditions.

An Ash Cloud Wight has the standard undead immunities to sleep and charm, has no need for food, water, or air, and flees the sunlight. A bucket of water can do 1 point of damage on a successful hit and prevent it from flying for 1d6 rounds.

Ash Cloud Wights have the same treasure as other Wights, but never have scrolls or potions and have 2d6 additional gems.

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Wandering Monster: Ghostly Wight

In the Cryptic Catacombs pamphlet I released on Monday, I added unique new undead to two specific rooms. But of course, a pamphlet dungeon is a very tight space, and so my room key just says “use the same stats as this monster, but change one stat.” But they deserve more detail! Especially during Hallowe’en!
So here’s a more detailed write-up of the first new undead: the Ghostly Wight!

Ghostly Wight (Hateful Ghostly Undead Humanoid)
1 to 3; 3+2 Dice, Heavy Armor, Move 9, 1+3 dice Damage, ethereal, life drain, undead immunities

A Ghostly Wight is a hate-filled spirit, similar to but weaker than a specter. Ghostly Wights are what’s left over after a moderately strong corporeal undead has rotted away to dust, but is still bound to a location, usually by a divine curse. They are frequently bound to altars or sacred spots as guardian spirits.

Ghostly Wights are partially ethereal and can pass through solid matter, but cannot turn invisible. Their wispy forms are still difficult to see, giving them an advantage on surprise (double surprise chance, or roll twice and take the best result.) They are unable to fly as a Specter does, but can leap twice as far as a human being and do not take damage from a fall.

The chilling touch of a Ghostly Wight drains one level, exactly as for an ordinary Wight. Because of its ghostly form, a Ghostly Wight is harder to hit than ordinary walking corpses. It also takes half damage from ordinary weapons and attacks, but full damage from silver and magic weapons. It has the standard undead immunities to sleep and charm, has no need for food, water, or air, and flees the sunlight.

Ghostly Wights have the same treasure as other Wights, but with an extra 1 to 3 magic scrolls.

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Wandering Monster: Ghost Paws

A surprise slightly spooky monster for October. Based on real life experience!

Ghost Paws (Ghostly Ethereal Beast)
2 to 12; 3 Dice, Medium/Extreme Armor, Move 15, 1+2 dice Damage; invisible, drain breath

Animal ghosts that prey on sleeping people. Ghost paws are generally invisible, but avoid the daylight, where there is a 5+ on 1d6 chance of spotting a dark fast-moving blur in the air. When seen this way, their effective armor is Medium. Otherwise, their armor is Extreme. They will not engage anyone during the day, but if characters move through their area, those with a High mental score (13+) have a 5+ on 1d6 chance of feeling something brush against their legs, alerting them to the presence of an invisible entity.

At night, Ghost Paws will approach a group if at least one person is sleeping. Anyone awake will have a chance of sensing their movement as noted. The spirit will jump stealthily onto a bed or walk across a sleeping bag, again, barely detectable (5+ on 1d6 chance, automatic for those with a High mental score.) If undetected, they surprise the victim automatically.

A Ghost Paws attacks by sucking the breath from their victim, doing half damage (2 to 4 points) every round automatically until attacked or the victim wakes. Afterwards, they do full damage with ethereal claw strikes, but must make normal attack rolls.

They take only half damage from ordinary weapons, but full damage from magic or silver weapons. If attacked by an ethereal creature or something able to attack ethereal creatures, they get no immunity and have no armor.

Unless guarding a haunted location, treasure will be incidental only, items left by victims.

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Wandering Monster: Droplet-Wolves

More material inspired by nonsense from the Transformer neural network website.

Droplet-Wolves (Stealthy Supernatural Predatory Beast)
1 to 6; 2+1 Dice, Light Armor, Move 15, 1+2 dice Damage; ambush, non-locality

Unnatural wolves formed from droplets of water coalescing on the rocky outcroppings near vernal pools or waterfalls. They seem to appear from nowhere, emerging from the watery mist. This sudden manifestation doubles their surprise chances (3+ on 1d6, instead of 5+) and does an extra 1d6 damage on the initial attack, if successful.

Until droplet-wolves coalesce, they are undetectable by normal means. Even spells to detect enemies can’t pinpoint their location, but simply indicate that all the mist in the area is an enemy.

A single good hit (maximum damage on an attack) seems to immediately destroy them, but they re-materialize in a different location 1d6 minutes later, rolling for surprise again.

Because they are water-based supernatural creatures, droplet-wolves take double damage from silver weapons, magical fire attacks, or torches used as weapons.

Their lairs will be strewn with treasure equivalent to a cockatrice or manticore.

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Wandering Monsters: Drop-Wolves

A couple people really liked this line I included in the Green Bard adventure module, in the rumors section: “Vicious packs of drop-wolves hide in the treetops and attack interlopers from above.” Unfortunately, it’s just a rumor. No actual drop-wolves appear in the adventure. But even as I was writing the module, I thought, “Man, drop-wolves really need to be a thing.”

Drop-Wolves (Aggressive Arboreal Predatory Beast)
2 to 12; 1+1 Dice, Light Armor, Move 15/6 leap, 1+1 dice Damage; ambush

Pack predators with unusual climbing and leaping ability that live in dense forests, dropping down from the treetops on unsuspecting prey, including human travelers. This doubles their surprise chances (3+ on 1d6, instead of 5+) and does an extra 1d6 damage on the initial attack, if successful.

If seriously threatened, a drop-wolf can leap into the trees to escape, jumping from treetop to treetop at Move 6 speed.

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Horrific Elves

Everyone does ghosts, vampires, mummies, and reanimated corpses on Halloween. I thought I'd do something a little different: a more horrifying version of elves, drawing from folklore.

Horrific Elves (Chaotic Fantastic Humanoid)

up to 6; 1+1 dice, Move 12, Light Armor, paralyze/confuse

Eldritch, predatory versions of standard fantasy elves. Horrific elves have the option to turn any arrow, bolt, or dart into elf shot, which does no damage, but will paralyze a victim for a full ten minutes; on a 5+ on 1d6, the victim goes temporarily insane (as per Confusion spell.) Confused targets that are confused a second time are afflicted with Feeblemind.

Horrific elves are vulnerable to iron and will avoid standard metal armor and weapons. They may wear bronze, if available, and rare elven leaders are rumored to have silver mail. If a horrific elf is struck with an iron or steel weapon, they are paralyzed as if struck by elf shot and receive a grievous wound (doesn't heal naturally.)

Horrific elves are known to steal children and leave changelings in their place. Consult the changeling table below for the type:

2d6	Changeling Type
2	illusion of baby cast on block of wood (iron dispels)
3-5	transformed animal, will never learn to speak
6-8	intelligent transformed animal, still has beast traits
9-11	half-elf, can choose to be human or elf when grown
12	illusion of baby cast on ancient, senile elf, curses house until driven away

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Proper Monsters

Inspired by this post complaining about turning proper names into generic creatures, Lord Gwydion statted up saurons for use in your game. Even though I complained about speciation and genericization previously, I have the urge to turn other proper nouns into monsters. Heck, I've been guilty of it in the past. But I think all the obvious "proper" monsters have been taken. Didn't someone already do a write-up for "grendels"? Certainly, the vampires in original D&D could be renamed "draculas", since they bear more resemblance to Count Dracula specifically than to ordinary vampires. Chimeras? Done. Hydras? Done. Cereberoi? Scyllas? I think I've seen each of them written up somewhere. Talos got turned into iron golems, Frankenstein's monster became flesh golems. Beorn from The Hobbit got turned into "were-bears", the Balrog from LotR became Type VI demons; I suppose someone could do "gollums", "shelobs", and "gandalfs".

They haven't been written up for a game (as far as I know,) but the new TV series Grimm turns individual creatures from Grimm's fairy tales into generic types: the big bad wolf becomes blutbads, the three bears become jagerbars, the three little pigs become bauerschwein (I'm anglicizing the names, because I'm not sure what some of the plurals should be. Blutbaden?)

Anyone have any good ideas for "proper" monsters?