Khiffah
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Climate/Terrain | Tropical rain forest and jungle |
| Frequency | Rare |
| Organization | Tribal |
| Activity Cycle | Day |
| Diet | Omnivore |
| Intelligence | Average (8-10) |
| Treasure | Nil |
| Alignment | Neutral |
| No. Appearing | 2-20 |
| Armor Class | 6 (4 on face and chest) [female and young male 7] |
| Movement | 9 on ground, 11 in trees |
| Hit Dice | 2-3 |
| THAC0 | 19 |
| No. of Attacks | 3 |
| Damage/Attack | 1-4/1-4/1-2 (female and young male 1-2 bite attack) |
| Special Attacks | Nil |
| Special Defenses | Nil |
| Magic Resistance | Nil |
| Size | Medium (4-5 feet) |
| Morale | Steady |
| XP Value | 250 |
Description
The khiffah is a newly emerging, sentient race in the world After Man. While many arboreal inhabitants have sought to deal with the predatory striger via armor, spines, poison, or some sort of physical defense, the khiffah has sought defense in social organization. This intelligent race of monkeys lives in tribes of up to twenty individuals and builds defensive citadels in the boughs of trees. These large, hollow nests, woven from branches and creepers and roofed with a rainproof thatch of leaves, have several entrances, usually situated where the main branches of the tree thrust through the structure. The khiffah's nest is divided into two levels containing separate storage and living rooms.
The khiffah's have adopted a gender-based division of society. The females and young males, which possess neither armor nor claws, are the principal food gatherers of the tribe, and carry out the majority of building as well. The adult males remain behind to defend the citadel and have developed a unique set of features to carry out their highly specialized role; horny armor over the face and chest and vicious claws on the thumb and forefinger (supplemented by a biting attack).
It is not unknown for a female to taunt a passing striger and allow herself to be pursued back to the citadel, dashing to safety while the striger finds its way barred by a powerful male capable of disemboweling it with a swipe of its terrible claws. This apparently senseless behavior, however, provides the colony with fresh meat, a welcome supplement to their basic vegetarian diet of roots and berries. Only young and inexperienced strigers are caught this way.
Though not as yet civilized as the meaching of the frozen north, the khiffah are starting to develop into a civilized race. In any one colony, it is 25% possible that the more intelligent (and idle) males have dabbled into the beginnings of magic, are either a druid of levels 1-3 (75% chance) or mage of levels 1-2 (25% chance). In a few thousand years, it is quite possible that the khiffah might develop into a major civilized race.
Enterprising players and DMs might want to consider khiffah (or meaching) PCs in a world After Man.