Desert Shark
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Climate/Terrain | Sandy wastelands |
| Frequency | Uncommon |
| Organization | Schools |
| Activity Cycle | Any |
| Diet | Carnivore |
| Intelligence | Animal (1) |
| Treasure | Nil |
| Alignment | Neutral |
| No. of Appearing | 10-38 (4d8+6) |
| Armor Class | 7 |
| Move | Sw 9 (18) |
| Hit Dice | 4 |
| THAC0 | 17 |
| No. of Attacks | 1 (2) |
| Damage/Attack | 2d6 |
| Special Attacks | Surprise bonus, feeding frenzy |
| Special Defenses | Submersion |
| Magic Resistance | Nil |
| Size | M (5' long) |
| Moral | Average (8-10) / Fanatic (17-18) |
| XP Value | 650 |
Description
(based on After Man: A Zoology of the Future by Dougal Dixon)
The desert shark appears a docile mammal (it has evolved from rodents not fish). Short sparse hairs cover its wrinkled pink skin along the entire length of its sausage-shaped body, from broad nose to long rat-like tail. A closer look reveals a blunt, strong head, four powerful shovel-like feet, and a mouth filled with razor-like teeth. Its teeth curve inward and are all of equal length.
Desert sharks commonly rest just below the surface of the sand with only their eyes and nostrils protruding. When on the hunt, they swim through the sand using sensory pits at the end of their noses to detect prey, which is anything that the school can kill.
Combat
A hunting school of desert sharks is a fearsome killing machine. Victims have a -3 penalty to their surprise rolls as the sharks swim underneath them. During an attack, desert sharks remain mostly submerged beneath the sand, imposing a -2 to their victims' attack rolls (effectively making them armor class 5).
Desert sharks bite and thrash their heads for 2d6 points of damage. When first blood is drawn, the sharks go into a feeding frenzy; treat as if under influence of haste. While in a frenzy, each shark moves at double speed (18) and receives 2 attacks per round as it attacks wildly. In addition, its morale increases to fanatical. The nature of this frenzy is such that the sharks will even attack and kill wounded members of their own school. A frenzy lasts for 6d4 rounds even if all the original victims are killed; if there are no wounded victims left alive, the sharks will simply tear the remains to pieces.
Habitat
Desert sharks live in schools where most of the members are related. A school does not define a territory, rather it wanders in search of prey. Members from other schools are treated with indifference if hunting is good; otherwise, a school aggressively attacks rivals as prey.
Males are slightly larger than females, but both are equally aggressive. They breed at irregular intervals, usually when food is plenty or the school's numbers have fallen to low levels. Each successful mating produces 1 pup. In 2 out of 10 encounters, 10% of the school will be immature with the same abilities as the adults except for the following: 2 hit dice; THAC0 19; does 1d6 points of damage per attack; size S (less than 3' long).
Ecology
Desert sharks range throughout Athas, but they appear to be particularly common in the Great Alluvial Sand Wastes. While few species (e.g., magapedes and sink worms) are natural preditors of desert sharks, sharks prey on almost anything, including the young of these larger preditors.
Although generally considered a hazard, desert sharks' teeth are often used for small weapons and decoration. A rare shark (5%) will have something of value in its stomach, such gems, coins, or a small magic item (e.g., ring).