Screamer
| Statistic | Normal | Tentacled |
|---|---|---|
| Climate/Terrain | Swamps and moist caverns | Swamps and moist caverns |
| Frequency | Rare | Very rare |
| Organization | None | Pack |
| Activity Cycle | Any | Any |
| Diet | Herbivore | Herbivore |
| Intelligence | Animal (1) | Low (5-7) |
| Treasure | Nil | J, K, L, M |
| Alignment | None | Neutral evil |
| No. of Appearing | 1-2 | 1-4 |
| Armor Class | 8 | 6 |
| Move | 3 | 9 |
| Hit Dice | 1 | 4 |
| THAC0 | 19 | 17 |
| No. of Attacks | 1 | 1 |
| Damage/Attack | 1 | 1-8 |
| Special Attacks | Nil | Spit poison |
| Special Defenses | 1/2 damage from blunt weapons | 1/2 damage from blunt weapons |
| Magic Resistance | Nil | Nil |
| Size | S (3' high) | M (5' high) |
| Moral | Unsteady (6) | Average (8) |
| XP Value | 35 | 650 |
Description
Screamers are sentient vegetables, which look like 3' tall cauliflowers, with green, yellow, and blue patches.
Combat
Screamers attack by "biting" their opponents. Their digestive acids cause 1 point of damage with each successful "bite". Screamers only receive half damage from crushing-type weapons, as they are cushioned by the Screamers' soft vegetable bodies.
Habitat
Screamers have no organized social units. They spend most of their lives scavenging for food.
Ecology
Screamers reproduce very quickly, to offset the fact that in nature, they are eaten almost as soon as they are born. When a screamer is born, it immediately releases several spores which land, and grow to maturity in a day. Both types of screamers scavenge for fungi, and plant life, which they eat. The bodies of tentacled screamers are inedible to humans, demi-humans, and humanoids. One normal screamer will feed one adult human for one day. Screamers are a common source of food for many subterranean communities. Their quick reproductive rate makes them an almost limitless source of food.
Tentacled
Tentacled screamers are 5' tall, and look like elongated green mushrooms. They have four thin tentacles at the level where a human's arms would be. One tentacle is in the front, one on the right side, one on the left, and one in the back.
Tentacled screamers attack by flailing with their sharp, but flimsy tentacles, which do 1-8 points of damage. They can only attack an opponent with one tentacle, because of how the tentacles are situated, but they can attack four opponents at once. Also, once every six rounds, tentacled screamers can spit a glob of poison up to 30 feet. If this glob touches skin, it does 1-12 points of damage. Both types of Screamers take 1/2 damage from crushing-type weapons, as they are cushioned by the Screamers' soft vegetable bodies.