Another Mid-Level Creature
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Frequency | unique |
| # Appearing | 1 |
| % in Lair | no lair |
| Treasure Type | none |
| Alignment | Neutral (created for evil purpose tho) |
| Climate/Terrain | cool, dry weather. forests preferred. |
| HD | see below |
| Size | S (11 inches long X 8 inches wide) |
| AC | 0 (size and quickness - when hit, it squishes) |
| Magic Resistance | standard |
| No. Attacks | 2/round (claws only) |
| Claw Damage | 1 hp + poison |
| Move | 15" scuttling, 18 foot leap |
| Special Defenses | doesn't sleep - Sleep spell doesn't work. Unaffected by Hold Person, Slow, Haste, Speak w/Animals, Speak w/Monsters, Animal Friendship, Invisibility to Animals, Locate Animals, Charm Person or Mammal (it is a sort of mammal), Hold Animal, Animal Growth, Anti-Animal Shell, Charm Monster, Hold Monster, and/or similar magics designed to directly affect any animal or monster or person (this is not particularly powerful when a mainstay is Magic Missile and Web, or a cleric's mace, but is an irritant when you have a tree-hugger in the party who doesn't wanna kill the poor little thing). |
| Special Attacks | poison, see below |
Description
This creature has no name, as it was a unique creature which was encountered in the lair of a wizard-version-geneticist and was killed in the line of duty as an NPCMonster. It was in one of my few AD&D first edition by-the-book games in which I didn't rewrite every rule, so I'm quite proud of the little bastard.
This bugger looks a lot like a spider on steroids without the bloated rear abdomen. Instead of the usual abdomen that a spider has, it has a bony extension it uses for balance when leaping. It has approximately twelve legs, all triple jointed like a spider's, and tipped with small needle-like graspers. Its mouth consists of a straw, designed to suck fluids.
It can percieve in the infra-red range, and targets larger hot objects, so the tallest and strongest character is likely to get hit first. When struck, it's twelve legs will leave tiny puncture marks, and some initial pain, but which are unlikely to kill. Once struck, however, the character who was hit will, on the following round, begin to suffer from the poison.
The poison is slow acting, but eventually deadly. If the character saves the first round, the poison will take off an additional hit point, and do no more damage (not enough got in the blood to begin reacting). If the character does not save, strong stomach pains will set in the next round, and the character will take 1 hp of damage and subtract 1 (temporary) from Strength and Dexterity. Every round after that, the character must again try to save vs. poison, at -1, or take an additional -1 hp, and -1 Strength and Dexterity. This will continue until 3 consecutive rounds have been saved against successfully (irritated player - saves twice, and then flubs it). If Hp, Str, or Dex are reduced to zero in this manner, the character must make a save immediately, and then every hour after that, or die. This save is at -2. Once the save is made twice consecutively, the character has managed to fight off the poison, and will simply be unconsious for the remainder of the day, and recover 1 Str and Dex every day after that.
When struck, the creature may not necessarily die - it can stand the loss of all its limbs without problem. When struck by any attack which is not area effect (like Fireball), roll a d20. On a roll of 13+, the creature's main body was struck - which can take 5 hp of damage. On any roll below that, a leg was hit (each leg can take 1 hp). Every time a leg is lost, subtract 1 from the roll necessary to hit the main body (that is, a 12+ after the first leg, 11+ after the second leg, etc.).
This creature is a vicious, nasty little bugger with no fear. It's hard to hit, and can take down the mightiest fighter with a single hit. On the other hand, it only needs to be hit once or twice. Any characters above 8th level, however, will tend to kill it near instantly, before it even gets a chance to think about biting anybody.
Notes
Note 1: This creature does not have to be a sorceric creation as I presented it. In some of the darker worlds (Athas, Ravenloft, Witchworld), it may be a natural predator, with a name and everything. Meeting a nest of these things would not be fun.