Monday Monster
Here are some creations from my recent one-shot AD&D game with my brother and my son:
Wind-Up Warrior
FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 2-12
ARMOR CLASS: 4
MOVE: 6″
HIT DICE: 1+1
% IN LAIR: Nil
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-3 or by weapon
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: See below
INTELLIGENCE: Non-
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: M
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: NilWind-up warriors are clockwork machines with the fighting ability of first level fighters. They can wield any melee weapon or can strike with empty metal hands. They cannot employ missile weapons but can use shields to improve their AC by one.
A large winding key sticks out of the back of wind-up warriors and one round spend winding it animates the machine for five combat rounds. It will follow simple orders to the best of its ability until its spring winds down. If no new orders are issued while winding it again, it will continue to follow previous orders if possible. Otherwise it will stand motionless (50%) or attack randomly (50%). Orders can be issued only by the winder. New instructions can be given before the spring runs down. Due to their nature, instructions must be simple but clear. If the chance for confusion exists, the DM must roll to see what action the wind-up warrior takes.
Wind-up warriors are non-intelligent and are thus immune to anything which affects the mind. They are relentless and fearless and will not deviate from their mission for any reason. They are immune to magical holds, paralyzation, petrification, and similar effects, but they can be physically damaged by magic. Fire and heat cause only half damage. They cannot be healed or repaired.
It’s not Monday but here’s a Monday Monster anyway:
Crocosaur
No. Enc.: 0 (1d12)
Alignment: Unaligned
Movement: 120′ (40′)
Swim: 90′ (30′)
Armor Class: 4 [15]
Hit Dice: 3
Attacks: 4 (2 claws, bite, tail)
Damage: 1d3 (x2), 1d6, 1d4
Save: F3
Morale: 9
Hoard Class: NilThese savage lizards grow to be up to 12′ long. They can stand and walk at 60′ (20′) on their hind legs.
(Simplified) Crocosaur: HD: 3; AC 4 [15]; Atk Claws and Bite (1d8+1); Spec: Tail hits for 1d6 on to-hit of ’20′ ; Move 12 (Swim 9); Save 12
UPDATE: Forgot to mention that the image is from here.
“They don’t look friendly,” Mortigan observed, watching the chattering figures in the thick canopy above them.
“What gave you that idea?” Locklar asked. “Is it the fangs, the black eyes, the stings on the tail, or the extra set of clawed arms?”
Devil Monkey
No. Enc.: 0 (4d6)
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 120′ (40′)
Armor Class: 6 [13]
Hit Dice: 1
Attacks: 5 (4 claws, bite)
Damage: 1d3 (x4), 1d6
Save: F2
Morale: 10
Hoard Class: VIIDevil monkeys are four-armed, black-furred, ill-tempered primates who favor heavy jungle environments. They are naturally aggressive, maliciously cunning, and fiercely territorial. On any natural to-hit roll of ’20′ their tail, equipped with razor sharp spines, also hits for an additional 1d6 damage (maximum once per round). Devil monkeys can also throw rocks, sticks, fruit, and other small objects up to 40′ for 1d4 damage (a combined multiple objects for one to-hit and damage) and will often harass powerful enemies from the relative safety of the trees.
Groups of 12 or more will be led by a 2HD chief with AC 4. If this chief is killed, the remaining devil monkeys must make an immediate morale check at -4 or flee. The tribe keeps this penalty until a new leader can take charge in 1d4 days.
(Simplified) Devil Monkey: HD: 1; AC 6 [13]; Atk Claws and Bite (1d8x2); Spec: Tail hits for 1d6 on any to-hit of ’20′ (max 1/round); Move 12; Save 13
A denizen of the Forbidden Jungle who can attack savagely but is not so tough. Even mid-level parties chopping their way through these will take some licks.
My monster write-ups will use a LL-style stat block and then include a “simplified” block in gray at the end. This simplified block will use White Box type numbers (usually one combined attack per round unless an unusual monster like this week) and is what we are using in our game. For examples of what we’ve done to simplify monsters, see this post. OD&D or S&W White Box players should be able to adapt easily by changing damage to 1d6.
Locklar warily looked at the tusked creatures among the group of approaching goblinoids.
“Is it just me,” he asked as he readied for battle, “or are those some of the biggest, ugliest orcs you’ve ever seen?”
Razorback Orc
No. Enc.: 1d8 (1d6)
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 120′ (40′)
Armor Class: 5 [14]
Hit Dice: 2
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1d8
Save: F2
Morale: 9
Hoard Class: nilRazorback orcs are huge tusked orcs with tough, hairy hides. On a to-hit roll of ’20′ a razorback orc gores for an additional 1d6 of damage. They are quite stupid (even for orcs), do not ever use weapons, and are often kept by regular orcs as heavy muscle.
Here are a few monsters written up as we’re using them in our game these days:
| Monster | # Enc | Move | AC | HD | Damage | Special |
| Bear, Black | 1d4 (1d4) | 120 | 6 | 4 | 2d6 | Hug for 2d6 on to-hit of 18+ |
| Cat, Large, Mountain Lion | 1d4 (1d4) | 150 | 6 | 3 | 2d6 | Surprise on 1-3 |
| Dinosaur, Triceratops | 0
(1d4) |
90 | 2 | 11 | 1d8 | To-hit of 18+ indicates gore for 2d6, Can charge to trample for 3d6 (to-hit of 18+ during trample indicates gore for additional 2d6) |
| Dragon, Blue |
1d4
(1d4) |
90
Fly 240 |
0 | 9 | 2d8+1 | Lightning 100’x5’ linear breath weapon 3 times/day, 20% Asleep, 40% Speech/Magic spells 5/4/0 |
| Minotaur | 1d6
(1d8) |
120 | 6 | 6 | 1d6+1 * | +2 damage with weapons, Gore for extra 1d4 on to-hit of 19+, Will pursue fleeing opponents |
| Owl Bear | 1d4
(1d4) |
120 | 5 | 5 | 2d8 | Hug for extra 2d8 on to-hit of 20 |
| Scorpion, Giant | 1d6
(1d6) |
150 | 2 | 4 | 1d6+1 | Poison tail stings on to-hit of 19+ (1 hp damage, save vs. poison or die in 1d6 rounds) |
| Shark, Great White | 0
(1d4) |
Swim 180 | 4 | 8 | 1d10+1 | Double damage on to-hit of 19+ |
Bears, Black average 6’ tall and will not fail morale if defending their cubs.
Cats, Large, Mountain Lion prefer mountains and high grassy meadows but are sometimes found in labyrinths and dungeons.
Dinosaurs, Triceratops are 12’ high and 40 long herbivores but are aggressive to intruders. They prefer to charge and trample during the first round of combat.
Dragons, Blue prefer to lair in plains or deserts and breathe lightning. They are warlike and will attempt to attack from the air.
Minotaurs have furred human bodies and the heads of bulls. They delight in the taste of human flesh and often lair in maze-like places. They have a 2-in-6 chance of speaking the common tongue.
Owl Bears have the bodies of huge bears and gigantic owl heads. They stand 8’ tall.
Scorpions, Giant are 6’ long plus their tail.
As usual, the web page format doesn’t allow a page-width display of the table, and I’ve cut off the columns for Morale, Save, and Treasure Class. Otherwise it’s pulled right from the preliminary version of our rules. Some creatures (Djinn, for instance) have a more lengthy description due to a range of non-combat abilities, but I’ve tried to include all the combat-pertinent info in the table.
Attacks have been combined down into one abstract attack and special attacks (like the scorpion’s sting) are usually handled by ruling that they strike on very high to-hit rolls. A star (*) in the damage column means “or by weapon.”
It had the body of a man but the head of a creature from another age. Two horns jutted out from the angled plate of bone that armored the face and neck, while a third smaller horn hooked up from the thing’s nose. It had a sword and a round shield.
Delsa took aim at the approaching figure and let her arrow fly. It struck the creature in the head but glanced harmlessly off the bone.
The elf looked over at Locklar and Jorda the dwarf. “I think you boys can handle this one,” she said.
Triceraman
No. Enc.: 1d6 (1d6)
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 90′ (30′)
Armor Class: 4 [15]
Hit Dice: 4
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1d6 or by weapon
Save: F4
Morale: 10
Hoard Class: XThe triceramen are a twisted combination of man and dinosaur. On a to-hit roll of ’20′ a triceraman gores for an additional 1d8 of damage.
“Oh, look,” Locklar said, laughing. “The little scaly dog boys are bringing up their leader.”
He guffawed at the way the kobalds were chanting the name of whoever it was that was on his way.
“Let me guess,” Locklar said in rough kobald, “is your king almost three feet tall?” He laughed again.
The leader emerged from the kobald’s tunnel and Locklar’s laugh died in his throat.
“Get Mortigan up here,” he shouted back to his companions in a choked voice. “Tell him we need some firepower!”
Scorbald (Scorpion/Kobald)
No. Enc.: 1d6 (1d6)
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 120′ (40′)
Armor Class: 5 [14]
Hit Dice: 1+1
Attacks: 4 (2 claws / weapon / tail sting)
Damage: 1d4 / 1d4 / weapon-1 / 1 + poison
Save: F1
Morale: 7
Hoard Class: I (XIII)Scorbalds are a hideous combination of scorpion and kobald. The upper torso of the scaly dog-like humanoid is attached to the body of a 3′ scorpion with a 3′ stinging tail. The tail delivers a poison which saps 2 points of strength, dexterity, or constituion (determine randomly) unless a save vs. poison is successful. The ability drain lasts for 1d6 days. A character who has an ability drained to zero or below dies.
Scorbalds sometimes rule over tribes of normal kobalds.
Adding a little sting to an old standby.
With all due credit to all those who have written up sword & sorcery serpent people in past, here are some of the primary movers and shakers in the Forbidden Jungle:
Snake-Men
No. Enc.: 1d8 (3d6)
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 90′ (30′)
Armor Class: 5 [14]
Hit Dice: 1
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1d6+1 or by weapon +1 (due to strength)
Save: F2
Morale: 9
Hoard Class: IV (XIX)Snake-men are an ancient race of serpent people that inhabits the heavy, trackless jungle. Whether a cursed mix of human and snake or a part of the natural world, none can say. The more advanced groups of snake-men often inhabit ruins, and relics of what appears to be a lost snake-man civilization are to be found overgrown in the depths of the jungle. Snake-men appear as scaled humanoids, about five and a half feet tall with a tail. They have the heads of snakes, flicking tongues, and clawed hands.
Snake-man claws are formidable weapons, but more civilized tribes make use of weapons and favor curved scimitars and long bows. In melee, a to-hit roll of 20 indicates that the snake-man has also bitten his opponent for an extra 1d6 damage. Some snake-men are said to be poisonous.
Snake-men can be fighters, clerics, magic-users, and thieves. Snake-man women can also be druids and illusionists.
Snake-men are susceptible to all magic which affects normal snakes. Cold does double damage to them, but they get a +1 bonus to saves vs. fire or heat.
Half-Snakes: These appear to be some sort of snake-man/human crossbreed, and might more properly be called “quarter-snakes.” They appear to be more human than snake, and 10% of them can pass for human if they avoid close inspection. They can be assassins, fighters, and thieves.
Snake-Lords: The upper nobility of the snake-men consists of 20′ long snakes with a human-ish upper torso with arms. These fearsome creatures have 4-7 hit dice, venomous bites, and an innate ability to charm person if eye contact is made with a victim. They are 80% likely to be magic-users of 4th-9th level.
Snake people are a staple in so many genres of fiction that it’s tough to nail them down. They’ve been done to death many times over and yet never grow too stale. I wanted a simple archetype snake people for the Forbidden Jungle, and I think this will do the trick.
As our campaign develops, there will no doubt be some alterations to the details. I want something 1HD as we use the mook rules allowing fighters 1 attack per level against 1HD or lower creatures. But I also want a little extra bite (pardon the pun) to differentiate them from orcs. And the fact that classed snake-men will not be uncommon, serving as leaders, spies, and assassins, means that some of the villains will be tough foes, indeed. And there will always be exceptional examples of these beings, snake-men who do not fit any molds or conform to any standard rules.
Tags: Forbidden Jungle
