NOTE: This return to Monday Monsters here on Lord Kilgore also marks the debut of a new contributor. Belidon will be doing many of the monsters, treasures, and spells in the future and will also contribute other things as the opportunity arises. Please welcome him and don’t be shy about providing feedback.  ~~Kilgore

Metallic Artisan

FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 4
MOVE: 9″
HIT DICE: 3
% IN LAIR: 33%
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-6 or by weapon +2
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: See below
INTELLIGENCE: Semi-
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: M (6-7′ tall)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil

Metallic artisans are humanoid machines constructed in various forms; human, orc, and lizard man designs seem to be the most commonly encountered. They are programmed to build traps and do so at the rate of one per day within a day’s journey from their lair. These traps are 20% harder to detect and 50% harder to remove than standard traps due to the precision of their construction. Damage-dealing traps deliver an extra 2 points of damage for the same reason.

Any creatures killed by a metallic artisan’s trap are rebuilt using mechanical pieces and parts and placed in the metallic artisan’s lair. These eerie trophies are not functional and any treasure indicated in the lair belonged to them.

Mechanical artisans cannot be communicated with by any means known and their origin is a complete mystery.

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: Nil

Wind-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: Nil

These 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: VII

Devil 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: nil

Razorback 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:

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: X

The 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.”

“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.