[nice little picture of a dragon]

*** MYSTICAL CREATURES ***

These are creatures whose very existence is evidence of magic at work. Here's what we've got so far:

GAZER

(DS: Quintar)
Type: Mystical creature
Quester/monster ratio: 3:1
Armour: 3 points natural armor (initially)
Attacks: any one-handed sword under 4' long (single bite attack)
Abilities:
1) Finger of death twice/game
2) Sleep twice/life
3) One petrify bolt (as druid), unlimited usage
4) Wounding three/game
5) Immunity to subdual (as barbarian)
6) Dispel magic once/life
7) Can cast any spell with either hand
Vulnerabilities: Limb wounds affect a Gazer as follows:
Right limb (arm OR leg): Lose ability to cast Finger of Death and Sleep, until healed.
Left limb (arm OR leg): Lose ability to cast Petrify and Wounding, until healed.
Garb: tunic/tabard with large "eyeball" in the center
Description: Gazers are large floating spheres, with eye stalks protruding from various places. They have more than five eyes, but only five are used in Amtgard for reasons of simplicity and balance.
Lives: 2 initially
Levels:
1st-4th:
As above
5th:
4 points armor
6th:
One additional life

Discussion: Playtested in DS. Originally, each limb was treated as a separate eye stalk, and had its own associated spell-casting ability which could be nullified by wounding the limb; but this was really hard to keep track of, especially for the opponents, so we simplified it to the above version for ease of game play. - Bjarni


GENIE

(TG: Sponge)
Type: Mystical creature
Quester/monster ratio: 8:1
Armour: 2 pt. natural invulnerability armor (stoneskins)
Attacks: Single sword under 3ft. long, and throwing daggers
Abilities:
1) 3pt. per level of Wizard Magic (Except Vivify/Fixed Enchantments).
2) Two Stuns per Life (As Healer)
3) One Touch of Death per life
Vulnerabilities:
1) Cannot wear enchantments.
2) Must stay within 100ft. of their bottle/lamp. Whoever possesses the bottle/lamp can tell the Genie what to do (i.e., who to kill). The Genie is free when no one possesses the bottle/lamp. When this happens the Genie may do whatever they feel is necessary for the fun of the quest. If the Genie dies while under someone's control, the person who killed the Genie on the Genie's next life gets the bottle.
Garb: Bardic garb, purple and blue colors
Description: Creatures of great power whose great limitation is being forced to serve whoever owns their bottle/lamp.
Lives: 2
Levels:
1st:
As listed
2nd:
Weapon either red or poisoned, your choice
3rd:
2 Heals per life and natural ambidexterity
4th:
One extra point of natural armor (now have three)
5th:
Can use either madu or shield
6th:
Immune to death magic

Discussion: Submitted by the author.


GOLEM (ALCOHOL) (2)

(DS: Bjarni and friends)
Type: Mystical creature
Quester/monster ratio: 3:1 (Quest)
Armour: 2 points invulnerability armor, which can be healed
Attacks: Spell balls only.
Abilities:
1) Immune to all magic that affects the mind. (It's mindless.)
2) Once per life, an alcohol golem may turn to foam (teleport) by saying "bubble"x5, then proceeding to an arrival spot and saying "liquefy"x5 to re-appear. Its trail can be seen by all.
3) An alcohol golem which receives enough damage to cause a death is considered to have been beaten "flat," and is ineffective for a 300 count while it re-ferments. At the end of that count it returns to the team's base, fully recharged (healed). If it is beaten flat three times it can no longer re-ferment, and is "dead."
4) A hit from a poisoned weapon does not wound the golem, but acts as a Heal after a 100 count.
5) Their only weapons are pink spell balls, charged by holding one in either hand and saying "Gurgle"x5. There is no limit to the number which may be carried, or the number of targets which may be suffering effects simultaneously. Only immunity to poison will save you from the effects of the described spells: normal class immunities to the spell ball effects do not otherwise apply. Any target hit by a pink spell ball is affected by one of the following, chosen at random (use a dice or card draw to decide): (Others in the area are asked to leave the target and golem alone long enough for the effect to be determined, and not to use this time to gain a strategical advantage over either.)
.....a) The target is a lightweight, and goes to Sleep for a 300 count.
.....b) The target feels like they can take on the world, and is affected by Emotion Control: Confidence for 15 minutes or until the end of their current life, whichever comes first.
.....c) The target feels like they're going to throw up, and is Stunned for 100 count.
.....d) The target is staggeringly drunk, and suffers the effect of a Lost spell.
.....e) Trying to brush off the pink elephants, the target hit themselves with their own weapon at the point where the spell ball hit, and suffers the damage their primary weapon would produce on that part of their body. If this would mean their death, then treat the blow as a subdual blow.
.....f) The target is Charmed into loving everybody, and must drop their weapons and hug five people (or plant kisses on their cheek or hand), including at least one member of an opposing team, before resuming combat. Statements such as "I love you, man" (or something similar) would be appropriate.
Vulnerabilities:
1) The effects of a pink spell ball (harmful or beneficial, except for wounds) can be negated by a Cure Poison, and anyone naturally immune to poison is unaffected by them.
2) Barbarians must be hit twice to be affected.
Garb: Anything suggestive of foaminess or bubbles (such as gauze or tulle), in an appropriate color (for the type of alcohol used). A puffy white chef's hat would make a nice "head."
Description: Invented by a powerful mage in an intoxicated state, Alcohol Golems can be made from any appropriate beverage, such as beer, wine, or champagne. They are more a nuisance than a threat, and their effect on people is highly unpredictable.
Lives: 1 (see ability #3)
Levels: none

Discussion:
Created for the New Year's 1997 monster battle by Bjarni, after bouncing ideas off various friends. (Before you ask: no, I had not been drinking at the time.) Using the Alcohol Golem rules, we had a "Beer Golem" (in yellow/brownish colors, with a chef's hat) on the Old Year team, and a "Champagne Golem" (in bubbly pink) on the New Year team. As I half expected, a lot of people started chasing the golems so that they could intentionally get "drunk." Everybody had a lot of fun. - Bjarni
If you wanted to get really weird, you could ask for people's IDs before throwing spellballs at them. - Bjarni


NAGA

(CK: Thrythlind Hardwulf)
Type: Mystical Creature
Quester/monster ratio: 3:1
Armour: 1 point natural armor; may not wear additional armor.
Shield: None
Attacks: Two white (poison) daggers
Abilities:
Iceball 1/U
Heat Weapon 1/L
Lost 1/L
Heal 1/L
Garb: Red, green or gold shiny robes or something else that resembles skin with very fine scales.
Description: Nagas are intelligent snakes that come in a variety of forms and goals. They are not natural (meaning they're not from this world) creatures, but are generally summoned to guard some place of power or great treasure. Some look like people with scaly skin, some look like normal snakes, but most look like something in between. Some theorize that the large variety of Naga shapes comes from interbreeding with other creatures.
Lives: 2
Levels:
1st:
As above
2nd:
Heal becomes 2/L
Lost becomes 2/L
Hold Person 1/L
3rd:
Lightning Bolt 1/U
Iceball becomes 2/U
Wounding 1/L
+1 Life (Total 3)
4th:
+1 Natural Armor (Total 2)
Yield 1/G
Cure Poison 1/L
5th:
Dispel Magic 1/L
Poison "Spit" as Poison Bolt 1/L
Heat Weapon 2/L
6th:
+1 Natural Armor (3 total)
Wounding becomes 2/L
Hold Person becomes 2/L
Quest abilities:
Lightning Bolt 2/U
Yield 1/L
One red flail as a "Tail"

Discussion: Submitted by the author. Primarily designed for quests. Has not been playtested in its homeland. - Thrythlind.


ROCK MUNCHER

(DS: Quintar)
Type: Mystical creature
Quester/monster ratio: 3:1
Armour: 1 point, invulnerability (more at later levels)
Attacks: See levels
Abilities:
1) Immunities as barbarian, plus immune to all fire and all cold
2) Non-magical Teleport, initially once per life (as Assassin) to simulate burrowing through the earth
3) Can smell precious metals from 20' away (unlimited use): to simulate this, simply ask the target whether or not they have any precious metals, and they must answer truthfully as to what kinds (if any) of precious metals they have and approximately how much they have of each.
Vulnerabilities: Stone to Flesh will remove 1 point of armor in all locations. If any locations were already down to 0 points of armor, this will kill the creature.
Garb: Earth tones. (Go figure.) Greys, blacks, marbling, and hints of granite texture would be welcome.
Description: Rock Munchers are stone creatures from the Elemental Plane of Earth, with three legs and three arms. Basically, they look like a walking column of stone, with limbs. They love to eat precious metals, and will try to sniff them out. When confronting a group, Rock Munchers will ask for precious metals first, and will kill for them if denied.
Lives: 2 (more at later levels)
Levels:
1st:
Uses two shortswords
2nd:
2 points invulnerability armor
3rd:
Teleport becomes twice per life
4th:
Can use any two swords
5th:
3 points invulnerability armor
6th:
+1 life (total of 3)

Discussion: See "Feed the Monster" in the list of suggested battles. Has been used in DS. - Bjarni


TREE

(SW: Roger Shrubstaff)
Type: Mystical Creature
Quester/monster ratio: 1:1
Armour: 10 levels of barkskin everywhere
Shield: None
Attacks: Two red blunt weapons (branches)
Abilities:
1) When rooted, immune to shove.
2) No druids may willingly harm a Tree.
3) May not be killed by destroying arms (branches).
4) Has two arms (branches) per level, and any time one is cut off another immediately replaces it (if any are left). For instance, at fourth level may immediately replace a wounded arm (broken branch) seven times.
Vulnerabilities:
1) Are rooted to the ground, may not walk about.
2) Treants may focus on a Tree and control it: the Tree must do what the Treant says. A Treant doing nothing else can allow the Tree to walk (not run) about and take root elsewhere (but not within 20' of a base)...
3) If hit by any type of flame attack (Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Call Lightning, Flameblade, Sword of Flame, Pyrotechnics, Wall of Flame, etc.) is lit on fire. Treat the Tree and everything within ten feet as being inside a Wall of Flame for a 100 count, at which point the Tree dies. If the Tree dies in this manner, all projectiles it was holding are destroyed. This will also kill any druids hiding inside the Tree via Plant Door.
Garb: Bark-like texture; leaves are good for effects...
Description: It's a tree. You figure it out.
Lives: 4
Levels:
1st:
Seedling - as above
2nd:
Sapling - may Call Lightning on self, 1x per life. Treat as flame hit (see above).
3rd:
May catch projectile weapons with its hands. Any projectile weapons a tree catches, it keeps. They may not be retreived without killing the tree.
4th:
Can mend Barkskin 1x per life.
5th:
Great Tree - When killed, may fall in any direction of choice, killing all in that direction out to 50'. Exception - if a scout kills the Tree, the scout gets to choose where the Tree falls.
6th:
Grand Tree - May uproot and walk about on last life.

Discussion: This was one of mine from awhile back. - Roger Shrubstaff


UNICORN (old version)

(from 6th edition Dor-Un-Avathar: author unknown)
 Type: Mystical Creature
Quester/monster ratio: 1:1
Armour: None
Shield: None
Attacks: None
Abilities:
1) Heal (unlimited), as per the Healer spell.
2) Teleport (unlimited). To teleport, the Unicorn must draw its hood over its head.
3) The Unicorn must declare a home tree. The Unicorn may wander the battle field, and is not tied to this spot. A Unicorn cannot be killed until the home tree is destroyed.
4) Additional abilities are gained at greater levels.
Vulnerabilities: None.
Garb: Must include a hood.
Description: A unicorn is a magical creature that resembles a great white horse with a single, spiralling horn protruding from its head. They are very kind hearted, and will usually help out a party that is in dire need. By this, they will always remain neutral.
Lives: 3
Levels:
1st:
As above.
2nd:
A unicorn can resurrect a dead person that is brought to its home tree (unlimited usage).
3rd:
As above.
4th:
Can cast Lost (as per the Healer spell) once per life.
5th:
As above.
6th:
Lost becomes three times per life.
Discussion: Many of us were upset at the removal of the old neutral non-combat unicorn from the 7th edition of the Dor-Un-Avathar. For those who care to use it but don't have the old rulebook, here it is. - Bjarni

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