[nice picture of a lion]

*** STANDARD CREATURES ***

Here's what we've got so far:

CATPERSON (BLACK)

(DS: Rhiannon)
Type: Standard Creature
Quester/monster ratio: 2:1
Armour: 1 point, natural
Shield: None.
Attacks: Two short swords or daggers, as claws, poisoned.
Abilities:
1) Stealth 1/life: "Sneak"x5 to activate. Must continue to say "sneak" at least once each 5 seconds to remain active.
2) Immune to charm.
3) Tracking 1/life.
4) Arch 1/game: "I hiss at you and arch my back" x2, range 20'. Acts as a healer Stun; no-one is immune.
Garb: As cat-person garb, but black.
Description: Humanoid felines, descended from black cats. They retain many of the mannerisms of their remote ancestors, such as arching their back, hissing, and bringing bad luck to those whose paths they cross.
Lives: 3
Levels: none.
Discussion:

CAVE WORM

(DS: Rogues' Guild)
Type: Standard Creature
Quester/monster ratio: 3:1
Armour: 3 points, natural
Shield: None.
Attacks: Single two-handed weapon (counts as poisoned red), considered a bite attack
Abilities:
1) Immune to Wounding, Poison, Charm spells, Subdual (as barbarian), Stop.
2) Limb shots count against a cave worm, but do not actually impede the monster: i.e., wounding two limbs or wounding the torso does kill the creature as normal, but until it dies it can continue to use all its limbs. This represents the worm's great size and the fact that technically it has no limbs.
3) Tunneling (as teleport) 1/life. Must say "tunneling"x5 to activate, and "surfacing"x5 to "arrive."
4) 5 second fight after death.
Garb: purple robe
Description: These giant creatures burrow through the earth, constantly searching for food. They are most definitely carnivorous.
Lives: 2
Levels: none.

Discussion: Has been used successfully in DS quests, granting it 2 lives versus each questing party. - Bjarni


COCKROACH (GIANT)

(??: Cain)
Type: Standard Creature
Quester/monster ratio: 3:1(?)
Armour: 6 pts. natural Invulnerability, more at later levels.
Shield: None
Attacks: Single dagger, considered mandibles Abilities:
Immune to Death magics (as per Monk)
Immune to Charm/Control/Emotional magics (as per Monk)
Immune to Poison.
More at later levels.
Vulnerabilities:
The Cockroach's armor, while considered natural, may not be healed or mended. This reflects the fact that the chitinous carapace, while durable, is still very brittle.
Also, if a Sphere of Annihilation hits an armored area of the Cockroach, it affects it as per a Lost spell. A point of armor is also lost in that area. If a Sphere hits an unarmored area, it affects it as normal. (Cockroaches aren't that tough.)
Garb: Insect mask and dark, hard armor. The more repulsive, the better. Bug-eye glasses wouldn't hurt.
Description: Giant Cockroaches are disgusting, repulsive creatures that thrive on filth. While they aren't especially deadly, these nasty things are exceedingly hard to kill.
Lives: 4 initially
Levels:
1st:
As above
2nd:
+1 point armor (total 7)
3rd:
Protection from Flame
4th:
+1 life (total 5)
5th:
Regeneration, as per Troll. May NOT regenerate armor.
May mend 1 pt. armor in 1 location 1/game. (as per Warrior)
6th:
Dagger is considered poisoned
+ 1 pt armor (total 8)

Discussion: "Nasty, filthy, ugly thing! Die! Die! Die!! And stay dead this time!!" - Last words of Silverloc the Inept.

COMMANDO BUNNIES

(DS: Bjarni Egilsson)
Type: Standard Creature
Quester/Monster ratio: 1:1
Armour: No natural armor, but can wear up to 2 points initially.
Shield: None.
Attacks: Two short swords or daggers, as claws. Throwing daggers at later levels.
Abilities:
1) Tracking, as per the scout ability, starting at 2nd level.
2) Burrowing: Say "Burrowing" x5 to start, then crawl on hands and knees to desired destination. Say "Surfacing" x5 to come back up. Cannot be harmed, physically or magically (even by area effect spells), while burrowing, and cannot harm others, except as noted below. However, the path of their burrowing can be seen by anyone, since they are pushing up the dirt while burrowing (like Bugs Bunny and his relatives do). (Note: game objects, such as team flags, cannot be carried while burrowing.)
3) Any Commando Bunny currently burrowing can locate, follow, and combat any other Commando Bunny which is also burrowing at the time, if they can physically catch up with them while crawling on hands and knees. Such combat takes place while kneeling, or on hands and knees, to simulate the limited area. Anyone watching this battle from "ground level" or above will notice occasional clods of dirt spraying into the air as the combat occurs.
Garb: Bunny ears with a headband, and a fluffy tail if possible. Criss-crossing bandoliers would be a nice accessory. (I suppose clutching a dagger in your teeth would be going too far.)
Description: These vicious rabbits are known as killers, especially when attacking in groups. Their furry cuteness is offset by the perpetual sneers on their faces and the general look of world-weariness about them. They possess human intelligence, and can converse normally; though you may not want to listen to what they have to say, as they tend to be very cynical.
Lives: 4
Levels:
1st:
Burrowing 1/life. Must surface within a 300 count of the start of the burrowing.
2nd:
Tracking 1/life, as per the scout ability, except when burrowing. (This is completely separate from a burrowing Bunny's innate ability to locate another burrowing Bunny.)
3rd:
Burrowing 2/life, and can stay underground for up to 1000 count.
Can use throwing daggers, preferably tucked in a bandolier.
4th:
Tracking 2/life, and can Track while burrowing.
5th:
Burrowing 3/life, and can stay underground indefinitely.
6th:
Can wear 3 points of armor.
A single non-commando teammate may follow them (crawl behind them) while burrowing, and shares the bunny's immunity to attack while underground. (The follower is considered "burrowed" and "surfaced" at exactly the same time as the Commando Bunny.)

Discussion: The participants who initially played these creatures in DS had huge amounts of silly fun with them, and suggested a few alterations which have been incorporated into the above rules (such as "burrowed" bunnies being able to combat each other). This one will be rough on your knees, so be sure to wear padding; and avoid it if you have knee trouble. I believe the monster shows great potential as one which can be thrown into any battle without upsetting the balance in the least. - Bjarni

GRAND ELF

(DH: Mephiston Mystic)
Type: Standard Creature
Quester/monster Ratio 3:1
Armour: May wear up to three points of armour
Shield: None
Attacks: Any non-hinged melee weapons
Abilities:
1) Immune to charm and control magics
2) 5 points of wizard magic of first level
Garb: Bright clean colors, usually royal colors, and pointy ears wouldn't hurt.
Description: A race of Elves with a high degree of magical ablilities who have shunned forest life for a more aesthetic city style of living. Grand Elves have a tendency of being aloof and haughty towards other more mundane races.
Lives: 3
Levels:
1st:
No additional abilities
2nd:
1 additional level of wizard magic (second level, no new spell points)
3rd:
May wear 1 additional point of armour (total of 4)
4th:
5 additional points of wizard magic, up to third level (total of 10 points of wizard magic)
5th:
1 additional level of wizard magic (fourth level, no new spell points)
6th:
5 additional points of wizard magic, up to fifth level (total of 15 points of wizard magic)

Discussion: Sent in by the author.

HIGH ELF

(SA: Glenalth Woodwalke) (3rd version)
Type: Standard Creature
Quester/monster ratio: 3:1
Armour: May wear up to 2 points or Chain Mail
Shield: See below
Attacks: Any melee weapon
Abilities:
1) Immune to charm and control spells and abilities.
Vulnerabilities:
1) Cannot carry enchantments, due to highly magical nature.
2) Must attack Deep Dwellers and other "evil" Elves on sight and vice versa.
Garb: Scout garb, woodland colors, and if you got ears, wear 'em.
Description: These noble Elves stand for high ideals. They hate evil -- particularly evil Elves.
Lives: 3
Levels:
1st:
Shield and 1 throwing dagger or a bow (no crossbows)
2nd:
5 points of 1st level wizard magic
3rd:
1 Spell Arrow (reusable)
4th:
5 points of 2nd level wizard magic
5th:
Mithril Chain Mail (3 points)
Additional Spell Arrow (total of 2)
6th:
5 points of 3rd level wizard magic
+1 point to any Chain Mail worn (simulates magical armour)

Spell Arrow: Arrow with Metallic or Rainbow streamers to represent the magic imbued in the arrow. The arrow itself does no damage and may be blocked by weapons and shields without penalty, but a blocked Spell Arrow still delivers the spell within it: if, for instance, a Spell Arrow with Hold Person cast upon it is blocked by a weapon, shield, armour, or a monk's hands, the spell still affects the person (exception: enchanted shields and invulnerability will stop the spell.) After a spell is cast into the arrow it remains until fired (hit or miss.) When fired, if the hit is successful, the spell must be called out. Only the following spells may be cast into a Spell Arrow: Cancel, Shove, Hold Person, Wounding, Dispel Magic, Mutual Destruction, Touch of Death, Magic Bolt, Ice Ball, Fire Ball, and Lightning Bolt (touch based spells still work even if target is protected by armour)

Mithril Chain Mail: This fine chain mail is usually worn beneath a tunic. The high elf gains 3 points of torso armour, considered to be chain mail (the real chain mail would be hidden from sight.) The high elf may use real chain mail if he/she chooses, but does not need to in order to be considered wearing Mithril.

Discussion: This has been playtested in Sachsenlein, and is a lot of fun. To make things interesting, we always try to have a Deep Dweller on the other side of the battle. - Glenalth Woodwalke

HORSE (CHARIOT)

(SA: Glenalth Woodwalke)
Type: Standard Creature
Quester/monster ratio: 1:1
Armour: 1 point natural, up to three points worn ("barding")
Shield: None
Attacks: Two short swords, representing hooves; may only be used to attack people directly in front of or behind the horses.
Abilities:
1) May pull a chariot.
2) While charging, hooves are considered red weapons.
Vulnerabilities: May be "spooked." Spooking these horses is not that hard. Any fire ball or lightning bolt that comes withing a foot of a horse will spook it, as will a fear spell, or the death of the charioteer (other circumstances should be decided by the horses.) Spooked horses will run, as per charge, until they are completely clear of the battlefield.
Garb: Dress like a horse, or an appropriate creature for your setting. Maybe a zebra? A unicorn? A pegasus?
Description: A horse. It's just that this one happens to be pulling a chariot.
Lives: Unlimited, as long as the charioteer is on the field.
Levels: None.
Discussion:

KOBOLD

(SW: Roger Shrubstaff)
Type: Standard Creature
Quester/monster ratio: 1/4:1
Armour: None, it's too large for them.
Shield: None
Attacks: Pointed stick (short weapons, green only)
Abilities: As per level. Note that most of their abilities are totally (and intentionally) useless.
Vulnerabilities:
1) Requires at least four: Kobolds will not take the field in smaller numbers. Must keep together en masse.
2) As per goblins, any wound will kill a Kobold. Additionally, any time any Kobold is killed, any Kobolds within 10 feet are also killed.
3) Projectile "proximity" hits: Any projectile that lands within 10 feet of a kobold will kill them.
4) Any time they are killed by a weapon that does more than 1 point of damage to armor, they lose an additional life for each extra point of damage the weapon did (exception - not on projectile "proximity" hits, or from neighboring Kobolds being slain, this is only on actual hits).
5) Any Charm or Control spell which affects a kobold will also affect any Kobold within 10 feet. Does not "daisy-chain" -- this only is from the initial target. This includes things like "emotion control"...
6) Freeing a Kobold from a scout entangle trap will kill them (it's not possible to hit that softly)...
7) Come back from death in 25 seconds, must shout "Alive!". May not attack whoever killed them their previous life: they are too scared to attack a known Kobold-slayer.
Garb: Used monster garb from larger humanoid monsters. It should appear to be too large for them, and generally torn, dirty, etc.
Description: Kobolds are small, fragile, humanoids whose "bravery" (some might say "suicidal tendency") is greater than their size -- but not by much. They are looked down on (physically and figuratively) by pretty much everybody, including the "mighty" Goblins; but they somehow manage to survive, due to their ability to multiply very rapidly.
Lives: 16 initially
Levels:
1st:
16 lives - may be killed by the spell of wounding
2nd:
20 lives - immune to poison*
3rd:
24 lives - able to fly**
4th:
28 lives - able to heal self 2x per life
5th:
32 lives - immune to effects of 'enchant weapon' enchantment
6th:
able to use short orange weapons.

* - While I meant this to be useless (poison weapons will kill by wounding, so why bother; but someone pointed out that this would make them immune to poison at feast games. If you allow Kobolds into your feast hall, you have only yourself to blame.

** - Must be thrown by a non-Kobold humanoid. See table below for distance. Must run in a straight line, at a uniform speed (i.e., no speeding up or slowing down) until reaching target, whereupon they make one immediate attack and then die.
(Thrower: distance)
Goblin: 5 feet
Normal person: 10 feet
Javelin-using person: 15 feet (scout, warrior 3rd+ level, paladin, etc.)
Barbarian: 20 feet
Orc, Lizardman, etc.: 25 feet
Ogre, Troll: 35 feet
Giant, hill: 40 feet
Giant, fire or frost: 50 feet
Giant, stone: 75 feet ***
Titan: 100 feet

*** - Stone Giants are skilled throwers, and can put english on the Kobold to throw a "curve-Kobold," as it were. The Kobold can veer left or right (one or the other, not both) in its trajectory, but must spin clockwise (for right) or counter-clockwise (for left) for the entire time in flight.

Discussion:

SCORPION (GIANT)

(DS: Rogues' Guild)
Type: Standard Creature
Quester/monster ratio: 2:1
Armour: 3 points
Shield: None
Attacks: single one-handed weapon (claw; counts as red) plus single flail (tail; counts as poisoned blue)
Abilities:
1) Tunneling (as non-magical teleport) 1/life.
2) Immune to subdual.
Garb: Red, with the suggestion of insect features
Description: Desert creatures with a nasty disposition, they will fight mindlessly until defeated.
Lives: 3
Levels: none.

Discussion: Has been playtested successfully in DS. - Bjarni

SNOW SERPENT

(DS: Egil Njalsson?)
Type: Standard Creature
Quester/monster ratio: 1:1
Armour: 2 points, natural
Shield: None
Attacks: 2 short swords, as bite attacks
Abilities:
1) Iceball (except your own) will heal limbs or mend natural armor.
2) Single iceball bolt, unlimited standard usage. Activate normally. Considered a blast of cold air from the creature's hideous mouth.
3) Weapons are immune to heat weapon and pyrotechnics.
Garb: White fuzzy or furry tabard or tunic, long sleeved; perhaps white face paint to match.
Description: Large, fuzzy carnivores. These legendary creatures are almost as secretive as the Yeti, and are found in similar environments. During times of great stress they may be found in temperate forests searching for food. Their pelts are highly valued by merchants.
Lives: 3
Levels: none

Discussion: This monster was an attempt to add more "cold weather" creatures to our bestiary in DS. I have used long-sleeved white sweatshirts turned inside out (making them fuzzy) as garb. After playtesting the creature, I removed its original ability to heal itself with its iceball; however, if two snow serpents are together, they can still easily keep each other healed. Thus, a pair working together are much more powerful than two working individually. I think Iggy wrote this, but I'm willing to be corrected. - Bjarni

TREANT

(EH: Lord Forest Evergreen?)
Type: Standard Creature
Quester/monster ratio: 3:1 (Quest?)
Armour: 2 points, natural
Shield: None
Attacks: up to 2 bludgeoning under 3 feet
Abilities:
1) May "Commune" as druid unlimited.
2) Cannot be held or subdued
3) Weapons are considered bludgeoned
4) All arrows do 1 pt of damage except flame
5) Immune to stun arrow , charm, lost, curse weapon, entangle, wounding and yield.
6) Mend will heal armor
Garb: Something that either blends in with or resembles trees.
Description: Treants are guardians of the forest. They are warrior creatures who use nature as their power, thus their magics. Treants are usually created to guard sacred groves or special areas of the forest. They can be found in the most isolated parts of the forest and like the company of other forest dwellers. Treants are not hesitant to attack anyone but Druids , but will attack them if they pose a threat, or are attempting to enter the protected area.
Lives: 2 initially.
Levels:
1st:
"Entangle Trap" as scout 2/life
"Wall of Thorns" as druid 2/ life
2nd:
"Warp Wood" 2/life: "By the power of nature I warp that (object)"x2
"Entangle" as druid, unlimited
3rd:
"Plant Door" 2/game
Total of 3 lives
"Warp Wood" 3/life
4th:
3 points of armor
"Wall of Thorns" 3/life
5th:
"Plant Door" 3/game
"Warp Wood" 4/life
6th:
"Pass Plant" 2/game

Discussion:

TURKEY (GIANT)

(DS: Selric and DS: Rhiannon)
Type: Standard Creature
Quester/monster ratio: 3:1
Armour: 1 point natural (initially)
Shield: None
Attacks: Single dagger, considered red (pecking attack)
Abilities:
1) Fight After Death - 5 seconds at the end of each life, unusable if turkey is killed by: Call Lightning, Fireball, Firetrap, Flame Arrow, Flamewall, Lightning Bolt, or Sword of Flame. (The Turkey is now roasted a nice golden brown.)
2) Stun - "gobble, gobble" x4, acts as Healer "Stun" spell (2/life)
3) Flight - 60 count, "I take flight" x5, as per Wizard spell, except when 60 count ends, then say "Landing" x5 and go to knees for a 30 count. Unlimited usage.
4) Wing Buffet - "I shove thee" x5, as per Wizard spell (2/life)
Garb: Brown tabard or tunic with a turkey on it.
Description: You were hanging out one day when you were suddenly yanked into another dimension by a force you don't understand. Upon arrival, you learned that in a few days, a great feast occur, a feast called Thanksgiving, a feast at which repulsive humans dined on the flesh of turkeys! Deciding that this feast must be stopped, you joined some humans in the hunt to find the beasts that had brought you to this horrible place. You hoped to make the humans realize that a turkey is an intelligent being (it's not), and should therefore not be consumed in an orgy or gluttony, an orgy that ends many weeks later, as the last of the remains are consumed. You fear you will fail, as the humans seem intent upon consuming you for their horrendous feast.
Lives: 4
Levels:
1st:
no additional abilities
2nd:
no additional abilities
3rd:
Stun 1 additional time per life, total of 3/life
Flight 100 count, landing remains the same
4th:
Single short sword, considered "red"
1 additional point natural armor (total of 2)
5th:
Stun 1 additional time per life, total of 4/life
Wing Buffet 1 additional time per life, total 3/life
6th:
1 additional point of natural armor (total of 3)

Discussion:
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