An idea for all the fishy folk of Oerth......a new mount to be feared by the air breathers.....The Air Shark!!!!!!!!!
The oceans have their sharks and even Spelljammer space has the scavvers. Now the people of the land should fear…..for here are the Air Sharks. Serving as a mount to some, these predators could clear an area of the surface of life in a matter of days as the school moves about the land in search of prey.
The Arduin/All The Worlds II Variation
Air Shark
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any
FREQUENCY: Rare
ORGANIZATION: School/Solitary
ACTIVE CYCLE: Varies
DIET: Carnivore
INTELLIGENCE: Semi (2-4)
TREASURE: None
ALIGNMENT: Hungry/Neutral
NO. APPEARING: 1d20
ARMOR CLASS: 3
MOVEMENT: Fly 36” MC: B
HIT DICE: 3-24 Hit dice
THACO Varies by Hit Dice
NUMBER OF ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE PER ATTACK: Bite Hit Dice/3 in d10 damage; Skin scrape Hit Dice/2 d2 dmg
SPECIAL ATTACKS: None / Feeding Frenzy??
SPECIAL DEFENSES: None / Special Vulnerability to Flame; Hydrogen air bladder!
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
SIZE : M to H
MORALE: Fanatic (17-18)
XP VALUE : Varies due to hit dice
This is the material listed in the entry on air sharks in the ATWM II.
Looks like an ordinary shark, but it has a hydrogen gas filled bladder and it swims through the air instead of through the water. Its skin is very rough and is used by the shark as a weapon as it closes and scrapes itself along the victim.
The shark is very dumb and will continue to fight until killed. It is 100% fear proof and will attack anything it sees. Any one of the same size as the shark or smaller will be bowled over by its charge.
The hydrogen bladder makes the shark very susceptible to fire. If it is successfully attacked with flame there is a chance that the hydrogen will explode doing damage equal to its hit dice * d6 in damage to all creatures within a radius of its hit dice * 5’.
APPEARANCE:
It appears any variety of earthly shark, but with camouflage patterns that would lend itself to the surface world. So tiger sharks would have a more tigerish appearance on the surface, and a shark like a mako would be the browns of other surface creatures, possibly like a panther.
COMBAT:
As mentioned there should be a charge attack that can knock creatures to the ground. This charge attacks would have a lot to do with the lack of resistance of water on a sharks attack. They would have to rely on speed to ram them into the target to gain purchase for a bite. This would normally be caused by water resistance on the swimming tail of the shark. In air they would have to compensate for this.
They also fail to mention a shark feeding frenzy that could lead to many more attacks per round than normally allowed. The sharks could swirl about a target top to bottom, and not interfere with each others attacks. This would be similar to piranha feeding frenzying. The sharks would get 4-10 attacks (depending of their numbers present) in a single round when blood has been spilled.
Also the fire susceptibility should make the older sharks more likely to shy away from fire as they would have possibly seen the affect before. Their INT score shouldn’t preclude life experiences from coming into play.
HABITAT/SOCIETY
Top of the food chain predators plain and simple.
ECOLOGY:
The creature has the ecology of normal sharks.
In this altered version of the air shark I am trying to address several issues in the creature that I have alluded to above. Both versions should be very playable as a monster and sometimes mount for creatures in any game setting. The air shark in my version also exhibits more intelligence and cunning that I imply it may need to survive in the air fantasy world with all the other aerial predators that fantasy gaming implies.
Monster's Name: Air Shark
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any
FREQUENCY: Uncommon
ORGANIZATION: School/Family/Solitary
ACTIVE CYCLE: Any
DIET: Carnivore/Scavengers
INTELLIGENCE: Average (8-10)
TREASURE: Co Incidental
ALIGNMENT: Neutral/Hungry .
NO. APPEARING: 1d10 .(3-30 in frenzy)
ARMOR CLASS: 3
MOVEMENT: Fly 36” MC:B / Water movement is equal if given water breathing
HIT DICE: 1-20 Hit dice for carnivore species
THACO Varies With Hit Dice
NUMBER OF ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE PER ATTACK: Bite Hit Dice/3 in d10 damage; Skin scrape Hit Dice/2 d2 dmg
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Charge Attack & Feeding Frenzy
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Special Vulnerability to Flame; Hydrogen air bladder! Variation that has Helium bladder!
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
SIZE : M – H 1-25’
MORALE: Steady (11-12)
XP VALUE : Varies by hit dice
APPEARANCE:
The look of the air shark would be such that it would blend in with surface environments. This would grant some varieties with shadowy patterns, spots, and stripes to mention a few variations. Their skin has become even more sandpaper like with a course grain to it that scrapes all that it passes. They would have the same eyes, but teeth might just be larger due to the changes in the nature of their biting attacks. They would no longer be able to count on water resistance in order to gain purchase on a prey item. The larger teeth would be the evolutionary change they need. Also the gill slits become breathing slits, with some variations with actual nostrils to scent its prey. (Salmon sharks of Alaska have these types of nostril-like features). The sharks special eyelids would also evolve to make the cover the eyes during storms or possible encounters with debris.
COMBAT:
Bite
The air shark will have to achieve greater speeds in the air to establish its grasp on to prey items due to the lack of resistance provided by water. They creature still hits with a substantial bite that is based on the hit dice of the shark biting it. The base damage of the sharks bite is based on Hit Dice/3 in d10 damage.
Skin Scrape
The sharks scraping is a rough abrasive attack with its skin, which it will intentionally rub along target creatures along its flight path. It will often pick a path that uses both this ability to abrade and the charge it uses to attack in a single massive attack.
The base damage for the scraping attack is Hit Dice of shark/2 in d2 damage. A 12 hit dice shark would inflict 6d2 damage with its scraping attack.
A shark only needs to hit a creature vs their base AC, DEX, & magic adjustments if any. The creature that is armored gains protection vs the abrasion attack. For each step of AC above 9, conferred by armor of the attacked creature, will see the abrasion damage is reduced by 1 point. So a creature wearing chain armor would have all abrasion attack reduced by 4 for AC 5 armor. An armor class of (-1) then the damage is reduced by 10 points.
Charging Rush
The power of the rush comes from a quick snapping of the tail of the air shark as it propels itself forward at great speed. In an air environment the shark requires 30’of run up space in order to initiate the charge. Its mass will cause any creature of less size (mass) to make a DEX roll or be knocked to the ground 1-20’ distant. For each size step the creature is less than the shark they receive a cumulative -4 penalty to their DEX check. This rush also automatically counts as a successful abrasion attack. An L sized shark can successful pass through 24 T size, 12 S size, & 6 M sized opponents before losing the momentum necessary for the rush. An H sized shark can knock over up to 48 T, 24 S, 12 M, and 6 L creatures in its charge.
Feeding Frenzy
As most people know the smell of blood will agitate sharks who are feeling the need to feed. The creatures will move about in a rapid state of agitation once this release of blood occurs. In game terms and wounding of the creature will cause all sharks in the area to become more likely to attack. The sharks will all need to make a save vs poison or they will start to attack the wounded creature (or others near them) until they have taken a bite of meat. The sharks are capable of making 4-10 attacks on a single M sized creature each round during this frenzy. For each size +/- the sharks can make 2 more/less attacks on the creatures.
HABITAT/SOCIETY
The air sharks live in extended family groups that will have several groups of offspring involved in the group and its hunting strategies. Air sharks would roam a 3 dimensional feeding ground of air where it could eat smaller game by itself or bring down large prey with the group when necessary.
Of course there are societies that have found both mundane and magical means of controlling the creatures as mounts and as hunting pack/attack animals.
As with all shark attacks the body language of wild air sharks will show aggression an possible imminent attack. Each variety of shark has its own type of body language. If a DM feels that this should be part of local lore in their games where air sharks are present then feel free.
There are entire breeds of air sharks in Arduin that have been tamed (at least partially) in order to serve as mounts or serve as hunting packs in the service of this or that powerful group.
Here are a few of the sea based varieties and what I have seen about them.
Mako Air Shark: Shark torpedo. I would amp up their speed to 42” MC:B in order to reflect their place in the world of air sharks. They are much sought after by aerial air shark anglers for tournaments around Arduin.
Great White Air Shark: The largest of the sharks. More around 20-22’, the shark jaws was supposed to be around a 26’ footer and would do the most damage of all air sharks.
Hammerhead Air Shark (tracker): The hammerhead is an intelligent hunter who could smell out the lairs of hidden surface dwellers or possibly serve as the bloodhound of shark hunting packs. Just don’t forget to feed them.
Bull Air Shark: Ill tempered and territorial these killers are likely to attack any type of creature near them. They are aggressive and are one of the prime killers in all shark attacks.
And yes all of them can have their fins turned to soup…..what a world.
ECOLOGY:
Normal shark biology. What can I say….watch a nature program like I do for some of these details if you need them, or look them up on wikipedia. For myself I would go to wikipedia first.
Now for a resounding rendition of Flight of the Valkyre’s for the air cav….and maybe a potion that smells like blood…..I love the smell of blood in the morning……it smells like……VICTORY!!!
As mentioned some mages have been known to breed a helium filled version to prevent the explosion issue.
Later
Blood and souls for my lord Arioch!!!!!!!
So let it be written,
So let it be done!!
Lo there do I see my father,
Lo there do I see my mother, and my sisters, and my brothers,
Lo there do I see do I see the line of my people, back to the beginning,
Lo they do call to me,
They bid me take my place among them,
In the Halls of Vahalla
Where the brave,
May live,
Forever
Here is a little Dreamcatcher Action....let say up by the Black Ice in conjunction with the Tale of the Comet campaign setting.
Dream Catchers
Name: Mr. Grey
Climate/Terrain: Alien & Human Environments
Frequency: Infestation
Organization: Hives
Activity Cycle: Any
Diet: Flesh
Intelligence: Very High
Treasure: Technological/Bio-engineering
Alignment: Neutral/Hungry
================================================================
No. Appearing: 1 or 10-100+
Armor Class: 7 to -1
Movement: 18”; leap 3”
Hit Dice: 1-8
THACO: 19-12
No. of Attacks: 2+ special
Damage Attacks: Bite 1-4 to 2-20; tail spike/spear is tri-edged 1-3 to 1-10
Special Attacks: Mature form turns gaseous inhabits mind of creature & takes over body;
Burst of speed doubles movement; Suggestion
Special Defenses: Mass contagion; scarlet moss coverage; Telepathy; Project Illusions;
Magic Resistance: Standard
Size: S to L
Morale: 15
XP Value:
Basic Description: When young the creature the shark mouthed lamprey like creature slithers about like a snake. It is a dull slimy green-brown in color. It establishes a nest upon birthing from its human host that was infected with the scarlet contagion. It seeks to create a nest in a batch of the scarlet moss coverage which is formed from its decaying hosts remains.
In its adult form it is a humanoid 7-9’ tall with long straight legs with a 3 toed feet, and a set of long arms with two fingers and a thumb. Its large mouth can be concealed but can extend from its head to its midriff. The head is a lighter green with bulbous hollow looking green-black eyes 2” in diameter. Their legs pump at a hyper speed when running, accompanied by a slithering of the tail sheath that churns up the earth behind it in a blur, and the former tail sheathes their legs when they wish it. It also has a tail that has a tri-spear on it that is over 12’ long that can extend between its legs to strike at targets in from to it. It seeks to inhabit hosts by bursting into a cloud of red contagious spores that seek to seep into the pores of the target creature. The inhabited will appear totally normal, but will exhibit traits of a dual personality if watched closely.
Combat: In combat the creatures larval form will bite for 1-4 to 1-20 points of damage. Their tail spikes can do 1-3 to 1-10 points of damage as they lash out to strike at foes. Their 30’ leaping prowess can quickly bring them into range to use either of these weapons.
Mature form bursts into a gaseous cloud 10’ in diameter which quickly is absorbed into the skin of the desired target, who is then controlled by the Dream Catcher. The creature appears normal, but is totally under the control of the adult Dream Catcher in their mind. The only outward sign is an occasional conversation with himself, which could be accounted to dual personality disorder.
When agitated the creature can exhibit an incredible burst of speed of 36” per round in the direction desired. The creatures telepathic contact will and plant subliminal suggestion spells at will with a (+4) save if the target is aware they have this power.
The special defenses of this creature allows it to spread a mass contagion called “Rypley” that affects all mammals with a scarlet skin rash that spreads about their bodies. There is a 35% chance that a victim who fails their save versus poison and catches the disease will become a host for one of the larval stage creatures, and be killed in its birthing.
The creature will otherwise have a 50% mortality rate from the contagion in 72 hours or recover in 2 weeks after the contagion has run its course. Unfortunately, the contagion is highly infectious for the entire duration of the diseases progress.
Whenever a creature dies from the disease there is a mossy slimy mess that spreads form the fluids that are created in the birthing process. It spreads at the rate of 10 sq. yards per 1 gallon of fluid or 1 cubic feet of infected material produced in the process of the victim dieing. All other dead matter nearby will also be consumed and expand the mossy mess, becoming infected in the process. Eating of infected materials will cause the disease, and the more eaten, the more likely the disease will cause the larval stage.
The creatures have full long range telepathic capabilities which can reach any creature with Line of Sight. They can also pass on their subliminal messages of suggestion if they wish to in their communications.
The creatures final ability is an ill defined ability to create short term illusions in the human mind to make them perceive whatever the Dream Catcher wishes them to see. This ability is used to place the targets in unsafe or desired positions where they will be susceptible to attack away from others.
Habitat & Society: Their larval stage can reproduce in less than 12 hours with upto 100 eggs per clutch. It is their first priority after they are birthed. They reach adulthood after ingesting enough protein to increase their body mass to build up their bodies to full size mentioned above, when they then gain full powers. While in larval stage they gain +1 AC and hit dice per 200 pounds of protein eaten.
When the adult form bursts to infest a host it also can spread the contagion in the 10’ diameter that its particles inhabit. This allows the adults to start the contagion without having to have the larva present to produce eggs.
And of course!!
Monsters
Name: Duddit’s
Climate/Terrain: Any
Frequency: Very Rare
Organization: Solitary
Activity Cycle: Day
Diet: Omnivore
Intelligence: Super Genius (19-20)
Treasure: U
Alignment: N/G
================================================================
No. Appearing: 1 or 1-12
Armor Class: 4
Movement: 12”
Hit Dice: 5-8
THACO: 12-15
No. of Attacks:3 (2x claw & tail spear)
Damage Attacks: Claws 1-6+2 @, 1-8 spear
Special Attacks: Encase foe in chrysalis,
Generate body heat
Special Defenses: Explosion, Perceive future,
Psionically grants powers including shape shifting
Magic Resistance: Standard
Size: L 7’ or so
Morale: 15
XP Value:
Basic Description: This creature is a large brown furred green eyed creature with bear-like muscles, but not its claws. It has a long prehensile tail with a long harpoon shaped head on it which it can spear enemies with from a variety of angles. It has a pug nose and a broad mouth. It can puff itself up with air to make itself look more imposing to any creature foolish enough to try to attack it.
Combat: The creature has the normal short claw attack for its size and strength inflicting 1-6 +2 points of damage per claw attack each round of attack. When maximum damage is done the creature of M or L size is hurled 1-10 ft. away from the direction of the blow. The spearing of the tail inflicts 1-8 points of damage from its piercing attack, and automatically allows the Duddits to successfully draw the struck creature close to inflict heat damage the next round as well as an added 1-8 points of damage from the continued spearing.
The heat damage that this creature inflicts manifests itself in the creatures torso and lower body glowing an intense red doing 3-18 points of damage per round that it continues to inflict the heat damage. The heat damage can be inflicted a maximum of 3 rounds on any given day. A defensive power which also is usable with the heat damage is the formation of a chrysalis that encapsulates the Duddits and the creature that it has speared with its tail, which only takes 1 round to complete. This causes the creature to suffer an added 2-12 points of heat damage per round, and doesn’t damage the chrysalis itself in any way. The final most potent defensive measure of the Duddits is its ability to cause itself and any creature near its body (in the chrysalis) to explode in a bloody mist that will harmlessly and slowly dissipate 1 round after the bodies of both creatures have detonated. There is no saving throw versus this power for living or once living creatures. Golems and such sustain 5-50 points of damage from the blast.
This creature functions as a Psionicist of the 20th level for the purposes of shape shifting, and specialized psionic endowments to other creatures it befriends. This power is a form of psionic endowment that grants powers of telepathy over great distances throughout the group, and specialized directional powers that divine the direction of objects or people to others. The Duddits could have a whole range of other powers not detailed in the movie also to help itself camouflage itself in human society.
Habitat & Society: Little is know of this creature as it shape shifted itself into the body of
a human being as it progressed through all stages of its life. The creature even carried a human disease leukemia. It blended with society, and created a group of lifelong friends while pretending to be an autistic person. Then when the time came to face the evil alien society of Mr. Grey he was up to the challenge of stopping the creatures.
Here is one I worked up for a fellow gamer over at Dragonfoot before I totally lost respect for their site.
VRAAL
Matan Thunder
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Tropical, Swamp
FREQUENCY: Uncommon
ORGANIZATION: Tribal/Clan
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Diurnal
DIET: Carnivore
INTELLIGENCE: Highly to Genius
TREASURE: F in Lair; M, Q (Individual)
ALIGNMENT: Lawful/Evil
% IN LAIR: 25%
SPEC DEF: Immune to Poison, Immune to Mind Spells; Surprised 1 in 10, Warning Bellow,
MAGIC RES: Standard
SIZE: M+ (5-8’)
PSIONICS: Nil
MORALE: 13-14
XP VALUE:
I) Physical Appearance:
A) Resemblances: They look something like an upright alligator with slightly shorter jaw length.
B) Skin/Coloration: It varies between greens and browns depending on the water color in the region that the tribe/clan is located in.
C) Eyes: Black and Emotionless
D) Hair: Only the coups that it has taken from the foes it has killed
E) Face: It has a distinct alligator heritage but with a shark-like look to its features.
F) Teeth: These pearly whites are entirely like the great white sharks, but with no ability to conceal them with lips. They have no lips.
G) Size: Fully as large as alligators they are postured forward on legs that have a reverse kneebend. It looks something like a minotaur’s legs.
H) Limbs: It has two arms that end in claws with black nails. These arms are like a lizard mans. They have a tail with boney ridges that are set horizontally to the ground. The tail acts like a scythe to those it attacks with it.
I) Vocalizations: Like a deep throated rumble of an alligator. The sounds are clearly words with rumbling overtones..
II) Attack Forms
A) Physical: The creature’s two arms can attack with either its claws or weapons striking for 1-6 pts of damage each: The vraal’s tail has 5” wide boney ridges that run horizontally along the tail. Each segment of bone is about 5-8” long so that the tail can retain its flexibility. It can sweep the tail in a 120 degree arc behind it much like a cat swishing its tail but with a shark’s strength.
B) Bite: Its most potent physical attack is its massive bite with the shark teeth. This will lunge forward an latch on like an alligator, but when its huge jaw strength clamps down huge chunks of flesh are removed from the target creature. This bite inflicts 2-12 +9 pts of damage (+9 due to bite strength).
1) The bite causes the target creature to make a CON check or they will fall unconscious within 1-3 rounds due to pain or blood loss. The creature looses from 1-100 lbs of flesh from the bite
2) On any natural 20 roll on an attack die the vraal has struck with the effectiveness of a blade of sharpness that will severe a limb or head (roll randomly).
3) A creature that has suffered a bite from this creature will continue to bleed at the rate of 1 hit point per 10 lbs of flesh that was removed by the bite until the wound is staunched.
4) The final bite power is the ability to crush/destroy any weapon that is ill fated enough to have been placed in the biting range of the mouth. Any weapon struck by a bite must make a -9 save vs crushing blows. This bonus reflects the extreme strength of the bite force. The amount that a weapon is destroyed is rated by the amount that the dice roll failed to make its saving throw by. If the roll failed by 1 it destroys the weapon by 10%., 2 20%, etc…
C) Special
1) Magical: None
2) Psionics: A rare 1% of individuals
3) Unique: Check Bite Attacks: The bite attack will also trigger a blood frenzy similar to a band of sharks when a bite is made. This will lead all Vraal within 20’ of the successful bite attack fighting for the chance to make the next attack. The will swarm in on an opponent and try to devour them. Treat this as an overbearing attack that can knock a target to the ground and leave them even more vulnerable. This attack form takes no concentrated force from any of the participants.
III) Defense Powers
A) Movement: The creature moves normally on land, but they are natives of the aquatic realms. They move slower than normal aquatic creatures because of their legs, but they are still at home in the water. The exhibit a alligator-like quality, but their partial shark heritage is very apparent when one looks into their eyes when encountered in the water.
B) Magic: Due to their magical creation the creature was bestowed a sonic bellow like an alligators. This sound is like an alligator’s mating bellow, but its energy causes all creatures of 4+1 hit dice or less must make a save vs wand, rod, or staves in order to avoid fleeing the area due to a sense of impending peril. This power allows them to retain their weapons and shields, but they will flee the area for 2-4 rounds with many a backwards glance.
C) Immunities: The unique character of the mind of these creatures render all mind spells totally inoperative towards their minds. Those who try to cast this type of magic on them have suffered a backlash that leaves them stunned for 1-6 rounds. This is a part of their magic creation and evolution as the creating mage that genetically engineered them didn’t like the idea of them being mentally controlled. The creature blood is toxic to normal life forms, so the creature is immune to all poisons. If this blood is harvested within 1-3 rounds of the creature’s death it can be used as a contact poison is distilled. It is a coating toxin then.
D) Surprise/Initiative: They were engineered to be surprisingly perceptive of their surroundings. This is due to their unique sonic communication. Some of their sonic communications are sub vocalized and are used as a form of echolocation. It makes them very hard to sneak up on (even invisibly). This leaves them unable to be surprised by any roll short of 1 in 10.
E) Senses: See Above in Surprise.
F) Magic Resistance: Standard
IV) Habitat/Society
A) Mental Makeup: They were engineered to be the servants to an arch mage that Animerged them with shark tissue. They have the mind set of an alligator when it comes to patience, but they have the fatal flaw of feeling like the apex predator that the shark genetics instill in them. This leaves most of them feeling like this, Bite First if it offends you. This lead to the demise of their creator when he tried to discipline one of his new troops for the first time. The blood frenzy left him twitching, and he neglected his protective contingencies because he felt secure with his new body guard force.
B) Lair: The have evolved to dwell in humid or swampy regions of the game world.
C) Organization: They are now a tribal or clan oriented society. They are often at war with other swamp dwellers because the blood frenzy will act as an impediment towards any socialization. Even eating in the presence of the Vraal will be a test of willpower for them.
D) Goals: They seek to survive, but are also seeking to create a new life for their race.
E) Culture if Any: They have taken on the habit of taking the hair of victims that have any. (They hate hair it tickles their throats). They wear them as ornamentation about their bodies. They take teeth and other body parts of the other species. They resemble the early Indian cultures of the American west without bows and arrows. They only use hand held missile weapons.
V) Ecology
A) Growth: The are grown from an eggs now. Originally they were magically created on a genetic level. They were first created by the Arch Mage Transmuter Valier Trimomute. He created them as a personal defensive force, and he had engineered it so that they could easily reproduce.
B) Reproduction: As noted they are able to produce and gestate eggs by burying them and keeping them warm in nests of decomposing matter. Some have now evolved into using hot springs and other warming actions to help with incubation. This extends to the alligators Male vs Female temperature birth rate. They have also learned that warmth equals intelligence to their race.
C) Life Cycle: They seek to live out a normal alligator’s life span which can be quite a challenge when any chance bite by your fellows can lead to you being swarmed and killed. They hate to eat their own.
VI) Variations
A) Possible Climatic/Environmental Variations: As noted the warmer the egg the smarter the hatchling.
Here is something to test your High Level players with.
The Ultimate Recurring Monster….Falkynor????
The day comes in every PC’s life where the monsters that have been a great challenge earlier in your PC’s life are all slain and your +7 Neutral Holy Avenger has lost its luster. The DM gets that pained how can I kill him now look, but you seem to be able to avoid falling wall/ceiling traps with impunity. What to you do as a DM or PC??
Well you just have to ask yourself one question…..”Do You Feel Lucky, Punk…Er…Neutral Paladin”.
As a DM I have had the pleasure (er..pain) of using a very child friendly monster to embarrass some really potent adventurers. The party of six were a mixed group of chaotic alignments, multi or dual classed and with a plethora of magic items that would humble an mages guild. They were in a teleporting tavern that they occasionally used to end up in random settings on different planes from time to time.
A group of other adventures came into the establishment speaking quietly of their recent ill luck. One of the party member used his Earplugs of Sensing to listen in for possible adventure hooks of interest. As the NPC (me/DM) spoke in hushed tones of a recent dragon encounter the party began to lick their lips in anticipation of the booty they would have to share. I was fairly blatant in describing ol’ Falkynor and two of the 5 players (one played 2 PC’s) caught on and started passing notes among the group. It did little to stop the look of greed that came over the party. They hardly noted the other parties body count 2 dead, 4 wounded and the rest looking singed around the edges. They figured they were incompetents set there by the DM (me) to show them the way to their most recent riches.
They used various magic items and spells to locate Fal’s position by probing the bad luck adventuring party and were off in a nonce (before the Tavern Teleported somewhere else. They had plane hopping spells with the mage and clerics in the group as well as a magic item or two.
They surprised a sleeping Fal, but he was lucky enough to open his eyes seconds before a less scrupulous party member was about to hit him with a dual set of full sized lightning bolts of impressive size that luckily for Fal shattered enough of the cavern (really a buried castle) to cause a minor cave in that buried the C/N archer/ranger Blast Zone with a ton of stuff. Take a while to dig yourself out of it even if you are a walking HP battery, but what really po’d him was that his girdle of cloud giant str (and the rest of his gear) had failed it’s save and he was forced to use his normal weak 18 (74) STR to try to dig out of the mess. (He lost more items there).
The dual classed cleric/thief thought he was being sneaky coming in above and behind Fal too, but as ol’ Fal had avoided the lightning bolt his tail took a casual arc that was surprisingly strong and caught the thief mid flight/stealth/invis. Sort of launched him like a baseball deep to center of a near collapsed wall that led to another minor rock fall that trapped him.
This rock fall was the one that dropped that really big stone from the ceiling that was lucky enough for Fal to have hit the mage on the top of the head. (Too big for stoneskin or prot from normal missiles to affect either. The stoneskin prevented a killing blow but the rock pinned the mage under its mass, and this mage was nor power lifter.). The mage had been preparing to fire off a Netherese blast rod he had found in Under Mountain and this blast hit at the feet of three other party members, and broke up the mischief that they were working on at the time too.
I was pretty much the same thing over and over for all of 3 rounds. 1 Crushed Dead by a further full cave in of the ceiling as ol’ Fal took flight through a hole that was luckily blasted through the roof by his frantic evasions of subsequent attacks. Four were trapped and wounded, and the last one (a Cleric of Tymora) who managed to stay out of the worst of the fray who was left to dig the others out and heal their boo boo’s. The dead PC failed his CON roll, on the basic raise dead.
The party lost no less than 15 magic items of some power, and a lot of lesser stuff that they could replace. They spent months and several other encounters before they finally got the idea that they weren’t going to be lucky enough to kill Fal. Bad things happened to the party and ol’ Fal was always “Lucky” enough to evade their most inventive traps. They lost more items, and had another fatality and more woundings than I can count, and all that Fal did was continually evade/counter/reflect their best attacks.
What finally got them to stop their direct attacks was when I went to the can, and one nosey PC looked at the stat that mattered in ol’ Fal’s stats…….99% Luckiness….. Oh yeah, and if he fails his luckiness factor he still gets his innate monster saves, etc… They lost interest soon after that as it was costing them a fortune in repair bills for damaged armor and magic item replacement.
Oh, and the best thing of all, Luck Dragons don’t collect treasure per se…. The party did find a few dead bodies that time, but had less than favorable results with the dice for random treasure that time.
I did suffer from the encounters later though. The mage (he survived) had picked up a calling card of Falkynor. You see as with all fur bearing creatures Fal sheds like a bad dog (er….Dragon). He noticed a small detail that I revealed early on in the encounter, about a furry bed. Cloned him and raised him as a pup….Groan>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>although I made him make 127 rolls (I think, could have been 157), before he found a hair follicle that was still able to be cloned off of.
You might wonder how to put one of these little beauties on your DMing catalog for future use, well my fellow DM let me provide a rewrite of Dave Hargraves, Falkynor rewritten in 2nd edition format. You need not keep him the lovable fluff ball for easy recognition either.
Try a Falkynor from a parallel universe that suffered a freak burn accident. A scarred abomination looking for a little payback against adventurers who were more lucky than Falkynor that one day and scarred him for life.
Luck Dragon (aka Falkynor)
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any
FREQUENCY: *(Unique)
ORGANIZATION: Solitary
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Omninvore (People Food)
INTELLIGENCE: 19 Super
TREASURE: NONE….ha ha ha ah
ALIGNMENT: L/G (My Opinion N/G)
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 0
MOVEMENT: 10”/180” MC:A/Water 15”
HIT DICE: 15-20 Hit Dice & of (120-150 HP)
THAC0: *Special (99% Luck)
NO. OF ATTACKS: 4
DAMAGE/ATTACK: Bite (5-30); 2x Claws (5-9); Tail Slap (11-30)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Luck (99% Luckiness)
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Luck (99% Luckiness)
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Luck (99% Luckiness)/ As Dragon at 20 HD (+12 Saves)
SIZE: 31’-40’ (10,000 lbs)
MORALE: Fearless (20)
XP VALUE: 35,900 + 30 Per HP
Description: A sinuous and elongated type of dragon something like a T’ien Lung Celestial Dragon, with a white overall with “Mother of Pearl” colored scales and silky fur around the head and upper body in a flowing mane like arrangement. He/She has large amber eyes, a pink tongue and inner mouth, with humanish teeth in it. He/She is a medium sized dragon with a distinctly dog like face and head with large floppy ears. It has large non retractable amber colored claws. It takes on dog like poses with its head resting on its paws whenever at rest, and frequently rolls his/her eyes. By nature they are not innately aggressive or hostile. They are wise and knowing creatures of vast knowledge & luck!!!!
Combat: While rarely engaging in direct combat they can use their claws with impunity as a normal dragon. They only use their tail whip when going airborne, but they often seek flight instead of fight so this is a common attack form. The bite is used against the most persistent opponents that are threatening him/her or their friends.
Their most potent power of course is their innate luckiness. They will be 99% lucky enough to avoid any blow struck on them. Furthermore, this magic luckiness extends to evasion of all attack types. They also have the ability find out what he/she needs to know about any given situation. They will be lucky enough (99%) to find out in a timely manner and chose a path that leads to their goals. In attacking they will always be lucky enough to it as intended, and if they fail then they still fall back on their 20 HD monster stats for determination of to hit and damage rolls. They are not intentionally bloodthirsty though. They will seek to do just enough damage to render a creature incapable of further attacks.
Another power of luck dragons that was left unsaid in the movie is their innate affinity with magic use. (They are lucky enough to be spell casters…). They will operate as a spell caster of the same level as their hit dice. They will be luck enough to know the spells they need to meet any situation (99% of the time). They can also sense all magic within 10’ per hit dice they possess. This sense will alert them to most magic attacks (luckily) moments before the affect can happen.
Part of this innate magic use is also able to find (luckily) any gate or planar access point as needed simply by willing it to be (99% of the time). They can also create such a gate at will if none is present 99% chance.
It should be noted that it is not impossible to kill a luck dragon, but it should always be done with physical attacks and will never happen by accidents.
Habitat/Society: They love small children and hobbits and may befriend one of a good alignment from time to time. They do utterly detest ugly things though (like orcs..etc…which they recognize to be ugly both inside and out by simply viewing them).
I picture the Luck Dragons as creature of the upper planes (7 heavens), and possibly natives of the ethereal plane. Early interpretations of the Ethereal as having a white mist hiding quality, only later did TSR change it to the rainbow of colors mists that is currently the norm.
Ecology: I have been using he/she & him/her throughout the post to show that luck dragons come from parents, and when the do desire that type of companionship then they will luckily find what they need. (Oh and they are able to meet once and conceive children 99% of the time).
They are somewhat doglike, but favor comfort when they can find it. The eat human foods, cooked (luckily) to their needs, and when they are hungry and roughing it, they are always lucky enough to find the food that they need.
They have no natural death and will exist through the ages unending. Although a lucky PC comes about from time to time.
Well there you have it. This is the ultimate DM recurring high level (uber) PC trumping engine. Heck of killing machine even if they are just accidents lucky enough to save Falkynor, and unlucky enough to haunt the PC’s if they are foolish (hungry) enough to pursue these creatures.
More to Come…..
Later
Lo there do I see my father,
Lo there do I see my mother, and my sisters, and my brothers,
Lo there do I see do I see the line of my people, back to the beginning,
Lo they do call to me,
They bid me take my place among them,
In the Halls of Vahalla
Where the brave,
May live,
Forever
Randomize it adds spice to a predictable games plot line (especially if they have read it before).
Have everyone roll their dice before the adventure and tick them off one by one, it helps speed up the game and allows the DM more time to think on his feet.
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