Legendary Creatures III

      Wyvern are close cousins to dragons, and are often mistaken for young dragons by the uninitiated.  They are large, lizard-like flying creatures, but nowhere near the size of actual dragons.

      Wyverns usually make their nests either high in mountainous areas, or deep in old-growth forests, and they are fiercely territorial.  They can range great distances hunting for prey, and won't hesitate to attack isolated adventurers.  They can attack with a powerful bite and a buffeting wing strike, but their primary threat is a powerful poison in a tail stinger.  The poison is lethal, and will kill in only a few rounds unless resisted or neutralized. 

      Pictured here is the Red-Winged Wyvern, the only wyvern species native to the Blackmoor area.  Their nesting areas are in the Razorback Mountains, but they can be encountered almost anywhere.  

         The Chimera is a true abomination, a warped and twisted combination of goat, lion, and dragon forms.  The large body is half lion (front half) and half goat (the back), with long dragon-like wings sprouting from the front shoulders.  Further, the creature has three heads, one for each of its elements, with the lion head always in the middle.  Fittingly, they are creatures of chaos, always chaotic evil in alignment.    

    Despite their improbable form, chimera are excellent fliers, hard to hit while in the air, and fast (50% faster than running human).  On the ground, which fortunately is where they usually fight, they are far less maneuverable, and notably slower (3/4 human move rate).   

     In combat, it can kick anything in its rear with its goat-like hind legs;  both delivered with great power (17 - 18 str).  The lion and dragon heads are both capable of delivering viscous bites, and the dragon head can also breath fire up to around 30 yards.  The goat head doesn't bite, but instead strikes opponents with its deadly sharp horns. In addition to just damage, this attack frequently inflicts either a knockback or a knockdown effect on victims as well.  A chimera's hide is extremely tough, and they are unnaturally quick, two further factors which make them difficult opponents as well.  Some experts believe these creatures regenerate or otherwise heal themselves magically, but only in out-of-combat situations.    

     Chimeras are sort of a treasure item by themselves.  The horns from the goat head, and teeth from the dragon and lion heads, are valuable spell components that are worth several thousand gold on the market, if they can be extracted.  A chimera hide would be worth 5 - 10,000gp, again presuming one had the time, capability and expertise for a proper skinning.   

      Chimera are not particularly communicative, but appear to have at least limited understanding of dragon language.  They can survive in many different climates and on a wide variety of diets; the goat head is capable of browsing on the toughest plants and shrubs, but the lion and dragon heads require meat.  Their motivations are difficult to understand, perhaps appropriate for a Chaotic Evil creature, but it does appear to have something of the dragon’s love of treasure, collecting both coin and magical valuables despite having no use for these items whatsoever.  

      A Sphinx combines the body of a lion, wings of an eagle, and the head of a human. They have both male and female forms, the former sometimes called an androsphinx, and the latter referred to as a gynosphinx.   

    The male androsphinx is a creature of tremendous strength, equal to a stone giant or better. Their massive paws are capable of delivering blows that can kill a normal man in one swipe.  They also have spellcasting ability equal to a priest of 6th rank. An androsphinx’s most powerful weapon, however, is its roar, an attack which has cumulative effects. The first time an androsphinx roars, all (non-sphinx) creatures within 300 yards are stricken with fear and will flee, an effect which lasts for several minutes. A second roar strikes a similar terror which leaves victims paralyzed on the spot with fright, and deafened in the process. A third roar stricken all creatures in the area with crippling weakness, again for several minutes. Creatures within 50 yards will be knocked down and stunned by the force of the roar, and at shorter ranges the sound can break stone, blow down doors, even topple walls.  

     Despite its formidability, the androsphinx is not an aggressive or dangerous creature, if left alone. Their alignment tends towards Chaotic Good, although they don’t particularly go out of their way to assist others. They tend to be solitary, and don’t really even get along with gynosphinx particularly well. Their ultimate motivations are inscrutable.    

    The gynosphinx is the female of the species; she is slightly smaller and much less physically imposing than the male.  They are, however, exceptionally intelligent and clever creatures, famous for their enjoyment of riddles and intellectual puzzles.  Knowledge is always the coin of interest to a gynosphinx, and similarly the reason they are often sought out. They will always listen to an offer or bargain, but will only accept what is clearly in their own interests -- a gynosphinx is never altruistic (their alignment is either Neutral or Lawful Neutral).   

    Gynosphinx have the ability to cast a number of arcane spells, including detect magic, read magic, read languages, detect invisibility, locate object, dispel magic, clairaudience, clairvoyance, remove curse, and legend lore. They can also use a symbol spell once per week.   Androsphinx are unknown in the Blackmoor area.  For many years, there was a gynosphinx known to inhabit the Frostcrag Peak area, but she has  not been reported by adventurers travelling there in several decades.    

   The common Medusa is a truly terrifying creature.  It has the body of a great serpent which is generally between 12 and 20 feet long; mated to this are the head and torso of a human woman.  Her long hair is actually a swarm of venomous asps, each possessing a deadly poison that can kill any mortal creature.  The poison is also present in their blood, and there it is so toxic that the dripping blood of a dead Medusa can still kill on contact with skin several hours after death.  The asp’s poison is typically used on the Medusa’s weapons as well, and they particularly favor bows and short bladed weapons.    

       The most infamous ability of a Medusa is its ability to turn those that meet its gaze to stone.  This works on all mortal creatures within 30 feet, and extends into the Ethereal and Astral planes as well.  It continues to work even after the Medusa’s death, although it will gradually fade day by day, becoming impotent in roughly 20 days.  It will even work against the Medusa herself, if a glass or metallic mirror is used to reflect her gaze back upon herself.  Interestingly, however, the gaze of a Medusa does not work on another, only on itself.   

     Medusa are Lawful Evil creatures who hate humans above all other creatures.  Ironically, they can only reproduce by mating with human males. To this extent, a Medusa can, for very short periods of time, polymorph itself into a beautiful human woman specifically for the purposes of seduction.   Inevitably, this act ends with the death of the male, and the Medusa will be able to lay up to six eggs.  The offspring are always Medusa themselves.   

      The term “common” Medusa is something of a misnomer, as all Medusa are of this type save one, that being the Medusa of the Temple of Serpents.  She is often referred to simply as THE Medusa, and is considered to be an Immortal creature.  References to Her are left to descriptions of that world-famous dungeon.   

      One of the most universal of all "monsters", trolls are found in almost every climate and habitat across the known world.  Trolls are humanoid in shape, but quite tall (usually 7 feet or more), with exceptionally long arms that end in large hands with powerful claws.  While their sight at distance is not particularly good, their sense of smell and their hearing are exceptional, and most species either see well in the dark or have infravision.  They are not particularly intelligent, but have a hunting animal’s natural cunning.  All trolls are Chaotic Evil.  

       While Trolls from differing habitats often have minor differences, these are usually more cosmetic than significant, and most local species like the Forest Troll native to the Blackmoor area are essentially identical.  These are referred to properly as Common Trolls.  The Cave Troll, and (if one believes legend) the Mountain Troll have enough different features to be considered separate creatures.  

       Forest Trolls are strong.  Even though they appear rather wiry, they have the strength of ogres, and their large claws can cause terrible wounds even against armored opponents.  They also have a vicious bite which is inherently septic in nature, guaranteeing infection and further difficulties without proper medical treatment.  They are relentlessly carnivorous and constantly on the hunt.  Forest Trolls will attack anything that looks like meat, and will even leave a fresh kill just to make another.  They have no sense of fear whatsoever; a troll will attack a group of 50 as readily as a solo adventurer.   Once it fixates on a target, a Forest Troll will pursue as long as sight or smell permits, or until something more interesting comes along.  

       Most famously, Forest Trolls regenerate, and they regenerate frighteningly fast.  Trolls are apparently imbued with an exceptionally powerful life energy which literally permeates every bit of their bodies.  Not only do a Forest Troll’s wounds heal, but even severed body parts retain life of their own. A troll reduced to mush will begin to coalesce almost immediately, and often in as little as 30 minutes can completely re-grow itself as though it had never been hurt.  Even severing a troll’s head won’t stop it, and in fact severed body parts that don’t find their way back to their original host can end up re-growing as an entirely new troll.  The only certain ways to destroy a troll require fire or acid, the one sears the flesh and the other dissolves it.  

      Common Trolls are bad, but the Cave Troll is a creature that truly deserves the legendary reputation that it has.  Cave Trolls are slightly taller than normal trolls, but vastly more massive.  They are as strong as frost or fire giants, and their blows are powerful enough to do structural damage to buildings;  they have the size and mass to literally pick up a human and throw him or her for distance.  But the thing that justifies the Cave Troll’s Class 10 rating is simply the amount of damage that it takes to kill one.  Stories told by veterans who have encountered these creatures claim it’s possible for entire groups of warriors simply to collapse in exhaustion before doing enough damage to slay one.  It is known that they regenerate, although only in the living body and it mercifully appears that it stops when the creature is conventionally slain.  But this notwithstanding, the effort required by even large and experienced adventurer groups to bring one of these creatures down makes them as elite an encounter as is possible to have.  

      Or perhaps not, again depending on one’s belief in legend.  Stories exist of a yet even greater species of troll, very rare and raised only by dark and evil powers.  They are called Mountain Trolls; not because they are found in mountainous areas, but because fighting one is a lot like trying to damage a mountain.  Said to be like Cave Trolls the size of Frost Giants, they are said to be the ultimate embodiment of strength, as strong as the legendary titans if the tales are to be believed.  More skeptically, they are claimed to possess real, if minimal, intelligence, enough to be “trainable” to use weapons and even wear armor.  The validity of these stories is a still-debated issue amongst experts, as the evidence for them is inconclusive; but if they do exist, they might well represent the ultimate in an adventurer’s nightmare encounter

     Hydras can come in a number of forms, and are most typically encountered in swampy areas or in watery caves.  All hydras have large, lizard-like bodies, and multiple heads, usually with long serpentine necks. Hydras can have between five and nine heads, but most have six or seven.  They are aggressive predators, often attacking from ambush, and they can move quickly and nimbly despite their bulk.  

       Most hydras are only vulnerable at the heads.  It is possible to inflict damage just to the body, but no one yet has killed a hydra without killing off its heads first.  Heads generally have to be attacked individually, particularly with magic, since AoE spells inevitably effect the creature as a whole and not the heads separately.  In the movement and chaos of combat, it can be very difficult to track an individual head from round to round, but coordinated attacks on the same round can often be the most effective way to put heads out of action.   

       Various subspecies of hydra have specialized abilities in addition to their common characteristics, almost always regarding the function of the hydra's many heads.  Heads with various breath weapons have been documented, the most common (known as the pyro-hydra) being fire, with each head able to use this ability twice per day.  Hydras with regenerating heads have also been frequently documented, it required fire to prevent this regeneration and kill this form of the beast.  Much rarer is the Laernaean hydra, which regenerates two heads each time one is killed, to a maximum of a dozen heads.  There is also the famous Dragon-head Hydra of the Temple of Serpents, but this is a unique creature and thus described in a separate chapter.     

      While it is a common belief that a Treant is just a tree “come to life”, they are clearly more sophisticated than this simple analogy suggests.  They should, in all reality, be classified as a humanoid race, but their social behavior and lifestyles differ enough from the humanoid standard that we list them here as legendary creatures instead.  

      Treants are intelligent humanoids that are all but indistinguishable from trees, and they are as individually varied as natural trees are themselves.  However, they always have two arms, and two legs in the standard humanoid fashion.  Their skin is as tough as bark, their bodies hard as wood, and as a result, both smashing and piercing-class weapons are virtually worthless against Treants.  They are enormously strong, easily in the frost or fire giant range, but their power goes beyond that.  They can inflict structural damage on walls, buildings, even the natural terrain itself, as though centuries of erosion and natural weathering are being compressed into seconds.   Not surprisingly, they do not like fire, and it does them some harm, but they appear to burn slowly and are hurt by it less than one might expect.             

      Treants do not live in social groups, but seem to lead semi-solitary lives whose rhythm is tuned to the passing of the seasons as ours are to the passing of days.  They lead exceptionally long lives, probably over a thousand years and perhaps well more.  It is believed that they are most active during their younger years, and slowly become less active over time, usually reaching a point where they enter a perpetual slumber from which only great events will awaken them.  

       Treants are, one could analogize, the original druids, as their interests and concerns are attuned to the natural world of growing things, and the natural wildlife that inhabits it.  They possess an ability to commune with their natural surroundings and communicate with the trees, plants, and natural creatures, and further to influence the growth and environmental health of the area.  Treants can even cause normal trees and plants to animate, moving about and even attacking anything that threatens the well-being of the forest.    

     The Ice Worm, also sometimes called a Remorhaz, is one of the most feared predators of arctic environments.  They can be found anywhere such conditions prevail, and in the Blackmoor area, they are particularly endemic to the snow and ice fields of Barrier Peak mountains.  

       Ice Worms can reach lengths of 30 to 40 feet.  They have long segmented bodies with dozens of chitinous legs which allow them to move over rough snowfields with astonishing speed.  They do not, however, appear to have much endurance for a chase, and as a result, they are typically ambush predators.  They are capable of burrowing through snow and ice nearly as fast as a human can run, and they appear to be sensitive to the vibrations caused by creatures moving on the surface, much like an ankheg.   

       In combat, an Ice Worm is not unlike a giant sort of rattlesnake -- it will coil itself up and raise its head high (often 10 to 12 feet in height), then snap forward and strike with blinding speed.  The creature’s massive jaws do tremendous damage, but worse, the creature is capable of swallowing a victim whole.  This is almost always immediately fatal due to the tremendous heat of the Ice Worm’s body.  

        Although it lives in sub-zero conditions, the Ice Worm’s body is actually incredibly hot -- hot enough on the inside to melt even some magical metals.  The heavy scales that cover its body contain this heat efficiently enough that the creature doesn’t normally melt the snow and ice around it, but it probably has something to do with why the creature can burrow so quickly and speedily.  When excited, however, the Ice Worm’s body temperature appears to actually increase, to the point where contact with the creature’s body scales can produce immediately lethal burns.  Non-magical weapons can actually be melted by contact.  In these conditions, only the Ice Worm’s lighter belly scales offer any opportunity for damaging blows.  

     The Oriental Dragon, frequently called a Serpent Dragon, is a vastly different beast than its infamous Western namesake.  They have snakelike bodies (hence their name) which reach a length of 24 to 30 feet and four limbs, but they do not have wings.  Their bodies are brilliantly colorful, as an artist’s rendition of Lu Pang Ho here shows.  Although they have no wings, they can still fly, or as one description suggests, they “run through the air”.         According to scholars who have studied Far Eastern cultures, Oriental Dragons are highly individualistic creatures, and it is difficult to define abilities common to the species.  They can potentially be of any alignment.  Most appear to have a breath weapon similar to western dragons, usually fire or a cloud of gas which might cause sleep, hallucinations, or other effects. Most have spellcasting abilities, which appear to be able to vary substantially.    

      In the case of Lu Pang Ho, this creature is known to be of Lawful Neutral alignment.  He is reclusive and the location of his lair is not known. He is occasionally encountered by adventurer groups in the Peaks, but usually avoids interaction;  he has never been encountered anywhere else.  Adventurer groups have been known to attack him, to their detriment.  His purposes in the Barrier Peaks, and the range of his general activities, are a complete mystery.  

     Few creatures are as frightening an encounter as a Purple Worm.  They are massive creatures, up to a hundred feet long, and as much as 6 to 8 feet wide.  They normally burrow deep within the ground, seeking prey, but occasionally come near enough to the surface to detect potential prey there.  

     A Purple Worm attacks by biting with its gigantic mouth, a cavernous hole lined with layers razor-sharp teeth.  It is capable of swallowing human (and larger) sized prey whole, and a swallowed victim has only a few rounds before the worm's digestive fluids kill them.  It is possible, however, in those moments to do enough damage to convince the worm to vomit.  

     In most cases, a Purple Worm will either burrow up to the surface from below, or tunnel into an underground encounter, and in such cases, only the "mouth end" of the worm is likely to be encountered.  It does, however, have a stinger in its tail capable of delivering a paralytic poison.  

     While a Purple Worm's digestive fluids will break down virtually anything organic, it does not digest metal, and such items can be preserved inside the worm's body for a considerable period of time before being expelled.  

      Dragon Turtles are true amphibians, as they can be encountered equally at sea, in large rivers or lakes, or on land.  Their deadly jaws, powerful breath weapon, and tendency to capsize boats make them among the most dreaded of the mariner’s dangers.  While (fortunately) none are natural to the Blackmoor area, their world-wide habitat range has made them a recognized hazard to our merchant captains and crews.  

      Dragon Turtles are solitary creatures, which is a good thing, as they are also carnivorous, territorial, and aggressive.  This adds up to make a bad-tempered beast with the power to ruin anyone’s day.  In the water, they are notorious for upsetting boats, and a human in the water is a quick snack for this beast.  They can swallow a human whole, digest the body, and excrete the inorganic material, which is why their lairs tend to be rich sources of treasure.  Such lairs are usually underwater caves, usually well hidden and frequently a distance from the turtle’s actual hunting ground.  

        A Dragon Turtle is a formidable opponent on land as much as in water.  They are tremendously strong, probably Hill to Stone Giant scale, and can tear up boulders or pull down trees.  They have enormous claws which can strike out in any direction, and they can rear back on their hind legs to grab or lift objects.  Their bite is strong enough to sever an arm or a leg, or even tear a person in half.  Defensively, their shell is virtually immune to weapons smaller than a trebuchet, and their hide is as tough as magical leather armor.   

       If this weren’t enough, a Dragon Turtle also comes equipped with a breath weapon, a scalding cone of steam up to 90 feet long.  Like Dragons, this breath weapon becomes more deadly as a Turtle ages, and even a little specimen would compare favorably to a strong wizard’s fireball.  This attack is all the deadlier as a Turtle can breathe steam for as long as 10 to 12 seconds, “painting” a large area by swinging its head back and forth.   

     Whatever process originally created the Beholder can only be speculated on, as this creature is truly a horror only conceivable in a nightmare.  This creature appears as a large orb perhaps 5 or so feet in diameter, with a large central eye, a gaping toothed maw, and 10 small eyes located on stalks protruding from the top of the orb.  The body itself is supported by magical levitation, enabling the creature to move about by floating through the air.  

          Beholders are highly intelligent creatures that appear to hate all other life forms, even each other, making them a highly aggressive and avaricious life form.  They may have a shared language, but also appear to have a sort of primitive telepathy which allows them a certain communicational ability with other species.  All beholders are Lawful Evil, and will seek to control and dominate those creatures which they do not simply kill on sight.   

       The beholder’s large mouth is for eating, not attacking; for confrontations it relies on the magical powers of its many eyes.  The beholder’s large central eye projects an anti-magic ray in roughly a 120-yard range and a 90 degree arc.  Absolutely no magic, not even the beholder’s other eye effects, works in the area affected by the beam, and it will even dispel magic passing through it.  This effect can apparently be turned off and on at will by the creature.   

       The beholder’s smaller eyestalks each project a magical beam or ray of some type.  The range of these beams vary, typically between 60 to 120 feet.  Each eye beam will be different, and while some Beholders have unique beams, most will be any of the following:

      Cause Blindness

      Cause Serious Wounds (8d8, no save)   

      Charm Person (as spell) 

      Charm Monster (as spell) 

     Confusion (as spell) 

      Death Ray

      Elemental Damage (fire, frost, electrical) 10d6

      Fear (as spell)

      Fumble  (as spell)

      Paralysis

      Telekinesis (up to 250 – 300 lbs) 

          The number of eyes the beholder can actually attack with depends in part on the positioning of opponents.  A beholder can generally focus up to four of its smaller eyes into any given 90 degree arc around its body, while the central eye can only look forward.  Damaging the creature is also complicated. Each of the small eye stalks can be “killed” independently, but their loss is not fatal and it is believed they regenerate slowly over time.  The creature’s central eye can also be specifically targeted, and neutralized, but again this will not kill the creature as a whole.  Only sufficient damage to the creature’s body will permanently slay a beholder.