MANDRIANO DEMON

Init +3
Melee Atk
 • polearm +5 (1d4; time jump)
 • stingers +4 (1d3; sleep)
 • bite +2 (1d6+2)
AC 15
HD 2d8+3
MV 40
Act 3d20
SP time jump, sleep poison
Fort +5
Ref +3
Will +0
AL C

The Mandriano, or Drover Demons, herd the damned to their torment in Hell. Most of their bulk is covered in a thick, dimpled shell that they can flex open to reveal appendages with poisoned barbs. They have the head of a lion, and powerful, twisted limbs -- two legs to bear their massive bulk, and a single long, multi-jointed arm.

Reaching ten feet in height, they tower over the damned and use the butt of their polearms to shove and bludgeon the damned to their fate. They also serve as the first line of defense, should Hell be invaded by paladins, crusaders and the like.

The business end of their pole-arm weapons can bludgeon, pierce and slash, bypassing any particular defenses against one or more of such attacks. The heads of these weapons are also slightly four-dimensional, and anybody viewing the weapon close-up needs to succeed on a Will save vs. DC 11 or be distracted by the impossible angles and uncertain perspective, losing a turn. On a successful strike, the damage dealt was done to the target 1d4 rounds in the past, and they have now stood where they were, immobile, ever since. By thus changing events, the Mandriano recovers that die result in d4 of healing, as if those wounds never happened. However, no healing occurs for other individuals.

They also have three or four chubby, worm-like appendages which wobble out from their shell and can strike with ferocious speed. The barb striking true does not inflict great harm, but it does induce sleep (Fort save vs. DC 17 to resist). This sleep will last (damage inflicted)x10 minutes, unless alchemically or magically interrupted. Mandriano will use their wormy appendages to drag sleeping targets to their masters.

The Devil Made Me Do It

Yes, this is me, sinning again -- no new monsters.

Two weeks from today, I'm running a Dungeon Crawl Classics game at DunDraCon 37. That's right, DCC @ DDC. The self-penned adventure is called Short Trip To Hell, and I hope it isn't. So I'm pouring as many good ideas into it as I can. Part of that process is that I keep stealing monsters that I think I'm going to post here and instead, saving them for the convention.

Now, I could have been posting them here for the past several weeks, and damn the consequences. I know this isn't the most viewed blog in the world, and I'm sure a significant portion of what views I do get, are spam spiders (zing! new monster idea!). But given that I've posted on Goodman Games' board about my game at DDC, and that I have mentioned this blog there as well, AND that there is at least one person who's posted back about trying to make it to my game... well, why take the chance and spoil his fun?

So you're going to have to wait to see the Mandriano Demons, Uzzervator and the Perdition Dogs. Actually, I've only gotten one of those particular three drawn up yet beyond sketchy doodles, so I'm going to have to wait to see them, too. I'll just get to see them slightly sooner.

In two weeks from right now, I and six to seven players will be knee deep in Hell, and hopefully having a helluva good time with it. And I'll set up at least one of those hellspawn to publish that Friday -- 'cause we will all fry together when we fry...!

BEARBUG

Init +1
Melee Atk
 • claw arm (smash) +4 (1d5+1)
 • claw arm (grab) +1 (grab)
 • funky pole arm +3 (1d8)
AC 19
HD 3d8+1
MV 30
Act 2d20
SP jump, group thought
Fort +5
Ref +2
Will +2
AL C

Strange as some monsters may be, few can accurately be called insane. The bearbug is an exception to this rule. A towering, multi-segmented beast nine feet tall, the bearbug is a mammal covered in coarse fur, that also grows a dense, encompassing, chitinous carapace. The irritation from the fur beneath the shell is more than an adult bearbug can take for long, and this makes them crazed.

However, they also posses a hive mentality, and in numbers can collectively stave off their inherent madness and function with a high degree of apparent intelligence and cunning. They do not use any sort of audible language, and are suspected of communicating by pheromones, posture or perhaps some low-level telepathy.

Their second-to-last pair of legs are larger and more powerful than their others, allowing them to accurately jump distances up to four times their normal movement if foregoing other actions (or two times their normal movement for sheer vertical jumps).

They have no manufacturing skills of their own, but can use items found or taken from men. They are fond of donning bits of armor when possible (especially the helmets of dwarves), and make great use of pole arms, since their manipulative 'hands' are small and benefit from the two-handed grip.

One favored tactic is to use a claw arm to grab an opponent, and then carve away at them with the business end of a pole arm. In some cases they may grab two foes, and harry them both with subsequent actions. Their strength tends to run to the upper scale of human power and beyond (2d7+10 Str).

When encountered in a group, they are much more effective than any single specimen could be -- the chart below details the changes to their attributes, based on their numbers. This reflects the intensity of their insanity, and their overcoming that insanity by strength of numbers. Please note that these are dynamic changes and if a group of 9 were reduced to a group of 6, the adjustments for groups of 8-15 would then no longer apply.

Number encountered -- Adjustments

1 -- Reduce Action Dice to a single d20; reduce all attack and damage rolls by 1; reduce HD by 1; morale check each round or flee.

2-3 -- Use the stats given above.

4-7 -- Improve all attack and damage rolls by 1; improve AC by 1; improve initiative by 2.

8-15 -- As per 4-7, and: add a third Action Die; improve AC by an additional 2; increase Reflex Saves by 2.

16 or more -- As per 8-15, and: improve all attack rolls by 2; add 1d8 additional hit points; improve initiative by 4.


Sparked by beermotor.

PAPER SPIDER

Init +6
Melee Atk
 • paper cut +8 (0; poison)
AC 22
HD 1d4
MV 20
Act 1d20
SP poison, paper thin
Fort +0
Ref +4
Will +0
AL N

A paper spider is as deadly an assassination tool now as it was 1000 years ago. The means to create one is known to precious few, and closely guarded, it is said, by a single family, who create them for pay without concern for whom they may be used against.

Deceptively simple, they are literally made from paper, much thinner than parchment, and often left between the pages of books. There they can wait, perhaps for centuries, until the page they are resting on is turned to, whereupon they leap at the reader. They move with lightning quickness, almost-unerringly finding exposed skin, and by the tiniest of paper cuts they deliver the poison they were infused with upon their creation.

Most lose their enchantment and are again nothing more than mere paper, after they strike. Most—but not all...

Needless to say, more than one wizard has tried to eliminate his rivals through the use of paper spiders. They have also been left under dinner plates or goblets for nobles, and in rolled messages meant only for the eyes of leaders, from kings to ship captains to captains of the guard.

A few sample poisons that the paper spider is well suited for are:

• Bearbug saliva (Fort Save DC 12; partial paralysis on success, lasting 1d4 minutes; complete paralysis on failure, lasting 4d8 minutes. Partial paralysis can be in the lower extremities only [1-3] or in all extremities [4-5])

• Bearbug musk (Fort Save DC 16; 2d5 Stamina damage)

• Nalvaengur blood (Fort Save DC 18; 1d4 Agility damage for success, otherwise 1d6 Agility and 2d3 Intelligence damage)

• Bhlestic bile (Fort Save DC 13; coma; subsequent save each month or death; reversing the coma requires rare herbal tinctures)

AUROC

Init +0
Melee Atk
 • slash +5 (1d6-2; 2d7 gp)
 • claw +3 (grab)
AC 16
HD 1d8 + 1d4 + 2
MV 40
Act 1d20
SP treasure sense
Fort +4
Ref +2
Will +2
AL N

The auroc is a bird-like creature with a wing-span of nearly six feet, inhabiting caves, caverns and dungeons, subsisting off of veins of precious metals. The membranes of their wings sparkle in torch light like veils of glitter, greatly contrasting the dull grey of the rest of their bodies. They have powerful necks and backs and their beak features a dense, pick-shaped end, with which they chip away at rock and soil, in search of gold, silver and copper.

They can detect such metals, apparently by smell, through up to 40 feet of rock, and much further over open spaces. Men seeking valuables within ancient tombs may by attacked by aurocs if they are carrying coinage on their person. When an auroc attacks an individual, they do so by slashing quickly as they fly by, targeting the metals carried. Damage inflicted to the bearer is a secondary by-product, and such a strike may inflict no physical damage at all. It may take an initial pass for the auroc to damage whatever receptacle the metals are contained in, before it can actually get coins into it's gullet on subsequent fly-bys. It can swallow anything up to an apple-sized piece of metal, and it's digestive juices act quickly to corrode and breakdown the metal, making any retrieval an urgent and nearly impossible task.

An auroc will also be drawn to such things as silver daggers, or other similarly plated accouterments. It may try to grab at such larger pieces and wrest them from the weilder, flying off to nip pieces from the items to eat them, possibly making them completely useless, even if rescued.

They are skittish things, and if caught will frantically thrash about, attempting to fee themselves. They may well expend their life in the effort to get free.

Many a treasure seeker has been disappointed upon finding a long-lost dungeon, only to discover that aurocs have gotten there before them and have bored holes through all the walls and into all the rooms that formerly contained great treasures. One adventurer famously described an ancient labyrinth as having been "swiss-cheesed". The auroc has no interest in gems and precious stones, so such items may remain after aurocs have laid them bare -- if no one else has claimed them first.