Monday 25 March 2013

Monster: The P'Lacki

A monstrous purple and black demon squid that crawls on land. It comes from somewhere beyond, and cannot be reasoned with in any way, although it has at least average human intelligence.

The P'Lacki wants to challenge the strong, and will instinctively move to attack an opponent with high STR. It has a body three metres long and over two metres high, but seems much bigger as it drags itself along on a combination of fleshy rear paddles and two sets of tree-trunk thick tentacles. Despite its massive form it can move quickly.

The P'Lacki's body is a purple and black segmented armour that conceals vital and sensory organs. It generally does not reveal its terrible demonic maw, which is a weak spot. A dozen rune-shaped eyes ring the 472 teeth at the heart of the fleshy death-hole.

Some say the P'Lacki is a unique creature in the world. Some say it seeks death on this plane to return to the demon realms. All who survive and have run away agree that it is a deeply unsettling creature.

The P'Lacki
AC: Platemail; 9HD, 50HP
Attacks: The P'Lacki has up to four attacks depending on how many are in melee with it. Most attacks will be simple tentacle swipes (+2 to hit, 1+d6 damage, 30% chance to knock down on unsuccessful save versus paralysis). Whoever in the group has the highest STR (currently) will be targeted for a different kind of attack. A thin needle will skewer out from a fore-tentacle and attempt to stab this person in the arm for d2 attacks. Attacks are at +1 to hit and do 1+d3 damage. The victim loses 1 STR point immediately and must make a save versus magical effect to avoid losing one more. On a critical fail the victim loses a third STR point and d2 CON points. Every STR/CON point the P'Lacki takes instantly gives it another hit die - and corresponding hit points - but confers no other attack bonuses.

If a victim is killed or reduced to 2 hit points or less, the P'Lacki will attempt to eat them. The bulb like body will split open in a stream of purple slime revealing the eyes and teeth. If the creature does this it will make one attack at +4 to bite. If successful it will attempt to swallow the victim (takes one round). In either of these (potential) rounds, any successful attacks that are specified against the mouth/eye areas will deal triple damage. Despite having concealed eyes, the P'Lacki suffers no sensory penalties and can see in perfect/magical darkness.

Any STR or CON points lost in combat to the P'Lacki will take d3 weeks per point to recover. The total number of weeks is halved if the P'Lacki is killed, and halved if the person rests - no active adventuring.

2 comments:

  1. I love the idea of a monster picking out its targets based on their attribute scores. It's nice and simple -- I love rules ideas that work with what's already in the game, rather than adding new bits on -- and could even discourage min-maxing.

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    1. Thanks Kelvin! The monster and the behaviour was inspired by a local bogeyman in the North West. Thanks for your comments, the point about min-maxing never occured to me.

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