Cursed Crimson Crawler
Move: 60 feet/turn
Hit Dice: 3 eight sided + 1 four sided = 3½
Armour class: 7
Treasure Type: Instruments of hatred of all sorts including both magic
& cursed weapons & other devices.
Alignment: lawful evil
Attacks: 2 (See below)
Damage: 1-6 points/attack
The prototype of the cursed crimson crawlers is the demon Shambar, who was, before the fall of the Legions of Satan, the swiftest runner in Heaven. (Most angels preferred to fly.) Shambar joined Satan’s rebellion, and was cast with him into Hell. (As described in Milton’s Paradise Lost.)
After that fall, Satan took the form of a snake in Eden and seduced Eve into eating the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and bad. Because of this, when the demons of Hell applauded Satan’s deed all of them were transformed for a time into hissing serpents. (This also is described in Paradise Lost.)
Shambar, infuriated by the loss of his legs, and at being forced to crawl, cursed hatred at the Almighty, far more than any other demon. Thus it was that when the other demons regained their demonic forms, Shambar’s lower body retained the form of a snake. Shambar and all mockeries of Shambar made by magic hate all those that walk or run, fly or swim.
Note on attacks: Throws heavy rocks (range 10’ times hit points, damage 1-12 points). Cursed crimson crawlers are bone breaking wrestlers in close combat. The tail tashes wildly about and usually hits characters other than the principle opponent.
Special abilities: The spiked tail knob acquires through evil magic the cursed crimson crawler’s hatred. This pent up bitterness bursts out if the monster is killed, and all those within 30’ suddenly become enraged at each other and fight for 1-4 melee rounds. Saving throws apply as against poison, but creatures saved may be attacked by those cursed by the hatred.
Originally appeared in Dragon Magazine #14 (1978).
Although the text says "demon", the alignment, Hell, and fallen angel aspect clearly suggest "devil".
"I won't kill you, but I don't have to save you." - Batman, Batman Begins "You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." - Harvey Dent, The Dark Knight "Yeah, I can fly." - Tony Stark, Iron Man
Inside my hands these petals browned;
dried up falling to the ground,
but it was already too late now.
I pushed my fingers through the earth,
returned this flower to the dirt;
so it could live, I walked away now."
Rise Against - "The Good Left Undone"
Well, these are Shanbar's descendents. Much reduced descendents. I, too, think we should boost their HD a bit. After all, a bone devil of the same era had 5+5 HD, or something like that. So we could boost these guys to 6-8 and be good. Perhaps 7 for that "3 and a half" thing?
"I won't kill you, but I don't have to save you." - Batman, Batman Begins "You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." - Harvey Dent, The Dark Knight "Yeah, I can fly." - Tony Stark, Iron Man
Inside my hands these petals browned;
dried up falling to the ground,
but it was already too late now.
I pushed my fingers through the earth,
returned this flower to the dirt;
so it could live, I walked away now."
Rise Against - "The Good Left Undone"
"I won't kill you, but I don't have to save you." - Batman, Batman Begins "You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." - Harvey Dent, The Dark Knight "Yeah, I can fly." - Tony Stark, Iron Man
Inside my hands these petals browned;
dried up falling to the ground,
but it was already too late now.
I pushed my fingers through the earth,
returned this flower to the dirt;
so it could live, I walked away now."
Rise Against - "The Good Left Undone"
I borrowed the rock throwing from the similarly-sized hill giant, but retained the damage in the original entry. Does that work?
Quote:
Treasure Type: Instruments of hatred of all sorts including both magic
& cursed weapons & other devices.
Use Magic Device as one of its skills?
Quote:
Cursed crimson crawlers are bone breaking wrestlers in close combat.
Improved grab and/or racial bonus on grapple checks?
Quote:
The tail tashes wildly about and usually hits characters other than the principle opponent.
Tail sweep?
Quote:
The spiked tail knob acquires through evil magic the cursed crimson crawler’s hatred. This pent up bitterness bursts out if the monster is killed, and all those within 30’ suddenly become enraged at each other and fight for 1-4 melee rounds. Saving throws apply as against poison, but creatures saved may be attacked by those cursed by the hatred.
"I won't kill you, but I don't have to save you." - Batman, Batman Begins "You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." - Harvey Dent, The Dark Knight "Yeah, I can fly." - Tony Stark, Iron Man
Inside my hands these petals browned;
dried up falling to the ground,
but it was already too late now.
I pushed my fingers through the earth,
returned this flower to the dirt;
so it could live, I walked away now."
Rise Against - "The Good Left Undone"
The 3rd edition rage spell doesn't compel its victims to attack each other, so I don't see how it fits. I'd think a better comparison would be the confusion spell, although I'd should tweak the random behaviour table to something like:
01-10 Attack Crimson Crawler's corpse, or close towards corpse if attack not possible.
11-30 Curse and babble furiously, will engage in combat if attacked.
31-80 Attack nearest creature (for this purpose a familiar counts as part of the subject's self)
81-00 Attack randomly selected creature within 30 feet, charging if possible, or close towards target if attack not possible.
An enraged victim only makes attacks of opportunity against their selected target.
"I won't kill you, but I don't have to save you." - Batman, Batman Begins "You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." - Harvey Dent, The Dark Knight "Yeah, I can fly." - Tony Stark, Iron Man
Inside my hands these petals browned;
dried up falling to the ground,
but it was already too late now.
I pushed my fingers through the earth,
returned this flower to the dirt;
so it could live, I walked away now."
Rise Against - "The Good Left Undone"
"I won't kill you, but I don't have to save you." - Batman, Batman Begins "You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." - Harvey Dent, The Dark Knight "Yeah, I can fly." - Tony Stark, Iron Man
Inside my hands these petals browned;
dried up falling to the ground,
but it was already too late now.
I pushed my fingers through the earth,
returned this flower to the dirt;
so it could live, I walked away now."
Rise Against - "The Good Left Undone"
Gah! How could I have missed that, song of discord is an ideal model!
The description does needs a bit of cleaning up and the removal of the "sonic" qualifier. How about:
Death Throes (Ex): When killed, a cursed crimson crawler’s tail knob explodes, releasing waves of pent up bitterness and anger in a 30-foot radius. All creatures within the area must succeed on a DC 21 Will save or turn on each other rather than attack their foes. Each affected creature has a 50% chance to attack the nearest target each round. (Roll to determine each creature’s behavior every round at the beginning of its turn.) Affected creatures attack with all methods at their disposal, employing their deadliest spells and most advantageous combat tactics. They do not, however, harm targets that have fallen unconscious. A creature that does not attack its nearest neighbor is free to act normally for that round.
This is a mind-affecting, compulsion effect. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shade
Suggested natural armor bonus? Tail slap damage?
The original has a lousy AC, so I'm thinking something at the lower range like a bearded devil's +7 natural armour.
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