Paging Echohawk...

Shade said:

Hey there! It's great to see you!

Click to expand...

Heh heh. It has been a while, I know. I got distracted by compiling various Collector's Guides, and then became deeply depressed when I realised that my monster index doesn't include the thousands and thousands of D&D adventures that have been released for the various "Living" campaigns over the years, a number of which do include monsters.

Yes, I believe we still need all of those. Thanks!

Click to expand...

Here they come...

Boobrie

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Temperate lakes
FREQUENCY: Rare
ORGANIZAIION: Solitary
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Day
DIET: Carnivore
INTELLIGENCE: Animal (1)
TREASURE: (O, W)
ALIGNMENT: Nil
NO. APPEARING: 1-2
ARMOR CLASS: 7
MOVEMENT: 2, Fl 20, Sw 6
HIT DICE: 4 + 4
THAC0: 17
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2d4 or 1d6
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Wing buffer
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: M (20' wingspan)
MORALE: Unsteady (5-7)
XP VALUE: 420

The boobrie is a giant bird, looking much like a loon or northern diver which has grown to the size of a man. It is completely black in color. It haunts the lakesides of western Scotland and supplements its diet of fish by devouring lambs and calves that stray too close to the waterside. It has been known to wait in ambush in the reeds by the side of a lake and attack anything the size of a sheep or smaller -- including young children -- which wanders within reach. Its call is harsh and loud and can carry for several miles.

Combat: The boobrie attacks with its 2-foot beak, and can also rear up to deliver a wing-buffet once every three rounds. The wing-buffet automatically hits any creature directly in front of the boobrie and not more than 5 feet away. It causes 1d6 damage, and the opponent must make a Dexterity ability check or be knocked down, dropping any hand-held items.

Habitat/Society: Boobries inhabit upland lakes in the more remote parts of northern and western Europe. In the spring they form pairs and build nests of floating vegetation which can be up to 20 feet across. They lay 1d4 eggs, and throughout the late spring and early summer they are busy gathering food for their young. Any treasure they have will be in the nest at this time of year, having been brought there on the bodies of human prey.

Ecology: Boobries eat fish and any mammals they can catch. They have no natural enemies other than dragons, wyverms, and other such monsters, and humans who often try to kill boobries to protect their livestock.

Water Leaper

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Temperate lakes
FREQUENCY: Very rare
ORGANIZATION: Pack
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Day
DIET: Carnivore
INTELLIGENCE: Semi- (2-4)
TREASURE: Nil
ALIGNMENT: Neutral (evil)
NO. APPEARING: 4d6
ARMOR CLASS: 8
MOVEMENT: Sw 12
HIT DICE: 1 - 1
THAC0: 20
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d4
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Shriek, Leap
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: S (3' long)
MORALE: Average (10)
XP VALUE: 65

Water leapers, known as llamhigyn y dwr (pronounced "thlamheegin er door") in their native Wales, look something like a large toad with a fishlike tail instead of back legs and a pair of flying-fish style fin-wings instead of front legs. Their broad mouths are full of very sharp teeth. They will attack almost anything and regularly destroy the nets and lines of local fishermen. They also attack swimmers and livestock drinking at the lake's edge.
Water leapers can jump out of the water and glide up to 30 feet using their winglike fins. They have been known to try to knock fishermen out of their boats by deliberately leaping at them. They can also emit a piercing shriek which can startle an unwary fisherman or animal, making their attack easier.

Combat: Water leapers attack with their teeth. Up to 12 of the creatures can attack a human-sized victim at the same time. Their leap attack is treated as a normal melee attack, but instead of causing damage, a successful hit forces the victim to roll a successful Dexterity ability check or fall down. Characters sitting in a boat have a +2 bonus to this check, and characters standing up in boats have a -2 penalty. If the boat is a small one, there is a good chance that the character will fall overboard. The water leaper's shriek causes every creature within 30 yards to roll a successful saving throw vs. Spells or be unable to take any action for the next round. A water leaper may not take any other action in a round when it shrieks.

Habitat/Society: Water leapers live in small schools in the lakes of Wales. These schools operate like a wolf pack, showing a rudimentary organization in the hunt. For instance, they will spread out so as to attack a target from all sides at once, and one member may stand a little way off and shriek just as the others are leaping to the attack.

Ecology: Water leapers can live on lake fish, but their appetites are so voracious that they quickly deplete the fish stocks in any lake they inhabit. They seem to prefer the meat of sheep, cattle, and humans who wade into the shallows at the lake's edge and will even try to knock victims into the water from bridges and boats. Water leapers have no natural enemies apart from enraged fishermen and deadlier water monsters such as lake worms and water horses.

Blood Spirit

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any settled
FREQUENCY: Rare
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Violent Oppression
INTELLIGENCE: 7
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Evil

NO. APPEARING: 1-4
ARMOR CLASS: 0
MOVEMENT: 12
HIT DICE: 1
THAC0: 20
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d3 (talons)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Possession
SPECIAL DEFENSE: +1 or better to hit
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: S (3')
MORALE: Fanatic (17)
XP VALUE: 60

These spirits arise in locations of constant violence, where emotions run the gamut from executioners' feelings of guilt to victims' feelings of self-righteousness to onlookers' feelings of vindication on the part of the victims against the oppressor. Examples are situations of domestic abuse or sites where many executions or torture sessions are performed by various executioners of varying moral outlooks.
Although their point of origin can be considered their home, these spirits are unusual insofar as they may wander far and wide: They are attracted to situations where strong individuals abuse the weak. As such, there is an 11% chance 1d6 bloodspirits are present at any such location.
When bloodspirits manifest themselves, they tend to remain invisible, but if somehow forced to become visible, they resemble the kind of stick figures an abused child might draw: They have small, rail-thin bodies with spindly arms that end in talons, and bulbous heads of irregular oblong shapes that sport large eyes and broad, fang-filled mouths. Often, their mouths are impossibly wide, even to the point where they are wider than the spirit's head.

Combat: Bloodspirits do not typically enter combat themselves. They will attempt to defend themselves as best they can if somehow forced into melee, but at the earliest possible moment they will flee to the spirit world. Much like the abusers that gave rise to them, bloodspirits are, essentially, cowards. Their preferred method of attack is to possess a bully, and let his or her actions speak for them. Bloodspirits exclusively target those who bully or other otherwise victimize the innocent with their activities. They either infuse their target with overwhelming guilt over his unpleasant ways, or with an overwhelming desire to take his behavior to extreme. There is a 50% chance of either, checked for at the time of possession.
Whenever a target in-fused with guilt attempts to abuse a defenseless person, or witnesses such abuse, he or she must save vs. spell. A failed save means the character must flee the location for 1d4 hours, overtaken by guilt, or must leap to the defense of the person(s) being abused, even to the point of using force to defend them in order to soothe his or her own guilty conscience.
Whenever a target infused with a sense of extremism uses force against a weaker or defenseless victim, he or she must save vs. paralysis. If the save is successful, the possessed character is filled with murderous rage and will attack with deadly force for 2d4 rounds.

Accepted Alignments: Any good.

Familiarity: Bloodspirits cannot be approached by shamans, but will always approach them instead. Bloodspirits will offer their assistance to any shaman who consistently stands up for those who are weak and preyed upon by bullies. A shaman who consistently -- at least three times in a row -- opposes oppressors and bullies, even at the expense of his own safety, attracts the attentions of 1d6 bloodspirits, each of whom will refuse to make contact with all others, and will ignore all such efforts, unless under the influence of a charm spirit spell.

Demands: Bloodspirits place few demands on shamans other than that they continue the activity that attracted the bloodspirits in the first place. Ironically, bloodspirits' only goal seems to be stopping the very activity that spawns and sustains them. Although they frequently end the
abuse by forcing the abuser to kill his victim, they still see this as a victory. Unfortunately, of course, there will always be plenty of cruelty and petty, violent abusers for the bloodspirits to live on.
Should a shaman who uses spells sponsored by one or more bloodspirits ever become that which they loathe, they will withhold the spells until the shaman has liberated a number of people from victimization (be they a group of slaves, or a family suffering under the yoke of a drunken father). If the shaman continues to victimize those less powerful than he or she after such restitution is made, the spells will be withheld permanently, with a cumulative 10% chance for each instance that the bloodspirits will possess their former ally.

Benefits: Although relatively weak, bloodspirits can nonetheless sponsor an eclectic array of spells.
From the tribal shaman's spell list, they may sponsor bind fetish and circle of protection from spirits.
From the solitary shaman's list, they may sponsor sense nature of spirit.
From the spiritualist's list, they may sponsor death candle and create sanctuary.
Bloodspirits can also sponsor priestly spells of the Guardian sphere up to 3rd level.

Bogeymen, Greater & Lesser

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any
FREQUENCY: Uncommon
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Fear
INTELLIGENCE: 10
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Evil

NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 5
MOVEMENT: 12
HIT DICE: 1 or 3
THAC0: 20 or 18
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d4/1d4 x 2 (bite and claws)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSE: +1 or better to hit
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: M
MORALE: Fanatic (20)
XP VALUE: 350

Bogeymen are the creations of peoples irrational fears and superstitions, of their irrational, waking nightmares. Most are fairly weak (only 1 Hit Die), but from the overwhelming fear of one individual or the trepidation of whole community greater bogeymen are created.
Bogeymen consider vindictiveness and cruelty the only worthwhile pursuits, akin to art. Those who are suitably despicable they admire; others they consider fair game.
Although all are different bogeymen are inevitably grotesque, appearing as huge hairless dogs, rotting corpses, parodies of the viewers' loved ones, etc.

Combat: Bogeymen are motivated by the need to inspire fear, and will most often focus on this during combat. Favored tactics include apparently launching fearsome attacks, during which the spirit has a +4 bonus to hit, but actually only inflicts a single point of damage, and then springing a seemingly innocuous attack that causes 1d4 points for its bite, and 1d4 each for its clawed hands. Bogeymen also have the ability to cast hold person once a day, and will slowly tear held victims apart instead of kiling them instantly; and once per day it may teleport any object within 10 yards, up to 20 pounds in weight, into its own hand (including a fighter's valued sword). Both lesser and greater bogeymen have these abilities. Additionally, the greater bogeymen may create an illusion of any powerful enemy the character facing it has recently dispatched. This illusion has all the statistics and abilities of a geist (see the Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendix III).

Accepted Alignments: None. Bogeymen have no desire to cooperate with mortals for any reasons beyond tormenting them.

Familiarity: First the shaman must avoid attack by convincing the spirit he or she is as sick and twisted as the bogeyman by presenting it with a suitably disgusting gift (not requiring a formal sacrifice), like a meal prepared from the brains of a still living monkey. Then, a charm spirit spell is needed to make the spirit cooperative.

Demands: None. Bogeymen have no interest in mortal affairs. They exist only for the fear they can instill in mortals.

Benefits: Bogeymen can provide shamans with the death candle spell, but will only do so if coerced or charmed.

Fenette

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Streams and rivers
FREQUENCY: Rare
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Male life force
INTELLIGENCE: 14
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Evil

NO. APPEARING: 1-4
ARMOR CLASS: 10
MOVEMENT: 10
HIT DICE: 1
THAC0: 20
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d3 +7 punch
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Shapechange
SPECIAL DEFENSE: +1 or better to hit, immunity to charm spirit
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: M
MORALE: Champion (15-16)
XP VALUE: 175

Oftentimes the bereaved need explanations for the deaths of their loved ones, and if there is no logical explanation presents itself, a fantastic solution will be invented. If this answer catches the imagination of enough people, it will give rise to a new form of spirit.
This is how the fenettes came to dwell in the waterways of a particular region: One widow claimed that temptresses lived in the river, and that it was they who had lured her husband to a watery death, not drink and darkness as some neighbors claimed.
The fenettes appear most frequently as slender young women with long hair that clings to their bodies with moisture. They will either use this pleasant form to lure men to the edge of river, or they will use their shapechange ability (making them one of the few spirits with this power) to appear like a gold ring or other valuable item laying near on the bottom near the edge. When the opportunity presents itself, they embrace their victim like a vise (20 Strength) and drag him to a watery doom.
Although these spirits are often mistaken for nymphs, these malign creatures have nothing in common with that race.

Combat: Fenettes try to avoid direct confrontations, preferring lone victims that are easily killed. However, if forced to fight, their slender forms belie their massive strength: They are more lethal in hand-to-hand combat than many warriors are with swords, and have reportedly punched straight through a man's chest on occasion. More often, however, a fenette simply shapechanges into a fish and swims away should she be faced with a foe or force that is beyond her ability to deal with. Should all else fail, she can animate the bodies of unrecovered victims. There are 1d6 of these foul corpses at the fenette's disposal. They have the attributes of sea zombies. (See the Monstrous Manual for details.)

Accepted Alignments: Any. (See below.)

Familiarity: It is virtually impossible for any male to approach a fenette and not either become a victim or walk away empty-handed; fenettes see only targets in males, be they shamans or not. Only a woman can safely approach a fenette, and in order to become familiar with one, all the woman has to do is know where to find her.

Demands: Ironically, the fenettes claim that they drag men into the river because they are lonely. They pine for the company of men, but can never have any. For this reason, they demand that any female shaman receiving spells or benefits from a fenette bring them at least one male per month, and spend one night each week telling the spirit all about her love life. If the shaman is having poor luck on the romance front, the fenette is serious and full of helpful advice, but greets happy romantic developments with the giggly excitement of a young teenage girl.

Benefits: Fenettes sponsor 2nd- to 4th-level spells from the solitary shaman spell lists, as well as priest spells from the Elemental Water sphere of up to 4th level. Additionally, they grant favored servants with the ability to cast waterbreathing once per day.

Fetish Spirits

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any structure or area where crimes are punished and sentences handed down
FREQUENCY: Common
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Sacrifices
INTELLIGENCE: 9
ALIGNMENT: Lawful Evil

NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 5
MOVEMENT: 10
HIT DICE: 3
THAC0: 18
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d6
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil
SPECIAL DEFENSE: +1 or better to hit
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: S
MORALE: Champion (15-16)
XP VALUE: 50

Fetish spirits are malicious little spirits, prone to sycophantic adoration of those who bind or own them, that are created by a combination of the wishes of those who use the law to advance their own selfish desires over justice, and those who feel they've been wronged by the law. They are stupid, foolish beings. They appear as misshapen, goblinoid creatures, but have an air of unreality about them. Colored in shades of gray, they appear to be a child's painting come to life.
Fetish spirits are obsessed with bringing "justice" to the world, and their sole expertise is in vindicating their own malicious actions. Still, they refuse to aid shamans and others in criminal acts or unprovoked evil.

Combat: Each fetish spirit has a particular power that may be harnessed by binding the creature into a physical object, such as an amulet. The spirit eagerly uses this power as the owner wishes (though only once per day) in order to help the owner right wrongs, gain vengeance, bring wrongdoers to justice.
The DM should invent appropriate powers for each fetish spirit, but they may also be determined randomly. In that case, the DM should roll 1d20 and consult the following list: Each fetish power, works as the priest spell of the same name. 1-4 Curse, 5-7 Cause light wounds, 8-9 Detect evil, 10 Detect poison, 11-15 Detect lie, 14-16 Protection from good, 17-18 Cause disease, 19 Cause blindness, 20 Cause deafness.

Accepted Alignments: Any lawful.

Familiarity: When unbound, fetish spirits cannot be approached by mortals for aid.

Demands: None when "wild," other than their obsession with justice. Encounters should adhere to the fetish spirit's sense of justice. When bound into physical objects, fetish spirits require one animal gift per month (a mouse or bird will suffice), the blood to be poured over the fetish object. If this is not forthcoming they refuse to let their owners use their powers until they have had the blood they feel they are owed.

Benefits: Any person who owns a fetish object (into which such a spirit is bound) may direct its powers for any lawful ends. Fetishes hate dishonesty,betrayal, theft, murder -- in fact, they hate anything commonly considered a crime, or that they could argue to be criminal. They love nothing as much as to punish "criminals" at their masters' commands. Of course, the sycophantic spirits are largely blind to their masters' own faults, but still they do not allow their powers to be used for any criminal action -- unless the act is itself in revenge for a previous crime.

Ghost Packs

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Settled Areas
FREQUENCY: Uncommon
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Sacrifices
INTELLIGENCE: 2
ALIGNMENT: Neutral

NO. APPEARING: 1 (1-20 pack members)
ARMOR CLASS: 5
MOVEMENT: 10
HIT DICE: 1 per member
THAC0: As per animal type
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: As per animal type
SPECIAL ATTACKS: As per animal type
SPECIAL DEFENSE: +1 or better to hit, and see below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: As per animal type
MORALE: Champion (15-16)
XP VALUE: As per individual animal type + 2 HD

Ghost packs are the remnants of great packs of predators made extinct by the spread of civilization. They continue to hunt their mortal lands, regardless of the changes to the area. Some cities are prone to infestations of ghostly wolves, while plantations may suffer from ghost lions, and so on. Rare packs have been discovered led by nemeses or rogue heroes.
The members of ghost packs appear as they did while they lived, though they often appear to be unhealthily thin. Some have red, black, or opaque eyes; others pure white or black fur.

Combat: Ghost packs attack as their living counterparts would, but they are not stopped by walls and other trapping of civilization. Ghost packs pass through them as if they were not there. A circle of protection from spirits and create sanctuary are the two ways to stave off these spirits.

Accepted Alignments: Any.

Familiarity: Characters who wish to become familiar with these spirits must bring them a live specimen of a species they once hunted but can no longer find in the area. The ghost pack will then hunt the animal, and will perform a service for the character. (This is not a formal sacrifice, and does not require a Shamanic Ritual proficiency check.)

Demands: Shamans must protect the pack from those who would prevent it from hunting. In return the pack can offer few spells, but the spirits will protect the shaman if his life is in grave danger, descending upon those who threaten their ally and tearing them to shreds. Ghost packs have no interest in mortals' worship.

Benefits: Ghost packs can sponsor up to 2nd-level spells from the priestly Animal sphere, and up to 4th-level spells from the solitary shaman's list.

Great Spirits

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any
FREQUENCY: Very rare
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Sacrifices
INTELLIGENCE: 18
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Neutral

NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 0
MOVEMENT: 18
HIT DICE: 15
THAC0: 6
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d20 (see below)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSE: +4 or better to hit
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 50%
SIZE: H
MORALE: Fearless (20)
XP VALUE: 8,000

The great spirits are the most powerful and most distant of all spirit kind. Only powerful shamans can contact them, and those who attempt to use binding spells or other spirit-controlling magic on them come to bad ends.
Each great spirit is linked with a notable natural or supernatural phenomenon. Examples include the Four Winds (North Wind, South Wind, and so on), The Rain-maker, Fire, The Sun, Lightning, The Master of the Clouds, The Sky, and potentially dozens of others.
Each great spirit has its own appearance, inevitably mirroring its nature -- the Four Winds as columns of wind, Lightning as a giant swinging a basket of lightning around his head, and so on.

Combat: The likelihood a great spirit will enter into combat against a player character is virtually nonexistent. Should the spirit choose to manifest itself to mortals who then do not show it the proper respect, the spirit will retreat to its home. Should the spirit be forced to fight, it may cast command three times per day, and may control any element or force intimately connected with it to inflict
1d20 points of damage to the offending characters each round. (For example, The North Wind may cause gale force, freezing winds to rise from the north and blow all kinds of debris at the characters.)

Accepted Alignments: Any.

Familiarity: A great spirit accepts any shaman of 3rd level or higher who has demonstrated that he or she shares the traits of that spirit. For example, The North Wind expects icy and merciless aloofness (preferring evil shamans); Fire demands that shamans be adaptable and powerful; Lightning only has time for those who are loud, foul tempered, and brash.

Demands: The great spirits require that shamans continue to display the same characteristics that earned the spirit's admiration, and take no other great spirit as a patron. They have no need for worship, as mortals' awareness of and awe over natural and unnatural phenomena is all they need to retain their existence.

Benefits: Great spirits grant any spells from the solitary shaman list, as well as tribal shaman spells up to 5th level. They may also grant priest spells of an appropriate sphere up to 4th level. "Appropriate" spheres are ones associated with the natural force the spirit represents: The Four Winds, for example, can grant Weather and Elemental Air spells, while Fire grants spells from the spheres of Elemental Fire and Chaos.
Further, on those rare occasions when a great spirit chooses a mortal champion to defend it or to advance its element in the natural world, mortal receives a Permanent bless for the time that he or she serves the spirit.

Guardian Spirits

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any/ruins
FREQUENCY: Rare
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Sacrifices
INTELLIGENCE: 13
ALIGNMENT: Any lawful

NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 3
MOVEMENT: 8
HIT DICE: 5
THAC0: 16
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSE: +2 or better to hit, immunity to charm spirit spells
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: M
MORALE: Fearless (20)
XP VALUE: 1,400

Guardian spirits are often found at sites of desperate defenses and last stands that are featured in tales and legends. Formed from the loyalty, discipline, and fear of mortals who once guarded the object or site, and given more solid existence by the legends that have grown up around the place, they are single-minded in their dedication.
Guardian spirits resemble the mortals whose tasks they continue, with the features, weapons and trappings of those people. Most appear as soldiers, though rare guardian spirits appear in forms as children, frenzied dogs, wizards, and so on.

Combat: Guardian spirits, regardless of their appearance, have the THAC0 of a 5th-level fighter, but receive two attacks per round. Although they inflict the damage of whatever weapon they appear to be wielding (which is invariably a traditional warrior weapon of whatever culture they belong to), each hit scored prompts the target to save vs. paralyzation. If the save is failed, the target loses one point of Constitution (with appropriate loss of bonus hit points, if any). Lost Constitution points are recovered at a rate of one point per week.

Accepted Alignments: Any lawful.

Familiarity: Guardians respond favorably to anyone who helps guard their site. Merely expressing a willingness or ability to do so is insufficient: The character must join the guardian spirit for 1d6 days on its vigil before it agrees to become the character's patron. They respect steadfastness, loyalty, patience, and courage, and should a shaman prove that he does not have those traits, the guardian will refuse to grant spells until the shaman has learned discipline.

Demands: They expect shamans to continue to help with the defense of the site as necessary. Guardian spirits have no interest in worship.

Benefits: Guardian spirits can grant any spells of the priestly Guardian sphere, 1st- and 2nd-level spells of the Combat sphere, up to 3rd-level spells from the solitary shaman list, plus the priestly bless spell.

Hero Spirits

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Sacred mountains/tribal lands
FREQUENCY: Uncommon
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Sacrifices
INTELLIGENCE: 15
ALIGNMENT: Any lawful or good

NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 0
MOVEMENT: 12
HIT DICE: 10
THAC0: 11
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE/ATTACK: By traditional weapon
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Cause fear in all opponents of 3rd level or less. (Effects mimic the cause fear spell.)
SPECIAL DEFENSE: +3 or better to hit, plus see below.
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: M
MORALE: Fanatic (18)
XP VALUE: 5,000

Hero spirits are figures of myth and epic legends -- founders of tribes, great warriors who saved an entire people, and so on. They are inevitably perfect examples of manhood or womanhood, physically flawless, fit and muscular, and embodying all that their people consider virtuous and praiseworthy.
Where people venerate their ancestors, hero spirits often lead the ancestors, but just as often the hero spirits strike out alone, patrolling the tribal lands. Stories tell of contemporary heroes receiving warnings, aid or guidance from these mythic figures in times of crisis.
Like the ancestors, hero spirits embody traditional values and disapprove of innovation. They also admire courage, strength, skill and panache.

Combat: Hero spirits attack twice per round with whatever weapons legend states they preferred in life. Once per round, instead of attacking, the hero spirit may automatically make one dramatic defense, such as snatching an arrow from midflight, leaping over the head of an assailant and so on. This forces a morale check in characters 5th level and lower.

Accepted Alignments: Any good and lawful neutral.

Familiarity: Most shamans must build a shrine and dedicate an additional 100 gp worth of sacrifice to the spirit to win its familiarity. Shamans of 8th level or higher do not have to make any effort to establish relations. as all hero spirits automatically recognize them as outstanding mortals, worthy of their attentions.

Demands: Shamans must ensure that 500 gp worth of sacrifice is directed to the hero spirit per year (from the shaman personally or from others), must maintain a shrine to it, and must successfully defend the hero's people/descendants. Moreover, the spirit insists that the shaman proclaim that his or her own deeds are only accomplished with its aid, and promote stories of its heroism above those of other hero spirits. (Shamans cannot therefore, serve two hero spirits simultaneously.) When a shaman reaches 8th level, he or she needs no longer attribute success to the hero spirit The spirit now accepts the shaman's achievements as the deeds of an equal. Still, the hero spirit expects the shaman to work for the safety of the tribe, and relate the tales of its deeds to the young tribe members.
Hero spirits do not accept worship and sacrifices from common people. However, they do accept the worship of living heroes, and look favorably upon the sacrifice of any member of the tribe who has reached at least 5th level. Minimum sacrifice is usually cattle or similar animals worth 1,000 gp per year, but heroes who have nothing --
because they have worked selflessly for the good of the tribe -- need not make sacrifice.

Benefits: Hero spirits can sponsor any spell from the tribal shaman's spell list, as well as any 1st-level priest spell. A supplicant of 5th level and above also gains the ability to perform one act of impossible dramatic heroism per week (such as stunning a dragon with a punch). The limits of the power are determined by the DM.