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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Faolyn" data-source="post: 8791191" data-attributes="member: 6915329">This article marks the first monster presented in 2e format! Gone are the Percentage in Lair and Psionic Ability entries. Instead, they’re replaced by Climate/Terrain, Organization, Activity Cycle, Diet, THAC0, and Morale. I kinda miss these entries. So what new monsters await us in first ever second edition collection?Joke monsters.Because issue #156 is an April issue. Those of you who read Dragon probably remember this issue—it’s the one with the fat bard on the cover serenading a female beholder. You can tell she’s female because she’s pink and has lipstick.The editors mention that hey, D&D has always had joke monsters: “There were giant evil black squirrels in the Monster Manual II, and there was the flumph and the cavalier, and in the SPELLJAMMER(TM) boxed set are giant-no, we can’t say it. It’s too awful. (Hint: One of them could store a 100-lb. sack of Hartz Mountain Hamster Nummies in each cheek.)” But hey, I did the <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/a-leveled-up-bestiary.689467/page-5#post-8727243" target="_blank">growf</a>, I can do some of these monsters as well.The odd thing about joke monsters is that they’re often quite terrifying, once you get past the silly exterior.The first monster is the death sheep. Yeah, you heard me. The death sheep. As Tom Servo might say, “baa baa black sheep, have you any murder.”[ATTACH=full]263221[/ATTACH]Art by Mark NelsonDeath SheepNot Necessarily The Monstrous Compendium, Dragon Magazine #156Created by Sharon JenkinsDeath sheep look like normal wild sheep, like a bighorn or mouflon, albeit dirty, scraggly-furred ones. But a creature that gets too close to one is likely to become intimately acquainted with the rows of sharp black fangs that fill its venom-drooling mouths, and with the sheep’s unending hunger. They eat any meat they come across, fresh or rotten. They have a particular fondness for wolf meat.Disease-Bearing. These ferocious, fearless carnivores are deadly enough as it is, but their bite also carries a noxious disease that turns victims into unhinged, murderous cannibals and worse yet, causes them to rise as zombies.Strange Origins. One legend tells that death sheep were created by a wizard who was experimenting with a magical form of rabies. Another legend says that the first death sheep was infected with werewolf lycanthropy, and while animals normally aren’t affected by lycanthropy, this one managed to grow fangs and become a violent carnivore. Either way, the traits were passed downLegends and LoreWith a Nature check, the characters can learn the following:DC 10. Death sheep are vicious, bloodthirsty carnivores that travel in herds, eating everything they come across.DC 15. The bite of a death sheep inflicts a cursed disease that causes the victim to become violent and hungry for fresh meat. Curing the disease requires both remove curse and lesser restoration.DC 20. Spellcasters who use death sheep wool as a material component for spells such as silent image report that the illusions take on horrific qualities.Death Sheep EncountersTerrain: grasslands, hills, mountainsCR 3-4 1d4+4 death sheepCR 5-10 2d4+4 death sheep with 1 death sheep herd leader and 2d4 zombies with the Vigor Mortis trait.Signs1-2. Mangled carcasses.3. Sinister-sounding bleating.4. Tufts of wool blood-stained snagged on branches.Behavior1-2. Eating freshly-killed meat.3-4. Hostile; will attack on sight.Death SheepMedium beastChallenge 1/2 (100 XP)AC 12 (natural armor)HP 13 (2d8+4; bloodied 6)Speed 40 ft.STR 14 (+2) DEX 11 (+0) CON 15 (+2)INT 2 (-4) WIS 12 (+1) CHA 6 (-3)Proficiency +2Maneuver DC 12Skills Athletics +2Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, paralyzed, stunnedSenses passive Perception 11Languages —Frenzy. The sheep makes all attacks with advantage and all attacks made against them are made with advantage.ActionsBite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (2d4+2) piercing damage plus 2 (1d4) poison damage, and if the target is a humanoid or a normal sheep, it must make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw be cursed with Mad Sheep Disease. The disease takes 1d4 hours to fully manifest, and symptoms include mania, bloodthirst, aggression, and a desire to eat fresh, raw meat. The target grows long fangs and gains a bite attack that inflicts piercing damage equal to 1d6 plus its Strength modifier. It has disadvantage on Intelligence and Wisdom ability checks. Each time the diseased creature finishes a long rest, its hit point maximum is reduced by 1d4. The creature dies when its hit point maximum becomes 0. Curing this disease requires targeting the creature with both a remove curse and a lesser restoration spell, or with a greater restoration.A humanoid or mundane sheep that dies of Mad Sheep disease rises the following night as a zombie with the Vigor Mortis trait.Ram. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4+2) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a creature and the sheep moves at least 20 feet straight towards the target before the attack, the target takes an extra 2 (1d4) bludgeoning damage and makes a DC 12 Strength saving throw, falling prone on a failure.Bonus ActionsOpportune Bite. The sheep makes a bite attack against a prone creature.CombatA death sheep will use its Ram attack, then relentlessly attack the prone creature. They fight until slain.Variant: Death Sheep Herd LeaderThe leader of a death sheep herd is whichever one manages to eat the most food, as that makes the sheep grow larger and stronger. Typically, only large herds have a herd leader. Herd leaders have four impressive, spiraling horns.A death sheep herd leader is CR 1 (200 XP) and has 32 (5d8+10; bloodied 16) hit points. Its ram attack does 7 (2d4+2) bludgeoning damage, and an extra 5 (2d4) bludgeoning damage if the sheep moves at least 20 feet towards the target.</blockquote>

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