The October 2000 issue of Dragon (accompanying the 3e MM's release) introduced a number of new and interesting monsters. One was the Avolakia, which I was pleased to find presented in MMII, despite having an absolutely terrible (not to mention inaccurate) illustration.
Another was the Ulgarstasta. It was a gargantuan slug-like undead filled with necromatic fluids. It consumes living creatures, absorbs their flesh, lifeforce, and memories, then excretes them as skeletal undead under its dominion. The more intelligent creatures it consumes, the smarter it gets.
Then there were a chitinous critter called a riftjumper. Although only medium-sized, its elongated cricket-like legs give it a 10-foot reach and a massive bonus to jump checks. It also has a poisonous bite that drains the target's DEX. These nasty little canyon-dwelling buggers have a fairly nifty hunting technique. The standard tactic is to lurk around a gorge waiting for some unsuspecting prey to come along on the opposite side. Using Spring Attack the riftjumpers leap across the span and deliver a nasty nip before jumping back to the other side. Should a victim petrify from loss of DEX, they leap back across and kick it off the cliffside, whereupon the body is smashed to bits on the rocky ground below. The riftjumpers hop down and gobble up the goodies like it was a burst pinata.
As you can tell, I really liked these mobs, but the entries had some glitches due to the newness of the system and I'd hoped for an official product with revised entries. Anyone seen these creatures in another WotC product?
Another was the Ulgarstasta. It was a gargantuan slug-like undead filled with necromatic fluids. It consumes living creatures, absorbs their flesh, lifeforce, and memories, then excretes them as skeletal undead under its dominion. The more intelligent creatures it consumes, the smarter it gets.
Then there were a chitinous critter called a riftjumper. Although only medium-sized, its elongated cricket-like legs give it a 10-foot reach and a massive bonus to jump checks. It also has a poisonous bite that drains the target's DEX. These nasty little canyon-dwelling buggers have a fairly nifty hunting technique. The standard tactic is to lurk around a gorge waiting for some unsuspecting prey to come along on the opposite side. Using Spring Attack the riftjumpers leap across the span and deliver a nasty nip before jumping back to the other side. Should a victim petrify from loss of DEX, they leap back across and kick it off the cliffside, whereupon the body is smashed to bits on the rocky ground below. The riftjumpers hop down and gobble up the goodies like it was a burst pinata.
As you can tell, I really liked these mobs, but the entries had some glitches due to the newness of the system and I'd hoped for an official product with revised entries. Anyone seen these creatures in another WotC product?
