Converting monsters from Dragon magazine (Part Two)
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Shade
Monster Junkie
Surchur
Created by Jeff Brandt
FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 2
MOVE: 6"
HIT DICE: 5-7
% IN LAIR: 60%
TREASURE TYPE: U,V,W,Z
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 5-20
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 20%
INTELLIGENCE: Average
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: L (9-10' tall)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
This loathsome creature has no redeeming physical features. Vaguely humanoid, the creature’s body is light brown to tan in color. Protruding from the upper front of the body are eight slimy, brownish-green tentacles. These tentacles range from 6-8 feet in length, depending on the creature’s body size.
The mouth of a surchur doesn’t have teeth, but is lined with rows upon rows of sticky cilia that secrete a chemical which digests the flesh of humans and demihumans.
Two stout horns protrude from the middle back of the beast. They are not unlike those of a bull, but somewhat larger. The horns are composed of an ivory-like material which is generally of good quality. Each horn can be sold for100-600 gp, depending on its quality and the size of the surchur it came from.
The surchur will typically attack first by trying to grab a victim in its tentacles; if an 18 or higher is the result of the monster’s “to hit” roll, the victim is caught and immediately takes 5-20 points of damage. During the next two rounds the surchur will attempt to pull the captured victim into its mouth. The victim may attempt to break free in each round, with a base chance of 20% for success, plus 10% for each plus “to hit” the character may have due to high strength.
While the surchur is holding a victim it cannot attack another figure. A victim which is dragged into the surchur’s mouth will take 2-8 points of damage per round from the digestive juices until the victim or the monster is dead. A surchur cannot put more than one victim in its mouth at one time. However,
it prefers fresh food if it has a choice. A second victim can be grabbed and held while the first is in the mouth. When the tentacles have immobilized another victim, the first one will be expelled from the mouth cavity even if it isn’t dead, and the new victim will be engulfed instead.
If the surchur does not succeed in grabbing a victim, it will still do damage to an adversary within range of its tentacles by hitting with the tentacles themselves. A surchur which is not injured will be able to effectively attack with a bunch of five tentacles at once, with each tentacle considered to do 1-4 points of damage on a successful hit. Any blow which is aimed at a tentacle, hits it, and does at least 3 points of damage will sever a tentacle. A surchur with fewer than 5 tentacles intact will do correspondingly less damage from a strike, and a surchur with fewer than 4 tentacles will not keep its grip on a victim as easily; the chance to escape per round is increased to 60% against a surchur with 4 tentacles, +10% for every tentacle less than four.
If a surchur is very hungry, it will continue to attempt grabbing victims as long as it is able. If its appetite has been at least partly satisfied, it will attempt to flee when seriously injured. A surchur’s lost tentacles will grow back in 3-6 days.
The typical climate in which surchurs are found is jungle-like, but they can be found in just about any environment except extreme cold.
Originally appeared in Dragon Magazine #55 (1981).
Created by Jeff Brandt
FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 2
MOVE: 6"
HIT DICE: 5-7
% IN LAIR: 60%
TREASURE TYPE: U,V,W,Z
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 5-20
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 20%
INTELLIGENCE: Average
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: L (9-10' tall)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
This loathsome creature has no redeeming physical features. Vaguely humanoid, the creature’s body is light brown to tan in color. Protruding from the upper front of the body are eight slimy, brownish-green tentacles. These tentacles range from 6-8 feet in length, depending on the creature’s body size.
The mouth of a surchur doesn’t have teeth, but is lined with rows upon rows of sticky cilia that secrete a chemical which digests the flesh of humans and demihumans.
Two stout horns protrude from the middle back of the beast. They are not unlike those of a bull, but somewhat larger. The horns are composed of an ivory-like material which is generally of good quality. Each horn can be sold for100-600 gp, depending on its quality and the size of the surchur it came from.
The surchur will typically attack first by trying to grab a victim in its tentacles; if an 18 or higher is the result of the monster’s “to hit” roll, the victim is caught and immediately takes 5-20 points of damage. During the next two rounds the surchur will attempt to pull the captured victim into its mouth. The victim may attempt to break free in each round, with a base chance of 20% for success, plus 10% for each plus “to hit” the character may have due to high strength.
While the surchur is holding a victim it cannot attack another figure. A victim which is dragged into the surchur’s mouth will take 2-8 points of damage per round from the digestive juices until the victim or the monster is dead. A surchur cannot put more than one victim in its mouth at one time. However,
it prefers fresh food if it has a choice. A second victim can be grabbed and held while the first is in the mouth. When the tentacles have immobilized another victim, the first one will be expelled from the mouth cavity even if it isn’t dead, and the new victim will be engulfed instead.
If the surchur does not succeed in grabbing a victim, it will still do damage to an adversary within range of its tentacles by hitting with the tentacles themselves. A surchur which is not injured will be able to effectively attack with a bunch of five tentacles at once, with each tentacle considered to do 1-4 points of damage on a successful hit. Any blow which is aimed at a tentacle, hits it, and does at least 3 points of damage will sever a tentacle. A surchur with fewer than 5 tentacles intact will do correspondingly less damage from a strike, and a surchur with fewer than 4 tentacles will not keep its grip on a victim as easily; the chance to escape per round is increased to 60% against a surchur with 4 tentacles, +10% for every tentacle less than four.
If a surchur is very hungry, it will continue to attempt grabbing victims as long as it is able. If its appetite has been at least partly satisfied, it will attempt to flee when seriously injured. A surchur’s lost tentacles will grow back in 3-6 days.
The typical climate in which surchurs are found is jungle-like, but they can be found in just about any environment except extreme cold.
Originally appeared in Dragon Magazine #55 (1981).
GrayLinnorm
Explorer
I have this issue, and it looks like an aberration to me.
demiurge1138
Inventor of Super-Toast
Another vote for aberration.
freyar
Extradimensional Explorer
Same here, I think.
Looks like Imp Grab plus Constrict and a modified Swallow Whole (something like Chew, but only acid damage).
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