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Tuyewera
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Tropical, any terrain
FREQUENCY: Uncommon
ORGANIZATION: Bands
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Nil
INTELLIGENCE: Average
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
ALIGNMENT: Any evil
NO. APPEARING: 1-3
ARMOR CLASS: 8
MOVEMENT: 6
HIT DICE: 6
THACO: 15
NO.OF ATTACKS: 1 weapon or fist
DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon type or 1-4
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Steals breath, causes disease
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
SIZE: M
MORALE: Special
XP VALUE: 2,000
The tuyewera is a horrible type of undead monster created by evil clerics in remote jungle villages. The cleric takes the corpse of a man slain by death-magic spells and ritually removes the legs at the knees. The tongue is also severed. The cleric then enchants the corpse, bringing the ancestral spirit of a mage or priest into it to give the corpse a horrid animation.
The tuyewera moves about on its hands and leg stumps. It is as intelligent as a man and has the following thieflike skills: move silently 50%, hide in shadows 90%, pick locks 50%. It serves as a thief and bodyguard to the cleric in addition to being an assassin.
A tuyewera can use a weapon in melee but is restricted to using weapons that can be held in one hand, since the other hand is needed for balance and movement. If disarmed, a tuyewera will strike with its gnarled hand for 1-4 hp damage. Each hit by the hand has a 25% chance to inflict a fatal disease on its opponent, as per the spell cause disease in the 2nd Edition Player's Handbook.
The deadliest attack of the tuyewera is its ability to drain breath. If it encounters a sleeping, unconscious, or helpless person, a tuyewera can suck the breath out of the victim's mouth, thereby slaying him. This requires one full round, at the end of which the victim must save vs. death magic at -4. If he fails to save, he is instantly slain; if he makes his saving throw, he is placed in a deathlike coma for 1-4 days.
As undead, tuyeweras are immune to all mental attacks, cold, sleep, and fear. Holy water does 2-8 hp damage per vial. Tuyeweras are turned as spectres, but an evil cleric cannot take control of a tuyewera away from the cleric who created it.
A special enchantment goes into the making of a tuyewera that renders it immune to all weapons (turning and destructive magic, such as fireball, are still effective). However, there is always a counterspell that removes this enchantment. Clerics who create tuyeweras keep this counterspell handy, just in case they meet someone else's tuyewera.
The spells and counterspells used for creating tuyeweras are granted only by the deities of evil witch doctors in tropical lands. Such spells are not normally available to PCs who do not visit these lands. It is recommended that PCs be unable to create such monsters, but they should be able to use the counterspells to make the tuyeweras vulnerable to attack.
The legendary version of this monster is described in "Out of Africa," in DRAGON issue #122.
"The Leopard Men" by David Howery, Dungeon Magazine #22, March/April 1990, p.35.
Tuyewera
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Tropical, any terrain
FREQUENCY: Uncommon
ORGANIZATION: Bands
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Nil
INTELLIGENCE: Average
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
ALIGNMENT: Any evil
NO. APPEARING: 1-3
ARMOR CLASS: 8
MOVEMENT: 6
HIT DICE: 6
THACO: 15
NO.OF ATTACKS: 1 weapon or fist
DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon type or 1-4
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Steals breath, causes disease
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
SIZE: M
MORALE: Special
XP VALUE: 2,000
The tuyewera is a horrible type of undead monster created by evil clerics in remote jungle villages. The cleric takes the corpse of a man slain by death-magic spells and ritually removes the legs at the knees. The tongue is also severed. The cleric then enchants the corpse, bringing the ancestral spirit of a mage or priest into it to give the corpse a horrid animation.
The tuyewera moves about on its hands and leg stumps. It is as intelligent as a man and has the following thieflike skills: move silently 50%, hide in shadows 90%, pick locks 50%. It serves as a thief and bodyguard to the cleric in addition to being an assassin.
A tuyewera can use a weapon in melee but is restricted to using weapons that can be held in one hand, since the other hand is needed for balance and movement. If disarmed, a tuyewera will strike with its gnarled hand for 1-4 hp damage. Each hit by the hand has a 25% chance to inflict a fatal disease on its opponent, as per the spell cause disease in the 2nd Edition Player's Handbook.
The deadliest attack of the tuyewera is its ability to drain breath. If it encounters a sleeping, unconscious, or helpless person, a tuyewera can suck the breath out of the victim's mouth, thereby slaying him. This requires one full round, at the end of which the victim must save vs. death magic at -4. If he fails to save, he is instantly slain; if he makes his saving throw, he is placed in a deathlike coma for 1-4 days.
As undead, tuyeweras are immune to all mental attacks, cold, sleep, and fear. Holy water does 2-8 hp damage per vial. Tuyeweras are turned as spectres, but an evil cleric cannot take control of a tuyewera away from the cleric who created it.
A special enchantment goes into the making of a tuyewera that renders it immune to all weapons (turning and destructive magic, such as fireball, are still effective). However, there is always a counterspell that removes this enchantment. Clerics who create tuyeweras keep this counterspell handy, just in case they meet someone else's tuyewera.
The spells and counterspells used for creating tuyeweras are granted only by the deities of evil witch doctors in tropical lands. Such spells are not normally available to PCs who do not visit these lands. It is recommended that PCs be unable to create such monsters, but they should be able to use the counterspells to make the tuyeweras vulnerable to attack.
The legendary version of this monster is described in "Out of Africa," in DRAGON issue #122.
"The Leopard Men" by David Howery, Dungeon Magazine #22, March/April 1990, p.35.