Converting prehistoric animals
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Raven Crowking
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BOZ said:cool.any requests? (must be something that has had stats in at least one edition of D&D)
Yes! I remember the Hallucingenia (sp?) appearing in one issue of Dragon long ago (206 or 209, I think). I'd love to see updated stats.
RC
Raven Crowking
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Bump
Knight Otu
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Actually... (Jester's index be thanked!)
Raven Crowking
First Post
Thanks for the Hallucigenia link!
RC
RC
BOZ
Creature Cataloguer
sorry, things were getting so off the topic, i had to split the thread. 
BOZ
Creature Cataloguer
Excerpt from Gregory W. Detwiler’s article “Creatures That Time Forgot,” from Dragon #204 (Apr 1994). Keep in mind that the actual fossils are actually smaller than Tiny, and the stats he came up with were increased greatly to make more effective monsters. These monsters were written up for two game systems simultaneously, if you were wondering about the weird wording in places. There were over a dozen creatures in this article, so I’m only working on the 3 varieties of hallucigenia, as requested.
Will make some stat blocks soon. I think the first issue is… Vermin or Animal?
Here we go:
*****
To simplify the listings, all creatures will conform to the following AD&D statistics unless otherwise noted:
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Shallow sea floor
DIET: Carnivore/Scavenger
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Day
ORGANIZATION: Solitary
INTELLIGENCE: Animal
TREASURE: Nil
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
All these animals walk or crawl on the bottom of the sea, though some can swim. For game purposes, I’ve assumed that some can come out of the water for short periods of time.
Hallucigenia
FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 1-4
ARMOR CLASS: 5
MOVEMENT: 9
HIT DICE: 9
THAC0: 11
NO. OF ATTACKS: 9
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d10/1d6/1d4 (x7)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Trample
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
SIZE: H (25’ long, 18’ high at the shoulder)
MORALE: Fearless (20)
XP VALUE: 3,000
Hallucigenia is well named. Totally unprecedented, it is so strange that no one’s sure about anything regarding this creature. It is assumed that the rounded thing at one end is the head. The thing on the tail end has an opening, and may well be a mouth and throat. Gould has suggested that perhaps this “animal” is only a complicated organ from a much larger creature. Keeping all this in mind, let’s finish this listing.
Like certain other creatures, Hallucigenia may leave the water for an hour or more at a time, wreaking havoc on the local flora and fauna. It has nine standard attacks: the seven back-mounted, pincer-tipped tentacles do 1d4 points of damage each; the cluster of six small tentacles inflict total damage of 1d6; and the throat/tail/whatever can constrict for 1d10 points. In addition, the monster has the option of walking over a prone opponent. Its legs (if that’s what they are) are so sharp that each one does 1d8 points of damage, and Hallucigenia has fourteen of them. That’s a maximum of 112 points of damage for one series of attacks! Remember to roll each attack separately. If the creature is fighting other foes at the same time, we have another 44 points of potential damage. No matter how you look at it, a monster that can dish out 156 points of damage in one combat sequence is a lot of monster!
Hallucigenia, cave
FREQUENCY: Common
NO. APPEARING: 1-12
ARMOR CLASS: 6
MOVEMENT: 2
HIT DICE: 4
THAC0: 17
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d12 +2
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Blood drain
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
SIZE: S (3’ long)
MORALE: Average (9)
XP VALUE: 420
This subspecies of Hallucigenia has evolved to live in caverns on dry land, using its tentacles to climb slowly among the stalactites. It is a pure carnivore, subsisting solely on the blood of its prey.
The creature wraps its tail-tentacles around a stalactite hanging over a likely passage or intersection. When prey appears, the cave Hallucigenia drops down, swinging at the victim while its “tail” stretches to several times its length. AD&D game PCs have a +2 penalty on surprise rolls against this attack. The fourteen spines (or “legs”) slam into the prey, doing up to 14 points of damage. After the initial strike, the Hallucigenia’s powerful tail draws up both predator and prey among the stalactites, where the victim can be drained at leisure. Each combat sequence that the victim is on the spines after the initial strike, he will take 14 points of damage due to blood drain until he is freed (he cannot free himself) or dies.
Hallucigenia subsists only on the victim’s blood, and when it is drained, it drops the body to the cavern floor and leaves it for more conventional predators and scavengers to devour. Thus, the remains of previous victims might provide a warning for alert characters strolling through the area (Wisdom or Intuition checks as appropriate), though not enough to tell them from which direction the imminent attack will come.
Hallucigenia, acidic
FREQUENCY: Rare
NO. APPEARING: 1-2
ARMOR CLASS: 5
MOVEMENT: 4
HIT DICE: 5
THAC0: 15
NO. OF ATTACKS: 13
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d4 (x13)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Acid jet
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Resistance to acid
SIZE: L (8’ long)
MORALE: Average (10)
XP VALUE: 2,000
Here’s another land-dwelling subspecies of Hallucigenia, one that actively hunts its prey. When it corners its prey, or is attacked by an enemy before it can turn around, it rears up on its four rear pairs of legs and lunges forward to counterattack. It can strike with its front three pairs of spinelike legs and all seven pincer-tipped tentacles at once. Each attack does 1d4 points of damage.
When its prey has been slain, Hallucigenia squirts digestive acid on it from the hollow tube that is its tail, softening the body enough for the tentacle pincers—its true mouths—to tear it apart and devour it. If pressed, the creature also uses this as an offensive weapon, one that does 2d8 points of damage. Effective range is ten meters (or 30’ in AD&D terms), and the acid is a thin jet several inches wide, only wide enough to hit a single foe. AD&D characters can avoid this attack by making a successful save vs. breath weapons. This jet may be used three times a day. Due to its particular metabolism, Hallucigenia is immune to all acid-based attacks.
Will make some stat blocks soon. I think the first issue is… Vermin or Animal?
Here we go:
*****
To simplify the listings, all creatures will conform to the following AD&D statistics unless otherwise noted:
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Shallow sea floor
DIET: Carnivore/Scavenger
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Day
ORGANIZATION: Solitary
INTELLIGENCE: Animal
TREASURE: Nil
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
All these animals walk or crawl on the bottom of the sea, though some can swim. For game purposes, I’ve assumed that some can come out of the water for short periods of time.
Hallucigenia
FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 1-4
ARMOR CLASS: 5
MOVEMENT: 9
HIT DICE: 9
THAC0: 11
NO. OF ATTACKS: 9
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d10/1d6/1d4 (x7)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Trample
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
SIZE: H (25’ long, 18’ high at the shoulder)
MORALE: Fearless (20)
XP VALUE: 3,000
Hallucigenia is well named. Totally unprecedented, it is so strange that no one’s sure about anything regarding this creature. It is assumed that the rounded thing at one end is the head. The thing on the tail end has an opening, and may well be a mouth and throat. Gould has suggested that perhaps this “animal” is only a complicated organ from a much larger creature. Keeping all this in mind, let’s finish this listing.
Like certain other creatures, Hallucigenia may leave the water for an hour or more at a time, wreaking havoc on the local flora and fauna. It has nine standard attacks: the seven back-mounted, pincer-tipped tentacles do 1d4 points of damage each; the cluster of six small tentacles inflict total damage of 1d6; and the throat/tail/whatever can constrict for 1d10 points. In addition, the monster has the option of walking over a prone opponent. Its legs (if that’s what they are) are so sharp that each one does 1d8 points of damage, and Hallucigenia has fourteen of them. That’s a maximum of 112 points of damage for one series of attacks! Remember to roll each attack separately. If the creature is fighting other foes at the same time, we have another 44 points of potential damage. No matter how you look at it, a monster that can dish out 156 points of damage in one combat sequence is a lot of monster!
Hallucigenia, cave
FREQUENCY: Common
NO. APPEARING: 1-12
ARMOR CLASS: 6
MOVEMENT: 2
HIT DICE: 4
THAC0: 17
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d12 +2
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Blood drain
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
SIZE: S (3’ long)
MORALE: Average (9)
XP VALUE: 420
This subspecies of Hallucigenia has evolved to live in caverns on dry land, using its tentacles to climb slowly among the stalactites. It is a pure carnivore, subsisting solely on the blood of its prey.
The creature wraps its tail-tentacles around a stalactite hanging over a likely passage or intersection. When prey appears, the cave Hallucigenia drops down, swinging at the victim while its “tail” stretches to several times its length. AD&D game PCs have a +2 penalty on surprise rolls against this attack. The fourteen spines (or “legs”) slam into the prey, doing up to 14 points of damage. After the initial strike, the Hallucigenia’s powerful tail draws up both predator and prey among the stalactites, where the victim can be drained at leisure. Each combat sequence that the victim is on the spines after the initial strike, he will take 14 points of damage due to blood drain until he is freed (he cannot free himself) or dies.
Hallucigenia subsists only on the victim’s blood, and when it is drained, it drops the body to the cavern floor and leaves it for more conventional predators and scavengers to devour. Thus, the remains of previous victims might provide a warning for alert characters strolling through the area (Wisdom or Intuition checks as appropriate), though not enough to tell them from which direction the imminent attack will come.
Hallucigenia, acidic
FREQUENCY: Rare
NO. APPEARING: 1-2
ARMOR CLASS: 5
MOVEMENT: 4
HIT DICE: 5
THAC0: 15
NO. OF ATTACKS: 13
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d4 (x13)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Acid jet
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Resistance to acid
SIZE: L (8’ long)
MORALE: Average (10)
XP VALUE: 2,000
Here’s another land-dwelling subspecies of Hallucigenia, one that actively hunts its prey. When it corners its prey, or is attacked by an enemy before it can turn around, it rears up on its four rear pairs of legs and lunges forward to counterattack. It can strike with its front three pairs of spinelike legs and all seven pincer-tipped tentacles at once. Each attack does 1d4 points of damage.
When its prey has been slain, Hallucigenia squirts digestive acid on it from the hollow tube that is its tail, softening the body enough for the tentacle pincers—its true mouths—to tear it apart and devour it. If pressed, the creature also uses this as an offensive weapon, one that does 2d8 points of damage. Effective range is ten meters (or 30’ in AD&D terms), and the acid is a thin jet several inches wide, only wide enough to hit a single foe. AD&D characters can avoid this attack by making a successful save vs. breath weapons. This jet may be used three times a day. Due to its particular metabolism, Hallucigenia is immune to all acid-based attacks.
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