Walking Egg Working Draft
Alkada, Walking Egg
Small Aberration
Hit Dice: 2d8+2 (11 hp)
Initiative: -2
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares)
Armor Class: 12 (+1 size, +3 natural, -2 Dex), touch 9, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+1
Attack: Tentacle +2 melee (1)
Full Attack: 8 tentacles +2 melee (1) and bite -4 melee (3d4)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft. (10 ft. w/tentacles)
Special Attacks: Death throes, improved grab, poison
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., immunity to adhesion, immunity to fire, immunity to stunning, shortsighted, spell resistance 14
Saves: Fort +1, Ref -2, Will +3
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 7, Con 12, Int 6, Wis 10, Cha 13
Skills: Climb +10, Listen +3
Feats: Weapon Focus (tentacles)
Environment: Temperate or warm land and underground
Organization: Solitary or pair
Challenge Rating: 2
Treasure: no coins, double goods (gems only), no items
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 3-4 HD (Small); 5-6 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: —
This creature looks like an upright, blue-green egg with a purple base. A writhing nest of tentacles emerge from the pointed top of the "egg", just above a pair of large, sad-looking eyes. Set in the center of its tentacles is an oversized beak-like mouth. The creature walks on two rubbery legs and had a pair of puny arms near its mid-body. Its arms flap constantly, as if the bizarre lifeform were trying to fly.
A walking egg is a type of creature called the alkada, a group that includes the wingless wonder. Walking eggs have 8 or 12, wingless wonders have 10 tentacles. A walking eggs's tentacles can stretch to 10 feet or more in length, or retract into their body until they're less than a foot long.
Alkada often make a high-pitched chittering, and redden when angry or excited. They are short-sighted, curious and fearlessly stupid. An alkada is attracted by red or purple, the brighter the more alluring, and are fascinated by sparkly translucent objects, which they swallow and carry in their stomach. These trophies may include valuable gems or crystals among the polished pieces of glass and pretty pebbles, but the alkada must be cut open to extract its shiny treasure.
Most of an alkada's diet is vegetation, supplemented by whatever small animals come within reach of their tentacles. An alkada's favorite food is ripe fruit, but they will eat almost any living (or once living) thing they can fit into their mouths. They can live off carrion, kitchen refuse and animal wastes provided they occasionally dine on fresh plants. Alkada never attack each other, but will feed off a dead alkada once it is rotting.
Alkada are hermaphrodites. Whenever a solitary alkada meets another of its species, they entwine tentacles and chitter passionately for several minutes, exchanging fluids that fertilize pea-shaped eggs inside their partner. They usually then separate to continue their solitary lives, but may wander together as a mated pair. Alkada can carry up to a dozen eggs, but only fertilize one each time they meet another alkada. Pregnant alkada radiate an eldritch purple-white glow that sheds light equal to a candle. Six to seven months after fertilization the alkada excretes a fully-developed egg, rubbery and as large as a human head, which splits open to reveal a juvenile alkada. A newly hatched alkada can live independently; it often accompanies its parent for a while but is expected to fend for itself.
A walking egg stands about 4 feet tall, including a nest of tentacles averaging 18 inches high. They weigh about 40 pounds.
Alkada do not speak, their chittering carries no more meaning than an animal's cries.
COMBAT
An alkada wanders about aimlessly, feeling everything around itself with its tentacles. If it touches something that feels tasty it may decide to attack, chittering excitedly as it tries to grab the prospective meal and bite it.
Alkada are erratic creatures who seem oblivious to their surroundings. They may blunder into the midst of a battle or ignore a threatening enemy, but will defend themselves once attacked.
An opponent can attack an walking egg's tentacles with a sunder attempt as if they were weapons. A walking egg's tentacles have 2 hit points each. If a walking egg is currently grappling a target with the tentacle that is being attacked, it usually uses another limb to make its attack of opportunity against the opponent making the sunder attempt. A walking egg takes no damage from having a tentacle severed or destroyed. A severed tentacle dies and can no longer be used to attack, but the walking egg takes no other penalties. Severed tentacles regrow in 1d4+4 days.
Death Throes (Su): If a walking egg is killed, its dying mind lashes out with invisible beams of telekinetic force as a free action. All creatures within 120 ft. of the walking egg that have hurt the walking egg within the last hour are automatically hit by a beam for 4d4 points of force damage. These unerring beams do not need line of sight to hit their target, but do require line of effect.
Immunity To Adhesion (Ex): No known adhesive will stick to a walking egg's skin. This makes walking eggs immune to effects such as tanglefoot bags, adhesive webs (both from monstrous spiders and the
web spell) and even
sovereign glue. This immunity offers no protection against other sorts of grappling or entangling attack.
Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a walking egg must hit an opponent of any size with a tentacle attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and automatically deals bite damage. *A walking egg has a +4 racial bonus on grapple checks.
Poison (Ex): Eating alkada flesh exposes the eater to the following poison:
Alkada flesh: ingested, Fortitude DC 12, initial damage nauseated for 1d4 rounds then sickened for 1d6 minutes, secondary damage 1d8 Con plus 2d10 minutes sickened. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Shortsighted (Ex): Alkada have difficulty seeing anything further than 10 ft. away and are virtually blind at long distances. Instead of the normal -1 penalty per 10 feet of distance, an alkada has a -4 penalty on Spot checks for the first 10 feet of distance, increased by -2 per additional 10 feet.
Skills: An alkada has a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks.
Pregnant Alkada
Alkada that are carrying fertilized eggs gain the following special quality.
Maternal Glow (Su): Pregnant alkada radiate an eldritch purple-white glow that sheds light equal to a candle.
Walking Egg Advancement
Medium-sized walking eggs have 12 tentacles, allowing them to make 12 tentacle attacks with a full attack. A Medium-sized walking egg's bite attack does 3d6 damage; each of its tentacles has a 15 ft. reach and does 1 hit point of damage.
In Faerûn
In recent years, it has been fashionable for powerful wizards to use
polymorph any object to transform their rivals into alkada. Such transformed walking eggs cannot speak or perform precise gestures so are unable to cast spells with verbal or somatic components, so most are stuck in alkada form until they can find someone to break the enchantment upon them.
In the underdark of Faerûn, certain drow wizards have developed a secret
wonderform spell that enables them to transform into wingless wonders and retain their spellcasting abilities. They often use this spell to hide their activities from the drow Matriarchs and the clerics of Lolth. See the
wingless wonder for details.
Originally appeared in Dragon Magazine issue 40 (1980)
This looks good, though.
