Gargoyle (Of The Tors)
FREQUENCY: Uncommon-Very Rare
NO. APPEARING: 1-2 (2-185)
ARMOR CLASS: 5 (body: AC 0 wings)
MOVE: 9" /15" (MC: C; F without wings)
HIT DICE: 4+4
% IN LAIR: 20%
TREASURE TYPE: Vegetables
NO. OF ATTACKS: 4
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-3/1-3/1-6/1-4
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil
SPECIAL DEFENSES: + 1 to hit (body only)
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Low
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: M
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
A tor gargoyle is almost identical in appearance to a common gargoyle, but its primary physical difference is highly unusual-detachable wings. Sages have theorized that artwork and recorded sightings of wingless gargoyles, previously unexplainable, refer to this subspecies. Indeed, some have proposed that detachable wings may be the norm among gargoyles, but the evil and vicious nature of the common gargoyle makes this hypothesis unverifiable.
A tor gargoyle's wings are attached to its body by a special joint. Ligaments hold the wings in place until they are fully grown, at which time the ligaments decay, making the wings easily detachable. Detachability makes it easier for the tor gargoyle to move around in its favorite locales (ruins and underground caverns) and allows the tor gargoyle to lie on its back, solving many vexing problems regarding sleeping and mating.
A tor gargoyle grows several pairs of wings during its lifetime, but upon reaching adulthood will do so only to replace wings that have been lost. Growing a pair of wings is a long process for an adult tor gargoyle, requiring years.
Without its wings, a tor gargoyle flies with maneuverability class F. This means that the gargoyle takes four rounds to reach full speed, and that its flight path is utterly uncontrollable. A wingless tor gargoyle cartwheels through the skies, ricocheting like a pinball off all objects in its path. Such flights are short and almost inevitably end with the tor gargoyle plowing face-first into the ground.
The non-magical wings of a tor gargoyle can be attacked separately from its magical body. The wings are hit on a successful roll to hit AC 0 when the attacker is specifically targeting the wings. The wings can suffer 7-12 hit points of damage before being destroyed. Such damage does not count against the tor gargoyle's normal hit points (and vice versa).
The tor gargoyle differs from its more common relative in other ways, as well. Tor gargoyles are peaceful gargoylesnot ferocious predators at all. They are vegetarians, living on a diet of potatoes and turnips. They have been known to eat small, inoffensive animals when very hungry but they never attack anything more formidable than a sheep.
It is possible for tor gargoyles to coexist with humans and demi-humans. A tor gargoyle typically extorts its food from human communities, although the extortion is usually polite and good-natured. Those who do not cooperate are stuck with a clumsy, stupid, whining beggar until they give the wretch some food.
A tor gargoyle will never deliberately attack a human unless provoked; since no one can be sure what will provoke a tor gargoyle, wise humans avoid the creatures.
Possession of a set of tor gargoyle wings is of no benefit to land-bound creatures (such as humans), as they cannot fly in the first place. The wings are in fact useless to non-gargoyles except as curiosities.
Note: An article, authored by David A. Collins, appeared in POLYHEDRON(tm) Newszine #23 (the April 1985 issue), speculating about why the gargoyle and the margoyle are pictured in the Monster Manual sans wings, even though able to fly. The article suggested that the most plausible explanation is that gargoyles have the innate ability to fly without wings, but that they use non-magical detachable wings for maneuvering. This is the basis for the tor gargoyle in this adventure.
The DM must decide whether or not to make the tor gargoyle the prevalent type of its species. If this is done, a thriving monster species will be threatened with terminal wimphood. Given the behavior of the gargoyles in this adventure, it seems likely that the tor gargoyle is either the product of yet another mad wizard's experiment or else the product of a shocking combination of recessive mutant genes. The tor gargoyle seems fated for extinction. However, for those really bothered by artistic representations of wingless gargoyles and margoyles, this is as good an explanation as any.
Originally appeared in WG9: Gargoyle (1989).
Echohawk from another thread said:
Aside: "TREASURE TYPE: Vegetables"?!?
Indeed.
