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<blockquote data-quote="Nellisir" data-source="post: 6284288" data-attributes="member: 70"><p>That's true; I should do more research. See if I can dig up some more info.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Those are pretty cool. I'm focusing on lesser-known creatures, and a lot are from heraldry, so the info I've been able to find so far is of the "X is a combination of Z and Y with the horns of A and the tail of B." And there the story ends. :/</p><p></p><p>There is a whole class of "griffon-type" creatures, for instance. The alce has the body of a lion and the head of an eagle; the anzu has the head and foreparts of a lion and the neck, wings, and hindquarters of an eagle; the axex has the head & wings of a hawk and the body of a leopard; duallions are two-headed lions; minoas are like axex but smaller, with a white body and scarlet plume (I might have made this name up); and a polyger is a horned lion.</p><p></p><p>I'm just burning out on writing an adventure seed for a horned lion that different than that of a two-headed lion, and doesn't imitate the existing seeds for lions, tigers, leopards, or other big cats in Tome of Horrors Complete (Swords & Wizardry edition) and Monstrosities (the Swords & Wizardry bestiary).</p><p></p><p>Here's the alce entry. It's a bit longer than I should probably be aiming for, but once I start writing.... <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 15px"><strong>Alce (Least Griffin)</strong></span></p><p></p><p><strong>HD</strong> 6</p><p><strong>AC </strong>5 [14]</p><p><strong>Atk</strong> 2 claws (1d4), 1 bite (2d6)</p><p><strong>Move </strong>12</p><p><strong>Save </strong>11</p><p><strong>AL </strong>Neutrality</p><p><strong>CL/XP </strong>6/400</p><p><strong>Special:</strong> Leap</p><p>Alce have the body of a lion and the head of an eagle. They live in grassy areas with frequent broken ground, and are capable of making great leaps (+1 to hit, +2 damage attacking after a leap). They hunt in packs, encircling their prey before closing in to make the kill.</p><p> </p><p><em>Between a Rock and an Alce Place.</em></p><p>The Denjim Hills mark the descent of the Orphian Mountains into the White Waste. Uplifted sandstone is carved into a tangled maze of canyons, pits, sinkholes, mesas, and buttes. The hills were once home to a peaceful but reclusive race, but only ruins remain now, carved into the cliffs along high ledges, accessible only by narrow stairs or removable ladders.</p><p></p><p>The ruins are hard to spot, difficult to reach, and often cloaked by illusions, so finding one is quite an accomplishment. Luckily, you’ve got a map. An old prospector found a debris pile at the base of a cliff, and after some careful searching uncovered a narrow door and a staircase leading up into the cliff. He wasn’t interested in selling the map, but it seems you might not have been the only people he told. Only a few hours later he lurched out of an alley and fell directly in front of you with the map in his hand and a dagger in his back. You did what you think the old man would have wanted, grabbing the map from his not-quite cold hand and taking off with it, stopping only to pack your gear and saddle your horses before riding off into the canyon labyrinth.</p><p></p><p>Now you’re here, with the rising sun at your back, its light gilding the high cliff and revealing the fleeting shimmers of failing ancient illusions above you. It’s also awoken a pride of <strong>1d4+3</strong> <strong>alce </strong>that lair nearby. The ground is covered with large boulders and piles of stone, and the alce are slowly surrounding you, leaping from boulder to boulder with ease and giving their sharp, shrill cries to one another. Your only choices now are to fight the alce on their home ground, or retreat into the dark stairwell and hope to find some kind of safety in the ruins above.</p><p></p><p>The alce lair in a small cave in the opposite wall of the canyon. In the farthest corner of the cave, under a pile of cracked bones, is the corpse of a sekhm warrior dressed in antique bronze armor, her khopesh sword still clutched in one hand. The sword is a <em>+1 sword</em>, and allows the wielder to <em>levitate</em> as the spell once per day. The armor is rare and worth 125 gp to a collector; or twice that to a sekhm.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nellisir, post: 6284288, member: 70"] That's true; I should do more research. See if I can dig up some more info. Those are pretty cool. I'm focusing on lesser-known creatures, and a lot are from heraldry, so the info I've been able to find so far is of the "X is a combination of Z and Y with the horns of A and the tail of B." And there the story ends. :/ There is a whole class of "griffon-type" creatures, for instance. The alce has the body of a lion and the head of an eagle; the anzu has the head and foreparts of a lion and the neck, wings, and hindquarters of an eagle; the axex has the head & wings of a hawk and the body of a leopard; duallions are two-headed lions; minoas are like axex but smaller, with a white body and scarlet plume (I might have made this name up); and a polyger is a horned lion. I'm just burning out on writing an adventure seed for a horned lion that different than that of a two-headed lion, and doesn't imitate the existing seeds for lions, tigers, leopards, or other big cats in Tome of Horrors Complete (Swords & Wizardry edition) and Monstrosities (the Swords & Wizardry bestiary). Here's the alce entry. It's a bit longer than I should probably be aiming for, but once I start writing.... ;) [SIZE=4][B]Alce (Least Griffin)[/B][/SIZE] [B]HD[/B] 6 [B]AC [/B]5 [14] [B]Atk[/B] 2 claws (1d4), 1 bite (2d6) [B]Move [/B]12 [B]Save [/B]11 [B]AL [/B]Neutrality [B]CL/XP [/B]6/400 [B]Special:[/B] Leap Alce have the body of a lion and the head of an eagle. They live in grassy areas with frequent broken ground, and are capable of making great leaps (+1 to hit, +2 damage attacking after a leap). They hunt in packs, encircling their prey before closing in to make the kill. [I]Between a Rock and an Alce Place.[/I] The Denjim Hills mark the descent of the Orphian Mountains into the White Waste. Uplifted sandstone is carved into a tangled maze of canyons, pits, sinkholes, mesas, and buttes. The hills were once home to a peaceful but reclusive race, but only ruins remain now, carved into the cliffs along high ledges, accessible only by narrow stairs or removable ladders. The ruins are hard to spot, difficult to reach, and often cloaked by illusions, so finding one is quite an accomplishment. Luckily, you’ve got a map. An old prospector found a debris pile at the base of a cliff, and after some careful searching uncovered a narrow door and a staircase leading up into the cliff. He wasn’t interested in selling the map, but it seems you might not have been the only people he told. Only a few hours later he lurched out of an alley and fell directly in front of you with the map in his hand and a dagger in his back. You did what you think the old man would have wanted, grabbing the map from his not-quite cold hand and taking off with it, stopping only to pack your gear and saddle your horses before riding off into the canyon labyrinth. Now you’re here, with the rising sun at your back, its light gilding the high cliff and revealing the fleeting shimmers of failing ancient illusions above you. It’s also awoken a pride of [B]1d4+3[/B] [B]alce [/B]that lair nearby. The ground is covered with large boulders and piles of stone, and the alce are slowly surrounding you, leaping from boulder to boulder with ease and giving their sharp, shrill cries to one another. Your only choices now are to fight the alce on their home ground, or retreat into the dark stairwell and hope to find some kind of safety in the ruins above. The alce lair in a small cave in the opposite wall of the canyon. In the farthest corner of the cave, under a pile of cracked bones, is the corpse of a sekhm warrior dressed in antique bronze armor, her khopesh sword still clutched in one hand. The sword is a [I]+1 sword[/I], and allows the wielder to [I]levitate[/I] as the spell once per day. The armor is rare and worth 125 gp to a collector; or twice that to a sekhm. [/QUOTE]
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