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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BOZ" data-source="post: 1343139" data-attributes="member: 1241">so no ranks in search, but it would retain the search bonus?another thought i had while looking at it is that since the tails do no damage, we could just make them melee touch attacks?  and the article text does not say that they can't use the tails in the same round as bite & claws.so i might as well post these now:The Dragon's BestiaryTwo almost-but-not-quite dragonsGorynychby Spike Y. JonesCLIMATE/TERRAIN: Temperature mountains, any subterranean areaFREQUENCY: Very rareORGANIZATION: SolitaryACTIVITY CYCLE: AnyDIET: CarnivorousINTELLIGENCE: AverageTREASURE: HALIGNMENT: Chaotic evilNO. APPEARING: 1ARMOR CLASS: 4MOVEMENT: 9, 18 fly (E)HIT DICE: 9THAC0: 11NO. OF ATTACKS: 5DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-8/1-8/1-12/1-12/1-12SPECIAL ATTACKS: Tail capture, “wishboning”SPECIAL DEFENSES: Difficult to surpriseMAGIC RESISTANCE: NilSIZE: G (50’ including tails)XP VALUE: 6,000While it has all the hallmarks of dragon-kind, the gorynych is unlikely to ever be mistaken for a true dragon if seen in good light; it is more likely to be seen as a dragon gone to extremes of evolution and diversification. The gorynych has a long and supple body covered with tiny blue-green scales, and giant dragonlike wings with scales so fine they almost make a feathered pattern on the leathery surfaces. Two other features differentiate them from true dragons: They have three wolfish heads, each on its own serpentine neck, and a multitude of tails, starting as three thick ones at the base of the spine but eventually dividing out to as many as 12 whip-thin tails.Combat: Although gorynyches have no breath weapon, they are fearsome fighters nonetheless. Whether in flight or on the ground, their attack methods are the same. Each first whips its flexible tails about in an attempt to entangle its opponents, each tail striking as a separate attack. Then it uses normal clawing and biting attacks on the entrapped foes. The tail strikes do no damage in themselves, but for every tail that holds a man-size victim (smaller creatures are usually ignored, as they would be so engulfed by even a single tail that the gorynych could not bite them without fear of biting itself), the gorynych gets a cumulative + 1 to hit on all attacks made against that victim. Thus, if it wraps two tails around a fighter in the first round of combat, the gorynych can claw and bite at + 2 to hit that round, and—if the fighter does not manage to eliminate or escape the two tails holding him—it can wrap more tails around him at +2 to hit in the next round. Each tail takes 2-12 hp damage before being severed, with none of these hit points being counted in the monster’s hit-point total; even if rendered tail-less, there is a good chance that a gorynych will continue to fight if victory appears close. When first caught in one of these tail coils, the victim has a 10% chance of being held in such an awkward position that he won’t be able to attack the gorynych (and this increases to 25% on the rare occasions when a smaller-than-man-size creature is attacked).Another attack form unique to the gorynych is called “wishboning” by those who witness it from a distance. If the beast scores hits on a single opponent with at least two of its heads in a round, it will try to rip the victim in half between them, scoring an automatic 2-12 hp damage on that round. It does not do this automatically in every round after this first, as it must release its bites each round to get a new grip (and make a new series of attack rolls), but this doesn’t present much difficulty if the victim is still held by its tails.Unlike some monsters with multiple heads, the gorynych cannot be defeated by setting up arguments between the different brains of its body. It has only one personality divided between its three brains, and each of these brains is fully capable of handling the operations of the entire body on its own. Thus, cutting off two of the heads will not disable its thinking or the control of its movements in any way. Because of this single mind in multiple heads, it cannot ‘take turns resting heads, leaving one alert at all times; when it sleeps, all heads sleep. But with six dragon-sharp ears to hear with, the gorynych is difficult to surprise, even when asleep, and gets + 2 on all surprise rolls. In addition, while it has more than one head, it cannot be attacked from behind, as it peers in all directions, even when the only apparent threats are to the front.Habitat/Society: The gorynych is a mountain-dwelling creature, preferring windy and desolate regions to the more thickly populated tracts of true dragons. They live in deep caverns within the rocks; the long, winding tunnels to their lairs are full of evidence of their presence—scales scrapped off on the rocks, claw marks on all surfaces, the occasional coin or gem dropped from their mouths when stocking their hoards, and the rare bone that misses the periodic cleaning of the refuse in their homes. While they avoid areas where human incursions are frequent, they are intelligent enough to take note of any roadways, caravan paths and isolated settlements within a few hours flight of their caves so that they have little trouble finding food and treasure. They reproduce by laying eggs, but the young are forced out into the world as quickly as possible after hatching. The young grow rapidly, attaining full growth in nine years and living for about 400 years total.The gorynych is not well versed in speech and has no language of its own. If there is a race that is dominant in the regions around its lair, it will have a slight understanding of this race’s tongue, no matter what it is, but that is the extent of the beast’s linguistic knowledge. If its lair is in an empty tract of land, it will have no language at all, as there would be no creatures to converse with and it doesn’t talk to itself.Ecology: Gorynyches are usually the most powerful carnivores in their local food chain. They rarely interact with any other species, intelligent or not. However, they are often attacked by other highly competitive and magically powerful monsters such as dragons and beholders.MC ANNUAL 1:GoryncyhCLIMATE/TERRAIN: Temperate mountains/ subterraneanFREQUENCY: Very rareORGANIZATION: SolitaryACTIVITY CYCLE:    AnyDIET:    CarnivoreINTELLIGENCE: Average (8-10)TREASURE: HALIGNMENT: Chaotic evilNO. APPEARING: 1ARMOR CLASS: 4MOVEMENT: 9, Fl 18 (E)HIT DICE: 9THACO: 11NO. OF ATTACKS: 5DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d8 (x2)/1d12 (x3)SPECIAL ATTACKS: Tail capture, "wishboning"SPECIAL DEFENSES: Difficult to surpriseMAGIC RESISTANCE: NilSIZE: G (50' long)MORALE: Steady (11- 12)XP VALUE: 2,000The gorynych is unlikely to be mistaken for a true dragon if seen in good light. It has a long and supple body covered with tiny blue-green scales, and it has wings. However, it also has three wolfish heads and a multitude of tails, starting as three thick ones at the base of the spine, but eventually dividing out to its many as 12 whip-thin tails.The gorynych is not well versed in speech and has no language of its own. If there is a race that is dominant in the region around its lair, it will have a slight understanding of this race's tongue, no matter what it is, but that is the extent of the beast’s linguistic knowledge. If its lair is in an empty tract of land, it has no language at all, as there would be no creatures with which to converse (and it doesn't talk to itself).Combat: Although the gorynych has no breath weapon, it is a fearsome fighter, It first whips its flexible tails about in an attempt to entangle opponents, each fail striking its a separate attack. Then it uses two claws and three biting attacks on entrapped foes. The tails inflict no damage, but for every tail that holds a man-sized victim (smaller creatures are usually ignored), the gorynych gets a cumulative +1 attack bonus against that victim.  Thus, if it wraps two tails around a fighter, the gorynych can attack at +2 that round, and if the fighter tails to eliminate or escape the two tails, it can wrap more tails around him at +2 to hit in the next round, Each tail sustains 2d6 damage before being severed, and none of these hit points tire counted in the monster's hit-point total; even if rendered tailless, a gorynych will continue to fight if victory appears close. When first caught in one of those tails, the victim has a 10% chance of being held in such an awkward position that he can't attack the gorynych (25% on rare occasions when a smaller-than-man-sized creature is attacked).Another attack form unique to the gorynych is called "wishboning." If the beast scores hits on a single opponent with at least two of its heads in a round, it will try to rip the victim in half between them, inflicting an additional 2d6 points of damage. It cannot do so automatically in subsequent rounds, as it must get a new grip (and make a new series of attacks).The gorynych has only one personality divided between its three brains, and each one is capable of directing the entire body on its own. Thus, cutting off two of the heads will not disable its thinking or hinder its movements in any way.Having six dragon-sharp ears to hear with, the gorynych is difficult to surprise, even when asleep; it gets a +2 bonus on all surprise rolls. In addition, since it has more than one head, it cannot be attacked from behind, as it peers in all directions.Habitat/Society: The gorynych prefers windy and desolate regions. It lives in deep caverns, and the long, winding tunnels of its lair are full of evidence of its presence: scales scrapped off on the rocks, claw marks, the occasional coin or gem dropped from its mouth when stocking its hoard, and the rare bone that misses the periodic cleaning out of refuse. While the creature avoids areas where human incursions are frequent, it is intelligent enough to note any roadways, caravan paths, and isolated settlements within a few hours' flight of its cave, so it has little trouble finding food and treasure.Gorynyches reproduce by laying eggs, but the young are forced out into the world as soon as possible after hatching. The young grow rapidly, attaining full growth in nine years and living for about 400 years total. Ecology: Gorynyches are usually the most powerful carnivores in their local food chain. They rarely interact with other species, intelligent or not. However, they are often attacked by other highly competitive and magically powerful monsters such as dragons and beholders.</blockquote>

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