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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cleon" data-source="post: 4602911" data-attributes="member: 57383">Fearsome Critters from Lumberjack Tales - The RumtifusilRumtifusil (CR 2)A rumtifusil is a flat, thin-bodied creature that has a nigh perfect resemblance to a high-quality, hooded fur coat. It even includes imitations of stitching, pockets and wooden buttons or toggles. Rumtifusils live in Cold forests, where they spend most of their lives hanging from low tree branches waiting for prey to wander by. Their favourite prey are folk looking for a nice new fur coat. Anyone foolish enough to put on a rumtifusil will find its hood whips over their face while the whole "fur coat" contracts in a lethal embrace. A rumtifusil is cold-blooded and expends very little energy, so can easily go for years between meals.It requires a DC30 Search check to notice that a stationary rumtifusil is not the fur coat it appears to be. They are immune to pain effects, so pinching or cutting a rumtifusil does not force it to reveal its nature, although closely examining the cut edge of a rumtifusil gives a +10 circumstance bonus on realizing it's a living creature. The most reliable means of exposing one is holding a flame close to it, since a rumtifusil will instinctively flinch away from the threat of fire. The flame need not actually burn the rumtifusil, so a careful explorer can test any fur coat they find without damaging it. These creatures will also flinch away from any chemical or energy attack, such as Acid or Electricity. It has Cold Resistance 30, so only responds to particularly intense cold attacks. Rumtifusils have an exquisite sense of taste, so will recoil from anything they find distasteful such as pepper or strong vinegar.There is great debate amongst sages as to whether the rumtifusil is an animal, a vegetable or a fungus. In fact, these curious creatures are all three, being a predatory colonial lifeform that combines all the Kingdoms of life, like a cross between a Portuguese man of war, a lichen and a slime-mold.A rumtifusil is a Medium Magical Beast with 5 Hit Dice (37 hp), AC10 and Saves of +6 Fort -1 Ref and -4 Will. Their ability scores are Strength 1, Dexterity 1, Constitution 15, Intelligence –, Wisdom 10, Charisma 1. Rumtifusils possess all the immunities of the Plant and Ooze types (e.g. mind-affecting effects, sight-attacks, sleep effects, paralysis, polymorph, stunning and critical hits) except for poison, to which they are vulnerable. In addition, a rumtifusil can get all the water it needs from the atmosphere, so is immune to most forms of thirst, although it still needs to breathe and eat. They are also immune to any power that only affects one of the lifeforms they are comprised of, so calm animals, plant growth spells etc have no effect. Being mindless, they have no skill points.These creatures can only creep slowly around (Speed 5, climb 5), so they have no hope of catching victims except by ambush or trickery. A rumtifusil is eyeless and completely blind, but can sense opportunities or danger with the scent special quality and blindsight 10 ft. Upon scenting humanoids a rumtifusil stays perfectly motionless, even when being handled, in the hope whoever found it will try to wear them so it can start a Smother attack. They can also drop upon creatures who pass below them in an effort to wrap them in their folds, but usually only use this attack to ensnare animals.A live (or Undead) rumtifusil keeps its wearer warm like a masterwork cold weather outfit, although this is unlikely to be much comfort to its victim.A rumtifusil needs to make an attack roll (it has a +0 Attack bonus) to successfully Drop upon a victim, the victim and anyone else able to react that round is then entitled to a grapple check to throw the rumtifusil off before it can Attach itself by driving thousands of microscopic tendrils through the victim's clothes and skin. A rumtifusil will automatically succeed in Attaching itself if the victim willingly puts it on. An Attached rumtifusil is impossible to remove by force, at best this will only tear off a small portion of the creature together with the unfortunate victim's skin, the rumtifusil quickly flows over the resulting hole.A rumtifusil can be frozen or burned away with any kind of energy attack, but this deals damage to the victim as well. The best means of killing an attached rumtifusil without harming its victim are single-target spells such as magic-missile. There is a simple means of removing a rumtifusil, though it's known to only a few. Simply soaking the victim in a fluid the rumtifusil finds unpleasant-tasting, such as vinegar, pepper-water and chili-sauce, will cause the monster to release its victim in disgust. This is one reason some experienced Northern adventurers are notorious for the overwhelming stench of their cologne.A dead rumtifusil falls to pieces in a matter of minutes, so can be easily torn off its victim without causing further damage. The hair-fine tendrils it Attached itself with break off in the victim's skin, but dissolve harmlessly without ever causing infections or allergic reactions – rumtifusil flesh does not trigger immune responses in Humanoids, so would have many uses in medicine.The victim of an Attached rumtifusil takes no immediate damage, but is unable to draw or hold their breath, so must start to make Constitution checks or suffocate. Cutting airholes in the rumtifusil does not prevent this Smother attack, since a rumtifusil tightens around the victim so much they cannot expand their lungs. For obvious reasons, a rumtifusil can not Attach to and Smother an opponent larger than its own size.Once a rumtifusil kills a victim, its tendrils grow and multiply to digest its prey until there is nothing left but hollow bones. A rumtifusil does not keep much of the water content of its victim, exhaling it from the innumerable pores on its skin, so only gains about a pound of weight for every five pounds of flesh it eats.Rumtifusils reproduce by budding when their weight increases to a critical point - this usually occurs after one's eaten some forty or fifty pounds of flesh. The monster splits into two identical 5HD rumtifusils, one inside the other. After reproducing, each rumtifusil wanders off by itself, they are completely asocial creatures. Lore ChecksDC 12 - If yer goin' throughs da woods and finds a lovely new fur coat 'angin' from a tree wit nobbody abouts to claims it, best not put it on, for it could bes a rumtifusil. Dese be varmints dat looks loik da spittin' image of a fur coat, who waits fur some fool tourist to put 'em on den strangles and eats dem.DC 17 - If a rumtifusil wraps itsel' around ye, yer only hope is to burn it off. Ye couldn't pull one off somebody without ripping off their entire hide. They don't always wait for someone to put them on, if a person or critter walks underneath them they may drop onto their backs and try to enwrap them. Rumtifusils grow when they eat; first they become nice thick fur coats, then double-layered fur coats, until finally they split into two new coats. If ye come across a dried-out skeleton wearing three or four fine fur coats one inside the other, they are rumtifusils sure as eggs is eggs.DC 22 - You like my perfume, do ye? Let me tells ye a secret of the lumberman's craft. This is Eau de Tabasca, made from finest red-hot chilis. If I'm going about my business in the woods and a rumtifusil drops on me, the critter will spit me out cause it don't like the taste. Works for other varmints that might want to eat a fellow, too. Course it may tickle a mite when I get cut, but that does'n bother a hardy fellow like me! Rumtifusil Stat BlockA Rumtifusil doesn't require a full mechanical write-up, so here's a compact statblock containing all its relevant information:Rumtifusil (Medium Magical Beast; Hit Dice: 5d10+10(37hp); Init: -5; Speed: 5 ft., climb 5 ft; AC: 10 (-5 Dex, +5 natural) touch 5, flat-footed 10; Base Attack/Grapple: +5/+0; Attacks: Drop +0 melee (attach); Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.; Special Attacks: Attach, smother, Special Qualities: Blindsight 10 ft, cold resistance 30, composite lifeform [immune to powers that only affect one component of the rumtifusil], immunities (mind-affecting effects, sight-attacks, sleep effects, paralysis, polymorph, stunning and critical hits), mimic fur coat, scent; Saves: Fort +6, Ref -1, Will -4; Abilities: Str 1, Dex 1, Con 15, Int –, Wis 10, Cha 1; Skills: Climb +3, Disguise -5 [+20 to imitate fur coat, always takes 10]; Environment: Cold forests; Organization: Solitary or spawning (2-4); Alignment: Always neutral; CR: 2)</blockquote>

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