Life's Bizzarre question

[daTim]

Quick question, I cant seem to find any real information into the background of what the Skulks and Dark Creeper/Stalkers are. They have the writen up stats, but where can I find a write up on what they are, where they come from etc. I didnt find them in the Monster manual or the 2nd one. Help is greatly appreciated!

 

[demiurge1138]

Talking about the Dungeon issue, yes? They were in the Fiend Folio 1ed back about 20 years ago, and they'll get complete writeups in the Fiend Folio 3ed.

Of course, this goes over the deal Wizards made with Necromancer last year, as the Dark Creeper, Dark Stalker and Skulk are all in the Tome of Horrors.

Hope that helps.
Demiurge out.

 

[Gez]

Skulks are an extremely cowardly, evil race of humanoids with the chameleon-like ability to blend in with any background. They survive on the edges of civilization by theft and murder.

Skulks stand five to six feet tall and are completely devoid of hair. They are elf-like in stature, with graceful limbs, soft facial features, and pink or blue eyes. A skulk’s skin is smooth but leathery tough. Its natural color is light gray, but skulks can change skin color instantly, either to flesh tone or, more commonly, to match the surrounding environment.

Skulks speak Common.


SKULK CHARACTERS
The favored class of a skulk is rogue. Skulks that are born leaders are usually rogues. Skulks rarely become anything but rogues, with the combative classes (e.g. fighters, paladins, rangers, monks, and barbarians) being almost never seen; they are far too cowardly to ever actively pursue these classes.



SKULK SOCIETY
Skulks survive by thievery and murder. They live in small bands, moving often, and camping in deep forests or underground lairs. They hide by day, but emerge at night to raid nearby human or humanoid communities. Their favorite tactic is to murder an entire family, then ransack the house at their leisure.

A skulk lair is usually a shallow cave with two or more entrances, located just outside (or sometimes beneath) the town. Skillfully placed branches and leaves cover the entrance. A successful Search check (DC 20) is required to find the entrance to a skulk lair. Inside are a number of sleeping mats. During the day 1d3 skulk children are found here, usually unguarded. There is a 10% chance that one of the children is less than two years of age. In that case a single skulk female will be in the cave. If the cave is discovered, the skulk female will flee, leaving the children to their fate.

Skulks often try to disrupt the society they prey upon. A common ploy is to murder a low-level political official (judge, council member, town steward, etc.), then leave behind false clues stolen from a local thieves' guild or arc tribe. Once suspicion is diverted, the skulks can go about their business, murdering and looting with impunity.

Most skulks are panic prone, but very rarely (1%) a leader is born. Skulk leaders are demanding and cruel. They have at least 3 Hit Dice and can speak two additional languages. Skulk leaders are masters of disguise and sometimes pose as half-elves or humans. While in this disguise, skulk leaders mingle freely with the outside world, casing a town before leading an attack on it. Normal skulks will abide by a leader's commands so long as they aren't too daring. Skulk leaders sometimes deal with other creatures, particularly doppelgangers or assassin guilds.

Skulks eat whatever they find in the pantry of their victims. In hard times, skulks steal livestock, leaving a hole in the fence so it appears the animal escaped accidentally. In addition to food, skulks steal whatever strikes their fancy. Female skulks often take gold, jewelry, and fine cloths. Male skulks are apt to lug furniture back to their camp. Disputes over property are common but infighting is rare. Instead, skulks steal from one another at the first opportunity. All monsters that hunt humans and humanoids hunt skulks, but their camouflage ability makes skulks difficult prey. Skulks are despised by intelligent creatures; any skulk captured by civilized community is dealt with in the harshest manner allowable—usually death.

The dark creeper (a folk name for the race since the race name is unknown and their language is incomprehensible to all save the dark creepers) appears as a humanoid about 4 feet tall. They are of slight-build and light of weight. Members of the race dress in somber clothing, concealing as much of their pallid skin as possible.

It is rumored they never remove clothing. Instead they add new layers of clothing as the layers beneath molder away.

Dark creepers speak their own language and nothing more.

DARK CREEPER SOCIETY

Little is known of the habits and social organization of the dark creepers. They live in villages of 20 to 80, deep underground and shrouded in constant darkness. It is not uncommon for the approaches to the villages to be littered with traps, pits, and deadfalls. The villages are generally centered around a pit or crude stairway that leads to lower levels of the subterranean caverns in which they dwell, and can be used as a means of rapid escape. Because the village is cloaked in darkness, this pit presents a significant danger to reckless adventurers who charge into the village. Small magical items have been found along the rim of the pit or hole, leading some to believe that the dark creepers use their innate detect magic ability to place and locate path markers.



DARK CREEPER CHARACTERS

The favored class of a dark creeper is rogue. Multiclass dark creepers always include the rogue class. Strangely enough, however, they tend to shy away from the magical classes—perhaps it is inability with magic that fuels their relentless hunt for magical treasure.

Dark stalkers are the rarely seen leaders of the dark creepers. They are nearly a race apart, for they breed almost exclusively amongst themselves. They are instantly noticeable amongst a group of dark creepers as they are man-sized and stand head and shoulders above their underlings.

Dark stalkers speak a language only they and the dark creepers can understand.

DARK STALKER SOCIETY

Dark stalkers are the ruling elite of the dark creepers. They are man-sized and almost always encountered with 25 or more dark creepers. Dark stalkers are feared and obeyed by dark creepers and often direct the attacks of dark creepers during a large-scale battle. Stalkers have never been seen to work or do any sort of manual labor. Instead, they stand impassively, directing the activities of dark creepers, while other creepers attend to their needs. The stalkers appear to be ruthless and vicious masters. Dark creepers have been seen to offer up their magical items to a dark stalker. Whether this is done as a matter of worshipful obeisance, or is an outright bribe, is unclear.



DARK STALKER CHARACTERS

The favored class of a dark stalker is rogue. Dark stalkers are likely to be fighters or fighter/rogues as well. Unlike their lesser kin, dark stalkers do sometimes follow the magical professions. Most magic-using dark stalkers are sorcerers.

From the Creature Catalog.

Note that they are much less detailed in the ToH, most of the background having been removed.