Paging Echohawk...

[Echohawk]

Full Warhorse

FREQUENCY: Very rare
No APPEARING: 1
ARMOUR CLASS: 7
MOVE: 15"
HIT DICE: 5+3
% IN LAIR: Nil
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
No of ATTACKS: 3
DAMAGE: 1-10/1-10/1-4
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil
SPECIAL DEFENCES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
INTELLIGENCE: Animal
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: L
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defence Modes: Nil
LEVEL/XP VALUE: IV /150 + 6 per hit point

The full warhorse is the natural mount of the mounted fighter - though very few ever have the chance to own one. They are the result of the finest stock selection and breeding between ordinary heavy horses, so rare that barely one foal in five hundred bred in such a way will be a young full warhorse. Very few horsebreeders have acquired the skill and knowledge to improve on those odds, and such men and women become very rich indeed, serving great princes and kings. There are those who sell these powerful mounts to anyone who has the requisite influence and wealth to obtain one. The price of a full warhorse obtained in such a way is never less than 1500gp, and can be more in times of war or civil unrest.

In addition, the warhorse must then be trained to work with its new owner. This takes at least six weeks of intensive work, and again, the opportunities are very rare. Most trainers capable of such work are already in the service of wealthy masters, and the few prepared to be hired for such work will demand 1800gp for a six week 'course'.

Once trained, the full warhorse will recognize only one rider. It will resist anyone who attempts to mount it, lead it away or whatever, even if it recognizes the person as a friend of its owner.

In practice, most player characters who manage to obtain one of these steeds will be cavaliers who perform some great service to their patron - provided the patron can afford the price, or have a stockbreeder on their staff. Training might be included in the reward. Often, a cavalier can be persuaded to accept a full warhorse, fully trained, in exchange for a reward or a 'gift' of twice the value. If an opportunity occurs, a cavalier should be prepared to do almost anything to obtain one.

When its owner dies, a surviving full warhorse can only be retrained 10% of the time. There is a further 15% chance that it will go wild, attacking all creatures it meets, until its inevitable demise. In the remaining 75% of cases, the warhorse merely lapses into the deepest despair, dying 1-8 days after the loss of its rider. Similar risks are run when an owner voluntarily abandons a warhorse for any period longer than a month. In such circumstances there is a 50% chance per month that the horse will pine away.

A cavalier who wishes to pass on his full warhorse, or to sell it, will find its loyalty a hindrance. Most knowledgeable horsedealers will pay only a fraction of the price (150gp). Warhorses can only be retrained in 25% of cases, and both buyer and seller must be involved in the process, which will take 10 weeks. A trainer will be required as well, at a cost of 4000gp, the money being due regardless of whether or not the retraining is successful.

(From "Horse Combat" by Chris Felton, Imagine Magazine #11, February 1984.)

 

[Shade]

Side note: This adventure has an encounter in it titled "The Snow Dwarf and the Seven Wights"

For that, all is forgiven.

 

[Big Mac]

Undead Parrot

The leader of the zombies -- dressed in a faded blue coat and a torn tricorne hat -- has the remains of a parrot riding on one shoulder. This unnatural bird will launch itself into the attack as soon as it is able.

1 undead parrot: AC 8; MV 0"; HD 1-1; hp 6; #AT 1; D 1-2/round; SA Leap 3"; SD Cannot be turned, needs magical or silver weapons to hit, immune to electrical attacks; Int Non; AL N; Size S; xp 15; THAC0 2-; special monster

This ex-parrot cannot fly or move itself about properly. It attacks by leaping at a victim and attaching itself with its claws (should it miss, it falls to the grounf and is stunned for 1 melee round while it re-orientates for the next attack). Once attached, it tears at its victim with its beak, automatically causing 1-2 points of damage.

(From "The Great Paladin Hunt" by Mike Brunton, Imagine Magazine #26, May 1985.)

This parrot is obviously supposed to be a Norwegian Blue.

Are we going to do it as a serious thing or ham it up?

 

[Shade]

A few more requests for statistics when you get the chance:

From Celts Campaign Sourcebook (HR3):
Boobrie - Animal
Fachan - Fey
Phouka - Fey
Water Leaper - Magical Beast

From Glory of Rome Campaign Sourcebook (HR5):
Caladrius - Magical Beast

From Falcon's Revenge (WGA1):
Carpet Snake - Magical Beast

From From the Ashes:
Lyrannikin (Black Treant) - Plant

From Crypt of Lyzandred the Mad:
Greyman - Construct
Quickbiter - Magical Beast

From Return to White Plume Mountain:
Mold Wyrm - Magical Beast

 

[Echohawk]

Mold wyrm: AC 6; MV 9, burrow 9; HD 12, hp 60; THAC0 9; #AT 1 (bite); Dmg 4d4+4; SA swallow whole, spore cough; SD immunities, regeneration; SW rest, area effect spells; MR 10%; SZ G (25' long, 10' in diameter); ML steady (12); Int semi (4); AL N; XP 6,000.
Special Abilities: SA-swallows opponent whole with bite attack 4 or more greater than score needed to hit (save vs. death magic to avoid, 20 points of slashing or piercing damage against AC 9 to escape, spore cough automatically affects swallowed victims); spore cough (3/day) inflicts ld6 points of damage/round, penalizes attack rolls, saving throws, ability checks, and proficiency checks by -2 for ld4+2 rounds, and infects victim with spores (save vs. death magic drops duration to 1 round and prevents infection, infection negates natural healing and turns victim into quarter-strength mold wyrm in ld6+6 days if not cured, slow poison, neutralize poison, or cure disease removes infection); SD-half normal damage from physical attacks; immune to sleep, charm, hold, and other mind-affecting spells; regenerates all damage after 4 hours in passive state; SW-must rest 8 out of every 24 hours or lose 20% of original hit points/hour; double damage from damage producing area effect spells while passive or shifting states.

Mold Wyrm
This creature is a fungal behemoth created by leakage from the Basin of Boundless Life. It has both a passive and an active form.
In its passive state, the mold wyrm spreads out over a surface area roughly 60 feet in diameter, appearing as a continuous layer of grayish, scaly mold on the floor, walls, and ceiling of a tunnel or cavern. The resting mold wyrm simply covers up any nonambulatory natural molds and fungi already growing in the area it occupies. In this state, it always keeps a pile of jagged stones (usually obsidian) resembling a cairn somewhere on its thinly spread body.
When aroused by movement or vibration within its chamber, the fungus layer liquefies, flowing into a huge animate shape over the course of a single round. As it activates, it incorporates the jagged obsidian shards into its mouth to serve as teeth, placing them in several circular rows. In its fully active state, the mold wyrm appears as a mold-covered, gray-scaled worm with a huge, toothy maw, but no eyes and other sensory apparatus.
If the mold wyrm's bite attack exceeds the required "to hit" score by 4 or more against a size M or smaller target, the latter must make a successful saving throw vs. death magic or be swallowed whole. A swallowed victim suffers the effects of the spore cough (see below) every round while inside the mold wyrm (no saving throw). Those victims not immediately overcome may attempt to cut their way out with small slashing or piercing weapons such as daggers. Anyone who delivers 20 points of damage in this manner against the wyrm's AC 9 interior creates a slit large enough to permit escape at the beginning of the next round. Though the wyrm cannot swallow size L or larger creatures, this attack inflicts double normal damage against them.
Three times per day, the mold wyrm can cough forth a cloud of greenish-gray spores. Any nonvegetable creature within a 30 x 30 foot area must make a successful saving throw vs. death magic or cough for ld4+2 rounds, suffering ld6 points of damage per round and incurring a -2 penalty on all attack rolls, saving throws, ability checks, and proficiency checks until the coughing stops. A slow, poison, neutralize poison, or cure disease applied during this time dispels the coughing fit and prevents the infection that would (otherwise follow. Victims who stop coughing without benefit of healing magic have incorporated the mold wyrm spores into their own bodies. This infection suspends all natural healing and causes victims to become ravenous. If they do not eat double their normal rations each day, they begin to waste away, losing 10% of their original hit points each day. Though slow poison, neutralize poison, or cure disease can remove the affliction instantly, infected characters become very protective of the "warmth" they feel growing within, refusing all magical healing and escaping at the earliest opportunity from any companions who try to cure them. After ld6+6 days of infection, the victim's skin sloughs away, revealing a gelatinous mass of grayish mold that has replaced his or her internal organs. This goo splashes down like a column of viscous water to form a scaly mold layer covering a 30-foot-diameter area. The victim is now a brand-new mold wyrm with one-fourth of such a creature's normal Hit Dice. The new wyrm must rest for 8 hours before it can assume its active form.
Even with a successful saving throw against the spore cough, any creature within the spore cloud's area of effect breathes in a whiff of the disruptive spores and coughs violently, suffering the same damage and action penalty as those who failed their saving throws, but for only 1 round. They do not, however, become infected with spores. Vegetable- and fungus-based creatures (such as fungus hulks) that fail their saving throws suffer 1d10 points of damage from invading spores, but no infection.
Because of the trace of pure life-principle in the mold wyrm's body, it suffers only 50% of normal damage from physical attacks (including those of magic weapons) and can regenerate all lost hit points with 4 hours of rest in its passive state. The creature also has 10% magic resistance and is immune to sleep, charm, hold, and other mind-affecting spells.
Mold wyrms cannot remain active all the time, however. The creature must spend 8 out of every 24 hours resting in its passive state or begin losing 20% of its original hit points per hour. It can arrest this hit point loss at any time by resuming its passive state. While passive or shifting between states, the mold wyrm suffers double normal damage from damage-producing area effect spells. Attacks of any sort cause the creature to resume its active state immediately, regardless of the consequences.

 

[Echohawk]

Hiding behind one of the columns is a strange creature built like an upright lizard; at the end of its tail is a cluster of inhuman eyes and where its head should be is a large mouth with numerous rows of sharp metal teeth. It leaps out when a character comes close, giving its targets a -2 penalty to surprise rolls.

Quickbiter: AC 2; MV 15; HD 10; hp 78; THAC0 11; #AT 1; Dmg 2d6 (bite); SA bite acts as a sword of sharpness, +2 to initiative; SD +2 or better weapon to hit; SZ L (14' long); ML Fanatic (17); Int semi (2); AL NE; XP 4000.
Note: If it hits with an attack roll of 18 or higher, it randomly bites off one of its targets limbs (as a sword of sharpness). The creature is immune to all fear-type attacks. Its metallic teeth can be used as materials for making a sword of sharpness. It is not known where Lyzandred found this creature; it might be from the regions near Blackmoor or perhaps from another plane entirely.

 

[Echohawk]

[...] The wizard succeeded in creating a strange new creature, but his creations were not under his control and they slew him. They wander about the laboratory, breaking things and making a lot of noise.

Greymen (7): AC 5; MV 6; HD 3; hp 19, 18, 17(x2), 16(x2), 15; THAC0 18; #AT 2; Dmg 1d6/1d6 (blows); SD immune to mind-influencing spells, corrodes weapons; SZ M (6' tall); ML Elite (14); Int animal (1); AL N; XP 175.
Note: A greyman looks like a nearly dead human with shorts swords grafted where its forearms would be. Each head has a scar circling at forehead level. Their movements are jerky, as if not used to their bodies. They bleed a weak gray fluid that corrodes metal at half the rate of a gray ooze (thus chain mail corrodes in 2 rounds, plate in 4, magical armor in 2 rounds + 2 for each plus to Armor Class). A greyman has a small hole in its back above where its heart would be. They do not speak, are immune to mind-influencing spells, and are not undead (and thus cannot be turned). When a greyman is killed, it collapses and the gray ooze trapped in its body is freed to attach as a full-strength creature, taking one round to crawl from the hole in the greyman's back.

 

[Echohawk]

Lyrannikin (Black Treant)

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any forest
FREQUENCY: Very rare
ORGANIZATION: Solitary
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Photosynthesis
INTELLIGENCE: Very (11-12)
TREASURE: Q (X5)
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil

NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 0
MOVEMENT: 12
HIT DICE: 7-12
THACO: 13 (7-8 HD) 11 (9-10 HD) 9 (11-12 HD)
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE/ ATTACK: Variable
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Never surprised
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: H (13'-18')
MORALE: Champion (15-16)
XP VALLUE: 2,000 + 1,000 per HD above 7 HD

Lyrannikin are treants that have become evil. This happens in a variety of ways: by magical change; the heart of a treant becoming rotted by blight; or in the case of very ancient treants, a festering hatred of those who destroy old forests, so that the treant becomes consumed by a desire for revenge that becomes indiscriminate. Lyrannikin may be physically indistinguishable from treants, but some 30% of them show obvious signs of severe blight and have rotting bark, decaying and hanging branches, and the like.

Combat: Lyrannikin attack with two gnarled, branchlike arms that are very powerful and inflict severe blows. Younger lyrannikin (10% of encounters) have 7-8 HD and inflict 2-16 points of damage per blow. Middle-aged lyrannikin (30% of encounters) have 9-10 HD and inflict 3-18 points of damage per blow. Elder lyrannikin (60% of encounters) have 11-12 HD and inflict 4-24 points of damage per blow. Blighted specimens inflict -1 point of damage per die.
Like treants, lyrannikin have a low AC due to their very tough bark. Fire-based attacks against lyrannikin (e.g., a flame blade) are made at +4, with a +1 damage bonus, and lyrannikin save versus fire-based spell attacks at -4. However, lyrannikin that are blighted (20% of younger, 30% of middle-aged, and 50% of elder) do not suffer these penalties against fire-based attacks, due to the wetness of their rotted tissue.
Unlike treants, lyrannikin cannot animate trees. Nonblighted lyrannikin can inflict structural damage as treants do.

Habitat/Society: Lyrannikin are solitary, vicious killers of intruders into their domains. They have lost their link with nature, and thus lost their ability to remain undetected in woodlands and forests also. Lyrannikin hate fire-using creatures and those who enter woodland with axe or saw. They have little treasure and have no notion of the value of gold, gems, and suchlike.

Ecology: All lyrannikin have some ability to photosynthesize as necessary to survive, but severely blighted specimens have sharply reduced photosynthetic ability and attempt to extran extra nutrition through their roots, often by drenching them in the blood of forest creatures. Lyrannikin sleep less than most treants, their anger and hatred driving them in a way quite alien to their good-aligned relatives. They do not reproduce.
Lyrannikin that are non-blighted have the same life span as treants; blighted specimens have shortened, but still considerable, lifespans (and are often old when they develop blight, anyway). Elder lyrannikin usually succumb to rot, blight, destruction by those who come to weed the evil presence out of the woods, or some similar cause. Treants will often try to subdue a lyrannikin or cure its blight, especially with very young or elder specimens.
It seems highly likely that the Scarlet Brotherhood has captured treants and is experimenting with the use of blights that will turn the treants to evil while not affecting their health or combat ability (no reductions to damage dice rolls). These specially-bred lyrannikin may well be being placed within the Menowood to attack the defenders of Sunndi who spy in the eastern margin of that wood; there have been several reports of young lyrannikin (an unusual occurrence) from that wood during the years of the Greyhawk Wars.

 

[Echohawk]

Carpet Snake

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any
FREQUENCY: Very rare
ORGANIZATION: Solitary
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Carnivore
INTELLIGENCE: Semi (3)
TREASURE: Nil
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Evil

NO. APPEARING: 1-20
ARMOR CLASS: 5
MOVEMENT: 15
HIT DICE: 3
THAC0: 17
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-3
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Class B Poison
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: S (4-6' long)
MORALE: Average (8)
XP VALUE: 175

Carpet snakes are a most unusual and frightening monster. They can be especially deadly due to their poison and method of attack. Victims can find themselves completely surrounded by these snakes before realizing they are under attack.
These serpents spend most of their lives in a dormant state. They are able to change their physical composition in order to blend with a rug or carpet. In this state, they can exist up to one year without feeding. They are completely dormant and do not eat, sleep, or breathe. Any food that has been ingested is absorbed slowly, sustaining them over a long period. A small rat can sustain a carpet snake up to six months.
Carpet snakes become active on command of a master or when sensing the presence of prey. They can be taught to recognize up to five masters and four simple commands. They will never attack their masters, and will generally attack anything that moves unless halted by a master's command.

Combat: When a carpet snake senses motion or vibrations caused by any creature walking on its carpet, it begins to take shape in 2-4 rounds. It can sense the presence of a master and will not form unless commanded to do so. The carpet will first appear to writhe on the second round after the carpet was initially walked upon. At first, victims may guess this to be an hallucination or illusion, but as the snakes begin to take shape, they will realize the danger at hand (at foot, actually). The snakes require two rounds to fully form. During this stage, they are treated as AC 10.
If an opponent is small enough for a carpet snake to swallow, it generally fights to the death in hopes of a meal. With larger opponents, carpet snakes return to carpet-form if reduced to 3 hp.
A carpet snake may return to carpet-form in one round. It cannot be wounded in this form. Even if the carpet is slashed. the snake may reform. If the carpet is cut and the pieces are carried more than 20 yards apart, or the carpet is burned, the snakes cannot form.
If an attempt is made to sever a snake into two pieces, the attempt is not successful unless the blow inflicts damage equal or greater than half the snake's total hit points. In such a case, the carpet snake would immediately revert to carpet form and may reform in 24 hours. Carpet snakes that are reduced to 0 hp are killed. Those that revert to carpet form to escape cannot reform until 24 hours have elapsed.

Habitat/Society: Carpet snakes were originally created by magical means, but are able to reproduce as normal snakes. When a clutch of eggs is laid, the female snake generally remains in snake form to guard them. Most breeding takes place in controlled environments, such as a nursery established by an evil being. When carpet snakes breed spontaneously, their masters generally move the female and her eggs to protected quarters. Carpet snakes will live in any rug ar carpet, or, if nothing suitable is available, may live in clothing or other fabric. They appear to be woven dirctly into the article, and close examination reveals nothing of their true nature.
If a master is present, carpet snakes will allow themselves to be rolled up or folded in a rug without taking shape. The rug and snakes can be transported in this manner. If a master orders an attack in this state, the snakes form normally but require 1-2 rounds to crawl from the rug.

Ecology: Carpet snakes are always red in color with black eyes. In carpet form, they may be coiled, twisted, or straight. They appear to be simply part ofthe fabric, and maintain whatever shape they held when they converted to carpet form.
If a carpet snake is killed, it collapses into a pile of fibrous red dust. The dust may not reform and is useless. Carpet snakes have a lifespan of up to 50 years.

 

[Echohawk]

Caladrius

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Marsh
FREQUENCY: Very Rare
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Diurnal
DIET: Carnivore
INTELLIGENCE: Animal (1)
TREASURE: None
ALIGNMENT: Neutral

NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 9
MOVEMENT: 3, Fl 15(D)
HIT DICE: 1/2
THAC0: 20
NO OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1 point
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: None
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Immune to disease
SIZE: S (3'-4')
MORALE: Average (10)
XP VALUE: 7

The caladrius is a magical, pure white marsh bird the size of a heron. It possesses unusual healing powers that work on people with internal ailments, such as diseases of the liver. It may also be able to cure magical diseases.
When a caladrius is brought before a diseased person, the bird's reaction will determine whether the patient will recover. Roll reaction when the bird is within 5 feet. On a reaction of cautious, threatening, or hostile, the caladrius turns its head away from the patient: It will not cure him.
On an indifferent or friendly reaction, it stares at the patient for one round. The bird's pure white feathers will turn gray and unhealthy as its absorbs the sickness into itself. The person's sickness is cured and he or she feels better immediately, but the caladrius catches the disease! To recover, the caladrius must be allowed to fly off high into the air, where the sun's rays purify it. Unfortunately, the caladrius cannot be tamed, so this means it escapes.

Combat: Faced with people seeking to capture it, the caladrius tries to fly off. A caladrius is immune to cause disease spells.

Habitat/Society: These rare birds live in wetlands in distant parts of Italy. They feed on small fish, and are solitary except for a brief mating period.

Ecology: A captive caladrius is worth 500-1,500 g.p. - more if no priests in the area have magic capable of curing diseases. The mere rumor of a caladrius can summon scores of net-wielding hunters to an area! Captured birds are hooded and caged to prevent them from looking at the wrong patient. They dislike captivity, and cannot be trained, so when they fly off to purify themselves they rarely return to their owners. Luring them back requires imitating their mating calls, which can be accomplished by a successful Animal Lore check at a -10 penalty.