Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
The Ecology of the Marine Scrag (unpublished AD&D 2E version)
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 8066027" data-attributes="member: 508"><p>Gradually, the two marine scrags tumbled out of the cave opening and sunk to the ocean floor, still thrashing around and biting at each other. Tukio's eyes widened in astonishment as she got her first relatively good look at these fearsome creatures.</p><p></p><p>While humanoid in shape, she was surprised at their body proportions. She had seen many "humanoid" species before: the sirines and tritons, the sea-elves, even the fish-headed locathah and kuo-toa. While differing greatly in appearance, their general body shape followed a similar pattern: legs, arms, torsos, all seemed naturally proportioned. The trolls, however, seemed nothing so much as awkwardly-built.</p><p></p><p>To begin with, for creatures of such immense size,<strong>[4]</strong> their legs seemed too short and skinny. Their arms weren't much better, seeming much too thin, especially when one took into account their enormous pot-bellies.<strong>[5]</strong> Such fat bellies sticking out of such scrawny-limbed creatures almost made them comical in appearance - until you got a good look at their faces.</p><p></p><p>At such a distance, Tukio couldn't make out too much of the monsters' faces; for one thing, they didn't stay still long enough for her to get a good look at them, and their long, drab hair kept flying in the way.</p><p></p><p>Still, one thing was certain: they had plenty of sharp, pointed teeth, and they weren't afraid to use them.<strong>[6]</strong></p><p></p><p>As she watched in growing horror, one of the two monsters managed to clamp its vicious teeth into its opponent's neck. Greenish blood spurted from the wound almost immediately, momentarily obscuring the young mermaids' view of the two combatants. However, the end result was soon apparent, as the victor raised his arms in glory, one hand holding the severed head of his rival.</p><p></p><p>Suddenly, there was movement from the cave entrance and Tukio and Thiossa saw an even larger scrag look down upon the two rivals. Other than its bigger size, it looked pretty much the same as the two combatant trolls.<strong>[7]</strong> "The she-troll!" exclaimed Thiossa.</p><p></p><p>As the two mermaid spies looked on, hidden from view in the sea-grass fronds, the she-troll raised her arms out and grinned evilly at the victor. Triumphant, he planted a foot in the small of his rival's back and gave him a vicious kick. The headless body fell forward and sprawled on all fours in the sand of the ocean floor.</p><p></p><p>Then, with a grunt, the victor cocked back his arm and flung the head of his rival as far as he could throw it. The head bobbed a little and landed in the sand not too far from where Tukio and her sister lay hidden. The victor gave it no further thought, though, as he swam back up to the cave entrance and disappeared inside with the she-troll.</p><p></p><p>"So now they're going to mate?" asked Tukio. Her sister nodded. "How long does it take?"</p><p></p><p>"How should I know? I'm certainly not going to go in and find out! Why?"</p><p></p><p>"I want to go take a better look at the monster's head." She peeked out from the sea-grass, looking all around. The coast was clear. "Let's go."</p><p></p><p>Tukio darted out from concealment and swam up to the severed head of the sea-troll. Thiossa, looking frightened, was just a body-length behind. "Be careful!" she warned.</p><p></p><p>"Why? It's just a-- eep!" shrieked Tukio, as the severed head snapped its jaws at her hand.<strong>[8]</strong> It missed, but not by much. The young mermaid jerked back, bumping into her sister and sending them both sprawling to the ocean floor.</p><p></p><p>"It's still alive!" gasped Tukio.</p><p></p><p>"And it's not the only thing," replied Thiossa. "Look at the body!" She pointed to where the headless body lay in the sand; it had gotten on its hands and knees and was now feeling around the ocean floor, blindly trying to locate its head. The two mermaids could see the gills on the sides of its thick, scaled neck breathing in and out, an eerie, unnerving sight without its head.</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p><strong>NOTES</strong></p><p>4. The average marine scrag stands a good 10 feet tall; as mentioned before, the females are somewhat larger than the males, often reaching as much as eleven and a half feet. No known marine scrag has ever reached 12 feet, so they are always treated as size "L" for game purposes.</p><p></p><p>5. Similar to dwarven beards, pot-bellies demonstrate a sort of social status among the marine scrags and are common among both males and females. The bigger the pot-belly, the more impressive the scrag. In effect, a well-rounded pot-belly says "See how fierce I am? I am able to kill enough prey to sustain such an enormous girth." Fortunately, their over-large stomachs do not slow down their rate of movement underwater, as their wide, webbed feet are more than able to compensate for any additional weight around the middle a marine scrag might have.</p><p></p><p>On land, however, it's quite a different story. With their stubby little legs and their fat, protruding bellies, a marine scrag is able to hobble along awkwardly at a speed of only 3 (compared to their more graceful swimming speed of 12). For this reason, even though they are capable of breathing air for up to one hour, marine scrags do not spend a great deal of time on land.</p><p></p><p>6. Of all the troll subspecies, the marine scrag does the most damage with its bite attack (9-16, or 1d8+8). This is because the marine scrag's mouth is filled with literally hundreds of needle-sharp teeth, arranged in overlapping rows much like that of a shark. In combat, a scrag is able to attack three times each round, concentrating on a single opponent or dividing its attacks (two claw strikes and a bite) between up to three opponents. Because of its greater damage potential, a marine scrag will always attempt to use its bite attack on what it considers its most powerful opponent, if fighting more than one enemy at a time.</p><p></p><p>7. Although it can be argued that the marine scrag derived from mammalian stock, its return to a life in the sea has irrevocably altered its form. No longer a true mammal, the female scrag does not produce milk with which to nurse her young. In an evolutionary attempt at streamlining the body, very important to an aquatic race, the reproductive organs are internal in both sexes. Thus, to the casual observer, no real difference can be seen between a male and a female marine scrag.</p><p></p><p>In any attempt at classifying the marine scrag, the creature must be placed somewhere between mammals and amphibians. While the scrag's hair and live birth prove a link to a mammalian ancestry, their gills and near-total aquatic existence point toward their being amphibians. Unlike true amphibians, though, not only do marine scrags live in sea water, but they also have scales covering their bodies. These last two traits indicate a reptilian ancestry as well.</p><p></p><p>At this point, many naturalists throw up their hands in despair or come up with clever titles like "devolved mammals," "amphibious mammals" or even "mammphibians." Others sidestep the question altogether, claiming a magical merging at work. It is worth noting, however, that marine scrags have evolved so far away from the normal troll stock that they are now mutually infertile - there will never be a marine scrag/troll half-breed, which most people agree is a good thing. It is quite possible for a saltwater troll/freshwater troll hybrid, but the chances of such a union occurring are slim, since neither species likes spending much time on land and neither can breathe while in the other's natural aquatic environment.</p><p></p><p>8. The remarkable powers of regeneration enjoyed by trolls are also present in the marine scrag, but with one provision - they only work while the creature is immersed in saltwater. While in such an environment, the marine scrag regenerates 3 hit points per round, starting three rounds after taking damage. Severed body parts can continue to attack, but only while they are within range - once severed underwater, they sink to the bottom of the ocean, unable to "swim" on their own. Like normal trolls, a marine scrag's severed body parts can be rejoined to its body within 24 hours of separation; after that, the severed body parts "die," forcing the scrag to regrow replacement parts, a process which takes a full week.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 8066027, member: 508"] Gradually, the two marine scrags tumbled out of the cave opening and sunk to the ocean floor, still thrashing around and biting at each other. Tukio's eyes widened in astonishment as she got her first relatively good look at these fearsome creatures. While humanoid in shape, she was surprised at their body proportions. She had seen many "humanoid" species before: the sirines and tritons, the sea-elves, even the fish-headed locathah and kuo-toa. While differing greatly in appearance, their general body shape followed a similar pattern: legs, arms, torsos, all seemed naturally proportioned. The trolls, however, seemed nothing so much as awkwardly-built. To begin with, for creatures of such immense size,[b][4][/b] their legs seemed too short and skinny. Their arms weren't much better, seeming much too thin, especially when one took into account their enormous pot-bellies.[b][5][/b] Such fat bellies sticking out of such scrawny-limbed creatures almost made them comical in appearance - until you got a good look at their faces. At such a distance, Tukio couldn't make out too much of the monsters' faces; for one thing, they didn't stay still long enough for her to get a good look at them, and their long, drab hair kept flying in the way. Still, one thing was certain: they had plenty of sharp, pointed teeth, and they weren't afraid to use them.[b][6][/b] As she watched in growing horror, one of the two monsters managed to clamp its vicious teeth into its opponent's neck. Greenish blood spurted from the wound almost immediately, momentarily obscuring the young mermaids' view of the two combatants. However, the end result was soon apparent, as the victor raised his arms in glory, one hand holding the severed head of his rival. Suddenly, there was movement from the cave entrance and Tukio and Thiossa saw an even larger scrag look down upon the two rivals. Other than its bigger size, it looked pretty much the same as the two combatant trolls.[b][7][/b] "The she-troll!" exclaimed Thiossa. As the two mermaid spies looked on, hidden from view in the sea-grass fronds, the she-troll raised her arms out and grinned evilly at the victor. Triumphant, he planted a foot in the small of his rival's back and gave him a vicious kick. The headless body fell forward and sprawled on all fours in the sand of the ocean floor. Then, with a grunt, the victor cocked back his arm and flung the head of his rival as far as he could throw it. The head bobbed a little and landed in the sand not too far from where Tukio and her sister lay hidden. The victor gave it no further thought, though, as he swam back up to the cave entrance and disappeared inside with the she-troll. "So now they're going to mate?" asked Tukio. Her sister nodded. "How long does it take?" "How should I know? I'm certainly not going to go in and find out! Why?" "I want to go take a better look at the monster's head." She peeked out from the sea-grass, looking all around. The coast was clear. "Let's go." Tukio darted out from concealment and swam up to the severed head of the sea-troll. Thiossa, looking frightened, was just a body-length behind. "Be careful!" she warned. "Why? It's just a-- eep!" shrieked Tukio, as the severed head snapped its jaws at her hand.[b][8][/b] It missed, but not by much. The young mermaid jerked back, bumping into her sister and sending them both sprawling to the ocean floor. "It's still alive!" gasped Tukio. "And it's not the only thing," replied Thiossa. "Look at the body!" She pointed to where the headless body lay in the sand; it had gotten on its hands and knees and was now feeling around the ocean floor, blindly trying to locate its head. The two mermaids could see the gills on the sides of its thick, scaled neck breathing in and out, an eerie, unnerving sight without its head. - - - [b]NOTES[/b] 4. The average marine scrag stands a good 10 feet tall; as mentioned before, the females are somewhat larger than the males, often reaching as much as eleven and a half feet. No known marine scrag has ever reached 12 feet, so they are always treated as size "L" for game purposes. 5. Similar to dwarven beards, pot-bellies demonstrate a sort of social status among the marine scrags and are common among both males and females. The bigger the pot-belly, the more impressive the scrag. In effect, a well-rounded pot-belly says "See how fierce I am? I am able to kill enough prey to sustain such an enormous girth." Fortunately, their over-large stomachs do not slow down their rate of movement underwater, as their wide, webbed feet are more than able to compensate for any additional weight around the middle a marine scrag might have. On land, however, it's quite a different story. With their stubby little legs and their fat, protruding bellies, a marine scrag is able to hobble along awkwardly at a speed of only 3 (compared to their more graceful swimming speed of 12). For this reason, even though they are capable of breathing air for up to one hour, marine scrags do not spend a great deal of time on land. 6. Of all the troll subspecies, the marine scrag does the most damage with its bite attack (9-16, or 1d8+8). This is because the marine scrag's mouth is filled with literally hundreds of needle-sharp teeth, arranged in overlapping rows much like that of a shark. In combat, a scrag is able to attack three times each round, concentrating on a single opponent or dividing its attacks (two claw strikes and a bite) between up to three opponents. Because of its greater damage potential, a marine scrag will always attempt to use its bite attack on what it considers its most powerful opponent, if fighting more than one enemy at a time. 7. Although it can be argued that the marine scrag derived from mammalian stock, its return to a life in the sea has irrevocably altered its form. No longer a true mammal, the female scrag does not produce milk with which to nurse her young. In an evolutionary attempt at streamlining the body, very important to an aquatic race, the reproductive organs are internal in both sexes. Thus, to the casual observer, no real difference can be seen between a male and a female marine scrag. In any attempt at classifying the marine scrag, the creature must be placed somewhere between mammals and amphibians. While the scrag's hair and live birth prove a link to a mammalian ancestry, their gills and near-total aquatic existence point toward their being amphibians. Unlike true amphibians, though, not only do marine scrags live in sea water, but they also have scales covering their bodies. These last two traits indicate a reptilian ancestry as well. At this point, many naturalists throw up their hands in despair or come up with clever titles like "devolved mammals," "amphibious mammals" or even "mammphibians." Others sidestep the question altogether, claiming a magical merging at work. It is worth noting, however, that marine scrags have evolved so far away from the normal troll stock that they are now mutually infertile - there will never be a marine scrag/troll half-breed, which most people agree is a good thing. It is quite possible for a saltwater troll/freshwater troll hybrid, but the chances of such a union occurring are slim, since neither species likes spending much time on land and neither can breathe while in the other's natural aquatic environment. 8. The remarkable powers of regeneration enjoyed by trolls are also present in the marine scrag, but with one provision - they only work while the creature is immersed in saltwater. While in such an environment, the marine scrag regenerates 3 hit points per round, starting three rounds after taking damage. Severed body parts can continue to attack, but only while they are within range - once severed underwater, they sink to the bottom of the ocean, unable to "swim" on their own. Like normal trolls, a marine scrag's severed body parts can be rejoined to its body within 24 hours of separation; after that, the severed body parts "die," forcing the scrag to regrow replacement parts, a process which takes a full week. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
The Ecology of the Marine Scrag (unpublished AD&D 2E version)
Top