Monday, May 17, 2010

Wyrdrake

Ze bulette expressed a desire for lower level monsters, and given that I have a ton of them I've never bothered to stat up, expect new monsters to be a recurring theme for a bit on this blog(at least while the characters in my current campaign are still low level). This is a creature that I've introduced into many of my campaigns, but here it is in 2nd edition stats a bit more fleshed out than normal.

Wyrdrake

Climate/Terrain: Temperate Hills/Forests/Mountains/Swamps/Coastal
Frequency: Rare
Organization: Solitary, Pair, or Brood
Activity Cycle: Diurnal
Diet: Carnivore
Intelligence: Animal to Semi(1-4)
Treasure: Q(but only when in a brood nest)
Alignment: Neutral
No. Appearing: 1-8
Armor Class: 7
Movement: 6, Fly 18(C)
Hit Dice: 1/2
Thac0: 20
No. Attacks: 2 or 1
Damage: 1/1 or 1d2
Special Attacks: Poison
Special Defenses: None
Magic Resistance: None
Size: Small(3' wingspan)
Morale: Unsteady(7)
XP Value: 15

Wyrdrakes are small Wyvern-like creatures no bigger than a large fox. They do not seem to be able to communicate.
Combat: Wyrdrakes rarely attack people, except when it's a mated pair. Their normal prey includes rats, rabbits, birds, and the occasional small deer or fox. Wyrdrakes usually begin their attack from the air, swooping down from nearby trees, boulders, or rooftops, and raking their prey with their talons. For most smaller prey this is usually enough. For larger prey, the Wyrdrake will likely land(possibly on the opponent if both claw attacks hit) so they can bite. Any bitten creature is susceptible to the venom of the Wyrdrake. Wyrdrake venom, in it's natural state is rather weak, granting anything gnome sized or larger a +4 bonus to the save. The Wyrdrake's venom, if the save is failed, will suffer from numbness in the afflicted body part, causing a 1-3 point penalty on appropriate checks.
A Wyrdrake defending its nest or young fights with a +2 bonus to attack, and +5 bonus to morale checks.
Habitat/Society: Wyrdrakes combine aspects of dragon and raven. They are scavengers and hunters of small prey when alone. Sometime between their 5th and 7th year, most Wyrdrakes find a mate. The two build a nest either in a large tree or abandoned building. It's at this point when Wyrdrakes become aggressive towards larger prey. The two Wyrdrakes will coordinate attacks to take down weak looking lone humanoids. In addition to the meat they get from the humanoid, the Wyrdrakes steal any shiny objects they can carry, taking these items back to their nests. Every spring(when their aren't already young present) the female Wyrdrakes will lay 3-12 eggs. Each of these eggs is worth 500-600 gp on the open market as Wyrdrakes may be used in the same manner as Falcons if trained properly. The eggs will hatch within 3 weeks of being laid, but the young mature slowly, being a full year before they leave the nest with the parents to learn to hunt, but it will be another 2 years before the parent Wyrdrakes drive the young ones off. Wyrdrakes are also hunted for their venom glands, which if distilled, can be allow for the manufacture of Type O poison. Their hides may be cured, but it would take about a dozen of them to make a full set of leather armor.
Ecology: Wyrdrakes are a part of the natural world, but are on the verge of extinction due to over-hunting. Wyrdrakes may be summoned by the Find Familiar spell.

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