RMA: Lycanthropes (part 5, werebears)

Now we come to the final entry among the were-critters: the Werebear. I've written about normal bears before. The were version is a fair bit tougher, stat-wise. In fact, they're closer to cave bears.

Werebears (from Moldvay):

AC: 2 (8 for humans)
HD: 6*
Move: 120' (40')
Att: 2 claws/1 bite
Dmg: 2d4/2d4/2d8
No. App: 1d4 (1d4)
Save: F6
Morale: 10
AL: N

If provoked, these creatures are pretty dangerous. Their armor and morale are quite respectable. In addition to their normal 3 attacks, they can hug for an additional 2d8 damage if they hit with both claws. That's potentially 4d4 + 4d8 damage to a victim in a single round! That's an average of 28 points of damage. Even if that doesn't kill a foe, it could easily set them up for lycanthropic infection; even a name level fighter (9HD) only has an average of approximately 30-40 hit points.

As formidable as they are on the lycanthrope ladder, werebears in D&D are interesting for being the only ones listed as potentially friendly. They are also described as "very intelligent, even in animal form." This is taking a pretty far step from the raging beast within stereotype of things like "Wolfman" movies, etc. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the inspiration for this particular -ahem- "skin changer" came from someplace else.

hmmmm. What could it be?

To be fair, there is a rich tradition of shape-changing bears in Native American folklore, too. I can't help but think that Beorn is at least part of this monster's origin, though.

RMA: Lycanthropes (part 3, Wereboars)

Wereboars are an odd one to me. I've espoused my love of their bigger, wackier cousin the Devil Swine, but the "normal" porcine shapeshifter is not one I've seen in use much in D&D games I've played or run.

Wereboars (from Moldvay):

AC: 4 (9 as human)
HD: 4+1*
Move: 150' (50')
Att: 1 (tusk-bite)
Dmg: 2d6
No. App: 1d4 (2d8)
Save: F4
Morale: 9
AL: N

Looking at the stats, a couple of things occur to me. Wereboars are the first of what I would consider the "tough" lycanthropes. They don't appear as a wandering monster until the Expert Set levels (4th) and their Armor Class, Hit Dice, and Damage are getting more respectable. Even without being a were-creature, a sounder of them would be a decent opponent for low to mid level PCs. Another interesting thing is that they are the first in the ascending power scale of these creatures to be neutral, instead of chaotic. This implies they aren't necessarily some evil monster.

Leaving the stat block behind, let's look at the description. They are listed as "semi-intelligent," which means they won't necessarily charge blindly into a situation, but they do have "bad tempers." Poor reaction rolls, maybe? They can do the animal summoning thing too, bringing normal wild boars to the fight. These are not insignificant creatures, especially if each lycanthrope is calling a couple in. 

An interesting tidbit here: "In human form they often seem to be berserkers, and may act the same way in battle (gaining +2 on 'to hit' rolls and fighting to the death)." [B39] Two things about this. First, in were form their morale is a nine, as opposed to the "never surrender" aspect of berserkers (which they do not do as boars, but as men). Second, this makes them pretty scary even out of their magical form. Another thought is that I can imagine a role for such people in some warrior societies. Almost like a "mystic order" of warriors that are infused with the "Spirit of the Boar" and charge berserk into battle and transform into beasts in the heat of the fighting. 

Reading over the material, it strikes me that one of the main ways wereboars can be effectively used in a game is tapping into the tremendous amount of folklore that surrounds the idea of pigs and boars being demonic or supernatural. There's as much about evil pigs (if not more) than werewolves in the really old stories. Granted, they aren't all lycanthropes in those stories, but the imagery is there. For example, the Cutty Black Sow is a welsh tale of a creature that steals mens' souls on what is now Halloween. DMs looking for ways to weave a spooky wereboar-related adventure have no shortage of material to mine. 

RMA: Sprites

Continuing with the fairy tale theme, let's take a look a sprites. 

I think that sprites are seldom used because they often viewed as more of a nuisance than an encounter. While it's true they are pretty harmless in combat, I think that they could make for a very interesting roleplaying encounter and/or noncombat challenge.

What's strange to me is that these little ones can appear as wandering monsters in a dungeon environment (level 1). Perhaps it's not too far underground for them? They mostly appear near rivers, in woods, and in non-urban inhabited areas.

While I feel these are largely unimportant in this case, let's have the stats, shall we?

Sprite (from Moldvay) -

AC: 5
HD: 1/2 (1d4 hp)
Move: 60' (20') Flying: 180' (60')
Att: 1 spell
Damage: see below
No. App: 3-18 (5-40)
Save: E1
Morale: 7
AL: N

Pretty unimpressive, I mean, they are fast on the wing, and their AC is probably due to speed and their diminutive size (1' tall), but no attack and no damage means they aren't going to be a good choice for that TPK you've been brewing up.*

No, where the sprites are most interesting is in their curse ability and their attitude. They are described as 1' tall winged people "related to pixies and elves." They are shy but curious, and have "a strange sense of humor."

Sprites are prankster gangsters.

I don't know why, but I really like the idea that a "monster" in the game is motivated simply by the desire to have a laugh. No eating people, no stealing gold, just comedy.

If five sprites work together -sprinkling fairy dust or whatever- they can enact a curse on their victim. Rather than a curse like the spell, it takes the form of a practical joke. Given the examples (tripping, nose growing) and that the book mentions using remove curse to get rid of it, it seems that the curse can have a duration or not. It's described as casting a curse spell, so there's a saving throw, but assuming they cast it 1/day per 5 sprites, a group 10-15 can hit 2-3 PCs.

The other thing to keep in mind is that curse has a range of 0', that means at least one of the sprites needs to touch the PC. Once that's done, they could fly away laughing at 180' and leave the victim behind with his donkey ears or whatever, having to walk back into town and explain things to the local cleric.

Alternately, the sprites may offer to lift the curse (another group could cast the reverse) if the PCs perform some task like getting them some honey from that big bee hive or maybe there is some predator that is harassing them the party can deal with. Not to mention, like the nixies, it might be possible to get information from the sprites if they're approached correctly. Side quests and RP opps galore!

*Don't ever do that.

RMA: Nixies

I thought I'd spend a little time looking at some of the more "fairy tale" creatures in the monster listings. Many are lifted right out of classic folklore and I think can be a real plus to giving a setting more of a fantasy/fantastic tone.

Usually, when I've talked about aquatic encounters in the past, I've focussed on the nautical. Nixies are river and lake dwellers, as opposed to mermaids and the like. They occur on the river and swamp wandering monster tables (there is no "Lake" table).

Nixie (from Cook)-

AC: 7
HD: 1
Move: 120' (40')
Att: 1
Dmg: 1d4
No. App.: 0 (2-40)
Save: E1
Morale: 6
AL: N
Treasure: B

There are many variations of this creature in folklore, but in BX nixies are described as 3' tall water sprites, resembling beautiful women with green, blue or gray-green skin. The AD&D version includes both genders and are slightly taller. I find the 1e version a bit too "monster" and not "fae" enough for my taste.

At 1 HD and AC 7, it's small wonder that they are shy of combat (see the Morale score). While they do have weapons, they are hardly formidable (1d4). Of course, the point of the nixie as an encounter is not to have them attack the party.

The nixies' charm ability is particularly interesting to me for a few reasons. First off, it takes ten of them to charm a target. At 2d20 appearing at or near their lairs, it's likely that at least one PC could be targeted. I imagine this as a chorus. A song with a literally enchanting harmony that throws its web over the character's will.

Some creatures, such as a harpy, use their charm effects to bypass a character's defenses and then slay him. Not so the nixie. They will take the character under the water and keep him as a slave for a year. So the PC isn't dead, but is will be out of the adventuring game for a while without rescue. Further, unlike the spell charm person, the character gets no opportunity after the initial saving throw to break the charm before the year is up. I assume things like dispel magic will do the trick, though.

Next, it mentions that the nixies can cast water breathing on their slaves, but needs to be renewed daily. This is an interesting little tweak as well. It ensures that their slaves can be kept well away from the surface, making rescue that much more difficult.

A final bit of interesting magic is their ability to summon GIANT BASS to their aid! These fish are a bit more hardy than the nixies (2HD), but are not individually terrifying. What's scary is that EACH nixie can summon one fish. Now I'm extrapolating a bit here, but under the Giant Fish entry on X31-32, the closest type in HD to the bass is the giant piranha. (3+3 HD vs. 2). The piranha is described as 5' long. So I'd put the bass at approximately 3' long, which would weigh in at about 25 pounds.

Let's imagine the party is crossing a river or lake on a rowboat or similar and a dozen or so nixies show up. They croon one of the PCs into servitude and he starts climbing out of the boat.

Well of course his buddies aren't going to stand by and just let that happen, so they attack. The nixies summon twelve 3' long bass to defend them and all 300 pounds of these fish start shoving and rocking the boat. Next thing you know, the PCs are in the drink and at a serious disadvantage.

That said, I repeat that I don't think the nixies are best used as a combat encounter. I see the fae types not so much evil or malign as alien. Their concepts of morality is totally different from mortals. If they are immortal like in some fairy tales, why would the character make such a fuss about staying with them for a year?

Some ideas for nixie-related fun: The nixies might have useful information, or maybe they can retrieve something under the water for the PCs. If they want a slave, but the PCs aren't going to give up one of their own (and saving throws are made), bargaining with fairies is always rich meat for plot wrinkles. Since they are pretty much aquatic, maybe they want something from dry land they can't get themselves? If nothing else, an underwater adventure to rescue someone taken by the nixies might make a fun side quest.