RMA: Giant...Fish?

Now this is an interesting one. Well, several really. I've talked before about aquatic encounters of various types, but it seems that whole topic is incomplete without discussing this listing. 

Giant fish covers unusually large versions of more or less real-world fish; including piranha, rockfish, catfish, and sturgeon. When the books says "giant", it means it! These are some big guppies! Unsurprisingly, none of these are found wandering in dungeons, they are either wilderness or placed encounters only.

Let's put the stat table up for a peek, shall we?

Giant Fish (from Cook)

Just looking at things like AC, HD, and damage, these are not trivial encounters. Especially when the added challenge of most such confrontations would be in or under the water.

Giant Piranha: Let's just take a moment to appreciate the fact that the "wimpy" one on this list is a GIANT PIRANHA which, by the by, are five feet long! Growing up in the 70s, I was personally convinced the three most likely ways nature would take me out would be: Shark, Piranha, or Killer Bees. And those piranha were less than a foot long! Moving on, these monsters aren't unstoppable brutes, but even 3+ HD means they aren't something you just one-hit away. Couple that with their morale-less frenzy and up to eight of them on a single target dealing 1d8 each, that's a bad time for their fella that gets ganged up on. 

Giant Spiny Rockfish: While the listing doesn't specify how big this fish is, given that it has more HD than the piranha and is sometimes mistaken for boulders, at least 6' seems not unreasonable. It's size isn't really the issue. The fact that one might not recognize it and get to close is the problem. Not only does it have a poison attack, it had FOUR of these per round! The spines do 1d4 regardless, so up to 16 damage is still a cause for concern. The spines are melee only, but if you don't realize what your dealing with there in the shallows and actually step on or grab hold of that "rock", the fish automatically hits all four times! And yes, that means FOUR save or die rolls. It's also worth noting that the poison gives no "time until effect" meaning an insta-kill. It's AC isn't great, though, so it's not exactly unkillable. It also has a skittish morale, as befits a creature that relies on camouflage. What's odd about the listing in Cook is that it has no asterisk next to the HD denoting bonus XP for extra abilities. 4 attacks with poison would seem to merit that in my opinion.

Giant Catfish: Now things are getting serious. Fifteen feet long! Eight-plus hit dice! 2d8 bite damage! The giant cat's big guns are its feelers, though. Those bring it up to FIVE attacks and up to 32hp damage dealt in one round! Again, not a great morale score, but a markedly better AC than the earlier entries.

Giant Sturgeon: Oof! This thing approaches dragon levels of difficulty. 30' long, 10+ HD, and AC 0! What's more, they swallow whole 10% of the time and the victim stands a fair chance of being immobilized while taking 2d6 damage per round in the fish's gullet. And that's after taking 2d10 damage from the bite! 

 

What's the worst thing about all of these encounters, you ask? It's not the damage per round, or the fact that you're probably fighting them in their element (and out of yours), it's the treasure! Rather, the lack thereof. Imagine having to battle your way clear from a school of piranha, or kill a rockfish after it poisoned a party member, or gut a PC's corpse out of a sturgeon gut, only to get not a single copper piece from the monster toward the raise dead fund! talk about a poor ROI.

Looking at these creatures less as monstrous foes and more like dangerous, fantastic animals that are part of your game-world probably casts them in a more accurate light for the PCs. It's like encountering a bear in the woods. Chances are, he's not why you're there. Be careful, keep your distance, and things will probably be fine. Act recklessly or be inattentive, and there could be consequences.

RMA: Medusa

Monsters with petrification attacks are not new fodder for this blog, and this Greek classic has been mentioned in those conversations, but I haven't done a full write-up on her before. She is a rather interesting monster for a few reasons, so let's get to it, shall we?

First off, I'm going to mention the pedantic issue of the name and then drop the issue. I know that in mythology Medusa was the individual character's name, not a race. I'm not sure of why D&D handles the name this way - perhaps because of the other D&D Gorgon - but for whatever reason, like the Pegasus, Medusa has become synonymous with the creature type.

Secondly, you know I loves me some Harryhausen, but just to be clear, he completely made up* the whole "half snake, half woman" design for 1981's Clash of the Titans. The original creature was a woman with snake hair and a face that would make a train take a dirt road.

Medusas (Medusae?) have a reputation for being TPK material, which may be why I have not seen them used much. Granted there is one in B2's Caves of Chaos, but other than that I personally haven't run into them much. When you look at the stats, though, they have some weaknesses along with their obviously strengths.

Medusa (from Moldvay)

AC: 8
HD: 4**
Move: 90' (30')
Att: 1 snakebite + special
Damage: 1d6 + poison
No. App. 1d3 (1d4)
Save: F4
Morale: 8
Treasure: F
AL: C

NOTE: For convenience I'm going to refer to the medusa as "she/her" instead of "it", even though the Medusa isn't really human (I'm not going to even get into the idea of an all-female species!)

With her poor AC and so-so hit dice and low morale, its obvious she isn't a combat powerhouse. We'll get to her petrification ability in a moment, but first I want to talk about the snakes. Despite having a head full of them, she only gets the one 1d6 bite per round. Sure it's save or die. But it's death in one turn, which gives the afflicted character a chance to keep fighting, or get a Neutralize Poison cast on him before keeling over. Beyond that, she has no other attack.

"But wait!" You say. "Her gaze is an attack!"

Nope.

The description is quite clear. It is the act of looking at the medusa's face that petrifies its victims, not her looking at you. She can (and often does) try to find ways to trick people into looking at her face (she's Chaotic, after all), but Flesh to Stone beams don't shoot out of her peepers. Some petrifying creatures, like the Gorgon and Cockatrice, attack to "stone" their victims. Not so the medusa.

That being said, it's still a dangerous ability. Typically, she will trick a party into looking her while covered with a hood or veil or some such. Then, WHAMMO! A few bad saves and she has a new statue garden. PCs that avoid getting stoned are left either hamstringing themselves by shutting their eyes or trying to mess with a mirror. On top of all this, the medusa is getting a fat +2 to saves against any incoming spells.

It's interesting to note that by strict interpretation, even though multiple medusae can appear in an encounter, each one is only vulnerable to seeing its own face (not the others').

Given its tactics described on B39 and in The Keep, it's fair to assume a medusa has human level intelligence. This begs the question "What does it want?" I expect a lot of good RP fodder and plot hooks could be found here. Obviously if she had or knew something important to the PCs, she might ask a favor in return, as she certainly can't easily move about in normal society to get what she wants or needs.

* “Every statue I’d seen [Medusa] was just a woman with a pretty face and had snakes in her hair. Well, that wasn’t very dramatic, so I gave her a rather demonic look. We gave her a rattlesnake’s tail, so that she could be a menace from the sound effect point-of-view. It was a shock to see her come out from behind the wall crawling on her hands because that was the only way she could propel herself.” 

- Ray Harryhausen

RMA: Sea Dragons

Seriously, has anyone ever used this monster? If not, we're all doing a TERRIBLE job as DMs!

What's more classic than a sea monster? 

...Just don't, okay?

Anyone who has read my RMAs has seen me comment on aquatic encounters and their relative rarity, so I have been kind of avoiding doing more of that theme. This fella deserves a mention, though. So let's get started:

Sea Dragon (from Cook)

No. App: 0 (1d4)

AC: 1

HD: 8

AL: N

Move: 180' (60')

  (Swimming or Flying)

Attacks: 1 (bite or spit)

Damage: 3d8

Save: F8

Morale: 9

Treasure: H

For starters, it doesn't look all that impressive. 8HD is okay,  but not awesome. A decent armor class as well, and the damage from its bite isn't really terrifying, either. So what's so cool about Sea Dragons?

• All the usual reasons fighting at sea is challenging.
• They are intelligent, hence the so-so morale (live to fight another day, etc.). There is a 20% chance they speak. If so, that means they are automatically packing SIX spells (3 @ 1st, 3 @ 2nd level MU/Elf). That's a bit scary.
• Their "breath" attack is a poisonous gob of spit TWENTY FEET in diameter with a range of 100'! (eww!) Don't forget, kids; that's 100 YARDS in the wilderness (p.X19), which is precisely where these fellas are likely to show up! The poison loses effectiveness after 1 round, but it's save or die. By the way, that's a save vs. Dragon Breath, not Poison, which means characters are MORE likely to fail.
• They can pull a "flying fish." They leap out of the water and glide for up to six rounds. They can cover a lot of distance in that time, possibly getting an air-to-surface poison loogy off in the process. 
• They can breathe underwater, so no sense waiting for them to come up for air. Their lairs are underwater too (often at the sea's bottom in a shipwreck or a cave), so even if you beat the thing, finding and getting that sweet, sweet Type H loot is its own challenge.
• I don't even want to talk about the whole "1d4" appearing thing!

Keep in mind also that these are the AVERAGE stats for the Sea Dragon. The book allows for ± up to 3 HD depending on age. 

So give it up for the dragon's wet behind the ears cousin! 

RMA: Giant Scorpion

Okay! Okay! I'm sorry I said this adventure was boring!!

Other people may feel differently, but for me, the scorpion is one creepy little crawly; certainly more so than spiders or other arachnids. Having lived in the southern United States for years, I would come across the unstriped scorpion from time to time, but the sense of alienness persists for me.

In real life, most scorpions' stings are no worse than a bee's (allergies notwithstanding). There are more venomous varieties, of course. The largest real-world scorpions clock in at about 8" long. Most are more like 1-2".

The D&D Giant Scorpion is described in Cook Expert as "the size of a small horse." Labyrinth Lord is comparable, saying 6' long. Which is middling for most of the game's "giant" creatures. Still, six feet of scorpion is ten feet too many!

While not precisely rare in adventures, these monsters are hardly common in my experience. People seem to save these for desert/mummy-type adventures, despite the fact that scorpions live in many climates. In fact, GSs are disturbingly common on the wandering monster tables. They appear on dungeon levels 6-7, and –since they are listed under the insect subtable– they can appear in six of the ten terrain types (and with two listings for insect under "jungle"). Oddly, since "insect" isn't an option there, you won't randomly encounter them in the desert.

The stats:

Giant Scorpion (from Cook)

AC: 2

AL: Chaotic

HD: 4*

Move: 150' (50')

Att: 3 (2 claws/1 sting)

Damage: 1d10/1d10/1d4 + poison

No. App: 1d6 (1d6)

Save: F2

Morale: 11

Chaotic? Really?? I would have thought that it would lack the brains for anything other than animalistic neutral, but I suspect that –and its impressive morale score– reflect its aggressive nature. ("will usually attack on sight.") 

Its poison is –of course– Save or Die, but the real kicker is the fact that a successful claw attack gives the monster a +2 to hit with its stinger. Even leaving the venom aside, 1d10 per claw is pretty rough. The nasty play (DMs take note) is to attack two different PCs, one with each claw, and then follow up with the sting on whomever gets "pinched." 

Their eight legs let them scurry faster than the normal character, closing quickly, and their shells are like plate mail. Round that off with 4 HD for hit points and attacks, and this thing is no pushover. 

Up to six giant scorpions per encounter is a scary time for anyone, but they are still susceptible to Sleep, so don't despair. Their saves aren't terribly impressive either. The best tactics against them is probably to keep your distance, pepper them with arrows, and hit them with spells if you can. 

RMA: Water Termites

I honestly don't think I've ever seen this monster used, in any of its three varieties. It's such a strange creature compared to things like orcs or dragons. Like the Cave Locust or the Robber Fly, it's got the whole "giant bug" thing going on. At 1' to 5' long, they certainly qualify. What's interesting is –as far as I can tell– their main use in a game is as an indirect threat to the PCs.

The stats: (from Cook)

Termites, Giant

Swamp/Fresh Water/Salt Water 

No. App:  0 (1-4)/0 (1-3)/ 0 (2-7)

AL: N

AC: 4/6/5

HD: 1+1/2+1/4

Move: 90' (30')/120' (40')/180' (60')

Attacks: special

Damage: 1-3/1-4/1-6

Save: F1/F2/F3

Morale: 10/8/11

The special attacks consists of a toxic spray if above water, which can stun a foe (possibly causing him to sink?), and an ink cloud underwater (like an octopus). They only bite if cornered, which makes me wonder at their relatively high morale. 

The fun from these guys comes from them latching onto a vessel underwater and dealing structural damage to the hull. If they chew it enough, it starts to sink! This could be a fun way to get the PCs into the water (and off the nice, safe boat) to deal with the threat. They'd have to move fairly quickly too (before the damage is done). Of course, looking at the damage they do and the Hull Point ratings, it's unlikely the termites would sink a larger vessel. Although a few leaks might make people nervous. Perhaps a swarm of salt water termites follow a ship like dolphins, feeding each night? The non-marine versions are quite scary in their own way, too. Imagine your canoe getting trashed when you're miles into a festering swamp. Personally, I'm a fan of anything that underscores the differences between an encounter on the water vs. one on land.

RMA: Cave Locust

I gotta admit. These are one of my favorites. I even included them in a module I wrote. Nevertheless, they are not a typical encounter. I think these huge grasshoppers give off a great Jules Verne-type feel and can add to the strangeness of a place without upping the lethality of an adventure too much. Even without a high body count, Cave Locusts are not to be dismissed lightly.

Cave Locusts: (from Moldvay)

No. Appearing: 2-20 (1-10)

AC: 4

AL: N

HD: 2

Move: 60' (20'), fly 180' (60')

Attacks: 1 (bite or bump or spit)

Damage: 1-2,1-4, or special

Save As: F2

Morale: 5

They look fairly wimpy individually, and they are. Their low damage and morale means they aren't going to be tearing through a party. Where the locust really shines as an encounter is in its desire not to fight.

First off it will frequently try to flee, but they are extremely clumsy jumpers/fliers. Half the time they collide with a PC, dealing 1d4 damage. If you get a swarm of a dozen or so cave locusts "retreating" at once, odds are good that someone is going to get pummeled.

Another interesting thing that the locust does is spit. A sticky, horrible gob splatters the poor victim. Since the attack is basically "touch" it's versus AC 9, usually hitting. Then the poor recipient must save vs, poison or spend 10 minutes (!) vomiting and being generally awful to be around. 

Finally, when the locusts get scared, they whine. This noise can bring down wandering monsters like nobody's business with a 20% chance per round of something showing up to check out the ruckus. 

Top this off with NO treasure, and you DMs have a marvelous object lesson for players about why sometimes it's better to leave the monsters alone.

PS - An amusing tidbit: Cave Locusts are immune to most poisons! It comes from eating yellow mold!