Bativul, Nocturnal Scavengers (A to Z, B)

The Sundering did more than just shatter the world, it released a titanic amount of magical power that washed over the lands changing and empowering things.  On a distant island, which exact one is not known, it is thought a colony of bats and a flock of  carrion birds were combined into a new creature, the Bativul.  Slowly over the decades and centuries they have spread throughout the Sea of Stars.

The average Bativul looks like a large feathered bat, they weigh as much as 2kg (4.5 lbs) with a wingspan of up to 1.75m (5.75 feet).  Their mouths are full of sharp, tearing teeth backed by powerful jaws, given time they can easily strip all the flesh from a body and then crack the bones.  They are skilled scavengers and operate in small packs, eating flesh from dead bodies, rotting fruit and vegitables only turning to fresh fruits and live prey when they are not other options.  Their digestion is frighteningly efficient and they produce very concentraited waste that is rich in nitrates and often used as fertilizer.

Like many scavengers, they are nocturnal coming out at night to search for food.  They avoid people and predators, picking over the abandoned kills and leaving of other creatures, garbage piles and spoil heaps are a favored hunting grounds for them.  They are only hostile to living creatures in self-defense or if starving and then they tend to attack only the weak or wounded.

The cries of the Bativul are high and haunting and they carry far on the wind.  They communicate with each other, seeking food and avoiding dangers.  Like most carrion eaters, they are considered an ill-omen and actively hunted in some cultures.

Bativuls lay eggs but also nurse their young as they are not quite bird nor mammal.

Notes:  Scavengers are important in any ecosystem.

Image from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, found on Wikimedia Commons and is in the Public Domain.

The Tale of the Misappearing Cat

This will be an interesting article to write as I will never directly name the monster I am writing about -though I can describe it, it is panther-like with an extra pair of leg and tentacles that grow from it shoulders- I will not name it as it is part of Dungeons & Dragons brand identity, that list of things that cannot be used by anyone except Wizards of the Coast when writing about D&D.  (And, yes, I know I could mention it and it would be fair use but that would not be as much of a challenge and the obliqueness is appropriate to the monster in any case.)

It is perhaps ironic that our monster was based on the Coeurl from the A. E. Van Vogt short story Black Destroyer (the Dump Stat has an excellent deep dive on the creature) while its rivals, the blink dogs, are -to my knowledge- wholly Gygaxian creations and yet are not part of D&D’s product identity.

The monster is one of my favorites though one I have rarely used as a Dungeon Master.  Perhaps because it is so distinctive, you use it and the players know what they are facing.  Also, until now, I have never had a clear idea of how I would use one in play.  But there is much of the Coeurl that can be combined with our creature to make a more interesting one especially as I find the Fifth Edition write up rather . . . disappointing.  And to honor Van Vogt’s creation and early naming conventions from D&D, we will call this version, the Lrueoc.

Moving like a dangerous shadow the big cat appeared at the far end of the hallway, there was something wrong with its silhouette and how could it be there?  We had closed the door behind us, had we not?

Lrueoc (Black Destroyer)
Large monstrosity (from beyond), evil

Armor Class 15

New Monster – StagWolf (for D&D 5E)

Oh, it is just some deer.  Wait!  There is something wrong.  Look at that muzzle and tail.  Oh no.  Run!  Just run!  Stagwolves!

StagWolf
Medium monstrosity (chimeric), unaligned

Armor Class 13

Hit Points 54 (8d8+16)

Speed Walk 55ft.

STR 17 (+ 3) DEX 17 (+ 3) CON 15 (+2) INT 6 ( -2) WIS 14 (+ 2) CHA 12 ( +1)

Saving Throws Dex + 5, Con + 5,  Wis + 4

Skills Perception +4, Stealth +5

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15

Challenge 3 (700 XP)

Appear Harmless: A casual glance will perceive the stagwolf as just a simple stag. A Will save (DC 12) will dispel the harmless guise.

Farm Animals are Fabulous.  The stagwolf prefers to dine on domesticated animals, especially sheep and cattle, gaining advantage on any roll to pursue or find them.

New Monster – Great Alotian Wagon Eater

Voddick knelt down at the road edge and picked up some splinters of wood and a fragment of metal. “I fear we are not going to find those lost wagons, my friend.”

“Why? Has someone beaten us to them?” Gollaon asked scanning the horizon from horseback.

“No, worse, much worse,” said Voddick shaking his head. “A wagon eater.”

“A wagon eater? Are you joking?”

“Not in the least,” said Voddick. “They are much feared by the Dwarven Clans. They are secretive creatures that rarely emerge from their lairs except to consume abandoned wagons.”

‘How . . . bizarre.”

Great Alotian Wagon Eater
Large monstrosity (chimeric), unaligned

Chimeric Monster Subtype for D&D 5E

While D&D 5E is not as much into finely classifying and subclassifying all its monster by type and subtype, chimeric monsters are an important group in the Sea of Stars so I wanted to give them a set of special abilities tied to their nature as well.

Chimeric [Subtype]

A chimeric being is a hybrid creature made from blending together aspects of other creatures.  Some are created by alchemical and magical experiments, other emerge spontaneously from unknown sources.

•    Final Form– For whatever reason, the chimeric being’s form is the end and final result of many changes and it has no wish to change again, it gains a advantage on any saving throw to resist any attempt to further change or weaken its form (including but not limited to polymorph).
•    Hybrid Health– A chimeric creature is full of surprising vigor, gaining a advantage on saving throws against disease and poisons.
•    Obsession with a Food– Each chimeric creature has a particular food that it desires above all others.  A chimeric being will go out of its way to obtain such.  A trainer who has access to such food may gain a advantage on their Charisma (Animal Handling) rolls when training a captive chimeric beast.

Notes: Obviously this subtype would be applicable to chimera, hippogriff, owlbear and such monsters.

Chimeric creatures created for this design journal (for Pathfinder) include: Cobra-Cat, MothLion, StagWolf and Sting Squirrel.

Original Pathfinder version can be found here.

Image Chimera. Apulian red-figure dish, ca. 350-340 BC. owned by the Louvre, photo by Jastrow found on Wikimedia Commons and is in the Public Domain.

A to Z – Cobra Cat

One of these and . . .

A long-bodied cat with a longish muzzle. It weaves it way through the legs of a chair and eyes you quizzically.

Cobra-Cat CR 1
XP 400

N Tiny magical beast (chimeric)
Init +7; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +5

DEFENSE
AC 16, touch 15, flat-footed 13 (+3 Dex, +1 Natural, +2 size)
hp 11 (2d10)
Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +1

. . . and one of these.

OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft., climb 20 ft.
Melee 2 claws +7 (1d3–2), bite +7 (1d6–2/ x3 + poison)
Space 2-1/2 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Defensive Abilities Immune to consumed toxins

STATISTICS
Str 6, Dex 17, Con 11, Int 3, Wis 12, Cha 7
Base Atk +2; CMB -1; CMD 11 (15 vs. trip)
Feats Improved Initiative [B], Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +7, Climb +7, Perception +5, Stealth +15; Racial Modifiers +4 Climb, +4 Stealth
SQ Familiar, Pleased by Poison

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Familiar (Su) The master of a cobra-cat familiar gains a +1 bonus on Initiative checks and a +4 bonus to saves against consumed toxins.

Immune to consumed toxin (Su) Anything poisonous or toxic consumed by the cobra-cat is ingested with no ill-effect. If the poison consumed has a higher DC than the cobra-cat’s poison, the cobra cat gains a +1 bonus to its poison DC for 24-hours.

Pleased by Poison (Ex) The cobra-car will consume poisons and poisoned food preferentially, gaining a +4 bonus to perception checks to notice such.

Poison (Ex)
Bite—injury; save Fort DC 11; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d2 Con; cure 1 save.

The origin of the cobra-cat is unknown but they have become very popular as pets for nobles.

While primarily mammalian, the cobra-cat lays eyes from which its kittens hatch and are nursed by the mother cobra-cat.

For D&D 5E:

Description as above.

New Monster – MothLion

 

You would not think such a large creature could be so quiet.  The beating of its wings seem like nothing but the echos of a distant breeze, it footfalls are light as snowfall.  But once you see its fearsome visage, you know it is no gentle creature but a deadly hunter.

MothLion                                               CR 5 (1,600 XP)
N large magical beast (chimeric)

Chimeric Monster Subtype

Chimeric [Subtype]

A chimeric being is a hybrid creature made from blending together aspects of other creatures.  Some are created by sorcerous experiments, other emerge spontaneously from unknown sources.

•    Final Form– For whatever reason, the chimeric being’s form is the end and final result of many changes and it has no wish to change again, it gains a +4 racial bonus to resist any attempt to further change or weaken its form (including but not limited to polymorph).
•    Hybrid Health– A chimeric creature is full of surprising vigor, gaining a +2 racial bonus to resist disease and poisons and heals at twice the rate of a normal creature.
•    Obsession with a Food– Each chimeric creature has a particular food that it desires above all others.  A chimeric being will go out of its way to obtain such.  A trainer who has access to such food may gain a +2 bonus on their Animal Handling checks when training a captive chimeric beast.

Notes: Since I am having fun playing with chimeric monsters, I thought that they needed their own subtype.  Obviously this would be applicable to chimera, hippogriff, owlbear and such monsters.

Chimeric creatures created for this design journal include: Cobra-Cat, MothLion, StagWolf and Sting Squirrel.

I have redone theChimeric subtype for D&D 5E here.

Photo Etruscan bronze statue depicting the legendary monster. It was originally part of a group with Bellerophon and Pegasus. On the right leg is engraved the dedicatory inscription to Tinia, held by the National Archaeologic Museum, Florence, found on Wikimedia Commons, taken by Sailko and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

New Monster – StagWolf

Oh, it is just some deer.  Wait!  There is something wrong.  Look at that muzzle and tail.  Oh no.  Run!  Just run!  Stagwolves!

StagWolf                                               CR 3 (800 XP)

New Monster – Sting Squirrel

I was walking across the north campus of the University of Georgia this morning and saw a squirrel and thought, what if it had a stinger in the tail . . .

Sting Squirrel
Oh, its just a squirrel.  Maybe a bit large for a squirrel.  Wait?  Does it?  It does!  It has two pairs of fore limbs!  Are those mandibles?  And a sting in the tail!  Run!  Run!!  Ru . . .