Monster Menagerie
Well, it sounds good - alliteration and all that. Besides, I couldn't think of a better page title. This is where I'll be putting stats for any creatures/monsters/whatever that turn up during the campaign. Most of them will be based on D&D style monsters, because of the scenarios I have, so they will often seem rather familiar to any experienced gamers.
One thing I should say is that my version of Stormbringer is intentionally rather light on magic, because I don't want the players overwhelmed by a plethora of powerful demons. I don't want an overpowered campaign. There is still a sense of relative doom hanging over the whole thing, but I want it to be driven more by events and (for lack of a better term) politics and strategy. So I've reduced the relative power of quite a few of the entries here. Mostly, this means taking out the common D&D requirement for many of them to be hit by magic weapons only. They are mostly written with the time-honoured use of the D8 of Chaos. My own campaign uses the D20 for skills and stat rolls, but I've reproduced the skills here as percentages, because that is probably what most of you folks will be using. See the equivalent blogger page for my house rules for other subtleties and flavours. Here goes...
Berbalangs
STR 2D8+8
CON 2D8+8
SIZ 2D8+8
INT 1D8+8
POW 3D8
DEX 3D8
CHA 1D8
Claws: 50% for 1D4 damage plus STR bonus (no parry)
Bite: 50% for 1D6 damage plus STR bonus
Dodge: 50%
These are leathery winged humanoids that project a physical manifestation of themselves for feeding purposes. If the projection is 'killed', the creature remains comatose for 24 hours until it regenerates another. The only way to kill one of these thing permanently is to find the host body and destroy it. Being intelligent, a Berbalang will find a really good hiding place for the body proper.
Carrion Crawlers
STR 14 (3D8)
CON 41 (9D8)
SIZ 36 (8D8)
INT 1 (instinct)
POW 14 (3D8)
DEX 14 (3D8)
CHA 5 (1D8)
Tentacle Lash: 55-90% for 1D4+2 damage and POT 13 paralysis venom
Bite: 70% for 2D4+2 damage
Armour: 3 points of tough hide
Hit Points: Body: 17, tentacles 3 each
These are large centipede-like creatures that live off filth and offal; they are probably the result of some Chaotic mutation. They can climb automatically on almost any surface, even upside-down, an ability presumably inherited from whatever vermin they evolved from in the first place. They attack by lashing out with their tentacles, at a score of 50% plus 5% per tentacle (up to eight). This attack cannot be parried by one-handed weapons. A two-handed slicing weapon may not only parry, but can slice off a tentacle at the same time. Physical defensive moves such as Dodge, Jump or Tumble work normally, as do shield parries with any larger than a buckler. Each tentacle has three points of armour and can take three hits; they regrow over several days once sliced off completely. Attacks from the front will have to get through the writhing 10' tentacles before having a chance to hit the body proper, which is the only way really to kill one of these things. The body itself is from 6 to 12' long. Permit an opponent to manage this once the crawler is down to only two tentacles; at this point, though, it will usually scurry off into a dark corner to recover. Since these are basically large animals driven by instinctual needs, a clever group may be able to work out other ways of dealing with them.
Caryatids
STR 2D8+8
CON 2D8+8
SIZ 2D8+8
INT 1D8
POW 2D8+8
DEX 2D8
CHA 2D8+8
Attack, Parry and Dodge: 75%.
Special defence: variable armour levels at the Umpire's discretion, usually half-plate equivalent. Edged weapons always do half damage once through the armour, but blunt weapons work at full effect. A thrusting or piercing weapon has a 25% chance of outright breakage; otherwise, it will do full damage.
Description: Caryatid columns are exquisitely sculpted, magically animated statues. If you like, you can make them a sub-type of Demons of Protection. They always come in pairs, and can mostly be found guarding an important item, usually a gateway of some kind. They seem to be part of the item, but will animate and attack to stop anyone using it. If you do make them Demons of Protection, they could have additional special abilities at your discretion. In my campaign, the players encounter them as part of a magical mirror that originally came from another plane, so they are not demons as such.
Centaurs
STR 2D8+8
CON 2D8+8
SIZ 2D8+8
INT 2D8+8
POW 2D8+8
DEX 2D8+8
CHA 1D8+8
Attack, Parry and Dodge: vary, depending on skill levels. Any given Centaur may also have other skills; see below. The main attack, though, will usually be with some sort of bow, with +25% skill level over the normal.
Description: I can't remember any references to centaurs in the Young Kingdoms from Moorcock's fiction, although they are exactly the sort of human/animal hybrid so beloved of Chaos. If they do exist on that plane, the people who will have legends about them will be the warriors from the Weeping Wastes. Centaurs should be a proper race unto themselves, with abilities, skills and stats all varying as do those of humans - or Melniboneans for that matter. One thing they all have in common, though, is an inordinate love for alcohol, combined with absolutely no tolerance for the stuff (CON -10). Any legends will usually be coloured by descriptions of the centaurs getting smashed and then starting a great fight with repercussions that last generations. They are also renowned archers, and the legends should stress that too.
Minotaurs
STR 3D8+8
CON 3D8+8
SIZ 2D8+8
INT 1D8+8
POW 3D8
DEX 2D8+8
CHA 1D4+4
Attack, Parry and Dodge: vary, depending on skill levels. A decent average should be around the 80% range. They like two-handed axes, but can use any weapon type. They can also use their meaty fists to punch/tear for 1D8 + DB; they can alsoihead butt with their horns for 2D4 + DB; and they can bite for 1D4 + DB. A favourite attack when disarmed is to grab someone with their claws and rend them for two attacks at double effect (basically, two successful claw attacks means you have been grabbed; next round the thing starts trying to rip you apart).
Armour: 4 points of tough skin/hide. They can also wear armour of appropriate size and/or use shields.
Description: In our campaign, the players have come across bull-headed men on several occasions. Some were obviously summoned demons of combat, while at least one other was a large, well-muscled human who had been operated on by a Dharzi sorceress. The stats given above are for summoned types. I imagined the one mutated by the Dharzi to have original stats modified by +8 STR, +8 CON, +8 SIZ, -8 INT and -8 CHA. I'd also allow Minotaurs to be subject to Berserk Rage.
A sorceror needs to have POW 27 minimum to summon one of these
Mud Men
STR 2D8+8
CON 2D8+8
SIZ 2D8+8
INT 1D8
POW 2D8+8
DEX 2D8
CHA 1D8
Spit goo: 60%. Solidifies across a location, usually doing 3 points of damage equivalent and slowing the opponent by 3 DEX. A full immobilisation by reducing either DEX or hit points to zero results in the mud man flowing over its victim, suffocating it and absorbing it slowly over a period of hours equal to the victim's SIZ. Every five points of SIZ translates to an extra point of CON and one of SIZ for the mud man; this is how they feed and grow. Larger sized mud men can spit more goo - adjust accordingly, say 1 point for every five points of SIZ; so a SIZ 15 mud man spits 3 goo, while one of SIZ 20 spits 4.
Special defence: no armour, but edged weapons do half damage; blunt weapons get stuck, requiring a STR roll to get free, and also resulting in an automatic mud attack success against the appropriate limb of the attacker. Piercing/thrusting weapons are totally useless. Mud men have no hit locations or major wound levels as such - you just need to do the full damage overall to 'kill' them, which can take a while. Once their hit points are all gone, they lose what integrity they have and dissolve into a foul-smelling mass.
Description: Mud men things develop in rare circumstances such as the result of a spillage of magical materials into the natural world (making them the fantasy equivalent of an industrial accident). 1D8 of them will form, and they will mindlessly attack anything that comes within range of their habitat, the pool that spawned them. They feed by dissolving organic matter, starting with flesh. Leather etc. takes longer. However, resistant materials such as lacquered armour or metal will slowly become imbued with the same dweomer that powers the mud men, and it is possible that enhanced items might be found attached to the skeletons of their victims.
Shapeshifters
STR 2D8+8
CON 2D8+8
SIZ as memorised
INT 2D8+8
POW 2D8+8
DEX 2D8+8
CHA as memorised
Skills
Ambush, Attack, Parry and Dodge: 70%. Also, see below (special).
Damage: 1D8 + damage bonus, or weapon.
Special defence: a shapeshifter has innate armour equal to half plate; in addition, it can wear armour as part of a persona it has consumed. This can make them extremely tough. They do not have major wound levels as such, so hits come off a running total. This is because in effect they are intelligent pieces of protean matter, and damage is done to the whole being. Think of the remake of The Thing.
Description: nobody knows if Shapeshifters are a sub-species of demon, perhaps a type of Demon of Possession; a race of servitors at the bidding of some nameless power; or a Chaos-inspired mutation. Whatever their origin, they specialise in infiltration and almost always attack by surprise. They also have a very healthy sense of self-preservation, and have been known to talk their way out of trouble rather than risk their own (presumably immortal) lives. They usually manifest their arms as club-type weapons that are capable of parrying all but two-handed weapons, and they use these to bludgeon a victim into submission - half real, and half subduing damage. Once they have gained ascendancy, they feed on the victim, slowly absorbing it into its own mass. It keeps anything useful, and ejects the remainder as a sort of fleshly excrement. The whole process is really unpleasant and stinks like hell, which is perhaps appropriate. It takes a number of hours equal to the Size of the target. Mercifully, most will be unconscious while this is happening to them. The Shapeshifter can then take on the appearance of that person, which is why the stats for Size and Charisma can vary; everything else is based on its own natural scores. It also keeps half of the percentage level of any major skills or knowledge possessed by the victim, and these can then increase as normal - this is an intelligent being, after all.
One way to spot one of these things is, for example, when a loved one does something tremendously skilful that he or she couldn't possibly know. An old shapeshifter could be really powerful; what happens if it has enough Intelligence and Power to use sorcery, and then kills and absorbs a wizard from Pan Tang...? That could be real fun. Of course, the observant will realise that this is a variation of the old Doppleganger monster. I could imagine one of these as a powerful Agent of Chaos working behind the scenes somewhere.
Troll
STR 20 (5D8)
CON 36 (8D8)
SIZ 36 (8D8)
INT 9 (2D8)
POW 9 (2D8)
DEX 14 (3D8)
CHA 5 (1D8)
Claws: 85% attack and parry for 2D6+4 damage
Bite: 85% for 1D6+4 damage
Armour: 5 points of tough skin
Hit Points: 43
Major Wound Level: 22
Scent: 85%
This is a conversion of the D&D monster; I tend to think of them as a race of combat demons from another plane of existence, or perhaps warped, mutated humans. They are around 10' tall, and are incredibly tough. They attack with their claws on DEX 14 and bite on DEX 4; if they manage to hit one person with both claws, they can be drawn in for the later bite at +20% as grappled. They can parry all but two-handed weapons without receiving damage, and even then they can rely on their incredible toughness against the larger weapons - they'll hit the parrying arm for half damage.
Most of these sorts of creatures have some form of regenerative ability, the commonest being 1D8 per turn on a single location per combat round; they basically have to be hacked to bits, and even then that sometimes isn't enough! This does mean that they can recover past the point of a useless limb, for example. Some can even regrow lost appendages; it is said that rare individuals can even come back from being dead. The surest way to stop this process is to use either fire or acid, damage types that usually cannot be regenerated. It is unknown if demonic weapons or Lawful Virtuous weapons have the same effect - these probably vary depending on the sub-type of creature. Trolls make really good demonic hunters because of their keen sense of smell. An individual specimen may have other skills at your discretion, usually perception related.
One thing I should say is that my version of Stormbringer is intentionally rather light on magic, because I don't want the players overwhelmed by a plethora of powerful demons. I don't want an overpowered campaign. There is still a sense of relative doom hanging over the whole thing, but I want it to be driven more by events and (for lack of a better term) politics and strategy. So I've reduced the relative power of quite a few of the entries here. Mostly, this means taking out the common D&D requirement for many of them to be hit by magic weapons only. They are mostly written with the time-honoured use of the D8 of Chaos. My own campaign uses the D20 for skills and stat rolls, but I've reproduced the skills here as percentages, because that is probably what most of you folks will be using. See the equivalent blogger page for my house rules for other subtleties and flavours. Here goes...
Berbalangs
STR 2D8+8
CON 2D8+8
SIZ 2D8+8
INT 1D8+8
POW 3D8
DEX 3D8
CHA 1D8
Claws: 50% for 1D4 damage plus STR bonus (no parry)
Bite: 50% for 1D6 damage plus STR bonus
Dodge: 50%
These are leathery winged humanoids that project a physical manifestation of themselves for feeding purposes. If the projection is 'killed', the creature remains comatose for 24 hours until it regenerates another. The only way to kill one of these thing permanently is to find the host body and destroy it. Being intelligent, a Berbalang will find a really good hiding place for the body proper.
Carrion Crawlers
STR 14 (3D8)
CON 41 (9D8)
SIZ 36 (8D8)
INT 1 (instinct)
POW 14 (3D8)
DEX 14 (3D8)
CHA 5 (1D8)
Tentacle Lash: 55-90% for 1D4+2 damage and POT 13 paralysis venom
Bite: 70% for 2D4+2 damage
Armour: 3 points of tough hide
Hit Points: Body: 17, tentacles 3 each
These are large centipede-like creatures that live off filth and offal; they are probably the result of some Chaotic mutation. They can climb automatically on almost any surface, even upside-down, an ability presumably inherited from whatever vermin they evolved from in the first place. They attack by lashing out with their tentacles, at a score of 50% plus 5% per tentacle (up to eight). This attack cannot be parried by one-handed weapons. A two-handed slicing weapon may not only parry, but can slice off a tentacle at the same time. Physical defensive moves such as Dodge, Jump or Tumble work normally, as do shield parries with any larger than a buckler. Each tentacle has three points of armour and can take three hits; they regrow over several days once sliced off completely. Attacks from the front will have to get through the writhing 10' tentacles before having a chance to hit the body proper, which is the only way really to kill one of these things. The body itself is from 6 to 12' long. Permit an opponent to manage this once the crawler is down to only two tentacles; at this point, though, it will usually scurry off into a dark corner to recover. Since these are basically large animals driven by instinctual needs, a clever group may be able to work out other ways of dealing with them.
Caryatids
STR 2D8+8
CON 2D8+8
SIZ 2D8+8
INT 1D8
POW 2D8+8
DEX 2D8
CHA 2D8+8
Attack, Parry and Dodge: 75%.
Special defence: variable armour levels at the Umpire's discretion, usually half-plate equivalent. Edged weapons always do half damage once through the armour, but blunt weapons work at full effect. A thrusting or piercing weapon has a 25% chance of outright breakage; otherwise, it will do full damage.
Description: Caryatid columns are exquisitely sculpted, magically animated statues. If you like, you can make them a sub-type of Demons of Protection. They always come in pairs, and can mostly be found guarding an important item, usually a gateway of some kind. They seem to be part of the item, but will animate and attack to stop anyone using it. If you do make them Demons of Protection, they could have additional special abilities at your discretion. In my campaign, the players encounter them as part of a magical mirror that originally came from another plane, so they are not demons as such.
Centaurs
STR 2D8+8
CON 2D8+8
SIZ 2D8+8
INT 2D8+8
POW 2D8+8
DEX 2D8+8
CHA 1D8+8
Attack, Parry and Dodge: vary, depending on skill levels. Any given Centaur may also have other skills; see below. The main attack, though, will usually be with some sort of bow, with +25% skill level over the normal.
Description: I can't remember any references to centaurs in the Young Kingdoms from Moorcock's fiction, although they are exactly the sort of human/animal hybrid so beloved of Chaos. If they do exist on that plane, the people who will have legends about them will be the warriors from the Weeping Wastes. Centaurs should be a proper race unto themselves, with abilities, skills and stats all varying as do those of humans - or Melniboneans for that matter. One thing they all have in common, though, is an inordinate love for alcohol, combined with absolutely no tolerance for the stuff (CON -10). Any legends will usually be coloured by descriptions of the centaurs getting smashed and then starting a great fight with repercussions that last generations. They are also renowned archers, and the legends should stress that too.
Minotaurs
STR 3D8+8
CON 3D8+8
SIZ 2D8+8
INT 1D8+8
POW 3D8
DEX 2D8+8
CHA 1D4+4
Attack, Parry and Dodge: vary, depending on skill levels. A decent average should be around the 80% range. They like two-handed axes, but can use any weapon type. They can also use their meaty fists to punch/tear for 1D8 + DB; they can alsoihead butt with their horns for 2D4 + DB; and they can bite for 1D4 + DB. A favourite attack when disarmed is to grab someone with their claws and rend them for two attacks at double effect (basically, two successful claw attacks means you have been grabbed; next round the thing starts trying to rip you apart).
Armour: 4 points of tough skin/hide. They can also wear armour of appropriate size and/or use shields.
Description: In our campaign, the players have come across bull-headed men on several occasions. Some were obviously summoned demons of combat, while at least one other was a large, well-muscled human who had been operated on by a Dharzi sorceress. The stats given above are for summoned types. I imagined the one mutated by the Dharzi to have original stats modified by +8 STR, +8 CON, +8 SIZ, -8 INT and -8 CHA. I'd also allow Minotaurs to be subject to Berserk Rage.
A sorceror needs to have POW 27 minimum to summon one of these
CON 2D8+8
SIZ 2D8+8
INT 1D8
POW 2D8+8
DEX 2D8
CHA 1D8
Spit goo: 60%. Solidifies across a location, usually doing 3 points of damage equivalent and slowing the opponent by 3 DEX. A full immobilisation by reducing either DEX or hit points to zero results in the mud man flowing over its victim, suffocating it and absorbing it slowly over a period of hours equal to the victim's SIZ. Every five points of SIZ translates to an extra point of CON and one of SIZ for the mud man; this is how they feed and grow. Larger sized mud men can spit more goo - adjust accordingly, say 1 point for every five points of SIZ; so a SIZ 15 mud man spits 3 goo, while one of SIZ 20 spits 4.
Special defence: no armour, but edged weapons do half damage; blunt weapons get stuck, requiring a STR roll to get free, and also resulting in an automatic mud attack success against the appropriate limb of the attacker. Piercing/thrusting weapons are totally useless. Mud men have no hit locations or major wound levels as such - you just need to do the full damage overall to 'kill' them, which can take a while. Once their hit points are all gone, they lose what integrity they have and dissolve into a foul-smelling mass.
Description: Mud men things develop in rare circumstances such as the result of a spillage of magical materials into the natural world (making them the fantasy equivalent of an industrial accident). 1D8 of them will form, and they will mindlessly attack anything that comes within range of their habitat, the pool that spawned them. They feed by dissolving organic matter, starting with flesh. Leather etc. takes longer. However, resistant materials such as lacquered armour or metal will slowly become imbued with the same dweomer that powers the mud men, and it is possible that enhanced items might be found attached to the skeletons of their victims.
Shapeshifters
STR 2D8+8
CON 2D8+8
SIZ as memorised
INT 2D8+8
POW 2D8+8
DEX 2D8+8
CHA as memorised
Skills
Ambush, Attack, Parry and Dodge: 70%. Also, see below (special).
Damage: 1D8 + damage bonus, or weapon.
Special defence: a shapeshifter has innate armour equal to half plate; in addition, it can wear armour as part of a persona it has consumed. This can make them extremely tough. They do not have major wound levels as such, so hits come off a running total. This is because in effect they are intelligent pieces of protean matter, and damage is done to the whole being. Think of the remake of The Thing.
Description: nobody knows if Shapeshifters are a sub-species of demon, perhaps a type of Demon of Possession; a race of servitors at the bidding of some nameless power; or a Chaos-inspired mutation. Whatever their origin, they specialise in infiltration and almost always attack by surprise. They also have a very healthy sense of self-preservation, and have been known to talk their way out of trouble rather than risk their own (presumably immortal) lives. They usually manifest their arms as club-type weapons that are capable of parrying all but two-handed weapons, and they use these to bludgeon a victim into submission - half real, and half subduing damage. Once they have gained ascendancy, they feed on the victim, slowly absorbing it into its own mass. It keeps anything useful, and ejects the remainder as a sort of fleshly excrement. The whole process is really unpleasant and stinks like hell, which is perhaps appropriate. It takes a number of hours equal to the Size of the target. Mercifully, most will be unconscious while this is happening to them. The Shapeshifter can then take on the appearance of that person, which is why the stats for Size and Charisma can vary; everything else is based on its own natural scores. It also keeps half of the percentage level of any major skills or knowledge possessed by the victim, and these can then increase as normal - this is an intelligent being, after all.
One way to spot one of these things is, for example, when a loved one does something tremendously skilful that he or she couldn't possibly know. An old shapeshifter could be really powerful; what happens if it has enough Intelligence and Power to use sorcery, and then kills and absorbs a wizard from Pan Tang...? That could be real fun. Of course, the observant will realise that this is a variation of the old Doppleganger monster. I could imagine one of these as a powerful Agent of Chaos working behind the scenes somewhere.
Troll
STR 20 (5D8)
CON 36 (8D8)
SIZ 36 (8D8)
INT 9 (2D8)
POW 9 (2D8)
DEX 14 (3D8)
CHA 5 (1D8)
Claws: 85% attack and parry for 2D6+4 damage
Bite: 85% for 1D6+4 damage
Armour: 5 points of tough skin
Hit Points: 43
Major Wound Level: 22
Scent: 85%
This is a conversion of the D&D monster; I tend to think of them as a race of combat demons from another plane of existence, or perhaps warped, mutated humans. They are around 10' tall, and are incredibly tough. They attack with their claws on DEX 14 and bite on DEX 4; if they manage to hit one person with both claws, they can be drawn in for the later bite at +20% as grappled. They can parry all but two-handed weapons without receiving damage, and even then they can rely on their incredible toughness against the larger weapons - they'll hit the parrying arm for half damage.
Most of these sorts of creatures have some form of regenerative ability, the commonest being 1D8 per turn on a single location per combat round; they basically have to be hacked to bits, and even then that sometimes isn't enough! This does mean that they can recover past the point of a useless limb, for example. Some can even regrow lost appendages; it is said that rare individuals can even come back from being dead. The surest way to stop this process is to use either fire or acid, damage types that usually cannot be regenerated. It is unknown if demonic weapons or Lawful Virtuous weapons have the same effect - these probably vary depending on the sub-type of creature. Trolls make really good demonic hunters because of their keen sense of smell. An individual specimen may have other skills at your discretion, usually perception related.
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