I wanted to
have some fun with James E. Raggi IV’s Random
Esoteric Creature Generator (the old edition, not the new fancy one,
unfortunately…). I started rolling, and this is what I came up with.
Basic Body Shape: Combination = Quadruped + Quadruped
[I rolled quadruped twice, so…
Octoped?]
Basic Characteristic: Avian, +3 AC (Oriole)
[Orioles are not very creepy,
but they can be very colorful, so I’m taking that feature]
Size: Small, -1 HD, 1d8 appearing
[A swarm of small
avian/insectoid eight-legged creatures, with tropical colors?]
Movement: Swimming
[Nice twist! They slither in the
water, then, like flying fish, jump out and attack]
Attack: Tail (extra attack, 1 die type less damage)
[Their basic attack is beak-based, and they do
an extra tail attack. Sounds logical, because they already have an elongated
body to accommodate eight legs]
Features:
1. Wings
[Reinforcing that avian type… I don’t want to make them fully airborne, so
maybe they use these wings to perform leap attacks and jump down waterfalls. Or
maybe I’ll treat this not as wings, but as a single crest. More rolls are in
order! And of course I roll “multiple features”…]
2. Rubbery Body
[This is a crazy strong feature, each damage die is halved, missile attacks
bounce off in a random direction]
3. Multiple Legs
[Ahahahahahaha this is great! Even more legs! Up to 16! Rubbery colorful
fishbird creepy-crawlies]
Strategy: Attack least armored
Motivation: Hunger
Straight
away, a creepy and actually usable monster! And it even sort of makes sense,
how all these features come together.
Amazonian River Creep
No.
appearing: 1d8
HD 1 (4 Hit
points), AC 15, Move 120’ (when swimming; 60’ on land)
Bite +1,
1d4 damage; Tail +1, 1d3 damage (next round after using its tail attack, the
Creep is AC 13)
Nimble fast-moving river predator: Elongated, segmented creature, with
eight pairs of legs. A bony crest protrudes from its spine (for better
navigation in strong river flows). The whole body is covered in
yellow-to-orange-to-black scales. A flock of scaly river worms hellbent on
taking a bite out of your flesh.
Rubbery Body: The scales are extremely strong, and attacks
easily bounce off it:
“If an attack is successful,
but the rolled damage is less than half the weapon’s natural maximum (for
example, a roll of 1–3 for a weapon that does d6 damage, before any modifiers),
then the weapon bounces off and does no harm to the creature. Missile weapons
that bounce off have a 10% chance of bouncing directly at another randomly
chosen combatant, and if this happens, the original attacker should make new
to-hit and damage rolls against the new target.”
Combat: The Creep attacks either with its beak (full
of small, vicious teeth). May deliver an extra attack with its long tail,
however this option leaves its soft underbelly exposed to damage.
Tactics: Lives in packs (1d8) in jungle rivers. The pack’s hunting tactic is simple: they
sneak up on their victim underwater, then leap out, try to make hit-and-run
attacks.
