So, I'm looking at elements of the Ghosts of Saltmarsh for a DCC game, and I'm deciding what to do about monsters.
Let's face it, lizard men are boring.
In the D&D mythology, there are a myriad of fish/shark/lizard/snake/snail/toad humanoids with various slight differences, but they are still just humanoids with toothy/claw attacks. Some have interesting cultural differences (Kuo-Toa are insane! Sahaughin are vicious!), but still, not a lot of differences.
Looking around, there are Lizard-Men in the DCC core rulebook, but again nothing creepy, weird or exciting. I found a slightly more interesting variant, lampreymen in DCC 75: The Sea Queen Escapes (with great underwater combat and drowning rules, bye the bye). However, they were still just toothy humanoids. They had a latch-on attack option, but no rule description on how to break free that I could find.
I went digging into the depths of the internet, reading up on lampreys, mythological creatures, and found some interesting Scottish and Irish mythological creatures (a huge portion of which are obsessed with drowning innocent people), and stole some ideas there.
Finally, I wanted it to be an interesting creature, but keep it simple in the spirit of the DCC rules. So, here's what I came up with:
Ashray
These creatures are translucent humanoids with fair faces but with lamprey-like mouths. They do not wear clothing, but do wield spears on occasion, and speak a variant dialect of Seppalo. They often sing beautiful songs, and attempt to attract travellers to the shoreline to ambush and become their meal.
Ashrays are difficult to detect in the water, and should they emerge from the water, they slowly melt away, at 1d3 hp per hour until they are just a puddle of lifeless water.
If an ashray manages to bite a victim, they latch on, requiring a DC 12 Strength check to break free. While they are attached, they cannot attack anyone else, and automatically do damage each round. Their toxic saliva also causes 1 point of Stamina damage each round if the victim fails a DC 5 Fortitude save).
Init -1; Atk bite +3 melee (1d6+3 plus blood drain) or spear +2 melee (1d6+2) or spear +2 missile fire (1d6+2); AC 13; HD 2d8; hp 9; MV 20’ or swim 40’; Act 1d20; SP blood drain (automatic 1d3 dmg per round after bite, DC 5 or suffer STA damage, DC 12 to break free), +10 to Stealth in Water; SV Fort +2, Ref -1, Will +2; AL C.
These creatures are translucent humanoids with fair faces but with lamprey-like mouths. They do not wear clothing, but do wield spears on occasion, and speak a variant dialect of Seppalo. They often sing beautiful songs, and attempt to attract travellers to the shoreline to ambush and become their meal.
Ashrays are difficult to detect in the water, and should they emerge from the water, they slowly melt away, at 1d3 hp per hour until they are just a puddle of lifeless water.
If an ashray manages to bite a victim, they latch on, requiring a DC 12 Strength check to break free. While they are attached, they cannot attack anyone else, and automatically do damage each round. Their toxic saliva also causes 1 point of Stamina damage each round if the victim fails a DC 5 Fortitude save).
Init -1; Atk bite +3 melee (1d6+3 plus blood drain) or spear +2 melee (1d6+2) or spear +2 missile fire (1d6+2); AC 13; HD 2d8; hp 9; MV 20’ or swim 40’; Act 1d20; SP blood drain (automatic 1d3 dmg per round after bite, DC 5 or suffer STA damage, DC 12 to break free), +10 to Stealth in Water; SV Fort +2, Ref -1, Will +2; AL C.
Excellent, I've been looking for something like this for the next campaign. Thank you!
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