DCC Bestiary - Fury

So harpies, out of Greek mythology, are described as women with the talons and wings of a vulture.  They are sometimes divine, or sometimes just monsters, but are pretty much described regardless as voracious tormentors of mortals.  The Erinyes mythology is also tied up in the same stories, and Original D&D further confuses them with Sirens, giving them a charming song.

Dump Stat Adventures gives a great history of the harpy as a monster for all the editions of D&D over here: https://dumpstatadventures.com/blog/deep-dive-the-harpy

So, the DCC Core Rulebook has a Harpy entry in it’s brief bestiary section – however, it strikes me as a bit bland, so I’ve decided to create a creature called the Fury for my game.  While D&D has often described harpies as hideous, the Greek poet Hesiod described them as beautiful – that is what I am going to use, as that sounds a little more terrifying.  I’m also going with the AD&D acquired mythology of the siren, with a captivating song.  I toyed with the idea of making only men vulnerable to the song, but you know what, who knows why the beautiful song of a fury might capture someone’s mind?  Let’s make it affect all humans, so if the party sports a dwarf or halfling, they are immune and can try to save their besmitten friends.  To spice up my creature, these furies wield, like their mythological counterparts, brass-studded scourges or bows, devour their charmed prey and of course can fly.

I also wanted a harpy-type creature for my Barrowmaze campaign, so I modified my baseline fury for something a little meaner and subterranean.

In my campaign world of Aquerria, furies are the result of an ancient curse by a Chaos Lord, which propagated beautiful women with long tresses, haunting voices, as well as the wings and talons of vultures and needle like teeth.  Furies are violent and insatiable, and will charm and feast on humans.

Barrow Furies are more gaunt and fierce, and are carrion scavengers found in tombs and subterranean environments, and their haunting song causes fear rather than captivation.

Enjoy!

 

Fury: Init +1; Atk claws +3 melee (1d4) or brass-studded scourge +3 melee (1d4) or shortbow +4 ranged (1d6); AC 13; HD 3d8+6 (17 hp); MV 20’, fly 70’; Act 1d20; SP hypnotic song (DC 13 Will); SV Fort +2, Ref +4, Will +6; AL C.
     Using an action, a fury can use a sweet-sounding song to cause all humans within 300’ must make a DC 13 Will save or walk toward the fury in a hypnotized state. The hypnotized creatures use the most direct path and may walk off cliffs to their death. Those who reach the fury stand motionless as long as the song continues and can only be roused by magical means or after 24 hours have passed. If successfully saving against the song, the victims are immune to the song effects for the rest of the day. 
     Furies build nests where they lay their eggs (needing no male to do so). Such nests are laced with the treasure of their victims.

 

Barrow Fury: Init +1; Atk claws +3 melee (1d4) or club +3 melee (1d4) or shortbow +4 ranged (1d6); AC 15; HD 3d8+3 (14 hp); MV 20’, fly 70’; Act 2d20; SP fearful song (DC 13 Will), magic resistance; SV Fort +2, Ref +4, Will +6; AL C.
     Using an action, a barrow fury can use a haunting song to cause all humans within 60’ must make a DC 13 Will save or be frozen with fear for 2d4 rounds. If successfully saving against the song, the victims are immune to the song effects for the rest of the day.
     Any spells directly targeting a barrow fury have a -2 to the caster check.