DCC Bestiary - Dretch Demon

Hey all, this blog is circling back to monster creation, now in the vein of AD&D and Greyhawk -- last week our 0-level heroes had to take on a dretch, that burst from the chest cavity of a hapless corpse.  They were utterly terrified.  And this art created by vonZzyzx over on Discord did not help their spirits!

The Monster Manual II has a dretch demon, and wow!  For a minor demon, it's pretty beefy -- AC 2, three attacks per round, magic resistance 30%, four Hit Dice, and the ability to teleport, cast stinking cloud, telekinseis, scare, and darkness -- seems a bit much to go with the flavor text of them being 'the most common and least powerful of all demons'

I gave them scare and stinking cloud as spells, but only a +2 caster check -- they aren't exactly smart.  A lone dretch isn't going to cast spells reliably, but a pack of 2d4 of them can probably get a spell effect off.  I gave them 2 HD, bumped the AC down a little bit to 16, and gave them all the other abilities of a Type I DCC demon.

Thoughts?  Drop me a note at archadethered@gmail.com 

 

Demon, Dretch (Type I)

These are some of the least of the demons of the Abyss, and often found in roaming packs, they leap on weak prey with slavering jaws.  They are not bright or capable, but are often used as fodder in the great wars of Chaos. 

     Dretch (Type I Demon): Init +0; Atk bite or claw +2 melee (1d6+1); AC 16; HD 2d8 (9 hp); MV 20’; Act 1d20; SP darkness (+4 check), infravision 60’, resistant to non-magical or weapons and fire; spells – scare, stinking cloud (+2 to spell check), vulnerable to cold iron; SV Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +1; AL CE, Crit DN/d4.

     As a minor demon, dretches cannot travel the planes of their own volition but are often summoned or sent to the material plane.  They can speak in the tongues of Common and Abyssal.  They have infravision, and the ability to cast the spell darkness with a +4 check.  They have some rudimentary spell-like ability but they wield magic poorly.