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Let's Read the Dark Sun Creature Catalog: Crodlu
A cilops, which is a giant centipede with one big angry eye on its head. Copyright 2010 Wizards of the Coast. This post is part of a series! Click here to see the rest.
Crodlus are what Athas has instead of horses. Fans of Final Fantasy might compare them do Darker and Sunnier chocobos.
The Lore
In the wild, crodlus roam the wastes in small herds of about a dozen members, led by a dominant female. Females make up most of the other members of the herd, and are all related to the leader. One of the males will be the leader’s mate, with the others being mostly younger individuals who have not yet reached adulthood. When that happens, the newly adult males set out to seek mates in other herds.
The creatures are omnivores, with herds cooperating to hunt those creatures they judge to be weaker or smaller than themselves, and running away from stronger predators. They’re also frequently beset by human raiders trying to capture their young for training as mounts.
This means that crodlu are a common sight among groups of sapient humanoids. They make for ornery mounts, but that’s a good trait to have in something you want to ride into battle.
The Numbers
Crodlus are Large Natural Beasts with the Reptile tag and a ground speed of 8.
Crodlu
This could represent a typical wild specimen, or perhaps a domesticated one that wasn’t trained as a mount. It’s a Level 3 Brute with 55 HP.
The crodlu can attack with its beak or with claws that do a little less damage. Whenever it can it will use a Pounce, which lets it move up to its speed, and use both Beak and Claws against the same target even if it stands still. If both attacks hit, the target falls prone.
War Crodlu
This one was trained as a mount, and compares to the normal crodlu in the same way a war horse compares to a draft animal. It’s a Level 5 Brute with 76 HP.
The War Crodlu has the same three abilities described for the normal version, and one more: Pouncing Mount. If the war crodlu charges a target while mounted, its rider can make a melee basic attack as a free action against that same target. The Pounce ability does not count as a charge, but this makes the charge of a mounted war crodlu a bit more dangerous than a standard Pounce, depending on who the rider is.
Encounters and Final Impressions
Crodlus don’t strike me as the type of animal who’d attack wandering PCs without provocation, so they’ll mostly likely be found serving as mounts for bad guys or for the PCs themselves. Fighting wild ones would be something that happens when the PCs decide to play hunter and steal hatchlings to sell or domesticate.
Mechanically they’re very simple, about on par with horses really. I’ve been too desensitized by FF chocobos to see terror bird mounts as a mind-blowing innovation, but they’re still kinda cool.
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Let's Read the Dark Sun Creature Catalog: Cloud Ray
A cilops, which is a giant centipede with one big angry eye on its head. Copyright 2010 Wizards of the Coast. This post is part of a series! Click here to see the rest.
The Lore
Cloud rays look like gigantic flying stingrays, and are among some of the rarest and most majestic specimens of Athasian fauna. They float in from the Sea of Silt to feed or rest, and despite their prodigious size they’re rarely dangerous unless bothered.
These creatures subsist mostly on psychic, entropic, and magical energy, so they only need a comparatively tiny amount of physical food to keep going. They land on the ground to sleep, covering themselves in sand and debris for camouflage. There are many stories about travelers who pitched their tents on a nice spot of high ground only to later find themselves desperately clinging to the back of a cloud ray when the creature took flight.
Cloud rays dream of distant places when they sleep, and sometimes they disappear to those places instead of taking flight the usual way. When threatened, the creature can consciously tap into this ability to teleport short distances.
The Numbers
Cloud Rays are Elemental Beasts, whose size varies depending on their age. They can crawl on the ground at speed 4 and fly at Speed 12 with Hover capability. They have an affinity for storms, with Resist 15 Lightning and Thunder.
We’re going through the entries here in increasing order of level, which is the reverse of what the book does.
Cloud Ray Pup
This young individual is Large, translucent, and relatively delicate for its size. It’s a Level 21 Minion Skirmisher. Pups fly around in clusters near other creatures that can provide them with food - most commonly cloud ray elders, but sometimes other aerial predators that tend to leave lots of left-overs. If their intended prey is still moving, they sting it until it stops, and then set down to eat.
Their sting is Reach 3 and deals thunder damage. They can employ it as part of a Gliding Attack that lets them move their speed and make the attack at any point along the way. They don’t provoke opportunity attacks when moving away from the target of their sting.
As a minion, a single hit will take the pup down, but it can use Dream Resurgence once per encounter to remove itself from play when it reaches 0 HP and reappear at the start of its next turn within 10 squares, with its 1 HP restored. It will probably use this opportunity to run away if nothing is forcing it to stay, so the PCs don’t need to feel bad about giving this beautiful creature a good whack to get it to bother someone else.
Cloud Ray Adult
Adults cruise the skies continuously, only descending to rest or to attack land-bound prey. Sure, it eats little for its size, but for a Huge creature that can still mean its infrequent meals consist of a whole person or similarly sized animal. Adults are Level 23 Elite Skirmishers with 424 HP.
The adult has a much stronger version of the pup’s Sting, with Reach 4. It can also use a Reach 1 bite that deals more damage and grabs the target. Targets grabbed by the bite have a -4 to their escape rolls, which have escape DCs of 34 for Athletics and 36 for Acrobatics. The ray can grab at most one target like this. The Unhindered trait lets the cloud ray pull the victim along when it moves. Either of these attacks can be used as part of Gliding Attack, which lets it attack twice during the movement and otherwise works like the pup’s version.
A ray that finds itself surrounded can use Wing Storm (Close Burst 3 vs. Fort, recharge 5+) to deal thunder damage and push targets 3 squares on a hit, also knocking them prone. This creates a lightly obscured zone that lasts for a turn, from all the dust it kicks up.
Once per encounter, while bloodied, the ray can use Dream Flight to teleport 15 squares, carrying its grabbed victim with it if it has one. It makes Close Burst 2 attack vs. Fortitude on arrival, dazing an slowing those it hits.
A grabbed victim can be attacked with further bite attacks and with Crush, a minor action attack vs. Fortitude that deals as much damage as the bite.
An adult on the hunt will try to grab its chosen prey and fly away, biting and crushing the victim until it’s dead. If their prey proves too feisty, they’ll drop it from a great height to soften it up, and then grab it again. Repeat until done.
Cloud Ray Elder
This majestic Gargantuan beast is a Level 25 Solo Controller, on par with elder dragons from other worlds. Its control over storms lets it project an aura (3) of Undulating Winds, which deals 15 thunder damage to enemies that start their turns inside and lets the elder slide them 3 squares to another square within the aura.
Also, its Flat Body lets other creatures enter and occupy the elder’s space - they’re standing on top of the ray! This means it’s equal parts enemy and terrain during a fight. If it took flight because you tried to camp on its back, it will be the only terrain for the fight.
Obviously if you’re on top of the ray, you’re also inside its aura, so it will try to slide you off its back. This follows the rules for forced movement into hazardous terrain, so you get a save to grab on before you tumble to the ground. If you pass, you end up prone at the ray’s edge.
The elder’s is Reach 5 Sting deals immediate and ongoing thunder damage (save ends). Its favorite attack enhances the sting with magic for a Thunder Lash, which deals physical damage to its primary target and triggers a secondary close burst 5 centered on that target that deals thunder damage to all enemies it hits and pushes then 3 squares. On a miss it deals half damage.
It’s also large enough that its bite upgrades to Scooping Bite: this is a Close Blast 5 instead of a melee attack, and it can grab up to three targets it hits. Unhindered is here and lets the elder fly away with its mouthful of victims. Gliding Menace works like Gliding Attack, but lets the elder specifically use Thunder Lash and Scooping Bite as its two flyby attacks.
Like the adult, the elder can Crush its grabbed victims with a minor action. Fortunately they don’t have penalties on their escape rolls, but the base DCs are higher since the elder is higher level.
If bloodied, the elder uses Dream Flight to teleport away. It works just like the adult’s version, but the daze upgrades to Stunned on the first failed save and Unconscious on the second.
Encounters and Final Impressions
Cloud Rays are almost always only found together with other cloud rays, with a flock of pups following a group of adults or a single elder around. They’re not sapient but I think they’re smart enough not to attack heavily armed PCs without provocation. Encounters are more likely to start when a PC runs into a ray at rest, and even then a fight is not certain.
I imagine you can have a good adventure about PCs trying to prevent another armed group from killing cloud rays, and in this case the creatures would not be smart enough to distinguish the PCs from the hunters if a fight broke out.
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Let's Read the Dark Sun Creature Catalog: Cilops
A cilops, which is a giant centipede with one big angry eye on its head. Copyright 2010 Wizards of the Coast. This post is part of a series! Click here to see the rest.
The Lore
The cilops (not to be confused with the cyclops) is the Darker and Sunnier version of Ye Olde Giante Centipede. That means it’s larger, spikier, and has psychic powers. Their name comes from the huge single mammal-like eye they have instead of the more usual compound eyes you find in arthropods.
Unlike other monstrous centipedes, the bite of the cilops is not venomous. The touch of its antennae, however, can psychically paralyze victims or muddle their minds. They can also psychically track victims over short distances - it’s very hard to hide from these things once they caught your scent.
In the wild, cilopses gather in the same places you can find mundane centipedes - any area where there’s a reasonable amount of shade and water. You’re more likely to find them outside of the wild, however, as Templar patrols from every city love to use trained cilopses as both trackers and attack animals.
Some templars or sorcerer-kings are also fond of raising particularly large and vicious specimens and letting them loose on the city to wreak some havoc and terrorize the population into compliance.
The Numbers
Cilopses are Large Natural Beasts. They have Darkvision, some sort of antenna power that varies with the stat block, and the signature power Follow Psychic Trail. This is a minor-action encounter power that lets them choose a creature they can see. Until the end of the encounter that creature grants combat advantage to the cilops, and cannot hide from it.
The combat advantage is pretty useful during a fight, but remember that a skill challenge to run away from a cilops-equipped patrol is also an encounter. Don’t let they catch your scent!
Cilops Creeper
A typical specimen such as one might find in the wild, or accompanying a templar strike force. It’s a Level 5 Skirmisher with 60 HP. It has ground and climb speeds of 7, and Resist 5 Psychic.
All of the creeper’s attacks deal 1d6 extra damage if it has Combat Advantage, which is yet another reason for not letting it track you. Its basic bite damages on a hit and lets the creeper shift 2 squares as an effect. Once per encounter it can use its Paralyzing Antennae against a creature granting combat advantage to it, targetting Fortitude. On a hit this damages, dazes, and immobilizes the target for a turn.
Creepers really want to start tracking a specific PC as soon as the fight starts, and then focus fire on their chosen victim starting with an antennae attack and then proceeding to spam the bite.
Cilops Stalker
A chunky terror weapon, the Stalker is a Level 7 Elite Skirmisher with 154 HP. It’s slower and less agile than the Creeper, with a ground speed of only 6 and no climb speed or psychic resistance. However, it makes up for that in bulk.
The Stalker’s pincers have the same bonus against targets granting CA, and its Sudden Rush maneuver (recharge 5+) is excellent against tight formations. It allows the Stalker to shift its speed and move through enemies space during this shift. Whenever it does so, it makes a melee attack vs. the enemy’s Reflex, dealing heavy damage and knocking prone on a hit.
It can still only Follow Psychic Trail once per encounter, but unlike the Creeper it can use its Reach 2 Dazing Antennae once per round with no targeting restrictions. This does lightning damage equivalent to the bite on a hit, and dazes for a turn.
The Stalker also wants to track and focus on one target, and Sudden Rush lets it reach that target even through the party’s defender front line.
Encounters and Final Impressions
As mentioned above, you’re much more likely to encounter these things being used as trackers and attack animals by templars than to meet them in their natural habitats. If you do meet them in the wild, they’re likely to be accompanied by other varieties of giant bug, or by swarms of smaller ones.
Mechanically, they’re giant centipedes with a bit more character, and I imagine they can get pretty annoying when paired with other teammates that specialize in tying PCs down and preventing them from helping the cilops’ chosen victim.
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Let's Read the Dark Sun Creature Catalog: Chathrang
A chathrang reeling in a small mammal it just caught. Copyright 2010 Wizards of the Coast. This post is part of a series! Click here to see the rest.
The Lore
Chathrangs are big carnivorous tortoises with built-in anti-air artillery. The many spiny protusions on their shells are tubes that can spit out sticky envenomed quills, with or without a tether that lets them reel in their catch. Their usual hunting method is to hide in an oasis amid natural reeds or other plants, wait for small birds or large insects to fly overhead, and shoot them.
If no suitable flying critters are present, they’ll go for land-based prey. They tend to become too enthusiastic or desperate at these times, and might try to reel in something they can’t handle. Like a PC, for example.
Chathrangs usually live and travel in groups of about three. They don’t have a lot of combat ability outside of their one neat trick, so it’s common for them to enter symbiotic relationships with other creatures to share prey in exchange for a bit more protection. When hurt, they behave like other tortoises and hide inside their shells.
Charthrangs are impossible to train, but some people keep them around to “milk” their venom. If a battle against their keepers ends up bursting into the charthrang enclosure, the creatures will follow their instincts.
The Numbers
These critters are Medium Natural Beasts with the Reptile tag and a stately ground speed of 4. They’re Level 9 Artillery with 81 HP, so I guess even a monster described as “relatively weak” rates high-Heroic stats in this world.
The creature’s Spiny Shell acts as an aura (1) that deals 5 damage to anyone who starts their turn inside, but they charthrang doesn’t really want PCs to get that close. Instead, it wants to stay far away and shoot its Range 20 spine shots, which do poison damage on a hit. The beast can increase its rate of fire and use a Spine Volley instead, attacking two targets with one action.
Attaching a sticky strand to a spine turns it into the Poisoned Tether attack, which does the same damage and immobilizes the target. While immobilized by this attack, the target cannot be pushed, pulled, or slid by anything other than the Reel In minor action, which pulls it 5 squares. Escape requires either passing a save as normal, or teleporting.
If the charthrang is damaged by an attack, it can retreat into its shell as a reaction. Until the end of its next turn it’s slowed, can’t attack, gains a +5 to AC, and doubles the damage done by its aura.
Encounters and Final Impressions
Aside from the standard encounter disposition mentioned in the lore, chatharangs are also very amenable to reskinning. If you read the Cactus entry and felt that you needed cactus artillery to complement the lurkers, you can just replace Reptile with Plant on the chathrang stat block and call it a day. Describe them as big spherical cacti that move by rolling around and otherwise behave the same.
The mechanics are interesting. Range 20 is a lot! A cluster of three of these machine-gun tortoises can sit very far back behind a line of 2-4 soldiers or brutes and wreak havoc on the PCs by directly targeting their squishies, and reeling them towards Team Monster’s frontline. Multiple charthrangs can stick their tethers to the same PC and alternate their use of Reel In to bring the victim closer that much faster, too.
That is, of course, if the GM plays them smart. This is absolutely not required, as these are simple animals with a reputation for trying to catch things too dangerous for them to handle.
Still… anti-air tortoises. What a world.
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Let's Read the Dark Sun Creature Catalog: Cactus
A menacing purple cactus with huge spines. Copyright 2010 Wizards of the Coast. This post is part of a series! Click here to see the rest.
Cacti are an important part of the Athasian ecosystem, and their natural water collection mechanisms are often vital to allow people to survive in its deserts. But in Dark Sun, sometimes the cactus drinks you.
This entry presents two D&D Plant Monsters with that Darker and Sunnier edge to them.
Zombie Cactus
One of the most prized cactus species in Athas is the Flowering Oasis Cactus, a beautiful plant whose sweet fruit can instantly satisfy someone’s hunger or thirst. Finding one of those out in the desert can be a real lifesaver.
The Zombie Cactus takes advantage of this by looking exactly like a Flowering Oasis Cactus to draw its victims in. Its fruit is just as sweet, but it’s filled with mind-affecting poison nectar that dominates those who eat it. If the victim is too wary to eat, the cactus can release a cloud of spores that has the same effect before uncoiling its tendrils to deal with anyone still free. People killed while under the cactus’ influence immediately raise as zombie cactus thralls.
All of this is way too evil to be a coincidence. Sages believe zombie cacti are an engineered bioweapon, the work of slavers employing psychic powers and defiling magic. The creatures proved too uncontrollable to be used as tools, and enough escaped their creators to take root in the wild.
The Numbers
Zombie Cacti are Large Natural Magical Beasts with the Plant tag. Yes, they’re intelligent. They’re also Level 11 Elite Lurkers with 182 HP, Tremorsense 10, and a ground speed of 2 with Earth Walk. Yes, they’re ambulatory.
You’ll usually find the cactus in its Innocuous Form, which is nearly identical to a flowering oasis cactus (Nature DC 27 to notice the difference). It can do nothing in this state except assume its true form as a minor action. While disguised, the cactus has Resist 15 all and Regeneration 5. Wearing the disguise again takes a standard action.
A disguised cactus is still dangerous because of its Poison Fruit, described as a passive trait. It will have between four and eight of these, which can be eaten by another character as a minor action. Anyone who eats them is dominated by the cactus (save ends). A dominated victim who is reduced to 0 HP can no longer save against this. Note there’s no attack roll here - eat the fruit, get dominated, period.
Once the jig is up, the cactus uncoils and releases a cloud of Dominating Spores (close burst 3 vs. will), which has the same effect as the fruit on a hit. The burst also creates a spore-filled zone that inflicts -5 to saves against zombie cactus domination for a turn. This power recharges when the cactus uses Innocuous Form, giving us our “lurker loop” (breathe out, breathe in).
Once enough people are dominated, the cactus will use its Tendrils, which do standard damage and an additional ongoing 10 necrotic (save ends) if the target is dominated by the cactus. Lashing Tendrils lets it attack two different targets with this attack.
When someone dominated by the cactus dies, they become a Zombie Cactus Thrall at the start of their next turn. This zombie is a Level 11 Minion Brute. It can Slam and Grab for the same amount of damage, but it prefers the later because it can pull grabbed targets along with itself when it moves (probably closer to the cactus). When it drops to 0 HP, it releases a Spore Burst in a Close Burst 1 that has the same attack bonus and effects as the cactus’ cloud!
If the PCs want to resurrect a victim of the cactus, they must destroy the corresponding thrall first. After that, the usual rituals can be applied.
Hunter Cactus
These aren’t engineered bioweapons. They’re “merely” fast, aggressive predators that pose as innocent plants and use their venomous spines to drain the blood of their prey.
A Hunter Cactus is a Large Natural Magical Beast with the Plant tag, and a Level 12 Lurker with 82 HP. It has Tremorsense 20 and a ground speed of six.
When the hunter cactus stands still, it takes a DC28 Nature check to realize it’s not a mundane plant. It will probably begin its attack with a Spine Burst (close burst 3 vs. Reflex, recharge 5+). It deals no damage right away, but inflicts 20 ongoing poison damage and blindness (save ends both)! From then on it will use its Feeding Spine on any blinded creatures, damaging and grabbing them on a hit. It can grab up to two creatures this way. A minor action lets it sustain all grabs and auto-damage the grabbed creatures.
Fortunately, the cactus cannot run away with grabbed creatures, so it will stand its ground and fight any remaining foes with Slams that deal standard damage and ongoing 5 poison damage (save ends). If the cactus is hit while it has a creature grabbed, the Psychic Feedback reaction deals psychic damage to the victim equal to the damage the cactus just took.
Encounters and Final Impressions
Zombie cacti are found in the wild alone or in pairs, surrounded by thralls who rise up to fight when the cactus reveals itself. Note they are magical beasts, and therefore capable of forming alliances with other creatures. Commonly, that will be a wild predator who they train to draw victims to the cactus so they can share the spoils. Sometimes other people will coerce a zombie cactus into service, a fate it will always try to escape.
Hunter cacti are more amenable to cooperation with humanoids, who can easily train them to attack only designated targets in exchange for a regular supply of food. In these cases they will be found alongside other guardians.
These are neat, and very nasty. Cactus drinks you indeed.
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