Creatures of Crowfield: Pseudo-Carrion

This week I thought I would do another creature of Crowfield. This time, though, I'm going to go through the process step by step.

Step 1: Animal Encounter Columns

"Encounter Columns" is what Traveller calls an encounter table. This is the table that the referee rolls on when a random animal encounter is needed. (By default, there is a 1:3 chance per day in the wilderness that an animal encounter will occur).

Referees have a choice of using a less detailed 1d6 table, or a more detailed 2d6 table. Because the Crowfield region is comprised of only 3 biomes (the Firelands, Dreadwood, and Tundra), I decided to go with the 2d6 encounter column format for each. We're still working on the Firelands. Here's what that looks like:

Roll	Result
2	Scavenger (this will probably be the Sh'hemu)
3	Omnivore
4	Scavenger
5	Omnivore
6	Herbivore
7	Herbivore
8	Herbivore
9	Carnivore
10	Event
11	Carnivore
12	Carnivore

This week, let's roll up one of the carnivore slots. I won't know which slot it is until I make them all, as I plan to put the strongest one in the #12 spot and the weakest one in the #9 spot. Likewise, I might end up moving the sh'hemu from #2 to #4 depending what other scavenger I roll up.

Step 2: Animal Type

We know that the creature is a carnivore. This is what the book tells us about carnivores:

Animals which prey on other animals by attacking and killing them in the face of resistance are classed as carnivores. Carnivores are of five basic types: pouncers, chasers, trappers, sirens, and killers.

So now we have to determine which of those 5 sub-types this creature will be. This is determined by a 2d6 roll on the "Animal Types" table. Because the Firelands are a desert, the Terrain Type table tells us that we apply -3 modifier to this roll. I roll a 3 - 3 = 0. The table tells me that a 0 on the carnivore column is a "siren", and that only 1 is encountered at a time.

Siren: Distinct from the trapper, which creates a trap for its prey, a siren also creates a lure to draw prey to the trap. The trap is treated in much the same manner as that of the trapper, but the lure entails additional consideration. In most cases, the lure will be specific to some animal, but will be unnoticed by humans. In rare cases (throw 11+), the lure will be universal, perhaps a smell or scent, or a mirage or beautiful configuration, which will attract characters into a vulnerable position. Very rarely, the lure will be psionic in nature. Typical terran sirens are the angler fish (its mouth is the trap) and the Venus fly trap.

Ok, so we're dealing with a creature like a venus fly trap? Interesting. Thinking about what the lure could be, I think that it could be made to attract sh'hemu and look like carrion or maybe it could look like a watering hole and end up being something like the sarlacc of Tatooine. I like both of these concepts. Let's make that 2D roll to see if the lure is universal. I rolled an 8, so the lure is specific to the sh'hemu--a fake dead thing is what we're dealing with!

Note: It turns out that I misread the Terrain Type table. The animal type roll was supposed have a +3 instead of a -3. That would make the encounter 1 "pouncer" instead of 1 siren, but I'm attached to siren idea, so I'm going to go forward with it. Maybe I'll save the pouncer for another of the carnivore slots.

Step 3: Animal Attributes

Pretty much this step determines if the creature is a fish or a bird. Because fish don't survive in the desert that well, that's not even a possibility on the table.

The table includes a lot of modifiers to use depending on the planet's size and atmosphere. Because this planet is earthlike, none of those apply. If I roll a 10 or better, this creature can fly, otherwise it's earthbound like the rest of us. I'm hoping for less than a 10, because I can't envision a flying corpse. I roll a 7. No wings here.

Step 4: Animal Size

The next step is to decide how big our fake corpse is. Size also determines its hits (hit dice in D&D terms) and how much damage it does when it attacks.

The terrain type table tells us that this roll has a -3. (Yes, it's really a -3 this time, and not a +3.)

I roll a 5 - 3 = 2. The table tells us that the fake corpse weighs 6 kilograms. That's about 13 pounds. Some googling tells me that's about the size of a large Virginia Opossum. I like that, because the "playing possum" thing works well for a fake corpse. But how is this going to be a threat to a pack of sh'hemu?

The table also tells me that, in Traveller terms, the creature can take 1D/2D hits. That's not a lot. The average man can take 4D/2D. In D&D terms, I think I'm going to call that ½ HD.

The Traveller wounds inflicted would be "-1D". I'm going to translate that as -1, and 1d6-1 is mathematically equivalent to 1d4, so that's the answer.

Step 5: Weaponry

The table says carnivores get a +8 to this roll. Rolling 10 + 8 = 18, "as pike." Hmm... Something stabby that can attack at a distance. Makes me think of a stinger, like a scorpion's tail. Technically speaking, "stinger" has its own entry on the table, and I didn't roll it. But these names really fit around Traveller's combat tables, where different armor has different effectiveness against different weapons, so we're just using this for inspiration anyway. In fact the book even says that "Weapon types should always be considered to be descriptive of result rather than of strict process."

Okay. I'm picturing something scorpion-like that burrows into the sand leaving something carrion-like on the surface. When a sh-hemu gets close, it attacks with a stinger. Maybe.

Step 6: Armor

Another 2d6 roll, this time with a -1 because it's a carnivore. I roll 11 - 1 = 10. The result is "jack", which is Traveller's equivalent of leather armor. That's Armor Class 12 in D&D terms. I'll give it another +1 due to its small size, so the final AC is 13.

Step 7: Animal Speed

In Traveller Animal speed is measured as a "multiplier times ordinary speed." So a speed of 2 means twice as fast as a normal person.

For a siren, we roll 1d6-4, treating any result less than 0 as a 0. I roll a 2 - 4 = -2, means 0.

That's fine and dandy for Traveller, but for D&D we're going to add a bit more fine tuning. A siren with a speed of 0 makes perfect sense (the Venus flytrap and the sarlacc from Star Wars, for example.) But in D&D it also makes sense to have a creature that moves slower than the normal person, and that's not possible interpreting the results according to the book. I'm going to use this table I just made up to determine speed:

Roll	Traveller Speed	D&D Speed	D&D Equivalent
1	1	12	Normal man
0	1	9	Lightly encumbered man
-1	1	6	Encumbered man
-2	1	3	Heavily encumbered man
-3	1	1	???
-4	1	0	a rock

Step 8: Animal Behavior

The next step determines how a creature will behave when the party encounters it. Will it attack, flee, or wait?

In normal Traveller play, when the encounter starts the GM would roll to see if it attacks. If it doesn't attack, the GM would then roll to see if it flees. If it doesn't flee, it just waits. In the case of herbivores, you would first check to see if it flees, then check to see if it attacks.

That's too much dice rolling for me, so I use math to turn that into a single d20 roll.

Being a "siren," changes things up, though. A siren will automatically attack if it surprises its victim.

As for fleeing, the table says to roll 1d6+3. I roll 4 + 3 = 7.

So if the fake carrion has surprise, it attacks. If it doesn't, there's a 58% chance it will run away, otherwise it will lay in wait. "Never drop the con," I guess.

Step 9: Common Sense

The checklist actually says "Apply common sense as required." Nice. Let's do that.

Ok--we have this slow, small creature that preys on a larger, faster creature. It relies on surprise, but it doesn't do enough damage to kill the creature outright. How does that work? Well, the description listed the venus fly trap as an example. It also references the "trapper" class of carnivores, which lists the spider as an example. Spiders are venomous and cast webs to entrap their prey. The Albany pitcher plant allows its prey to fall into sticky digestive juices from which it cannot escape. That gives me some ideas.

I had originally given it a +1 bonus to armor class because of its size, but I'm going to say that its slow speed cancels that out.

Step 10: The Final Result

Pseudo-Carrion

Armor Class	12
Hit Dice	½
Move	90' (30')
Attacks	Tubule
Damage	1d4
Number Appearing	1
Save
Morale	8
Treasure	special
Intelligence	Animal (2)
Alignment	Neutral
Monster Type	Normal Animal
Terrain	Desert
% in Lair	n/a
Special Attacks	Glue Spray, Blood Drain
Special Defenses	Nil
Magic Resistance	Normal
Size	S (13 pounds)

Reaction (1d10):

Roll	Reaction
automatic	Attacks
1 - 6	Flees
7 - 10	Waits

The pseudo-carrion is a solitary creature that lives in the desert. It is about the size of an American Opossum, but resemble a large, mangy, red and white house cat, with a hairless tail.

The pseudo-carrion mainly feeds upon sh'hemu, but will gladly eat anything that falls into its trap. It "hunts" by playing dead, and emitting the stench of decaying flesh. The red blotches of fur on its body can easily be mistaken for blood. When a sh'hemu (or other prey) touches the seemingly lifeless body, the pseudo-carrion springs to life, spraying a glue-like mist in all directions. Anything within ten feet of the beast will be covered in the glue unless they make a Dex save at -2. The glue sticks instantly, rendering those affected effectively immobile.

The round after releasing the glue, the pseudo-carrion will leisurely walk to the nearest glued victim (it's immune to its own glue) and attack with its tail. The tail is a rigid tubule that will will do 1d4 hits on a successful attack. The tubule is then left in the victim, and automatically drains 1 hit of blood from the victim each round. The creature will withdraw the tubule after 2d4 rounds and waddle away, bloated.

Victims are allowed a STR save every round to free themselves from the glue. Friends can assist if they can lasso the victim with a rope or something.

There's a 10% chance that the pseudo-carrion will inject its victim with eggs during the attack. Victims with eggs will feel fine for a week, then start to suffer from weakness (-1 Str per day) for 3d6 days, at which time the baby pseudo-carrion will erupt from the victims flesh doing 3d6 damage. A Cure Disease spell will remove the eggs.

Treasure: As animals, pseudo-carrion care nothing for things that humans value. Alchemists and wizards, however, will pay 150 gold for a full glue-gland from a pseudo-carrion. A full gland is one that has not produced a glue mist in the last 24 hours. Given their skittish nature, the only way to obtain one is to kill the pseudo-carrion in a single blow before it has time to react. Skilled pseudo-carrion hunters use ranged weapons for this. Even then, there is a 30% chance that the blow will damage the gland.

Food value: Pseudo-carrion are edible, but not desirable due to their death-stench. A single pseudo-carrion produces about 2 pounds of raw, foul-smelling meat.

Conclusion

That's it. I like the process. If you like it, you can find it in Book 3: Worlds and Adventures of the original "LBB" edition of Traveller.

Does anyone else know of any "monster maker" systems? I'd love to look at more of them. I wonder if there was ever one in Dragon magazine or something.