Crafting fantastic dungeon creatures in GURPS

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Bruno

Next post: writeup!

Spike-Crowned Fiend
4'8"; 200 lbs. Squat, bizarre conglomeration of a dire rat, a two-legged dwarf elephant, and a porcupine.

ST 11*; DX 11; IQ 12; HT 13.
Damage 1d-1/1d+1; BL 24 lb; HP 14; Will 12; Per 14; FP 16.
Basic Speed 6.00; Move 6; Dodge 10†.

Parry: 10 (Arm); 8 (Tusks). Dodge: 10. DR: 3.

Burst of Barbs (17): 1d+1 imp. Acc 4. Range 275 yd / 320 yd. RoF 5. Rcl 1. Shots 15. The Spike-Crowned Fiend regrows one barb per second of Do Nothing. An aimed shot using Sonar to target has effective skill 24!
Fel Gnawing (12): 1d+1 cut. Reach C. Counts as a grab with an effective SM of +2, against full hit-location penalties. On successive turns the Spike-Crowned Fiend may worry at the bite if not shaken off, for automatic Fel Gnawing damage (re-roll each turn).
Elephantine Stomp (10): 1d-1 cr. Reach C. See Stilt Legs, below.
Tail flail (12): 1d-2 cut/imp. Reach C-2.
Short Tusks (12): 1d imp. Reach C.
Desperate Trunk Claw (12): 1d-2 cut/imp. Reach C.

Spiny Jabbing (7): 1d-2 imp. Reach C. The Spike-Crowned Fiend may roll vs Spiny Jabbing against every foe in close combat as a free action, once per foe per turn. This roll is +2 against opponents that attacked it from behind. Those who grapple the Spike-Crowned Fiend take damage automatically, and those who slam the Fiend automatically take maximum damage!

Sonar: The Spike-Crowned Fiend has substandard vision, but it's long-ranged sonar makes up for it! The Spike-Crowned Fiend has sonar at a range of 500 yards, with a +4 to Sonar sense rolls, but must roll to detect fine details. By taking an Aim maneuver, the Fiend can "lock on" to any target within range and acquire its precise range and speed - this gives it an additional +3 to hit that target with an aimed ranged attack!

Friend of the Dark: The Fiend blends in against nearly any background by complex colour changing, enjoying +8 to Stealth against visual creatures (whether moving or still).

Foe of the Sun: The Fiend is greatly weakened by the purifying touch of the sun (or the Sunlight spell); its quills and spines immediately soften and turn an ashy grey, and the Fiend looses Burst of Barbs, Spiny Jabbing, and Friend of the Dark. Most Fiends when exposed to sunlight will flee immediately if possible, or "surrender" and attempt to murder its captors that night.

Traits: Acute Hearing +4; Appearance (Monstrous); Bad Grip -2 (Tail Only); Bloodlust (12 or less); Born Biter +2; Bully (12 or less); Callous; Claws (Talons); Colorblindness; Combat Reflexes; Damage Resistance 3 (Flexible); Disturbing Voice; Extra-Flexible Arms (Two Arms); Fragile (Unnatural); Immunity (All Mind Control); Immunity to Metabolic Hazards; Incompetence (Climbing); Long Arms 3 (1 Arm); No Depth Perception; Selfish (12 or less); Social Stigma (Monster); Sonar (Targeting); Stretching 1 (Legs Only); Ultrasonic Speech (switchable).

Skills: Acting-11; Brawling-12; Fast-Talk-9‡; Hidden Lore (Demon Lore)-12; Innate Attack (Projectile)-17; Intimidation-14; Stealth-14*, Wrestling-14.

* +8 against vision from 'Friend of the Dark'.

Features: Born Biter +2; Susceptible to demon-control magic; round enough to count as SM 0.
Skills: Acting-12; Brawling-12; Fast-Talk-12; Hidden-Lore (Demon Lore)-12; Innate Attack (Projectile)-14; Stealth-14*.

* +8 against vision from 'Friend of the Dark'.

Class: Demon.
Notes: Truly Evil, willing to negotiate but often lies.

Appearance: A nearly spherical body with two thick elephantine legs, forward-thrust ratlike head with 4 huge humanoid ears, two to each side, and a long, prehensile ratty tail. The fiend has a crown of long spikes on its brow, and a carpet of shorter quills running all the way down to the tail tip, which is graced with a tuft of four foot long quills. It has two tiny little glassy white eyes that squint constantly. Its snout ends in a flexible trunk with a three lobed "hand" structure at the end, each lobe equiped with a retractable, "spike" claw. The mouth extends back to under the rear pair of ears, from where where two pairs of two-foot tusks protrude; its incisors are four inch long chisels with wicked edges. ts body is draped with sagging wrinkled layers of extremely loose hide; the folds and sags of extra flesh become extreme on the legs until it extends them, wherupon the skin is pulled taut over the stout muscles.

The Fiend is able to speak, and usually knows one or two mortal languages, but its voice is an irritating and incongruent high pitched squeek.

Behaviour: This fiend likes to use its stealth to Aim a burst on a target for maximum bonuses from Sonar, then scoot away to a new hidy hole to regrow a new volley of spines. Beware cornering it in its hide - its bite is ferocious, and it is able to co-ordinate a grapple between its trunk and Fel Gnaw, fill the target full of body spikes and rake at it with its tail spines!