Nuisance: Stirge (Strix)

[horowits]

I am trying to come up with a stirge (mosquito bat fiend) for a nuisance to attach to a player and suck blood. Does anyone have a version they use or any suggestions?

My rough idea is
ST:1 - 6 DX:11 IQ:6 MA:20 (Flying)
-4 to hit in air
1 hit on attach, ignores armor
1 hit each following turn, ignores armor
If attacking stirge attached to an adjacent character and you miss, "roll to miss" player
Stirges stack 2/hex as per rats. After 2 are attached the others will lie in wait for their turn to feed.

I'm not sure if a character should have to drop their ready weapon and get a dagger or punch it off. If using something like a torch, should the character take a portion of the hits?

Any ideas are greatly appreciated! Thanks for your time!

[timm meyers]

Why not make the armor become a -DX modifier for the Stirge to "attach".
Then 1 hit as you described on each turn w no armor protection.

Everything else looks great to me, nice balance with limit of 2 per target hex.
I like the idea that only small weapons or bare hands could be used to remove them. You could make things easier by just stating that the PC could use a dagger or fists at full damage to remove them while other weapons must be pulled blows (1/2 damage) or simply reduced to 1d-1 dagger like damage because they can only smash with the sword pommel or axe haft etc.

Does the target get +4 DX for HtH when trying to remove them?

[horowits]

Originally Posted by timm meyers

Why not make the armor become a -DX modifier for the Stirge to "attach".
Then 1 hit as you described on each turn w no armor protection.

That's a good idea!

Originally Posted by timm meyers

You could make things easier by just stating that the PC could use a dagger or fists at full damage to remove them while other weapons must be pulled blows (1/2 damage) or simply reduced to 1d-1 dagger like damage because they can only smash with the sword pommel or axe haft etc.

That's just the thing I was looking for, thanks! I'll probably rule pommel/haft smashes are 1d-1 to keep it easy for me.

Originally Posted by timm meyers

Does the target get +4 DX for HtH when trying to remove them?

I will use the +4 DX for HtH. If it takes all the nuisance out of the encounter then I'll reevaluate.

Thanks again, I appreciate your time and thoughts.

[Shostak]

The Stirge does a nice job of buffing the Vampire Bat, hitting a bit more frequently, and bypassing armor instead of stacking against armor.

How long does a Stirge stay attached to inflict damage? It would be hard to see how a tiny bloodsucker would continue drinking after taking one hit's worth of blood. Do they inflict one per their ST and then fly off?

[horowits]

Originally Posted by Shostak

How long does a Stirge stay attached to inflict damage? It would be hard to see how a tiny bloodsucker would continue drinking after taking one hit's worth of blood. Do they inflict one per their ST and then fly off?

I think 2, maybe 3, hits max. A hit from getting stung and a little stress from needing to get it off to prevent further hits. I was considering giving it more than 1 ST so it could potentially survive that one strike to finish drinking and fly off. I wouldn't want a single Stirge capable of seriously injuring a character all by it's lonesome.

Thank you for your input!