Changes: Aurumvorax

Revision as of 12:10, 8 June 2020

The carrion crawler is a scavenger of subterranean areas, feeding primarily upon carrion. When such food becomes scarce, however, it will attack and kill living creatures.

The crawler looks like a cross between a giant green cutworm and a cephalopod. Like so many other hybrid monsters, the carrion crawler may well be the result of genetic experimentation by a mad, evil wizard.

The monster's head, which is covered with a tough hide that gives it Armor Class 3, sprouts eight slender, writhing tentacles. The body of the carrion crawler is not well protected and has an armor class of only 7. The monster is accompanied by a rank, fetid odor which often gives warning of its approach.

Combat

The carrion crawler can move along walls, ceilings and passages very quickly, using its many clawed feet for traction.

When attacking, the monster lashes out with its 2' long tentacles, each of which produces a sticky secretion that can paralyze its victims for 2-12 turns. A save versus paralyzation is allowed to escape these effects. They kill paralyzed creatures with their bite which inflicts 1-2 points of damage. The monster will always attack with all of its tentacles.

Carrion crawlers are non-intelligent, and will continue to attack as long as any of their opponents are unparalyzed. Groups of crawlers attacking together will not fight in unison, but will each concentrate on paralyzing as many victims as they can. When seeking out prey, they rely primarily on their keen senses of sight and smell. Clever travelers have been known to fool an approaching carrion crawler with a sight and smell illusion, thus gaining time to make good their escape.

Habitat/Society

Carrion crawlers are much-feared denizens of the underground world. They live in lairs, venturing out in search of carrion or food every few days. Some underground inhabitants such as goblins and trolls will make use of carrion crawlers by leaving the bodies of dead foes out in designated areas. This keeps the creatures at a good distance from their own homes and encourages them to "patrol" certain areas. Some orcs have been known to chain live prisoners near the lairs of these fearsome monsters.

Carrion crawlers will sometimes live with a mate or in a small group numbering no more than 6. This does not mean that they cooperate in hunting, but merely share the same space and compete fiercely for the same food. If 2 crawlers have made a kill or discovered carrion, they will often fight over the food, sometimes killing one another in the process.

The carrion crawler mates once a year. Several days after mating, the female will go off in search of a large kill. When she has found or killed an adequate food supply, she lays about 100 eggs among the carrion. The grubs hatch one week later and begin feeding.

Maternal care ceases once the eggs have been laid and it is not uncommon for eggs to later be eaten by the female who laid them. Females die a few weeks after laying their eggs, exhausted by the effort. Males live only a short time longer, having mated with as many females as possible. Grubs have been known to consume one another in feeding frenzies, and are a favorite food of adult carrion crawlers. Few of the grubs reach maturity, but those who do have eaten voraciously and will achieve their full size in a single year. When they reach maturity, the mating cycle begins again.

These monsters exist on the most basic instinctual level, having no more intelligence than earthworms or most insects. The carrion crawler is driven by two urges: food and reproduction. It has absolutely no interest in the collection of treasure.

Ecology

The carrion crawler provides the same useful, if disagreeable, function that jackals, vultures, and crows perform. Like so many other predators carrion crawlers instinctively prey on the weak, sick, and foolish. In the long run, this has a beneficial effect on the prey, strengthening its gene pool. The carrion crawler also works wonders in over crowded caverns, quickly eliminating population problems among the weaker monsters. Thus, the life cycle of the crawler is inextricably linked to those of its prey -- when the prey flourishes so does the crawler.

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 | caption              = Art from 2nd Edition Monstrous Manual
 | source               = 2nd Edition Monstrous Manual
-| name                 = Aurumvorax
+| name                 = Carrion Crawler
-| terrain              = Temperate hills
+| terrain              = Subterranean
-| frequency            = Very rare
+| frequency            = Uncommon
 | organization         = Solitary
-| activitycycle        = Day
+| activitycycle        = Any
-| diet                 = Carnivore (see below)
+| diet                 = Carnivorous
-| intelligence         = Animal (1)
+| intelligence         = Non- (0)
-| treasure             = Special
+| treasure             = B
 | alignment            = Neutral
-| numberappearing      = 1
+| numberappearing      = 1-6
-| armorclass           = 0
+| armorclass           = 3/7
-| movement             = 9, Br 3
+| movement             = 12
-| hitdice              = 12
+| hitdice              = 3+1
-| thac0                = 9
+| thac0                = 17
-| noofattacks          = 1
+| noofattacks          = 8 or 1
-| damageattack         = 2-8
+| damageattack         = Special or 1-2
-| specialattack        = 2-8 claws for 2-8 each
+| specialattack        = Paralysis
-| specialdefenses      = See below
+| specialdefenses      = Nil
 | magicalresistance    = Nil
-| size                 = S (3' long)
+| size                 = L (9' long)
-| moral                = Fearless (19-20)
+| moral                = Special
-| xp                   = 9,000
+| xp                   = 420
 }}
+The carrion crawler is a scavenger of subterranean areas, feeding primarily upon carrion. When such food becomes scarce, however, it will attack and kill living creatures.
-Despite being only the size of a large badger, the aurumvorax, or "golden gorger," is an incredibly dangerous creature. The animal is covered with coarse golden hair and has small silver eyes with golden pupils. It has eight powerful legs that end in 3-inch-long copper claws. The aurumvorax's shoulders are massively muscled while its heavy jaw is full of coppery teeth.
+The crawler looks like a cross between a giant green cutworm and a cephalopod. Like so many other hybrid monsters, the carrion crawler may well be the result of genetic experimentation by a mad, evil wizard.
-The creature weighs over 500 pounds. This incredible density provides the animal with much of its natural protection. This, combined with its speed, power, and sheer viciousness, makes it one of the most dangerous species yet known.
+The monster's head, which is covered with a tough hide that gives it Armor Class 3, sprouts eight slender, writhing tentacles. The body of the carrion crawler is not well protected and has an armor class of only 7. The monster is accompanied by a rank, fetid odor which often gives warning of its approach.
 ===Combat===
+The carrion crawler can move along walls, ceilings and passages very quickly, using its many clawed feet for traction.
-The aurumvorax charges any creature that enters its territory, causing a -3 to opponents' surprise rolls if attacking from its den. A female of the species receives a +2 bonus to attack rolls when guarding her young.
+When attacking, the monster lashes out with its 2' long tentacles, each of which produces a sticky secretion that can paralyze its victims for 2-12 turns. A save versus paralyzation is allowed to escape these effects. They kill paralyzed creatures with their bite which inflicts 1-2 points of damage. The monster will always attack with all of its tentacles.
-The creature bites at its prey until it hits, clamping its massive jaws onto the victim and doing 2-8 hit points of damage. After it hits, the aurumvorax locks its jaws and hangs on, doing an additional 8 points of damage per round until either the aurumvorax or its enemy is dead. Only death will cause the aurumvorax to relax its grip.
+Carrion crawlers are non-intelligent, and will continue to attack as long as any of their opponents are unparalyzed. Groups of crawlers attacking together will not fight in unison, but will each concentrate on paralyzing as many victims as they can. When seeking out prey, they rely primarily on their keen senses of sight and smell. Clever travelers have been known to fool an approaching carrion crawler with a sight and smell illusion, thus gaining time to make good their escape.
-Once its jaws lock, the golden gorger also rakes its victim with 2-8 of its legs, causing 2-8 hit points of damage per additional hit. An opponent who is held by an aurumvorax receives no dexterity adjustment to Armor Class.
-Due to its incredibly dense hide and bones, the aurumvorax takes only half damage from blunt weapons. It is immune to the effects of small, normal fires and takes only half damage from magical fires. Neither poison nor gasses have any effect on the sturdy creature.
 ===Habitat/Society===
+Carrion crawlers are much-feared denizens of the underground world. They live in lairs, venturing out in search of carrion or food every few days. Some underground inhabitants such as goblins and trolls will make use of carrion crawlers by leaving the bodies of dead foes out in designated areas. This keeps the creatures at a good distance from their own homes and encourages them to "patrol" certain areas. Some orcs have been known to chain live prisoners near the lairs of these fearsome monsters.
-The aurumvorax makes its solitary home in light forests, hills, and at the timberline on mountainsides. An aurumvorax chooses a likely spot and then uses its powerfully clawed legs to create a burrow, sometimes into solid rock.
+Carrion crawlers will sometimes live with a mate or in a small group numbering no more than 6. This does not mean that they cooperate in hunting, but merely share the same space and compete fiercely for the same food. If 2 crawlers have made a kill or discovered carrion, they will often fight over the food, sometimes killing one another in the process.
-Due to their unusual dietary needs, aurumvorae make their lairs in spots that either contain rich veins of gold ore or are very near to an area where gold is readily available.
+The carrion crawler mates once a year. Several days after mating, the female will go off in search of a large kill. When she has found or killed an adequate food supply, she lays about 100 eggs among the carrion. The grubs hatch one week later and begin feeding.
-The aurumvorax is a solitary creature which jealously guards its territory, even from others of its kind. The only time adult aurumvorae willingly meet is during mating season, which occurs approximately every eight years.
+Maternal care ceases once the eggs have been laid and it is not uncommon for eggs to later be eaten by the female who laid them. Females die a few weeks after laying their eggs, exhausted by the effort. Males live only a short time longer, having mated with as many females as possible. Grubs have been known to consume one another in feeding frenzies, and are a favorite food of adult carrion crawlers. Few of the grubs reach maturity, but those who do have eaten voraciously and will achieve their full size in a single year. When they reach maturity, the mating cycle begins again.
-The pair will stay together for a week or two before the male returns to his territory and the female prepares for the birth of her kits. A litter of 1d6+2 kits is born four months after mating.
+These monsters exist on the most basic instinctual level, having no more intelligence than earthworms or most insects. The carrion crawler is driven by two urges: food and reproduction. It has absolutely no interest in the collection of treasure.
-For the first two weeks of life, the kits are blind and hairless. They must be fed both meat and precious ores, including gold, in order to survive. It is unusual for more than 1-2 of the strongest kits to survive. If a kit is found and "adopted" before its eyes are open, it can be tamed and trained.
-Dwarves tend to dislike aurumvorae, though some communities have been known to raise one or more of the beasts for use in sniffing out veins of ore.
 ===Ecology===
+The carrion crawler provides the same useful, if disagreeable, function that jackals, vultures, and crows perform. Like so many other predators carrion crawlers instinctively prey on the weak, sick, and foolish. In the long run, this has a beneficial effect on the prey, strengthening its gene pool. The carrion crawler also works wonders in over crowded caverns, quickly eliminating population problems among the weaker monsters. Thus, the life cycle of the crawler is inextricably linked to those of its prey -- when the prey flourishes so does the crawler.
-In order to survive, the aurumvorax supplements its carnivorous diet with quantities of gold. The ability to digest and utilize gold and other ores makes it possible for the creature to develop the dense fur, hide, and bones that protect it so well.
-If an aurumvorax is killed with a minimum of cutting damage to its hide, the hide may be turned into a garment of incredible strength and beauty worth 15,000-20,000 gold pieces. The garment will also protect its wearer as armor, the specific Armor Class depending on the size of the aurumvorax. A garment with AC 2 weighs 50 pounds, one with AC 3 weighs 40 pounds, and one with AC 4 weighs 30 pounds.
-The wearer also receives a +4 bonus on saving throws vs. normal fires and a +2 bonus on saving throws vs. magical fire.
-If an aurumvorax is burned in a forge, approximately 150-200 pounds of gold are left behind. This burning process is very difficult and usually takes between one and two weeks to perform. Of course, the hide may be removed before the creature is burned; if burned at the same time, the hide will provide an additional 21-40 (1d20+20) pounds of gold.
-The aurumvorax's teeth and claws are also prized for decoration, and can bring up to 1 gp each on the open market.
 {{Navbox MainNavigation