A'SHARKALYPSE NOW!!!

  

Courtesy of today's The Daily Beast...

YET FORETOLD BY THE FLICK FROM 2023!!!

"U-G" Is For "Urban Gargoyle"

XCrawl Classics is the new hotness 'round these parts, so here's the newest beastie from my table!

—

Like their backwoods cathedral-dwelling cousins, urban gargoyles are winged, craggy, man-sized, wicked creatures that don’t require food, water, or oxygen. And they, too, cannot be distinguished from inanimate statuary when resting completely still.

Yet instead of rock, urban gargoyles are made of spongy, metamorphic “foam” that mimics the colors and textures of nearby materials (brick, concrete, marble, etc), meaning they can be quite stealthy [as represented by their Initiative modifier] even if not truly “invisible”. Furthermore, when attacked by weapons (standard and magical alike), hits striking an AC 17-20 do ½ damage, while those reaching 21+ do full damage. Urban gargoyles are wholly immune to firearms, as bullets zip through their bodies and the wounds seal instantly.

Nefarious mages, politicians, and captains of industry often employ urban gargoyles as spies, leg-breakers, and assassins.

Gargoyle, Urban: Init +5; Atk bite +2 melee (1d6) or claw +4 melee (1d4); Crit M/d8; AC 17* / 21*; HD 2d8; MV 25’ or fly 35’; Act 1d20; SP chameleonic, damage resistances, stillness; SV Fort +5, Ref +0, Will +0; AL C.

— by Justin S. Davis

"P" Is For "Pizzly" (Or "B" Is For "Bobble Bear")

This unholy creation was a collaborative effort amongst my long-term Umerica group.

We're starting a new campaign in the ruins of Aleutian Alaska, and the worldbuilding naturally involves new beasties.  Player M picked "grizzly / polar bear" hybrid, and The GM had us each roll an ability on the amazing mutation charts.

Sooooo Much Better Than Standard
Mutant Crawl Classics Rules

Meet the resultant monstrosity! 

Pizzly (aka Bobble Bear) 

Pizzlies are enormous ursines with freakishly enlarged heads with corresponding brains. They can--and do--consume anything, but posses a particular fondness for petroleum products. These chemicals leach into the fur, resulting in a protective plasticine coating; a dead pizzly's hide can be fashioned into tools and armor.

Two tentacles sprout from a pizzly's backside, and are deft enough to manipulate weapons and objects.

Pizzly (aka Bobble Bear): INIT +5; ATK bite +8 melee bite (1d14+2), claw +8 melee (1d6), tentacle slap +8 melee (1d3); AC 13 [d5 Armor]; HD 5+3; MV 40'; ACT 2d20 & 2d16 (tentacles); SP Carapace Protection (Plastic Shell), Gigantic Proportions (Head), Heightened Attributes (Agility), True Omnivore, Xenomorphic Traits (Tentacles); SV Fort +7, Ref +3, Wil +3; AL N or C.

Carapace Protection (Candy-Colored Coating): covered in resistant plastic-like fur and nodules increasing Armor +2d; can be fashioned into wearable armor and other implements.

Gigantic Proportions (Big Head): +1d5 to all Intelligence checks (as raccoon / dolphin / ape) and bite damage by +2d.

Heightened Attributes (Increased Agility): +2d to all Agility checks and Reflex saves.

True Omnivore: gains sustenance from eating meat, plants, and any / all petroleum products. 

Xenomorphic Traits (Tentacles): multiple tentacles grow from the creature's body; can use as well as normal limbs (and actually better, as can manipulate objects!) and grants 2d16 action dice for the tentacle’s actions.

"G" is for "Godzilunan"

Godzilunan

No. Enc.:  1d3
Alignment:  Chaotic
Movement:  90' (30')
      —Swim:  180' (60')
Armor Class:  2
Hit Dice:  22
Attacks:  4 (2 claws, 1 bite, 1 tail-slap)
Damage:  2d8 / 2d8 / 1d12 / 3d10
Save:  L18
Morale:  10
Hoard Class:  None
XP:  21,250

Freakish, semi-aquatic hybrids of surly radioactive reptiles and insectoid slave-laborers from deepest space, godzilunans roam the wastelands with but one purpose:  destruction.

And rampant destruction, at that.

Godzilunans stand 30' tall, and their bodies are covered with thick scales and chitinous segments that make them nigh-impervious to *all* armaments  (meaning they suffer only one-third damage, no matter the weapon type).  Their bulbous, distended crania throb with menace.

A godzilunan can exhale a blast of pure radiation every three rounds that does 12d6 damage.

After a particularly satisfying rampage, godzilunans bury themselves underground or inside icebergs, going dormant for months or years at a time.  They inevitably awaken at the most inopportune times for local settlements.

Mutations:  Energy Ray (Radiation, x3), Mental Barrier, Reflective Epidermis (Cold, Heat, Radiation)

—

"What happens when you combine a Godzilla with a Mutant?" — The Question Posed By My Four-Year-Old That Prompted This Ridiculous Entry

"E" is for "Eelwolf"

Eelwolf

No. Enc.:  2d6 (3d6)
Alignment:  Neutral
Movement:  180' (60')
      —Swim:  120' (40')
Armor Class:  7 (See Below)
Hit Dice:  4
Attacks:  1
Damage:  1d10
Save:  L4
Morale:  9
Hoard Class:  None
XP:  355

Equally at home on land or in water, the predatory eelwolves are encountered in forests, jungles, and swamps.  Their gurgling, rasping howls echo across the wasteland nightscape.

Eelwolves' agile canine builds, combined with sinuous musculature and sleek, slimy skin, grant the creatures an AC of 4 in melee (while being AC 7 at range).  Their diverse coloration also tends to match their environs, granting them Surprise on 1-4 on 1d6 and +1 to Initiative.  When pursuing prey, and eelwolf can compress and wriggle through an opening one-fourth its size.

Eelwolf hides can be made into leather armor (AC 7) that grants a +1 to DEX and an immunity to electrical-based attacks.

Mutations:  Energy Ray (Electricity), Enhanced Vision (Night), Reflective Epidermis (Electricity)

"S" is for "Splicesaur — "Styracula"

Splicesaur — Styracula

No. Enc.:  0 (1d4)
Alignment:  Neutral
Movement:  120' (40')
Armor Class:  2
Hit Dice:  13
Attacks:  1 (gore or crush)
Damage:  2d8 + special, or 3d6
Save:  L7
Morale:  11
Hoard Class:  VII
XP:  7,800

Styraculas are freakish hybrids of ceratopsians and bats.   Throbbing veins and arteries criss-cross their bodies, and stunted, expressive chiropteric wings adorn their brows.  The enormous beasts communicate in screeches and squeaks.

Styraculas feed on the blood, which they drain from victims via hollow snout horns. Anyone gored suffers an immediate 2d8 damage and becomes impaled and incapable of movement, and suffers an automatic 1d10 leeching damage per round.  Impaled victims can't escape on their own, and it requires two allies performing successful Ability Checks Vs STR to rip them free (which inflicts an additional 1d6 damage).  Styraculas can both Charge and Trample.

As a styracula feeds, the blood pumps visibly through the creature's frill.

—

Mutations:  Echolocation, Increased Sense (Hearing), Shriek

"I" Is For "Isothrope"

This entry is based on a monster model kit I painted up all post-apocalyptic.  And there wasn't a decent pic of the box art on The Interwebs, so consider my personal scan a gift for the masses!

Isothrope

No. Enc.:  1 (1d4)
Alignment:  Chaotic
Movement:  150' (50')
Armor Class:  4
Hit Dice:  11
Attacks:  3 (2 claws, 1 bite)
Damage:  1d8 / 1d8 / 2d6+4
Save:  L6
Morale:  11
Hoard Class:  VII
XP:  10,800

By day, isothropes are feral Pure Human derelicts who haunt the wastelands... but beneath the Mutant Future's shattered full moon, they transform into corrupted creatures akin to those of Ancient mythology.

Isothropes glow a scintillating neon, and their eyes burn with blue radioactive rage.  Their blackened, cracked skin sloughs off in sheets.  Tainted blood seeps from every orifice. Isothropes are always clad in the tattered remnants of radiation suits.

Isothropes are immune to radiation, toxins, and disease, and all weapons inflict only half damage [to simulate their hyperactive healing].  The creatures spread their infectious metamorphic condition as per the lycanthropy disease [Labyrinth Lord Core Rules, p. 86].  

Mutations:  Increased Senses (Hearing, Smell, Taste, Vision), Metamorph (Modified), Optic Emissions (Gamma Eyes), Regenerative Capability, Toxic Weapon ("Isothropy")

"What's Nuked, Scooby-Doomsday?" — Gator Ghoul

Gator Ghoul

No. Enc.:  1 (1d4)
Alignment:  Chaotic
Movement:  120' (40')
      —Swim:  75' (25')
Armor Class:  4
Hit Dice:  13
Attacks:  3 or 1 (2 claws, 1 bite, or 1 tail-slap)
Damage:  2d8 / 1d6 / 1d6, or 2d6 + special
Save:  L7
Morale:  10
Hoard Class:  VII
XP:  6,900

Gator ghouls are bipedal crocodiloids that haunt toxic swamps and polluted bayous.  Master skulkers (and leering voyeurs), they Surprise on a 1-4 on 1d6.

Gator ghouls relish visceral combat, but treacherously blind their foes before melee.  A successful tail-slap sends victims flying 20' away, and requires an Ability Check Vs Dex to avoid and additional 3d6 impact damage.  Gator ghouls cannily blast Class 8 radiation from afar when outclassed (or just feeling particularly ornery).

Mutations:  Fear Generation, Increased Sense (Vision), Optic Emissions (Bright Eyes, Gamma Eyes)

—

[Inspired by The Scooby-Doo Show episode #3, "The Gruesome Game Of The Gator Ghoul" (1976)]

"What's Nuked, Scooby-Doomsday?" — Steam Demon

Steam Demon

No. Enc.:  1d4 (1d8)
Alignment:  Chaotic
Movement:  120' (40')
—Levitation:  120' (40')
Armor Class:  5
Hit Dice:  8
Attacks:  2 claws
Damage:  3d6 / 3d6
Save:  L8
Morale:  10 / 6 (see below)
Hoard Class:  XIV
XP:  2,560

Steam demons are the nastiest denizens of ruined under-cities and sewers.  The hissing fiends relish wanton cruelty and vandalism, and their ability to channel sizzling, steel-melting electricity through their claws only enhances their destructive might.

Bullies and thugs, steam demons fancy kidnapping surface-dwelling Pure Humans and Mutant Animals just for sadistic thrills.  That said, steam demons are terrified by Mutant Humans of CHA 6 or less and other "frightening" bipeds.  Their Morale drops to 6 upon encountering groups of 2 or more such beings.

Steam demons generate billowing clouds of noxious, fuchsia-hued gas that surround them in a 20' radius.  Anyone caught within suffers the effects of a Class 4 poison per round and a -2 penalty to all To Hit rolls (even if a Saving Throw Vs Poison succeeds on the damage).  And though they sport prominent wing-flaps, steam demons actually levitate, and can only reach vertical heights of 15' above the ground / floor.

Mutations:  Energy-Retaining Cell Structure, Enhanced Vision (Night), Fear Generation, Phobia ("Monstrous Humanoids") [D], Toxic Weapon ("Sulfurous Fumes")

—

[Inspired by The Scooby-Doo Show episode #10, "A Frightened Hound Meets Demons Underground" (1976)]

"What's Nuked, Scooby-Doomsday?" — Cat-Creature

Cat-Creature

No. Enc.:  1 (1d4)
Alignment:  Chaotic
Movement:  150' (50')
Armor Class:  1
Hit Dice:  7+1
Attacks:  3 (2 claws, 1 bite)
Damage:  1d6 / 1d6 / 1d8
Save:  L4
Morale:  8
Hoard Class:  XXII +2d6 jewelry
XP:  1,700

Cat-creatures are nocturnal, olive-hued felinoids obsessed with gemstones, precious metals, and shiny trinkets.  Accordingly, they are usually encountered in ruined shopping complexes, or un-plundered cemeteries (which are often bizarrely decorated with feline-centric statuary).  Rumors suggest that cat-creatures are actually normal humans who unknowingly metamorphose while sleeping, perhaps due to exposure to irradiated jewelry

Between their flowing, obscuring capes and freakish acrobatic prowess, cat-creatures are almost impossible to strike in combat.  They can make springing leaps of up to 50'.

Snarling and feral, cat-creatures are far more savage and far less crafty than the typical Scooby-Doomsday monstrosity.

Mutations:  Enhanced Vision (Night), Increased Balance

—

[Inspired by The Scooby-Doo Show episode #33, "Make A Beeline Away From That Feline" (1978)]