Still working on my **monster manual**. The only thing that’s cool about the Carrion Crawler, Carcass Creeper or however you want to call it, is that is has eight paralyzing attacks but deals no damage. This is a bit different from ghouls, so where as ghouls are the fast zombies trying to kill you, carrying you away as you’re still screaming for help, the carrion crawlers are the slithering things that come for you in the dark, as you are helpless and crying, and then they paralyze you and eat you alive. It’s not a pretty sight.
As for the visuals, take a look at this picture of a star-nosed mole.
#Monsters #Old School #RPG
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Interesting write-up, but this kind of feels like adding injury to insult after some sort of fear effect. If a Creeper only attacks those who are effectively incapacitated, and only causes direct injury if left alone to feed, the only time that they’re really an issue is if some other game effect has softened up the target(s). Question – is the start of feeding an instant kill on the prey? Or is there some time to rescue someone before they’re irretrievably gone?
The way you’ve constructed these, they aren’t so much encounters as plot devices. But they do give me some interesting ideas.
– Aaron McLin 2016-10-15
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Good points. I used to think that the classic carrion crawler was weird: it doesn’t deal any damage and so I never used it. In a recent game, however, the party met two of them and the fight was exciting as the carrion crawlers paralysed party member after party member. And when they were finally slain, there was the question of surviving the rest of the time until the paralysed party members would recover. I liked it and that’s why I wanted a monster with a lot of paralysing attacks that don’t deal damage. Then I thought about the difference between these creepers and ghouls. I see ghouls as fighting the entire party, furious, hungry, there is a lot of blood and action, and when they down a party member, it is dragged away and eaten while the remaining ghouls keep fighting. Thus, if the crawlers are different, then I felt that they needed to be creepy. Like kids being afraid of a dark cellar. But in my write-up, I got carried away. I certainly don’t want to be “adding injury to insult after some sort of fear effect.” I need to rephrase this such that they imply that the situation might *end* as described. Paralyse the scout and run away. Paralyse the last guy and run away. If you follow them and turn around the corner, roll for initiative and if you fail, be paralysed. And then suddenly the party realizes that half of them are paralysed and will remain paralysed for quite a bit and how will you keep moving, staying together, abandoning friends, running for your life... something like that is what I would like to get at.
To get back to the question you asked: in the light of how I’d like to use the monster, I’d say that the point is “fear of a total party kill” and thus party members are going to be eaten very slowly. In my game, if a rescue party found a paralysed victim an hour later, roll on a *Death and Dismemberment* table if you have one, or just say that you’ll recover after a day, or a week? I’m not sure which outcome I’d prefer and would probably say “one week to recover” in order to not invalidate a successful rescue effort?
– Alex Schroeder 2016-10-15
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“They will avoid opponents that look sharp and active. In the dark, when you’re out of your mind and sobbing in fear, they’ll come for you.” What this says to me is that creepers will not bother characters who are up and active. Which I understand is not really your intent – the story you told says as much. But the implication of the write up is that creepers are only a threat to characters who are already incapacitated from some effect or another.
– Aaron McLin 2016-10-15
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Yeah, dropped that. Now it reads: “This thing looks like a man-sized caterpillar with many smaller tentacles around its mouth. It feeds on the dead or the nearly dead. They’ll use surprise to paralyse the scout and disappear back into the darkness. They’ll use surprise to paralyse the torchbearer in the back and disappear back into the darkness. And soon enough you’ll be burdened by the unconscious bodies of your friends and they’ll be waiting behind every corner. **When touched by one of the tentacles**, save vs. paralysis or be paralysed for two hours. If left undisturbed, the creeper will then proceed to eat you alive, while you’re unable to move or scream. While you’re still moving, the creeper will not bite and thus no damage is dealt.”
– Alex Schroeder 2016-10-16