Beasts of Samardan: 'Synthetic Man' to 'Volbur'...

Good Afternoon, All:

In this, the seventh entry in the bestiary for the World of Samardan Campaign Setting series, we expand on the options available for a planetary romance game. (One more entry after this one, and the bestiary should be more or less ready to go.) Here are five more creatures for consideration:

Synthetic Man

In a few ruins of the Ancient Ones, artificially created humanoids continue to provide basic service, performing tasks that long ago lost any sense of purpose or meaning. These synthetic men resemble featureless humanoids, lacking any body hair or well-defined facial features. Although synthetic men have a mouth for feeding, they are unable to speak, lacking vocal cords. Like all constructs, synthetic men are immune to all mental attacks and abilities, poison, disease and physical exhaustion.

Synthetic Man: DEF: 13; HD: 2; ATK: by makeshift weapon (1d6) or slam (1d4); ST: +3; SP: Cannot speak, immune to all mental attacks and abilities, poison, disease and physical exhaustion; SPD: 6; CL: 1; XP: 300.

Tarfarkat

Native to the region surrounding the Crater of the Star Creatures, the tarfarkat have only appeared after the great meteor impact that formed the crater. Although different varieties of tarfarkati exist, the most common type by far resemble a pale yellow crustacean with a set of massive pincers and paralytic tentacles. Extremely intelligent, tarfarkati prefer to use ambush and advanced hunting tactics to bring down prey.

Tarfarkat: DEF: 22; HD: 11; ATK: two claws (1d8), two tentacles (1d4 + paralytic poison); ST: +7; SP: Immune to all mental attacks and abilities and paralysis, paralytic poison (rendered helpless, Fort DC 17 ends); SPD: 6 (burrow 4); CL: 6; XP: 1,800.

Varran

The varran is a mobile humanoid plant, feeding on on sunlight during the day and decomposing flesh at night. Growing up to twelve feet in height, this creature has a single pure white eye, and a pair of tentacular arms that end in razor-sharp claws. Its skin is a palid, corpse-like blue, become darker when feeding on decaying organic matter. Like most creatures that rely on photosynthesis, the varrani suffer a -2 penalty on all attacks and saving throws at night, unless they feed from an alternate nutrient source. For that reason, most varrani lairs smell strongly of the rotting flesh of their victims. A typical tactic is for a group of plant men to lay in wait for prey, then leap from out of nowhere and batter their prey into submission and then devour them once they are unconscious.

Varran: DEF: 15; HD: 4; ATK: two claws (1d6); ST: +4; SP: Photosynthetic sensitivity (-2 on all attacks and savings throws at night, unless alternate nutrient source exists); SPD: 6; CL: 1; XP: 300.

Viddrakkat

One of the more ubiquitous beasts of Samardan, the viddrakkat is a man-sized serpentine creature, with bands of white, black and various earth tones. Their fanged bite is quite poisonous, enough to kill most small prey, including children. The viddrakkat uses its coloration to blend into the shadows of its environment, and are considered particularly stealthy creatures. Most civilized areas consider these creatures to be dangerous pests.

Viddrakkat: DEF: 13; HD: 2; ATK: bite (1d4+poison); ST: +3; SP: Poison (1d4/round, Fort DC 13 ends), stealthy (+5 on Stealth-based checks; treated as having skill mastery (1/rest) with Stealth); SPD: 6; CL: 1; XP: 300.

Volbur

Resembling a winged sahan, the volbur is a large ursinoid creature with great bat-like wings. Typically found in the mountains and hills of Samardan's valley regions, the volbur occasionally makes forages into civilized lands in search of easy prey. It possesses the psychic ability to mentally stun its prey. As a psychic creature, the volbur is sensitive to the mystical talents of others, and has an hatred of other creatures with mystical ability. Sages speculate it is because the volbur may perceive the use of mystical talents as irritating or agitating, much like a powerful itching sensation in the brain. This theory has led to the common phrase "feeling a volbur's itch" to refer to having suspicions of the clandestine use of psychic abilities to influence a situation's outcome.

Volbur: DEF: 17; HD: 6; ATK: bite (1d8), two claws (1d6) or mental stun (Rng 6/12/24); ST: +5; SP: Mental stun (rendered helpless, Will DC 15 ends), rend (2d6 additional damage if two claws hit the same target in the same round); SPD: 6 (fly 8); CL: 4; XP: 900.

Enjoy,
Flynn