Jungle Megadungeon: Monsters Part 4

A few more monsters which may be encountered in or around my imaginary snake-cult temple ruins in a jungle megadungeon...

Winged Serpent

HD 3, AC 5, Att: bite (1d4 + poison), Mv 120’ (40’) (flying), Ml 8, Al N, XP 80

Originally bred by the snake-cult's sorcerers, these beautiful yet deadly monsters still nest in treetops around the temple complex, hunting in the jungle below. Their sinuous, 7’ long bodies are azure with yellow diamonds; their feathered wings are white with violet tips; their eyes are indigo with yellow slit-pupils.

Poison: a victim who fails a save becomes rigid -- utterly paralysed -- within 1d6 rounds. Death follows, after three turns.

Crystal Serpent

HD 6 (damage and energy resistance), AC 1, Att: bite (1d8 + poison), Mv 120’ (40’), Ml 10, Al NE, XP 1,070

10’ long cobra statues of pure, transparent crystal, constructed by sorcery and placed as guardians around the tombs of the temple complex. Passing under the watchful gaze of a crystal serpent requires a save versus spells; failure awakens it to attack.

Poison: one who fails a saving throw versus petrification, when bitten, is instantly turned into crystal, along with all equipment. (The spell stone to flesh can restore characters who suffer this fate.)

Damage resistance: non-magical piercing or slashing attacks only inflict a single point of damage (plus STR bonus, if applicable).

Energy resistance: crystal serpents are unharmed by mundane fire and take half damage from magical fire.

Hydral

HD 5 (plus 10hp per head), AC 6 (body) / 3 (heads), Att: 3-5 x bite (1d6 + constriction), Mv 120’ (40’), Ml 9, Al N, XP 500

12’ long, rainbow-banded, multi-headed snakes bred by the cult of Thaa as companions and guardians. Hydrals are not poisonous, but their multiple heads attack in unison each round, making them dangerous opponents. Each head may target a separate opponent, within 5’.

An individual hydral has between three and five heads. Each head has 10hp, separate to the creature's main hit point total. Attackers may choose to target a head specifically, in which case damage is subtracted from that head's hit point total. If all heads are killed, the hydral is slain.

Constriction: if two bite attacks hit a single opponent in a round, the hydral’s body and tail wrap around and begin to tighten around the victim. The target suffers 1d8 damage per round and a -2 penalty to attacks and Armour Class. Only one target can be constricted at a time.

Jungle Megadungeon: Monsters 3

I'm on holiday on a Greek island. I'd been planning to do a bit of writing for the next issue of Wormskin, during some period of lounging beside the pool, but the blazing hot weather just isn't conducive to thoughts about a dank, moss-festooned forest. So instead my thoughts have returned to the megadungeon in a jungle that I started planning a while back. Here are some more monsters that might be found lurking in or around the ruined snake-cult temple.

Alabaster Serpent

HD 3, AC 5 (reflexes), Att: bite (1d4 + poison), Mv 120’ (40’) (slithering / climbing), Ml 9, Al N, XP 65

Slender, 5’ long serpents of pure white, with eyes of violet, bred by the snake cult as dangerous guardians. These snakes are no longer found in the wild, but the priests of the cult placed many inside clay jars, in suspended animation, to attack any who disturb them.

Poison: a victim who fails their save versus the venom of an alabaster serpent enters a state of violent spasms, losing one point of DEX per round until death (when DEX reaches 0).

Mummified Crocodile

HD 8, AC 6 (scales), Att: bite (2d6 + drowning roll), Mv 120’ (40’) (on land / swimming), Ml 10, Al N, XP 1,560

Husks of great river reptiles, stuffed with reeds and incense, their eyes replaced with opals engraved with hieroglyphics of death and magic (worth 300gp each). These monsters lurk submerged in rivers, ponds, and canals around the temple complex, waiting to attack intruders.

Surprise: lying beneath the water's surface, a mummified crocodile is easily overlooked or mistaken for a log. They surprise on a roll of 1-3.

Drowning roll: if within 10’ of water, a victim of a bite which inflicts 8 or more points of damage must save versus paralysis or be dragged under. On subsequent rounds, they cannot attack and suffer automatic bite damage. A successful STR or DEX check is required to escape.

Path Guardian

HD 2+2 (death cry when killed), AC 9, Att: 2 x claws (1d6), Mv 120’ (40’), Ml 10, Al NE, XP 47

The reanimated corpses of local, tattooed tribespeople, captured and sacrificed to the snake goddess for trespassing on the lands claimed by the cult. Their final hours of life saw them tied to totem stakes with thongs of crocodile leather, force-fed potent psychedelic poisons, and left to die. In death, they were decapitated and long, bronze barbs inserted into their hands to act as claws. They lie inert beside the totem where they were sacrificed, but rise to attack any who venture near.

Death cry: upon death, a path guardian’s chest splits open, emitting a piercing wail. This triggers a wandering monster check.

Jungle Megadungeon: More Dead Snake-Cultists

Here's a few more monsters which may be encountered in the surface areas of the jungle megadungeon, where the ruins of a snake-cult temple are located. In the two fungus-infested mummies presented, we begin to see a "twisted biology" theme coming through. The main megadungeon is envisaged to be the lair of a long-dead vivimancer, with experimental life-forms having oozed out into the surrounding jungle, over the centuries since the labs have been abandoned.

Eater-of-Snakes

HD 7+4, AC 6 (bronze breastplate), Att: bronze warhammer (1d8+2) or snake vomit, Mv 120’ (40’), Ml 10, Al LE, XP 900

The corpses of eunuch high priests, bodies swollen to grotesque proportions on a diet consisting solely of whole snakes -- a great honour among the cultists of Thaa. In death, their organs were removed and the body cavity filled with mummified snakes. Interred in robes of gold and silver thread (worth 250gp undamaged) and great, bronze breastplates, they remain in a state of undeath, ready to defend their tombs against intruders.

Snake vomit: three times per encounter, an eater-of-snakes can vomit forth a stream of writhing, snapping-jawed, mummified snakes, targeting characters within 10’ and a 90° cone. Characters in this area suffer damage equal to the eater-of-snakes’ current hit point total, with a save versus breath weapons for half damage.

Mushroom-Head Mummy

HD 3 (suffer double damage from fire, but emit screech), AC 8, Att: 2 × throttling (1d6), Mv 120’ (40’), Ml 11, Al C, XP 65

Mummified snake-cultists whose rest has been disturbed by the incursion of fungal mycelia. Their cloth-wrapped bodies are now riddled with fungus, a great, garish bloom erupting from the top of the head. These corpses are now under the control of the mushrooms, which cause them to rise from the grave, if disturbed by light or sound. The mushrooms seek to attack and kill any creatures they come across, providing more fodder for their mycelia.

Note that mushroom-head mummies are not undead and thus cannot be turned.

Screech: if damaged with fire, the mushrooms inside the mummy let out an ear-splitting screech, causing 1d3 damage to all within 30’ and triggering a check for wandering monsters.

Puffball Mummy

HD 5+2 (suffer double damage from fire), AC 8 (spore cloud when hit), Att: 2 × throttling (1d6), Mv 90’ (30’), Ml 11, Al C, XP 460

Blessed members of the snake-cult who, in death, were ritualistically mummified and placed in tombs among the temple complex. Over centuries, fungal mycelia have crept into their coffers, infecting the corpses. Light or sound will cause them to rise from their graves, bent on attacking those who disturb them. The mummies’ bodies are now little more than grossly swollen husks filled with fungal spores. A dust of spores drifts from the crowns of their heads and their bodies are fit to burst, if damaged.

Note that puffball mummies are not undead and thus cannot be turned.

Spore cloud: when a puffball mummy is damaged, a great cloud of fungal spores are released. All within 10’ of the mummy must save versus poison or breathe in a lungful of spores. This has two effects: 1. 1d6 choking damage for three rounds; 2. the spores take root and grow inside the victim. Unless cured by magic (e.g. cure disease), one thus afflicted swells up, over the course of a month, and then dies, being entirely taken over by the puffball fungus (effectively becoming a puffball mummy).

Jungle Megadungeon: Snake-Cult Zombies

I've been running Barrowmaze recently and enjoying it a great deal. It's inspired thoughts about writing a megadungeon of my own, set in a jungle.

I've started writing up a few ideas. Here are a few monsters, to start with.

Snake-Cultist Zombie

HD 2, AC 8, Att: bronze dagger (1d4) or curse, Mv 120’ (40’), Ml 10, Al LE, XP 29

Fanatics of the snake-cult who swore to protect the temple in death as in life. Their ritualistically scarred bodies have been preserved by magic and lain to rest wrapped in golden silks (worth 25gp, if undamaged). The lingering spirits of these men and women will be awoken to avenge any who disturb their rest.

Curse: upon rising, a snake-cult zombie may pronounce a curse upon intruders. The curse affects one target whom the zombie lays eyes upon as it wakes. The target must save versus spells or tremble with fear, incurring a -2 penalty to attacks and a 25% chance of spell failure for 1d6 turns.

Snake-Priestess Zombie

HD 4, AC 7, Att: gaze or bronze scimitar (1d6) + constriction (2d4), Mv 120’ (40’), Ml 10, Al LE, XP 190

Female aspirants selected for their sensuous beauty and ruthless devotion to the cult. In life, they were initiated in the secret rites of the priestesses, becoming semi-ophiomorphs -- their eyes and tongues are those of snakes and, in place of legs, they move upon great serpentine tails (10’ long). Finally, they were ritually impaled to bring about a state of lingering undeath. They now serve as sleepless guardians of precious treasures.

Gaze: one whom a snake-priestess zombie focuses her gaze upon must save versus spells. Failure indicates that visions of writhing serpents cause the victim’s will to be overcome. One thus afflicted becomes a mind-slave of the priestess, following her mental commands. Another saving throw is allowed, each time the victim suffers damage. If the snake-priestess dies, any under her command fall unconscious for 1d6 turns.

Constriction: using her great tail, a snake-priestess zombie may grab and constrict a victim. Once an attack with the tail succeeds, the victim is grappled and suffers automatic damage (2d4) each round, as well as a -2 penalty to attack rolls.

Temple Guard Zombie

HD 4+3, AC 5 (bronze plate), Att: bronze broadsword (1d8) + bite (1d8 + poison), Mv 120’ (40’), Ml 10, Al LE, XP 215

Warrior temple guards whose tattooed bodies have been preserved by magic to watch over tombs and shrines of the serpent cult for all eternity. During life, these men underwent a process of physical transformation via dark rituals, gaining deadly, snake-like fangs.

Poison: one bitten by a guardian zombie of the snake-cult must save versus poison or suffer one hit point of damage per turn. The poison lasts indefinitely, until it is neutralised or the victim dies. (Poison from multiple bites is not cumulative.)