BAG O' BONES (#7/31, #342/365) [OOTP IV]
SKILL: 7
STAMINA: 8
ATTACKS: 1
WEAPON: Small Claw
ARMOUR: None
DAMAGE MODIFIER: None
HABITAT: Dungeons, Ruins, Caves
NUMBER ENCOUNTERED: 1
TYPE: Undead
REACTION: Hostile
INTELLIGENCE: Low
Typically found in forgotten corners of ancient dungeons or cursed and abandoned settlements, such as the damned village Fetchfen in the Old World kingdom of Ruddlestone, the BAG O' BONES is a skeleton-ghost, an Undead spirit animating a bunch of bones into something that roughly resembles a human skeleton. This will happen if the place where the bones lie is disturbed by an intruder. The bones will rise up and the Bag o' Bones will speak, its voice emanating out from an old skull, mocking its victim before attacking them, cackling insanely all the while.
As with all skeletal creatures, edged and pointed weapons only do 1 point of STAMINA damage per hit to the Bag o' Bones while blunt smashing weapons do regular damage. Curiously they cannot venture into sunlight, and if exposed to it, the ghost will be banished back to the lands of the dead while the bones collapse to the ground, no longer animated. However, in the realm of darkness or the night, the Bag o' Bones is more than happy to prance about on bony legs, swiping at its victims with skeletal talons while belittling them all the while about their puny mortal existence.
BONEBEAST (#8-10/31, #343-345/365) [OOTP IV]
Chimerical Living Fossil Dragonkind
SKILL: 9 10 11
STAMINA: 11 10 12
ATTACKS: 3
WEAPON: See below
ARMOUR: See below
DAMAGE MODIFIER: See below
HABITAT: Dungeons, Ruins, Caves
NUMBER ENCOUNTERED: 1-2
TYPE: Undead
REACTION: Hostile
INTELLIGENCE: Low
See the cautious adventurer entering a large cavern, lantern held aloft in one hand. There are a multitude of bones all over the floor, that crunch under their feet as they walk, most apparently belonging to various great mythological beasts. Even as they watch in horror, the bones start rising, forming gradually into an immense monstrous skeleton, a BONEBEAST, with jaws clacking together and huge clawed talons stretching forwards towards the hapless adventurer, angry at their intrusion!
Bonebeasts have three different types depending on what creatures the bones forming this undead horror originally came from. The following table can be used to determine the type of Bonebeast encountered if needed, as well as differentiating their armour type and damage modifier:
Roll Bonebeast Type Armour Damage Modifier
1-2 Chimerical None +1 to Damage Roll
3-4 Living Fossil Medium +2 to Damage Roll
5-6 Dragonkind Heavy +2 to Damage Roll
CHIMERICAL BONEBEASTS are mainly made up of the skeletons of fantastical beasts such as basilisks, chimerae, hydrae and manticores. When a Chimerical Bonebeast scores a hit in combat upon an assailant, roll on the table below to determine what they were hit with:
Roll Attack Type
1-2 Terrible Claws: The Bonebeast savages its opponent with cruelly sharp claws. As per Large Claws weapon type.
3-4 Tail Lash: The Bonebeast's tail hits its victim knocking them over. As per Large Claw weapon type, plus the assailant is knocked over or backwards and has a -1 penalty to their Attack Strength for the next Attack Round.
5-6 Savage Bite: The monster catches an opponent in its mouth and sinks its fangs into them. As per Large Bite weapon type.
LIVING FOSSIL BONEBEASTS are mainly made up of the skeletons of various long-dead giant reptile species, including Dinosaurs and their various kindred derivations, whether found as fossils or defeated centuries ago as the last of their kind. When a Living Fossil Bonebeast scores a hit in combat upon an assailant, roll on the table below to determine what they were hit with:
Roll Attack Type
1-3 Terrible Claws: The Bonebeast savages its opponent with cruelly sharp claws. As per Large Claws weapon type.
4-5 Tail Lash: The Dragon-thing's tail hits its victim knocking them over. As per Large Claw weapon type, plus the assailant is knocked over or backwards and has a -1 penalty to their Attack Strength for the next Attack Round.
6 Savage Bite: The monster catches an opponent in its mouth and sinks its fangs into them. As per Very Large Bite weapon type.
DRAGONKIND BONEBEASTS are mainly made up of the skeletons of Dragons, Wyverns and the various other Wyrms. When a Dragonkind Bonebeast scores a hit in combat upon an assailant, roll on the table below to determine what they were hit with:
Roll Attack Type
1-3 Terrible Claws: The Bonebeast savages its opponent with cruelly sharp claws. As per Large Claws weapon type.
4-5 Tail Lash: The Dragon-thing's tail hits its victim knocking them over. As per Large Claw weapon type, plus the assailant is knocked over or backwards and has a -1 penalty to their Attack Strength for the next Attack Round.
6 Savage Bite: The monster catches an opponent in its mouth and sinks its fangs into them. As per Large Bite weapon type.
As with all skeletal creatures, edged and pointed weapons only do 1 point of STAMINA damage per hit to the Bonebeast; blunt smashing weapons do regular damage. When slain, the necromantic magic holding the Bonebeast together is dispelled in a burst of noxious energy, and it will crumble into a pile of skeletal remains once more. Among the bones the discerning adventurer may find some interesting trinkets, for likely the formerly-living entities comprising the Bonebeast accumulated some wealth in their original life-times (assume a Decent treasure hoard, as per Encyclopedia Arcana: Volume 1, p. 153).
Rumour has it certain necromancers and dark priests of Evil desert gods have perfected a ritual that summons such a Bonebeast creature from the bones of those that have perished among the sands and dunes. A Dragonkind Bonebeast was reputed to dwell in the hollow shell of Valsinore Keep in Ruddlestone, formed from the the skeletons of dragons, wyrms and wyverns slain by past lords during the chaos wars that marked the Rise of Kakhabad.
EARTH DRAGON (#11/31, #346/365) [OOTP IV]
Young Adult
SKILL: 8 10
STAMINA: 14 18
ATTACKS: 3
WEAPON:
Young - Large Claws and Bite
Adult - Very Large Claws and Bite
ARMOUR:
Young - Medium
Adult - Heavy
DAMAGE MODIFIER:
Young - +1 to the Damage Roll
Adult - Double Damage
HABITAT: Mountains, Hills, Plains, Forests, Wilderness
NUMBER ENCOUNTERED: 1
TYPE: Monster
REACTION: Unfriendly-Hostile
INTELLIGENCE: Average
'Like the teeth of a loathsome EARTH DRAGON!' is what they say about the mountain range known as the Witchtooth Line, and indeed these jagged crags named after the fangs of hags do indeed resemble the savage sabres and serrated edges of the Earth Dragon's dentition. These weird creatures, thought by some to be a type of Drake, are low-slung wingless serpentine quadrupeds, with thick brownish-black scales providing protection, in addition to the numerous spikes studded down the Earth Dragon's spine. When angered, which is often for the Earth Dragon is a bad-tempered beast, it will attack with bites from its great toothy maw and swipes from its taloned forelimbs.
Every third Attack Round the Earth Dragon will spit forth a glowing ball of lava at one immediate opponent, who must Test their Luck to avoid the projecticle magmoid vomit. Those that fail must deduct 2 STAMINA points if the perpertrator was a Young dragon or 4 STAMINA points if they were an Adult, with no Armour Roll allowed. In addition, the Earth Dragon's thick armoured plates are interspersed with numerous spikes and spines; anyone who wounds the Earth Dragon in melee combat also suffers 1 STAMINA point of damage themselves as they involuntarily impale themselves upon the Earth Dragon's sharply pointed dermal defences.
Previously and mistakenly thought to be a devolved Black Dragon by misguided earlier scholars, it is now known the Earth Dragon - also known as the Land Dragon in some locations - is a distinct entity in its own right, for as the Wyrm and the Wyvern have lost some or all of their legs but kept their wings, the Earth Dragon has instead kept all its limbs but become wingless, but, unlike the Tatsu, also flightless. In addition, its existence has given weight to the idea the Mud Dragon is actually a primitive example of Dragonkind instead of a mutated Giant Lizard.
Considered likely to be a southern relative of the imposing Xiau of Titan's colder regions (see Return to the Pit, pp. 212-213), the Earth Dragon is typically found clambering about a variety of habitats from rocky mountain fastness, rolling hills, thickly-forested woodland or even grassy plains and flatlands. Usually lurking in a lair such as a dark cave, lost valley or scrabbled muddy den beneath a huge dead tree, the Earth Dragon will shamble forth to depopulate the surrounding countryside with its depredations on the local hamlets and their herds of livestock.
Earth Dragons have long been a menace across Titan, and particularly the Old World, from the steppes of Lendleland to the Shamutanti Hills. Indeed, during the Rise of Kakhabad, Beastmen warriors from the Verminpit deployed units of heavy cavalry mounted on Earth Dragons against crusaders from Ruddlestone and Analand. Dwarfs have also reported some success in training young newly-hatched Earth Dragons as battle-steeds, and a recent raid by Flatlander nomads on an outlying settlement of Fangthane was utterly destroyed by an Earth Dragon heavy cavalry unit of Dwarf Warriors fortunately on border maneuvers at the same time.
ELFIN DRAGON (#12/31, #347/365) [OOTP IV]
SKILL: 5
STAMINA: 4
ATTACKS: 1
WEAPON: Small Bite
ARMOUR: Light
DAMAGE MODIFIER: -1 to Damage Roll
HABITAT: Forests, Jungles, Mountains
NUMBER ENCOUNTERED: 1
TYPE: Monster
REACTION: Neutral
INTELLIGENCE: High
Closely related to the Pocket Dragon, and consider by many draconic scholars to be the smallest of the dragonettes or lesser dragons, the ELFIN DRAGON is a metre-long multi-coloured flying reptile, with gossamer-thin butterfly-like wings that can change in colour and hue for either camouflage or display. Because of this, the Elfin Dragon has a +4 bonus to any Stealth Special Skill rolls they make when hiding or sneakily hovering about.
In combat the Elfin Dragon attacks by biting with its fanged mouth, and every third Attack Round will breath out a cloud of violet gas at its immediate opponent. The opponent must Test their Luck to avoid inhaling the gas, which causes effects identical to the Befuddle spell. Elfin Dragons also know the following basic magical Cantrips which they can cast once per day: Enhance, Entertain, Glimmer and Spark.
In the wild, Elfin Dragons dwell far from civilization, usually in heavily forested regions, where they will make their lair in a hole of a large tree's trunk. They prey on small birds, squirrels and tree rats, as well as supplementing their diet with nuts, berries and fruit. They are intelligent creatures, and, like Pocket Dragons, can communicate through telepathic thought, and in several languages, including Dragonese and both High and Low Elvish. It is perhaps not surprising therefore, to see Elfin Dragons adopted as pets and familiars by Wood, Jungle and Mountain Elves, dependent on terrain. Indeed, in Amarillia, the Elves of the Ember Woods are noted for their Elfin Dragon familiars, that they keep in addition to the more usual Grelfin.
WRAITH DRAGON (#13/31, #348/365) [OOTP IV]
SKILL: 13
STAMINA: 20
ATTACKS: 4
WEAPON: Very Large Bite and Claws
ARMOUR: None
DAMAGE MODIFIER: Double Damage
HABITAT: Ruins, Dungeons, Caves, Spirit Plane, Demonic Planes
NUMBER ENCOUNTERED: 1
TYPE: Undead
REACTION: Hostile
INTELLIGENCE: High
Just as there are corporeal undead Dragons, like the shambling Skeletal Dragon or the festering Kragon, so too are there non-corporeal undead Dragons as well, such as the much-feared WRAITH DRAGON. This is the vengeful spirit of a Dragon returned to the Earthly Plane to wreak havoc upon it, and takes the form of a large winged dragon formed from glowing spiritual energy, appearing only during the night or in dark places underground. Although the Wraith Dragon can only be harmed by silver or magic weapons, its own chilling talons and fangs burn with the cold fury of the dead and wound flesh and bone readily enough.
Every three Attack Rounds the Wraith Dragon will unleash a sonic scream, a howling blast of noise that causes all those present who fail their Test for Luck or who are not wearing ear plugs, to lose 4 STAMINA points. In addition, the draining touch of the Wraith Dragon's claws and teeth saps at the soul. Anyone physically wounded by a Wraith Dragon (who survives!) must roll a die, and on a roll of 1-4 deduct 1 SKILL point as well, as part of their vital energy has been stolen away.
Wraith Dragons are generally confined to other planar environments, such as the Spirit Plane or the Demonic Pit, where they soar across otherworldly skies on glowing wings, screaming with hatred at existence and everything in it. Occasionally however, one does end up on Titan, summoned by an incautious Necromancer, or bound to a forlorn barrow or cursed glade for long-forgotten reasons. Such a Wraith Dragon was bested by the Hero of Tannatown in Femphrey, who recovered its treasure hoard to great acclaim and renown, though there is some dispute as to whether they actually slew the beast using the magic sword Wyrmbiter, or left the Wraith Dragon itself well alone.
