Historical, Novel and Movie monsters of Gothic Earth

[Lady Ligeia]

Inspired by the Historical, Novel and Movie characters of Gothic Earth thread, lets start a thread about monsters and other creatures of the night a MotRD DM might find useful.

I will begin with a creature from British folklore, the Boneless. Here is the account of a policeman who was said to have actually encountered one of these things. He was so shaken by the encounter that he was transferred to another district.

"He told her it was darksome over above Putsham Rise and the tide was in far below -- he could hear it plain down two hill fields, and then his lamp lit up a white Summat across the road. It weren't fog. It were alive -- kind of wooly like a cloud or a wet sheep -- and it slid up and all all over him on his bike, and was gone rolling and bowling and stretching out and in up the Perry Farm Road. It was so sudden he didn't fall off -- but he says it was like a wet heavy blanket and so terrible cold and smelled stale."
--From An Encyclopedia of Fairies, Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures by Katherine Briggs


BONELESS
Large Aberration
Hit Dice: 5d8+15 (37 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 50 ft. (10 squares)
Armor Class: 14 (−4 size, +4 Dex, +1 deflection bonus), touch 14, flat-footed 10
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/ —
Attack: Touch +6 melee (Constitution damage)
Full Attack: Touch +6 melee (Constitution damage)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Constitution damage
Special Qualities: Engulf, fire and sunlight vulnerability, gaseous form
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +4
Abilities: Str — , Dex 18, Con 16, Int 11, Wis 11, Cha 12
Skills: Hide +8, Listen +6, Spot +6, Survival +4
Feats: Alertness, Track
Environment: Any temperate land
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 7
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Advancement: 6-10 HD (Large), 11-15 (Huge)
Level Adjustment: —

A patch of fog is moving against the wind, wafting over the countryside with eerie silence. Eerie tendrils of mist stretch out from all sides of the thing, feeling around hungrily for some source of food.

When a patch of nighttime fog begins to move against the wind, residents in the area barricade themselves into their homes and desperately work to seal all cracks around doors and windows. The patch of fog is no fog at all, but a frightening creature known as a boneless.

A boneless, is a formless thing that closely resembles a coherent blob of gray mist. They are evil creatures, lurking belowground during the day but rising up at night to mingle with normal mist and feast. Although most bonelesses are indiscernible from real mist, some can form floating eyes and mouths from their substance. A boneless that can form a mouth is capable of speech, but it can only say a few words; the rest is gibberish. While on the hunt, a boneless rolls over the hills and moors in the darkness looking for any living thing on which to feed. Bonelesses haunt desolate places like wastelands and swamps, but they are smart enough to know that roadways are frequently traveled and are thus a source of regular food.

A boneless cannot understand or speak any language.

Combat
Bonelesses do not hunt except on misty nights. Using its misty form as camouflage, a boneless seeps up from below and mingles with natural mist. When it detects prey, it rushes forward to envelop it.

Gaseous Form (Su): Can flow through small openings, damage reduction 10/magic, does not need to breathe, cannot enter water or other liquid, can be affected by winds, and requires a DC 15 Spot Check to discern from natural mist.

Engulf (Ex): A boneless tries to engulf its prey as a standard action. It cannot make a touch attack during a round in which it engulfs. The boneless merely has to move over the opponents, affecting as many as it can cover. Opponents can make opportunity attacks against the boneless, but if they do so they are not entitled to a saving throw. Those who do not attempt opportunity attacks must succeed on a DC 16 Reflex save or be engulfed; on a success, they are assumed to have leapt aside as the boneless moves forward. Engulfed creatures must roll to resist its ability score drain every round they remain engulfed, and automatically loose 1 point of temporary Constitution every round even on a success. A creature engulfed by a boneless can only escape by taking a full round action and succeeding on a DC 16 Reflex save. The saving throws are Constitution-based.

Constitution Damage (Su): The touch of a boneless deals 1d6 points of Constitution damage.

Vulnerable to Fire and Sunlight (Ex): Fire forces the boneless to make a Will save or flee. The DC of the save depends on the amount of fire it encounters (a single torch would have a DC of 10, several torches 15, and a raging bonfire 20). Direct sunlight kills a boneless instantly. The spell daylight deals 2d6 damage to a boneless, and fire-based spells that inflict damage do double damage to them.

[Olly]

I'm amazed I never saw this thread sooner! I've always wanted stats for one o' these! I played one in an amateur production of Alan Garner's 'The Moon Of Gomrath'!

Just one thing, though. I'd probably call it by it's other name, 'the brollachan', because Denizens of Dread already has a creature called 'the boneless'.

[Lady Ligeia]

Brollachan is fine as well.

[Lady Ligeia]

I will soon post by version of the Avanc, from folklore.

This would be a good thread for classic monsters of Victorian literature as well as actual folklore .

Ideas include ... the Martians from War of the Worlds ... a *real* Hound of the Baskervilles ... Moby Dick ... a giant squid ala 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ... talking ravens and eerie black cats ... the animal-men of Dr. Moreau ... Mister Hyde ...

[Joël of the FoS]

I will begin with a creature from British folklore, the Boneless.
(...)
--From An Encyclopedia of Fairies, Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures by Katherine Briggs

This is truely a great book!

Which edition do you have? Mine is 1979 and I do not have a "boneless" entry. Unless it is under another name?

Joël

[Lady Ligeia]

It might be under BROLLACHAN.

There is a similer entry in my book for a creature called simpy IT. It's not like a living mist ... the description is more like a semi-corporeal sheep dog.

I will check my book when I get home. I know it's not nearly as old an edition as 1979.


Edit: I stand corrected! My book says 1976. I found the entry for the Boneless on page 33 of my book.

[Lady Ligeia]

AVANC
Large Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 3d10+12 (28 hp)
Initiative: +1
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), swim 40 ft.
Armor Class: 25 (−1 size, +1 Dex, +15 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 24
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+11
Attack: Claw +6 melee (1d6+6)
Full Attack: 2 claws +6 melee (1d6+6)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Create whirlpool
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 15/magic or out of the water
Saves: Fort +7, Ref +4, Will +2
Abilities: Str 18, Dex 13, Con 19, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 12
Skills: Hide +1*, Listen +7, Spot +7, Swim +12*
Feats: Alertness
Environment: Any aquatic
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 3
Treasure: half standard
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Advancement: 4-6 HD (Large) or 7-12 HD (Huge)
Level Adjustment: —

This malevolent water beast resembles a huge river otter. Its powerful body is covered with wiry, oily, black fur and its large round eyes seem to glow with a savage malevolence. The creature’s wide paws are tipped in fierce claws, and they are webbed to allow it to move swiftly through the water.

Avancs live in rivers, usually near a ford or bridge or ferry where land creatures cross. Using its powerful claws, an avanc hollows out a deep pool near the crossing, from which it watches and waits for a meal. Avancs are meat eaters, and have found the flesh of humans to be quite a delicacy. An avanc is capable of creating a whirlpool powerful enough to overturn boats and drown swimmers. At crossings too shallow to create a whirlpool an avanc instead lurks in its pool, lunging forward to attack with its claws.

Combat
While in the water, an avanc is nearly immune to all weapons. While in the water, an avanc usually relies only on its whirlpool unless it is attacked directly. If it is somehow coaxed or pulled from the water an avanc loses its Damage reduction and attempts to immediately return to the water. On land, an avanc attacks with its powerful claws.

Create Whirlpool (Su): 1/day — whirlwind. This ability is as the spell cast by an 8th level druid (Reflex save DC 15 to avoid), except that it takes the form of a whirlpool and the avanc can only use it while in water at least 2 feet deep. Any opponent that fails its initial Reflex save is subject to drowning (see the DMG). The saving throw is Constitution-based.

Skills: An avanc has a +8 racial bonus on Swim checks to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight line. An avanc has a +8 racial bonus on Hide checks when in the water.

[Joël of the FoS]

It might be under BROLLACHAN.

There is a similer entry in my book for a creature called simpy IT. It's not like a living mist ... the description is more like a semi-corporeal sheep dog.

I will check my book when I get home. I know it's not nearly as old an edition as 1979.

Edit: I stand corrected! My book says 1976. I found the entry for the Boneless on page 33 of my book.

Well unfortunately Boneless (no IT either) was removed in the '79 edition

Joël

[Lady Ligeia]

Strange that those entries would be removed ... is there anything for Brollachan?