Bulette (Landshark)

BULETTE (boo-lay)
    (Landshark)<>
    (Plural: Bulette)
    (Males are males, females are females, maybe sows)
    (Hatchlings are hatchlings)
    (A group of bulette is a dread of bulette)
    (Source: The Curmudgeon in the Cellar 2.0.3)

FREQUENCY: Very rare ([Temperate Civilized Hills], [Temperate Civilized Forest], [Temperate Civilized Plains], [Temperate Civilized Desert])
FREQUENCY: Very rare ([Temperate Wilderness Hills], [Temperate Wilderness Forest], [Temperate Wilderness Plains], [Temperate Wilderness Desert])
<Lonely Moor?>
<x + near border with Forgotten Forest>

NO. APPEARING: 1-2 (70% chance for 1, 30% chance for 2) <?>
ARMOR CLASS: -2/4/6
MOVE: 14" (3")
HIT DICE: 9
% IN LAIR: Nil
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3 ~ 12
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 4-48/3-18/3-18
SPECIAL ATTACKS: 8' jump
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
INTELLIGENCE: Animal
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: L (9½' tall, 12'+ long)
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: VII | 2300 + 12

SAVES: 8.9.10.9.11

The bulette (or landshark) was thought to be extinct until recently when this horror reappeared.
It was the result of a mad wizard's experimental cross breeding of a snapping turtle and armadillo with infusions of demons' ichor.
They range temperate climates feeding an horses, men, and most other flesh --
although they dislike dwarf and shun elf of any sort.
They love halfling and will hungrily dig them from their burrows.
The stupid bulette is irascible and always hungry, and they fear nothing, so a bulette will attack a large,
powerful party just to eat a horse or two.
Sometimes the crest of a burrowing landshark will break the ground -- thus the name "landshark."
When fighting they usually employ their front feet and gaping maw,
but when cornered or seriously wounded they can jump up to 8' in the air with blinding speed and strike with all four feet
(3-18 points damage for each of the rear feet as well).
The shell under the bulette's crest, an area about a foot and one-half square, is only AC 6, and in a fierce fight the monster tends to raise its crest and expose this vulnerable area.
Its eyes are armor class 4, but they are relatively small (8 <inch> oval).

The bulette is solitary.
Only a mated pair will share the same territory.
No young have ever been seen, but smaller (as few as 6 hit dice) specimens have been killed.
No one is certain how or where the young are born or hatched.
Very large bulette have been reported, one being no less than 11 hit dice and over 11' tall at the shoulder.
The great plates behind the bulette's head are highly prized for use in shield making,
for a skilled dwarven craftsman can fashion them into a shield of +1 to +3 value.

Description: Typical specimens have blue-brown heads and hind portions,
with plates and scales of gray-blue to blue-green. Nails and teeth are dull
ivory. The area around the eyes is brown-black, the eyeballs are
yellowish, and the pupils of the eyes are dark-green.

by Tim Kask

AFAIK the monster figures were imaginary creatures...e,g. the ones we named bulette, owl bear and rust monster.

Cheerio,
Gary

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tav_Behemoth
1) Can you confirm that the bulette and rust monster were originally a plastic toy that you created a creature around in order to use it on the miniatures table?

That is so, but the name and stats were created by Tim Kask, then editor of Dragon Magazine.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lanefan
As you're being so kind as to answer these questions, may I present one a little bit from left field, in hopes it hasn't been asked and answered a hundred times before:

It regards a rumour I've heard about the inspiration behind the Bulette, from MMI. Back in the day when we were all kids, there was a series of small plastic toy dinosaurs etc., some of which didn't entirely look like dinosaurs at all...and one of which, rumour has it, was the inspiration behind the Bulette. True, or not true?

Lanefan

Hi Lanefan,

As noted by Philotomy Jurament,
there was a set of plstic toys laughlingly labled as dinosaurs IIRR.
I frequented the local dime stores back in the late 60s and early 70s searching for toys that would suit tabletop fantasy gaming.
The said bag contained three we incorporated--the bulette, the owl bear, and the rust monster.
Scale was a bit of a problem, but when improvised figurines are all that one has, the players were quite willing to make do

Cheers,
Gary