FREQUENCY: Very rare ([Cold Wilderness Mountains], [Cold Wilderness Swamp])
FREQUENCY: Very rare ([Temperate Wilderness Mountains], [Temperate Wilderness Swamp])
FREQUENCY: Very rare ([Tropical Wilderness Mountains], [Tropical Wilderness Swamp])
FREQUENCY: Very rare ([Dungeon Level III])

NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 10
MOVE: 3"
HIT DICE: 2
% IN LAIR: 20%
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3 ~ 16
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-4/1-4/1-4
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Strangle
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Illusions
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Average
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: M (7' tall)
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: III | 73 + 2

SAVES: 14.13.11.15.12 <f/i>

This tripedal hermaphrodite is 7' tall,
naked and hairless. <image: breasts? penis? vagina? a mistake in the FF?>
Its shape is human-like,
but there are significant deviations from human form.
The creature has three heads of which the outer two are featureless.
The middle head has three large,
deeply inset eyes,
two the front,
(above the nose as a human) and one to the rear;
it has ear-like organs on each side,
but no mouth.

From the body of the creature spring three arms;
the two at the shoulders are jointed in such a way that they can attack to the rear with equal facility as to the front of the body --
these are prehensile limbs with a 6" long spike at the end of each.
The third arm,
emerging centrally from the chest,
is like a human arm except that the hand has three strong fingers.
Of the creature's three legs,
the outer two are stumps and the central one has three unusually long and strong toes.

The tirapheg's mouth is located in its belly below the central arm;
this is for the sole purpose of eating,
the creature's favorite diet being decayed flesh.
Above the mouth are three 3" long tentacles which writhe continuously --
the function of these organs is unknown.

When this curious creature attacks to its rear the spikes will strike a victim at -2 on the 'to hit' roll because the single eye gives poor depth of vision.
A spike causes 1-4 hit points of damage if it hits.

When attacking to its front,
the creature strikes with both of the spikes,
though with no 'to hit' penalty;
if both spikes hit a victim,
the central arm will hit the same victim automatically,
requiring no 'to hit' roll,
grasping the victim's neck and strangling him for an additional 1-4 hit points of damage.

Normally the tirapheg will shy away from other creatures,
but its behaviour can be unpredictable and it has been known for a tirapheg to attack a party of adventurers with no apparent reason.

If the creature is cornered in melee,
with the fight going against it but a retreat impossible (it moves very slowly) it will project two illusions -- replicas of itself --
which it controls telepathically.
These illusions will fight as the original creature and will take no damage themselves,
though they will do damage to opponents if they are not recognised for what they are (treat as phantasmal force except that the illusions disappear only when the creature is killed or when its opponents retreat out of sight).
At the instant the illusions are created by the creature,
it has the ability to generate a split-second blinding flash of light (to cover the appearance of its illusions) which causes all creatures and persons within a 30' range to stand confused <link> for one melee round.
The tirapheg and its illusions can attack in the melee round in which the illusions are created.
 

    by Colin Reynolds