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FREQUENCY: Rare
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 6
MOVE: 16?
HIT DICE: 4 + 4
% IN LAIR: 20%
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2 claws and 1 bite
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-6/1-6/1-8
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Poison resistance;
spell turning
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Average
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: L (up to 9? long)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
LEVEL/X.P VALUE: III/130 + 5/hp
The bhaergala, or "gunniwolf," is a large
predator encountered in heavily wooded
areas from tropical to temperate
climts. It is
most common in jungles where the undergrowth
is dense, for it uses the heavy cover
to conceal itself from prey. It food is known
to include sylvan elves, satyrs, and man.
A bhaergala can accurately mimic the
speech and song of men and elves, and will
often use this faculty to lure prey. Most
bhaergalas can speak Common, and all of
them Love song. A bhaergala can be lulled
to sleep by good singing. If one feels safe
from attack, it may request a song from any
men or elves it meets. Storiies are told of the
bard Mintiper, who befriended a bhaergala
that became his traveling companion, but
some say that these tales are pure fancy.
Anyone encountering a bhaergala has a
25% chance of singing the beast into slumber,
+5% if alone, +5% per point of charisma
over 16, and +15% if a trained or
practicing singer (all bonuses cumulative).
This chance drops to 0% if the bhaergala
feels threatened, has been attacked or injured
recently, or is hungry. A bhaergala
naps for 1-10 rounds, never sleeping for
long. If it finds a singer gone upon awakening,
it will usually give chase.
A bhaergala is solitary, seeking others
only to mate. It is a savage fighter, raking
with powerful foreclaws and biting mouthfuls
of flesh from opponents with its jaws,
dropping these to be consumed later. A
bhaergala tends to bite continuously until
its prey is dead.
A bhaergala stalks prey from downwind;
its fur has a faint but unmistakable odor,
often described by adventurers as akin to
that of fresh-baked bread or biscuits. It is
agile and can spring or fall up to 7? vertically
without harm, landing upright as a cat
does. In greater falls, a bhaergala will sustain
1d6 damage for every 1? over 7? fallen,
but it will often pounce on fleet prey from
great heights, hoping to stun or cripple it.
Upon impact, a leaping bhaergala?s claws
both do maximum damage if they strike.
A bhaergala feels little pain or fear, an
will flee or break off combat only when it
feels further battle will be useless or dangerous.
The great constitution of a bhaergala
allows it to regenerate 2 hp of damage suffered
per day, and allows it +3 on saving
throws versus poison and a 99% system
shock score. Further, a bhaergala can consciously
turn spells directed against it (as a
ring of spell turning) up to 4 times per day.
This is a power under its control and not an
involuntary or automatic reaction. A
bhaergala has standard magic resistance to
spells that are not turned.
Young bhaergalas have the speed and
powers of their parents, but have only 2+2
HD and do only half damage. Beasts of
both sexes are externally identical, and a
mated pair remains together only until the
young have made their own first kills.
Bhaergalas usually sleep on tree boughs or
in thickets; their lairs are seldom-visited
places of refuge and also act as storehouses
of treasure (musical instruments and noisemakers
taken from corpses or in raids on
caravans or villages). Such lairs are always
well hidden, usually in caves or ruins.
| Dragon magazine | MM | - | Dragon #94 | 1st Edition AD&D |