FREQUENCY: Rare
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 4/6/8
MOVE: 9”
HIT DICE: 77-84 hit
points
% IN LAIR: 40%
TREASURE TYPE: See
below
NO. OF ATTACKS: 10
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-8
SPECIAL ATTACKS:
Blood drain, ram
SPECIAL DEFENSES:
Regeneration
MAGIC RESISTANCE:
Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Average
to high
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
evil
SIZE: L (6’ dia.)
PSIONIC ABILITY:
Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
The bleeder is a fearsome
monster
found in caverns
or ruins. Its spherical
body resembles that
of the dreaded beholder, but the “eyestalks”
of the bleeder
are actually bloodsucking
tentacles.
Bleeders favor a diet
of humans and
horses, but will
attack anything having
blood (including
such things as bloated
stirges).
In the bleeder’s digestive
process,
blood is used to
generate energy which
is stored within
organs in the body and
tentacles (1 hp worth
of ingested blood
becoming 1 charge).
The creature uses
this energy for motor
activity and healing. The transformation from blood to
energy takes 1 round.
A bleeder expends
1 charge every 2
turns in motor activity
(and thus is al
most always hunting
prey). Spending 1
charge enables the
bleeder to heal 1 hit
point of damage to
each of its 10 tentacles and 1 point of damage to its central
body (but not its
eye). The healing ability
can be used once
per round, and the
creature can attack
as usual while the
regeneration is going
on.
Bleeders prefer to
float above surfaces
rather than resting
upon them, and move
by means of Levitation.
(An organ located in the upper half of the rubbery,
spherical central
body is a valued ingredient in magical potions and inks concerned with
levitation and similar acts.)
A bleeder may, however,
“shut itself
down,” remaining
motionless and insensitive on the ground, and in that state
remain alive for
long periods. To awaken
from this hibernation,
the creature requires an influx of electrical energy, or a
physical shock caused
by a fall, blow,
wound, or heat.
The bleeder’s 10 tentacles
are retracted into the body when not needed (resembling eyestalks up to
4 feet in length),
but can lash out
to a full stretch of 20 feet
with blinding speed.
All 10 tentacles may
act separately, or
they may strike a single human-sized target in concert. The
initial strike of
a tentacle causes 1-8
points of damage
as the barbed tip attaches to the victim. Sucking orifices
within the barbs
will drain blood at the
rate of 2 hp per
round (per tentacle),
beginning on the
round after the hit was
made.
If a tentacle attached
to a victim is
damaged but not destroyed
by any single blow, it will instantly and automatically drain from the
victim’s body sufficient blood (in hit points) to restore itself. Note
that this reflex effect occurs
after every non-killing
hit, even if the ten
tacle absorbs more
than one wound in a
round. This instinct
does not respond to
damage suffered by
the central body or
other tentacles.
A tentacle will continue
to drain blood if
it is doing so when the
central body reaches
zero hit points.
Tentacles not attached
to a victim at that
time are incapable
of further activity.
A tentacle will remain
imbedded in a
victim until the
bleeder retracts it, or until
it is torn free by
the victim and/or comrades exerting a total strength of 22. A
victim freed from
the tentacles forcefully
will suffer 1-6 points
of damage per tentacle as the barbs come loose. A bleeder
will voluntarily
retract a tentacle only
when its victim is
reduced to zero hit
points, or when its
central body is down
to 5 hit points or
less (30% chance, check
each round when applicable).
Bleeders have been
known to ram or
crush opponents with
their bulk. This attack does 1-8 points of damage, and is
often made purposefully
while the body
is turning and its
tentacles flailing, so
that victims are
dislodged from ledges
and precarious positions.
The creature’s
tentacles each have
6 hit points and are
armor class 6. The
central body has a
hard, rubbery skin
and is AC 4. It has
11-18 hit points,
and bears a large eye
(AC 8, 6 hp, 12”
infravision). If its eye is
destroyed, a bleeder
may still locate opponents within 1” by smell and sensing
vibrations.
Bleeders often meet
in mid-air struggles to the death. The loser’s body is left
to become the breeding
ground for offspring. The central body is covered with
a fluid secreted
by the victor, and within
1 day, from 1-4 young
are “hatched.”
Each offspring is
50% as powerful as an
adult in all respects,
and matures in one
month.
| Dragon | - | Monsters | - | Dragon #59 |