Created by Jon Mattson
FREQUENCY: Rare
NUMBER APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 5 (2)
MOVE: 6” (24”)
HIT DICE: 5 + 1
% IN LAIR: 90%
TREASURE TYPE: See below
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1 or 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-8 or 1-3
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Sting;
Surprise on 1-5
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Animal
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: M (6 1/2’ long)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
MONSTER LEVEL: VI
EXPERIENCE VALUE:
400 + 6/hit point
Sandbats are manta
ray-like creatures found only in desert
regions,
large seashores, and other sandy areas.
A sandbat will lie buried just
beneath the sand with only its raised,
frog-like eyes sticking out until
someone walks within 10 to 20 feet of it.
Then the creature will
strike suddenly, shooting up out of the
sand (spraying grit in its
victim’s eyes 20% of the time, thus blinding
him for 1-2 melee rounds)
and surprising opponents on 1-5 on a six-sided
die.
Though these beasts can glide only 6” per
turn normally (and then
only for short distances), they travel
at up to 24” per turn when first
striking (and so are ACs 2 instead of 5
on the first round). In
fact; they move-so quickly and silently
that only a person with
Dexterity of 17 or 18 has even a small chance of ducking out of their way
even If he is not surprised (25% chance
with Dexterity of 17; 40%
with Dexterity of 18). If the person is
surprised, the creature will attack
him with 1 free round, and the victim gets
no Dexterity defense
bonus on that round.
A sandbat will always bite for 2-8 points
of damage when it 1st
strikes, but thereafter there is a 50%
chance each round that it will use
the stinger on the. end of its snaky tail
instead. This sting does 1-3
points of damage when it hits, and will
paralyze the opponent on the
next round if he does not make his SAVE
vs paralyzation.
This paralysis lasts for 30 rounds minus
the victim’s Constitution
score, In addition, the victim will lose
4 strength points when the
paralysis wears off, gained back at a rate
of 1 per turn thereafter. Once
the sandbat has paralyzed 1 opponent, it
will attempt to drag him
into its lair under the sand to devour
him (it must score a hit with its
mouth to do so, but it will only use its
mouth on an already-paralyzed
opponent and it receives +4 hit probability
to hit such a victim, in
addition to the loss of the victim’s Dexterity
defense bonus). Only a
direct, damaging hit on the creature will
prevent it from dragging off a
victim, and it will usually (70%) ignore
attackers in its attempt to drag
off the victim.
If hard pressed (down to 5 or fewer HP or
greatly outnumbered),
a sandbat will attempt to escape by diving into the sand
and blowing up a thick cloud of grit behind
it (effectively blinding
would-be chasers for 1-6 rounds).
A sandbat will typically have only types
J and K treasure scattered
about its lair under the sand (from previous
victims) with a slight
chance (15%) of having a larger hoard (types
L, M, and Q added).
However, its stomach or gizzard will often
(70%) contain 1-6 gems
(which it uses to help digest its food).
Description: As mentioned previously,
sandbats look rather like
large, khaki-colored manta
rays, with jutting eyes like those of a frog
and huge maws full of dagger-like
teeth. They have flexible skin
“wings” and long, whip-like tails with
scorpion-type stingers.
Swampbats are distantly related to sandbats,
and, as such, have
many of the same attributes. However, swampbats
(as their name implies)
live principally in dark, marshy areas where
they float on the
surface of the water, looking rather like
large plants (lily pads), until
someone gets close enough for them to strike,
when they will lash out
as does a sandbat. Though these creatures
do not have stingers like
their cousins, their maws are larger and
are lined with hundreds of
tiny, needle-like teeth (rather like that
of a leech). When a swampbat
scores a hit, it injects a poison into
the victim which will anesthetize
him for 1-4 normal turns unless he makes
his SAVE vs paralyzation,
in addition to doing the usual 2-8 points
of damage. The bat
will then cling to its victim with hook-like
fangs and drain his blood at a
rate of 5 points per round, up to a maximum
amount equalling the
creature’s original HP or until the victim
is killed.
Of course, swampbats cannot spray sand
behind them as do sandbats,
but they can dive underwater if hard pressed (they have gills),
and can swim at 9” per turn. They can glide,
as do sandbats, at 6” per
turn (24” on the 1st striking round), but
only for a maximum of 2
turns.
Swampbats do not have any lair treasure
except type Q (20% of
the time), which will be hidden under nearby
rocks (underwater) for
storage, but they have the usual sandbat
treasure in their gizzards.
Except for the information noted here and
for the fact that 1-4
swampbats will be in any given AREA,
these creatures are treated exactly like sandbats.
Description: Swampbats appear much
the same as sandbats but are
dark green in color
with pale green and blue
splotches. They have no
stingers on the end of their snaky tails,
but their maws are round and
full of hundreds of tiny,
needle-like teeth.
NOTE: The referee may rule that anyone who
is near a swampbat
or sandbat (but not close enough for it
to strike) has a 10% chance per
turn of noticing its eyes (double this
if SEARCHING). This chance is increased by 10% at night or in darkness
because the eyes glow
(though it will be harder to tell what
they are).
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