The Skyzorr’n are a race
of nomadic insectoid beings who
inhabit only desert areas
and badlands (“rough” terrain on the
encounter tables). They
generally travel in warrior bands, raiding
villages and wayfarers they
happen upon. They are not particularly
brave, however; they will
attack readily enough in large groups but
will usually retreat if
surprised or if the odds are against them.
Skyzorr’n will sometimes
use weapons in combat (50% chance),
and armed Skyzorr’n will
typically have:
| 01-05 | long sword | 5% (two 50% of the time) |
| 6-25 | scimitar | 20% (two 50% of the time) |
| 26-45 | military fork | 20% |
| 46-60 | 1-3 spears | 15% |
| 61-70 | sling | 10% |
| 71-85 | sling & scimitar | 15% |
| 86-00 | sling & military fork | 15% |
Otherwise, a Skyzorr’n will
attack with its four long arm/claw
appendages, getting one
to four attacks per round. In addition, if two
or more of these claws hit
a target in a given round, the Skyzorr’n will
have pulled its opponent
close enough to bite him with its mandibles, so it gets an additional attack
in that round. This bite does 2-5
points of damage and injects
a poison which causes a burning itch
(saving throw versus poison
must be made or the victim loses one
Strength point and one Dexterity
point for 2-8 turns).
Skyzorr’n have a + 1 chance
of surprising opponents (i.e., generally on a roll of 1-3) due to their
stealth and their ability to use
terrain to conceal themselves.
However, they can be surprised
normally, and they will
often flee when startled until they can fight
with an advantage (minus
20% morale when first surprised, will
always retreat temporarily
if morale failure occurs).
Skyzorr’n have a natural
immunity to all forms of paralysis
(except Hold spells) and
to 90% of all poisons. In addition, due to
their hard, shiny hides
and constant exposure to the elements, they
receive a bonus of +2 on
all saving throws against heat-based and
cold-based attacks. Their
shell-like hide also serves another purpose: all sharp and/or edged weapons
score only half damage
against these creatures.
However, blunt, crushing weapons (maces,
clubs, etc.) can crack the
shell, so they do an extra point of damage
when they hit (two points
extra if the weapon’s maximum damage
capability is greater than
eight points).
A Skyzorr’n lair is always
in the form of a hive community from
which the nomadic bands
originate (they bring all captured treasure
back to the hive eventually).
It is found underground 70% of the
time, or in the form of
one or two large dome-shaped buildings
otherwise, and the inside
will have a maze of very confusing corridors and rooms. Such a community
will have a minimum of 20
members, and the DM may
rule that the occasional one will have a
greater number of Skyzorr’n
than the Number appearing would
normally allow (up to about
50). Since the society is matriarchal
there will be, in addition
to the general populace, one queen who
rules over the entire hive
and three specially bred warriors who
guard the queen,
The queen will typically have 3 hit dice; however, she will be only
armor class 5, can move
only 3” per turn, and can make only one or
two attacks each round (normal
damage, including bite if both claws
hit). She will have the
following special abilities: Web as often as she
desires, Suggestion which
is in effect at all times, and Clairvoyance
which can be used up to
three times a day (all as per Magic-user
spells of the same name,
but Web is natural like a giant spider’s, and
no material components are
needed for any of these). In addition,
she can communicate telepathically
with all other Skyzorr’n of her
own hive within a one-mile
radius, though only the guards can reply
to her in this fashion.
The warrior guards are much
the same as typical Skyzorr’n, but
they have 3 hit dice, are
armor class 2, and may, due to the size of
their mandibles, bite every
round for 2-7 points of damage plus
regular poison. Note that
the guards—indeed, all Skyzorr’n in the
area—will fight berserkly
to protect the queen (+2 hit probability or
double the usual number
of attacks per round, excluding biting) until
they grow too weak to do
so (from 7-10 rounds), after which they will
continue to fight normally.
Finally, in any lair containing more than
25 Skyzorr’n, there will
also be 1-6 giant scorpions which are used as
guards and beasts of burden.
All Skyzorr’n have infravision
(though this does not make their
eyes too sensitive to light,
since they are constantly exposed to the
sun) and the ability to
speak with insects (this does not include
control of said insects,
however). Skyzorr’n speak their own language and are 60% (90% for queens)
likely to speak the common
tongue as well.
Description: A Skyzorr’n
looks rather like a large (6’) bipedal ant.
Its head is rather small
but with two large compound eyes and
fair-sized mandibles. No
ears, as such, are present, but three tiny,
usually well covered holes
on either side of the head allow it to hear.
The body is thin and stick-like,
but reasonably sturdy nevertheless. A
Skyzorr’n will usually have
four arm/claw appendages, with reasonably developed pincer-hands on the
two uppermost and daggerlike claws on the two lower ones, but some (5%)
will have fewer
limbs because they break
off relatively easily (growing back again in
1-4 months). Their shell-like
hides are typically tan or rust red in
color (usually the former)
and have a shiny look about them. Rare
Skyzorr’n (2%) have gold-colored
hides which are worth 1,000-
3,000 g.p. on the open market.
Their mandibles and claws are
usually ivory or very white,
and their eyes are sky blue or gray.
Guards will typically appear
much the same as normal Skyzorr’n,
but are bigger (6½-7’
tall) and almost always have shiny black hides
(valued at 200-400 g.p.
because two can be used to make a mansized suit of armor which is armor
class 3 but is otherwise like padded
armor).
Queens look rather like grotesque
and very bloated spiders with
ant-like heads, typically
being 6½-7½’ long. They walk on four legs
instead of two, so have
only two free limbs. They are always glossy
black in color, with bright
blue mandibles and eyes.
| Dragon | - | Monsters | - | Dragon 45 |
