Notes	-	-	-	Appendix
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons	Dragon magazine	-	Monsters	The Dragon #86

From the notes of the wizard Aluthandee:

It is called by such names as "The INVISIBLE
Death" or "The Creature That Follows
The Doomed," and other fanciful phrases
that suggest a thing of claws, fangs, and
scaly limbs. When referred to by its mundane
name, the Slithering Tracker is not
nearly so imposing -- and, indeed, it is not
a vicious-looking creature, when it can be
seen at all.

Close examination of the beast reveals it
to be rather like a giant tadpole in appearance.
Its transparent, semi-fluid jellylike
body is customarily shaped into a blob with
a long, sinuous tail. The body is amorphous,
enabling it to pass through small
gaps and holes, but it prefers to assume its
tadpolelike form whenever possible.

Almost invisible and quite intelligent
(especially for a slimelike creature), the
tracker will lie in wait for prey in an advantageous
location, such as in a cozy, apparently
safe sleeping cavern, or at the bottom
of a pit trap. It can grip and travel upon
walls and ceilings and apparently can drop
any reasonable distance without harm
because of its form. When it moves, a
tracker is almost silent except for the faint
slither of its tail. footnote 1 The creature exudes a
very faint, sweet, "earthy" body smell,
detectable only from inches away. The
subtlety of its smell, sounds of movement,
and appearance are such that it is virtually
undetectable in the dimly lit subterranean
areas it inhabits. footnote 2

A tracker feeds by first paralyzing an
opponent with a fluid produced by its body
cells, forcing this liquid into the victim
through the pores of its skin, and then using
a second fluid to actually erode the hide or
skin of its victim, so that the creature can
absorb the plasma from the victim's blood.
Both the paralyzing substance and the fluid
which effects the draining of the victim are
produced automatically within the creature
's body from any meal the creature
consumes, the remainder of its fare being
converted to energy for bodily activity, and
sometimes being used to make itself
stronger or larger. I know of no alchemists
who can duplicate either of the tracker's
fluids in the laboratory, but they eagerly
make use of the former as an ingredient in
the inks for the scribing of the paralyzation,
hold person, and slow spells. Assassins, and
alchemists in their employ, prize the skineating
substance for use in the manufacture
of caustic poison mixtures. These substances
are present in each and every cell of
the creature, and not collected in specific
areas or organs; however, they do readily
settle and separate one from the other if a
trapper's fluids are collected.

Trackers seem to prefer dwarves, humans,
and giants as prey, in that order, over
other creatures, presumably because of the
physical make-up of their plasma.footnote 3.

A tracker reproduces by budding. When
specimens of full size gain further substance,
they form excess body cells and
place these in a pseudopod. All excess food
(unless the parent creature is injured and
reabsorbs these needed cells to maintain
itself) is converted into more cells for this
"bud." Such cells differentiate, and the
pseudopod takes on the form of a second,
miniature tracker joined to the first. When
this is of sufficient size, the tracker produces
brain-function cells for it, and these are
passed into the "baby," which acquires
limited sentience and begins to gain some
control over its own form and actions.
When it has mastered its form and gained
strength, the parent tracker shakes free of it,
and, after the initial shock of sudden, total
self-control and loneliness, it will go its own
way. footnote 4

Trackers are solitary, never merge with or
fight other trackers, and inhabit a specific
"territory" or range that they come to know
very well, patrolling it regularly and recognizing
instantly when some feature of it has
changed. The tracker tolerates scavenger
creatures who remove the bodies of its
victims, but before abandoning a body it
attempts to retain loose objects that might
be recognized as treasure, so as to lure more
prey in the future. A tracker lair is typically
a tiny, irregular cavern too small for an
attacker to effectively harm its occupant,
located at the intersection of beckoning
trails of treasure. A tracker can "burrow
under" loose objects and carry them along
for a distance before depositing them elsewhere,
and in certain circumstances might
lie dormant with treasure spread on top of
itself.

A tracker's brain cells are located in
various areas of its amorphous body; it has
no special, vulnerable area. It can re-form if
its bulk is separated in battle or misadventure,
flowing together, or its various pieces
attacking in combination, "like fingers of a
closing hand," as the fighter Nerouth once
put it. Such disembodied pieces will never
voluntarily go off to seek their own territories;
although they can survive permanently
if of sufficient size, they will first seek to reform
once more into the full creature.

A tracker has apparently keen senses, footnote 5
and once tracking intended prey by scent,
will leave its territory and travel several
miles, by dint of tenacity and perseverance
in pursuit. It can think logically enough to
deduce the probable destination of a target
if the trail is wiped out by running water,
heavy rain, or other means, but will not
pursue if a large body of water intervenes,
or if its quarry takes to the air.

Trackers seem to have a marked aversion
to large bodies of water, but why this is so
and precisely what effects water may have 
on them are matters unknown to this
chronicler. Some sages (Vaelenbras of Waterdeep,
for one) believe that trackers instinctively
fear strong currents and coastal
tides and breakers, which may have the
power to tear apart and forever scatter their
jellylike bodies, while others (notably Jarriven
of Koss) assert that it is simple prudence:
unlike those of the jellyfish, a
tracker's fluid defenses may be weakened or
dissipated entirely by water, and in such
circumstances even small fish could readily
devour it. (None of the adventurers I have
spoken to will admit to success in neutralizing
the creature's paralyzing fluids with
water -- but then, neither have I ever heard
of a tracker being encountered, or attacking
an adventurer, when the adventurer was
immersed or swimming in water.)

A tracker will move into a heavily populated
area if it can find a place for a good
lair, where it believes it can remain undetected
if it wants to. In pursuit of plentiful
prey, it will leave its normal territory without
hesitation -- but will only do so in
pursuit of men or larger creatures, and only
out of starvation or desperation, not chasing
off after every animal that happens past.

Whether these creatures can hear, and if
so, understand speech, is a matter of great
and continuing debate among local sages
and naturalists. I suspect that they do hear,
in a limited way, but no unquestioned proof
has been set forth on either side of the debate.
Much yet remains to be learned about
this creature; my fragmentary researches
have led my colleagues to give the creature
yet another name -- the "Aluthander,"
after me -- and what little I have learned
can be set forth on these few pages.

Notes
1. A slithering tracker forms a tail to aid
it in rapid movement; the tail propels the
creature along with a snakelike gripping
and wriggling motion, at a rate of 12" per
round. It will also form a tail -- |or| 2
protrusions, at opposite ends of its body --
with which to anchor itself by wrapping
around objects, so that it can form a barrier
across a hole or a trail to stop and entrap
small animals. If it is not employing a tail, a
trapper can only "creep" like an ochre jelly,
at a rate of 3" per round. It will always
form a tail and move faster than 3" per
round when it is tracking prey; the tail will
"disappear" when the creature attaches
itself to a victim, or when the trapper is
stationary for longer than one round.

2. Under outdoor conditions, not brilliantly
sunlit, there is only a 5% chance of
detecting a slithering tracker by normal
visual means. This chance increases by
45% when the creature is on clear sand or
stone of a solid color under bright sunlight.
(Subtract 5% or 10% if the undersurface is
mottled in hue or appearance, and further
5% increments as the light grows fainter or
more diffused by overhead foliage, and for
other conditions that inhibit full normal
visibility.) A tracker is thus, at best, only
detectable on a 50% chance -- under
optimum conditions -- to anyone not having
a means of detecting or contacting an
animal mentality<mentally?>, or the ability to detect
invisible (in this case, transparent) objects
or creatures. No tracker will voluntarily put
itself in such optimum conditions -- few
will even venture outdoors at all, if they can
help it -- and the chance for detection is
usually much lower than the optimum 50%.
A trapper's body takes on the same temperature
as its surroundings; as such, the creature
is not detectable by infravision except
during one of its attacks, or for a period of
one turn (10 minutes) after it has drained
plasma from a victim.

3. A tracker requires 6 uninterrupted
turns to entirely drain a paralyzed victim. It
will not attempt its plasma-drain attack
against a conscious TARGET who makes a
SAVE vs. paralyzation and is thus
still mobile; in fact, it will NOT attempt to
make contact with conscious, mobile targets
of <hobbit>-size or larger unless it is starving <(WSG)>
and desperate. If this happens, a mobile
victim can easily and quickly (by pulling,
scraping, burning, etc.) break a tracker's
draining contact, leaving only a red, tender,
non-bleeding area where contact with the
tracker has resulted in the loss of skin layers.
This reddened area is usually no larger
than the circle described by an outstretched
hand, and this is roughly the amount of
exposed skin that must be available for the
tracker to attach itself. The slithering
tracker does not wrap itself around a victim,
except possibly to curl its body around a
patch of exposed skin on an arm, leg, or
face; and it does not attach itself along the
entire contacting surface of its body, even if
a large area of exposed skin (such as a bare
torso) is available. This is the main reason
why it can be detached with relative ease.

A tracker will always attack sleeping or
unconscious targets in preference to other
sorts. A victim who is sleeping normally
(not under a magical effect) will awaken on 
the round when the tracker attaches itself,
whether or not the victim saves vs. paralyzation.
An unconscious victim will not
revive as a result of the tracker's attack,
unless the victim would have regained
consciousness anyway at some point during
the 6-turn time span of the plasma drain. A
victim who suffers the plasma drain will lose
one-sixth of its then-current total of hit
points at the end of every full turn following
the onset of the attack (round fractions up) ?
for 5 consecutive turns; assuming the
plasma drain continues uninterrupted. At
the end of the sixth turn, the victim loses all
remaining hit points down to zero. The
tracker will detach itself at this point, and if
unaided the victim will continue to lose hit
points at the rate of 1 per round thereafter
until one more turn has passed, at which
point the victim (assuming a character or
other humanoid) is dead.

The creature can always tell whether or
not its paralyzation attack has succeeded,
and it will not attempt to begin draining the
plasma from an intended victim who makes
his saving throw; instead, it will move away
as rapidly as possible, trying to get out of
range of a sleeping target before it awakens.
The save vs. paralyzation -- which any
intended victim is entitled to -- represents
the chance that the intended victim has a
temporary immunity to the tracker's fluids,
because of the target body's present chemical
balance, and because of the target's
innate resistance to paralyzation attacks;
this natural resistance is stronger for those
of relatively high levels of experience or
large numbers of hit dice. A target that has
proven to be immune for the moment will
not have to save again during the same
engagement, and a tracker (unless desperate)
is not foolish enough to attack the same
victim twice in rapid succession. But if a
target is attacked twice by different trackers,
he must save twice to remain unaffected. A
second save is required against the same 
tracker if a target meets the creature more
than one day after the initial encounter.

4. "Full size" in this context means a
creature with 5 HD, or 23+ hit points. A
"baby" of 2 hit dice, or 9+ hit points, is of
sufficient size to acquire brain cells and
limited sentience. The production of a
pseudopod and specialized brain cells is
instinctive when the creature is under the
right conditions -- but only a full-sized
tracker of 5 HD can reproduce in this fashion.
A parent instinctively parts from its
pseudopod when the latter achieves 3 HD size, 
or 14+ hit points.

If a tracker is split into 2 or more
smaller portions, its disembodied pieces will
seek to re-form if possible, SEARCHING around
in a small AREA (about 12" diameter) for
their fellows. These disembodied pieces can
survive if of 2 HD (9+ hit points) or
more, but if less than 2 HD, they will
die in 12-31 (d20 + 11) turns from lack of a
sufficent number and balanced order of 
body cells. Such "doomed" fragments will
be ravenously hungry, instinctively seeking <(WSG)>
sources of plasma, and will attack all likely
targets encountered (conscious or not)
without caution -- for if they absorb
enough plasma, they may be able to grow to
a stable size and survive.

5. Trackers have no eyes as such, but
possess an infravisual sense that enables
them to locate warm-blooded bodies in a 6"
range. They are fairly keen receptors of
odor, able to home in on body scents from <(DSG)>
12" away with enough accuracy to discern
the general direction they must take to keep
on tracking their prey. They can sense even
faint vibrations up to 16? away, even something
as innocuous as the tapping of hard
boots (but not soft ones) on a stone floor.

Appendix
A. The standard body size for a slithering 
tracker is 2 1/2 feet, or (for smaller specimens) 
roughly 1/2 foot of length for every HD.
When at REST, the body is in a flattened
spherical shape; when in motion, it takes on
a teardrop shape, bulkier at the leading
edge. The tail which the tracker sends out
to aid it in movement is in addition to its
body length, tapering away from the direction
of movement for a length of 4 or 5 feet
in a full-grown specimen. The tracker cannot
make abrupt changes of direction while
in motion; to reverse its course, or even to
make a 90-degree turn, it must come to a
full stop for 1 round and then start off in
the new direction. When one is trapped |or|
cornered, it will make the best possible USE
of its natural defenses (transparency, body
flexibility, and near-silent movement) to
attempt an escape.

B. Even if a tracker is detected once, that
doesn't mean the creature will remain visible
indefinitely. It is easier to see when it is
moving (add +10% to +20% to the base
chance of detection, depending on lighting
and terrain), but still may be able to slip <(WSG)>
away from an attacker. It is very difficult to
keep track of a tracker long enough to kill it
with normal weapon blows, since several
different strikes over a span of several
rounds would be needed. One effective
tactic is to immobilize the creature with
hold monster or similar means, then successfully
detect it where it lies (if that is not
already known) and smash away. Of course,
the tracker's natural transparency can be
easily offset by dousing it with dye or covering
it with soot or dust; this will not suffocate
the creature or inhibit its movement,
but will certainly make it visible to anyone
within sighting range.

C. 2 events can cause a tracker to be
split apart in battle; in either case, a hit
from a slashing weapon (short sword or
larger) is required. If an attack roll is one
less than the minimum number needed to
score a hit, the tracker takes no damage but
is split into two creatures of identical size
and hit points. Or, if a hit succeeds and
does at least 6 points of damage, the creature
is split into two equal-sized pieces, each
with half of the remaining hit points (assign
odd hit points to one half or the other).
Example: A tracker of 5 hit dice, with 26 hit
points, is cleaved in half by a blow from a
longsword that does 8 points of damage.
The result is two smaller creatures with 9
hit points each, now effectively 2 HD monsters
(figuring 4½ hit points = 1 hit die).

Note that when a tracker is forming a
pseudopod, the entire body of the creature
may have more hit points (and, effectively,
more hit dice) than would otherwise be
normally possible. A 5 HD tracker with
maximum hit points (40) could form a
pseudopod and nurture that tracker-to-be,
until the "baby" acquires 14 or more hit
points, at which time it will separate from
the parent. In the meantime, the reproducing
tracker would be treated as a monster of
as many as 7 hit dice, with a possible maximum
of 53 hit points.

D. A tracker can gain new HP (or 
regain lost ones) by draining plasma from a 
victim, at the rate of 1 HP per TURN of 
draining. (The REST of the plasma is simply
used to enable the creature to "eat its fill"
and maintain normal bodily functions.)
Depending on its size (number of HD),
each tracker has a maximum number of HP it can attain.
This figure is determined
by rolling a die or dice every time
the tracker qualifies to grow into a larger
hit-dice category. The creature can then
absorb hit points from its plasma drain until
it attains that maximum figure. If a tracker
has taken damage, "plasma points" are first
applied to bring the creature back up to its
maximum number of hit points. When
there is no damage to be offset, these points
may be used (by a 5 HD creature) to begin
or accelerate the formation of a pseudopod,
feeding it until it acquires 14 hit points (3 x
4½, rounded up) and thereby qualifies as a
3 HD monster that can live on its own. Hit
points that cannot be applied for one of
these specific purposes are simply "wasted."

Example: A tracker pseudopod has just
reached 14 hit points and separated from its
parent. The DM rolls 3d8 to determine the
maximum number of hit points this creature
can attain as a 3 HD monster; if the
result is 14 or less, then the tracker is already
at its maximum strength and will
never grow any larger. If the dice roll is 15,
16, or 17, then that is the creature?s maximum
hit-point figure, and it can never be
more than a 3 HD monster. If the roll is in
the range of 18 to 22, the creature is able to
attain that many hit points and, upon doing
so, will qualify as a 4 HD monster. Upon
reaching 18 or more hit points, the tracker
is entitled to another d8 roll for additional
hit points, and if the total of all the rolls is
23 or more, the creature will eventually be
able to attain status as a full-sized 5 HD
monster. Finally, when it gets to 23 hit
points, it is entitled to one more d8 roll to
determine the absolute maximum number
of hit points it can attain. Note, again, that
only a 5 HD tracker has the ability to form
pseudopods and reproduce.

E. In general, the intensity of a tracker's
appetite depends on how many HP it
currently lacks to fill its needs. A wounded
creature, despite its condition, will be obsessed
with bringing itself back to full
strength -- and trackers do not regain lost
HP by resting. As stated in note 4
above, tracker fragments of less than 2 HD
will be ravenous, since they literally need
food to have a chance of surviving. A
tracker that is not wounded but has not yet
attained its maximum potential strength
(see the example in the preceding section)
will hunger to do so, and will leave its territory
in pursuit of prey. A creature currently
at its maximum strength will not be eager to
take chances, but won't turn away from a
meal. In any event, a tracker must consume
a full meal (one M-sized creature worth of
plasma, or more) once per month, or it will
lose hit points at the rate of 1 per day as its
body begins to atrophy. And the more hit
points it loses, the hungrier it gets. . . .
 

JUNE 1984