Alternate Yeti for DCC

You will find one version of the yeti in Michael Curtis' excellent (and highly recommended) Frozen in Time.  And, while this is a good version of the creatures, as with Appendix N fiction, there is always enough space for another take on the same basic theme.  This version of the yeti was what I had written for RCFG, rewritten slightly to make use of the Dungeon Crawl Classics ruleset.

Yeti by Wanida, W., shared under Creative Commons 3.0

Yeti are large, ape-like monstrous humanoids dwelling in the cold, high regions of the world.  Their fur is a dirty white, and their eyes blaze with reddish or yellowish light.  They are often described as smelling faintly like skunk spray. 

Yeti are believed to be shy and secretive, avoiding encounters with intelligent creatures more often than attacking.  As a result, yeti tracks are seen more often than the creatures themselves.  However, reports claim that yeti sometimes trail folk travelling the high passes, learning what they can about them.  Sometimes, this results in an attack, and when a yeti chooses to attack, its attack can be devastating.

A yeti attacks with claws and fangs.  Its weird, ululating cry can freeze opponents in terror, as can its malevolent gaze.  A yeti can use its cry with an Action Die, or its gaze against a single opponent as part of a move or attack, once per round.  Those who hear the cry or meet the gaze must make a save (Will DC 10) or be stunned for 1d6 rounds, and unable to take any action.  In addition, the yeti’s body radiates intense cold, so that any creature engaged in close melee combat with a yeti takes 1d6 points of cold damage each round (Fort DC 15 for half).

A yeti that hits with both its claw attacks can rend for an additional 2d8 damage.

Yeti sometimes lead bands of white ape-men (see the core rulebook, p. 395).  They may keep shiny objects, but the remainder of their treasure is usually found in some hidden area where they store the remains of their victims.  For some reason, yeti are attracted to holy relics and clerical scrolls, and hoard the writings of mountain priests.  There are rumours that yeti with dark fur roam some isolated temperate forests, occasionally terrorizing the inhabitants of remote settlements, hunting cabins, and logging camps.

Tactics

Yeti will attack lone travellers without reservation, but may observe a group for many days prior to making any attack.  They observe from a distance, using stealth.  There is a 20% chance that a yeti will use its cry, observing the effect on travellers (and avoiding those who seem to easily resist repeated attempts); there is a 10% chance each time that a distant yeti will return the cry (with the same effects).  If a yeti observes a group already engaged in a dangerous encounter, it is 75% likely to use its cry.

When an actual attack is made, the yeti chooses some location that allows it to get close without being observed.  The yeti then uses its cry, charges, grapples a random character, and carries him off (the victim is subject to the yeti’s gaze and cold aura).  The yeti will choose an ice or rock crevice if possible, so that pursuing creatures must use a hazardous route to overtake it.  The yeti is 50% likely to have piled rocks atop the crevice to drop on pursuers (2d4 rocks, causing 2d10 damage each).  It is 25% likely to use its cry, possibly causing stunned climbers to fall to their deaths.

Yeti prefer intelligent victims to unintelligent ones, and thus always choose humans and their close kin over pack animals.

Once the yeti has secured a victim, it will tear it limb from limb, consuming the victim over a period of several hours.  Thereafter, the yeti will plan one ambush attack every 24 hours (60% at night, 25% during daylight hours, and 15% either at dawn or dusk) to renew its food supply.  This will continue until the yeti is slain, or until the group escapes its territory.  Worse, there is a cumulative 5% chance ever 24 hours that an additional yeti will begin making raids on the group.

Yeti:  Init +2; Atk claw +7 melee (1d8+3) or bite +5 melee (1d5+4); AC 14; HD 10d8; MV 40' or climb 30'; Act 2d20; SP rend for 2d8, stunning cry or gaze (1d6 rounds, Will DC 10), radiate cold (1d6, Fort DC 15 for half); SV Fort +8; Ref +6; Will +10; AL C.

Public Domain image from Wikimedia Commons, Panaramic View of Everest from the Kala Patthar, Fabien 1309