Let’s Convert the Fiend Folio: Snyad and Son of Kyuss

Happy New Year!

It’s a new year, and we are still in the letter “S” of the Fiend Folio. In fact, it will take two more posts to finish this letter off! Today, we are converting the Snyad and the Son of Kyuss to Dungeon Crawl Classics.

Snyads are like those annoying creatures in early computer games which only exist to steal your stuff. As annoying as they might seem in this version, imagine how much worse they were when escaping with treasure was your primary means of gaining XP! I love the idea of smaller monsters living in tunnels around the major dungeon routes – including the idea of shrinking or becoming gaseous to follow them directly into their lairs! Of course, I cut my teeth on Holmes Basic, where the example dungeon includes rat tunnels you would be foolish indeed to enter.

Sons of Kyuss don’t really need much elaboration. These things are just possibly the most terrifying un-dead AD&D had which didn’t drain away your hard-earned levels. And while I may have reduced some parts of their original design (their fear aura is easier to cope with), I made other parts worse (their disease). Really, I hope that they have the same impact in this game as in the original.

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Snyad

Snyad: Init +6; Atk None; AC 24; HD 1d3; MV 50’; Act 2d16; SP Camouflage, move silently, theft; SV Fort -2, Ref +9, Will +0; AL C.

These creatures are small, but very fast and dexterous. They are no more than 6 inches high, and dwell in small passages and rooms adjoining dungeon corridors. The entrances to these tunnels are small and usually concealed behind piles of loose stone, making them difficult to detect (Intelligence DC 15). Snyads are The snyads are related to mites, and the two species will often cooperate, the mites laying traps while the snyads use their speed to best advantage.

Although snyads can move with great speed, they are completely silent – the creatures do not even have a spoken language audible to human or demi-human ears – and their camouflage allows them to hide with a +10 bonus in dungeon, cavern, or similar environments.

Snyads are not capable of making attacks. Their sole objective when interacting with larger creatures is to steal small items of treasure – gems, coins, pieces of jewelry, small weapons and the like, and they have a +1d14 bonus to picking pockets in order to accomplish these tasks. This means that the snyad rolls 1d16 (their Action Die) + 1d14 to pick pockets, granting their victims some small chance of reacting. A snyad’s normal method is to dart in, use one Action Die to steal some trinket, and then use its other Action Die to dart away. Of course, a helpless victim will be plundered mercilessly.

Snyads are sometimes called “pesties”, and it is easy to understand why.

 

Son of Kyuss

Son of Kyuss: Init +0; Atk Flailing blow +3 melee (1d8 plus disease); AC 10; HD 4d12; MV 20’; Act 1d20; SP Un-dead traits, fear aura, disease, worm infestation, regeneration 2 hp/round; SV Fort +5, Ref +0, Will +8; AL C.

Kyuss was an evil high priest of a vile god – some sages claim Nimlurun the Unclean , while others say Ahriman the Pestilent – who has been credited with the creation of these un-dead horrors. Fat green worms crawl in and out of every orifice of these animated cadavers, and it is said that the first of these worms dripped from the stinking avatar of the god itself, to spread these beings throughout the Lands We Know.

Sons of Kyuss, as these un-dead horrors are known, radiate an aura of fear within a 30’ radius. Any creature within this range must succeed in a DC 10 Will save or suffer a -1d penalty to all rolls for the next 1d6 rounds. A creature that has passed within this aura (whether the save succeeded or not) is thereafter immune to its effects for 24 hours.

When a son successfully attacks a target, the target must succeed in a DC 5 Fort save or contract a form of advanced leprosy. This disease causes 1 point of permanent Strength, Stamina, and Agility damage each week, and a permanent loss of 2 Personality each month. When any of these abilities reach 0, the disease is fatal. More, the disease negates all magical healing unless it is cured first, and infected creatures heal wounds at 10% of their normal rate, so that a creature which normally heals 1 hp damage per day instead heals only 1 hp every 10 days. A cleric can cure this disease with a Lay on Hands check sufficient to heal 2 HD, but must also save each time this is attempted or become infected themselves.

Worse, each round one worm jumps from a son of Kyuss to a character in melee combat with it, making a melee attack roll with a +3 bonus. If it hits, it burrows into the target’s skin over the next round (during which it can be destroyed by the touch of cold steel, holy water, a holy symbol, or some other blessed object; this requires no roll, but does use an Action Die). If allowed to burrow under the victim’s skin, the worm seeks the target’s brain, taking 1d4 rounds to succeed. Magic sufficient to remove curses or cure diseases can slay the worm during this time, and magic that neutralizes poison or protects from evil will delay the worm for 1d6 turns or until its expiry (as determined by the judge). If the worm reaches the brain, the victim becomes a son of Kyuss, the process of putrefaction taking 1d4 turns to complete.

Sons of Kyuss regenerate 2 hp per round. This will allow severed limbs to regenerate, and even bring the creature back from 0 hp if it is not destroyed by fire, electricity, or acid. Holy water poured on a defeated son has a 75% chance of preventing it from rising again, and wounds causes by holy objects do not regenerate.