Let’s Convert the Fiend Folio: Thork, Throat Leech and Tiger Fly

We’re doing three entries today because the Throat Leech is not a monster in the traditional sense. It is far better treated as a hazard. The judge is encouraged to use caution when placing these things; choose bodies of water where they are found, and then choose the odds of drinking one with unfiltered water. The chance was 10% in the Fiend Folio. This may be too high for an area which will be revisited during a campaign…or too low if the encounter is unlikely to occur. I would suggest no more than 5% for a persistent location, but using Luck checks for special encounters. In a tropical environment, you might include throat leeches that seek out the unlucky, moving across the jungle floor to infiltrate sleeping victims. This would be a pretty nasty thing to do, but not so nasty that you should avoid doing it!

Thorks bring to mind the Stymphalian Birds of Greek legend, so I am going to provide some statistics for those as well. The Thork is a surprisingly good monster. It just wants you to keep your distance, or get away if you don’t take the hint.

Tiger Flies are yet another creature that wants to lay its eggs in you. It would be goofy were it not quite so horrific, and the larvae make a good, solid monster to find at the bottom of a pit. All in all, these were some pretty solid Fiend Folio entries, which should work well in your Dungeon Crawl Classics game.

If you feel like tipping, here is a way to do so.

 

Thork

Thork: Init +3; Atk Beak +0 melee (1d6) or jet of boiling water +4 ranged (3d4, 40’ range); AC 17; HD 1d6; MV 20’ or fly 40’; Act 1d20; SP Jet of boiling water; SV Fort +5, Ref +3, Will -2; AL N.

Thorks are large birds, about nine feet tall as adults, which are similar to storks. Their plumage is made of pure copper, and wisps of steam rise from the birds’ beaks. A thork can shoot a jet of boiling water up to 40’ away, ignoring all armor (but not shields or Agility modifiers). They have to spend an Action Die siphoning up water before they can use this ranged attack, although they are 90% likely to have water ready when encountered. Despite this strange ability, thorks do not radiate unusual heat themselves.

These creatures live on fish and amphibians, which they hunt for in marshes and bogs. They have no interest in adventurers, apart from defending themselves, seeking to escape any that are not warned off by the thorks’ initial attacks. Their feathers are valuable, though, and a single thork’s plumage can sell for as much as 1d12+10 gp for its metal value.

Stymphalian Bird: Init +4; Atk Beak +2 melee (1d6) or feathers (3d6, 30’ range, Reflexes DC 15 for half) or poisonous dung; AC 18; HD 2d6; MV 20’ or fly 40’; Act 1d20; SP Feathers (30’ range with a 10’ base, Reflexes DC 15 for half, 3/day), poisonous dung (1d4 damage plus Fort DC 12 or additional 4d4 damage); SV Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +0; AL C.

Altogether more horrid than thorks, these birds were the subject of the sixth labor of Hercules. They have bronze beaks and sharp metallic feathers which can be launched in a cone 30’ long with a 10’ base. Any creature caught in the cone suffers 3d6 damage (Reflex save DC 15 for half). A Stymphalian bird can only launch such an attack once every 1d3 rounds, up to 3 times per day.

Their dung is poisonous (1d4 damage and Fort DC 12 or additional 4d4 damage), and can be released in a 20’ x 20’ area when a flock of these birds flies overhead.

For the metal content of beak and feathers, each bird is worth 1d20+10 gp. The lure of wealth draws foolish hunters to try their luck in the marshes where these creatures dwell, and few ever return. Stymphalian birds are maneaters.

 

Throat Leech

These tiny leeches are at most about an inch long, and may be mistaken for nothing more than twigs or other detritus in slow-moving fresh water. Although some authorities claim they are common, the fields would be choked with dead livestock, and the forests with dead game, if this were true. A throat leech may be swallowed when drinking unfiltered water, where it fastens itself onto the soft flesh at the back of the victim's throat, becoming distended through sucking blood over the next 1d3 minutes.

After the first minute, there is a cumulative 1 in 30 chance that the leech will swell enough to begin asphyxiating its victim. Once it has swollen, the victim can hold their breath for ½ Stamina rounds (unless they took a large breath for some reason just prior to choking, such as if they were preparing to dive), taking 1d3 temporary Stamina damage each round thereafter, with death occurring at 0 Stamina. This temporary Stamina damage is recovered with one turn of unrestricted breathing.

After the initial 1d3 minutes of sucking blood are concluded, there is a 1 in 6 chance each round that the throat leech releases, to eventually pass unscathed through the victim’s digestive system. If a victim can survive long enough, therefore, they can survive because the throat leech itself removes the obstruction. Otherwise, unless some magical means to remove the creature presents itself, allies of the victim may attempt to pierce the bloated leech with a thin heated metal object such as a wire. Doing so required a DC 12 Agility check to avoid causing the victim 1d4 damage instead or removing the leech.

 

Tiger Fly

Male Tiger Fly: Init +2; Atk Scything blade +3 melee (1d6) or grasp +0 melee (0) or sting (1d8 plus venom); AC 16; HD 5d6; MV 20’ or fly 40’; Act 4d20; SP Grasp, sting, venom; SV Fort +3, Ref +5, Will +3; AL N.

Female Tiger Fly: Init +3; Atk Grasp +2 melee (0) or sting (1d6 plus venom); AC 16; HD 4d6; MV 20’ or fly 50’; Act 4d20; SP Grasp, sting, venom, inject eggs; SV Fort +2, Ref +7, Will +4; AL N.

Tiger Fly Larva: Init +0; Atk Bite +0 melee (2d4); AC 11; HD 1d6; MV 20’; Act 1d20; SV Fort +2, Ref +0, Will +0; AL N.

These creatures resemble human-sized wasps, with human-like faces, which move on one set of legs so that the others become four “arms”. Males are dull red in color, but females are black and yellow, as with many lesser wasps.

Males have two sickle-like blades on their upper forelimbs, and “hands” on their lower. The creature makes one attack with each. Although the hands do no damage, they do grasp the victim (Strength DC 15 to escape; each hand must be escaped separately), and it both hands grasp the same opponent, the tiger fly can sting on the next round (using the two Action Dice normally reserved for its hands), hitting automatically. The sting is venomous (1d6 damage plus Fort DC 15 or 1d4 Strength damage, which heals normally). Once a male tiger fly has grasped a victim, it will not willingly release it until one or the other is dead.

Female tiger flies do not have the slashing forelimbs of their male counterparts, instead attacking with four “hands”. While these do no damage, if the female manages to grab hold with at least two of these limbs, it can sting the next round (using two Action Dice, so potentially stinging twice if all four limbs have grasped an opponent), hitting automatically. The sting is venomous (1d3 temporary Agility damage and Fort DC 10 or be paralyzed for 4d4 minutes; temporary Agility damage heals at the rate of 1 point per minute, and a victim with 0 Agility is effectively paralyzed). Female tiger flies can inject eggs into a paralyzed victim if they are given 1d3 rounds to do so, and these eggs hatch into 1d3 tiger fly larvae after 1d12+12 hours. Each hour, the victim takes 1 point each of Strength, Stamina, and Agility damage from internal hemorrhaging, and, unless the eggs are destroyed by magic (treat as a disease), the victim dies when they hatch the larvae burrow out of their body.

Tiger fly larvae are white grubs with horned black heads and large mandibles, which grow quickly to a length of 3 to 4 feet. They attack anything that moves, even each other.

Despite their appearance, tiger flies are not intelligent.