PSEUDOSCION (from The Halls Untoward)

All Monster Names and Descriptions are taken from The Halls Untoward by Michael Prescott et. al. which is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-NC license v4.0

All Monster Stat Blocks and Attack Descriptions are copyright Craig Atkins 2022.

PSEUDOSCION (The Halls Untoward YZE Bestiary) 

The pseudoscions created by the apparatus in Room 63 are somewhere between homunculi and children. They appear as humanoids with black eyes, skin like clay, and a prehensile tentacle  sprouting from each shoulder-blade. Their facial features bear an  unmistakable resemblance to their blood “parent.”

Pseudoscions  start off as infants, but age at the rate of one year per hour - so  after ten hours, a pseudoscion looks like a ten-year-old. They  must eat an enormous meal of red meat at the five hour mark and  every ten hours thereafter, or perish. It will die after 80 hours of old age. If the parent is around at the birth, the pseudoscion  imprints and reacts much like a normal child. If born alone,  the pseudoscion will hunt for its parent, as well as for food.

If treated badly, the pseudoscion will be a relentless foe for its brief life. If treated like a son or daughter, the pseudoscion can be a useful ally, generally fighting loyally and ferociously once it is  old enough to do so. It will go through a rebellious, questioning phase around 15 hours, and after 65 hours or so it will need to be taken care of in its old age.

Designer's note: This was a lot of fun to work on. You will see the attacks have followed a pattern that matches the maturity of the pseudoscion, as it matures some attacks may become more suitable than others but all should be useable at all stages of its life cycle. I picture these like baby/teenage Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy, but that is just my interpretation the original designer may have had something different in mind. The one attack that felt out of place a bit was the tentacle attack, but as they have them it made sense to use them.

ATTRIBUTES

STRENGTH 1 to 6, AGILITY 4, WITS 1  to 4, EMPATHY 1 to 4

SKILLS: Melee 2

MOVEMENT: 2

ARMOR RATING: 2 (clay skin)

RAPID AGING: Due to the pseudoscions rapid growth their STRENGTH, WITS and EMPATHY attributes all start at 1. Their STRENGTH attribute increases by 1 every three hours, to a maximum of 6 (15 hrs old). WITS and EMPATHY each increase by 1 every 20 hours, to a maximum of 5 (80 hrs old).

OLD AGE: After 65 hours of life a pseudoscions STRENGTH and AGILITY attributes drop by 1, and then reduce by 1 every 5 hours thereafter. At 80 years of age the psuedoscion lives no more.

RANDOM PSEUDOSCION: To randomly determine a pseudoscion's age roll D8 -1 for the tens and then roll a D10 for the units (10 counts as 0). From there you can work out the attributes. (eg. the D8 rolls a 4, that means the creature is in its 30s (4-1), the D10 rolls a 5. They are 35 with a STREGTH of 6, AGILITY 4, WITS and EMPATHY are both 2.

MONSTER ATTACKS

D6	ATTACK
1	ANKLE BITER! The juvenile pseudoscion rushes across the ground and bites one adventurer within NEAR range with its forming clay teeth. Make an attack using five Base Dice and Weapon Damage 1 (slash wound).
2	TEMPER TANTRUM! The growing pseudoscion allows all of its frustration to rise to the surface, it balls its fist, stamps its feet and lets out a piercing and continuous cry. This immediately disturbs any adventurer within SHORT range, causing a fear attack using seven Base Dice.
3	DON'T THROW THAT! The naughty pseudoscion grabs the nearest available object and whilst letting out a screaming giggle, throws it at one adventurer within NEAR range. Make an attack using six Base Dice and Weapon Damage 1 (blunt force). This attack can be parried with a shield.
4	CALM DOWN! The pseudoscion targets one adventurer within ARM'S LENGTH with their hormonal rage, and with a frustrated grunt starts to pummel their unlucky target with ferocious punches and kicks. Make three attacks using six Base Dice and Weapon Damage 1 (blunt force). These attacks can be parried with a shield.
5	SOLID PUNCH! The growing pseudoscion plants its two feet squarely on the ground and puts all of its strength into a solid punch, targeting one adventurer within ARM'S LENGTH. Make an attack using eight Base Dice and Weapon Damage 2 (blunt force). This attack can be parried.
6	TENTACLE STRIKE! The pseudoscion strikes out with its two prehensile tentacles, violently stabbing up to two adventures within ARM'S LENGTH. Make an attack using eight Base Dice and Weapon Damage 1 (stab wound). If there is only one target, they are unfortunately targeted twice.

All Monster Names and Descriptions are taken from The Halls Untoward by Michael Prescott et. al. which is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-NC license v4.0

All Monster Stat Blocks and Attack Descriptions are copyright Craig Atkins 2022.