The January 2019 issue of Footprints (#24), the e-zine of the AD&D community Dragonsfoot, includes a random generator for Spawns of Shub-Niggurath, written by Marco Caravagna. I love creature generators, so let's see how this compares to the Spawns of Shub-Niggurathizer that comes with Carcosa.
The generator takes up 5 pages (21-25) and takes you through a series of tables, as usual. The author warns us that "due to the complexity of the tables, it is recommended that the DM prepare spawn well ahead of time," well, yes, this takes up some time to roll up and interpret. The Spawns generated are TOUGH. 4+ attacks easily, lots of special attacks... There is a nice variety, a wide range of possible stuff...
And even if you don't need a monstrous HD 17 aberration, you can always spice up one of your regular monsters with just a few rolls on select tables.
E.g., you have a simple, boring orc, but with just two rolls on the body features table, your orc now has an exposed skeleton (flesh appears partly melted from bones) and an extra sucker-like mouth (potential extra attack, but at -3 to hit due to inconvenient location, 1-4 damage; blood drain for 1-4 HP per round). Simple boring orc no more! And it smells like... *roll roll roll* Perfume!! uhh... (wonderful smell detected to 100’; 10% chance of pheromones: if save vs. poison fails, victim refuses to harm spawn (but will defend against it))
Anyways, here's a full Spawn:
NO. APPEARING: 1 (3-36 near Shub-Niggurath)
ARMOR CLASS: 4 [18]
MOVE: 3"
HIT DICE: 17 (!!!)
% IN LAIR: 10%
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 6 (fangs / tusks / sucker / antlers / ovipositor / whip tail)
DAMAGE/ATTACK: Varies
SPECIAL ATTACKS: sucker, web spinneret
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Varies
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Non-, animal, or semi
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic
SIZE: L
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: ?
Locomotion: Flopping, 3"
Integument: Exoskeleton (AC 4 [18 in LotFP])
Limbs: zero
Eyes: 1
> Black hole!
Mouths: 3
> Fanged, 1-8
> Tusked, 2 tusks, 2-8, worth 200 sp each
> Sucker (e.g. as lamprey or leech), 1-4; blood drain for 1-4 HP per round
Other sensory apparatus: zero
Head features: 4
> Bald
> Ornamented: startling when flared; spawn gets 1 extra segment’s worth of attacks if it surprises enemies
> Crest or comb
> Antlers, damage 2-8 total
Tails: 3
> Spiked Ovipositor damage 1-4; lays eggs that kill host in 4-32 turns; cure disease kills larvae
> Spinneret fling webs 20’ as spell every other round
> Whip, damage 1-4
Body features: 2
> Leaves any color
> Exposed organs, suffers double damage in combat
No scent, secretion, infestation or immunity :(
The generator takes up 5 pages (21-25) and takes you through a series of tables, as usual. The author warns us that "due to the complexity of the tables, it is recommended that the DM prepare spawn well ahead of time," well, yes, this takes up some time to roll up and interpret. The Spawns generated are TOUGH. 4+ attacks easily, lots of special attacks... There is a nice variety, a wide range of possible stuff...
And even if you don't need a monstrous HD 17 aberration, you can always spice up one of your regular monsters with just a few rolls on select tables.
E.g., you have a simple, boring orc, but with just two rolls on the body features table, your orc now has an exposed skeleton (flesh appears partly melted from bones) and an extra sucker-like mouth (potential extra attack, but at -3 to hit due to inconvenient location, 1-4 damage; blood drain for 1-4 HP per round). Simple boring orc no more! And it smells like... *roll roll roll* Perfume!! uhh... (wonderful smell detected to 100’; 10% chance of pheromones: if save vs. poison fails, victim refuses to harm spawn (but will defend against it))
Anyways, here's a full Spawn:
SPAWN OF SHUB-NIGGURATH
FREQUENCY: Very rare (common near Shub-Niggurath)NO. APPEARING: 1 (3-36 near Shub-Niggurath)
ARMOR CLASS: 4 [18]
MOVE: 3"
HIT DICE: 17 (!!!)
% IN LAIR: 10%
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 6 (fangs / tusks / sucker / antlers / ovipositor / whip tail)
DAMAGE/ATTACK: Varies
SPECIAL ATTACKS: sucker, web spinneret
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Varies
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Non-, animal, or semi
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic
SIZE: L
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: ?
Locomotion: Flopping, 3"
Integument: Exoskeleton (AC 4 [18 in LotFP])
Limbs: zero
Eyes: 1
> Black hole!
Mouths: 3
> Fanged, 1-8
> Tusked, 2 tusks, 2-8, worth 200 sp each
> Sucker (e.g. as lamprey or leech), 1-4; blood drain for 1-4 HP per round
Other sensory apparatus: zero
Head features: 4
> Bald
> Ornamented: startling when flared; spawn gets 1 extra segment’s worth of attacks if it surprises enemies
> Crest or comb
> Antlers, damage 2-8 total
Tails: 3
> Spiked Ovipositor damage 1-4; lays eggs that kill host in 4-32 turns; cure disease kills larvae
> Spinneret fling webs 20’ as spell every other round
> Whip, damage 1-4
Body features: 2
> Leaves any color
> Exposed organs, suffers double damage in combat
No scent, secretion, infestation or immunity :(
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