Leucrotta
Climate/Terrain:
| Temperate/ Wasteland, broken terrain |
|
Frequency:
| Rare
|
Organization:
| Pack
|
Activity Cycle:
| Any
|
Diet:
| Carnivore
|
Intelligence:
| Average (8-10)
|
Treasure:
| D
|
Alignment:
| Chaotic evil
|
No. Appearing:
| 1-4
|
Armor Class:
| 4
|
Movement:
| 18
|
Hit Dice:
| 6+1
|
THAC0:
| 15
|
No. of Attacks:
| 1
|
Damage/Attack:
| 3-18
|
Special Attacks:
| See below
|
Special Defenses:
| Kick in retreat
|
Magic Resistance:
| Nil
|
Size:
| L (7' at shoulder, 9' long)
|
Morale:
| Elite (14)
|
XP Value:
| 975
|
The leucrotta is a creature of ugly appearance and temperament that haunts
deserted places in search of prey.
The average leucrotta stands 7 feet tall at the shoulder and can reach a
length of 9 feet in its mature form. The body of the leucrotta resembles that of a
stag, with a leonine tufted tail and cloven hooves. Its head resembles that of a
huge badger, but instead of teeth it has sharp, jagged bony ridges. Its body
is tan, with the neck gradually darkening until it turns black at the head. The
so-called teeth are sickly gray, and its eyes glow with a feral red light. The
smell of animals, decomposing on a hot humid day follows the leucrotta, and its
breath is especially bad.
Combat: This monster is very sly and can imitate a range of noises and voices, the
most common ones being a man, a woman, a child, or domestic animals in pain. It
uses these noises in order to trick its prey into approaching within attack
distance. It hunts humans, demihumans, humanoids, and even other animal predators.
Leucrotta are intelligent and can speak their own language as well as the common
tongue.
Leucrotta attack by biting for 3d6 points of damage. It is rumored that their
bony ridges and jaws are so powerful that they can even bite through metal. If
a leucrotta scores a hit against someone with a shield or armor, the target
must roll a saving throw vs. crushing blow for the shield. If the roll fails, then
in addition to scoring the regular damage, the beast managed to also bite
through the shield. Once the shield is gone, the armor must go through the same
routine with subsequent successful bites.
Once an opponent is rendered helpless, a leucrotta will leave its prize and
attack any other intruders if the melee is still going on. It will give chase to
an enemy, but will never pursue beyond sight of any prey it has managed to
already capture.
When a leucrotta retreats, it turns its back on its opponent and kicks with
its hind legs, causing 1d6 points of damage with each hoof.
Note to trackers: It is almost impossible to identify leucrotta tracks, since
they look exactly like a stag's.
Habitat/Society: This ugly creature haunts deserted and desolate places because most other
creatures cannot bear the sight of it. Its ugliness is legendary. Leucrotta lair in
treacherous ravines and rocky spires, because they are as surefooted as a
mountain goat. Caves, old abandoned towers, or a hollowed out deadfall are the
preferred lairs for this disgusting beast.
For every four leucrotta found in a lair, there is a 10% chance that an extra
one, an immature leucrotta of half strength, is also present. Leucrotta are not
a very family oriented species, as their nasty tempers extend sometimes to
each other. The beasts range over a 20-mile area.
Since the leucrotta is not a very social creature, all strangers are nothing
more than sources of food. Sometimes, a powerful chaotic evil person may entrap
a leucrotta and force it to serve as a guardian, but such beasts rebel at the
first opportunity.
Those brave enough to venture into a leucrotta lair must first roll a
successful saving throw vs. poison with a -1 penalty, due to the horrendous stench, or
gag helplessly for 1d4 rounds. Once inside, the money and possessions of past
victims await.
Though the leucrotta prefer freshly killed meat, they are not above eating
carrion. This serves to enhance their already bad reputation.
Ecology: Leucrotta distance themselves from the grand picture of nature, preferring to
lurk on the fringes. They serve no practical use and one would be hard pressed
to find a druid that would try to protect a member of this species. Some sages
speculate that the leucrotta is an unnatural abnormality, an aberration spawned
by some demented power or archmage.
Still, some mages prize the leucrotta hide for creating
boots of striding and springing, hoping that the surefootedness of the beast passes down to the boots
themselves. There are rumors that leucrotta saliva is an effective antidote to love
philters, but so far there have been no volunteers to test this theory.