Friday, June 7, 2013

Frightful Fridays! Hemorrhagic Slug

Today's Frightful Fridays! critter doesn't really feel sluggish (check out that movement rate!), and it wants your character's blood. It's perfectly willing to wait for your character to just sweat out his or her blood, and it will feast on the pools the character leaves behind after escaping from the slug's hemorrhaging aura. Today's extra continues the hemorrhagic theme with an insidious and deadly poison derived from the powdered remains of the slug.

I hope you enjoy this creepy creature, and I'll be back next Friday with a new monster. Make sure you check back on Sunday for a new Sunderday entry too. Thanks for reading!


This pink, dog-sized slug trails a bloody slime as it slides along the ground.
Hemorrhagic Slug CR 4
XP 1,200
N Small vermin
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +10
Aura hemorrhaging aura


Defense
AC 18, touch 14, flat-footed 15 (+3 Dex, +1 size, +4 natural)
hp 37 (5d8+15); fast healing 2
Fort +7, Ref +4, Will +3
DR 5/slashing


Offense
Speed 30 ft., climb 20 ft.
Melee bite +7 (1d6 plus attach)
Special Attacks blood drain (1d2 Con)


Statistics
Str 11, Dex 16, Con 17, Int —, Wis 14, Cha 9
Base Atk +3; CMB +5 (+7 grapple); CMD 15 (17 vs. grapple, can't be tripped)
Feats Agile Maneuvers(B), Improved Grapple(B), Weapon Finesse(B)
Skills Climb +16, Perception +10, Stealth +7; Racial Modifiers +8 Climb, +8 Perception


Ecology
Environment any underground
Organization solitary, pair, or cornucopia (3–12)
Treasure none


Special Abilities
Hemorrhaging Aura (Su) If a creature is within 30 feet of the hemorrhagic slug, it must succeed at a DC 15 Fortitude save or take 1d3 points of bleed damage. If an effect stops the bleed damage, the aura can restart the bleed effect if the creature remains within or reenters the 30-foot radius.


A hemorrhagic slug is a subterranean creature that feeds on victims' blood that it causes to spontaneously shed by its mere presence. When a hemorrhagic slug becomes hungry enough, it launches a direct attack on its prey, hoping to latch onto a victim with its needle-like teeth and drain the victim of its lifeblood. A typical specimen is 3 feet in length and weighs 70 pounds.


Ghouls and other underground undead creatures harvest hemorrhagic slugs when they dare not directly attack living creatures, and they sometimes mask their activities behind an infestation of slugs. Drow with proper protection against the slugs employ them when they torture their captives, and they have derived a horrific poison from dried slugs. Earth elementals sometimes host hemorrhagic slugs, especially since the slugs' auras harm their opponents while leaving the elementals untouched.


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Hemorrhagic Slug Poison
Within an hour of a hemorrhagic slug's death, it can be dried out and powdered, and these remains create 7 doses of hemorrhagic slug poison. A single dose costs 1,500 gp.


Hemorrhagic Slug Poison
Type poison, ingested; Save Fortitude DC 15
Frequency 1/round for 6 rounds
Effect 1 point of bleed damage plus 1 point for every round the victim remains poisoned, requires a DC 20 Perception check to notice the bleed damage (the victim receives a circumstance bonus equal to the bleed damage on this check); Cure 2 consecutive saves