[bestiary]

RuneQuest is a fantastic gaming system. It's got a really cool world attached to it, and (if you're brave) you
can use the system in any other world you care to convert. There are several species I've adapted from the
pages of D&D listed here, as well as new creations.
Let me know how these stats work for your game. If you have any recommendations or edits you'd like
made, email me. I'm somewhat reasonable.

[disclaimer]

Some of the games and worlds written about here are under active copyright by their creators.

I am not contesting ownership of these properties!

I am merely a fan or willing participant in a game being run using these rules and/or worlds. Please tell me
if you feel I'm violating your legal space by having articles here. I will happily remove offending material
in lieu of being sued.

[overview]

Hit Locations: Unless noted, creatures in this list will use the human hit location chart. Unique hit locations
make for interesting critters!! I just don't want to loose my mind HTML-ifying the ones already available.
Also, in my game (hereafter abbreviated to IMG) I do not use a separate hit location chart for missile
weapons. Such acts may induce a more realistic feel, but I find the idea encumbering.

Psionics: Also, some species listed here will have native psionic abilities. For those in need of a psionics
system for RQ/BRPS, feel free to use mine. If you don't like that one, you're perfectly allowed to use any
other.

Appearance: I use 3d6 for the Appearance stat of all creatures. For inter-species influence, subtract 10 from
any given individual's APP when determining how good they look to a creature not evolutionarily disposed
to them.

Fatigue: If you use the Fatigue rules, you can figure out a creature's Fatigue level without me typing it in
here. I do not use Fatigue and many of the rules associated with it.

[contents]

beholder / drow / duregar / gith / gnoll / illithid (mind flayer) / snakemen / thri-kreen
[beholder]

Beholders have been called many names. However, they are universally malevolent, hateful, aggressive,
and avaricious. The spherical body of this beast is supported by levitation, and it floars slowly about as it
wills. Atop the sphere are ten eyestalks, while in its central are is a great eleventh eye and a large mouth
filled with pointed teeth. The Beholder is able to withstand the loss of its eyestalks, and in some subspecies
lost eyestalks will grow back in about a week.
stat: roll (species max) hit roll / location / ratio
------------------------- -----------------------------
STR: 4d6 (28) 20 - 16 / lower body / 0.40
CON: 2d6+10(34) 15 - 10 / upper body / 0.40
SIZ: 4d6+10(48) 09 - 06 / central eye / 0.33
INT: 4d6 (28) 05 - 01 / eyestalk* / 0.16
POW: 4d6+4 (36)
DEX: 2d6 (14) * determine which eyestalk randomly...
APP: 3d6 (21)
Move Rate: 3 flying

weapon / sr / base attack % / damage

------------------------------------
Bite / 4 / 50% + bonuses / 1d10 + bonuses
eyestalk / 4 / 80% / see below
central eye / 2 / 100% / see below

Notes: The loss of eyestalks has no effect on Total Hit Points of the Beholder, but the eyestalk can be
destroyed. In the same round, the Beholder can Bite, and use all eyes that can bear on targets. The
Beholder's attacks start at SR 2 with the central eye, then the eyestalks, then a bite 4 SR after all the
eyestalks have fired.

Skills: Scan 100%, Search 100%

Armor: Chitinous skin. 10 points on body, 8 on central eye, 4 of eyestalks.

Magic: This creature positively reeks of magic! In addition to levitation for movement, the various eyes
each have a different function... Not all eyes can target the same individual! Only 4 eyes can direct their
magics on a single target. Here are the effects of each eye:

Eyestalks:

Dominate Non-Beholder - Int 10

Hinder - Int 5
Befuddle - 2
Dispel Magic - 6
Sleep - 1
Drain Soul - Int 11
Fly - Int 15
Distruption - 1
Paralysis
Magic Missile - Int 10
Central Eye: Ray of Vampirism - Int 10
Each use of an eye costs the Beholder 1 MP. Range for the sorcery spells is 40m. Ray of Vampirism is a
ranged Vampiric Touch unique to Beholderkind...

[drow]

The dark elves are remarkably popular among the current throng of d20 gamers, and they also serve as a
really cool nemesis for any group of RuneQuest Players. True to their elvish roots, the drow will use the
same stats as normal elves. However, that's about where any similarity with surface-dwelling pointy-ears
ends...
The drow have a harsh, matriarchal society based on the firm dominion of the Priestesses of Lolth. My
write-up for this cult is here. There is another available in the Olven mythology write-up over on Tal Meta's
homepage, and you can use either you like... Drow cities are typically expansive with several Houses based
on the Matriarch of that family. The most influential Houses form the ruling body of a given city. There is
constant infighting and power plays in Drow politics, for such is the will of their Dark Goddess...

stat: roll (species max)

-------------------------
STR: 2d6+3 (20) Move Rate: 4
CON: 3d6 (21)
SIZ: 2d6+3 (20)
INT: 2d6+6 (26)
POW: 2d6+6 (26)
DEX: 3d6+3 (27)
APP: 3d6 (21)

Culture: Drow culture is brutal for individuals of either gender. The Matriarchs rule from on high, ensuring
that only the most devious and cunning of their progeny manage to ascend to positions of power and
influence. Males are looked upon as a resource for a given House, and are not given much free reign.
Females become clergy to Lolth, while males of appropriate ability are forced to become warriors or
sorcerers.

Infravision: Drow have adapted to their subterrainian environment visually. Their sight extends into the
infrared quite well (out to a 40 meter range). Bright lights will blind drow to any further visual stimuli for
1d6 combat rounds after initial exposure to the light source. During this time, individual drow suffer a -
10% to all skill and magic rolls. After this duration, their eyes will adapt as much as possible, but the
experience is exceptionally painful for some time after returning to a darkened environment.

Skills: Speak Handspeech 50%, Sneak 60%, Hide 50%, Dodge 40%

Magic: Darkwall (2), Dancing Lights (2)

[duregar]

[gith]

The gith made their debut in the original AD&D Fiend Folio. They were at one time a slave species,
subjugated and devoured by the illithids. A rebellion was formed in which some number of gith escaped
their tentacled oppressors. These rebels eventually diverged into two distinct subspecies; the githyanki and
the githzerai. Speciation has occurred; this means that a githyanki and a githzerai may not inter-breed and
produce viable offspring.
As a side note, these creature have nothing to do with the Athasian gith. (On the Dark Sun world, there's a
minor race called the gith. They are goons waiting to be killed in large numbers. Not so the gith I write of
here!)

The githyanki enjoy a culture focused on conquest and dominion of weaker species. There's even an
organized faction which hunts and destroys the illithids where they spring up. The githzerai have chosen to
blend into the woodwork, so to speak, and not draw attention to themselves. Either species is rather brutal
and dangerous.

stat: roll (species max)

=========================
STR: 3d6 (21) Move Rate: 4
CON: 3d6 (21)
SIZ: 3d6 (21) psionic talent / roll / base skill %
INT: 3d6+3 (27) ====================================
POW: 3d6+3 (27) 50% chance of an individual having 1d2 talents
DEX: 3d6 (21) when present, roll 3d6+3 for talent's stats
APP: 3d6 (21)

Notes: The githyanki reside on the Astral Plane (which they call the Silver Reaches), and have many
advanced cities and settlements. They were under the yoke of the illithids for so long that normal daylight
is excessive for their vision, but can be tolerated.

Skills: Astral Affinity 75%

Culture: As a culture, the gith (both kinds) enjoy a magical and psychical society. Sorcery, psionics, and
spirit magic are common among all gith. The githyanki, however, are forbidden from worshiping any deity
by their lich queen. When an individual githyanki evolves to a certain level of power, they are called before
their Queen. She then harvests their souls for incorporation into her own base of power. She is working
(hard) on ascending to godhood. There is an active subculture dedicated to stopping her and placing mortal
psychics in charge. She enjoys consuming them, as well...

Little is known of the reclusive githzerai culture.

[gnoll]

In most D&D games, gnolls are large, feral, half-wolf humanoid warriors who hire out in great numbers to
the Bad Guys. In my games, they have inherited a strange pack-based culture Players are still trying to
figure out. I took a lot of inspiration from Traveller's Vargr for their psychology. Enjoy --
stat: roll (species max)
-------------------------
STR: 3d6+3 (27) Move Rate: 4
CON: 3d6 (21)
SIZ: 3d6+3 (27) weapon / sr / base att % / damage
INT: 2d6+3 (20) ------------------------------------
POW: 3d6 (21) Bite / 4 / 25% + bonuses / 1d4+2
DEX: 3d6 (21) Claw / 4 / 25% + bonuses / 1d6
APP: 3d6 (21)

Notes: There are two distinct species of gnoll. The normal, furry, gnoll that most D&D adventurers are
used to dealing with is the first. There is also a short-haired variety that does not get the natural armor
bonus listed below. Short-hairs are typically found in desert climes where a shaggy coat can kill you...
(Think of the half-jackal, half-man Egyptian god Anubis for a clear picture of the short-haired subspecies.)

Armor: 2 point fur for gnolls, nothing for short-hairs.

[illithid]

Ah, the dreaded mind flayer from the original Monster Manual!! How much fun I've had battling these
nasties! Powerful mentalists, the creatures used the odd first edition AD&D psionics system to great effect.
Many characters had no real defense against the beasts and were quickly dispatched.
Much of the inspiration for this version of the monster comes from a 2nd edition supplement from TSR
called the Illithiad. In it, the author sets up an interesting premise for their biology and culture.

Illithids have a peculiar life cycle. Being hermaphroditic, they begin life as larvae. These small worms are
given a host body (typically by a "parent" overriding the victim's voluntary motor skills) to infect. Within 3
days of initial exposure, the larva has taken root and begun rebuilding the body to it's own design. The skin
turns pale purple-mauve, the head sprouts tentacles around a hard beak, and hands turn into three-fingered
talons. Whatever might have been left of the original host has been subsumed by the metabolism in creating
the newly-born illithid.

Fortunately, larvae can't infect things too terribly different than humanoid-standard. There are some
remarkable exceptions, though... Here are their stats:

stat: roll (species max)

-------------------------
STR: as host or 3d6 (21) Move Rate: 3
CON: 3d6 (21)
SIZ: as host or 3d6 (21) weapon / sr / base % / dmg
INT: 3d6+6 (33) ============================
POW: 3d6+6 (33) tentacle / 3 / 30% / 1d6 (see below)
DEX: 3d6 (21)
APP: 3d6 (21)
psionic talent / roll / base skill %
------------------------------------
Telepathy / 3d6+6 / PsiSpeech 100%, Mental Blast 80%, Puppetry 50%
Telekinesis / 3d6+6 / Lift 50%, Invisible Hands 50%
individuals have a 50% chance of having 1d2 additional powers...
Also, add 3d6 to an individual's PSI pool to reflect experience.

Notes: The stats above represent a typical illithid from humanoid stock. If a specific individual is infected
and turned into one of these monsters, use that character's STR and SIZ stats instead of rolling. I've thrown
some pretty extreme host creature illithids at my group only once. Be creative!

Slick Skin: Illithid skin is a deficit. It must be kept moist or the individual suffers a cumulative -3% to all
skill rolls per day without proper moisture. After 20 days without sufficient water, the creature will begin
taking CON damage at 1 point per day until dead.

Infravision: The illithid do not visually see in the human-normal spectrum. They see in the infrared quite
well (out to a 40 meter range), but much beyond that and they are effectively blind. They supplement their
eyesight with telepathic awareness of their immediate surroundings. As an interesting side note, illithid do
not like the undead. These room-temperature monsters do not emit a psychic signature, and are therefore
almost impossible for an individual mind flayer to detect. Bright lights will blind an illithid to any further
visual stimuli for 1d6 combat rounds after the light has been doused! For a mind flayer who is so stricken,
make all skill rolls at -10% until their eyesight returns to normal.

Tentacle Attacks: When an illithid attacks with it's tentacles, you're in big trouble! The tips of the
appendages have bone-saw like ridges which can be used to extract the brain of most humanoids. Illithids,
you see, are cephalophages. (They eat brains.) The tentacles are their way of burrowing into your skullcap
for your grey matter. So, when illithids attack with their tentacles they roll a 1d10+10 for hit location
instead of the traditional 1d20. When a character has taken enough damage to reduce their head to 0 hit
points, the illithid has made a gourmet treat of the victim's brain. Damage done this way to a target's head
will permanently reduce the amount of armor covering the head. Magic helmets are not appreciated among
the mind flayers...

Tactics: Obviously, illithids aren't thugs hanging out in alleys waiting for drunkards to forget their
headgear... With their psychic abilities, they attempt to stun or take over a victim, then devour their brains
at a go. They are also in the practice of keeping slaves by the truck load on hand. Should an illithid not be
able to sense something obviously causing it damage, it will attempt to take over a thrall and look through
the slave's gaze at its surroundings. What makes these monsters dangerous is the fact that they are not
stupid. Run them poorly, and your Players will not remember them. Run them well, and your Players will
flee at every opportunity!

[snakemen]

IMG, Snakemen are sentient and have developed chests and shoulders like a humanoid. They've retained
their scaly hides and tails. Snakemen are also equipped with a natural bite attack. Their bites are poisonous,
but with a limited supply of venom.
While I have used snakemen as Chaotic creatures, there is nothing at all to say that they must be... Instead
of a magically-induced mutation (which is their super-secret origin IMG), the species might just as easily
be Orderly (though I'd imagine a bit savage).

stat: roll (species max) hit roll / location / ratio

------------------------- ----------------------------
STR: 3d6+6 (30) 20 - 19 / head / 0.33
CON: 3d6 (21) 18 - 16 / left arm / 0.25
SIZ: 3d6 (21) 15 - 13 / right arm / 0.25
INT: 3d6 (21) 12 / chest / 0.40
POW: 3d6 (21) 11 - 08 / abdomen / 0.33
DEX: 3d6+3 (27) 07 - 01 / tail / 0.33
APP: 3d6 (21)

Move Rate: special (see below)

weapon / sr / base attack % / damage

------------------------------------
Bite / 4 / 25% + bonuses / 1d4+2 (possible venom)

Venom: On a successful bite attack, roll 1d6. The snakeman's venom acts as Bladevenom of the rolled
potentcy. However, the individual will only be able to deliver a total venom potency equal to their CON
before running out. When a successful venom delivery occurs, remove the rolled potency from this pool. A
snakeman's venom sacks regenerate their reserves much like POW; 1/4 potency every 6 hours.

Armor: Snakemen have a scaly hide which affords them 3 AP in all hit locations. Further armor may be
layered at no penalty.

Move Rate: This species Move Rate starts at 9, and is reduced in proportion to the amount of damage their
tail has taken. For example, a 6 hit-point tail taking 3 points of damage would leave the creature with an
effective move rate of 4.5 (rounding is subject to the Referee's whim, as always)... After another point of
damage (4 total) its move would drop to 1/3rd normal, or 3.

Compression: Watch as your snakeman NPC wriggles thru a hole far too small to admit a Player!! Due to
their unusual anatomy, this species can squeeze thru very narrow openings. When creating a snakeman
character, record the single highest individual die rolled for its SIZ. This number is the smallest SIZ hole
the snakeman can maneuver thru.

[thri-kreen]

On the burnt world of Athas there exists a species of insect-men. The thri-kreen are better adapted to that
hot, dry world than most of the humans. Great hive-nations of thri-kreen help keep the human mass under
control. On Athas, the thri-kreen are not equipped to speak the languages of humans but make due.
These stats describe many species of sentient insects, like the Nantuko of Dominaria, the Onnn of Thetia,
et. al...

stat: roll (species max) hit roll / location / ratio

------------------------- --------------------------------
STR: 3d6 (21) 20 - 19 / head / 0.33
CON: 3d6 (21) 18 - 16 / left arm / 0.25
SIZ: 3d6+3 (27) 15 - 13 / right arm / 0.25
INT: 3d6 (21) 12 - 11 / thorax / 0.40
POW: 3d6 (21) 10 - 09 / left foreleg / 0.25
DEX: 2d6+6 (26) 08 - 07 / right foreleg / 0.25
APP: 3d6 (21) 06 - 05 / abdomen / 0.40
04 - 03 / left hindleg / 0.25
02 - 01 / right hindleg / 0.25

Move Rate: 5

weapon / sr / base attack % / damage

------------------------------------
spit / DSR / 30% + bonuses / (see below)
chatkcha / DSR / 30% + bonuses / 1d4

Chitin Armor: Thri-kreen are covered in a tough exoskeleton that grants them natural armor. Divide the
individual's CON by three (3) and round up to determine the number of points. for example: a player whose
thri-kreen character has a CON of 11 would have 4 points of natural armor. Later changes in the character's
CON score will have an effect as molting occurs.

Spit Attack: On their home world of Athas, the thri-kreen have a spit attack which employs a paralysis
poison. Targets hit by the poison must make a resistance roll with the creature's CON. If they fail, the target
is paralyzed for 2 * CON - target's SIZ in combat rounds. The thri-kreen may only use this attack CON / 3
times per day.

It is up to the individual referee to decide if the thri-kreen will get this spit attack on other worlds.
Curiously, on Dominaria, the thri-kreen are known as Nantuko and do not possess this power...

Does Not Sleep: Thri-kreen do not need to sleep like mammals do. This is highly cool, yet very strange...

Skills: Dodge Missile 30%, Throw Chatkcha 30%

Gerall Kahla / email / GPG key

Last modified: Sat Dec 27 08:29:14 CST 2003