Sunday, December 12, 2010

Plant men



INTV….... +0
ATTK….. +2/ one tail OR +2/ two talons
DMGE……. d12 OR 1 hp*
AC…….…. 6
[14]
HD……… 2d8
Fort..…..... +2
Will………. +2
Move….…. 12”


“A race inhabiting the Valley Dor, they are ten or twelve in height when standing erect; their arms are short and fashioned after the manner of an elephant’s trunk, being sinuous; the body is hairless and a ghoulish blue except for a broad band of white which encircles the protruding, single eye, the pupil of which are dead white. The nose is a ragged, inflamed, circular hole in the center of the blank face, resembling a bullet wound which has not yet commenced to bleed. There is no mouth in the head. With the exception of the face, the head is covered by a tangled mass of jet- black hair some eight to ten inches in length. Each hair is about the thickness of a large angle worm. The body, legs and feet are of human shape but of monstrous proportions, the feet being fully three feet long and very flat and very broad. The method of feeding consists in running their odd hands over the surface of the turf, cropping off the tender vegetation with razor-like talons and sucking it up with two mouths, which lie one in the palm of each hand.” (TMM, glossary)

Blunt and piercing weapons do half damage against plant men. Their preferred method of attack is to leap over their target’s head striking down with their powerful tail. In combat each hit with a plant man’s talon temporarily drains one point of constitutio from its target with a corresponding loss of hit points. Constitution score is recovered at the rate of one point every two days of rest and a diet high in iron.   

 "Now their bisexuality permits them to reproduce themselves after the manner of true plants, but otherwise they have progressed but little in all the ages of their existence. Their actions and movements are largely matters of instinct and not guided to any great extent by reason, since the brain of a plant man is but a trifle larger than the end of your smallest finger. They live upon vegetation and the blood of animals, and their brain is just large enough to direct their movements in the direction of food, and to translate the food sensations which are carried to it from their eyes and ears. They have no sense of self-preservation and so are entirely without fear in the face of danger. That is why they are such terrible antagonists in combat."  (GM VII)

Encountered during the day in small herds of 2d4 members in various stages of maturity; their collective awareness prohibits them from being surprised, although opponents may gain initiative. Black pirates sometimes use plant men as pets or guardians. These creatures have an extremely primitive brain and fear neither firearms nor death.

minatures from BronzeAgeMin.com

2 comments:

  1. Man, ERB never got closer to HPL style than these guys.

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  2. Chapter XIV of the Gods of Mars also invokes Lovecraftian , tentacled horrors .

    ReplyDelete