Cath Palug

I got to use Shock Bones (of Arduin fame) about eight months ago. That was a fun experiment - Monsters that violate "the rules" of what is expected are always fun. Therefore I wanted to go ahead and create something that continued that theme in my own system, while still also remaining true to it in a rather twisted way. This was how the Cath Palug came about.

Close enough?

I love the really old Arthurian stories, where random monsters just roam the countryside, because of course they do. The whole thing is about as old-school as you can get - not just the whole knights and jousting thing that gets pointed out, but the general wildness of things, the tangibility of Law and Chaos, and the fact that sometimes people give birth to killer cats, because of course they do. In some versions it's even a king-killing cat, but let's ignore the French.

There's not a lot defined about the thing, and compared to other monsters, the Cath Palug is fairly maligned in terms of its modern adaptations. Except for the Japanese. So that, plus a few things, was what fed into the design of this monster:

CATH PALUG
Movement (hasted-Unarmored + Swim)
SHD 6 (threshold: 7+)
AC (Plate&Shield + 2)
damage: 1d8
IN 7+
DX 17
Morale 9
Chaotic

Massive, black-furred cats. Build is leonine, with an extensive man stretching down its back and terminating in a large, surprisingly fluffy horse-like tail. The rear feet are cloven hooves, while curling horns are marked upon its head. Approximately 650lb in weight.

These monsters are attracted to magical energy, and are capable of detecting it (120ft range). Preferred lairs will rest on ley-lines, and some may serve as familiars to Chaotic Wizards. Fully aquatic and terrestrial. Being man-eaters, they will prefer to lurk near waterways and rise from the depths for their attacks.

Cath Palug subtract the 'plus' from the damage-die of magical weapons used against them (exception: Monster-killing weapons will inflict normal damage). They will absorb and dispel magic on contact: +1 SHD per die of magical damage taken (or +1 SHD per Spell Level, if this value is higher). SHD may exceed the base value of 6. On the other hand, these creatures are vulnerable to Holy Swords: The presence of one within 30ft strips excess SHD at a rate of 1/round, and prevents further absorption. When SHD are presently in excess of the base, the Cath Palug will begin to glow. The degree is based on present SHD:

• 7-8: Trailing red lines of magical power. Damage: d8+1
• 9-10: Glowing red mist of magical power, with blue trails. Damage: d8+2. Absorbs spells cast within 10ft before 'release'.
• 11-12: Red silhouette of a large creature overhead; blue mist, with white trails. Damage: d10+3, gain "Fly" speed at hasted-Unarmored speed. Spell absorb extends to 30ft.
• 13+: Brilliant red and blue lights as a dominating silhouette over the creature, with long white trails of magical energy. Size increases with increasing SHD. Damage: d10+4, gain "Fly" speed (as above), gain breath weapon (as red dragon breath; damage as 'magic missile'; 4 damage per SHD; reduces SHD by 1 per use). Spell absorb extends to 60ft.

These monsters are clever enough to understand their own abilities: They will feign injury when struck with magical attacks, pretending to attempt flight, but coming back to harass when possible to bait out assault. They will rely upon their natural resistance to normal weapons to feign invulnerability, all the better to draw in attacks.

Cath Palug reduced to below 6 SHD will 'save themselves' by reducing in size and attack ability. This requires about 1 month - the smallest variant, of the 1 HD variety, is the size of a small dog. It takes 2-5 rounds to grow in size, once sufficient magical power has been gathered. It is otherwise possible to encounter a Cath Palug which has already amassed magical power.

(Note: SHD follow the rules outlined a few posts earlier.)

The Cath Palug is a magic-eater. Parties that are not attentive to details, which hammer on magical attacks, will meet a poor end. The ideal solution is actually quite simple: Fighters with regular, unenchanted steel, and a lot of perseverance. Stripped of its unique defense and stuck at 6 SHD, the Cath Palug is still decently resilient, but a lot weaker (especially in the intelligence and spell-use departments) than a comparable Demon. On the other hand, this thing will shred careless wizards, in no small part thanks to the 'spell absorb' function at higher SHD.

If I have a problem with this, it's that, much like the 'True Troll', it's the sort of monster that doesn't really do well in negotiations - encounters are going to be about fight or flight. Combine that with the water-dwelling aspect, and the latter can be quite difficult. In this regard, I'd pin it to a territory, and scatter all sorts of warnings around the periphery to telegraph. Having it as the sole hostile wandering monster in an area is another way to go about that.

Trolls

Three Hearts and Three Lions is a damn good book and I'm ashamed of myself for not reading it until this past January. Most people doing old-school gaming who haven't read it have no doubt at least heart of it, if for no reason other than its influence on the original Paladin class, and perhaps more importantly, the loathsome and rubbery Troll of D&D.

There's a few things to take away from the Troll fight as it happens in the book. To begin with, the regeneration of the Troll is not simply knitting up wounds: If anything, it's closer to a scene from The Thing. Each part of the troll is independently dangerous; each cell is actively doing everything it can to kill you. Cut off the head of most monsters, and you take away an attack; cut off the arm of the troll, and it keeps coming after you. Most things are dead when the belly gets cut open; for the troll, the entrails will keep flailing at you. The book doesn't go quite so far, but you wouldn't be surprised if even the blood started trying to kill you.

It's an worthwhile note that "Troll" means a lot  of things, to the point of being essentially a non-descriptor for fantastical or mythological humanoid of European origin. "Giant-type" enemies? Troll would be more accurate, were it not for the "True Trolls". This in mind, the enemy type classified as a "Troll" in my home games is a varied bunch, with each one being a bit different in terms of look, and personality. To give a system neutral stat sheet:

Troll, Move (Leather), AC (Chain), HD 7+7, dmg:1d10+1, M7; sunlight hardens (Move as Plate, AC Plate+6); regenerate 3hp/round beginning 3 rounds after damage (1hp/round in sunlight); trolls slain in sunlight turn to statues forever, but otherwise regenerate from death in 2-5 hours unless set aflame; scared of lightning and goats

This is fundamentally normal, with the exception of the folklore-inspired sunlight rule. The main key is in terms of looks: Of the two met by the party, both were large but dull humanoids; one was a mostly friendly bridge guard, while the other was a savage flesh-eater they had to put down (closer to a troll from Tolkien, in this case). In the same dungeon as they second was a third, hairy sort, but it was never encountered.

Here's the thing: In most cases, regeneration as I tend to run it has its limits. You go down to 0 HP, and that's the end of the line. The common troll can heal quickly, yes, but if you club its head down enough, you can render it helpless while you light it ablaze. Limbs can be reattached, or they can regrow over time, but they don't fight on their own. In some strange fashion, there is a "core" to most sorts - be it the heart, the liver, the brain, or a magic ring.

Out of this sort of common logic I introduced - in this case, to a group who for the most part have little experience outside of his campaign - the "True Troll" for the first time just this past weekend. Some mechanical notes here:

• Being run under the OD&D type of logic, most creatures in my games have only one attack per round (exceptions: Hydra, Chimera, certain Demons, etc.). The True Troll, true to its literary origin, gets the full three attacks of an AD&D sort - damage as d6, d6, and d8.
• This rule for multiple attacks operates so long as the thing has sufficient ability to operate - including attacking from severed limbs.
• Being reduced to 0 HP doesn't mean jack - Until the thing is brought down and on fire, its going to keep attacking. Cursed wounds (non-healing) bringing it to max HP value will shut down the brain (replaces its d8 with another d6), and to negative max HP will put all parts down, until the curse eventually wears off.
• No possibility of a positive reaction roll. No chance of morale failure. This is an actual monster in all senses of the word, not a thing to negotiate with (a rare thing in my games).

So the game began. The fight began quite simple - in terms of treatment, it was essentially a random encounter against a hostile thing. Roll attacks, get damage. The party had learned from prior dealings with things that regenerate, and the Chaotic Priest put curses on the Fighter's weapons to make them more efficient in the fight. Some high damage rolls. Things looked pretty good. Then things started to go in a different direction. Some highlights (chosen, as each of these was a point where the player of the Human Fighter gave an indication of alarm, confusion or disgust):

• The Human Fighter severed the Troll's arm. In appropriate fashion, the arm immediately began to attack him
• Caving in the head stopped the body for about 1 round: Once the whole went down, the stomach burst open, and the things intestines began to hold the thing up while swatting at anyone that came close.
• The other arm attempted to tear itself free from the body once the whole got set on fire, but it wasn't quite fast enough.
• The Chaotic Priest attempted to have a zombie minion pin the arm down. It gave a bit of a delay, enough to get the arm tossed in the fire - when they flipped it over, though, they found the zombie ripped apart; the skin on the arm had unraveled, and its muscles spread out like a flower around the bone, where they hardened and shredded the zombie apart from below.
• The spilled blood formed up into a pile, and continued the fight once the rest of the monster was finally put down - hardening into sharped "knife-whips" to strike anyone coming close.

The battle ended with the party exhausted and badly damaged, the zombie put down, and a general sentiment of both "that was cool" and "never want to fight one of those again". Of course, the treasure was pretty nice too (they ran into the Troll while ransacking its lair, and had a vested interest in killing it to keep the goods instead of just running away), so overall things ended in a striking success. After all, in a game where exploration and talking are more rewarding than a fight, you have to find some way to make every round engaging - but sometimes, more than just exciting.

What really sold this fight was the dice rolls. For the first few rounds, the party rolled amazingly well, and I rolled relatively poorly; The result was what seemed to be an utterly one-sided gang up. The rest of the fight was the complete reverse, which combined with the casual body horror almost matched 1:1 to the "beat" of the original literature. I don't fudge the dice, and encounters like this are where I get to see the ultimate payoff of that decision.

The moral of the story is this: Source material is a great way to get inspired for your game sessions; John Carpenter movies, doubly so. Combine the two and you've got a lot to go off of.