Chapter 3: Creatures of Panganglia 51 HOWLERJOWL 2 (6) Howlerjowls are ambush pack hunters. Alone, they aren’t dangerous, but with the security of the pack, they are deadly hunters. Howlerjowls are named for their large mouths and distinctive hunting call. They nestle among patches of pale, furry brush in the blushgrass, which camouflages their otherwise distinct white fur. Motive: Feeding Environment: Grassland Health: 6 Damage Inflicted: 2 points (4 if working in a pack of 3 or more) Movement: Short Modifications: Chases as a level 4; hides as level 5 in appropriate vegetation Combat: Howlerjowls will usually wait for at least one pack member to engage a foe, howling for their attention instead. If a howlerjowl scores a hit, they will latch on to a target, dealing 2 damage automatically until the take damage, which causes them to release their grasp. Prying a latched howlerjowl loose is a difficulty 3 Might task. Interaction: Howlerjowls are frightened by fire and lightning. When within immediate range of either, their actions are hindered for 1 round. Use: Howlerjowls are ambush hunters, and might be the cause of local disappearances or missing livestock. Loot: Howlerjowl fur is luxuriously fine and soft, but not especially warm. Illustration by Siraj Fakhri — https://sirajfakhri.artstation.com GM Intrusion: The howlerjowl’s jaws clench tight to the bone, causing a minor fracture.
Chapter 3: Creatures of Panganglia 52 TRIPOD ANNIHILATOR 6 (18) Tripod annihilators are biomechanical exterminators, unleashing a deadly barrage of energy and sharp metal without remorse. Tripod annihilators are biomechanical exterminators, remnants of a genocidal war. Their burnished bronze frames are remarkably durable, and they are all too easy to reactivate, whereupon they resume the kill-everything-that-moves commands of their erstwhile masters until some enterprising individual puts a stop to them. Normally they work in concert with others of their kind. If they have an intelligence, no one has managed to communicate with it, and the requirement of dodging cellular disruptor blasts and incessant painful jabs from a pointy metal triangle puts most people off the enterprise rather quickly. Motive: Extermination Environment: Desert, mountain, wasteland Health: 18 Damage Inflicted: 10 points of damage at long range, 4 points of damage at immediate range Armor: 1 Movement: Short Modifications: Climbs as level 9; Can see with a magnification up to fifty times. Combat: Tripods can attack a target from up to 1 mile away with a beam of energy emitted from the long, sharp spike atop their center. As a result of this, they often make their first attack at surprise. In melee, the tripod cannot make precise aiming maneuvers and depends on its lethal spike as a puncturing weapon (attacking twice). Interaction: An annihilator will pursue a single target with almost reckless abandon, even forgoing attacks at more convenient targets. Patient and calculating at first, once they injure a target, little else matters to them than confirming that target’s death. Use: A tripod annihilator stalks the party from a distance, learning their patterns before taking its first shot from a very long distance. Loot: 1d2 cyphers and 1d6 iotum. Illustration by Chris Karnezis — https://www.arrrt.io/chris_kar GM Intrusion: The tripod’s attack damages a vital organ, moving the target down the damage track. Iotum Results: Destiny, page 110
Chapter 3: Creatures of Panganglia 53 A VENEPHANT 4 (12) Venephants stomp their way across floatstone fields of blushgrass. Competitive, distempered beasts, they are a hazard to vehicles large enough for a venephant to mistake for a rival or a mate. Venephants roam the blushgrass. They are unintelligent and have poor eyesight, and venephant bulls in heat often mistake wagons, carts, and vehicles for their own kind, attacking them on sight. Bull venephants have a large, venom-filled sac on their heads, from which they can spray a venomous mist to clear unwanted parasites away from the vegetation they eat. They also “sing” through the sac's orifices to attract a mate, audibly discharging pheromones from the sac. If threatened, the sac can be emptied in a deadly spray of flesh-dissolving venom. Motive: Mating, dominance Environment: Grassland, savannah Health: 18 Damage Inflicted: 4 points (+2 damage to objects and structures) Armor: 1 Movement: Short Modifications: Intellect defense as level 1; visual acuity as level 1; breaks objects, structures, and vehicles as level 6; chases a level 6 on open terrain; can be tracked as level 2 Combat: Venephants favor their bulk, charging into targets with their weight and their thick hide. A character hit by a charging venephant must succeed on a difficulty 6 Might defense task or be knocked prone. If a venephant stomps a prone target, it takes 2 additional damage. Once each day, the venephant can spray a topical venom from its sac in an arc within short range. Creatures in the area that are hit by the spray are dealt 5 points of damage. Interaction: A venephant can be deterred by overwhelming its senses. They are especially frightened of loud, sudden noises, bright lights, or combinations of the two. Use: A venephant has charged and upended a frantic merchant's vehicle. They reward the party with 1d6 cyphers and 3d6 shins if they drive them off before their merchandise is destroyed. Loot: Venom successfully harvested from a venephant's sac (a Difficulty 4 anatomy task) has medicinal uses, and the creature's leathery hide can be used to create serviceable light armor. The creature's meat and bones are poisonous to most humans and abhumans. Illustration by Chris Waller — https://wallasaurus.artstation.com GM Intrusion: The venephant makes two rearing stomps against a prone creature or an object.