Wednesday 6 May 2009

Bestiary of the Vaults: Tologs


Tologs
No. Enc.: 3d6 (6d10)
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 60' (20')
Armor Class: 7
Hit Dice: 1d4 hit points
Attacks: 1 (weapon)
Damage: 1d4 or weapon -1
Save: 0 level human
Morale: 6 (9 in special circumstances)
Hoard Class: none (XIII)

Tologs are small humanoids (2-3 feet tall) which infest the upper reaches of the Vaults, subsisting on a diet of cave insects, fungus and carrion. They dwell exclusively underground, the oily, shadow-born skin of their emaciated limbs and bloated bellies being unable to stand the sun. Small pointed fangs fill their small mouths and a malign cunning animates their beady, eirily fish-like eyes (Tologs have infravision to 60ft). They speak only rarely, and then only in their own gibbering patois.

Tologs are habitual petty thieves (able to move silently 2in6, pick pockets 2in6 and hide in shadows 4in6). They prefer to pilfer small shiny objects which are then woven into bizarre and complex sculptural forms called tologworks (imagine a dreamcatcher which has been fought over by a bower bird and a pack-rat). Explorers of the Vaults often find these tologworks suspended from ceilings and overhangs. The creatures are viciously protective of their object trouve assemblies and will react with shrieking outrage and furious assault (morale 9) if these are damaged.

A tolog living area is invariably a toxic warren of stolen junk (some of which may still have value) and layered organic detritus through which dozens of these creatures scrabble and dig. Tolog packs are dominated by the largest, most corpulent and most aggressive of their kind, with 1 in 10 of their number being exceptional tologs known as sachis. Each of these grotesque little monsters has 6 hit points, attacking as a monster with 1+1 HD.

note: I'm sick of kobolds and the Tucker/Meepo fanboi baggage that comes with them. The tologs (a backronym name fro "those orrible little oily guys") are intended as a replacement for them.


3 comments:

  1. Tucker-bashing aside ;), this is pretty nifty.

    I've considered using real-world folklore as inspiration for kobolds: earth and/or water spirits, miners, tricksters, etc. Palladium FRPG's kobolds did this, making them skilled weapon and armor crafters -- sort of a goblin version of the bog-standard fantasy dwarf.

    I ended up going with cave hobbits instead. Club-footed centipede hunters, mostly, but I now think I'll have to fold in some tolog behaviors too.

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  2. I can sympathize with the need for a break from the endless stream of kobolditry. That's why so many weird little humanoids crop up on my blog periodically *grins*

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