Thursday, February 13, 2020

Non-Dark Sun Creatures in Dark Sun - Bonesnapper

There are many creatures for the various monstrous manuals that have been officially added to Dark Sun. I added some unofficially for my game and I'm sure a lot of other DMs do the same.
There is no inherent problem with this, although the flavor text often doesn't fit with the Dark Sun setting. My goal is to list the various monsters that "don't fit" and rewrite their flavor text to make them fit.

Bonesnapper


Bonesnapper Bonesnapper, Spitter
Climate/Terrain Forest, Rocky Badlands Forest, Rocky Badlands
Frequency Rare Very Rare
Organization Solitary Solitary
Activity Cycle Day Day
Diet Carnivore Carnivore
Intelligence Non- (0) Non- (0)
Treasure C C
Alignment Neutral Neutral
No. Appearing 1-3 1
Armor Class 4 4
Movement 6 6
Hit Dice 4 5
Thac0 17 16
No. of Attacks 2 2
Damage/ Attack 1-8/1-4 1-8/1-4
Special Attack Nil Poison Spit
Special Defense Nil Nil
Magic Resistance Nil Nil
Size M (5' tall) M (5' tall)
Morale Special Special
XP Value 120 270

The dreaded bonesnapper is a fearsome carnivorous beast. Known for its savage aggression, territorial protectiveness, and incredible stupidity, the bonesnapper is a dangerous beast.
Adult bonesnappers stand an average of five feet tall. They may weigh as much as 500 pounds. Their tough hide is not scaled, but it is very thick and leathery, providing them with excellent protection from all manner of physical attacks. As a rule, bonesnappers are dark green, olive, or brown in color, enabling them to blend in with their environment.

Combat
As has been noted, the bonesnapper is not a clever opponent. In combat it rushes straight at the nearest foe, often letting out a great roar in the charge. If it is attacked from another direction, the bonesnapper whirls about and pursues its new adversary. The bonesnapper’s primary attack mode is a bite with its powerful jaws and jagged teeth. Although the teeth are not unusually sharp, the strength of the jaw muscles is enough to inflict 1d8 points of damage with each bite (and the tail can be swept around to hit the same opponent for 1d4 points of damage).
Spitter bonesnappers are able to spit type M poison at an opponent, with an onset time of 1d4 rounds. Spitter's are immune to their own poison.
Bonesnappers always fight to the death, as they are not smart enough to know when they should run away. Because they are so amazingly stupid, bonesnappers are easily distracted and can often be tricked or trapped with little or no risk to creatures stalking them.
Bonesnappers have a natural resistance to telepathy and are contacted with a -8 penalty to the telepath's power score.

Habitat/Society
Young bonesnappers, both male and female, are solitary creatures. They travel the wilds, living a nomadic existence and hunting when they can. As they grow older, however, they eventually stop wandering and seek out a mate. Once two bonesnappers have mated, they take up residence in a large cave or similar lair and begin a new life together. Bonesnappers that have ceased their travels become very territorial, chasing away or killing any large carnivores that live near their lair.
In the spring of each year, the female makes a nest. She begins by digging a pit one foot in diameter and six inches deep in the ground. Once this is completed, she lines it with straw or other grasses and then deposits an egg into it. The egg hatches within a month and a young bonesnapper emerges. The baby spends the first month of its life in the lair with its mother while the male hunts for the family. In its second month, however, the young bonesnapper joins its parents in a family quest for prey. This pattern continues for about one year, when the half-grown bonesnapper leaves its parents. By its third birthday the baby bonesnapper will have reached full size.
The lair of a bonesnapper couple is always underground. Because of the creature’s habit of dragging the bodies of its victims back to its lair before consuming them, the cave is always covered in bones. The creature’s name is drawn from its habit of breaking victims’ bones to get at the marrow. Although a bonesnapper periodically drags items like armor or backpacks out of its cave and leaves them scattered about the entrance, it never takes steps to clear out the bones.
Spitter bonesnappers act like normal bonesnappers and are able to breed with them.

Ecology
Bonesnappers are dangerous hunters, despite their low intelligence. Bone snapper flesh is edible, but most races find bonesnapper flesh far too tough to be enjoyable. An average adult bone snapper provides 150 pounds of meat.

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