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Sagittarian Sepioceros 41

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by

Dale
in

Original Life Forms

  • Class Aves: Secretarybird (Sagittarius serpentarius)
  • Class Reptilia: Jackson’s Chameleon (Trioceros jacksonii)
  • Class Cephalopoda: Cuttlefish (Sepia)
  • Class Mammalia: North American Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum)

Appearance The Sagittarian Sepioceros is a creature of bewildering and contradictory features. It stands on two pairs of long, slender legs, like those of a secretarybird, which are covered in tough, grey scales and end in sharp, raptorial talons. Its body has the stocky, powerful build of a porcupine, but instead of fur, it is covered in a leathery, reptilian skin. This skin is embedded with highly active chromatophores, allowing it to change color and texture with astonishing speed, shifting from mottled bark to dappled sunlight or solid shadow in moments. A dense mantle of long, sharp, black-and-white quills runs from its shoulders down its back and along its long, prehensile tail. The creature’s head is almost purely reptilian, shaped like that of a chameleon and featuring three prominent, forward-curving horns. Its eyes are mounted in conical turrets that swivel independently of one another, granting it a 360-degree field of vision. A crest of long, quill-like feathers, which it can raise or lower at will, crowns its head. Its pupils are distinctly W-shaped, a trait inherited from its cephalopod ancestor.

Size This creature is roughly the size of a large goat or a small pony. It stands approximately 4 to 5 feet tall at the shoulder due to its long legs. Its body measures about 4 feet in length, with its prehensile tail adding another 3 feet. Despite its slender legs, its dense musculature and heavy quills give it a substantial weight, typically between 150 and 200 pounds.

Speed While not a fast sprinter, the Sagittarian Sepioceros can maintain a steady, ground-eating trot for long distances without tiring. Its legs are built for powerful, deliberate movements rather than outright bursts of speed. Its true quickness is demonstrated in its attacks, where it can deliver a series of lightning-fast stomps and kicks. Its prehensile tail can also move with surprising swiftness to grip branches or fend off attackers.

Stat Modifiers

  • Strength: Moderate
  • Dexterity: High
  • Constitution: Moderate
  • Intelligence: Low (Animal Cunning)
  • Wisdom: Very High
  • Charisma: Very Low

Skills This creature possesses an unparalleled skill in Stealth, using its active camouflage to become nearly invisible in almost any natural terrain. Its Perception is exceptional, a result of its independently moving, all-seeing eyes and its sensitivity to ground vibrations. It has a high degree of skill in Athletics, specifically related to balance and the precise application of its powerful stomping kicks. It also has a unique ability to generate mesmerizing, hypnotic light patterns across its skin, a skill it uses to confuse and daze potential threats or prey.

Behavior The Sagittarian Sepioceros is a profoundly cautious and defensive animal. It spends the majority of its time moving slowly through its territory or standing perfectly still, relying on its camouflage to avoid detection. Its independent eyes are constantly scanning its surroundings for any sign of danger. Its first instinct when faced with a potential threat is to freeze and blend into the environment. If discovered, it will attempt to flee. If cornered, however, its timid nature vanishes and is replaced by explosive defensive aggression. It will flare its quills and crest, making it appear much larger and more intimidating, while its skin may flash with disorienting, pulsating patterns of light. Its primary method of attack is a devastating series of stomping kicks powerful enough to shatter bone. It will also use its three horns to gore any threat that gets too close. As a last resort for escape, it can eject a thick, black, ink-like substance from a gland at the base of its tail, which is incredibly sticky and acts to blind and entangle a pursuer.

Diet Omnivorous by nature, the creature’s diet is varied. It forages for small animals such as large insects, snakes, lizards, and ground-nesting birds, which it kills with its powerful stomps. It uses its sharp talons and horns to dig for roots, tubers, and fungi. It will also consume tough-skinned fruits and gourds, using its horns to break them open. It is a methodical forager, moving slowly and observing its surroundings intently as it searches for food.

Emotions The emotional state of a Sagittarian Sepioceros is governed almost entirely by a high-strung, nervous vigilance. It exists in a perpetual state of alert caution, and its primary emotion appears to be fear. This fear is what drives its reclusive and stealthy behavior. When a threat becomes unavoidable, this fear instantly converts into a panicked and violent defensive rage. It does not display social emotions, as it is a solitary creature that avoids contact even with its own kind outside of mating.

Environment Where Found It prefers habitats that offer a wide variety of cover and terrain, such as savannas, light woodlands, and scrublands dotted with rocky outcroppings and dense thickets. These environments allow it to make maximum use of its dynamic camouflage. It actively avoids wide-open plains where it cannot easily hide and dense, dark forests that might restrict the movement of its long legs. It creates shallow dens for sleeping, often at the base of a large rock or in a thorny thicket that provides natural defense.

Tags Feral, Beast, Camouflage, Defensive, Omnivore, Prehensile Tail, Horned, Skittish, Stomper, Quilled, Hypnotic, Vigilant, Ink Spray, Solitary

Age and Life Cycle

The natural lifespan of a Sagittarian Sepioceros is relatively short for its size, averaging between 15 and 20 years. This is largely attributed to its high-stress, neurologically demanding existence of constant vigilance.

The life cycle begins when a female lays one or two large, leathery eggs in a shallow, hidden scrape on the ground. She chooses a location with exceptional cover, where her own camouflage will be most effective. She guards the nest for several months, rarely leaving and barely eating, relying on her ability to become invisible to protect her clutch from predators.

When the young, known as chicks, hatch, they are surprisingly developed. They stand within an hour, and their chromatophoric skin is already active, though their ability to control it is rudimentary, resulting in slow, clumsy color shifts. Their quills are soft and flexible, offering no real defense. The mother cares for them for three to four months, guiding them on foraging runs and teaching them the art of camouflage through mimicry.

After this brief period of instruction, the mother abandons the chicks, forcing them into a solitary life. This juvenile stage, from four months to two years of age, is the most dangerous period. The young creature’s horns are only small buds, and its quills are still hardening. It must rely almost entirely on its developing camouflage skills to survive as it seeks out an unclaimed territory.

At two years, the Sepioceros is considered a full adult. Its horns have reached their full length, its quills are lethally sharp, and it has mastered its unique defensive abilities. It will spend the rest of its life in solitude within its established territory, only seeking out another of its kind for a brief mating encounter every few years. Elders of the species, those past 12 years, become masters of stealth, their reaction to threats honed to an instinctual art form, though their physical speed may have waned.

Tactics

The tactics of a Sagittarian Sepioceros are almost entirely defensive and reactive, built around a strict hierarchy of responses designed to avoid physical confrontation at all costs.

Its first and most profound tactic is invisibility. The creature’s chromatophoric hide is a marvel of natural magic, capable of not just matching the color of its surroundings, but also mimicking complex patterns and even the perception of texture. It can flatten itself against a rock and appear as lichen-covered stone, stand among ferns and adopt their dappled pattern, or crouch in a thicket and look like a tangle of dead branches. It will remain utterly motionless for hours, its independent eyes the only hint of a living creature.

If its camouflage is compromised and it is discovered, it initiates its second tactic: confusion and intimidation. It flares its crest and the quills along its back and tail, instantly doubling its apparent size. Simultaneously, it begins to flash its skin with rapid, disorienting strobes of vibrant, unnatural colors. These hypnotic, pulsating patterns are designed to overload the visual senses of a predator, causing hesitation and confusion.

Should an aggressor push past the display, the creature engages its third and final defensive tactic: violent escape. It does not fight to kill, but to disable and create an opportunity to flee. It will unleash a blindingly fast series of stomps with its powerful legs, aiming to shatter the limbs of a pursuer. If the enemy gets too close, it will lower its head and make a short, goring charge with its three horns. If it is still unable to escape, it will employ its ink jet, spraying a viscous, tar-like fluid at the attacker’s face to blind and entangle them while the Sepioceros makes its final retreat.

Actions

The creature has a unique set of actions it can perform, most of which are defensive in nature.

  • Perfected Camouflage: By remaining still for a moment, the creature can actively analyze its immediate surroundings and perfectly attune its skin’s color, pattern, and perceived texture to become virtually invisible to mundane sight.
  • Stomp Barrage: The creature’s primary attack, where it braces itself and unleashes a rapid series of two to four powerful stomping kicks with its front legs. Each stomp is aimed at the same point and delivered with enough force to splinter wood or shatter bone.
  • Tri-Horn Gore: A short, powerful charge where the creature lowers its head to impale a target with its three horns. This attack is used as a desperate, close-quarters defensive measure.
  • Hypnotic Flash: A disorienting display where the creature’s entire body erupts in a cascade of chaotic, strobing colors and patterns. Any being that witnesses this must avert its eyes or risk becoming dazed and confused.
  • Quill Defense: A reflexive action where the creature flares all the quills on its body and prehensile tail. This makes it dangerous to attack from any angle, as the tail can whip around to present a spiny defense against flanking maneuvers.
  • Entangling Ink Jet: A one-time escape mechanism. The creature fires a large glob of a thick, black, adhesive substance up to 15 feet. On impact, the substance spreads and hardens slightly, gluing eyes shut and hampering a target’s movement. The gland takes several days to recharge.

Other Interesting Information

The sensory world of the Sagittarian Sepioceros is dominated by sight. Its twin turreted eyes can track two different directions simultaneously, allowing it to process a constant 360-degree view of its environment. It can watch the sky for aerial threats while simultaneously scanning the ground directly in front of it for food or predators. Its hearing and sense of smell are adequate but are distinctly secondary senses.

As an ecological agent, it plays a vital role in controlling populations of snakes and other small reptiles. Its foraging habits of digging for roots with its horns also help to aerate the soil in its territory.

Several of its biological components are highly sought after for alchemical and magical applications, though harvesting them is exceptionally difficult.

  • The Hide: If the chromatophore-laced hide can be harvested and tanned by a master artisan using specialized alchemical treatments, it can be fashioned into cloaks or light armor that grant the wearer a potent camouflage ability.
  • The Horns: The creature’s three horns are made of a material similar to ivory but are far denser. When ground into a powder, they are a key ingredient in potions of heightened perception or scrolls of true-seeing.
  • The Ink: The raw fluid from its ink gland is a powerful natural adhesive. If refined, it can create a substance that can permanently bond almost any two surfaces.
  • The Eyes: The most complex and valuable components. An archmage or master enchanter might be able to use the eyes as a focal point for powerful scrying devices or implant them into a construct to grant it unparalleled observational abilities.

A party of adventurers would have numerous compelling reasons to seek out or encounter a Sagittarian Sepioceros, a creature whose reclusive nature makes any interaction a significant event. These motivations span from the pursuit of legendary wealth to accidental blunders and matters of great urgency.

The Quest for Miraculous Materials

The most direct reason for a dedicated hunt is to harvest the creature’s unique and magically potent biological components. The Sagittarian Sepioceros is a living treasure trove, and the greatest artisans and mages of the realms are willing to pay fortunes for its parts, which cannot be replicated by any other means.

  • The Cloak of Invisibility: A spymaster for a powerful kingdom, the leader of an assassins’ guild, or a fantastically wealthy noble obsessed with security might commission the creation of a garment that grants true invisibility. The only known method involves the chromatophore-laced hide of a Sepioceros. The contract would be immense, but it would require the adventurers not only to track and slay the elusive beast but to do so with specialized, non-metallic tools to avoid disrupting the hide’s magical field. They would then have to deliver the fresh pelt to a master artisan within a few days, before its camouflage properties fade forever.
  • The Lens of Truth: An inquisitor tasked with rooting out a secretive shapeshifting cult or a wizard constructing a supreme scrying device may find their efforts stymied by powerful illusions. Ancient texts suggest that the complex, multi-faceted eyes of a Sepioceros, which can perceive the world without deception, are the key component for a lens that can see through all forms of magical deceit. The adventurers would be hired to procure these eyes, a task made perilous by the fact that the eyes lose their magical potency within moments of the creature’s death, requiring immediate and delicate preservation in a specially prepared alchemical solution.
  • The Indissoluble Adhesive: A master artificer working on a colossal steam-powered titan or constructing a vital piece of civic infrastructure, like a great bridge or dam, may require an adhesive of legendary strength. When the refined ink from the Sepioceros’s defensive gland is exposed to air and treated with a specific catalyst, it forms a bond that is physically unbreakable and immune to magical dissolution. A group of adventurers would be contracted to retrieve the gland intact, a messy and dangerous undertaking.

The Hunter’s Ultimate Challenge

For some, the value is not in the creature’s parts, but in the prestige of the hunt itself. The sheer difficulty of finding and besting a Sagittarian Sepioceros makes it a legend among hunters and warriors.

  • The Trial of the Master: A secretive and highly respected monster-hunting guild may have a final trial for its aspirants wishing to earn the title of “Master.” The challenge is to hunt what they call the “Ghost of the Savanna.” The test is not one of brute force but of supreme skill in tracking, stealth, and patience. Proof of the deed cannot be something as crude as the whole creature’s head; it must be something small, specific, and undeniable, such as the central horn from its head or a single, perfect quill taken without damaging the rest of the mantle.
  • A Noble’s Wager: In a bustling metropolis, two rival princes with too much time and money make an outlandish wager: who can be the first to present a living Sagittarian Sepioceros at the royal court. They each hire a party of skilled adventurers, providing them with immense resources. The quest becomes a frantic race, not only against the creature’s formidable defenses but also against a rival party that may resort to sabotage and trickery. Capturing this skittish and violently defensive creature without killing it is a task of monumental difficulty, requiring ingenious traps and non-lethal tactics.

An Unforeseen Complication

Often, a party will encounter a Sepioceros not by design, but by sheer accident, turning a completely different mission into a chaotic struggle for survival.

  • The Stumbled-Upon Lair: A party of adventurers might be on an entirely unrelated mission, such as tracking a band of outlaws or pursuing a different monster through the scrublands. Seeking shelter for the night, they make camp in what appears to be a defensible, rocky alcove. Unbeknownst to them, they have settled at the entrance to a Sepioceros’s den. The creature, returning from its nocturnal foraging, blunders into the camp. The encounter would be sudden and panicked, with the terrified creature lashing out defensively with kicks and quills, and the surprised adventurers forced to react to a threat they never anticipated.
  • The Distracted Client: The party could be on a high-paying but seemingly simple escort mission, guarding a wealthy naturalist on a research expedition. The naturalist, obsessed with cataloging rare flora, wanders away from the group, drawn by a unique flower. The adventurers follow his tracks only to find him cornered by a highly agitated Sepioceros. The creature, feeling trapped, is flashing its hypnotic lights and flaring its quills. The mission instantly shifts from a simple escort to a tense hostage negotiation with a wild animal, where the goal is to extract their client before the terrified beast decides to charge or stomp him into oblivion.

The Subject of Investigation

In some cases, the creature is not the objective but a crucial clue in a much larger mystery, where its well-being or strange behavior is a symptom of a greater problem.

  • The Silent Savanna: A party is hired by a local warden to investigate a strange silence that has fallen over a stretch of savanna. The usual sounds of birds and insects are gone, and other animals are found dead, with no visible wounds. The only living creature the party can find is a Sagittarian Sepioceros, which seems strangely unaffected. Upon closer observation, they realize its camouflage patterns are shifting in unsettling, geometric ways, and its defensive ink is leaving behind crystalline residue. The creature has become a living repository of a bizarre magical phenomenon, and understanding what has happened to it is the only way to stop the “silence” from spreading.

From the corpse of a Sagittarian Sepioceros, a skilled harvester can procure a wealth of rare and potent materials that are highly prized by alchemists, artificers, and mages. Beyond the obvious value of its hide and horns, many other parts of the creature possess unique properties tied to its bizarre biology.

Chameleonic Hide

The creature’s skin is its most famous and valuable feature, but it is exceptionally difficult to preserve. After death, the chromatophore cells that allow for its camouflage fire chaotically, and the hide will settle into a useless, muddy grey color if not treated immediately. It must be carefully flensed and submerged in a saline solution infused with powdered silver to stabilize its magical properties.

  • Uses: Its primary use is in crafting Masterwork Camouflage Armor. When properly tanned by a master artisan, the hide retains its color-shifting abilities, allowing the wearer to actively blend into their surroundings by concentrating. While not true invisibility, it makes the wearer nearly impossible to spot when standing still. A lesser-known application is as a Scry-Proofing liner for cloaks or tents; when the hide is turned inward, the chaotic magical energy of the chromatophores interferes with magical scrying, making the person or area difficult to pinpoint. Finally, the chromatophore cells themselves can be carefully scraped from the hide and rendered into the most expensive pigments in the world, used to create paintings that subtly shift their colors and mood based on the ambient light.

The Three Horns

The horns of the Sepioceros are not simple bone, but a dense, ivory-like keratinoid material that grows in a spiral pattern. This structure makes them natural resonators for psychic and magical energy. Each of the three horns has a slightly different application.

  • Uses: The central horn is the most potent and is often carved into a focusing wand or the head of a staff for mages who specialize in divination, illusion, or magic of the mind. The two side horns can be used to create a unique dowsing tool; when mounted on a gimbal, they are said to tremble and point towards the direction of whatever person, object, or location the user is intensely concentrating on. When any of the horns are ground into a fine powder, they form the main ingredient in a “Powder of True Sight,” an alchemical dust that, when blown into the air, temporarily reveals all magical illusions and invisible things within a small area.

Leg Tendons

The long, fibrous tendons harvested from the creature’s powerful legs are a marvel of biological engineering. They are incredibly strong and possess an unmatched elasticity, able to store and release kinetic energy with near-perfect efficiency.

  • Uses: Master artificers seek out these tendons for use in creating advanced mechanical prosthetics. A prosthetic arm or leg powered by steam and using these tendons for articulation can replicate the strength and fluidity of a real limb. On a larger scale, engineers use braided ropes of the tendon as the torsion springs in advanced siege engines like catapults and ballistae, allowing the machines to store and release far more power than traditional materials. Master bowyers can also laminate a bow’s core with strips of the tendon to create a greatbow with a devastatingly powerful draw weight.

Quill-Feather Crest

The filaments in the creature’s crest are neither true quills nor feathers. They are hollow, semi-rigid tubes of keratin that are directly linked to the creature’s nervous system, used to sense changes in air pressure and static electricity.

  • Uses: These unique filaments are coveted by artificers specializing in telepathy. When woven into a circlet or helmet, the crest-quills act as psychic antennae, amplifying the range and clarity of telepathic broadcasts and reception. When used as fletching on arrows, the quills provide a strange aerodynamic stability that grants the arrow a minor but noticeable homing quality, causing it to subtly correct its path toward its target mid-flight. They are also highly sought after by master scribes for use as pens, as their structure allows them to hold magical inks without corroding.

W-Shaped Eye Lenses

The crystalline lenses within the creature’s turreted eyes are a biological wonder. Their unique W-shaped focal structure allows the creature to perceive a much wider spectrum of light than most beings, including polarized light, which makes spotting disturbances in the air or seeing through the glare of water simple.

  • Uses: A skilled gemcutter can grind these lenses and set them into spectacles or spyglasses. A person looking through these “Lenses of Revelation” can perceive the world in a new way, seeing the faint auras of magical enchantments, the shimmer of an invisible creature, or the tell-tale distortions of a powerful illusion. They can also be used as a key component in complex magical traps, calibrated to trigger when a specific pattern of light is detected or when an invisible beam of polarized light is broken.

Parable of Empty-Handed Prince

It is told, from a time whose memory is dust, of a Prince named Kael, and his heart was a vault in which he wished to lock the whole world. His gardens were full of beasts that should not be caged, and his halls were full of songs that should not be sung. One day, a traveler with dust on his feet spoke of the savanna lands and the Ghost-That-Walks, the beast whose skin is a living painting and whose horns are like dowsing rods for truth.

And the Prince Kael, his ears receiving this news, felt the familiar fire of wanting ignite in his belly-pouch. He struck the floor with the butt of his spear. “A beast that wears the world as a cloak? Such a thing belongs to me! Its shifting colors will entertain my court. Its horns will decorate my high seat. I will possess this thing that cannot be seen.”

So he gathered his great company of trackers whose eyes were like hawks, and servants whose hands were quick, and he journeyed to the edge of the great savanna, which is the land of tall, dry grass and lonely trees. In a village there, he spoke to an Old Weaver, a woman whose face was a map of many years and whose loom hummed with the colors of the sunset.

“Old mother,” the Prince said, his voice full of the coin he carried. “Tell me of the Quill-Backed Nothing. Where does it make its den?”

The Old Weaver did not stop her work. The shuttle flew back and forth, a captive bird. She spoke, her voice like the rustle of dry leaves. “A Prince cannot put a shadow in a cage. A rich man cannot own the color of the wind. You hunt for the space where something was a moment before. Turn your caravan around, son of a king, for this road leads only to tired feet and a story of failure.”

The Prince Kael laughed, a sharp sound that had no joy in it. “Your peasant riddles are for the poor, old woman. My will is a net, and there is no beast that it cannot catch.” And he turned from her and led his great company into the tall grasses.

For many days they searched. The sun-ball climbed the sky-road and fell into its western hole, and still they found nothing. They found its signs, yes. They found the tracks of its stilt-like legs, tracks that walked to the center of a stone clearing and then… were not. They found the husks of hard-shelled gourds, broken open by three strong horns. They found the small bones of snakes, shattered by a great and sudden force. At all times, they felt they were being watched by eyes they could not see, and the livers of the trackers began to tremble with a nameless fear.

The Prince grew hot with impatience. “How can a thing so large leave no trace?” he roared at the sky. “Find me this Horned Dancer, or I will have your own hides to decorate my halls!”

And so it was, on the tenth day, that the keenest of his trackers raised a hand and pointed. “My lord,” he whispered, “there. By the rocks that look like sleeping giants.”

Kael looked, and for a breath, he saw it. It was a thing of impossibility, with the legs of a stork and the body of a spined beast. Its skin was the color of the rock, then the color of the moss on the rock, then the color of the shadow beside the rock. It was there, and then it was not there. The space was empty, but the Prince knew his eyes were not liars. The sight of it, so brief and so perfect, turned the fire of wanting in his belly into a raging furnace of obsession.

“It cannot run forever!” Kael decreed. “If we cannot see it, we will force the very land to reveal it!”

He commanded his servants to build a great pen of wood and iron, with a gate that would fall if a creature disturbed the bait within. They trampled the savanna to build it, their work a great scar upon the earth. They baited it with the sweetest fruits from the Prince’s own gardens, and with a basket of hissing vipers. They waited. And they waited. But the Horned Dancer did not come. It knew the smell of man and the wrongness of the cage.

Verily, the Prince’s face became a thundercloud. He drew his great sword. “Enough of this game of hide-and-seek! We will beat the bushes! Form a line, a league wide from end to end! We will walk to the great cliffs, and every beast in this land will be driven before us. The Ghost-That-Walks will either show itself or be pushed from the edge of the world!”

The great company did as they were commanded. They formed a line of men, beating drums and shouting, a moving wall of noise and steel that swept across the plain. It was a terrible thing. Birds and beasts of all kinds fled before them in a tide of panic. The Prince rode behind them, his eyes scanning for the prize.

But the Horned Dancer was not a creature to be driven like cattle. The noise, the fear, the wrongness of it all, it disturbed the beast from its hiding place. And its fear, when cornered, became a different thing. It became a cold and quiet fury.

It did not appear before the line. It appeared within it.

From a space between two trackers that had seemed empty, the creature rose. Its skin pulsed with colors of fire and lightning, a hypnotic and terrible sight that made the men’s heads spin. It did not roar. It took two quick steps on its stilt-legs and brought a foot down on a man’s leg with the sound of a breaking pot. It was the Stomping Death. It kicked another man, a guard, and his shield of iron dented like soft clay. It lowered its head, and its three horns tore through the leg of a drummer, silencing his beat. It was not a battle. It was a dispersal. It moved with a speed that was unnatural, disabling, breaking, and creating chaos. When the Prince’s captain charged, the creature spat a glob of black, sticky tar that covered his face and blinded him.

And then, as suddenly as it had come, it was gone. It did not run into the distance. It simply flowed into the landscape and was not there.

Prince Kael sat upon his horse, his sword still in his hand. Around him, his great company was a ruin of groaning, wounded men. The savanna was silent once more. He had turned the whole world upside down to find the creature, and he had found it. His hands, however, were still empty.

The Moral: For a man who believes he can own everything will one day reach for the wind, and all he will ever grasp is the shape of his own closed fist.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition

Chameleoline Courser Large monstrosity, unaligned

Armor Class 14 (natural armor) Hit Points 114 (12d10 + 48) Speed 50 ft.

STR 17 (+3) DEX 18 (+4) CON 18 (+4) INT 3 (-4) WIS 18 (+4) CHA 7 (-2)

Skills Perception +11, Stealth +11 Senses passive Perception 21 Languages — Challenge 7 (2,900 XP)

Active Camouflage. As a bonus action, the courser can turn invisible. The invisibility lasts until the start of its next turn, or until it attacks or forces a creature to make a saving throw.

Vigilant. The courser has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks and on saving throws against being blinded. It cannot be surprised.

Reactive Quills. At the start of its turn, the courser deals 5 (1d10) piercing damage to any creature grappling it or that it is grappling. A creature that touches the courser or hits it with a melee attack while within 5 feet of it takes 5 (1d10) piercing damage.

Actions

Multiattack. The courser makes two Stomp attacks.

Stomp. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (2d12 + 3) bludgeoning damage.

Gore. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d10 + 3) piercing damage.

Hypnotic Display (Recharge 5–6). The courser flashes a cascade of disorienting lights from its skin. Each creature within 30 feet of the courser that can see it must succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or be stunned until the end of the courser’s next turn.

Entangling Ink (1/Day). Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, range 30/60 ft., one creature. Hit: The target is covered in a thick, sticky ink and is restrained. As an action, the restrained target can make a DC 16 Strength check, freeing itself on a success.

Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition

The Prismatic Phantom An impossible creature of the savanna, whispered about by locals as a ghost that walks. Its form is a bizarre amalgamation of bird, reptile, and spined mammal, and its skin shimmers with unseen colors.

STR 85 CON 70 SIZ 75 DEX 80 INT 25 POW 70 HP 14 Move 10 Damage Bonus: +1D6 Build: 1

Attacks Fighting (Stomp) 60%, 1D8+db (may attack twice per round) Fighting (Gore) 40%, 1D10+db Dodge 40%

Armor: 1 point of tough hide and sharp quills. Any investigator who makes a successful unarmed Fighting attack against it takes 1D3 damage.

Abilities

  • Inhuman Senses: The Phantom’s independently moving eyes grant it a bonus die on any Spot Hidden roll and mean it can never be taken by surprise.
  • Vanishing Act: As an action, the creature’s skin can perfectly mimic its surroundings, making it effectively invisible. Any attack against it while invisible is at a penalty die, and locating it requires a Hard Spot Hidden roll. The effect ends if it attacks.
  • Hypnotic Flash: Once per encounter, it can pulse its skin with a disorienting light show. All investigators looking at it must succeed on a POW roll or be mesmerized for 1D3 rounds, unable to take any action.
  • Ink Jet: When it has taken 7 or more damage, it may use its action to spray one investigator with a thick, entangling ink. This requires the investigator to win an opposed STR roll against the creature’s STR of 85 to take any action that involves movement.

Sanity Loss: 1/1D8 Sanity points for witnessing the physically impossible creature. 1D3/1D10 for being mesmerized by its hypnotic display.

Blades in the Dark

The Chromatic Strider A skittish horror from the Deathlands, a beast that is there one moment and gone the next. Ghost-lenses are said to be able to see it, but its kick can shatter stone and its gaze can steal your thoughts.

Threat Level: Dangerous, elusive, Tier III entity. Instinct: To remain unseen; to disable and flee.

Qualities:

  • Ghostly Skin: Can become invisible at will.
  • All-Seeing Eyes: Impossible to get the drop on.
  • Spined Body: Harmful to get close to.
  • Bone-Shattering Stomp: Its legs strike with inhuman force.

Moves:

  • Vanish from sight: Fade into the background, becoming a ghost. The crew must find a new way to track it or the hunt is over.
  • Unleash a hypnotic light show: Fill the scene with a disorienting, strobing cascade of colors. All who look suffer Level 2 Harm (“Mesmerized,” “Dizzy & Confused”).
  • Deliver a devastating stomp: A single, lightning-fast kick aimed to cripple. Inflicts Level 3 Harm (“Shattered Leg,” “Caved-in Chest”).
  • Spray entangling ink: Trap a target in sticky black tar, rendering them helpless and stuck in place.

Knave 2nd Edition

Quill-Horned Chameleon Stork A tall, bizarre beast that walks on two pairs of stilt-like legs. Its back is a mantle of sharp quills, its head bears three horns, and its skin shifts and changes color, making it nearly impossible to see.

Level 8 Armor 13 (Spined hide) HP 40 Attacks 2 Stomps (d10) or 1 Gore (d12) Morale 7 (flees), 13 (cornered) Will 15

Traits

  • Vigilant: Cannot be surprised and has advantage on all saves to detect ambushes or hidden things.
  • Reactive Quills: Any PC that hits the creature with a melee attack takes 1d6 damage.
  • Vanishing Skin: As an action, the creature can become invisible. It remains invisible until it attacks. PCs must win an opposed Wits vs. Will contest to target it while invisible.

Special Abilities

  • Hypnotic Flash (1/day): As an action, the creature can flash its skin with disorienting light. All PCs who can see it must save vs. Will or be stunned for 1 round, dropping anything they are holding.
  • Ink Jet (1/day): As an action, the creature can make a ranged attack against one PC within 30ft. On a hit, the PC is stuck to their spot and cannot move for d6 rounds. They may still defend and take other actions.

Treasure

  • Chameleon Hide (1): If taken to a master artisan (a quest in itself), can be crafted into a cloak that grants the Vanishing Skin ability once per day. The process costs 1000s.
  • Set of Three Horns (1): Worth 300s. A key component in any magical scrying device.
  • Pots of Ink (d4): The creature’s gland can be harvested for d4 pots of a substance that acts exactly like sovereign glue.

Fate Core

The Ghost of the Grasslands

High Concept: Skittish, Chameleon-Quilled Nightmare

Trouble Aspect: Panics Violently When Cornered

Other Aspects:

  • My Skin Is a Lie
  • Bone-Shattering Stomps
  • All-Seeing Eyes Watch You
  • A Face Full of Sticky Ink

Skills

  • Superb (+5): Stealth
  • Great (+4): Athletics, Notice
  • Good (+3): Fight, Will
  • Fair (+2): Physique

Stress: [ ][ ][ ][ ]

Consequences:

  • Mild (2):
  • Moderate (4):
  • Severe (6):

Stunts

  • Vanish: Because My Skin is a Lie, I can spend a Fate Point to become effectively invisible. I cannot be targeted by attacks unless the attacker first succeeds on an Overcome action with Notice against my Superb (+5) Stealth. This effect lasts until I make an attack.
  • Hypnotic Display: I can attempt to Create an Advantage on all targets in my zone by flashing hypnotic lights across my skin. If I succeed, I place the aspect Dazed and Confused on them.
  • Reactive Quills: When I succeed on a Defend roll against a melee Fight attack, I can choose to inflict a 2-shift hit back on the attacker as my quills graze them. This does not cost an action.
  • All-Seeing Eyes: Because All-Seeing Eyes Watch You, I can never be ambushed or surprised by conventional means.

Numenera & Cypher System

Sepian Stomper A highly skittish omnivore that relies on its advanced biological camouflage to avoid conflict. When forced into a confrontation, its panic manifests as sudden, explosive violence before it attempts to flee again.

Level: 7 (target number for all tasks is 21) Health: 35 Damage: Inflicts 8 points of damage with its stomp. Armor: 1 Movement: Long

Modifications:

  • All tasks related to stealth, hiding, or camouflage are level 9.
  • All tasks related to perception or detecting ambushes are level 9.

Combat: The Sepian Stomper is incredibly difficult to engage. It is immune to surprise attacks due to its 360-degree vision. Its primary instinct is to use its action to become invisible; a character must succeed on a level 9 perception task to even guess its location.

If an attacker manages to engage it in melee and misses the attack roll, the attacker takes 2 points of damage as they brush against the creature’s sharp quills.

As its entire action, it can generate a hypnotic flash of light. All creatures who can see it must make an Intellect defense roll. On a failure, they are stunned and lose their next turn, completely dazed by the pulsating colors.

GM Intrusion: A character finally closes the distance and corners the creature. The GM intrudes, and the Sepian Stomper uses its Ink Jet. It sprays a thick, sticky ink at the character, who must make a Speed defense roll. On a failure, the character is stuck fast, unable to move from their location. All physical tasks, including attacks and defense rolls, are hindered by two steps until they or an ally can spend several rounds scraping the adhesive off.

Loot: Its hide, if properly preserved, can be crafted into clothing that grants an asset to stealth tasks. Its horns are often sought as components for reality-bending cyphers.

Pathfinder 2nd Edition

Chroma-Quill Courser Creature 7 Uncommon, N, Large, Beast

Perception +19; all-around vision Skills Acrobatics +17, Athletics +15, Stealth +19 Str +4, Dex +6, Con +4, Int -4, Wis +6, Cha +0

AC 25; Fort +15, Ref +17, Will +17 HP 120

All-Around Vision The chroma-quill courser is immune to the flanked condition. Reactive Quills [Reaction] Trigger A creature within 5 feet of the courser hits it with a melee Strike; Effect The triggering creature takes 2d6 piercing damage.

Speed 50 feet

Melee [one-action] Stomp +18 [+13/+8] (reach 10 feet), Damage 2d12+8 bludgeoning Melee [one-action] Gore +18 [+13/+8], Damage 2d10+8 piercing

Vanish [one-action] (illusion, visual) The courser becomes invisible. The invisibility lasts until the start of its next turn or until it uses a hostile action, whichever comes first.

Hypnotic Cascade [two-actions] (illusion, mental, visual) Frequency once per minute; The courser unleashes a wave of disorienting light. Each creature in a 30-foot emanation must attempt a DC 25 Will save.

  • Critical Success The creature is unaffected.
  • Success The creature is dazzled for 1 round.
  • Failure The creature is stunned 1 and is dazzled for as long as it is stunned.
  • Critical Failure The creature is stunned 3.

Entangling Ink [one-action] Range Increment 30 feet; The courser makes a ranged attack with a +17 modifier against a single target. On a hit, the target is immobilized and must spend an Interact action to attempt a DC 25 Athletics check to break free.

Savage Worlds Adventure Edition (SWADE)

Shimmer-Stilt A bizarre, long-legged creature that stalks the savannas, known more as a local legend than a real animal due to its incredible ability to disappear into thin air. It is timid and flees from most threats, but becomes a whirlwind of defensive violence when cornered.

Attributes: Agility d10, Smarts d4 (A), Spirit d8, Strength d8, Vigor d8 Skills: Athletics d10, Fighting d8, Notice d12, Stealth d12 Pace: 10; Parry: 6; Toughness: 8 (2) Edges: Alertness, Dodge

Special Abilities

  • Armor +2: A thick hide covered in sharp quills.
  • All-Around Vision: The Shimmer-Stilt cannot be surprised by non-magical threats and attackers do not gain a Gang Up bonus against it.
  • Camouflage: As an action, the Shimmer-Stilt can make a Stealth roll to become effectively invisible. Anyone attempting to target it must first make an opposed Notice roll. Even if successful, attacks suffer a -4 penalty. This effect ends if the creature attacks.
  • Horns/Stomp: Str+d8. The creature can attack with its horns or its powerful legs. It has a Reach of 1” due to its long legs.
  • Hypnotic Lights: As an action, the creature can flash its skin with dazzling light. All who see it must make a Spirit roll or become Vulnerable. With a raise on its activation roll, they are also Distracted.
  • Ink Jet: Once per encounter, it can shoot a glob of sticky ink at one target within 6” as a ranged attack using its Athletics skill. If it hits, the target is Entangled.
  • Spiny: Any character who hits the Shimmer-Stilt with a Brawling attack suffers 2d4 damage.

Shadowrun, Sixth World

Chromatic Strider (Awakened Predator / Paracritter) A rare and highly sought-after paracritter from remote, magically active scrublands. It is a bizarre herbivore known for its impossible biology, combining the long legs of a wading bird with the quilled body of a porcupine and the head of a horned reptile. Its skin ripples with shifting colors, making it a living ghost.

Attributes Body: 5 Agility: 6 Reaction: 5 Strength: 5 Willpower: 5 Logic: 1 Intuition: 6 Charisma: 2 Edge: 4

Derived Stats Initiative: 11 + 2d6 Physical Condition Monitor: 11 Stun Condition Monitor: 11 Composure: 7 Judge Intentions: 8 Memory: 6

Skills Athletics: 5 Close Combat: 4 Perception: 6 Stealth: 7

Powers & Qualities

  • Armor: 4 (Quilled Hide)
  • Concealment (Self): The creature’s skin actively mimics its surroundings, imposing a standing -4 dice pool penalty on all tests to visually perceive it. As a Major Action, it can focus this ability, increasing the penalty to -8 for one combat round.
  • Vigilant: The chromatic strider’s panoramic vision means it cannot be surprised.
  • Hypnotic Flash: As a Major Action, the strider can create a disorienting light show. This is a special test using its Intuition + Willpower. Anyone who can see it must resist with their own Willpower + Intuition test. On a failure, the victim suffers the Confused status effect for a number of combat rounds equal to the net hits.
  • Ink Jet: Once per day, as a Minor Action, the strider can fire a glob of sticky ink at a target within 10 meters. This is an Agility + Athletics attack. If it hits, the target suffers the Immobile status effect until they spend a Major Action to make a Strength + Body (4) test to break free.
  • Reactive Quills: If the strider is hit by a melee attack, the attacker must resist 6P damage (AP -1).
  • Weapon (Stomp/Gore): Attack Rating: 11, Damage: 7P, AP: -1

Starfinder

Photic Courser Creature 7

XP 3,200 N Large magical beast Init +8; Senses all-around vision, low-light vision; Perception +19

Defense EAC 19; KAC 21 Fort +11; Ref +11; Will +8 HP 105 Defensive Abilities chameleonic skin, reactive quills

Offense Speed 50 ft. Melee stomp +17 (2d8+11 B) Multiattack 2 stomps +11 (2d8+11 B) Offensive Abilities hypnotic display, entangling ink

Statistics STR +4; DEX +8; CON +4; INT -4; WIS +5; CHA +0 Skills Acrobatics +14, Athletics +14, Stealth +19

Ecology Environment temperate plains and forests on low-tech worlds. Organization solitary

Special Abilities

  • All-Around Vision (Ex): A photic courser cannot be flanked.
  • Chameleonic Skin (Ex): The courser’s skin grants it concealment (20% miss chance). As a move action, it can improve this to total concealment (50% miss chance) for 1 round.
  • Hypnotic Display (Ex): As a standard action once per minute, the photic courser can flash its skin with a dazzling array of lights. All creatures within 30 feet that can see the courser must succeed at a DC 17 Will save or be stunned for 1 round.
  • Entangling Ink (Ex): Once per day as a standard action, the courser can shoot a glob of sticky ink. This is a ranged attack (+17) against a single target’s KAC within 60 feet. If it hits, the target gains the entangled condition for 1d4 rounds.
  • Reactive Quills (Ex): A creature that hits the photic courser with a melee attack takes 2d6 piercing damage.

Traveller (Mongoose 2nd Edition)

Ghost-Mantis Stepper UPP-Style Profile: 7X8A8A-6 A large, skittish omnivore found on worlds with dense scrubland and savanna. It is known for its incredible camouflage, making it more myth than a commonly sighted animal. It is prized by collectors and bio-hunters.

Traits

  • Hits: 22
  • Armor: 3 (Spined Hide)
  • Skills: Athletics 2, Melee (natural) 1, Recon 3, Stealth 3
  • Pace: 10m
  • Attacks: Stomp x2 (2d6+2), Horns (3d6)
  • Behavior: Skittish, Elusive, Omnivore.

Game Mechanics

  • Vigilant: The Stepper cannot be surprised.
  • Chameleonic Hide: The creature is always considered to be in cover, imposing a -2 DM to all ranged attacks against it. As an action, it can become nearly invisible, requiring a Difficult (10+) Recon check to spot at all. This effect ends if it attacks.
  • Hypnotic Flash: As an action, the Stepper can flash its skin with disorienting light patterns. Anyone who can see it must make an INT 8+ check or be stunned for one round, unable to take any actions.
  • Ink Shot: Once per day, the Stepper can shoot a glob of sticky ink at a single target within 20m. This is resolved as a ranged attack with a skill of 1. A successful hit means the target is immobilised and cannot move from their location for 1D6 rounds.
  • Quill Defense: Any Traveller who hits the Stepper with an unarmed or natural weapon attack takes 1D6 damage.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition

Shimmer-Stag A reclusive and highly magical beast of the deep woods and lonely heaths. It is seen as a creature of profound mystery, a walking illusion whose motives and origins are unknown. To see one is considered an omen, though whether for good or ill is widely debated.

Profile M 8; WS 45; BS -; S 4; T 4; I 50; Ag 45; Dex -; Int 15; WP 50; Fel – Wounds: 25

Traits

  • Armour: 1 (Spines, All Locations)
  • Afraid (Humans, Elves, Dwarfs, Greenskins)
  • Fear 1 (when cornered)
  • Night Vision
  • Size: Large
  • Skittish: The Shimmer-Stag will attempt to flee any confrontation unless it is trapped or its young are threatened.
  • Unseen: The Shimmer-Stag’s natural camouflage is magical in nature. All Perception Tests made to spot it, whether it is moving or still, suffer a -30 penalty.
  • Weapon+7 (Stomp/Horns)

Special Abilities

  • Hypnotic Lights: As a full action, the Shimmer-Stag can ripple its skin with a cascade of magical light. All creatures who can see it must make a Challenging (+0) Willpower Test or gain 1 Stunned Condition as they stand mesmerized by the impossible display.
  • Ink Jet: When Fleeing, the Shimmer-Stag may use its action to fire a glob of sticky ink at one opponent pursuing it. This is a ranged attack using its Agility of 45. A successful hit imposes 1 Entangled Condition on the target.
  • Quills: Any opponent who rolls a fumble on a melee attack against the Shagger-Stag takes a Damage 4 hit from its sharp quills.