Creatures
Many of the creatures that inhabit the islands are very similar to those found throughout the realm. Variations in size and habit can be expected as isolation on the islands has produced unique species and sub-species. Below is a list of the more common creatures that you would expect to see on the islands.
This material is Open Game Content, and is licensed for public use under the terms of the Open Game License v1.0a.
- Dryad -
A dryad’s delicate features are much like a female elf ’s, though her flesh is like bark or fine wood, and her hair is like a canopy of leaves that changes color with the seasons. Although they are generally solitary, up to seven dryads have been encountered in one place on rare occasions. Dryads speak Common, Elven, and Sylvan.
COMBAT - Shy, intelligent, and resolute, dryads are as elusive as they are alluring—they avoid physical combat and are rarely seen unless they wish to be. If threatened, or in need of an ally, a dryad uses charm person or suggestion, attempting to gain control of the attacker(s) who could help the most against the rest. Any attack on her tree, however, provokes the dryad into a frenzied defense.
- Gnoll -
Gnolls are hyena-headed, evil humanoids that wander in loose tribes. Most gnolls have dirty yellow or reddish-brown fur. A gnoll is a nocturnal carnivore, preferring intelligent creatures for food because they scream more. A gnoll is about 7-1/2 feet tall and weighs 300 pounds. Gnolls speak Gnoll.
COMBAT - Gnolls like to attack when they have the advantage of numbers, using horde tactics and their physical strength to overwhelm and knock down their opponents. They show little discipline when fighting unless they have a strong leader; at such times, they can maintain ranks and fight as a unit. While they do not usually prepare traps, they do use ambushes and try to attack from a flanking position. Because of its shield, a gnoll’s modifier on Hide checks (untrained) is –2, which means gnolls always take special care to seek favorable conditions when laying ambushes (such as darkness, cover, or some other form of advantageous terrain).
- Goblin -
A goblin stands 3 to 3-1/2 feet tall and weigh 40 to 45 pounds. Its eyes are usually dull and glazed, varying in color from red to yellow. A goblin’s skin color ranges from yellow through any shade of orange to a deep red; usually all members of a single tribe are about the same color. Goblins wear clothing of dark leather, tending toward drab, soiled-looking colors. Goblins speak Goblin; those with Intelligence scores of 12 or higher also speak Common. Most goblins encountered outside their homes are warriors.
COMBAT -
Being bullied by bigger, stronger creatures has taught goblins to exploit what few advantages they have: sheer numbers and malicious ingenuity. The concept of a fair fight is meaningless in their society. They favor ambushes, overwhelming odds, dirty tricks, and any other edge they can devise. Goblins have a poor grasp of strategy and are cowardly by nature, tending to flee the field if a battle turns against them. With proper supervision, though, they can implement reasonably complex plans, and in such circumstances their numbers can be a deadly advantage.
- Hill Giant -
Skin color among hill giants ranges from light tan to deep ruddy brown. Their hair is brown or black, with eyes the same color. Hill giants wear layers of crudely prepared hides with the fur left on. They seldom wash or repair their garments, preferring to simply add more hides as their old ones wear out. Adults are about 10-1/2 feet tall and weigh about 1,100 pounds. Hill giants can live to be 200 years old.
COMBAT - Hill giants prefer to fight from high, rocky outcroppings, where they can pelt opponents with rocks and boulders while limiting the risk to themselves. Hill giants love to make overrun attacks against smaller creatures when they first join battle. Thereafter, they stand fast and swing away with their massive clubs.
- Imp (Devil) -
In its natural form, an imp stands almost 2 feet tall and weighs about 8 pounds.
Combat - Imps are craven, but not so timid as to pass up an opportunity for a surprise attack using their invisibility and alternate form ability. In its natural form, an imp attacks with the wicked stinger on its tail. It quickly flies out of reach if a foe manages to strike back effectively. An imp’s natural weapons, as well as any weapons it wields, are treated as evil-aligned and lawful-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
- Ogre -
Adult ogres stand 9 to 10 feet tall and weigh 600 to 650 pounds. Their skin color ranges from dull yellow to dull brown. Their clothing consists of poorly cured furs and hides, which add to their naturally repellent odor. Ogres speak Giant, and those specimens who boast Intelligence scores of at least 10 also speak Common.
COMBAT - Ogres favor overwhelming odds, sneak attacks, and ambushes over a fair fight. They are intelligent enough to fire ranged weapons first to soften up their foes before closing, but ogre gangs and bands fight as unorganized individuals.
- Orc -
An orc’s hair usually is black. It has lupine ears and reddish eyes. Orcs prefer wearing vivid colors that many humans would consider unpleasant, such as blood red, mustard yellow, yellow-green, and deep purple. Their equipment is dirty and unkempt. An adult male orc is a little over 6 feet tall and weighs about 210 pounds. Females are slightly smaller. The language an orc speaks varies slightly from tribe to tribe, but any orc is understandable by someone else who speaks Orc. Some orcs know Goblin or Giant as well. Most orcs encountered away from their homes are warriors.
COMBAT - Orcs are proficient with all simple weapons, preferring those that cause the most damage in the least time. Many orcs who take up the warrior or fighter class also gain proficiency with the falchion or the greataxe as a martial weapon. They enjoy attacking from concealment and setting ambushes, and they obey the rules of war (such as honoring a truce) only as long as it is convenient for them.
- Pixie (Sprite) -
Pixies wear bright clothing, often including a cap and shoes with curled and pointed toes. A pixie stands about 2-1/2 feet tall and weighs about 30 pounds. Pixies speak Sylvan and Common, and may know other languages as well.
Combat - The normally carefree pixies ferociously attack evil creatures and unwanted intruders. They take full advantage of their invisibility and other abilities to harass and drive away opponents.
- Skeleton -
Skeletons are the animated bones of the dead, mindless automatons that obey the orders of their evil masters. A skeleton is seldom garbed in anything more than the rotting remnants of any clothing or armor it was wearing when slain. A skeleton does only what it is ordered to do. It can draw no conclusions of its own and takes no initiative. Because of this limitation, its instructions must always be simple. A skeleton attacks until destroyed.
COMBAT - A skeleton retains all the natural weapons, manufactured weapon attacks, and weapon proficiencies of the base creature, except for attacks that can’t work without flesh.
- Worg -
A typical worg has gray or black fur, grows to 5 feet long and stands 3 feet tall at the shoulder. It weighs 300 pounds. More intelligent than their smaller cousins, worgs speak their own language. Some can also speak Common and Goblin.
COMBAT - Mated pairs or packs work together to bring down large game, while lone worgs usually chase down creatures smaller than themselves. Both often use hit-and-run tactics to exhaust their quarry. A pack usually circles a larger opponent: Each wolf attacks in turn, biting and retreating, until the creature is exhausted, at which point the pack moves in for the kill. If they get impatient or heavily outnumber the opponent, worgs attempt to pin it.
- Wraith -
Wraiths are incorporeal creatures born of evil and darkness. In some cases, the grim silhouette of a wraith might appear armored or outfitted with weapons. This appearance does not affect the creature’s AC or combat abilities but only reflects the shape it had in life. A wraith is about as tall as a human, while a dread wraith is roughly the size of an ogre. Since both are incorporeal, they are weightless. Wraiths speak Common and Infernal.
COMBAT - Animals, whether wild or domesticated, can sense the unnatural presence of a wraith at a distance of 30 feet. They will not willingly approach nearer than that and panic if forced to do so; they remain panicked as long as they are within that range.
- Wyvern -
A distant cousin to the true dragons, the wyvern is a huge flying lizard with a poisonous stinger in its tail. A wyvern’s body is 15 feet long, and dark brown to gray; half that length is tail. Its wingspan is about 20 feet. A wyvern weighs about one ton. Wyverns speak Draconic, but usually don’t bother with anything more elaborate than a loud hiss or a deep-throated growl much like that of a bull alligator.
COMBAT- Wyverns are rather stupid but always aggressive: They attack nearly anything that isn’t obviously more powerful than themselves. A wyvern dives from the air, snatching the opponent with its talons and stinging it to death. A wyvern can slash with its talons only when making a flyby attack.
*Creature information is taken from the D20 System Reference Document and is reproduced here under the Open Gaming License, Version 1.0a.
*portions of the source information may have been modified or excluded from this document to fit with our RPG.