Grell

So, I´ve decided to keep with the aberration theme for a while. Starting from the low level gricks in the last post, I´m going to move up the level range until I´ve created enough aberrant monsters to fill out an entire campaign, ending with a level 32 solo. Some of the aberrations will be ones of my own invention, or third edition monsters that haven´t yet been updated. Others, like the aforementioned gricks, already exist in fourth edition, but with stats that I don´t like.


Today, moving us into the upper-middle heroic tier will be the grell. Like the gricks, these appeared in the 4E Monster Manual, and their conversion bothered me. Back in the 3E Lords of Madness supplement, the grell were made out to be social creatures that acted in large groups and even had leaders who created magitech weapons. The decision to make them Elite monsters impedes the DM´s ability to send armies of these things at the PC´s. So, here´s a more social grell.


An intelligent race from a reality wholly unlike our own, the grell are alien in both physiology and psychology. They resemble hovering, semi-spherical lumps of semi-ossified tissue that resembles brain coral, with a parrot-like beak at the front and nearly a dozen long, thin tentacles hanging down from the underbelly, covered in barbed stingers. Despite being a social species on an intellectual par with humankind, grell are motivated soley by hunger; they are always hungry, and everything they do is in the monomaniacal interest of finding food. Unfortunately for the rest of the universe, the grell are indiscriminate carnivores, and are just as happy to snack on humanoids as anything else.

Gricks live in "clusters;" groups of several dozen to several hundred individuals. They are always led by the most intelligent members of the cluster, the "philosophers," who study a peculiar blend of alchemy and magic that allows them to create a number of strange potions and artifacts. The most well known of these are the Lightning Lance (a silver pole, usable only by grell, that fires sparks of deadly electricity) and Grellstone (a powdery substance that becomes as hard as stone when exposed to water). The former is a deadly weapon, while the later is used to build strange fortifications and structures around the grell lair. Grellstone structures are built either underground or above it, resembling bizarre, organic castles in the latter case.

Grell can be found almost anywhere, but seem to favor rocky terrain, such as in the mountains or deep underground; perhaps such environments remind them of home. Grell do everything that they can to encourage or lure animal life into their hunting grounds, the philosophers inventing clever illusions, lures, and traps for the sake of attracting and capturing food. Sometimes, grell will act like nomads, hunting until there´s nothing left in an area before moving on. Other clusters practice some type of ecological engineering or ranching, encouraging their ¨livestock¨ populations through various means, or even breeding them in captivity. No matter what the case, unfortunately, they will still see anything that enters their territory as potential food.

While the grell do have a non-verbal language of some kind, it cannot be spoken by other races, and the grell are either unwilling or unable to learn any other form of communication. If only the grell could be communicated with, it might be possible to coexist with them peacefully. Alas, this has so far been wishful thinking.




Lore (Dungeoneering, History)


DC 10: Floating, octopus-like creatures called grell prowl certain wildernesses and caves. Always hungry, they paralyze their victims with the poisoned stingers on their tentacles before dragging them away and eating them.

DC 15: The grell are as intelligent as they are ravenous, and organized into tribal or family groups called clusters. The leaders of the group practice a strange type of magic; weapons that spit deadly electrical sparks, poisonous powders, and spells that can snuff out any source of light. Since the grell are eyeless and use other senses to hunt, they prefer to attack in the dark. Grell are impossible to reason with, and see humanoids only as prey or livestock.

DC 20: Grell continue to grow in size as they age. Each cluster is led by the oldest and wisest of its magicians, who is likely to be physically immense as well as highly intelligent and experienced. This Patriarch rarely leaves the cluster´s home, dwelling in an intricate structure built out of alchemical stone where he watches over the eggs and livestock and presides over whatever research the cluster´s magician-leaders are conducting.

Grell Forager

Level 5 Soldier (XP: 200)

Medium Aberrant Magical Beast

Initiative: +6 Perception: +9 (blindsight 10)

Hit Points: 52; bloodied 26

AC: 20 Fortitude: 18 Reflex: 17 Will: 17

Speed: fly 6 (hover)

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Standard Actions

- 

Melee basic Stinging Tendrils (at will); reach 2; +7 vs. Fort; 1d10+4 damage and target is slowed (save ends). If the target is already slowed, it is now paralyzed (save ends). If the target is already paralyzed, it is now grabbed.

-

Close burst Stinging Flurry (recharge 5, 6); close burst 2, targets enemies; +6 vs. Fort; target is slowed (save ends). If the target is already slowed, it is now paralyzed (save ends).

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Reactions
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Ablative Tendrils (when hit by an attack that targets AC; encounter); the grell takes 5 damage and the attack is negated.

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Strength: 18 Constitution: 16 Dexterity: 14 Intelligence: 10 Wisdom: 14 Charisma: 10 

Alignment: Evil Languages: none 

The average grell is about as smart as the average human, but possesses a predatory cunning. These basic foragers scour the land for prey, check the game snares, and do the manual labor neccesary to care for the livestock.

Tactics

Foragers follow a fairly basic strategy; use Stinging Tendrils until an enemy has been paralyzed, then carry it away. Each forager in the group will devote its attention to a single enemy, working relentlessly to wear it down. Since they can fly, the grell will likely hover over the heads of tougher-looking characters and then float down beside ones who are physically weaker or unarmored. Whenever it can, a forager will use Stinging Flurry in the thick of the battle to help its fellows with their own targets.

Ablative Tentacles is a poweful ability that the grell will use to fend off a potentially powerful melee or ranged attack. Please note that, while intelligent, the grell are not metagamers: they don´t neccesarily know when an Encounter or Daily power is being used on them unless their attacker makes it obvious.

Grell Philosopher

Level 8 Artillery (leader) (XP: 350)

Medium Aberrant Magical Beast

Initiative: +7 Perception: +11 (blindsight 10)

Hit Points: 61; bloodied 30

AC: 20 Fortitude: 20 Reflex: 21 Will: 20

Speed: fly 6 (hover)

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Standard Actions

- 

Melee basic Stinging Tendrils (at will); reach 2; +10 vs. Fort; 1d10+3 damage and target is slowed (save ends). If the target is already slowed, it is now paralyzed (save ends).

-

Ranged basic Lightning Lance (at will); range 5/10; +10 vs. Ref; 2d6+3 lightning damage and target grants combat advantage until the beginning of the philosopher´s next turn.

-

Area burst Metabolic Powder (encounter); burst 2 within 5; +12 vs. Fort; 1d8+5 poison damage and target recieves a -2 penalty to Fortitude defense until the end of the encounter.

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Minor Actions

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ranged Dispel Light (one per round; at will); range 10; +13 vs. Will; a single light source in the target´s possession (such as a torch or light spell) is snuffed out. This does not work on anything larger than a campfire.

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Strength: 14 Constitution: 16 Dexterity: 16 Intelligence: 20 Wisdom: 14 Charisma: 18 

Alignment: Evil Languages: none 

Grell of strong intellect are taught the ways of grell science and magic. These grell leaders, nicknamed ¨philosophers¨ because of the eclectic nature of their art, provide the cluster with magical artifacts and cunning tactics. Each philopher is likely to have different responsibilities within the cluster; one might be in charge of creating Lightning Lances, another charged with building the fortifications out of Grellstone, while a third studies the local flora and fauna to determine which should be hunted and how to encourage it.


Tactics


While philosophers possess the same Stinging Tendrils attack as their underlings, they prefer to hang back and use their more powerful ranged attacks. Invariably, they start the battle by throwing a pouch of Metabolic Powder into the midst of the enemy, making them more vulnerable to the Stinging Tentacles of the other grell; since this attack can harm other grell, the philosopher is careful to throw it at an area where it won´t hit any allies.

For the rest of the battle, the philosopher hangs back a few squares and uses Lightning Lance on enemies who are engaged in melee, so that its allies can benefit from the Combat Advantage. The philosopher will also use Dispel Light every round until there is no light source remaining on the battlefield; since grell usually attack at night or in underground locales, this will leave the enemy blind, while the grell can see in the dark just fine.

Grell Patriarch

Level 9 Elite Brute (XP: 800)

Large Aberrant Magical Beast

Initiative: +6 Perception: +12 (blindsight 10)

Hit Points: 200; bloodied 100

AC: 23 Fortitude: 24 Reflex: 22 Will: 23

Speed: fly 6 (hover)

Saves: +2

Action Ponts: 1

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Passive

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Threatening Reach; the patriarch can make opportunity attacks against anyone within reach.

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Standard Actions

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Melee basic Tentacle Lash (at will); reach 2; +14 vs. AC; 2d8+6 damage and target is grabbed.

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Melee Sting (at will); target must be grabbed; +12 vs. Fortitude; 2d8+6 poison damage and target is paralyzed (save ends).

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Patriarchal Fury (at will); make two Tentacle Lash attacks, or one Tentacle Lash and one Sting.

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Ranged Throw (at will; requires a grabbed, paralyzed enemy); range 6; the grell throws one unfortunate victim at another; +14 vs. AC; 2d10+6 damage and target is knocked prone; the paralyzed creature that the grell threw is hit automatically and appears in a square adjacent to the target.

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Reactions

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Ablative Tendrils (when hit by an attack that targets AC; encounter, recharge when first bloodied); the grell takes 10 damage and the attack is negated.

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Strength: 20 Constitution: 20 Dexterity: 14 Intelligence: 20 Wisdom: 16 Charisma: 18 

Alignment: Evil Languages: none 

The oversized leader of the cluster is also the most learned and experienced of its philosophers. Despite his skill with grell technomagic, the Patriarch relies on only his size and strength in battle; a reminder that all the intelligence and apparent sophistication of the grell are simply a means to a end. The Patriarch usually stays at home in his Grellstone-built fortress, leading the cluster into battle only to defend the home, or when a very major offensive is to be made.


Tactics


While he might be the leader of the cluster, the Patriarch doesn´t need minons to defend him. Throwing himself into the enemy, he disperses them with his many Tentacle Lash attacks, relying on Threatening Reach and flight to avoid being flanked. Whenever he can, he will grab, Sting, and Throw an enemy at one of its fellows, often using this tactic to disable ranged characters who insist on staying out of reach.

If there are any grell Foragers or Philosophers fighting alongside him, he will assist the former in flanking while concentrating his own attacks on victims of the philosopher´s Combat Advantage-granting Lightning Lance. He will also move to put himself between the enemy and a badly injured ally, giving the later time to regroup and fly overhead into a better position.


Encounters


Grell are unlikely to ally with any other species, but they are easily smart enough to train warbeasts (who they manage to refrain from eating in the interest of using them to get even more food, at least for a while) or build constructs. One could imagine a cluster of grell training a pack of gricks to use as bloodhounds, or building a strangely shaped (but mechanically typical) golem of some kind. They might also herd mindless vermin, like giant spiders or scorpions, ahead of their forces to weaken the enemy, planning to eat their corpses after the battle.

Finally, a particularly inventive grell philosopher may delve into necromancy. While grell would rather eat the flesh and bones of a corpse than animate it, spectral undead such as shadows and wraiths aren´t considered nearly as wasteful.

Grick

This was an oddball creature from third edition that I don´t think anyone had much of an idea of what to do with. Its a dog-sized worm with octopoid tentacles and a beak. With arrow-proof skin. Huh?


The fourth edition monster manual provides a bit more context for this critter, explaining that it spawns in places where the fabric of reality has been tainted by Lovecraftian influences from beyond. Gricks, therefore, are either a species of invasive wildlife from another reality, or the product of aberrant abiogenesis. Or perhaps there´s another, more horrific manner of explaining their origins...

The grick was reprinted at the launch of fourth edition, but I was rather less than satisfied with its new stats. There are already too many aberrations at upper heroic and low paragon levels; the grick used to be an entry level enemy, and that´s where I think it thematically belongs. The first sign of aberration problems that the PC´s encounter at the outset of their adventure. So, here´s my take on the grick. 


Drooling Grick
Level 2 Soldier (XP: 125)
Medium Aberrant Beast
Initiative: +4 Perception: +2 (tremorsense 10)
Hit Points: 30; bloodied 15
AC: 17 Fortitude: 16 Reflex: 15 Will: 15
Speed: 6
Resist: attacks that target AC 6
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Standard Actions
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Melee basic Bite (at will); +7 vs. AC; 1d10+3 damage and make a Tentacles attack against the same target.
-
Melee Tentacles (at will); +5 vs. Reflex; target is knocked prone.
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Melee Digest (at will; target must be prone); +7 vs. Fortitude; 2d8+3 acid damage and ongoing 5 (save ends).
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Strength: 14 Constitution: 12 Dexterity: 12 Intelligence: 2 Wisdom: 12 Charisma: 10 
Alignment: Unaligned Languages: none 


Burrowing Grick
Level 3 Lurker (XP: 150)
Medium Aberrant Beast
Initiative: +6 Perception: +2 (tremorsense 10)
Hit Points: 32; bloodied 16
AC: 15 Fortitude: 14 Reflex: 14 Will: 13
Speed: 6; burrow 6 (tunneling)
Resist: attacks that target AC 6
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Standard Actions
- 
Melee basic Bite (at will); +8 vs. AC; 1d10+5 damage.
Combat Advantage: target is knocked prone.
-
Ranged Spit (recharge 4, 5, 6); range 3; +6 vs. Reflex; 1d10+5 acid damage.
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Strength: 16 Constitution: 12 Dexterity: 14 Intelligence: 2 Wisdom: 12 Charisma: 10
Alignment: Unaligned Languages: none

Grick Pit-Spawner

Level 4 Elite Controller (XP: 350)

Large Aberrant Beast

Initiative: +3 Perception: +9 (tremorsense 10)

Hit Points: 96; bloodied 48

AC: 20 Fortitude: 19 Reflex: 15 Will: 18

Speed: -

Resist: attacks that target AC 6
Saving Throws: +2
Action Points: 1

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Aura

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Crumbling Pit; aura 2; area is considered difficult terrain. Creatures that end their turns within the aura are pulled 1.

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Standard Actions

- 

Melee basic Tentacle (at will); reach 4; +9 vs. AC; 1d10+4 damage and target slides two squares.

-

Probing Tendrils (at will); make two tentacle attacks against different targets.

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Free Actions

-

Melee Bite (once per round; at will); +9 vs. AC; 2d8+4 damage and ongoing 5 acid (save ends).

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Strength: 18 Constitution: 18 Dexterity: 12 Intelligence: 2 Wisdom: 14 Charisma: 10 

Alignment: Unaligned Languages: none 

When the Far Realms come into contact with the world, strange things happen. Physics in the effected area stop working predictably. Freak weather events occur. Most disturbingly of all, living things are heavily mutated, sometimes seemingly from the ground up. In particularly extreme cases, multiple plants and animals will fuse together into a single, shapeless, living miasma, and that amorpheous mass will then disgorge creatures unlike anything native to our world. The grick is one such creature.

Grown from the melted - but still living - material of plants, animals, and people, gricks are part of an ecology that should never exist in the universe as we know it. Physically, a grick resembles a two and a half meter long, rubbery snake or worm. In place of a head, the creature has a large, molluskoid beak surrounded by four, sucker-studded tentacles. Semi-social carnivores and scavengers, gricks hunt in small packs, usually preferring to ambush their prey. Gricks breed rapidly and asexually, and seem to be the harbingers of other invasive, aberrant species when they expand beyond the original infected area. Gricks are also great burrowers, which can make their migrations hard to detect. When they have the means to reproduce on a larger scale (read; a well defended lair with abundant food), one of the gricks will grow into a bloated, immobile creature that buries itself in the dirt like an ant lion, relying on the other gricks to throw food to it so it can produce dozens of spawn.

Although made of native materials, gricks have physical properties unlike those of the creatures they are built from; of particular note is the way their rubbery flesh resists being cut or smashed.


Lore (Dungeoneering):

DC 20: Gricks are mutant freaks, shaped out of the flesh of living (and possibly conscious) creatures that were corrupted by the Far Realms. Worse than either their acidic saliva or their knack for bursting out of the soil is their tough, alien flesh, which is resistant to mechanical attacks.

DC 25: There are three common forms of grick. Burrowers, which are responsible for their extensive tunnel networks, and Droolers, who are tasked with externally digesting prey so that the gricks can drink it. Both types work together to bring down their victims. When food is especially plentiful, the largest grick in the pack will mutate into a large, immobile creature called a Pit Spawner, which consumes massive quantities of meat and produces baby gricks at an even more alarming rate than usual. When it is time to migrate, the other gricks devour the Pit Spawner.


Tactics

Burrowing and Drooling gricks are almost always encountered side by side, and their abilities synergize quite well. The Burrowers pop up to flank an enemy, either with a Drooler or another Burrower, and use their combat advantage to trip it. As soon as the enemy is prone, a Drooler will try to Digest it.

If a Burrower isn't available to help, a pair of Droolers will gang up on a single enemy, one using its Tentacles to trip the target so that its fellow can use Digest. Conversely, if a Drooler doesn't see a good opportunity to get Combat Advantage, it will pop up a few squares a way from the enemy and use Spit as often as it can.

If the pack includes a Pit Spawner, the other gricks will do everything they can to herd the enemy into reach of its hungry tentacles, sometimes bull rushing them into its Crumbling Pit. The Pit Spawner, for its part, will use its Tentacle attacks to flank the enemy with its smaller kin.

Lacking intelligence beyond basic teamwork, gricks are not clever enough to focus their fire on enemy spellcasters, whose elemental attacks pose the biggest threat. Of course, if these gricks were the trained warbeasts of a smarter aberration...


Encounters

While a pack of gricks can make a fine encounter on its own, there are plenty of other possibilities. It may be that gricks are more hostile toward non-aberrations than they are toward creatures of their own ecosystem, and are wiling to temporarily gang up with other aberrant wildlife to eliminate such intruders before going back to their normal, predatory behavior. Furthermore, as noted above, gricks may be trainable; if this is the case, perhaps intelligent aberrations like foulspawn could use them as hunting hounds.

Note to DM`s: due to its immobility and lack of ranged attacks, the Grick Pit-Spawner can only make an effective enemy if it is encountered in an enclosed area, such as a cave, preferably no more than thirteen or fourteen squares across. Take this into account when designing your encounters.

Rylkar

Back in the tail end of third edition, there was a creature printed in the Monster Manual 5 called the rylkar. While copyright laws prevented the writers from admitting it, this creature was obviously inspired by the Stephen King short story ¨Graveyard Shift,¨ which happens to be one of my personal favorites of King´s. I used rylkars to very good effect in one of my campaigns; one of the players told me it gave him nightmares. Needless to say, this was one of my most beloved third edition monsters.

When fourth edition came out, I thought that the introduction of the god Torog could make a good thematic tie-in for the rylkars. A morbid, cave-dwelling god of suffering and imprisonment who´s holy animals are vermin? Suddenly, we have a possible explanation for who might have created the rylkars and what their place in the world could be. Since Wizards of the Coast hasn´t yet updated the rylkars for 4E, I hereby present them to you myself.

Urban legends persist of basements where an inordinate number of people seem to have disappeared over the years; these stories invariably pop up around neighborhoods with strangely determined rat infestations. Occasionally, a child will claim to have seen something hairy, hideous, and wicked scuttling into a sewer or darting toward a crumbling alleyway. Adventurers returning from the underdark speak of hordes of starving rats, bigger and bolder than any normal rodent, that rush from hidden crevices with a hunger and tactical intelligence that one would never expect from a mere animal.

At the center of all these vague reports is the rylkar.

Though they descended from mundane rats, rylkars are intelligent, organized, and malicious. Their social structure is like that of ants or termites, with a bloated ¨queen¨ creature giving birth to a colony of workers and soldiers. Rylkars prefer to make their hives in dark, underground places unlikely to be disturbed (such as cellars, catacombs, or natural caves), from whence they can send foraging parties to capture food and shiny things. Secrecy and stealth are two of the rylkars´ defining characteristics. Sadism is another. A favorite hunting strategy of theirs is to lure or trick prey into a secluded, enclosed place, where dozens or hundreds of the creatures then leap from hiding and tear the flesh from its bones mouthful by mouthful. Rylkars kill even when they aren´t hungry or threatened.

Normal animals are naturally afraid of rylkars; when common rats begin fleeing an area en masse, it may be a sign that their more sinister relatives are moving in. Opportunistic creatures, their first victims are usually small children, livestock, and other prey that can´t easily flee or fight back. Though they are technically omnivorous, rylkars prefer fresh meat when they can get it. 

Along with the obvious dissapearances, an early sign of rylkar presence is a string of senseless petty thefts; anything that shines and glitters, be it valuable or worthless, is likely to be carried off to the rylkar hive.

Rylkars communicate among themselves with ratlike hisses and squeaks, but don´t allow their linguistic limitations to fool you; they are sapient creatures, and can understand Deep Speech even if their mouths can´t form the words.

Rylkar Lore (Dungeoneering):

DC 15: Rylkars are dangerous, social rodents that live and hunt in large groups. Though normally native to the underdark, a colony of rylkars will sometimes find its way to shallower caves and dungeons, or even urban basements. They like fresh meat and shiny objects; two appetites that do not endear them to humanoids. Once established, they are notoriously difficult to fully eradicate.

DC 20: Rylkars are crudely intelligent, and understand Deep Speech. There is something unnatural about them, as if someone took a normal rodent and twisted it into something fiendish and aberrant. Like ants, rylkars are produced in bulk by a queen or ¨harridan¨ of their kind, who births foragers, tormentors, madclaws, and winged harriers in profusion. The queen dwells in their secret hive chamber, to which food and treasure are brought. Legend has it that it is possible to strike a bargain with these filthy creatures, if one promises them abundant food and trinkets, but its not easy to do.

DC 25: Rylkars were some of the first creations of the dark god Torog, who uplifted them from among the rodents that infest the underdark. Rylkars worship Torog, in their primitive way. It is to provide sacrifices for him that they kill even when they aren´t hungry, and it is to decorate their macabre shrines that they steal treasure. Those few humanoids who have managed to earn the ¨friendship¨ of the rylkars were mostly Torog worshippers themselves. Displaying his holy symbol might make rylkars more hesitant to attack.

Encounters

Being hive creatures, rylkars are likely to be encountered in large groups. A rylkar hive can provide a series of varied encounters using different mixtures of Foragers, Tormenters, Madclaws, and Harriers, culminating in a boss fight against the Harridan and her bodyguards.

Although they see most other creatures as food and sacrifices rather than potential friends, rylkars can coexist with unappetizing creatures like undead and constructs. A rylkar hive that moves into a preexisting dungeon might use the place´s nonliving guardians to their advantage, fighting alongside them to bring down tasty adventurers (the rylkars are likely too small and insignificant for a golem or the like to even notice, as long as the Harridan and Madclaws stay hidden).

Finally, some other intelligent beings do manage to make arrangements with a rylkar hive. A crime lord who will feed them his rivals in exchange for their assistance here and there. A vampire who manages to charm these fellow creatures of the night into his service. A cult of Torog whose devotion to the King that Crawls causes the rylkars to see them as family. The possibilities are almost endless.

Rylkar Forager 

Level 1 Minion Skirmisher (XP: 25)

Tiny Natural Beast

Initiative: +5 Perception: +7 (darkvision)
Hit Points: 1; a minion is never damaged by an attack that misses.
AC: 15 Fortitude: 13 Reflex: 14 Will: 13
Speed: 8
Resist: 5 disease

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Standard Actions
-  
Melee basic Bite (at will); +6 vs. AC; 3 disease damage.

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Passive

-

Scurry; the rylkar can move through occupied squares as long as it begins and ends its move in empty ones.

-

Evasion; the rylkar recieves a +4 bonus to defenses against opportunity attacks.

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Strength: 6 Constitution: 12 Dexterity: 16 Intelligence: 6 Wisdom: 14 Charisma: 8
Alignment: Evil Languages: None (understands Deep Speech)

Rylkar Forager Swarm 

Level 2 Elite Skirmisher (XP: 250)

Large Natural Beast (swarm)

Initiative: +6 Perception: +8 (darkvision)

Hit Points: 60; bloodied 30
AC: 16 Fortitude: 14 Reflex: 15 Will: 14
Speed: 8
Resist: 5 disease, half damage from melee and ranged attacks

Vulnerable: 10 area

Saving Throws: +2

Action Points: 1

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Aura

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Hungry Mouths (aura 1); at the beginning of its turn, the swarm makes a melee basic attack against all enemies within the aura.

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Standard Actions
-  
Melee basic Bites (at will); +7 vs. AC; 1d10+4 normal and disease damage and ongoing 5 (save ends).

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Passive

-

Swarm; a swarm can occupy the same space as another creature, and an enemy can enter a swarm's space, which is difficult terrain. A swarm cannot be pulled, pushed, or slid by melee or ranged attacks. A swarm can squeeze through any opening large enough for even one of its constituent creatures.

-

Evasion; the rylkars recieve a +4 bonus to defenses against opportunity attacks.
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Reactions
-
Disperse; when reduced to zero hit points, the swarm is destroyed, and four rylkar foragers appear in the vacant squares and continue acting on the swarm's initiative. Do not award XP for killing these foragers.

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Strength: 6 Constitution: 12 Dexterity: 16 Intelligence: 6 Wisdom: 14 Charisma: 8
Alignment: Evil Languages: None (understands Deep Speech)

A rylkar Forager could be easily mistaken for a large, mangy rat. Closer inspection might reveal that the snout is just a bit too blunt and the limbs a bit too thick, but not beyond the range of common rat diversity.

Foragers are the workers of the hive, being birthed by the hundreds. They perform reconnasaince, steal shiny items, and (in large numbers) help capture and bring back food. They are constantly bullied and abused by the Tormenters and Harriers, and thus spend most of their time away from the hive.

Tactics

Foragers dart around the battlefield, squirming their way around the feet and between the legs of bigger creatures as they attack. A Forager should never be in the same square for two consecutive turns, unless its the only viable tactic. Their Scurry and Evasion abilities are meant to be used constantly. These abilities make them very good at flanking, and at getting past the Defender PC´s to snack on the vulnerable Strikers and Controllers. Rylkars are fast and agile; chasing and flanking are what they are all about.

Rylkar Tormenter 

Level 1 Lesser Controller (XP: 50)
Tiny natural beast

Initiative: +3 Perception: +7 (darkvision)
Hit Points: 13
AC: 15 Fortitude: 13 Reflex: 14 Will: 13
Speed: 8
Resist: 5 disease
Vulnerable: a lesser monster is immediately killed by a critical hit.
Saves: a lesser monster automatically fails all saving throws.
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Standard Actions
-  
Melee basic Bite (at will); +6 vs. AC; 6 normal and disease damage and use Attach.

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Passive

-

Attach; after biting someone, the Tormenter digs its teeth into their flesh and refuses to let go, entering the target´s square. While attached, the Tormenter cannot be targeted by opportunity attacks, and recieves a +4 bonus to its AC, Fortitude, and Reflex defenses. Attacks against the rylkar that target any of these defenses that miss will instead hit the creature to which it is attached. The rylkar gains a +2 bonus to attack rolls against its victim, but cannot attack anyone else until it lets go. The rylkar´s victim is slowed. Save ends; on a succesful saving throw, the Tormenter reappears in a space adjacent to the target. 

-

Scurry; the rylkar can move through occupied squares as long as it begins and ends its move in empty ones.

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Strength: 8 Constitution: 14 Dexterity: 16 Intelligence: 6 Wisdom: 14 Charisma: 10
Alignment: Evil Languages: None (understands Deep Speech)

These rylkars are about the size of a housecat, and have thinner, mangier fur than the Foragers. Most disturbing is  that they have human faces, with mouths full of sharp, vampire-like teeth.

The soldiers of the colony, Tormenters are tasked with bringing down tougher prey, defending the nest from intruders, and similar duties, often leading scores of Foragers into the attack. For obvious reasons, Tormenters cannot pass for normal rats unless they are seen very briefly, or if their faces are turned away. They remain in the dark, emerging only when it is time to make a kill. Surly and cruel even for rylkars, the Tormenters enjoy causing pain before killing their prey, and are very hard on the Foragers.

Tactics

Though they possess the same Scurry ability as the Foragers, the larger Tormenters are somewhat more vulnerable to opportunity attacks. Instead of darting senselessly about, they pick a target and Bite it, hoping to Attach and not let go until its dead. Often, a Tormentor will target either the most mobile enemy (to nullify its mobility), or the physically strongest one (to slow it down while the other rylkars mob the rest of the party).

Rylkar Harrier

Level 2 Lesser Skirmisher (XP: 62)
Tiny natural beast

Initiative: +3 Perception: +7 (darkvision)
Hit Points: 16
AC: 16 Fortitude: 13 Reflex: 15 Will: 14
Speed: 4; fly 8 (average)
Resist: 5 disease
Vulnerable: a lesser monster is instantly killed by a critical hit.
Saves: a lesser monster automatically fails all saving throws. 
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Standard Actions
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Melee basic Bite (at will); +7 vs. AC; 6 disease damage.

Special: if the target is being flanked by two of the Harrier´s allies, this attack deals an extra 4 damage.

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Melee Flyby Attack (at will); the Harrier moves its speed and makes an attack at any point along its move. The Harrier does not provoke an opportunity attack from its target. 

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Passive

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Flutter; the rylkar can move through occupied squares as long as it begins and ends its move in empty ones.

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Strength: 6 Constitution: 12 Dexterity: 16 Intelligence: 6 Wisdom: 14 Charisma: 10
Alignment: Evil Languages: None (understands Deep Speech)

The rylkar reproductive caste. Most of the Harriers are short-lived males, while the rest are immature Harridans. They resemble slightly larger Foragers, but with no fur whatsoever and batlike wings instead of front legs.

Harriers usually stay in the hive, but occasionally fly out during moonless nights to do some aerial scouting. Every few years, a female Harrier will be impregnated, and fly away to create a new colony elsewhere.

Tactics

Since they are almost always fought in dark, underground places, Harriers act almost more like Lurkers than Skirmishers, flying in and out of the darkness to snap at the intruders (prefering ones that are already flanked, so that their Bites will do extra damage). They plan their Flyby Attacks carefully, avoiding passing through the threatened space of anyone who isn´t their target. This works well in conjunction with their Flutter ability, which gives them a bit more freedom in planning an escape route; they never end their turns next to an enemy if they can help it.

Rylkar Madclaw
Level 2 Lurker (XP: 125)
Medium natural beast
Initiative: +9 Perception: +2 (darkvision)
Hit Points: 25 Bloodied: 12
AC: 15 Fortitude: 14 Reflex: 14 Will: 12
Speed: 6
Resist: 5 disease
Vulnerable: a lesser monster is instantly killed by a critical hit.
Saves: a lesser monster automatically fails all saving throws.
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Standard Actions
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Melee basic Bite (at will): +6 vs. AC; 1d8+3 normal and disease damage.
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Melee Attack from Hiding (at will): the target must not be able to see the Madclaw; +6 vs. Reflex; 2d6+3 normal and disease damage and target is grabbed. 
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Minor
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Laugh (recharges when an enemy within range cannot see the Madclaw): close burst 5; +4 vs. Will; target receives a -5 penalty to Perception checks made to find hidden enemies until the end of the Madclaw's next turn.
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Strength: 16 Constitution: 12 Dexterity: 16 Intelligence: 6 Wisdom: 12 Charisma: 12
Alignment: Evil Languages: None (understands Deep Speech)

Madclaws are few in number, but terrible to behold. A madclaw looks like a purple, nearly-hairless rat the size of a small pony, with unusually long and sharp teeth that prevent it from fully closing its mouth. It seems to wear a perpetual rictus grin.

Madclaws are elite guards and enforcers, aiding in the most vital ambushes and guarding the way to the Harridan's lair. In addition to their size, they are recognizable by their horrible, hideous, cackling laughter, which echoes around rooms and corridors and makes the rylkar's position harder to pinpoint. So horrible is the sound that it is likely to ruin an easily-frightened adventurer's wits entirely, causing him to imagine hidden enemies that aren't there and overlook hidden enemies that are.


Tactics

Madclaws are almost always encountered with smaller rylkars, which they allow to distract the enemy while the madclaws get into position in the darkness or behind cover. Their horrible, echoing Laughter makes them harder to track, which allows them to get close enough to Attack from Hiding without being seen. After making one or two attacks, a Madclaw will shift away and let some smaller rylkars move in to cover its retreat, using another Laugh to lose itself in the darkness again.

Rylkar Harridan 

Level 4 Elite Brute (leader) (XP: 350)
Large natural beast

Initiative: +2 Perception: +4 (darkvision)
Hit Points: 116; bloodied 58
AC: 18 Fortitude: 19 Reflex: 13 Will: 18
Speed: 5
Resist: 5 disease

Saves: +2

Action Points: 1

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Aura 

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Feed Me (aura 6); enemies that begin their turn adjacent to two or more allied rylkars are pulled 1.
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Standard Actions
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Melee basic Bite (at will); +8 vs. AC; 2d8+7 normal and disease damage and ongoing 5 disease.

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Minor Actions

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Birth (once per round, at will); a rylkar Forager appears in an adjacent square and acts after the Harridan´s turn.

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Close burst Threatening Scream (recharge 4, 5, 6); close burst 6; allied rylkars take a move action.

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Passive

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Swarm Defense; while adjacent to two or more allied rylkars, the Harridan recieves a +2 bonus to defenses against ranged and area attacks.

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Strength: 18 Constitution: 18 Dexterity: 6 Intelligence: 8 Wisdom: 14 Charisma: 12
Alignment: Evil Languages: None (understands Deep Speech)

This morbidly obese, sausage-shaped blob of naked, pink flesh is the heart of the rylkar colony. The harridan's legs are so small and stumpy compared to its body that it can only drag itself slowly across the floor. It is eyeless, and has only faint traces of ears and whiskers. Beneath its dripping nostrils is a yawning, disturbingly human-like mouth full of sharp, mismatched tusks. Beneath the abomination's tail is a gaping birth canal, through which newborn rylkars constantly tumble, covered in amniotic fluid but ready to hunt.


Tactics

The harridan is essential for the colony's survival, and thus only leaves the well-protected brood chamber when there is no other choice. She is always surrounded by the various lesser rylkars of her brood, who spread out between the harridan and the enemy to make her Swarm Defense and Bring Them to Me abilities work. If possible, the Harridan will hide behind cover and let her minions hold most of the enemies away while Bringing One of Them to Her at a time. She uses Birth and Threatening Scream as soon as they recharge to replenish and reposition her minions.