Triple Threat – Aillénsceith

Aillénsceith
The original aillén was a monstrous three-headed reptile that terrorized the people of Ireland and put the people of Tara into a deep sleep and burned the Ráth na Riógh (the Fortress of the Kings) to the ground every year for 23 years. Eventually, Finn McCool killed the creature by stabbing it in the heart with his spear, but before he did it laid a clutch of eggs. Since then the aillénsceith have been plaguing mankind. Like their forbearer, aillénsceith have three heads and look vaguely like (very large) komado dragons – just with bigger teeth, two sets of eyes, and a series of spines along their back. The aillénsceith’s spines grow hot when it’s in combat and can set fire to stone if left in contact too long. They are only awake for a month out of every year in which they gorge themselves on food (anything remotely organic) and then fall into a torpor. Their scaled hide is extremely dense and protects them from most threats, the only chink in their natural armor is a small spot underneath their necks where a well-placed thrust can sever their spine and kill them.
            Additionally, they are highly resistant to magic which literally bounces off them and back at their attacker. With their wide jaws, anyone bitten (up to SM +1) is instantly grappled; treat this as a two-handed grapple for the purpose of breaking free. After that, it can worry for full biting damage (no roll needed) or attempt a Quick Contest of ST, with victory pulling the victim closer to it.
In campaigns with modern firearms, aillénsceith are immune to most handguns arms (2d or less). For campaigns without such weapons, reduce DR to 6. For other campaigns, find the smallest handgun and multiply its dice of damage by 6 to get aillénsceith DR.
Any Campaign Setting…
ST: 20             HP: 20            Speed: 6.00
DX: 12            Will: 10           Move: 8 (see traits)
IQ: 7               Per: 12            Weight: 350 lbs.
HT: 14            FP: 14             SM: +1
Dodge: 10       Parry: 10        DR: 12* (Hardened 1)
Bite (14): 2d+4 impaling. Reach C, 1. Treat as a weapon (Striker), not as a body part.
Burning Blood (-): 1d-2 burning (ten 1-second cycles). Treat the flammability class (Making Things Burn, p. B433) of the subject as two steps higher than it actually is! The aillénsceith must first have suffered any cutting, impaling, or piercing injury. They automatically bleed on weapons that wound them – or their foe, if attacked with Claws, Teeth, etc. – which immediately begins to burn. Until he stops bleeding (see Bleeding, p. B420), the burning blood drips on everything nearby. The aillénsceith may intentionally inflict damage on themselves to activate this ability.
Claw (14): 2d+1 cutting. Reach C, 1. Treat as a weapon (Striker), not as a body part.
Searing Spines (-): 1d+1 burning. Treat the flammability class (Making Things Burn, p. B433) of the subject as two steps higher than it actually is! This harms anyone who touches or is touched by the aillénsceith in close combat. Actually grappling one causes this damage in addition to the impaling damage causes by the spines.
Traits: Amphibious; Born Biter 3; Combat Reflexes; Discriminatory Hearing; Discriminatory Smell;  Enhanced Move 1 (Ground; Costs Fatigue, 1 FP per second; Move 8/24); Enhanced Tracking 3; Extra Attack 2 (Bite Attacks only, -20%); Extra Head 2; Gluttony (6); Immunity to Thermal Stress; Lifting ST+5 (Bite only); Magic Resistance 5; Nictitating Membrane 2; Peripheral Vision; Quadruped; Reduced Consumption 4 (Cast Iron Stomach); Resistant to Metabolic Hazards (+8); Scales; Sleepy (active six weeks out of 12); Spines (Long; 1d impaling, Reach C); Striking ST+5 (Bite only); Temperature Tolerance 55 (-105º F to 720º F); Vibration Sense (Universal).
Skills:  Brawling-14; Intimidation -12; Stealth-14; Survival (Underground)-14; Tracking-16.
Notes: Reproduces asexually. Sees via Infravision. If the GM is using Intrinsic Fright Check from GURPS Horror (p. 139), aillénsceith have a modifier of -3. 
* Double this DR against magical damage. Any damage which is stopped by this DR rebounds instead on the aillénsceith’s attacker (the remaining damage affects the aillénsceith normally). The attacker doesn’t get a Active Defense against this the first time he’s affected, but subsequent attacks are treated normally. This only works against direct hits! Area attacks affect them normally (though they still have their DR doubled against it).

For Dungeon Fantasy…
ST: 20             HP: 20            Speed: 6.00
DX: 12            Will: 10           Move: 8 (see traits)
IQ: 7               Per: 12            Weight: 350 lbs.
HT: 14            FP: 14             SM: +1
Dodge: 10       Parry: 10        DR: 6* (Hardened 1)
Bite (14): 2d+4 impaling. Reach C, 1. Treat as a weapon (Striker), not as a body part.
Burning Blood (-): 1d-2 burning (ten 1-second cycles). Treat the flammability class (Making Things Burn, p. B433) of the subject as two steps higher than it actually is! The aillénsceith must first have suffered any cutting, impaling, or piercing injury. They automatically bleed on weapons that wound them – or their foe, if attacked with Claws, Teeth, etc. – which immediately begins to burn. Until he stops bleeding (see Bleeding, p. B420), the burning blood drips on everything nearby. The aillénsceith may intentionally inflict damage on themselves to activate this ability.
Claw (14): 2d+1 cutting. Reach C, 1. Treat as a weapon (Striker), not as a body part.
Searing Spines (-): 1d+1 burning. Treat the flammability class (Making Things Burn, p. B433) of the subject as two steps higher than it actually is! This harms anyone who touches or is touched by the aillénsceith in close combat. Actually grappling one causes this damage in addition to the impaling damage causes by the spines.
Traits: Amphibious; Born Biter 3; Combat Reflexes; Discriminatory Hearing; Discriminatory Smell; Enhanced Move 1 (Ground; Costs Fatigue, 1 FP per second; Move 8/24); Enhanced Tracking 3; Extra Attack 2 (Bite Attacks only, -20%); Extra Head 2; Gluttony (6); Immunity to Thermal Stress; Lifting ST+5 (Bite only); Magic Resistance 5; Nictitating Membrane 2; Peripheral Vision; Quadruped; Reduced Consumption 4 (Cast Iron Stomach); Resistant to Metabolic Hazards (+8); Scales; Sleepy (active six weeks out of 12); Spines (Long; 1d impaling, Reach C); Striking ST+5 (Bite only); Temperature Tolerance 55 (-105º F to 720º F); Vibration Sense (Universal).
Skills:  Brawling-14; Intimidation-12; Stealth-14; Survival (Underground)-14; Tracking-16.
Classification: Dire Animal
Notes: Reproduces asexually. Sees via Infravision.
* Triple this DR against magical damage. Any damage which is stopped by this DR rebounds instead on the aillénsceith’s attacker (the remaining damage affects the aillénsceith normally). The attacker doesn’t get a Active Defense against this the first time he’s affected, but subsequent attacks are treated normally. This only works against direct hits! Area attacks affect them normally (though they still have their DR doubled against it).



For Monster Hunters…
ST: 25             HP: 20            Speed: 8.00
DX: 12            Will: 10           Move: 11 (see traits)
IQ: 7               Per: 12            Weight: 350 lbs.
HT: 14            FP: 14             SM: +1
Dodge: 12       Parry: 11        DR: 12* (Hardened 1)
Fright Check: -3
Bite (16): 3d+3 impaling. Reach C, 1. Treat as a weapon (Striker), not as a body part.
Burning Blood (-): 1d+1 burning (ten 1-second cycles). Treat the flammability class (Making Things Burn, p. B433) of the subject as two steps higher than it actually is! The aillénsceith must first have suffered any cutting, impaling, or piercing injury. They automatically bleed on weapons that wound them – or their foe, if attacked with Claws, Teeth, etc. – which immediately begins to burn. Until he stops bleeding (see Bleeding, p. B420), the burning blood drips on everything nearby. The aillénsceith may intentionally inflict damage on themselves to activate this ability.
Claw (16): 2d+4 cutting. Reach C, 1. Treat as a weapon (Striker), not as a body part.
Searing Spines (-): 2d+2 burning. Treat the flammability class (Making Things Burn, p. B433) of the subject as two steps higher than it actually is! This harms anyone who touches or is touched by the aillénsceith in close combat. Actually grappling one causes this damage in addition to the impaling damage causes by the spines.
Traits: Amphibious; Born Biter 3; Combat Reflexes; Discriminatory Hearing; Discriminatory Smell; Enhanced Move 1 (Ground; Costs Fatigue, 1 FP per second; Move 11/33); Enhanced Tracking 3; Extra Attack 2 (Bite Attacks only, -20%); Extra Head 2; Gluttony (6); Immunity to Thermal Stress; Lifting ST+5 (Bite only); Magic Resistance 5; Nictitating Membrane 2; Peripheral Vision; Quadruped; Reduced Consumption 4 (Cast Iron Stomach); Resistant to Metabolic Hazards (+8); Scales; Sleepy (active six weeks out of 12); Spines (Long; 1d impaling, Reach C); Striking ST+5 (Bite only); Temperature Tolerance 55 (-105º F to 720º F); Vibration Sense (Universal).
Skills:  Brawling-16; Intimidation-16; Stealth-16; Survival (Underground)-14; Tracking-16.
Notes: Reproduces asexually. Sees via Infravision. Use the skills listed under Cryptids in the Know Thy Enemy box in Monster Hunters 1 (p. 16). One aillénsceith is a fair fight for one champion.
* Double this DR against magical damage. Any damage which is stopped by this DR rebounds instead on the aillénsceith’s attacker (the remaining damage affects the aillénsceith normally). The attacker doesn’t get a Active Defense against this the first time he’s affected, but subsequent attacks are treated normally. This only works against direct hits! Area attacks affect them normally (though they still have their DR doubled against it).
Posted in Triple Threat and tagged , , , , .

2 Comments

  1. What is magic damage? Is it just damage from a spell (and does a melee spell rebound against the staff or the person holding it)? Does it include damage from an enchanted weapon? The entire damage or only that from enchantments? A weapon buffed by a spell?

Leave a Reply