| Notes |
Many old and forgotten things lurk in the deserts of the world, long-buried by the sands until some careless explorer disturbs the wrong rock. Haunting these forsaken places are a wide variety of dangerous beasts - some natural, some magically created, some a mixture of both. Some of these are intentional guardians, some are just animals looking for a home. It is not known which of these categories the camel spider falls into, but since the first reports of these vicious arachnid predators have reached the ears of desert settlements, they seem to be spreading with remarkable speed. The camel spider is a spider approximately twelve to eighteen inches across with a supernatural turn of speed and an anaesthetic venom. They lay their eggs in living creatures, which wander far and wide before the young finally chew their way out to the terminal detriment of the host.
Camel spiders are too small to need Hit Locations - treat them as having a single Hit Location with no armour.
** Camel Spider Venom**
Type: Injected
Delay: Instant
Potency: 65
Full Effect: The bitten Hit Location becomes totally numb. The Games Master keeps secret track of how many Hit Points that location has until the poison wears off.
Duration: 1D3 hours
**Howl**
While running at top speed (close to 40 kph/25 mph) a camel spider can make an eerie, ululating howl like the scream of an approaching banshee. This often unnerves people and spooks animals, requiring Riding or Driving tests to keep control of steeds or draught beasts. Camel spiders often begin howling as they run away from the site of an attack, causing animals infested with their eggs to run away from the spider's chosen hunting ground.
**Egg-Laying**
When a camel spider injects an enemy with poison it can also deposit eggs in the wound. A camel spider can only do this once every few days. If the venom takes effect there is no chance that the victim will notice the eggs without a serious cleaning of the wound A successful First Aid or Healing test can find and remove eggs from a wound. Once implanted, the eggs grow to maturity over the next 1D10+20 days, causing one Hit Point of damage to the infested location every five days. These Hit Points cannot be recovered while the eggs remain - the infestation becomes obvious if the affected Hit Location reaches 0 or fewer Hit Points. When the baby spiders burst forth (treat as large, but otherwise normal spiders) the Hit Location suffers an automatic Major Wound.
Source: Signs & Portents 52 |
Encounter Generator
