| Notes |
Blood-sucking insects that inhabit woodlands, marshlands and bogs, giant mosquitoes breed wherever there is standing water and are attracted by carbon dioxide – the exhaled breath of breathing creatures. Mosquitoes are, in general,nectar feeders and only the females require blood to stimulate egg production. However the giant variety, unable to gain enough sustenance from the small amounts of nectar normal sized plants produce, compared to the giant mosquitoes’ size, have adapted to rely on blood.
Giant mosquitoes are the size of a cat and the high pitched buzzing of their wings provides an early warning of an attack. They are most active at dawn and dusk, preferring to lie dormant during the day – but they will attack if disturbed. A single giant mosquito can drink a number of Hit Points’ worth of blood equal to its SIZ x2 before being satiated. However, it is not necessarily blood loss that is the killer. To drain blood the mosquito injects anti-coagulant saliva into its prey, and, at the levels a giant mosquito uses, this can overwhelm a bite victim after the mosquito has taken it fill.
Giant mosquitoes can penetrate up to two points of armour with their needle-sharp proboscis, so clothing is no guarantee of protection against a bite, although uncovered areas are targeted first and the creature can use the inject venom special effect to latch onto armoured foes. On a successful attack the mosquito drains blood every Combat Action that it remains attached to the victim, beginning on the same CA it makes its first attack. It does not need to make any attack roll to continue draining blood and it will not actively defend; however if swatted or attacked in an attempt to remove it, it is allowed an Athletics roll to remain attached and continue draining blood. This costs it a Combat Action.
The giant mosquito’s bite ignores the first two points of armour. On a successful bite it immediately draws a number of Hit Points of blood equal to its bite damage but once it has drunk an amount equal to its SIZ x2, it is satiated and leaves the host.
However the anti-coagulant pumped into a host can have a severe effect. The victim must make an Endurance roll, vs 80 potency, 1D6+1 minutes after a successful bite. If the roll fails the anti-coagulant causes the bitten location to swell, itch and ache copiously, inflicting a further 1D3 damage and rendering it useless for a number of days equal to the damage sustained. If the location bitten is the chest or head, the airway can become restricted causing the victim to lose consciousness if the Hit Points for the location fall to 0 or below. |
Encounter Generator
