Arassas
Acid-spitting snow lizard-cat. A huge beast.
A gigantic white furred lizard with black lips, cat ears and a blue tongue. The arassas is a nocturnal ambush predator, using its breath to slowly kill travelers from hypothermia.
| HD: 6 | Armor: as leather |
| Hit it: normal | Dodge it: hard |
| Move: normal, climb normal |
It resists cold. It can smell as well as we can see, ignore difficult icy terrain, and be very stealthy in snowy landscapes.
Attacks (1/round)
Trash. The arassas makes a melee attack (1D8) against all creatures adjacent to it. Hit targets must save or be knocked prone.
Rake. The arassas makes two melee attacks (1D8) against one target.
Pounce. The arassas makes a running jump on a target. On a hit, the target takes damage (2D8), is prone and grappled.
Acid Hiss (recharge 2/6). The arassas spreads a short cone with acidic spit, inflicting acid damage (2D8) to all objects and creatures. A saving throw halves the damage.
The area and targets are covered in the liquid, which is anti-icing. Until they are washed, creatures become vulnerable to the effect of hypothermia, and any previously frozen area becomes very slippery.
Young Arassas
| HD: 3 | Armor: as leather |
| Hit it: normal | Dodge it: normal |
| Move: normal, climb normal |
It resists cold. It can smell as well as we can see, ignore difficult icy terrain, and be very stealthy in snowy landscapes.
Attacks (1/round)
Trash. The arassas makes a melee attack (1D6) against all creatures adjacent to it. Hit targets must save or be knocked prone.
Rake. The arassas makes two melee attacks (1D6) against one target.
Pounce. The arassas makes a running jump on a target. On a hit, the target takes damage (2D6), is prone and grappled.
Acid Hiss (recharge 2/6). The arassas spreads acidic spit on one nearby target, inflicting acid damage (2D6) to all objects and creatures. A saving throw halves the damage.
The target is covered in the liquid, which is anti-icing. Until they are washed, creatures become vulnerable to the effect of hypothermia, and any previously frozen area becomes very slippery.
Random Encounter
- Monster: 1 arassas or 1D6 young arassas, their mother 1D4 turns away.
- Lair: A big ice den with a strong acrid smell. 25% chance that there are eggs, 25% chance that there are hatchlings.
OR
Omen: A strange meow. - Spoor: Anti-icing spit melting holes in the ice.
- Tracks: 3’ wide feline tracks.
- Trace: Strange melting patterns in the snow.
- Trace: Giant claw marks in the ice.
Salvaging the body
Arassas meat tastes horrible, but is not poisonous. Its fur is very warm and its teeth can be used as weapons. More importantly, it’s bile is a prized anti-icing.
Arassas eggs are sought after, as it is the only way to train one for riding.
Arassas Bile. Corrosive liquid (1D6 damage). Prevents freezing, but renders vulnerable to cold damage until washed.
D6 Symbolism
In local cultures the arassas is a symbol of …
- Discretion
- Anger
- Blizzards
- Royalty
- Strength
- Sacred
Credits
In alpine folklore, arassas, or tatzelwurm, are half-cat half-lizard creatures that can sometimes petrify with their gaze or spit poison. Richard J. Leblanc Jr’s adaptation in the Creature Compendium makes it a huge monster with an acidic frost breath. Building from there, I dropped the frost part (I was always annoyed that arctic creatures had cold attacks in an environment where everybody resists cold damage) and made it de-icing! My goal was to create fun interactions for adventurers wanting to collect the spit. — SaltyGoo