Centipede, Dracopede, Black
Armored centipede with a poison breath attack. A small beast.
Imagine a spiked, armored centipede as long as a dog, and as black as ebony. It eats organic matter.
| HD: 1 | Armor: as chain |
| Hit it: normal | Dodge it: normal |
| Move: normal, climb normal |
It can detect nearby movement and walk on any surface, even upside down. It can’t see well.
Attacks (1/round)
Bite. The dracopede makes one melee attack (1D4) inflicting additional poison damage (1D4). If this damage would inflict Wounds to the target, it falls asleep instead.
Defensive Curl. The dracopede curls into a ball. As long as it stays in this position, it cannot move or attack, nor be damaged by missile weapons and one-handed melee weapons.
Poison Spray (recharge 2/6). The dracopede spits poison in a short cone. Those who fail to dodge take poison damage (1D4) and are poisoned for 10 minutes.
Random Encounter
- Monster: 1D8 dracopedes.
- Lair: A maze of narrow tunnels dug inside the rotting body of a giant beast.
OR
Omen: Subtle chewing noises. - Spoor: A dead humanoid with poison foaming out of its mouth.
- Tracks: Where the dampness is the most intense.
- Trace: A dracopede shell.
- Trace: Well polished surface.
Salvaging the body
Dracopedes are highly sought after for the alchemical property of their spit. Their carapace is very hard, but 5 of them are needed to make an human-sized armor.
Black Dracospit. Builds pressure and has 1/6 chance to explode if shaken. If it does, take 1D6 damage and save or be poisoned, save again each day to cure. If this damage would bring you below 1 HP, you fall asleep for 12 hours instead.
D6 Symbolism
In local cultures the bat is a symbol of …
- Dragons
- Elementals
- Seasons
- Shyness
- Weather
- Sacred
Credits
Dracopedes are original creations of Richard J Leblanc found in the Creature Compendium. I always love more insectoid diversity and really love their abilities. I was less a fan of making them look like dragons, I think their breath attack is a strong enough parallel without having to give them a dragon face. But that’s just my personal taste.