Greetings, brethern

a long while ago, I put up different topics to requested your inspiration for some creatures (Forbidden or just Creepy). I got answer and said I would present you with what I used your inspiration for. Naturally, this took a while but here we go! One warning ahead: some of these might get a little wordy, I´ll thereby try to give each a different post in this topic. Since I am still not complete, have a look from time to time if something new showed up. Here we go...

Xisorachnid // ( “Xisor Spider”) (inspiration provided by User “Xisor” of FFG Forum)

The Dusk-born “Xisor Spider” is named after the Magos Biologis who first discovered & catalogued the creature. While looking very much like a spider, the creatures familiarity to Arachnoids is rather superficial since it features organs otherwise unknown with such like lunges and a highly developed nervous system.

The adult Xisorachnid encountered in the wilds is a large creature. The upper end of the eight flexed multi-jointed legs is about 1,50m and the body rests at about 1,20m height. This, however, are the measures of an average specimen found on Dusk. The creatures are known to reach far bigger the size and younger examples are much smaller. The body is encased in a spotty olive-green shell which sports numerous thick hairs (which are sensory organs). Four eyes rest in a flat head the width of a grown mans torso, featuring two thick antenna which constantly move about in the air. The underside of the head contains sets of sharp, curved mandibles (to hold prey) and a set of smaller mandibles around the mouse (to break up prey). The legs are thick and powerful, designed for jumping.

It hunts by following the scent (captured in the air by the antenna) and vibration of potential prey, slowly approaching through the underbrush. Once in reach, it jumps the target (literally) and tries to inject venom that both kills the prey and later softens up the tissue and inner organs.

The creature is forbidden by imperial law due to its aggressive procreation and its ability of self scaling in comparison to its environment. Once mated, a Xisorachnid is capable of spawning new young once every week. This is done by webbing fresh prey into a cocoon (which is the only use of the creatures webbing glands) while inserting eggs through a stinger in its opisthosoma (a.k.a. “hind body”). Over the next two weeks, the eggs will give live to a larva form which will eat the kill. The carcass the larva dwell in is mildly poisonous to other creatures and thereby mostly left alone. After about two to three weeks, the larva-forms will start cocooning themselves and will later erupt as small Xisorachnids after about another two weeks. These small Xisor-Spiders will over time grow and peel their carapace many times till reaching their maximum size. If kept in a limited environment (like a terrarium or the ducts of a hive city) the spider limits its size, but not its procreation. [GM-Note: In fact, after reaching the Puny size they are able to mate and have offspring]

On Dusk, many of the younger (and thereby smaller) Xisorachnids become prey not only to numerous other predators but a mildew like fungal attack. On other worlds, a population might grow unchecked with devastating results and a high tool in human lives since the venom of even a small Xisor Spider is comparable potent.

Xisorachnid: WS BS S T AG INT PER WP Fel W Move
(Tiny) 15 - 11 18 45 4 38 20 - 1 1 / 2 / 3 / 6 [Miniscule]
(Puny) 25 - 24 26 40 5 38 24 - 9 1 / 2 / 3 / 6 [Puny]
(Subsized) 35 - 42 32 40 6 38 27 - 12 2 / 4 / 6 / 12 [scrawny]
(Average) 45 - 47 32 40 6 38 30 - 15 2 / 4 / 6 / 12 [Average]
(Fully Grown) 55 - 57 42 40 6 38 35 - 20 3 / 6 / 9 / 18 [Hulking]

Talents: Talented (Climb); Talented (Silent Move); Sprint; Berserker Charge;
Skills: Awareness+10; Climb+20; Silent Move+10; Tracking+10;
Traits: Bestial; Dark Sight; Natural Weapons (Mandibles: 1w10+STB; Pen:[sTB-2]; Primitive; Impact); Toxic (Xisorachnid Vernom); Natural Armour (equal to TB; Primitive); Fear 1 (Disturbing; if of at least Average size); Leaping Spider; Spider Climb;

Xisorachnid Venom (Instant / * / Lethal & Necrotic)
The Venom of the Xisorachnid is Lethal. The strength of the venom is -20 for a Hulking specimen, -10 for those Average and Scrawny and +0 for those Puny & Miniscule. If the Toughness check is failed, the victim suffers from 1d10 loss of Strength plus another 1d10 for every level of failure. After 1d5 minutes, the Necrotic ability of the venom kicks in. This is intended to liquefy the tissue of dead prey, but might be harmful to survivors of an attack as well. The test is +40 if the Xisorachnid was Miniscule or Puny, +30 if it was Scrawny or Average and +20 in case of a Hulking Specimen. Victims to the venom suffer an amount of damage (no TB!) equal to the TB of the Dusk-Spider which delivered the venom. For every two levels of failure, this damage is applied again.

Leaping Spider
Instead of charging a target, a Xisorachnid will jump it. The creature counts as having Unnatural Leap (2x). For ease of play, the GM can assume that a Xisorachnid is at least able to cover twice its STB in Meters in a standing leap. This counts as a charge.

Spider Climb:
Miniscule and Puny Xisorachnids can move up wall and along a ceiling with ease (no penalty to movement, no need for Climb checks) while a Scrawny one can only move half at fast under this conditions. Average and Hulking Xisorachnids have lost this ability and use standard rules for climbing instead.

Houndrat

The Houndrat was something I honestly did not spend to much thought about. The appearance is a mix of a hound and a rat (as the name suggests), with snot and teeth and size going towards "hound". The rest of the body looks more like a typical rat, but with the body being a little leaner, the legs a little stronger and the tail a little shorter (while still rat-like).

The Houndrat will be encountered in groups. Due to there greater size, i suggest groups of 3 to 16. They share a lot of properties with todays Hyena: while rather powerful in build and bite, they tend more towards driving other predators of a carcass then to hunt on there own. While accompanied in numbers, they do not show elaborate pack tactics like i.e. wolves would do. They go after the young, sick, wounded or already dead and are attracted by the scent of blood. While designed for "the wilds", they would make good hiver vermin as well.

WS BS S T AG INT PER WP Fel W Move Dmg
30 - 28 28 36 11 38 36 - 8 4/8/12/24 (Bite)1d5+3 (Tearing;Primitiv)

Skills: Awareness(+10); Silent Move; Swim; Tracking(+10)
Talents: Sprint; Frenzy (Trigger: Bestial trait kicks & the creatuer cannot flee; More then lightly wounded); Keen Senses (Smell; Hearing)
Traits: Bestial; Burrower (1; soft ground only); DarkSight; Natural Armor (Pelt; 1; Primitive); Natural Weapons (Teeth, see above); Infectious Bite

Infectious Bite: Every pc that suffered damage from a Houndrat must pass a Toughness test after the combat. If the test is failed, the wound will
be infected heals like the damage was one step category worse (heavly wounded or critical). Any Levels of Failure lead to fever and the temporary loss of a number of Toughnes points equal to the Levels of Failure times three (three per day till number is reached). This can be treated with the Medicin skill.
The check is routine (worsens by one step for every level of failure) and after treatment sets in, Toughness will be regained in rate of 1 point every 8 hours. The Toughness damage will be permanent if not treatetd within a number of days equal to the TB of the victim.

Slayback (a.k.a Slaughterback or Tentamaw) // (inspiration provided by User “Bladehate” of FFG Forum)

The Slayback or “Tentamaw” is an ambush hunter first documented in the written reports about the journeys of an interstellar big game hunter “Bladehate”. This was the only name that Scribe Kaylyn Pisk (whom accompanied the hunter) where allowed to use, since “Bladehate” adopted a primitive superstition that “real names” could be used against there owners in some way..

As depicted in “The Bladehate Journals”, the Slayback (or Tentamaw) is rather bizarre, cold blooded creature which appearance is best described as a huge lump of meat which is carried by four short limbs that are radial positioned on the underside. The upper side of the body is rather flat and sports a bewildering number of big antler-like pincers arranged around different maw openings surrounded by smaller mandibles. A long the middle line of the body grow numerous long, fleshy tentacles. Since the creature has no eyes, the tentacles double as sensory organs.

The creature normally hides in larger bodies of water, with only the upper end of its body protruding the surface. The sight resembles plant form found in its habitat. Once the tentacles (which length lie between one and two and a half meters) sense something moving close, they explode into action. The victim is grabbled and pulled towards the body where it is tossed onto the back of pincers and maws. There, it is grabbed again (by the larger pincers) and slain (by the smaller mandibles eating it alive). This gruesome technique leaded to the naming of the creature.

The live cycle is equally bizarre. Once mated, the female gives birth to its young similar to the way it excretes its waste (a flush of a foul slime). The difference is that a “hedge slime” is a kind of blob that will slowy creep away and spend the next month with digesting plant matter and carcass while growing. After about a year, the blob searches a body of water and lies it self low in the middle, forming a goblet which outer body will harden into a kind of unregular egg shell. Weeks later, a small Tentamaw emerges.

WS BS S T AG INT PER WP Fel W Move
34 - 50 44 18 6 45 30 - 25 2 / 4 / 6 / 8

Traits : Bestial; Blind*; Deaf; Fear 1 (Disturbing; only if “slay backing” a victim); Natural Armour (Body only; Thick skin; AP:3; Primitive); Quadruped; Size (Hulking); Strange Physiology (Special); Sturdy; Many-a-Tentacle; Wrapped Tight; Slow; The Maws;

Talents : Blind Fighting*; Combat Master; Heightened Senses (Touch)*; Iron Jaw; Lightning Reflexes; Resistance (Poison);

Skills: Awareness; Conceal+20;

Strange Physiology (Special): While it takes 4 points of damage (after TB-reduction) to sever a tentacle, this does not reduce the wounds of the creature. It does trigger the “Bestial” trait, so.

Many-a-Tentacle: The Slayback is able to attack up to five different targets at once with its many tentacles.

Wrapped tight: Once a target is grabbled, the Slayback gains a +10 bonus on all roles during the ongoing grabble due to additional tentacles that are wrapping up the target.

Once a target is grabbled, the Slayback will try to pull it onto its back each round. This is a resisted test of Strength and the Slayback will need five successes. Once this is achieved, the victim gets tossed or towed onto the creatures back where large mandibles will hold the prey while smaller one will start to tear it apart so the maws can devour it.

The victim sustains 1d10+2 points of tearing primitive damage each round. The victim can try to break

Slow: Although rules for the traits and stats and movement might suggest otherwise, the listed movement of the creature is correct.

The Maws: Once tossed on the back of the creature, the victim still counts as being grabbed, but the rules for the tentacles no longer apply. Instead, the larger pincers hold the prey while the smaller will inflict 1d5+2 (PEN:2; Primitive; Tearing) Damage each round. The victim can try to break free, but each try (failed or successful) immediately results in 1d10+2 (Tearing;Primitive) points of damage. If the victim escapes, it will be attacked by the tentacles again

*A word about senses and combat: the stats given already incorporate all talents and traits. The creature will not dodge or parry but always attack all-out. As pc walk passed a Tentamaw with a range of two meters or less, test awareness for the creature (perhaps opposed by silent move if the pc treat with care) Do so for every round. If it senses the victims, it will attack

cool monsters!

what are the Bladehate Journals?

The Laughing God said:

Glad you like them. To answer your question

a) A series of reports and stories written by the female Scribe Kaylyn Pisk on her journeys accompaning the interstellar big game hunter called “Bladehate”.
The "Bladehate Journals" can be used as a source of informations (equal to "Forbidden Lore: Xenos" with a value of 25) that can be "digged thru" with a routine check for Literacy. Since the Journals never go into depth about any topic, they are not Forbidde but will never grant any level of success. And of course they can only be used on indigen creatures and the GM is always free to rule that Bladehate never encountered certain species.

b) Another thing I just made up. "Bladehate" is (as mentioned) the user that shared his ideas with me and I thereby wanted to credit him in fluff. With Xisor, I did this through the naming of the creature ("Xisorachnid"). With Bladehate, I did it with the invention of "Bladehate, the Big Game Hunter" and just added the scribe and the "Bladehate Journals".

The Grave Fungus Gestalt (inspired by Graver from the FFG forums)

In places where the barrier to the warp is constantly thin, strange creatures are known to rise and spread. The luring fungus gestalt is one of such beings. It looks like a patch or field of roughly ball shaped fungus growing anywhere damp and dark. Not to odd, not obviously threatening. Just some spore-covered and rotting bones might be present to warn an observer to what is in front of him: the Grave Fungus Gestalt, a doom for the unwary.

This field of fungi has been altered by the warp so it started to form a primitive “gestalt” and psychic powers. The fungi gestalt has a sense of its surrounding and can detect living beings there. It then tries to lure them to step inside of its field. By stepping on the fungi, clouds of fine spores are released which if inhaled can be deadly. If the victim keeps moving inside the field, it will trigger more spores and eventually die and become new fertilizer for the fungus gestalt.

The “Grave Fungus Gestalt” is a name only known to some hardy travellers and locals might have different names for one of these patches (if they live near one!).

Stats: The fungus gestalt has no real stats since it is more a sentient mass of plant then a creature with a body. The important attributes are Willpower, Intelligence, Psy-Rating and Wounds. All of them depend on the size of the patch/field (see table). While still poisonous, miniscule, puny and scrawny sized fungi fields lack a gestalt and any power besides their spores and are thereby not covered in the table.

Size Willpower Intelligence Wounds Psy Rating & Powers
Average 25+1d10 5+1d5 12 2; Beastmaster; Compel; Fear; Call Creatures
Hulking 30+1d10 10+1d5 18 2; Beastmaster; Compel; Fear; Zone of Compulsion (Dotdg); Call Creatures
Enormous 35+1d10 15+1d5 25 3; Beastmaster; Compel; Fear; Zone of Compulsion (Dotdg; Dominate; Call Creatures
Massive 40+1d10 20+1d5 35 3; Beastmaster; Compel; Fear; Zone of Compulsion (Dotdg); Dominate; Call Creatures

Traits: Body of Fungus; Size(see above); Inert Psychic Ability; Toxic Spores; From Beyond; Strange Physiology; Unnatural Senses (wounds x5 in meters);

Body of Fungus: Only attacks from flame and plasma weapons will have their full effect. Attacks from Explosive Weapons will do halve damage and kick up enough spores to cover a much wider area (GM´s choice). Other regular weapons will do a maximum of 1 point of damage.

Inert Psychic Ability: The creature always uses it´s psychic powers with double it´s WP-Bonus (like a successful invocation skill check). The use of its powers will never trigger warp disturbances of any kind.

Toxic Spores: [instant* / +0 / Deadly]
The spores effect starts a round after they have been inhaled. A figure that inhaled spores must make a challenging (+0) check for toughness (and must check every turn it keeps inhaling spores). If the check is failed, the figure loses 1d10 stamina and another 1d10 stamina for every level of failure. If stamina is reduced to zero, the figure collapses and dies. Even if the test is passed, the figure suffers horrible cough and has problems to breath (lose one point of staminia, but not more then one). If the figure survives the encounter, the stamina is regained as per standard rules, but for every 10 points temporary lost, one point is lost permanent.

The creature in combat:
The fungi gestalt will try to lure pc/npc (or their creatures) into touching/stepping into it and inhale its fungus. It is likely that once the fungi are inhaled that either the effected pc (if a pc!) can break free or will get assistance from it´s peers. If the fungi gestalt is attacked by means that are able to harm it, it will either use “Fear” to scare the attacker(s) off or (if powerful enough) will use dominate to protect itself. Rather Intelligent fungi (INT 20 and up) might call upon animals from the surroundings and use "Beastmaster" to goad them into an attack.

Take note that it senses are limited and it´s power will dimish with it´s size/wounds.