THAT LICH IS A LUCH Luch CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any FREQUENCY: Very rare ORGANIZATION: Solitary ACTIVITY CYCLE: Night DIET: Nil INTELLIGENCE: Supra-Genius (19-20) TREASURE: A ALIGNMENT: Any NO. APPEARING: 1 ARMOR CLASS: 0 MOVEMENT: 6 HIT DICE: 11+ THAC0: 10 NO. OF ATTACKS: 1 DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-10 SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below SPECIAL DEFENSES: +1 or better magical weapon to hit MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil SIZE: M (6' tall) MORALE: Fanatic (17-18) XP VALUE: 7000 The luch is a special variant of lich (MC1). A luch is created when a wizard of at least 18th level dies from acute alcohol intoxication or alcohol poisoning. At this point, the dead wizard must pass a system shock check and then a save vs. death at -4. If both rolls are successful, the wizard enters a bizarre state of alcoholic undeath. The luch is always in a state of at least mild intoxication, and always seeks out more alcohol to ease it's insatiable thirst. It takes three times as much alcohol to move a luch to the next state of drunkenness as when the wizard was alive. A luch will only stop seeking alcohol in a 24 hour period after drinking at least two quarts liquor, 10 to 14 quarts of wine, or 16 to 20 quarts of beer, ale, or mead. After 24 hours, the luch returns to a state of mild intoxication and renews it's quest for alcohol. Unfortunately for tavern owners, the luch retains all of it's spellcasting abilities and won't hesitate to use them to get at any source of alcohol. Combat: Unlike the lich's aura of fear, the luch radiates an aura of drunkenness which increases the level of intoxication of any being that has ever consumed any alcoholic beverage by one level (note: lifetime teetotalers are immune). It's touch will cause extreme intoxication in any being which fails a save vs. spells (duration is 4-16 days). An unfortunate side effect of these abilities is that any being effected by either ability will suffer the worst possible hangover upon sobering up. Should the luch elect to touch a living creature, its touch cause 1-10 points of cold damage. Luches can themselves be hit only by weapons of at least +1, by magical spells, or by monsters with 6 or more Hit Dice and/or magical properties. The magical nature of the luch and its undead state make it utterly immune to charm, sleep, enfeeblement, polymorph, cold, electricity, insanity, or death spells. Priests of at least 8th level can attempt to turn a lich, as can paladins of no less than 10th level. Habitat/Society: Luches are solitary creatures. They want little to do with the world of the living except when the drive of alcohol is great, which is almost all the time. A luch will make its home in some fortified area, often in crypts or sewers of where populous area where alcohol is readily found. A luch's supra-genius intelligence allows it to create masterful plans to get alcohol. For example, one luch actually took control of a city's entire alcohol trade running it from deep in the earth where he was surrounded with an ample supply of beer, mead, and ale vats. Thus, a luch is more than a crazed creature who bangs down tavern doors to get booze. Ecology: The luch is not a thing of this world. Although once a living creature, it has entered into an unnatural existence. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- A DRAGON WITH MORE THAN A DRINKING PROBLEM Wine, that mounts us to the skies. --- Francois Rabelais Good wine is a good familiar creature, if it be well used. --- William Shakespeare from Othello Dragon, Alcohol CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any FREQUENCY: Very rare ORGANIZATION: Solitary or clan ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any DIET: Special INTELLIGENCE: High (13-14) TREASURE: Special ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Neutral NO. APPEARING: 1 (2-5) ARMOR CLASS: 4 (base) MOVEMENT: 9, FL 30(C) HIT DICE: 13 (base) THAC0: 15 (6 HD) or 13 (7-8 HD) NO. OF ATTACKS: 3 (claw/claw/bite) DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-6/1-6/3-18 SPECIAL ATTACKS: Special SPECIAL DEFENSES: Variable MAGIC RESISTANCE: Variable SIZE: G (40' base) MORALE: Fanatic (17) XP VALUE: Variable Age Body Lgt.(') Tail Lgt.(') AC Breath Weapon 1 3-8 2-6 2 2d4+1 2 8-16 4-12 1 4d4+2 3 16-27 12-20 -0 6d4+3 4 27-38 20-30 -1 8d4+4 5 38-50 30-40 -2 10d4+5 6 50-59 40-50 -3 12d4+6 7 59-73 50-60 -4 14d4+7 8 73-86 60-70 -5 16d4+8 9 86-100 70-80 -6 18d4+9 10 100-114 80-90 -7 20d4+10 11 114-130 90-100 -8 22d4+11 12 130-147 100-110 -9 24d4+12 Age Crushing Att. Spells MR Treas. Type XP Value 1 1d20+1 Nil Nil Nil 1,400 2 2d20+2 Nil Nil Nil 2,000 3 3d20+3 Nil Nil Nil 4,000 4 4d20+4 Nil Nil 1/2HS 6,000 5 5d20+5 Nil 10% HS 9,000 6 6d20+6 Nil 15% HS 10,000 7 7d20+7 Nil 20% HS 11,000 8 8d20+8 Nil 25% HSx2 12,000 9 9d20+9 Nil 30% HSx2 14,000 10 10d20+10 Nil 35% HSx2 16,000 11 11d20+11 Nil 40% HSx3 17,000 12 12d20+12 Nil 45% HSx3 18,000 Alcohol dragons are some of the most interesting and somewhat insane dragons. They are the essence of every drunk found in any tavern throughout the worlds. They are pranksters, joke tellers, and riddlers (although they seldom make sense). They're also moody creatures being quick tempered at one moment to humorously pleasant the next. They still love to talk and are quite the conversationalists. Listening is another quality of them. They love tall tales, epic poems and songs. As well as tales of stupid and misguided fools and humorous tales. Furthermore, they love games of all types and appreciate such. Alcohol dragons tend to have dopey looks and an appearance of poor health. Many hapless adventurers have been fatally fooled by the dragon's delicate look. They're still dragons, and should not be taken lightly! At birth, an alcohol dragon's scales are bright pink with a tint of baby blue. As the dragon gets older, the scales become finer and a soft color of bluish-white sets in. When the dragon becomes a young adult, it develops a chameleon power (in the sense of being able to change its color, but not multiple colors). This power allows the dragon to change its color to any it wishes. The changing of color isn't instance and takes a few weeks, plus the dragon doesn't like to implement it to often. Most alcohol dragons like to be bright cheery colors like yellow, blue, or pink ("I thought <> I saw a <> pink dragon."). However, some may mimic other dragons for a practical joke. Alcohol Dragons speak their own slurred tongue, a slurred variation of the tongue common to all neutral dragons, and 15% of hatchling alcohol dragons have an ability to communicate with any intelligent creature. The chance to possess this ability increases 5% per age category of the dragon. Combat: Alcohol dragons dislike killing creatures above animal intelligence. The main reason they avoid fighting is that they suffer a -2 penalty to hit because they're drunk on their own breath weapon. However, they will fight when necessary. They like to taunt and annoy their opponents, hoping they will give up or become angry and act foolishly. An alcohol dragon's favorite attack is a crushing attack in which it simply body flops onto it's opponents, save vs. paralyzation for half damage. Breath weapon/special abilities: An alcohol dragon has three breath weapons. The first breath weapon of the alcohol dragon is, of course, alcohol. The form of this breath weapon is a 70' long and 5' wide stream of alcohol and gas. Creatures caught in the gas stream must save vs. breath weapon or take full damage and go into a state of great intoxication and suffer the effects of this state. A successful save for half damage. The second breath weapon is a 10' long and 5' long transparent, bluish breath. It causes no damage, but characters in the line of fire enter a state of great intoxication for 1d10 rounds. Fumes from this breath weapon will linger for 2d10 rounds, so characters should take precautions to avoid it's effects. Alcohol dragons use this breath weapon as a defensive mechanism rather than offensive. The third breath weapon is highly unusual, more dangerous then the first, and is in the form of a hiccup. A special stomach serves to mix fatty secretions (natural body "gas"). The resulting goop produces the hiccup breath weapon, a bubble cloud similar to that produced by a horn of bubbles. The cloud is 60' long, 50' wide, and 20' high, and it lasts 2-12 rounds. Anyone trapped in this cloud is painfully blinded for 4-16 rounds due to goop in his eyes, making magic virtually impossible to cast; this places a -6 penalty on all attack rolls, saves, and damage (1 hp damage minimum), and negates dexterity bonuses to armor class. Movement is random as the affected person stumbles around. A successful save vs. breath weapon indicates that the character closed his eyes before the goop affected them, in which case only the normal penalties for fighting blind apply, without the distraction caused by the pain of the goop in the eyes. If the victim's eyes are protected, as by goggles, the obscuring effects alone are operative, giving only a-2 modifier to hit for as long as the bubbles last. There is no save against the obscurement effect, as the cloud also affects infravision and ultravision. When the bubble cloud is in place, the dragon merely closes its transparent protective third eyelids and using a bat-like sonar, attacks. At birth, alcohol dragons are immune to poison. As they age, they gain the following additional powers: Young: neutralize poison three times a day. Juvenile: create food and water three times a day. Adult: polymorph self three times a day. Alcohol dragons love to visit taverns and inns to party with the mortals. Habit/Society: Alcohol Dragons tend to favor warm climates, preferably near vineyards. They prefer wooded in areas with fields close by, but they can live in caves just as easily. Some societies actually respect alcohol dragons, mainly for their potent alcohol secretions. Some clerics obtain the alcohol from the glands of an alcohol dragon for rites of passage. If a person drinks the alcohol and lives then he is a man, death is the other option. A person who drinks it must save vs. death or die. A successful save gives the person a permanent +1 to constitution and +1 to wisdom. A person may only benefit from this once. They have few enemies and enjoy the company of normal races (i.e. humans, elves, dwarves, etc.). Alcohol dragons find them stimulating and fun-loving races. Alcohol dragons are also found in the company of copper dragons and pink dragons (DRAGON magazine). In fact some sages claim that the alcohol dragons are offspring of these dragons. This theory seems adequate giving their pink color at birth, the bubble breath weapon, and the copper dragon sense of humor. Ecology: Like other dragons, alcohol dragons can eat almost anything if the need arises. They prefer to eat plants and trees then animal life. They would also rather eat metal ore then take the life of a creature (unless the creature is trying to cause harm). ----------------------------------------------------------------------- THE GUARDIAN OF ALCOHOL IS A LEPRECHAUN? Come, thou monarch of the vine, Plumpy Bacchus with pink eyne. --- Shakespeare Wine is life. --- Petronius Eat thy bread with joy and drink thy wine with a merry heart. --- Ecclesiates 9:7 A meal without wine is like a day without sun. A meal without wine is like life without laughter. --- Anon "King" Lohocla: The Guardian of Alcohol RACE: Leprechaun ALIGNMENT: Neutral HIT DICE: 1 HIT POINTS: 8 MOVEMENT: 15 MAGIC RESISTANCE: 90% SIZE: T (2' tall) INTELLIGENCE: 18 CONSTITUTION: 20 Lohocla is The Guardian of Alcohol. Sages aren't sure if he is a deity. If he is a god, Lohocla is probably worshiped by the leprechauns or other wee folk. Some sages speculate that he is the famed King of the Leprechauns, but this is manly based on his nickname. One interesting fact is that he doesn't have a surname (as far as anybody knows) which isn't common amongst leprechauns. To the more standard races (human, elf, dwarf, etc.), Lohocla is a powerful leprechaun who isn't afraid of much and enjoys a good party. Most enjoy his company and have a great respect for this oddity. Others think of him as a demon of booze. He dresses in the standard leprechaun clothes: green coat, green breeches, pointed shoes. He is best recognized by his bright red brimmed hat. Lohocla has a great knowledge of alcohol any anything minutely related to it. He can tell exactly what a drink is, where its from, who made it, when it was made, and any other obscure detail about it merely by sampling it. Lohocla has the standard leprechaun powers. His favorite power being the ability to create illusions. Its one of the best ways to have some fun with a tanked person. The ability to snatch valuable items successfully is 95% instead of the standard 75% (hey, he is powerful). He, also, has a Teleport Without Error ability, which comes in very handy with mad, combative drunks. Of course, Lohocla enjoys eating all types of foods. His fondness for wine is equal to all leprechauns. In fact, one of his main reasons for travel is to find unique wines to sample. But, Lohocla is never one to turn away an interesting alcohol drink of any kind. He loves his booze. In fact, Lohocla is the ideal boozer. He has a conscious immunity to all effects of alcohol. Being a conscious ability, Lohocla may waiver this ability to become inebriated. The main reason he waivers this immunity is so that he may challenge (or be challenged) in a drinking contest. Usually, he gives any winners a prize. The prize may be a wish, but this is to general. Lohocla prefers to give them something alcohol related: a barrel of valuable and rare alcohol, an increase in constitution, an alcohol non-weapon skill, a magical goblet or tankard, a vineyard, secret brew recipe, a large bar tab, a copy of his glorious spell book, etc.. He may (25% chance) be bitter after a loss (the way of neutrals) and might penalize the challenger. Lohocla does have a hoard of treasure. Most of it is coinage to pay for all his expenses. However, he does have a grand collection of tankards, mugs, and such. Lohocla loves all people who love alcohol. There is no prejudice or racism when with a pitcher of "sauce". In fact he is very helpful to weaken creatures as all leprechauns do. SOME MAGIC ITEMS THAT LOHOCLA POSSESSES Wooden Barrel of Flight - A favorite form of transportation. This barrel is of medium size. Movement rate is 25". The barrel is always filled with a pleasant liquid. Lohocla enjoys this form of transportation because it is flashy, fun, practical, and full of good "spirits". Portable Lair Pipe - This pipe creates a non-dimensional space that Lohocla uses as his lair. This space has roughly a five cubic mile area. Among other things, Lohocla has a castle, vineyard, forest, lake, and his treasure in this space. Climate is controlled by Lohocla. He usually keeps it very comfortable: breezy and sunny. In this space, creatures don't age, and natural healing and curing take place at twice the normal rate. Activation is done by Lohocla placing the pipe in his mouth and him thinking of the space. The pipe, all his possessions, and anything else that he is touching and desires to take with him (e.g. other people) will be transported there. When Lohocla (and guests if any) leave this space, he (they) returns to any place he desires. Usually it will be in a place where nobody is present, so that he doesn't startle anybody. Lohocla keeps knowledge of the pipe's powers and his lair a secret. -----------------------------------------------------------------------