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Armor Class: 2 Hit Dice: 8+8 Move: 60’ (20’) Attacks: 3 Damage: 3-12/3-12/1-10 No. Appearing: 1-4 Save As: F8 Morale: 13 Treasure Type: G Alignment: Chaotic evil XP Value: 4,000
Umber hulks are powerful subterranean predators whose ironlike claws allow them to burrow through solid stone in search of prey.
Umber hulks are tremendously strong, standing nearly 8 feet tall and over 5 feet wide. Muscles bulge beneath their thick, scaly hides and their powerful arms and legs all carry great claws. They have no necks to speak of, but the head features a powerful maw with rows of triangular teeth and 8-inch mandibles capable of biting through any hide or bone. Most peculiar of all are the four round eyes, spaced evenly across each umber hulk's forehead. Umber hulks are black, shading to a lighter shade of yellowish gray on the front. Their eyes are mere blackened dots each the size of a small coin. Umber hulks have their own language.
Combat: For all of their monstrous features, umber hulks are intelligent opponents. They usually dig to a point adjacent to a main corridor, then wait, peeking through a crack they've made, until likely prey walks by. The umber hulk then springs out upon its startled victim. When using this technique, opponents have a -5 modifier on their surprise rolls. Other tactics involve planned cave-ins and dead-end tunnels where an umber hulk can wait for victims to come to him. Their burrowing rate varies from 10 feet per turn in solid stone to 60 feet per turn in soft earth.
In melee, umber hulks can deliver a vicious bite but, understandably, their main weapon is their great claws. Worse, looking into an umber hulk's eyes causes confusion, as per the spell, unless a saving throw versus spell is made. In addition to this special confusion attack the outer eyes of an umber hulk provide the creature with infravision to a distance of 90 feet.
The one saving grace when fighting an umber hulk is their speed. Their gait is slow and ponderous and their balance is poor in wide spaces.
Umber hulks never fight to the death unless cornered (which is rare, since the creature can dig through stone). If hard pressed, an umber hulk won't hesitate to cause a cave-in (25% chance of success per round) and then dig his way to freedom.
Habitat/Society: Umber hulks dwell in the depths of the earth. They raid dungeons for food, much the way anteaters raid ant colonies, eating their fill and then moving on to let the ``colony'' recover.
Umber hulks are usually solitary hunters. Males and females mate, then go their separate ways. One to three young are born about a year later in a special nursery which has been hollowed out by the female. Two years later, once the hulklings are big enough, the female begins taking them with her when hunting. It is during this period that unfortunate victims may stumble across more than one umber hulk at a time.
No umber hulk culture is known, but it is rumored that there may be entire cities of these beings underground with tunnels that radiate out, like threads in a spider's web, toward the nearer dungeons and mountain ranges. If true, this would explain much, for umber hulks seem to disappear or spring up in a region at will and always take great care in hiding their tunnels behind them.
Ecology: Umber hulks eat young purple worms, ankhegs, and similar creatures. Their favorite prey, however, is humankind.
Armor Class: 2 Hit Dice: 4+4 Move: 180’ (60’) Attacks: 3 Damage: 1-6/1-6/1-12 No. Appearing: 1-6 Save As: F4 Morale: 14 Treasure Type: X Alignment: Chaotic good XP Value: 650Unicorns dwell only in temperate woodlands, away from human habitation. These fierce but good creatures shun contact with all but sylvan creatures (dryads, pixies, sprites, and the like); however, they will show themselves to defend their woodland home.
Powerful steeds with gleaming coats of pure white hair, unicorn eyes are usually deep sea blue or fiery pink. Long, silky white strands of hair hang down from the mane and forelock. A single ivory-colored horn, 2 to 3 feet in length, grows from the center of each unicorn's forehead. Males are distinguished by the white beard beneath the chin; females by their more elegant and slimmer musculature. The hooves of a unicorn are cloven and yellow-ivory in color. Unicorns speak their own language as well as those of other sylvan creatures and elves.
Combat: Unicorns can sense an enemy from 240 yards away. Likewise, unicorns move very silently, so opponents are penalized -6 on their surprise rolls. Unicorns can kick with their front hooves and thrust with the horn each round. Due to the horn's magical nature, it always has a +2 bonus to hit. Unicorns can charge into battle, using the horn like a lance. To make this charge, there must be at least 30 feet of open space between the unicorn and his opponent. Opponents struck by a charging unicorn suffer 3-36 points of damage from impaling. Unicorns may not attack with their front hooves in the round they charge.
Once per day a unicorn can use a teleport spell of limited range. This spell will transport the unicorn (and its rider) to any place that the unicorn desires, up to 360 yards away. Unicorns often use this ability as a last resort to avoid death or capture.
In addition, unicorns can never be charmed or held by magic. They are immune to death spells and make all saving throws against spells as if they were wizards of 11th level. Unicorns are immune to poison.
Habitat/Society: Unicorns mate for life and make their home in an open dell of the forest they have chosen to protect. There, in the boles of the trees, unicorns etch a glyph, recognizable to sylvan creatures, indicating that the forest is under unicorn protection. Rangers have a 10% chance per level of determining correctly whether a forest is guarded by unicorns. Once a woodland has a unicorn protector, no other unicorn will enter that forest unless the forest is very large. Each family of unicorns stakes out a territory approximately 400 square miles (20 miles by 20 miles).
Travelers may pass through a unicorn's forest freely and even hunt there, but anyone killing for sport or damaging the forest maliciously will be attacked if the unicorn is nearby (10% chance). The ferocity of this attack is determined by the evil of the trespasser. Truant youths throwing stones at animals, for example, would be driven off with just a few bruises as a reminder, while pillaging orcs would be hunted down and slain.
Lone unicorns occasionally allow themselves to be tamed and ridden by a human or elf maiden of pure heart and good alignment. A unicorn that submits once and is treated kindly will act as the maiden's steed for life, even carrying her beyond the realm of his forest if she so desires. Unicorns make exceptionally loyal mounts and will protect their riders even unto death.
Ecology: Unicorns are herbivores, living on tender leaves and grasses. Their only enemies are griffons and those creatures who destroy forests, in particular red dragons and orcs.
The life span of unicorns has never been recorded but is known to surpass 1,000 years. They are believed to maintain their youth until death is only weeks away. The secret to this longevity is the strong magical nature of the horn. Unicorn horns are highly sought after, since possession of one is a sovereign remedy against all poisons. Alternately, a single horn can be used, by an alchemist, to manufacture 2-12 potions of healing. Unicorn horns sell for 1,500 gold pieces or more on the open market.
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