The Beast of Heorot

[lisagb]

Other than the Aliens my fav monster by far. Here my approximation of it. Excellent book!!

Grendel Pouncer/killer 7 Skills
STR 15/30* Init +6/+14* Hide +8
DEX 15/30* AC 18/26* Move Silently +6
CON 12/24* Spd 16m/32m* Jump +5
INT 6 Stm 42/77* Spot +7
WIS 14 Lb 12/24* Listen +6
CHA 13 Climb +2
Sv Ft+6/+12* Ref+7/+15* Will +4 Swim +4 Wpns Atk Teeth +9/+17* 1d8+2/+10* Clawsx2 +4/+12 1d6+2/+10*
Feats
Improved Init(+4) Camouflage (+2 to hide) Darkvision (see infrared) Scent (can make a spot roll even if hidden) Track (as feat) Terryfying presence(DC 15 will Sv or paralysed for that round) Run (x5 run move)

Special
Hunters Rage- when frightened or about to attack
a special form of adrenaline has some amazing if short term effects. Once activated for the next 2d6 rounds all physical stats are DOUBLED. Its body temperature jumps and after the effects have worn off it must find a way to cool down (by jumping in a nearby river) if not it will literally cook itself to death.(Damage 1d6 per round till able to cool down.) Its blind rage means its skills other than Atk are unaffected.

Notes
Looks like a 100kg newt but with teeth an claws.
No previous human contact so has no fear of man.
Learns quick though. Very territorial.
For the feats see the SW rpg book.

 

[Uncle Bob]

One of my least favorite monsters, because it is one of the most plausable and frightening.

IIRC, it dumped an oxygen rich chemical into it's own blood, acting as a supercharger until it ran out. AFAIK no terrestial animal does this, so there must be downside, but I can't find it.

 

[Rodina]

Well, the superhemoglobin or whatever it was, did up the body temperture by quite a bit, so it wasn't easy on the animal's internal organs; as I recall, the Grendels both loved and hated the sensation of it.

 

[Tarn]

Ooooh... loved the grendel. But you didn't mention the best part and the reason the grendels did so much damage in the book.

The grendels were the adult stage of a local fish and its primary diet was its own young (after having wiped out anything else to eat). This meant that when the colonists finished killing all the grendels on the island, they inadvertently set up a population explosion... many many more grendels appeared the following year. All of whom were trying to find non-grendel food first (ie the colonists, their animals and anything else that moved) before resorting to eating each other.

As a footnote, I recently read about a blood substitute being tried in South Africa. Apparently it works significantly better then hemoglobin (A real life version of your super-oxident). Its a polymer wraped around an oxident, the polymer protects the body from the oxident until it gets to when the body needs the oxygen, where it is released. The oxident in question is better at carrying oxygen the hemoglobin and the total package is smaller... small enough that it can good throught the lining of the blood vessels and carry the oxygen directly to the cells that need it. Normally oxygen is released into the blood plasma and then diffuses to the cells. This process is relatively slow, compared to the blood substitutes delivery. To some degree it mimics the bodies own reaction to stress where is breaks the red blood cells and allows hemoglobin to carry the oxygen directly to the cells. Only catch is free hemoglobin is a poison to the kidneys... too much of it free in the blood and you die a painful death.

 

[Scarecrow]

And of course, the best part of 'Legacy of Heorot' was that the main character was a Welshman!

Though I've never heard of anyone called Cadman, and Wayland is certainly not a common Welsh name. Still it's better than Dai Reese.

'Bread of Heaven! Bread of Heaven!'

Scarecrow
(Welsh Ex-Pat)

 

[maksimsmelchak]

The Legacy of Heorot (1st of a trilogy)
by: Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, and Steven Barnes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legacy_of_Heorot

Thought this might help.

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.