Dungeons & Delvers: Hook Horror Revision
I didn't know that hook horrors weren't part of the OGL. Kind of surprising, really. Ah, well, just means like beholders and mind flayers I'll have to change them up, which I was probably going to do anyway because it's pretty fun thinking of ways to reimagine classic monsters. As with the others, the first step was to take a trip down Edition Lane to see how they looked and worked before.
2nd Edition Dungeons & Dragons describes them as "a cross between a vulture and a man with hooks instead of hands". This initially paints a pretty different picture from the art (something I'd like to draw at some point), though a few sentences later it mentions the "mottled grey exoskeleton". At the end of the description it suggests that hook horrors are distantly related to cockroaches or cave crickets.
Their Fiend Folio description is even more sparse, but is essentially the same. 3rd Edition specifies that its torso is "shaped like a beetle's body", and the art is more inline with the Fiend Folio take, making it look way more ripped than Tony DiTerlizzi's 2nd Edition interpretation (which I honestly prefer). It looks virtually identical to the 4th Edition iteration, pretty close to 5th.
Ability-wise they have poor eyesight and exceptional hearing, all have a pair of hook attacks, sometimes a bite, sometimes a climb Speed, and in 3rd and 4th Edition they can grab you, and do worse shit to you once you're grabbed.
First issue has nothing to do with their appearance or abilities, but their habitat: there isn't a lot of food in caves, probably not enough to support a single massive creature let alone numerous populations of them (among other things), and I imagine their considerable size coupled with a rigid exoskeleton would make it even more difficult to get around.
So the first thing I did was pull them out of the cave. At least primarily. I figure they could still lair in caves, and would prefer mountainous terrain where they can exploit elevation and crevices: their long talons make it easy to swipe at creatures above or below them, dragging them up and away from others, or pulling them off of a ledge and slamming them into the ground (or flinging them over another ledge).
And it's about this point that I had the idea of making them more like big-ass flightless birds than vulture-headed insect men:
I was originally thinking of making them more like tortoises, so they could have a shelled back that they'd hide in, looking like stones until something got too close (which they could sense as vibrations in the ground), but ultimately decided that they'd need feathers or fur to survive high up in the mountains. I'd also considered something like a bear, but there's already an owlbear.
When talon terrors hunt in pairs or groups, they each single out individual prey, ganging up on the largest if they happen to have the advantage of numbers. If not they'll try to distract groups while others sneak up and pick off one or two before scattering (think something like that Dr. Grant speech from the first Jurassic Park). Ambushing is also ideal for them because they have a pretty nasty sneak attack bonus.
Mechanically speaking, a talon terror's primary set of talons have a built-in grab effect: if they roll high enough when attacking you, they'll manage to take you down and pin you in place, or drag you about at their leisure with a successful Strength check. They can also opt to tear you apart: their secondary set of talons deal automatic damage to a grabbed creature. In either case they also have Armor Penetration and can inflict Bleeding.
To compensate for poor eyesight, in addition to hunting at night, talon terrors have exceptional hearing, making it easy for them to pinpoint the source of noise echoing off of canyon walls: they'll almost certainly hear you coming, and have plenty of time to prepare an ambush before you get anywhere close. Their talons make it a bit easier to climb about, and while their wings can't be used to fly they can provide minor assistance when jumping (or falling).
Their nests are made primarily from bone and stone, using mud and viscera to stick it all together. They will often leave carrion strewn about, as it can attract predators. Most enjoy the sound metal makes when dropped, but some have learned that humanoids also prize them (likely assuming for the same reason they do), and so will drop them in ideal locations for an ambush.
The call of a talon terror sounds like a deep rumble, similar to what you'd hear from a cassowary (just louder due to the terror's larger size), but their primary form of communication is tapping their talons on stones. It sounds similar to Morse code, just not as complex, and will often simply sound like little more than a stone clattering in the distance.
Some species excrete a toxin from their skin and feathers: simply touching it is enough to cause paralysis or some other debilitating effect. Others are capable of vocal mimicry, often used to call for help. You could also give them supernatural abilities, such as the petrifying bite of a cockatrice, or just increase the size (to Huge or Gargantuan, for a roc-sized variant).
You can now get a physical copy of Dungeons & Delvers: Black Book in whatever format you want! We've also released the first big supplement for it, Appendix D, so pick that up if you want more of everything.
The first issue of The Delver, a magazine featuring fungal-themed content for both players and GMs (including an adventure in which myconids find religion), is available!
Our latest Dungeon World class, The Ranger, is now available.
Dwarven Vault is our sixth 10+ Treasures volume. If you're interested in thirty dwarven magic items (including an eye that lets you shoot lasers) and nearly a dozen new bits of dungeon gear, check it out!
By fan demand, we've mashed all of our 10+ Treasure volumes into one big magic item book, making it cheaper and more convenient to buy in print (which you can now do).
2nd Edition Dungeons & Dragons describes them as "a cross between a vulture and a man with hooks instead of hands". This initially paints a pretty different picture from the art (something I'd like to draw at some point), though a few sentences later it mentions the "mottled grey exoskeleton". At the end of the description it suggests that hook horrors are distantly related to cockroaches or cave crickets.
Their Fiend Folio description is even more sparse, but is essentially the same. 3rd Edition specifies that its torso is "shaped like a beetle's body", and the art is more inline with the Fiend Folio take, making it look way more ripped than Tony DiTerlizzi's 2nd Edition interpretation (which I honestly prefer). It looks virtually identical to the 4th Edition iteration, pretty close to 5th.
Ability-wise they have poor eyesight and exceptional hearing, all have a pair of hook attacks, sometimes a bite, sometimes a climb Speed, and in 3rd and 4th Edition they can grab you, and do worse shit to you once you're grabbed.
First issue has nothing to do with their appearance or abilities, but their habitat: there isn't a lot of food in caves, probably not enough to support a single massive creature let alone numerous populations of them (among other things), and I imagine their considerable size coupled with a rigid exoskeleton would make it even more difficult to get around.
So the first thing I did was pull them out of the cave. At least primarily. I figure they could still lair in caves, and would prefer mountainous terrain where they can exploit elevation and crevices: their long talons make it easy to swipe at creatures above or below them, dragging them up and away from others, or pulling them off of a ledge and slamming them into the ground (or flinging them over another ledge).
And it's about this point that I had the idea of making them more like big-ass flightless birds than vulture-headed insect men:
When talon terrors hunt in pairs or groups, they each single out individual prey, ganging up on the largest if they happen to have the advantage of numbers. If not they'll try to distract groups while others sneak up and pick off one or two before scattering (think something like that Dr. Grant speech from the first Jurassic Park). Ambushing is also ideal for them because they have a pretty nasty sneak attack bonus.
Mechanically speaking, a talon terror's primary set of talons have a built-in grab effect: if they roll high enough when attacking you, they'll manage to take you down and pin you in place, or drag you about at their leisure with a successful Strength check. They can also opt to tear you apart: their secondary set of talons deal automatic damage to a grabbed creature. In either case they also have Armor Penetration and can inflict Bleeding.
To compensate for poor eyesight, in addition to hunting at night, talon terrors have exceptional hearing, making it easy for them to pinpoint the source of noise echoing off of canyon walls: they'll almost certainly hear you coming, and have plenty of time to prepare an ambush before you get anywhere close. Their talons make it a bit easier to climb about, and while their wings can't be used to fly they can provide minor assistance when jumping (or falling).
Their nests are made primarily from bone and stone, using mud and viscera to stick it all together. They will often leave carrion strewn about, as it can attract predators. Most enjoy the sound metal makes when dropped, but some have learned that humanoids also prize them (likely assuming for the same reason they do), and so will drop them in ideal locations for an ambush.
The call of a talon terror sounds like a deep rumble, similar to what you'd hear from a cassowary (just louder due to the terror's larger size), but their primary form of communication is tapping their talons on stones. It sounds similar to Morse code, just not as complex, and will often simply sound like little more than a stone clattering in the distance.
Some species excrete a toxin from their skin and feathers: simply touching it is enough to cause paralysis or some other debilitating effect. Others are capable of vocal mimicry, often used to call for help. You could also give them supernatural abilities, such as the petrifying bite of a cockatrice, or just increase the size (to Huge or Gargantuan, for a roc-sized variant).
Announcements
You can now get a physical copy of Dungeons & Delvers: Black Book in whatever format you want! We've also released the first big supplement for it, Appendix D, so pick that up if you want more of everything.The first issue of The Delver, a magazine featuring fungal-themed content for both players and GMs (including an adventure in which myconids find religion), is available!
Our latest Dungeon World class, The Ranger, is now available.
Dwarven Vault is our sixth 10+ Treasures volume. If you're interested in thirty dwarven magic items (including an eye that lets you shoot lasers) and nearly a dozen new bits of dungeon gear, check it out!
By fan demand, we've mashed all of our 10+ Treasure volumes into one big magic item book, making it cheaper and more convenient to buy in print (which you can now do).
Leave a Comment