Deep Dive - One-Shot Wonders II
It's time for more one-shot wonders! This time, we're exploring creatures from only the 3rd edition’s Monster Manual III (2004). With over 3,500 monsters in this edition, it's easy to find a few single-edition monsters, though compare that to 2nd edition’s more than 4,200 monsters while 5th edition only has 2,754 monsters.
We hope you like spiders, gorillas, and large mounds of undead bones that want to absorb you into their bodies as we dive into the Lhosk, Charnel Hound, and the Necronaut.
3e - Lhosk
Large Monstrous Humanoid
Hit Dice: 8d8+32 (68 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares), climb 20 ft.
Armor Class: 15 (–1 size, +3 Dex, +3 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +8/+16
Attack: Spear +7 melee (2d6+14)*
Full Attack: Spear +7/+2 melee (2d6+14)* and bite +2 melee (1d6+6)* or 2 slams +7 melee (1d6+8)* and bite +2 melee (1d6+6)*
Damage: Claw 1d4+4, bite 1d4+2; or club 1d6+6
Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Entangling web
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent.
Saves: Fortitude +6 Reflex +9, Will +7
Abilities: Str 19, Dex 17, Con 18, Int 8, Wis 12, Cha 7
Skills: Climb +13, Heal +3, Knowledge (nature) +6, Survival +8 (+10 in natural aboveground environments).
Feats: Cleave, Power Attack, Self-Sufficient
Climate/Terrain Warm forests
Organization: Solitary, pack (2–5 plus one 3rd-level ranger), or troop (5–20 plus two 3rd-level rangers and a 6th-level druid)
Challenge Rating: 4
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Usually chaotic neutral
Advancement: By character class
Level Adjustment: +
*Includes adjustments for Power Attack feat.
Monster Manual III (2004), Wizards of the Coast / Frazer Irving
The Lhosk is what happens when someone has a horrible acid trip or takes ‘spider monkey’ to the extreme. From the waist up, you have the body of a large, black-haired gorilla. What's going on from the waist down, you ask? Well, it's the body and legs of a giant, fuzzy spider. You heard us right; the Lhosk is a half-gorilla, half-spider creature. A gorilla-spider-centaur, or gorpidaur if you will… or just Lhosk.
You may think this combination means they are a vicious group of creatures looking to kill you and your friends. Well, you'd be wrong about that. The Lhosk keep their distance from other humanoid races, probably because they are tired of being made fun of.
If you are an adventurer, and you get stuck in a giant web. You probably think its the Game Master about to pull out some drow or giant spiders, but, as you struggle to get yourself free, something disturbing comes crawling out. Instead of the spider you were hoping for, a gorilla-spider comes crawling across the web stretch across the jungle.
Lhosks prefer to set traps, with their spider web, instead of confronting their foes directly. The Lhosk would prefer you get trapped in a web they've spun, but they won't kill you when they check their web traps. Instead, the Lhosk will question their victims. What happens if they don't like your answers is unclear, so you may want to tell the truth and hope for the best. Lying never ends well, especially for those strung up in a web of lies.
If your group is a bunch of murderhobos, or the sight of these creatures freaks you enough that you fight first and ask questions later, the Lhosk will defend themselves. Once threatened with attack, or if you go after the females and children, the Lhosk fight until its dying breath.
They fight with raw strength, as you might guess by a creature with the top half of a gorilla. Their primary method is pound you into the ground with their massive gorilla fists, though they also wield spears they can throw at you while you hang around in the webs.
But we strongly encourage you to not start a fight. These warm and fuzzy gorpidaurs are not small creatures, standing nearly 7 feet tall, and weigh almost 1,000 pounds. They possess the strength of a… gorilla and, with eight legs, have the mobility and ability to climb like, well, a spider. In addition, they are not mindless creatures, as they utilize weapons, tools, and have a society.
Lhosks live in a family group, and like gorillas, the strongest male is the leader. They are a nomadic race, moving around regularly. They use the land and whatever it gives them to set up temporary shelter, leaving it all behind when they move on. As they move, the Lhosks look for a nutritious meal of fruit, vegetables, and meat from creatures they hunt. Males dominate the group, and there are usually half as many females as males and half as many children as females. It probably means most kids are males, but we're not great at math, so take it with a grain of salt.
While the Lhosk do not pray to a specific deity, they believe the world is full of spirits. These spirits come in many shapes and forms, whether it be a humanoid creature, animal, tree, or even the giant boulder in the middle of the road or the one they used to bash your head in. The Lhosk's role in the world is to listen to the spirits and fulfill what they tell them to do. Spirits, like the gods, can be fickle, so we're hoping the spirits aren't communicating to the Lhosk to kill you if you bump into them in the jungle.
3e - Charnel Hound
Huge Undead
Hit Dice: 21d12+84 (220 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 26 (–2 size, +2 Dex, +16 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 24
Base Attack/Grapple: +10/+32
Attack: Bite +17 melee (2d8+19)*
Full Attack: Spear +7/+2 melee (2d6+14)* and bite +2 melee (1d6+6)* or 2 slams +7 melee (1d6+8)* and bite +2 melee (1d6+6)*
Damage: Claw 1d4+4, bite 1d4+2; or club 1d6+6
Space/Reach: 15 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Body integration, rend 4d6+21
Special Qualities: Aversion to daylight, damage reduction 10/silver and magic, darkvision 60 ft., frightful presence, spell resistance 23, undead traits, unholy toughness
Saves: Fort +7, Ref +9, Will +12
Abilities: Str 38, Dex 14, Con -, Int -, Wis 11, Cha 18
Skills: -
Feats: Power Attack
Climate/Terrain Cold plains
Organization: Solitary, pair, or gang (3–4)
Challenge Rating: 13
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Advancement: 22–31 HD (Huge); 32–63 HD (Gargantuan)
Level Adjustment: -
*Includes adjustments for Power Attack feat.
Monster Manual III (2004), Wizards of the Coast / Dean Ormston
The Charnel Hound is difficult to describe, and even more difficult to look at. They stand over 20 feet tall and, while they may have the shape of a good boi, their entire body is made up of dozens of decomposing and rotting corpses. We’d still give it belly rubs, it’s a dog and we are weak, but that would probably be the last thing we do.
It's been a while since we've had a monster created by an evil and probably insane wizard. The Charnel Hound is such a monster, so all is right in the world again. However, if you you and your adventuring party run into one of these creatures wandering the plains in the middle of the night, you will absolutely know that not everything is right in your world. Most people run away screaming in terror when they see it, but you're a mighty hero, so we know you'll stand firm.
Charnel Hounds are working "dogs" as their powerful necromancer creators use them as guards, ripping and tearing your body apart, and probably adding the corpses into its body. These creatures weigh over 17 tons, and all that weight comes from the corpses of the creatures it has absorbed, which we'll get into in a minute. As stated above, the Charnel Hound hunts at night, roaming the plains looking for corpses on a battlefield and the fresh ones of anything it encounters and kills. It immediately attacks any living creatures, including you.
These puppies can also be found in dungeons and other dark and scary places underground; if they can find any they can fit into them. Why do they like the night and underground so much? The creature is adverse to sunlight, as it weakens its attacks and probably hurts its eyes since it is impossible to find sunglasses that big. Okay, so we made up the sunglasses thing, but you probably aren’t encountering these creatures at high noon in the desert.
Now, on to the really disturbing stuff. After the Charnel Hound rips you apart, it will integrate you into its body. You don't even have to be entirely dead, but you will wish you were. This Body Integration is instantaneous, and if you weren’t completely dead already, the process kills you. If you want to be resurrected, your allies will have to kill the Charnel Hound and find your body amongst the thousands it's comprised of. They will have to be terrific friends to do this, as it's probably one of the grossest things they'll ever have to do.
How does the Charnel Hound kill you? First, you must be brave enough not to succumb to its Frightful Presence. If you do and decide to engage the Hound, try to avoid its teeth and claws. It's imperative to do so because if the Hound hits with both claw attacks, they latch onto you and tear the flesh from your body. This rend attack does a ton of damage, putting you ever closer to becoming a part of the Charnel Hound.
If you want to know how to defeat this creature, well, all we can say is that we hope you run faster than the wizard and flee.
3e - Necronaut
Gargantuan Undead (Chaotic, Evil, Extraplanar)
Hit Dice: 32d12 plus 96 (304 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 50 ft. (10 squares)
Armor Class: 25 (–1 Dex, –4 size +20 natural), touch 5, flat-footed 25
Base Attack/Grapple: +16/+43
Attack: Slam +22 melee (4d6+20)*
Full Attack: 4 slams +22 melee (4d6+20)*
Damage: Claw 1d4+4, bite 1d4+2; or club 1d6+6
Space/Reach: 20 ft./20 ft.
Special Attacks: Assimilate corpse, trample 4d6+22
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 15/lawful or magic, darkvision 60 ft., necromantic effects, spell resistance 25, undead traits, unholy toughness
Saves: Fort +10, Ref +9, Will +20
Abilities: Str 41, Dex 8, Con -, Int 7, Wis 14, Cha 16
Skills: Knowledge (the planes) +10, Listen +33, Spot +33, Survival +2 (+4 other planes)
Feats: Alertness, Awesome Blow, Blind-Fight, Cleave, Great Cleave, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Initiative, Improved Natural Weapon (slam), Improved Overrun, Improved Sunder, Power Attack
Climate/Terrain Infinite Layers of the Abyss
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 14
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Advancement: 33-64 HD (Gargantuan); 56–96 HD (Colossal)
Level Adjustment: -
*Includes adjustments for Power Attack feat.
Monster Manual III (2004), Wizards of the Coast / Dean Ormston
While this is yet another creature made up of the corpses of the dead, the Necronaut is even more terrifying than the Charnel Hound. We know it's hard to believe, but this mountain of corpses is an unstoppable fiend, scouring the worlds and battlefields clean of bones, gore, and viscera.
Evil wizards didn't create these ridiculously massive creatures. Demons decided to get into the business of making monsters that would fill you with awe and dread and built the Necronaut. The demons construct these terrifying undead piles from plains of bones found across many layers of the Abyss. We guess the demons got bored, had plenty of bones lying around, and figured, why not have a little fun and create a Necronaut? It's a colossal creature made up of corpses, with four insect-looking arms that it uses to move and grasp at fresh corpses. They are 20 feet tall, 20 feet wide, and 40 feet long, weighing around 50 tons.
Demons, being demons, deliver the Necronaut to the Material Plane to kill every living creature in its path. Though, they can also be found in Eberron, strolling through the Mournland and naturally created from the piles of corpses there. When they attack, they slam their prey with their thin but strong arms, which can also wield weapons. Once you've been adequately tenderized, the Nerconaut will proceed to run you over. Being crushed by a 50-ton pile of corpses isn't good for your health, especially when that pile of corpses is trying to add you to the pile. Once you've been pounded or crushed to death, the Necronaut begins the process of assimilating you.
It's not an instantaneous process like our best friend the Charnel Hound; instead, it takes an entire round. It's not much, but six seconds is better than in the blink of an eye. The assimilation process makes you part of the Necronaut and heals the creature as it does so. The bigger the creature it assimilates, the more the Necronaut is healing. It's not something you'll have to worry about since you're now a tiny piece in this towering pile of bones. Your comrades, on the other hand, would probably be mad at you for 'helping' to heal the Necronaut. Of course, it is ultimately the cleric’s fault because they let you die.
There is one piece of good news. If you cast a spell on the Necronaut that creates undead, the monster will take damage based on your caster level. It's only a little bit of damage if you're some low-level caster, but it is a decent amount of damage if you're a 20th-level wizard. Besides, a 5th-level spellcaster has no business trying to take on a Necronaut, unless they plan on joining it.
The 3rd edition Monster Manual III has few monsters that made the cut in later editions. Unfortunately, the Lhosk, Charnel Hound, and Nerconaut are just three of them. It's a shame. Gorilla spiders might be a pleasant change from fighting plain old gorillas or black spiders. As far as the Charnel Hound and Necronaut are concerned, players everywhere should rejoice. Then again, there is always homebrew…
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