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| Originally published in Silver Griffin, Issue No.10, circa 1989 |
Hit Dice: 6
Armor Class: 7 [12]
Attacks: 1 Flaming Acid Spittle (1d6+4), Burning Crush (4d4)
Saving Throw: 10
Special: Surrounded by fire.
Move:6
Alignment: Neutrality
Challenge Level/XP: 5/240
Huge, lumbering molluscs wreathed in otherworldly fire, Flame Snails tend to wander about aimlessly, setting everything they touch on fire and generally being a nuisance. They are believed to have been summoned from a distant alien world to serve in place of an ancient emperor's war elephants that were decimated by a magical plague. The Flame Snails may or may not have worked out; there are no reliable records left from that time, only folklore and spurious tavern tales. Any spells or magical items used to control or direct these blazing behemoths are likewise lost or forgotten, and would fetch a good price from those trying to rid themselves of these things.
The one major redeeming quality of these creatures is their implacable rage when confronted by any sort of undead creature. Flame Snails will tirelessly attack any and every undead enemy they can hit or crush.
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Never heard of Silver Griffin before. I would love to have read this magazine if the Flame Snail was found in it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment. It was a fun little zine back in the day. I enjoyed contributing art and articles to it. One of my current projects is converting some of the old bits and pieces I did for Silver Griffin into a pdf based on a suggestion by Matt Schmeer. I just found the original map for the Weird City of Italbar...the default setting for all those articles, so maybe it's time to get this thing done and out there.
DeleteI'd love to see that. Are all of these your original artwork and text? I have been making a lot of monsters for Castle Triskelion but I haven't been able to illustrate most of them.
ReplyDeleteHopefully it won't take too long to put together. I've scanned-in the old art already.
DeleteThese are all my own creatures, my art and my text. Some of the illustrations are recycled from stuff I did for various small press zines back in the Seventies and Eighties, a few of them are salvaged from my old sketchbooks, and the Reptin is from my first OD&D campaign and happens to be one of the pieces that prompted a friend to introduce me to Tekumel a long time back. It was nice to clear these things out to make room for all the new stuff I've been working on. I can appreciate what you're saying--it can be a lot of work to draw out every monster, but I'm having fun doing it, so I hope to continue doing so for a good while yet!