Two More Randomly-Named Monsters (BX monsters)

See last post. @NateTreme is putting together a free zine of 100 tweet-length descriptions people have read, which looks sweet. I wrote the Chittering Skull Fly, while my partner wrote the description for the Pestilent Glow Weasel. The stats and Geegaw table are all mine, I hope they're useful for your game. The geegaw table in particular is well-suited for other trashbaby monsters like goblins.

Chittering Skull Fly

Fist-sized adult form inhabits a skeleton. Cranial cavity provides resonance for their tymbal clicks, fast enough to simulate the common tongue. Builds silk "tendons" to marionette the skeleton. Slow, deliberate movements, trading speed for torque.

(as Skeleton)

Armour Class: 7 [12]
Hit Dice: 1* (4hp)
Attacks: 1 × weapon (1d6 or by weapon, roll damage with advantage)
THAC0: 19 [+0]
Movement: 45’ (15’)
Saving Throws: D12 W13 P14 B15 S16 (as 1 HD monster)
Morale: 8
Alignment: Neutral
XP: 13
Number Appearing: 2d6 (5d6)
Treasure Type: C

• Lair: Roughly half of the 5d6 flies found in a lair will be naked, the rest will be skeleton-piloting flies.
• Slow and Strong: Makes damage rolls with advantage (roll damage dice twice and use the highest). Can break through doors with 1d3 rounds of effort even if held shut with iron spikes; can overcome hold portal spells by 1st-level casters (i.e. as a 4 HD creature). Can carry up to 200 lb (2,000 coins).

(as naked Fly)

Armour Class: 9 [12]
Hit Dice: 1 (4hp)
Attacks: 1 × bite (1 damage)
THAC0: 19 [+0]
Movement: 45’ (15’) / 75’ (25’) flying
Saving Throws: D12 W13 P14 B15 S16 (as 1 HD monster)
Morale: 6
Alignment: Neutral
XP: 10
Number Appearing: 1d3 (5d6)
Treasure Type: C

• Lair: Roughly half of the 5d6 flies found in a lair will be naked, the rest will be skeleton-piloting flies. Treasure in a lair used to be the grave goods buried with each skeleton. The flies have no use for nonmagical treasure, but understand humans enough to trade with them.

Pestilent Glow Weasel

A clever child-sized mustelid. Carrion & refuse feeder, it's skills as a scrounger & thief are useful to some. Proudly filthy, notorious for spreading disease with bites & scratches, its fur is covered in bioluminescent fungus which it eats during lean times

Armour Class: 9 [10]
Hit Dice: 2 (9hp)
Attacks: 1 × bite or scratch (1d3 + disease), or 1 × junk-sword (1d8, breaks on a natural 8)
THAC0: 18 [+1]
Movement: 90’ (30’)
Saving Throws: D12 W13 P14 B15 S16 (as 2 HD monster)
Morale: 5
Alignment: Chaotic
XP: 20
Number Appearing: 1d6 (1d6)
Treasure Type: V, plus one roll each on Geegaws, below

• Disease: Bite has a 1-in-6 chance of infecting the target (save versus poison). Incubation time is 2 days, followed by up to a month of fever, vomiting, swollen joints and lymph nodes, and purple rashes around the infected area (-2 to all rolls, naturally heal at half the normal rate). The disease has a 1-in-6 chance of death, which occurs in 2d6 days after onset.
• Immunity: Immune to most poisons and diseases. Any specific poison/disease has only a 1-in-6 chance of affecting them as a species, in addition to any saving throw called for.
• Luminescent: Fungus growing on fur casts light in a 10' radius. Removed fungus keeps glowing for 1d6 days, but can be cultured on other mammalian hair or fur.
• Scrounger: Can find (but not remove) treasure traps, hear noise, and pick pockets as a 6th-level thief. Due to their luminescence, they are terrible at hiding, and carry too many scrounged geegaws to move silently.
  • Find Traps: 40%
  • Hear Noise: 3-in-6
  • Pick Pockets: 45%

Geegaws

1. Snapped wand, cerulean magic sparks at the break pose a fire hazard.
2. Beetle-shell lamellar "armour". Offers no protection, but quite pretty.
3. Mouldy loaf of bread. If consumed, equal odds of curing or causing disease, as the spell).
4. Slingshot and five dried dung-pellets.
5. Mangled paintbrushes and a bottle of vinegared egg yolk.
6. Diary of encountered fungi. Can answer a single question about every fungus encountered, 2-in-6 chance the answer is wrong.
7. Lamp oil stolen from humans, good for deep-frying.
8. Copper amulet covered in bite marks.
9. Vial of musk, a gift from a lover.
10. A spare junk-sword, 1d8 damage but breaks on a natural 8.
11. Bulky goggles, protect eyes but impede vision.
12. Badly magnetised compass, needle points a cardinal direction other than north. Roll d3: 1 = east, 2 = south, 3 = west.
13. A soft sugary roll, perfectly preserved in some sort of transparent film.
14. A clay jar full of live crickets.
15. moth-eaten linen shawl, bright yellow, embroidery now illegible.
16. A map of the dungeon level. Each secret door has a 50% chance of being known and marked, rooms only accessible by an unknown secret door are obviously not on the map.
17. A coconut goblet with silver foot and stem.
18. An Alagaësian Smuggle-Hamster, its cheeks are an extradimensional space that can hold 10 fl oz. (300 mL) of goods without showing any external bulge.
19. A pitted, wiggly-bladed dagger that glows blood-red. Nonmagical, the dagger is actually home to another bioluminescent fungus that metabolises iron, and will colonise nearby iron & steel objects.
20. Paper fortune-teller made from the torn-out sheet of a wizard's spellbook. Can do one accurate augury per person per month. Roll d8 or construct a fortune-teller with the following:
    1. Turn left.
    2. You will find riches soon.
    3. You will have good luck today.
    4. You will have bad luck today.
    5. Do a good deed today.
    6. An old friend will come calling.
    7. Love is in the air.
    8. Be careful on Tuesday.