Gaund

Adventurers often mistake gaunds for big lizards. They are gray-green, scaly and leathery, paler beneath, with three glowing red eyes. Though intelligent, they go on all fours, rising on hind legs balanced by the tail only to fight or look around. They talk in musical clicks and hollow whistles.

With 90-foot infravision, sharp hearing and keen vibration sense, gaunds are not hampered by light, darkness, smoke or fog, and only a roll of 1 on 1d6 surprises them. They never use weapons, instead bounding around and hurling themselves at foes to claw for 1d4, bite for 1d6 and lash with the tail for 1d8. They know no fear, and a fallen comrade drives them to greater fury. Pinned or attacked from behind, a gaund kicks with both hind legs for 3d4 each, the only time it uses them.

Its most feared weapon is the central eye, whose bony hood narrows its view so the gaund must point its head to use it. Once per round, in addition to its other attacks, the eye can target one creature or object within 90 feet with the effect of heat metal, the 2nd-level priest spell, and anything that counters that spell counters it.

Heat and normal fire, even a dragon turtle's steam, do not hurt them. Magical fire deals only 2 points per die, minimum 1 per die. Cold deals +2 per die, and they save at -2 against sonic attacks.

Bands of as many as twenty dwell, sometimes clustered into big colonies, in hot, dry caverns, seldom above ground or in cool places. They build nothing, use no tools and show no clear social order, yet they manage food wisely, often keeping breeding colonies of lesser animals. They hoard gems and pretty stones and may trade them for food with parties too strong to defeat, but they are usually hostile and territorial.

In courtship, pairs dance upright, shuffling head to head, and the female turns fiery orange. About four months later she lays 1-4 leathery eggs coated in clear, spicy-smelling slime, which neutralizes most acids and gives a flammable item it is smeared on +3 to saves vs. fire. Gaunds defend the eggs fiercely for the 3-12 days until hatching. The young have 2+4 Hit Dice and gain the gaze when they mature 3 to 6 months later.

Their simple way of life leads many to think them mere beasts. Nearby humanoids hunt them for their tough teeth, which make tools and daggers that dull quickly but rarely crack, and for their tails, whose rich meat keeps well.

This variety lives only in bitter cold. It is blue-gray or slate-gray with glowing blue eyes, and its gaze acts as chill metal, the 2nd-level priest spell. It resists cold but is vulnerable to fire, and its egg slime guards against extreme cold. Otherwise it matches the common gaund.