Hallucigenia
An utterly baffling spiny creature from the primordial seas, hallucigenia crawls ashore to lash with dozens of tentacles and trample prone victims under fourteen razor-sharp legs.
Appearance
No one is sure of anything about hallucigenia. The rounded end is presumed to be a head, and an opening at the far end may be a mouth; one noted paleontologist even suspects the whole 'animal' is a complex organ of something far larger. It carries seven pincer-tipped tentacles on its back, a cluster of six small ones, and fourteen needle-sharp legs.
Combat
It can crawl onto land for an hour or longer to ravage local life. Its nine normal attacks are the seven back tentacles (1d4 each), the small cluster (1d6 total) and a constricting throat-or-tail (1d10). It may also trample a prone foe, each leg slicing for 1d8, up to 112 points of damage. Roll each attack separately; with the 44 points its other attacks can deal to other foes, a single round could reach 156 points of damage.
More: Monsters starting with H · Dragon Magazine monsters · All monsters A-Z
Related: Acidic Hallucigenia · Cave Hallucigenia
Statistics
| Climate/Terrain | Shallow sea floor |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Very rare |
| Organization | Solitary |
| Activity Cycle | Day |
| Diet | Carnivore/Scavenger |
| Intelligence | Animal(1) |
| Treasure | Nil |
| Alignment | Neutral |
| No. Appearing | 1-4 |
| Armor Class | 5 |
| Movement | 9 |
| Hit Dice | 9 |
| THAC0 | 11 |
| No. of Attacks | 9 |
| Damage/Attack | 1d10/1d6/1d4 (x7) |
| Special Attacks | Trample |
| Special Defenses | Nil |
| Magic Resistance | Nil |
| Size | H (25' long, 18' high at the shoulder) |
| Morale | Fearless (20) |
| XP Value | 3,000 |