Porcupine

Porcupines are big rodents of temperate woodlands, weighing 35 to 50 pounds, and come in many species that vary only in small details. The two main families are brown and black. Browns are smaller, about 2 feet long, but carry quills up to a foot long. Blacks run 2 1/2 to 3 feet with a thick, muscular tail and quills only 3 inches long.

Despite the old tales, common porcupines cannot throw their quills, though the quills pull loose easily once they stick into something. These shy, easily panicked plant eaters fight only when threatened and unable to flee, slapping attackers with their tails to drive quills in: 1-3 points for a black porcupine, 1d4 for a brown with its longer spines. Anyone touching one is automatically hurt by the quills. Their overlapping barbs make them very hard to pull out, and wounds swell painfully.

They live in dense woods, climb trees very well, and are not unsociable, though they seem to want only a mate and young for company.

They eat tree bark and leaves, sometimes killing the trees they feed on, as well as fruit, and they have a special craving for salt. Few predators bother them. No known potions or spells call for porcupine parts.

This oversized woodland porcupine looks just like a brown, except that the white streaks on its quills stand out more clearly. It is dim and peaceable but well able to defend itself. Any approach within 30 feet counts as a threat: it crouches defensively and hisses a warning, giving the intruder one round to back off.

Its main weapon is its tail, which shoots 1d8 quills at targets up to 30 feet away, each dealing 1d4. Its quills reach 3 feet long, so anyone within 6 feet takes 1d4 quills from its defensive thrashing. The tail holds more than 80 quills and the body over 300. It bites for 2d4 only as a last resort, once it falls below half its hit points. Its parts have no known uses either.