I am SO changing the savage monkey attack in the beginning of Bullywug's Gambit. The PCs will see a few dead savage monkey corpses, and one or two writhing in pain, all of them mauled half to death and punched full of tiny holes. What's more, their flesh seems to be bulging and squirming in a noisy, disgusting manner. What's even more disturbing are the faintly noticeable clots of webbing anchoring the moneky's limbs to the ground, apparent after bringing some light near the tortured creatures...
... and that's when the savage webbirds burst forth from their monkey hosts! The mature newborns immediatly screech and writhe in their own unique, mutated ways and take wing to begin their nightmarish work, starting with the PCs. This is only the first wave, of course...
Seriously, the webbird is like the coolest thing ever.
I'm digging the way you've set up this encounter. I must admit that the Webbird wasn't at the top of my list of new monsters to incorporate but this is a nice touch.
Thanks! It's the old switcheroo!
When I saw the picture for the thing in Dungeon #148, I immediatly thought "flying savage monkey." The idea evolved from there. : P
Y'know...
That sounds like a really cool idea. It might even be interesting if the webbirds were made into something like the biological byproducts of a creature infected with savage fever. Consider planting a vast colony of them in the Isle of Dread, particularly near Olman ruins, to drive the point home.
[quote}The PCs will see a few dead savage monkey corpses,
Awesome idea... lol but remember the savage creatures don't leave behind corpses.. they explode in a hail of acidy goodness!
^^^ Very good point. I'll have the PCs stumble upon the terrible scene, sending a few "colorful birds" scattering into the jungle canopy as they near. The path will be littered with the disjointed corpses of numerous mutated primates. Some still twitch and screech as they die, fur and flesh torn away by sharp teeth and oozing holes punched all over their bodies. Others have seemingly been torn apart from the inside before their bodies dissolved into a slurry of flesh, blood, acid, and broken bones. A monkey will dissolve noisly nearby to punctuate the process, having just bled to death after being savaged by webbird bite attacks. Then they'll notice the few monkeys still alive suddenly twitching and heaving, chittering feverishly as they expire in a spray of gore and bone, newborn webbirds freeing themselves from the phlegmy viscera. At this point the webbirds scared off by the PCs inital approach return, unable to resist fresh prey for very long.
BTW, good idea Hierophantasm. Flocks of savage webbirds on the IoD sounds like a hoot. I can see it already - webbird eggs are horribly tenacious, surviving even outside the body of their parent and through the worst weather and environments the Material Plane has to offer. They can remain alive for several years in a state of suspended growth, patiently waiting for the right conditions for incubation. All it takes is a heavy storm to wash a few webbird eggs into a stream, where animals who frequent the site to drink can possibly ingest the eggs and serve as a host to the fecund little things. Then all it takes is a day or two and you have a raving flock of savage monsters that'll make locust swarms seem fun. As if the Olmans didn't have enough to worry about...
...You could have them be at negative hps, then explode in such the same manner....
Or zero strength/dex: can not move, but not quite dead. Yet.
There are some room descriptions of, I believe, dead savage pirates in the cave system of Kraken's Cove, which of course contradicts itself since they explode in goo.
Or give them a 75% chance of exploding into goo. Explains some remains and unpredictable enough to keep players on their toes.