Porcupine, Giant

Torchbearer Monstrous Compendium
1

Porcupine, Giant
A man-sized ravenous, omnivorous porcupine ranging colored brown, beige, grey, or black. Solitary, pair, or 2d3 nest (in spring or autumn, for pre/post-hibernation).

Might : 3 Nature : 5
Descriptors : Hunting, Climbing, Burrowing

Kill : 10
Attack : +2D, Tail Slap
Defend : +1s, Defensive Position

Drive Off : 8
Attack : +1s, ‘Don’t Get Too Close!’
Defend : +1s, Defensive Position

Flee : 3
Attack: +1D, relentless

Armor : Quills & Hide (leather armor).

Instinct : Always capture and drag food back to my burrow.

Special : Quills. Those who make an attack action against a giant porcupine in a kill, drive off, or capture conflict and do not use a bow, crossbow, halberd, polearm, sling, spear, two-handed sword or thrown weapon suffer -1 disposition. Those wearing plate armor may ignore this penalty, and chainmail armor may roll. Leather is ignored.

2

Ouch!

3

Fresh rations (meat)
http://www.wideopenspaces.com/5-reasons-porcupines-best-survival-food/

Supplies (quills)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quillwork

4

Nature 5, strong weapons and high fight dispositions in addition to those quills make these creatures incredibly deadly in a fight. I certainly wouldn’t want to stumble into a nest of 6 of these things!

I could see these creatures being a very serious obstacle in an adventure because they are so hard to drive off or kill without significant planning (getting the right weapons to overcome the quills and buffing up to overcome those high dice pools and dispositions), mercifully it is easy to flee from them.

Overall I like them, I would use them sparingly though because they are so brutal!

Adrastus

5

Right, I don’t see these as being a core monster for an adventure site or anything, but a useful twist (vs roll againt its nature, on a failurr ‘you feel something chewing on your bag…’) or a good guard for a seconsary entrance into a dungeon or a treasure horde.

I also like the idea of getting supplies (meat, quills) from the corpse so they are not a total resources sink. Would you call for a hunter test (like ob1?) to butcher and get the quills, or just give them?

6

Let’s see. I would need an Ob 4 hunting test to rig a trap to flip the creature over to get to its underbelly (which is how predators take down porcupines).

Or an Ob 4 Hunting test to lure a Giant Marten and watch them fight.

But you’re right, a flee test is the only way to go. The auto -1 to disposition would add up. Should armor prevent this? I can’t imagine quills sticking through plate.

7

Good point. I will add a plate exception and add a rule that allows chainmail armor roll to save.

8

Would you make them test Hunter (maybe ob 1? 2?) or just give them the spoils?

9

Yeah – I would use them sparingly – I see them as a good guard to something the characters really want. In this case, I think I’m going to drop one of them on the bandits’ horde. So they travel to these abandoned mines to rob some bandits only to find the bandits have lost control of their own hideout (other stuff) and that nobody who goes to try to recover their stash ever comes back (porcupine belly).

That, or as an obstacle on an alternative route to somewhere they need to go. So they can feel good out running a big baddy if they fail their scout.

10

Definitely a test! Needs Hunter or Cook to butcher and Hunter or Peasant to safely remove the quills.