Lizard

Tiny beast, unaligned

Armor Class 10
Hit Points 2 (1d4)
Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft.

Senses darkvision 30 ft., passive Perception 9
Languages --
Challenge 0 (10 XP)

Actions

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +0 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1 piercing damage.

Lizard

2102 • 2137

Fire Lizards

Fire lizards resemble wingless red dragons and are sometimes called “false dragons”. They are gray-colored with mottled red and brown back and reddish undersides. Hatchlings are light gray in color, and darken as they age.

Combat: Fire lizards attack with a combination of raking claws and bite. They can simultaneously breathe a fiery cone 5 feet wide at the mouth, 10 feet wide at the end, and 15 feet long which inflicts 2-12 points of fire-based damage (half if saving throw vs. breath weapon is made). Fire lizards are immune to fire-based attacks.

Habitat/Society: Fire lizards prefer subterranean lairs but come out every fortnight to hunt fresh game. Prey is hauled back to the lair for a leisurely meal; the debris forms the treasure trove. Fire lizards are slow moving and sleep 50% of the time. Their lairs may have 1-4 eggs (10% chance, market value 5,000 gp each). Hatchlings immediately leave to hunt on their own. Shiny objects attract fire lizards; gems and metals form the bulk of treasure found in their dens.

Ecology: Fire lizards are perhaps an ancestral dragon type or offshoot of a common ancestor. Real dragons avoid these “false dragons”, which live to be 50-100 years old. Fire lizard eggs are worth 5,000 gp, hatchlings 7,500 gp.

Giant Lizards

This lizard is relatively normal, albeit large, and lives in marshes and swamps. An attack score of 20 means the giant lizard’s victim is trapped in the mouth and suffers double damage (2-16 points). The giant lizard inflicts 2-16 points of damage each round thereafter. Giant lizards are lazy hunters and tend to attack anything edible that wanders by. While their great size protects them from most predators, it renders them a sumptuous feast to the black dragons who share their swamps. Giant lizards are sometimes domesticated by lizard men, who use them as mounts, beasts of burden, and food. Their lairs may be home to a wide range of lizards, from eggs to century-old adults.

Minotaur Lizards

This huge, aggressive lizard derives its name from its horns. While these horns look like those of a minotaur, the male’s horns are not used in combat – rather, they are believed to be a means of attracting a mate. The minotaur lizard attacks with sharp claws and teeth. They are adept at ambushes; others are -5 on their surprise roll. An attack roll of 20 means the lizard has trapped its victim within its jaws and can automatically inflict 3-18 points of damage each round thereafter until the victim escapes or dies. The victim is unable to attack the following round. Minotaur lizards are found in tropical hills and mountains near copper and red dragons.

Subterranean Lizards

This aggressive lizard is able to run across walls or ceilings with the help of its suction cup-tipped feet. An attack roll of 20 means the lizard has clamped its jaws on its victim and does double damage (4-24 points). The victim automatically suffers an additional 2-12 points of damage each round thereafter. These lizards never leave their caves voluntarily. Some species are albino; these shun light and attack at -1 in daylight or its equivalent. Other species have tongues up to 20 feet long. Any man-sized or smaller prey seized by the tongue will be drawn into the mouth and bitten the next round unless a bend bars roll is made.

Lizard Man

2102 • 2140

Lizard men are savage, semi-aquatic, reptilian humanoids that live through scavenging, raiding, and, in less hostile areas, by fishing and gathering.

Adult lizard men stand 6 to 7 feet tall, weighing 200 to 250 pounds. Skin tones range from dark green to gray to brown, and their scales give them a flecked appearance. Their tails average 3 to 4 feet long and are not prehensile. Males are nearly impossible to distinguish from females without close inspection.

Lizard man garb is limited to strings of bones and other barbaric ornament. Lizard men speak their own language.

Combat: In combat, lizard men fight as unorganized individuals. If they have equality or an advantage over their opponents, they tend toward frontal assaults and massed rushes. When outnumbered, overmatched, or on their home ground, however, they become wily and ferocious opponents. Snares, sudden ambushes, and spoiling raids are favored tactics in these situations. While individually savage in melee, lizard men tend to be distracted by food (such as slain opponents) and by simple treasures, which may allow some of their quarry to escape. They occasionally take prisoners as slaves, for food, or to sacrifice in obscure tribal rites.

For every 10 lizard men encountered, there will be one patrol leader with maximum hit points (17 hp) and a 50% chance for a shaman with 3 Hit Dice and the abilities of a 3rd-level priest. If one or more tribes are encountered, each tribe will also have a war leader of 6 Hit Dice, two subleaders with 4 Hit Dice, and a shaman of either 4 or 5 Hit Dice (50% chance of each). Any group of two or more tribes has a 50% chance for an additional shaman of 7 Hit Dice. Furthermore, each such group has a cumulative 10% chance per tribe to be led by a lizard king. If a lizard king is present, a shaman of 7 Hit Dice will always be present, and all patrol leaders from each tribe (i.e., 10% of the male warriors) will be combined into a single fanatical bodyguard for the lizard king.

Habitat/Society: Lizard men are typically found in swamps, marshes, and similar places, often (35%) dwelling totally underwater in air-filled caves. A tribe rarely numbers more than 150 individuals, including females and hatchlings. It is not uncommon for several tribes in an area to forge an informal alliance against outsiders, including other lizard man tribes.

Lizard men are omnivorous, but are likely to prefer human flesh to other foods. In this regard they have been known to ambush humans, gather up the corpses and capture the survivors, and take the lot back to their lair for a rude and horrid feast.

Ecology: Lizard men have few natural enemies. They prey on human, demihuman, or humanoid settlements if these are nearby. Lizard man eggs are bitter and inedible, as is their flesh, but their skin is sometimes worked as scale armor (Armor Class 6). Lizard men produce no art, artifacts, or trade goods.

Advanced Lizard Men

About 1 tribe in 10 has evolved to a higher state. These lizard men dwell in crude huts, use shields (thus Armor Class 4) and hurl barbed darts (30 yard range, 1-4 points damage) or javelins (1-6 points damage) before closing with the enemy. These lizard men use clubs (treat as morning stars, 2-8 points damage), and the leaders may use captured swords or other weaponry. The chance of these advanced lizard men having a lizard king is doubled, i.e., 20% cumulative chance per tribe.

Lizard King

A lizard king is a lizard man of above average height and intelligence, leading one or more loosely organized tribes of lizard men. The lizard king is most often armed with a great trident, which it wields with great skill and ferocity. In the hands of the lizard king, the weapon inflicts 5-20 (3d6+2) points of damage. If the attack roll is 5 or more greater than the score needed to hit, the lizard king inflicts double damage (with a minimum of 15 points).

A lizard king usually demands two humans each week. If no humans are available, demihumans and other humanoids will be sought. If none are available, two of the lizard king’s bodyguards will be killed and eaten instead.

Iguana, Giant

2107

The giant iguana is a large, omnivorous reptile found in wilderness forests.

This large lizard looks just like a normal iguana, except that it is eight to ten feet long in the body with a long, thin tail ten to 15 feet long. It is green and black in color, and more or less spotted and barred. The neck and back bear a high, serrated crest, and there is a large sac under its chin. The long-toed feet have strong talons, which are used for climbing and running but not combat.

Combat: The giant iguana attacks only if cornered or hungry. It can stand in any position unmoving for great lengths of time. Even its breathing is not noticeable. Its coloration provides camouflage in darkened undergrowth, where it causes a -3 penalty to opponents’ surprise rolls. Any attacks to its tail cause pain, but inflict no damage on the lizard. The tail can even be severed clean off. This is unpleasant for the iguana, but it grows a new one at the rate of a foot a month.

The lizards wide mouth inflicts only 2d4 points of damage because it has only a few teeth. On a natural roll of 20 it can swallow any man-sized creature whole. A 19 or 20 enables it to swallow any smaller sized creature, such as a dwarf or halfling. The iguana always goes for the smallest creature in a group. Once a meal is swallowed, it tums and runs away. It can swallow only one creature per week, unless they are small animals.

Any creature swallowed has to get out before it suffocates (for a character this is a number of rounds equal to 1/3 Constitution, rounded up). The stomach lining is the same Armor Class as the outer skin, but only smd motions can be made in such tight quarters. Any edged or pointed weapon under a foot in length can be used normally; the attack roll is used to determine if the arm can be moved to attack. Blunt weapons are useless and all other weapons cause only 1 point of damage per successful attack.

Habitat/Society: Giant iguanas are solitary hunters, but they gather in groups for sunning or to find a mate. Such group are rarely dangerous, and there is only a 1 in 6 chance of an unprovoked attack. They prefer to hunt in the darkened undergrowth of a forest and then bask in the sun to digest. Even standing in the open under bright sunlight, it is possible to not notice the completely immobile iguana.

Unlike their smaller, herbivorous cousins, giant iguanas eat both meat and plants. They prefer insects to mammals, although they hunt both, and prefer grasses to bushes or tree leaves. They do not need to eat very often, only once every other day.

The giant iguana can climb any slope up to 60 degrees that has reasonable grip at normal speed. It can even climb large trees if necessary. Unlike the smaller variety, the giant iguana cannot leap.

Ecology: Iguana meat is tender and tasty to most humanoid creatures. Some plainsmen even keep small herds, although they are much more trouble than placid cows and sheep. Fences and even rock walls are not much of an obstacle to them, and they are much more dangerous than cows.

The giant iguana can rarely be domesticated, or used as a pack animal. However, an ingundi can ride them with little trouble. The ingundi do not use a saddle; they just push the spines of the iguana‘s back flat and sit on them. This would be uncomfortable to anything with a tender hide.

Horned Iguana

The giant horned iguana is just like the regular giant iguana, except for the three two-foot-long horns on its head. It does not attack with these horns, but it can move them to intercept a rush or charge. Interception requires a successful attack roll; the horns cause 3d6 points of damage to the charging enemy. This occurs just before the attack, even if the horned iguana loses the initiative roll. If it attempts to intercept the charge, that is its only attack that round.

Other Species

There are many different species of giant iguana. They may look quite different, but all have basically the same statistics. They have different coloration, smaller tails, independently moving eyes, different numbers of toes on the foot etc. Despite these differences, they still have the same Hit Dice, Armor Class, THAC0, etc.