The Su-monster comes to us from the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Second Edition Complete Psionics Handbook, published in 1991. This followed the complete wizard's handbook and was followed by the complete book of the Dwarves in this excellent softcover supplement series. There is a monster ecology article in Dragon Magazine issue 167 written by Roger E. Moore also in 1991, which I will draw on heavily in this video of course, as the info there is far more comprehensive than the 5th edition monster listing for them, as they appear in the modern Tomb of Annihilation adventure, but, aside from a few details, such as their appearance, the details there are accurate enough. 5th edition handles Psionic creatures about as gracefully as a Tesla truck on a tightrope, but at least there is something to show they have that capacity.
While the Su-monster does have psychic power, nobody seems to know why, and even the god Silvanus has specified that while Su-monsters are self-aware, they are not truly sentient and are thus monstrosity and not under his protection. I am certainly not going to argue with a god. Still, Su-monsters are very smart and extremely dangerous predators that typically kill more than they can eat. They have a complex behavioral language among their own kind, mainly based on their spooky howling calls and the position they hold their prehensile tail. But I am getting ahead of myself. Let's go to my journal and my entry about my encounter with them.
As I headed up and up into the impressive Snowflake mountains of Faerun, some of the tallest mountains on the planet were arrayed around me and stretched off into the blue distance when I rounded a bend in the goat track path I was following. I stopped and admired the view, with the sun setting so early it was like a blue sky sunset, and I watched while I applied a little oil to my tired feet. That was when I spotted the pit trap not ten feet from where I stopped to sit down.
I approached it and carefully examined it without too much disturbance.
This was made by a Kech, not related to the Su Monster, but certainly a very dangerous Primate predator common in these northern forests; they move around a lot, so encounters could happen at any time. I recall a ranger who called them Leaf monkeys; thanks to their hairless hide growing in green flaps that blend perfectly with forest canopy cover, they are not rivals of the Su-monster and sometimes do inhabit the same territory, but I can't image relations between the species are very nice, given the nature of the Su-monsters which are, as we shall learn, very aggressive. Kech differ in a few ways from the Su-monster; aside from appearance, they are slightly taller with less variation between male and female size and are adept at mimicking the sounds of distress of other creatures, including humanoids; they have their own language and can speak some basic words in the common tongue on occasion, plus, they set traps, crude but effective traps such as pits covered in leaves, falling logs, and are very accurate with thrown objects and ... substances.
Su-monsters do occasionally throw rocks, but they don't build pit traps or anything of the sort, though they are smart enough to use an existing trap they know is there as they chase or ambush their prey.
In appearance a Su-monster is a large monkey with more of a quadroped build with filthy gray fur that darkens to black on the head, the face and tail are always black, while the grey fur varies with those who live underground being quite pale, and those living in deep forests being almost black. The skin on the hands is deep red, almost looking like they are perpetually stained with blood, the rest of their skin is a dull and ashy black, they have wicked claws and their rounded, ape-like muzzles are full of sturdy fangs. They have a very strong prehensile tail and fully opposable thumbs. Adult males are 5 feet tall and appear starved and thin, weighing around 60 kilograms or up to 130 pounds, females are slightly smaller and have shorter fur on the shoulders and head with a hairless face, although older males also have no fur on the face. While the lifespan of the Su-monster can be up to 30 years, they rarely live that long, thanks to their violent lifestyle.
Su-monsters live in an extended family group called a Cadre or an Enclave, there may be a dominant male, but its common enough for rival dominant males to kill each other, so Cadres with no leader are common and their social behavior is best described as chaotic and occasionally brutal, yet in matters of mating, they tend to form mating bonds for life and both males and females care for their own offspring with some devotion, the females will look after the infant for up to two years, not much is known about this behavior, but it seems clear the long nurturing period is typical of the intelligent primates and Su-monsters are no exception.
Su-monsters are often thought of as strictly tropical jungle dwellers, but that's a recent misconception, those who encounter them in the Underdark, cave networks near the surface or in dense alpine conifer forests will tell you that they always make their camp near a source of fresh water, and much like the forest canopy and natural hollows in tree trunks they prefer, even in caves they will always dwell high up near the ceiling if possible, digging out alcove nests and lining them with fresh leaves, pine needles or dry moss. Su-monsters are anything but lazy and when not taking a sporadic sleep, day or night, they will be very active. There is no such thing as a relaxed Su-monster; if one of them appears placid and calm, it's definitely acting that way as part of a hunting tactic, and you are absolutely on its menu.
Su-monsters may appear starved, but that is just metabolic, they are omnivorous hunters who will eat any prey they can kill, eat and digest, the killing part is most important, Su-monsters are notoriously difficult to trap or poison because they never eat anything that is sick or dead, meaning you have to use live bait every time or they will just ignore it, also, they are very smart, so if you fail to get them the first time, switch tactics because once they figure out what you are trying to do, they will not fall for it again and most likely turn the tables and start hunting you, if they are not doing it already.
Given a choice, their preferred ambush method is to swing directly overtop of a humanoid victim, particularly those on horseback, hanging down by their strong prehensile tail, and just rip and tear the hell out of the victim's face and upper torso as quickly and savagely as possible. Hanging like that, a Su-monster attacks with all four sets of claws and that short muzzle jaw full of razor-sharp fangs.
in 5th edition it states that a Su-monster makes two attacks each round, one with claws and one with its bite, but there are exceptions to this you need to know. First, hanging upside down by its tail the Su-monster can use both hands and feet to attack, the way this is represented in the monster's stats is a simple doubling of the potential claw damage from 2d4+2 slashing damage to 4d4+2, which is simple enough, though I think it takes away the potential for more critical hits if it is attacking with advantage... and this is where two other factors come in, one is related to the monstrosities psychic abilities, the other is old school lore you don't find in 5th edition but is historically accurate for their behavior. First, the psychic attack, previously the Su-monster had a range of powers, but in 5E it's just got this attack called Psychic Crush, a rechargeable ability that requires one target within 30 feet to make a DC 11 Wisdom save or become stunned for one minute or until the victim manages to make another saving throw on their subsequent turns, if they are still alive, see the Crush inflicts 5d6 psychic damage, which most creatures have no resistance to, and being stunned in 5E means the victim can take no actions or reactions, can't move, can't save against any strength or dexterity effects, can only speak falteringly, and most importantly, any attacks against them are made with advantage, so, the Su-monster is just going to tear them apart unless they either make that save or some ally gets them the hell out of there as fast as possible, or takes out the Su-monster very fast. But wait, there's more and you won't find this in 5th edition lore, but... Su-monsters may be feral killers, but they do have strong bonds with their mate and offspring. Females who's young are attacked gain the effect of a haste spell for six rounds, and males whose female mates are attacked will attack in a hasted frenzy for four rounds. That means their speed on the ground, climbing or swimming increases from 30 feet per round to 60 feet, their armor class goes from 12 to 14, they gain advantage on dexterity saves and they gain an extra action each turn, normally this would be an attack, but they can also use it to make a dash action, with their speed increased to 120 feet, only infants will attempt to disengage or hide, adults will typically fight to the death.
Another favored tactic of the Su-monster is simply overpowering their prey with brute force and numbers, if they outnumber their targets they dive from their vantage points and attempt to knock victims down, holding them prone for other attackers. If a successful overbearing attack is made on a mounted character, the character takes 1-4 hp damage and must save to avoid being stunned for one round, unable to regain their feet after being thrown. Pummeling attacks are rarely used by su-monsters and only with small, hard objects, like large rocks and sticks. While they are intelligent enough to use a simple hand held weapon, they prefer to use their claws in combat, plus carrying around a weapon like that would get in the way of their mobility. One interesting change from early editions up to now is that Su-monsters will kill more than they can eat and will bury the remains of their victim that they can't eat in one session, in previous editions, this meant they buried any treasure in unmarked shallow graves, in 5th edition it states that they mark these graves with treasure from the victim, but, this makes no sense as the Su-monsters do not eat carrion, so there is no reason they would mark the location of a kill, they are not coming back to consume the rest of the body, as they don't eat carrion. What is much more likely is that they would leave the bits of treasure as a lure to an ambush.
Su-monsters are active year round and are not restricted to nocturnal activity like the Kech are, they hunt day and night, only resting for about 3-4 hours, hanging upside down to sleep or slumbering in their tree hollow or cave alcove. True omnivores, they balance their mostly meat diet with berries, grasses, lichens and anything else edible and easy to gather in their area, they have excellent senses, very sharp vision in day or night and they have no preference for either, in the winter months their senses appear to be even more accute and they spend most of their hunting time seeking out hibernating creatures to dig out and eat. Thanks to their constant hunting, although they always look half-starved to death, they don't seem to ever run completely out of food and are even capable of tearing open rotten logs to find grubs or swiping fish from rivers much like bears do.
Su-monsters breed throughout the year and have gestation periods of about 6-7 months, with infants being born singly. The infant will cling to the mother and feed on her milk most of the time, never moving too far away from her because other members of the cadre may be far to rough and end up injuring or killing an infant that accidentally annoys them. Bitter feuds and rivalries exist in each Cadre, the youngsters quickly learn to avoid anyone behaving aggressively toward either of their parents, as they are very likely to take their emnity out on a rival's offspring, regardless of the consequences.
Barbarians who dwell in the Snowflake mountains and the Wealdath forests call Su-monsters the Wolf-in-the-treetops or simply the Apre-Bear, they will avoid them if possible and give the creature the appropriate amount of fear and respect.
Su-monster flesh is poisonous, any who eat it will be sick for a week, during which time natural healing will be impossible for the victim. I'm not sure if you can eat Kech, but I advise against it. It's never a smart idea to eat another primate.
Finally, while they may flee combat, Su-monsters don't surrender (they have no understanding of this concept), nor can they be subdued. If captured, a Su-monster thrashes in its bonds until it is either broken free or has mortally broken itself and died; they do not live long in captivity and are nearly impossible to tame, so nobody really bothers; they simply capture them alive and throw them into gladiator pits to fight to the death for the entertainment of the crows.
Thankfully, I managed to avoid getting murdered by Su-monsters during that long trek on the way to the Spirit Souring Cathedral, I have a few more tales to tell of that journey, but in the meantime, my name is AJ Pickett, thanks for listening and as always, I will be back with more for you, very soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment