We’ve been playing our Cursed Scroll #2 Campaign again, and you know what that means: Giant Scorpions!
Shadow 17, Narvey, Darien, and Torc the Orc were joined by Suren the Bold, cleric of Madeera. Narvey fed a former coworker to a ghost. Suren and Darien realized they shared a religion, but had very, very different levels of commitment to it. Torc smashed a gigantic horn off a buried titan. We ambushed an immortal sentient canyon ape.
In other words, we had a pretty good game of Shadowdark.
Giant Scorpions
One slight difficulty with desert settings like the Djurum: there’s not an incredible variety of potentially hostile wildlife. Enter the humble giant scorpion, a surefire inclusion in any arid adventure. Included below are six variants of the classic monster, intended for use with Shadowdark, but easily compatible with any OSR TTRPGs. Roll the table when your party encounters a giant scorpion to help keep them feeling fresh.
Identifying a scorpion variant is DC 18 INT or WIS. Each variant is Familiar to a certain class; identifying that variant is DC 12 for that class. If you’re playing with Ranger or Druid-type classes, consider making all identify DCs 12.
D6 Giant Scorpion Variants
- Parchskin Scorpion
- Horse-eater
- Whiskered Scorpion
- ‘Flipper’
- Blacktouch Scorpion
- Angelkiller Scorpion
Parchskin Scorpion
Identifiable by its thick, dark brown chitin, the Parchskin is most notable for its intense allergy to water. Splashing water on the Parchskin deals 1d4 damage and reduces its AC to 10. If a Parchskin is encountered in a hex with a meaningful source of water in it (oasis or larger), there’s a 3-in-6 chance the Parchskin has already taken 1d4 damage. By checking Parchskin for watersign, savvy Desert Riders can tell if water is nearby.
Familiar to Desert Riders.
Horse-eater
Horse-eaters are aptly named; in combat, they’ll focus exclusively on horses and camels, hoping to seize a big, meaty, unarmoured target and drag it away before any pesky humans can interfere. Desert Riders hate them for obvious reasons. Luckily, they have an intense fear of Scrag; every round within Far of a Scrag, the Scorpion makes a morale check. Convoys across the desert usually include Scrag Riders at both ends of the marching order to ward off Horse-eaters.
Familiar to Desert Riders.
Whiskered Scorpion
The scorpion’s eponymous whiskers extend about four feet from its mandibles, sweeping along the ground. These organs bestow a tremorsense on the creature, allowing it to sense any moving creature that touches the ground within Nearx2 (60ft). Its eyesight is poor. Creatures might escape the scorpion by holding extremely still or distracting it by causing vibrations away from themselves. Whiskered Scorpions are hardwired to chase fleeing creatures, regardless of the danger.
Familiar to Pit Fighters.
‘Flippers’
A favourite of the Pits, this beast is best known for the bright blue diamond on its back and the showy way gladiators dispatch it. The species (sometimes called Skykissed Scorpions) has a notably weak exoskeleton on its belly. Pit Fighters have learned to exploit this by flipping it onto its back and then finishing it off.
Characters who hit the ‘Flipper’ with a Staff, Warhammer, Razor Chain, or Greatsword may make a contested STR check to flip the scorpion on its back. It gets up on its next turn, without using an action, but while it’s on its back, all stabbing weapon hits are Critical. If you’re Pit Fighting, the crowd goes nuts for this.
Familiar to Pit Fighters.
Blacktouch Scorpion
The venom of a Blacktouch is signalled by the inky tip of its stinger. Its venom brings a sensation of intense cold and is prized as a narcotic diversion in Alkesh. Its flesh is also toxic; eating it causes 1d4 damage and a foul smell that lasts one hour. Creatures that stink this way cannot be targeted with bite attacks; assassins have often used this to evade guard dogs or consort with venomous snakes.
Familiar to the Ras-Godai.
Angelkiller Scorpion
The dull white shell of the Angelkiller warns off most predators. Unfortunately, it attracts one of the most dangerous ones: the Ras-Godai! As part of their training, Ras-Godai are stung seventy-seven times by Angelkillers. Seventy-seven times they are brought back from death by the dread healers of their order. Seventy-Seven times they see what hides beyond life.
Anyone reduced to 0 hp by the sting of an Angelkiller gains 1 WIS — assuming they survive. This only happens the first time; the other seventy-six times a Ras-Godai gets stung are totally unnecessary.
Familiar to the Ras-Godai.
Thanks for reading! I hope you get some mileage out of these weird scorpions. If you like what you’ve seen, check out our Shadowdark adventures. If you want to see more blog posts, we’ve got Shadowdark monsters, Dream creatures, Torch Tips, and more!