OSE Monster: The Hungry Wall

While working on a living dungeon, I realized that I really wanted something that communicated that sense of passive danger in a really grotesque way so why not have the very walls around you try to eat you? 

This is my version of another monster from the world's oldest and most popular roleplaying game and I call it... THE HUNGRY WALL

 

The Hungry Wall

AC 9 [10], HD 8 (36hp), Att Special, THAC0 12 [+7], MV None,
SV D8 W9 P10 B10 S12 (8), ML 12, AL Chaotic, XP 650 , NA 1, TT None

• Hiding in Plain Sight: A mass of putrid grey flesh that appears, through magic, as a normal wall. It is made up of absorbed victims. The wall radiates Chaos and Magic but Infrared shows no oddities. Within 5 feet, characters are able to hear low moans of pain and sorrow.
• Lure: All mundane equipment absorbed is lost forever. Piles of loot at the base of the wall often serves as a lure.

• We are Legion: The wall’s attacks are dictated based on what it has absorbed. If it has absorbed a wizard, it is able to use the spells the wizard had memorized at the time of it’s absorption. Likewise with magical items being carried by the victim.

• Defensive: Will not initiate combat but if characters come close to it, it will weakly grab at the passing character and beg for death or redemption. If attacked, a Hungry Wall will respond to each attack with one of it's own. These base attacks are only melee ranged and do d6 damage. A standard wall starts with 3 attacks. With every new body that is absorbed, the number of attacks returned increases by one. 

• Absorption: If a character happens to be securely grabbed by the wall, they must pass a Save vs Spells or be absorbed by the wall. Their powers and HP will immediately be added to the wall’s abilities. Absorption takes 1d4 rounds.

An Adorable Infestation

So I came to D&D late in the game and therefore have huge holes in my knowledge about it's lore. This means that for longer than I prefer, I thought that a Bug Bear was literally a huge hairy bug and not the weirdly quiet goblinoid creature that looks more like a huge goblin than a bear or a bug. I like my version better btw. The point is that once I realized my mistake, it kicked some things off in my head about other misconceptions I had relating to what is commonly used from the various D&D Monster Manuals. I'm now in the process of reading through AD&D 2nd editions Monster Manual as it offers the most in-depth entries on those classic monsters. It's been a good read so far.

---

Bear Bug (An Encounter)
These are small 3" tall bears. They feed on skin flakes and blood. They often move in packs, riding the coat tails & luggage of travelers. They are the scourge of taverns and inns. Some wiley entertainers have taken to catching and taming these creatures and can often be found traveling the world, putting on Bear Bug Circuses where they perform tricks for the amusement and confusion of children and adults everywhere.

Use: When renting a room in a popular inn, the player has a 1-in-6 chance of a Bear Bug infestation. 1-in-10 during the winter as they often will be hibernating.
Effect: Sleeping in a Bear Bug infestation site often results in tiny bites and scratches. Most people are highly allergic to the bear bug. -2 for all Mental checks for 24 hours from incessant itching. Duration resets if issue is not taken care of and they stay in the same room again.
Notes: If group is sharing a room, only roll once and it affects everyone sharing the room.
There are ways to avoid bites such as not sleeping on anything with fabric where the bear bugs might be sleeping. Or fire. Fire always works.