O Is for Ocelot Atlatl
O nearly had me stumped. I don’t know why, but I just couldn’t think of anything good for O. Orcs were too obvious. Old School? Too ubiquitous. Ovaltine wasn’t really game-related. Then I remembered growing up that my mother wanted an ocelot. She thought they were very pretty animals, and they are, and that it would be cool and adventurous to own one, and I’m imagining it would’ve been at least adventurous. But what to write about ocelots? Game stats? Nah. I could just use the lynx with a few mods.
So, I thought some more. Ocelot…ocelot…ocelot. The “ocel” part of the word started to stick out. Also protruding was the T at the end of the word. From there it was a short mental walk to atlatl. Well, short at least for the way my brain works. At that point, I had two words: ocelot and atlatl. That didn’t seem to accomplish much. After all, I was supposed to be figuring out what to write about ocelots, and instead I end up with a stick-throwing stick.
By this time, I was tired of thinking. Tired of trying. I mean, seriously, this whole A to Z thing was starting to smack of effort. I didn’t really do a good job with N, and for O I’m staring down ocelot and atlatl. Then, it hit me. Why not combine the two?
Thus was born the ocelot atlatl, a weapon used by a Large jungle humanoids that aren’t particularly concerned about developing a reputation for cruelty to animals.
Ocelot Atlatl
The ocelot atlatl is a throwing device consisting of a stick fitted with a socket to steady the butt of an ocelot and extend the velocity and distance it travels when thrown. The Large jungle humanoid places an ocelot in the socket and then propels the frightened, angry feline at an enemy.
Both the ocelot and the victim suffer 2d6 points of damage if the Large jungle humanoid’s attack succeeds. The ocelot falls prone in a randomly determined square adjacent to the victim after impact unless the ocelot succeeds with a DC 15 Acrobatics check, in which case it isn’t prone. If the Large jungle humanoid’s attack fails, the ocelot takes the same damage as it bounces off the ground, et cetera. (Generous GMs can let the ocelot attempt a separate DC 20 Acrobatics check to reduce its damage by 1d6.) The angry, frightened, freshly injured ocelot must attempt a DC 15 Will save upon impact. If it fails, it attempts to flee. Otherwise, it blames the nearest creature for its plight and attacks on its next turn.
Without the ocelot atlatl, a thrown ocelot is an improvised weapon with a range increment of 10 feet. The ocelot atlatl is an exotic weapon. With it, the thrown ocelot is not an improvised weapon and has a range increment of 30 feet. Loading an ocelot in an ocelot atlatl socket is a move-equivalent action.
An ocelot atlatl is a one-handed weapon for a Large creature. It weighs 8 pounds and costs 5 gp.
