E Is for Epileptic
epileptic: (adj.) of, relating to, or having epilepsy
Nota Bene: Today’s mutant creature is designed for TSR’s 1st edition of Gamma World, the greatest post-apoc RPG of all time. The panyar was made with the help of my scuffed and marked 1981 gamebook. Enjoy!
Panyar
No. Appearing: 5-40 (plus females equal to males and young equal to 50% of females in a burrow)
Armor Class: 6
Movement: 12
Hit Dice: 4
Panyars (also called quake rats) are sentient (intelligence 12-15, mental strength 10-13) and peaceful mutated naked mole rats. They live in elaborate burrows connected by twisting passages best suited for four-legged creatures. An adult panyar is about 2 meters long and half as tall. Wrinkles and blotches distort the panyar’s brownish-pink, nearly hairless flesh. A panyar has squat legs, a stunted tail, and a flat, almost shovel-like head with two tiny, nearly sightless eyes. Despite their fearsome appearance, a panyar’s teeth are seldom used for anything more than chewing roots and bugs. (If hard-pressed, a panyar can bite for 2d6 points of damage.)
Panyars require only about one-fourth as much oxygen as other mammals, making them well-adapted to life in their burrows, which tend to have high concentrations of carbon dioxide due to poor ventilation. These mutants have diminished eyesight, but also have heightened hearing and heightened smell. Consequently, panyars are nearly impossible to surprise. Once every four melee turns, a panyar can generate a burst of high-frequency sound waves that damage exposed tissues within 10 meters of the panyar, inflicted 3d6 points of damage. Panyars are immune sonic attacks.
Fully 85% of panyars suffer from stress-induced epilepsy. An epileptic panyar has a 25% chance immediately preceding any combat situation of having a paralyzing seizure that lasts for 1d6+4 melee turns. During an epileptic seizure, a panyar’s sonic attack ability intensifies, creating a 10-meter radius burst of intense sound waves that inflict 6d6 points of damage every melee turn. These sound waves are so powerful that they can crack stone and cause underground tunnels to collapse.
Panyar burrows are protected by non-epileptic leaders. A panyar leader has 1d4-1 additional beneficial mutations, divided as evenly as possible between physical and mental mutations.
