Gill-Men for DCC
Almost five decades ago, Mom took me to the historic Plaza Theatre in El Paso, Texas, to see Creature from the Black Lagoon in glorious 3-D. Today, I offer a re-imagining of the famed Gill Man for Dungeon Crawl Classics.
Gill-Folk
These fearsome creatures live in not-so-distant swamps and tropical rainforests, venturing through submerged tunnels from hidden caves to hunt, fish, and abduct humanoids to offer to their horrid queen.
Init +0; Atk slap +4 melee (1d6+1 plus stun) or claws +4 melee (1d4+2 plus poison); AC 14; HD 2d8+2; MV 25′ or swim 40′; Act 2d20; SP camouflage, infravision 60′; SV Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +1; AL L.
Most gill-folk encountered are warrior-drones in the service of a queen. These man-sized creatures combine the features of humanoids, fish, and reptiles. They have large hands and feet with webbed, strong digits. Their fingers end with wicked claws. Gill-folk have lungs and gills, making them able to breathe both air and water. They grow increasingly uncomfortable as their scaly flesh dries out, however, making them prefer to remain at least partially submerged as much as possible. Gill-folk are adaptively colored for their usual environments, gaining a +4 bonus to hide attempts.
Gill-folk often attack with the intention of subduing humanoids, doing so with a powerful slap. Man-sized or smaller creatures slapped must make a Fort save (DC 8 + damage inflicted) or be stunned and helpless for 1d7 rounds. A gill-folk may quickly bind a stunned victim’s wrists and ankles with crude ropes to make the victim easier to drag back to the gill-folk’s queen. A gill-folk may also rake with its venomous claws (Delivery Wound, Fort 12, Successful Save no damage, Failed Save 1d4 temporary Stamina, Recovery normal healing).
A gill-folk queen seldom leaves her lair. The warrior-drones bring her food and victims. Victims are kept subdued and bound by guards until the queen has need of them.
Gill-Folk Queen: Init +2; Atk claws +8 melee (2d6+2 plus poison); AC 16; HD 6d8+12; MV 30′ or swim 50′; Act 2d20; SP camouflage, infravision 60′, mindlink; SV Fort +6, Ref +2, Will +6; AL L.
The queen towers over the tallest human and has considerable bulk along with the strength needed to move her mass quickly. Her powerful arms are disproportionately long. A frill of blood-red, bony plates adorns her frog-like head and extends down her neck and spine. The queen’s venom is deadly (Fort save DC 15), causing immediate unconscious followed by death in 1d4 rounds with a failed saving throw. After death by this venom, 1d4+6 eggs begin to grow in the corpse, hatching in 1d3+3 days. The gill-man tadpoles devour the host corpse and rapidly grown to adulthood.
