Lurking Murderer

A hellish predatory creature of the cold reaches, few survive an encounter with one of these vicious hunters. Some believe a creature of such concentrated fury must have been created by a demented wizard or wrought as punishment by an angry god, but most believe the Lurking Murderer is a natural beast, its numbers kept in check only by the harshness of its native arctic climate and the scarcity of prey.

The Lurking Murderer resembles nothing so much as an over-sized, six-legged wolverine with a pale gray coat of long, thick fur. Each of their six legs ends in a heavily clawed foot, each capable of inflicting serious damage on any opponent willing to face the creature's wrath. Lurking Murderers also have powerful jaws capable of crushing bone with ease. The average adult specimen is about five feet long from its nose to the end of its stubby tail.

Lurking Murderers are capable climbers, often ambushing prey from elevated positions in rocks or trees. They prefer hunting during the night, and actively avoid sunlight. They are capable scent hunters and will pursue prey over great distances, their curious waddling gait belying their ground covering hunting pace.

In combat these creatures are agile foes with a massive array of armaments at their disposal. Their fierce claws and powerful bite can bring down the largest prey, and their heightened senses, stealth and speed allow them to establish a tactical advantage in the opening moments of an attack.

Lurking Murderers have the following characteristics:

• Superb vitality and quickness, making the creatures difficult to hit and kill.
• Superb sense of smell and hearing.
• Superb stealth and hide ability.
• Great running speed.
• Epic claw and bite attacks inflicting Superb damage. The creature can use up to four claw attacks in a normal combat round.
• Leap Attack - If attacking from an elevated position, its favorite ambush tactic, it can attack with all six sets of claws on its initial strike.
• Rake - Should a Lurking Murderer hit with more than three claw attacks in a single round, it will rake its opponent with all six sets of claws in the next, automatically hitting with each attack.

Lurking Murderers are normally solitary, territorial creatures. They lair in rocky caves or under dead-falls, and occasionally may have some form of inedible treasure in their lair. During the spring season encounters with a female and 2-3 young are possible. Females defending their young gain a Good bonus to attack accuracy and damage.

No one has ever tamed a Lurking Murderer.

This was the original AD&D 2nd edition stat block for these creatures:

• Frequency: Very Rare
• Number Appearing: 1 or 4-7
• AC: 2
• Hit Dice: 6d8+6
• Move: 18"
• % In Lair: 30%
• THACO: 12
• Number of Attacks: 5
• Damage: 1d8/1d8/1d8/1d8/2d12
• Special Attacks: Leap, Rake, surprise on 1-5
• Special Defenses: Surprised only on 1
• Magic Resistance: Standard
• Intelligence: Animal/Low
• Alignment: N
• Size: S-M (4'-6'long)
• Exp. Value: 1200+10/hp