Forests Shadow

Forest Shadows

CLIMATE/TERRAIN                Jungle/Forest
FREQUENCY                            Rare
ORGANIZATION                      Group
ACTIVITY CYCLE                    Any
DIET                                        Nil
INTELLIGENCE                       Average ( 9 )
TREASURE                              Nil
ALIGNMENT                           Neutral
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NO.APPEARING                       1-10
ARMOR CLASS                        6
MOVEMENT                            15
HIT DICE                                2+2
THAC0                                    17
NO. OF ATTACKS                   1
DAMAGE/ATTACKS               1d4+1
SPECIAL ATTACKS                See Below
SPECIAL DEFENSES               Camouflage, Surprise, Needs magical weapons to hit
MAGIC RESISTAMCE             10 %
SIZE                                        M ( 5-6' )
MORALE                                  Elite 13-14
XP VALUE                                650

The Forest Shadows are vague Elven in appearance and greenish transperant. They are most often only seen as shimmering shadows in the underbrush, just before an attack.

COMBAT
The Shadows' camouflage ability makes it 90% invisible in natural jungle or forest surroundings, and they walk with the skill of a Pass Without Trace. This gives them a perfect chance to make a surprise attack against their foes, that get a -4 to their surprise rolls. They attack with a chilling touch for 1d4+1 in damage, but for each point delivered as damage, it has a cumultative 2% chance of paralyzing the victim. When a victim is paralyzed, the Forest Shadow works an Entanglement on him, binding him to the nearest tree with wines. When the paralyzis wears off after 2d10 rounds, he will be strictly secured to the tree, unable to do anything. A single successful Bend Bars check will allow an escape, but if unsuccessful, his corpse will soon feed the tree. The Forest Shadows are immune to every spell that normally affect plants or undead. In addition they are immune to lightning, and fire- and coldbased spells are automatically half damage. In addition they are only harmed by magical weapons.

HABITAT/SOCIETY
Nobody knows exactly where the Forest Shadows come from, but legend says that they are the spirits of trees that met an unnatural death, felled by human hands. That would explain their hatred of anybody and anything that does not belong to the forest, especially Humans, Dwarves and Goblinkin. The Forest Shadows seem to gather in group, patrolling the forest together and attacking what does not belong. Those who are close to the forest, like Rangers, Druids and Elves, are generally left alone, but even these do not know the truth of the Forest Shadows.

ECOLOGY
The Forest Shadows do not produce anything, and are almost intangible. But it is said, that where a Forest Shadow dies and disappears, a new tree will soon grow forth.