Armorphage
Also known as: Armorer
A magical parasite whose body outwardly appears to be an elaborate, ornamental suit of armor
Basic Fantasy Field Guide Omnibus
| Armor Class | 16 |
|---|---|
| Hit Dice | 4* |
| Number Appearing | 1 |
| Attacks | 2 tendrils or 1 constrict |
| Damage | 1d6 tendrils, 2d4 constrict |
| Movement | 20' |
| Save As | Fighter: 4 |
| Morale | 8 |
| XP | 400 |
| Treasure Type | None |
The Armorphage, sometimes caller simply, an Armorer, is a magical parasite whose body outwardly appears to be an elaborate, ornamental suit of armor. The parasitic nature of the armorphage means that 80% of the time they will be found on a victim.
The type of armor it resembles should be determined by the GM, or it can be rolled on the Magic Armor Type table in the Basic Fantasy RPG Core Rules book.
The armorphage is able to determine who the most likely to want the type of armor they resemble, and will focus on the most likely victim, enthralling them to desire, and want to wear the armorphage at any cost, unless they succeed in a save vs. Spell.
Once the armorphage is on its victims tendrils will slowly pierce the victim; these tendrils themselves will not harm the victim but will allow the creature to slowly feed off its victim, and control the hosts body like a puppet. Each day, the victim must save vs. Death Ray or deduct a level of energy drain, until they reach level 0 and death, when the armorphage will abandon the corpse.
While the armorphage is attached to the body it controls them physically, though their mind is still their own. Their body is completely under the control of the armorphage, which still has access to the victim’s instincts and learned physical skills, allowing the armorphage to attack as if it was the host. Additionally, it can attack with two tendrils that it can extrude from anywhere on its own body.
Attempting to forcefully remove an armorphage will cause it to constrict itself on the victim’s body, causing 2d4 points of damage every round. Attacking the armorphage while it is encasing a victim will split the damage (half to the victim, half to the armorphage, which may constrict its victim as well). Someone who is able to survive having an armorphage removed will recover the energy drain at 1 level per week of rest.
Though they do their very best to avoid it ever happening, if necessary an armorphage without a host can defend itself using the two extruded tentacles it can manifest, though it is more likely to attempt to flee anyone who attacks it in its vulnerable state.