Urchin
| Black | Green | Red | Silver | Yellow | Land | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Climate/Terrain: | Sea bed, coast | Sea bed, coast | Sea bed, coast | Sea bed, coast | Sea bed, coast | Any temperate to tropical land |
| Frequency: | Uncommon | Rare | Rare | Very rare | Very rare | Rare |
| Organization: | Bed | Group | Group | Pair | Group | Pair |
| Activity Cycle: | Day | Day | Day | Day | Day | Day |
| Diet: | Scavenger | Scavenger | Scavenger | Scavenger | Scavenger | Scavenger |
| Intelligence: | Semi- (2-4) | Semi- (2-4) | Semi- (2-4) | Semi- (2-4) | Semi- (2-4) | Animal (1) |
| Treasure: | 10×1d10 gp | 40×1d10 gp | 90×1d10 gp | 250×1d10 gp | 160×1d10 gp | See below |
| Alignment: | Neutral | Neutral | Neutral | Neutral | Neutral | Neutral |
| No. Appearing: | 1-6 | 1-4 | 1-4 | 1-2 | 1-3 | 1-2 |
| Armor Class: | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Movement: | 6, Sw 6 | 6, Sw 6 | 6, Sw 6 | 6, Sw 6 | 6, Sw 6 | 12 |
| Hit Dice: | 1+1 | 2+1 | 3+1 | 5+3 | 4+2 | 3+3 |
| THAC0: | 19 | 19 | 17 | 15 | 17 | 17 |
| No. of Attacks: | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 6 |
| Damage/Attack: | 1-4 | 2-7 | 2-5 | 2-5 | 1-6 | 1-2 |
| Special Attacks: | See below | See below | See below | See below | See below | See below |
| Special Defenses: | Nil | Nil | Nil | Nil | Nil | Nil |
| Magic Resistance: | Nil | Nil | Nil | Nil | Nil | Nil |
| Size: | S (3') | S (3') | S (3') | S (3') | S (3') | S (3') |
| Morale: | Steady (11) | Steady (11) | Steady (11) | Steady (11) | Steady (11) | Steady (11) |
| XP Value: | 65 | 120 | 420 | 975 | 650 | 420 |
Urchins are a family of marine creatures that, like oysters, are hunted for the value of the stones found in their bodies.
They resemble 3-foot-diameter balls covered with thousands of 3-inch-long, needle-sharp spines. There are several species of urchins, which can be distinguished from each other by their distinctive colors.
Combat: Urchins can fire their spines with the distance and accuracy of light crossbows. An urchin can fire multiple spines per round as listed above under “No. of Attacks”. Urchins have no eyes with which to see their opponents; instead they possess an innate clairvoyance ability. This ability gives all spines fired by urchins a +2 bonus to the attack roll. Damage from an urchin spine varies from species to species and many spines contain paralytic or even lethal poisons. Since urchins are covered with thousands of spines, they have a virtually unlimited supply of ammunition.
Habitat/Society: Urchins are primarily scavengers, scouring the ocean floors for remains of shellfish. Occasionally they hunt fish, but they never attack man-sized beings unless threatened or approached within 10 feet.
Urchins live in the shallows and upon shoals near the coast. They occasionally (10% chance) remain on land during low tide to scavenge for food. While on land, urchins move via rolling. They are capable of surprisingly high speeds when moving this way.
Ecology: Inside each urchin is a crystalline organ-gem that seems to have some connection to their innate clairvoyance ability. While this gem has little value as a stone, it is highly prized by alchemists. The exact value of the organ-gem depends on quality and the type of urchin it was taken from. To determine a stone's value, consult the “Treasure” entry above.
Land Urchin
These distant cousins of sea urchins live strictly on land. Land urchins move on five spindly legs. They are shy creatures and only attack if approached within ten feet. Their paralytic poison lasts for six turns. Land urchins have no organ-gem but often (80% chance) form pearls inside their bodies. Old urchins contain 2d6 such pearls, each valued at 1d6×100 gold pieces.