Hallucigenia, cave
| Climate/Terrain: | Shallow sea floor |
|---|---|
| Frequency: | Common |
| Organization: | Solitary |
| Activity Cycle: | Day |
| Diet: | Carnivore/Scavenger |
| Intelligence: | Animal(1) |
| Treasure: | Nil |
| Alignment: | Neutral |
| No. Appearing: | 1-12 |
| Armor Class: | 6 |
| Movement: | 2 |
| Hit Dice: | 4 |
| THAC0: | 17 |
| No. of Attacks: | 1 |
| Damage/Attack: | 1d12 +2 |
| Special Attacks: | Blood drain |
| Special Defenses: | Nil |
| Magic Resistance: | Nil |
| Size: | S (3' long) |
| Morale: | Average (9) |
| XP Value: | 420 |
This subspecies of Hallucigenia has evolved to live in caverns on dry land, using its tentacles to climb slowly among the stalactites. It is a pure carnivore, subsisting solely on the blood of its prey.
The creature wraps its tail-tentacles around a stalactite hanging over a likely passage or intersection. When prey appears, the cave Hallucigenia drops down, swinging at the victim while its tail stretches to several times its length. AD&D game PCs have a +2 penalty on surprise rolls against this attack. The fourteen spines (or legs) slam into the prey, doing up to 14 points of damage. After the initial strike, the Hallucigenia's powerful tail draws up both predator and prey among the stalactites, where the victim can be drained at leisure. Each combat sequence that the victim is on the spines after the initial strike, he will take 14 points of damage due to blood drain until he is freed (he cannot free himself) or dies.
Hallucigenia subsists only on the victim's blood, and when it is drained, it drops the body to the cavern floor and leaves it for more conventional predators and scavengers to devour. Thus, the remains of previous victims might provide a warning for alert characters strolling through the area (Wisdom or Intuition checks as appropriate), though not enough to tell them from which direction the imminent attack will come.