Fire on the Velvet Horizon | Sanguine Crane, Reaction Tables and Stats

(Note: I play LotFP. Here are some AC conversions between LotFP and other games.)

I will be posting some reaction tables (and others) that I have made for Patrick Stuart’s Fire on the Velvet Horizon, the most uselessful monster book. Today we present you the…

Sanguine Crane

A flash like the sun on the water, but red lines, like tangled threads, give a general shape. It is a bird, it could be a heron or a stork. A transparent bird, only its circulatory system and the gleam of the sun on its translucent plumage are visible.

Reaction Roll (2d6)
2-5: 1d2 Sanguine Cranes are encountered. The bird will attack the weakest character, or the one with the most visible wounds, with its whiptail in an attempt to paralyze them and drink her blood.
6-8: 1d2 Sanguine Cranes are encountered. The bird remains alert. If it feels threatened, it will take flight. There is a 2 in 10 chance that there is a nest nearby. If the PCs approach the eggs, the bird will defend them at all costs.
9-11: 2 Sanguine Cranes are encountered. The birds are in their courtship dance, ignoring everything going on around them. If someone interrupts their courtship, the male will attack and defend the female. Or maybe it’s the female defending the male? I don’t know, I ain’t a scientist.
12: 1d2 Sanguine Cranes are encountered. The bird (one of them, anyway) will bow to you, pick one of its feathers, and offer it to the PC with the highest Charisma.

Eggs

The eggs of these birds are blue and semi-transparent, almost perfectly spherical, slightly larger than a turkey egg. They are highly prized by the nobility for their supposed aphrodisiac properties.

• Eating a raw egg restores a character’s strength, restores his maximum HP, and gives him a +1 to his CON for the next 2 hours.
• Eating one egg, cooked in any way, counts as a full meal for one day.
• Eating two eggs, raw or cooked, causes drowsiness in addition to the above effects, i.e. -1 to all action rolls (attack, skill, save, etc.) for six hours.

Feather

Collectors will pay well for one of these feathers.

Stats

Sanguine Crane: AC 14, Move 120′ (walk) or 240’ (flight), 1 HD (5hp), 1 beak (1d6) or 1 whiptail (1d4+Paralysis), Morale 10 or 12 (when defending eggs or couple).

If the bird hits you with its whiptail, you must make a saving throw vs. Paralysis at -2 or you will fall to the ground and convulse for 1d6 rounds. The bird will now use its beak to drink your blood (automatically dealing the d6 damage of its peck each round).

Artwork: Resident_Mario (source)