NEW MONSTER: SALT PUKE

SALT PUKE

FREQUENCY: Uncommon

NO. APPEARING: 1-8

ARMOR CLASS: 8

MOVE: 6”

HIT DICE: 4

% IN LAIR: Nil

TREASURE TYPE: Nil

NO. OF ATTACKS: 0

DAMAGE/ ATTACK: Nil

SPECIAL ATTACKS: Spit corrosive chemicals for 4-16

SPECIAL DEFENSES: Not harmed by blunt weapons

MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard

SAVE: Fighter 4

INTELLIGENCE: Animal

ALIGNMENT: Neutral

SIZE: M

PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

LEVEL/ X.P. VALUE: IV/ 85 +4/hp

A salt puke strongly resembles a huge striated brownish gray gourd with a large pore or stoma at one end. They are most commonly found in wet underground areas or marshlands. The salt puke is an enigma of nature. It takes the minerals found in its surroundings and converts them internally to salt. A salt puke always has a distinctly briny smell about it.

Having no ability to attack in a conventional sense, the salt puke relies on a disgusting tactic to ensure it has a supply of ready protein to add to its diet. It can eject a jet of highly corrosive saline from its pore, reaching distances of up to 6”. If the target is within 1”, the salt puke is at +2 to hit. If the range is greater than 3”, the hit probability drops to -2, and to -4 at greater than 5”.

This noxious mixture causes 4-16 hit points of damage to the creature that it strikes, half that if a saving throw versus dragon breath is made. When it kills a victim, the salt puke sucks up the semi-liquid remnants of the creature's body through its pore.

These creatures have no bones, making them highly distensible. They move by means of rhythmic contractions and are able to squeeze through relatively narrow openings. Because of their rubbery body structure, these creatures are not affected by blunt weapons.