#creature catalog

Name: Midge

Species: Sanguisuga Minor

Found in: Golden Hills; Golden Path, Lost Sands, Bugarian Outskirts.

Appearance: Midges are around 15-25 centimeters tall on average, If one were to measure them from abdomen to proboscis. Their typical color scheme are shades of dark brown and beige, dark brown on their touch carapace, which extends from their proboscis to their back, and beige for the rest of their body, being their underside, and their long abdomen. They have a long proboscis that ends up taking up their entire face, dull beige eyes that make them look always tired, a pair of long wings in the ‘Odonata’ shape, four long, spindly legs, and a long, thin, four segmented abdomen. Below the wings, there is a bump-like shape that shows a bit more of the midge’s soft underside than the rest of their chitin.

Lifestyle: Midges show a pack like mentality: you fight with one, you fight with them all. They are found most often in caves and/or shaded areas, though will be in more open areas if hungry or bored. Midges actually are predators to many plant based creatures, as males feed off of nectar, honeydew, and plant sap. Females, the much more disliked of the two, require blood meals in order to sustain enough protein for their eggs. The larva, often found under heavy objects that are near bodies of water, or sometimes nests made lovingly by their parents, munch on algae, bacteria, and organic matter in the water. Their sole main attack is via skewering their prey or opponents with their long proboscis, drinking bodily fluids and quickly healing from the meal, though if a midge is sluggish, they may just awkwardly belly flop as well.

Taming: It is much easier to tame the male than it is for the female, because one (usually) doesn't have spare blood on their person. To tame a Midge, there are two ways, with the second making it easier to tame a female, but overall a lot more dangerous. The first one is simply showing a calm, friendly nature, avoiding young, as Midge are fiercely protective of their larva, and feeding them honeydew or other sweet liquids. While they won't actively follow you around, they will show a great amount of friendliness and trust towards you, eventually to the point where they trust you around their young. This also has the benefit of bonding with the entire pack.

One could also steal, or ‘adopt’ for those who find the former word too harsh, a larva. Do note that this will infuriate the parents, and they will constantly hunt you down until they are killed. Once you ‘acquire’ the larva, you can feed it a variety of soft or liquid foods, though do note females will require high protein food. In exchange, you'll have a very loyal companion that'll lay down its life for you once it fully grows.

Strengths: They often fight in packs, attacking one at a time, and fly out of range for melee strikes. They may also have the possibility to absorb electricity, as the Broodmother shows.

Weaknesses: strong winds forces them to stay grounded, And, as expected of a bug, very weak to Ice. In Addition, those who are strongly Poison inclined may find themselves poisoning midges if they feed off of that individual.

Even though there is a standard selection of monsters in the Rules Cyclopedia, well, come on, there is always room for more monsters! This is the Creature Catalog (1993), the second, Challenger-branded iteration (we’ll look at the first later this year when I tackle the AC-series supplements). It’s…fine?

As a general rule, TSR did good monster books. Yea, there are always dumb monsters, or weird filler monsters (there are no shortage of daft beasties in the Monstrous Compendium annuals, books that I nevertheless adore), but in general, more monsters is always a good thing. What makes this book so damnably strange is not that it is boring, but rather that it manages to be kind of boring despite being mostly the same as the original. It is alphabetical, and therefore easier to use! There are more monsters, even! But I really do prefer the original.  

Name: Censwirl Beetle

Species: Turibulum Scarabaeus

Found in: Snakemouth Den, Wild Swamplands.

Appearance: These highly adaptive beetles have a dull purple carapace with a brighter purple underside, a black, hardened elytra, stilt-like legs that are often covered in spores of local mushrooms from their environment (as well as a few are from farther away), droopy black antennae that trail along the ground, grey blunt mandibles that are efficient at cutting a mushroom’s stem, and white eyes that have swirling pupils. Both the pupils and their mandibles turn to a color of the element they absorbed from mushrooms.

Habitat: They are highly nomadic: wherever there's an abundance of mushrooms, they tend to follow. They do, however, seem to prefer places that are dark and shaded.

Lifestyle: a recent discovery to Bugaria, the Censwirl Beetle are solitary creatures that have a strong liking for mushrooms, and have evolved to process most mushrooms’ poison in a unique manner: they expel the effects by glands that are below their wings, which they can weaponize by opening their elytra and fanning out the residue, which then spreads in a small radius around them. They find mushrooms by trailing their antennae against the ground, trying to smell the mushroom’s roots, then following the smell toward the object of desire, their legs folding as they crouch down and eat the mushroom. They also make sure to brush their legs against mushrooms to catch spores, so they can grow ones they like in more comfortable areas. Despite their large size (most of it being the legs), they are actually extremely docile, only attacking those that steal the mushrooms they were about to eat. Due to this, and the potential danger of their ‘incense’ attack (such as if they ate a danger shroom, or even Cordyceps), travelers and explorers are dissuaded from attacking these gentle giants.

Taming: it is quite easy to tame these creatures, surprisingly. All you have to do is feed them their favorite shroom (which you can tell by looking at how many of a certain kind of spire there is). Once you do so, you'll find…you don't get much technical benefits from them, as they are quite lax, But! You can ride them. Totally worth it. Just do mind to wear protective gear, in the off-chance they release mushroom residue.

Strengths: due to their height and agile legs, they have an easy time avoiding attacks, and their excessive mushroom munching has given them a resistance to most effects.

Weaknesses: Fire is especially effective against them, as all the spores in their system quickly combust. Managing to hit their legs also makes them tumble and crash to the ground. Do mind this'll release a lot of spores.