The Obscure Octavo: Thuggee Bear

It’s amazing what a change of mental scenery will do for the creative process. Sometimes just changing genres for even a short period can result in unexpected mental leaps.

I mentioned last post that my character was adamant that the body count in the CoC game could be explained away as the actions of an angry bear. When we found a body that was suffering from both a massive bite wound AND signs of strangulation, that theory began to unravel (hence the “bear and boa constrictor working in tandem” alteration to the hypothesis). Another investigator proposed the counter-argument that we might be dealing with a bear armed with a garrote – a culprit I then dubbed “Thuggee Bear” after Antonio Fargas’ character on “Starsky and Hutch.”

It turns out that a strangulating bear isn’t a bad idea for a Mutant Future beastie…

Thuggee Bear
No. Enc: 1 (1d4)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 120’ (40’)
Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 7
Attacks: 3 (2 claws, bite) or 4 (tentacles)
Damage: 1d3+3/1d3+3/1d6+3 or 1d3 (per tentacle)
Save: F3
Morale: 8
Hoard Class: VI

Thuggee bears are mutated grizzly bears that have grown to prodigious size. In addition to their huge stature, two pairs of tentacles grow from their shoulders and their fur is a bright yellow. These massive ursine monsters are prone to anger and it is only their near-blindness that allows the occaisonal victim to escape a thuggee bear attack alive.

Thuggee bears attack first with their 10’ long tentacles. These tentacles constrict victims on a successful attack and deal 1d3 points of damage each successive round. For each tentacle constricting an opponent, the victim suffers a cumulative attack penalty of -1. A constricting tentacle can be cut off if a total of six or more points of damage are dealt with one blow. Once a victim is entwined by its tentacles, a thuggee bear will drag it close to unleash it deadly claw/claw/bite upon it. It gains a +2 bonus to attack any creature wrapped in its tentacles with its claws or bite (thus nullifying its vision impairment modifier).

Mutations: aberrant form (tentacles), gigantism (19’ feet tall), vision impairment

While many travelers claim that a thuggee bear is the worst example of altered bear stock roaming Ruint Ert, a recent tri-D photo taken along the shores of the ‘Cific seem to indicate something much worse stalks the lands of Gogun:

Picture from Cult youth