Skigg
GM's Eyes Only
Spoilers. This page is written for the GM, and players who read on will learn things their characters don't know.
A small marsh rodent that eats gunpowder and becomes a walking bomb. Source: Iron Kingdoms Monsternomicon, p. 72.
What it is. A small, rat-like animal of swamps and marshes with a strange appetite: powder. Its body doesn't spoil the powder it eats; it makes it stronger and less stable. A skigg that has eaten enough explodes if it is struck, or even shaken hard.
Behavior. Nests of ten to twenty, led by a few larger alphas that teach the young the way to the powder. Skiggs avoid a fight unless cornered or near powder, which they can smell, and they will go out of their way to attack anyone carrying a gun. They are natural enemies of rats, and they breed fast. In powder-using places they nest in magazines, gun works, and ships' powder rooms.
In Tir Hathar. Rare. They add another cost or concern to hurlants.
Stats¶
First draft, built from WWN's baseline stat lines.
| HD | AC | Atk | Dmg | Shock | Move | ML | Inst | Skill | Save | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skigg | 1 | 13 | +1 | 1d2 | — | 30' | 6 | 6 | +1 | 15+ |
- Powder nose. It smells gunpowder within 30 feet, and gains +2 to hit anyone carrying it.
- Walking bomb. A skigg that has eaten powder explodes when it takes damage, on a 1 or 2 on 1d6. Everyone within 10 feet takes 2d6 damage, with an Evasion save for half; a skigg that has gorged on a full powder horn explodes for 3d6 out to 20 feet.
- Slippery. When a melee attack misses it, it can immediately move 10 feet without drawing a free attack.
Still open: playtesting the numbers, and what form the hurlant cost or concern takes. Suggested, not settled: a Gun Mage using Force Loading fires without powder, so skiggs leave them alone.