Friday, August 30, 2013

The Flying Pig of Wyrd-Greyhawk.





 The Flying Pig of Wyrd-Greyhawk

Frequency:  Singular
No. Appearing:  1
Armor Class: -9
Move: 8”, (walking), 220”, (flying)
Hit Dice: 4, (32hp)
% in Lair: 0%, (not know to lair)
Treasure Type: Incidental, (may have swallowed something valuable)
No. of Attacks: 1
Damage/Attack: 1-6, (bite)
Special Attacks:  Piercing Squeal
Special Defenses: Continual magical effect equal to a Grease spell
Magic Resistance: 90%
Intelligence: Low
Alignment: Pig
Size: M, (200lbs, or thereabouts)
Psionic Ability: Nil


When pigs fly!”  

In many worlds, this is a phrase employed to express disbelief at the prospect of an occurrence of extreme improbability.
Other worlds, however, are not so steeped in natural currents of eldritch power as is Wyrd-Greyhawk, where vehement exclamations, with sufficient repetition, may become unintended invocations.

If this be the origin of the infamous Flying Pig, Zagig only knows.  What is known is that when it appears, the winged porcine Herald of Chance brings with it all the possibilities of outrageous fortune.

The Flying Pig appears to be exactly that, a young domestic swine with large feathered wings.  The Flying Pig may, and has been, encountered in any location, and without warning. In fact, encounters with the Flying Pig nearly always occur in places one might least expect to find any sort of pig. 

At any time when a roll for a random encounter is called for, if an encounter is then indicated, there is a 1% chance that the Flying Pig will make an appearance.  In a magical alteration zone, or other such place of unusually strong magical energy, the chance increases to 3%.

Any and all who catch sight of the Flying Pig are subject to its inherent magic, that of probability reversal. .  This means that the probability of success or failure as regards the actions of those affected is reversed.  That which is likely, becomes unlikely, while that which is unlikely becomes likely.  As an example, while the magic holds, a character action which would normally have an 80% chance of success instead has a 20% chance of success. And vice versa.   In melee the chance To Hit would be converted to percentiles and then reversed.  

The probability reversal affects all actions which rely upon a roll of the dice for resolution.  This includes: initiative, melee, saving throws, fumbles, spell failure or misfire, etc. 

Any visual recognition of the Flying Pig, at any distance, counts as a Sighting, and triggers the probability reversal effect.  Those who have seen the pig may attempt to save vs. magic to halve the duration of the probability reversal.  Those who fail to save feel the effects of the magic for one round per experience level.

It should be noted that the power of the flying pig makes its presence far more dangerous and disruptive to higher level player characters than to lower level player characters.   Probability reversal will tend to make the actions of low level characters more successful and effective, while making those of higher level, and more powerful characters, erratic and unpredictable. 

Grynthurn the Fashionable was well known for his heroic dragon-slayings and ogre-bashings. But it is for his encounter with the flying pig, in which he somehow managed to behead himself with his own sword, for which he is most strongly remembered.

The flying Pig seems to be a singular creature, no more than one has ever been encountered in a single instance. It may also be a more than physical creature, for it has been claimed to have been killed on a few, rare occasions, though it always reappears elsewhere.  It is said that, years ago, the river dragon, Sivexunh, even devoured the Flying Pig. This was shortly before he renounced all worldly possessions and became a shepherd. 

Aside from the probability reversal, the Flying Pig possesses some other magic of defensive character. A continual magical effect equal to a grease spell makes the pig all but impossible to grasp. If injured or frightened the pig will utter its Piercing Squeal. All within earshot must save vs. magic or be deafened for 1D4 rounds. 

If unmolested, the flying pig will ignore other creatures in favor of engaging in the standard pursuits of pigs. If offered food, it will accept enthusiastically. The approval of the flying pig will in no way alter the effects of its magic in the favor of the player characters. 

No encounter with the flying pig will last longer than 3 turns. If it does not simply fly away, it will inexplicably vanish the moment the party’s attention is diverted from it.  And something will occur to draw the party’s attention. 
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This monster was brought to you courtesy of King Missile.  Long live the King. 


And also, 


6 comments:

  1. I wonder if its possible to diagram the sentence structure of spam comments to find out what the first language of the commenter is? Obviously, that's not a native English speaker.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Naw, I went to college with Jim Muni; he's a native speaker. I'm sure it's the same guy because he always signed his name in all caps and was forever telling people to "take a signal." Never understood what that meant.

    Anyway, he'll probably be back to get more, so you can ask him then.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, well then, I'm reassured. Thanks, Timrod!

    ReplyDelete
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