Monsters of Idalium: Stretchers

One of the more memorable new monsters that I created for the Idalium campaign was the stretcher. (I originally named them stretch ghouls, and then realized years later that this sounded too close to Kickstarter's stretch goals to take seriously.) My players were utterly horrified by these undead creatures, in vast disproportion to their actual statistics. They encountered them two or maybe three times, but the most memorable occasion was the first one, in the sealed Hotel Lethia.

This encounter and monster arose directly from a nightmare I had a year or two before the party actually encountered them in the game. Mechanically, I considered them just a variety of ghoul, and based the stat block off of the ghoul, with just some specifics added to cover their unique attack and the way their stretching arms work. This stat block was designed for B/X D&D, but should work in any version of D&D or its retroclones derived from the original D&D lineage.

Stretcher

Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 2**
Move: 90’ (30’)
Attacks: 1 touch
Damage: paralysis / 1d4 life drain
No. Appearing: 1-6 (2-16)
Save As: Fighter:2
Morale: 9
Treasure Type: B
Alignment: Chaotic
XP: 30

Stretchers are undead creatures that live in a perpetual dream state, dimly going through the motions of a parody of their former life. They have pallid white (fish belly) flesh, and a vaguely female form, though their bodily and facial features are rudimentary and vague, as if they are only an imitation of a human being. They do not wear clothes. They do not talk, nor do they exhibit any type of human-like intelligence, having a bestial cunning only.

They prefer to live in enclosed rooms underground, and will spend much of their time sleeping (if the undead can sleep) completely covered by a sheet or blanket. They tend to try to avoid being uncovered.

Stretchers have an insatiable hunger for the human life force, and when they encounter the living, they will reach out with a questing arm, which unnaturally stretches up to 30’ feet, moving at a rate of 10’ per round unerringly towards its target. The arm (and the rest of the stretcher) can squeeze through the tiniest cracks, such as through keyholes, under doors, etc. The touch of a stretcher will paralyze any creature of ogre size or smaller (except elves) unless the victim saves vs. Paralysis. Starting on the round after the victim is paralyzed, the stretcher will begin to drain life force from the victim. This causes the victim to lose consciousness (eyes fluttering, gasping for breath), and does 1d4 points of damage per round. The paralysis and unconsciousness induced by a stretcher lasts 2d4 turns, but can be reversed by a cure light wounds spell.

If an amount of damage equal to half the stretcher’s total hit points is done to an arm, it will retract very quickly, though the stretcher may try again with its other arm. If the other arm is “killed”, it will also retract and the stretcher will flee. The stretcher can only be killed by doing its total amount of hit points in damage to its actual body. When killed, stretchers dissolve into a white, rubbery liquid and drain away through cracks and crevices in the ground.

Any creature whose life force is completely drained by a stretcher will dissolve into the same liquid and drain away (raise dead is impossible) and will reform as a new stretcher in 1d4 days.

As undead, stretchers are immune to poison and mind-affecting spells such as sleep and charm person. They can be turned as ghouls.

 

 

Idalium Game 114: Strange Brew

Session date: Monday, August 5, 2019
Game date: Saturday August 27, 211

PCs:
Gulleck Stonefoot, Dwarf 7, hp 41, xp 73405/140000
Caryatid, Magic-user 5, hp 24, xp 22935/40000
Simon Sackwell, Halfling 4, hp 15, xp 11830/16000
Adrien, Fighter 4, hp 16, xp 11906/16000
Orehoe Hüfflestüff, Elf 1, hp 3, xp 1377/4000

Retainers:
Manley "Meat" Smythe, Fighter 5, hp 17, xp 17930/32000
Father Chase Pike, Cleric 3, hp 13, xp 5608/6000
Orin, Elf 1, hp 4, xp 2353/4000
Ms. Vanjie, Thief 1, hp 1, xp 27/1200
Fritzenbürg, Cleric 1, hp 1, xp 96/1500

We had a large party this time of five players and their retainers, so Gulleck bought another canoe and paid to have it awkwardly lowered down into the ruins of Idalium. On their way through the Temple of Hedonism, a random encounter had them running into a group of five hedonists on their way to an orgy. Another random encounter put 10 skeletons in the temple itself. The hedonists (who are in fact acolytes) turned the skeletons using their "holy symbols", of which the less said the better!

The party paid a visit to the Judge, who was sad that they didn't bring him any tasty gemstones to eat. Then they retrieved their other canoe and rowed across the underground lake to the beach. They had previously noted that an iron rod was driven into the ground near the shore, and a rope tied to it led out into the lake. Pulling the rope taunt they could feel that it was secured on the other end. So they followed the rope in their canoes into the center of the lake, where they found an island. A rowboat was pulled up onto the shore near a similar iron pole where the other end of the rope was tied. A small house or cottage stood in the center of the island, and oddly colored smoke curled from the chimney. Strange stone rubble was strewn across the beach that looked oddly like fragments of granite statues, a forearm here, a booted foot there. Gulleck looked at the rubble with some misgivings.

Simon used his amulet of ESP and sensed the presence of an intelligent mind within the house. Caryatid took off her invisibility and approached the house. Next to the front door a sign on a low post read, "Potions, elixirs, and concoctions sold and traded. Those who are serious about doing business, enter. Those of ill will and time wasters will not be tolerated." Caryatid knocked on the door, and Gulleck joined her.

The door was opened by a strange figure that they realized they had met before. She wore a frayed black dress and a nearly opaque black veil hanging from a wide brimmed hat, such that her face was completely obscured. She greeted them in a businesslike fashion, and after ascertaining that they were here to possibly buy some potions, she invited them in to the cottage.

The room inside was quite spartan. The veiled woman introduced herself as Atropos, and invited them to sit at a small circular table. A cauldron at the other end of the room bubbled away, and a "fume hood" above it whisked the strange vapors away up the chimney. Two very strange creatures were curled up near her feet. They looked like large dogs, but seemed to be made of living stone. Each was gnawing on a piece of granite, presumably from the shattered statues outside.

Atropos showed them many different potions that could be theirs: potions of invisibility, healing, diminution and growth, and even deadly poison. While they were dithering on what to buy, and remembering the sign's admonition against time wasters, Atropos was making small talk and casually mentioned that her sister was the Queen of Nightmares. Caryatid and Gulleck replied neutrally to this, not mentioning that they had only just recently killed the Queen of Nightmares. In the end, they bought two potions of healing so as not to annoy Atropos.

After paddling back across the lake, they took a side passage that sloped upwards and worked their way through natural caverns until they found themselves at the entrance to the Goblin King's palace. The guard room was empty, and the last entry in the guest book was for "Rugger's Raiders". Caryatid wrote "Appointment Canceled!" next to this entry. Then they retraced their steps and returned to the beach. They briefly explored the fungus-engulfed caves again. They found four giant striped beetles in one cavern, but Caryatid and Simon dealt with them quickly with a web spell and Simon's animal control ring. They started to proceed deeper into the caves, but Caryatid got a strong whiff of large animals and they decided it was too late in the evening to deal with that right now. Noting it for later, they paddled back across the lake and returned home.