Gorgon

Gorgon

Species	beast
No. Appearing	1–4
Behaviour	solitary
Range	barrens, Taiga (range), Tartarus
Size	10 ft. at shoulder
Weight	9,025 lbs.
Intelligence	2
Armour Class	2
Hit Dice	8
Action Points	6
Max. Stride	20
THAC0	16
Hp/Die	d4+2d6
Attack Forms	horn/horn
Damage	3–30/3–30
Special Attacks	breath weapon, charging, petrification, trampling

Gorgon is a name that has been intermingled with numerous creatures including medusae and winged creatures such as manticores and griffons. This is in part due to the use of the term by the Ancient Greeks, notably Hesiod, and goblinish scholars who identified the "gorgon" as an enormous hybrid of a Auroch bovine and a giant boar, with characteristics of both. It is this latter creature that this page describes; Greek legends of the gorgon are rightly applied to medusae. The Asian gorgon dwells upon the vast grasslands and northern forests of central Asia, and is very rarely seen west of the Ural Mountains.

The gorgon is a solitary beast upon the Prime Material, having broken free of the plane of Tartarus or deliberately set loose. Expectedly, finding itself at some random place upon the boundless expanse of the taiga or the plain, the beast will wander for months or even years in the wilderness. Once it finds a settlement, however, the beast will rampage, senselessly destroying all that it sees. This usually ends in a search for the beast and its destruction; the killing of gorgons has been cast as a central theme in many goblin and hobgoblin myths and depictions of heroes.

Advantages

Gorgons are able to move fast and will charge from up to 20 hexes away. When hitting with a charge, they are able to strike two opponents side by side, being able to cause double-damage with either their left or right horn. Their enormous size is formidable, so that they will trample following a charge for 3-12 additional damage, complimenting the incidental damage they cause.

The beast is also able to breathe an intensely noxious gas, which will emerge as a 20 ft. diameter cloud from both of the gorgon's nostrils. Those inside this cloud must make a saving throw against petrification or else be turned to stone. Those making save must turn and escape the cloud, and will be able to see their way — however, due to the hideous nature of the gas, they will be unable to move more quickly than stride-1 for three full rounds. Moreover, until they are free of the cloud, they can take no other action.

The gorgon has only a 1 in 4 chance of using this breath weapon per round. After employing its breath weapon, it will not roll to do so again until the third round thereafter. There is no limit upon how many times the gorgon can breathe this petrifying gas.

See Bestiary