Bat (giant)
| Species | bat |
| No. Appearing | 4–40 |
| Behaviour | colony |
| Range | barrens, desert, jungle, rainforest, savanna, taiga, woodland |
| Size | 9 ft. wing span |
| Weight | 12 lbs. |
| Intelligence | 0 |
| Armour Class | 3 |
| Hit Dice | 2 |
| Action Points | 4 |
| Max. Stride | {{{stride}}} |
| THAC0 | 20 |
| Hp/Die | d3 |
| Attack Forms | bite |
| Damage | 1–4 |
| Special Attacks | clutch, initiative |
These are aggressive, viperous creatures of unnatural size, with forearms supporting a large wingspan. When in flight, these creatures drift slowly through the air; they do not have the nimbleness of their smaller cousins. They attack by tucking their wings tight to their bodies, dropping from heights of 50 to 100 feet. This gives them a +3 initiative when attacking enemies on the ground.
A giant bat hitting an enemy on the ground with a natural 18 or better will cause only a little damage. But it will clutch the victim's body, hooking its claws into clothing or leather. It will then attack again and again, batting its wings against attempts to get free of the creature. The creature must be stunned to drive it off, whereupon the bat will withdraw its claws and roll on the ground, taking flight thereafter and abandoning the victim.
Attacking a bat while being "clutched" gives a -2 to hit penalty to the defender. Others may attack the bat with weapons, all attack rolls of 2, 3 or 4 counts as damage done to the bat's victim. While clutching, the bat receives a +3 to hit on further attacks it makes. If the bat is stunned, it will cease to clutch and drop dazed to the ground. Up to eight bats can clutch a single medium-sized opponent.
The bat's armour class accounts for the difficulty in hitting these creatures while in the air; this difficulty is also applied because of a clutching bat flapping its wings and the defender wishing to not seriously hurt themselves.
See Also,
Bestiary
Illumination
