All page references are to The Fantasy Trip In the Labyrinth rulebook, unless noted otherwise.
A collection of my own musings, not to be taken too seriously. -HJC
The Cave Hexapus resembles the common octopus, except that it is goblin sized, six armed, and apparently unrelated.
A typical specimen would be ST 12, DX 12, IQ 8, MA 3 on ceilings and walls, 6 on the ground, and 12 underwater.
Attacks and Damage: Arm throw, bite (1d6-2, plus poison)
Special Ability: All hexes are front hexes, -2 to be hit and takes 2 less hits from physical attacks.
While they never use weapons their combat abilities are equivalent to a human with Unarmed Combat III (ITL, p. 42), without the punches and kicks. Instead they use their arms to trip then enter HTH when their meals to be fail the 4/DX saving throw to retain their footing. On the first turn of HTH the Hexapus will attempt to pin the target (with the two die advantage of Unarmed Combat III as per ITL, p. 117) Once their target is pinned the hexapus will attempt to bite, and every turn after that it will bite again, with the target's armor and even magical protections offering one less hit of protection per turn as the hexapus finds weak spots.
Targets who take damage from a hexapus bite also suffer a point of fatigue loss from the poison and must make a three die save against their remaining ST or be paralyzed as per the Freeze spell (ITL, p. 24) for a number of turns equal to the amount they failed the roll. (Minutes instead on a roll of 17, and hours for a roll of 18.)
The hexapus can be found in dark fresh waters (they suffer -2 DX in full sunlight), but are more commonly encountered by humans while hiding on the ceiling of damp caves. In either case the hexapus will use its octopus-like abilities to blend in to its surroundings. This disguise is so effective that it takes a 6/IQ roll to spot them. (Subtract one die for each hex the hexapus moved this turn, and for each of Alertness, Naturalist, Woodsman, Expert Naturalist, and specifically looking (at say the ceiling).)
If it thinks it has remained hidden the hexapus will pick its target from a group, avoiding torches (they're not fooled by light spells), and seeking out those who are lightly armored and best of all isolated from the rest of their group. If the hexapus manages to pin the target in the first turn then it will muffle the target and the sounds of their struggle will only be heard as if walking (ITL, p. 73)
The mind of the hexapus is very alien to humanoids and so they roll one less die against IQ to spot things, disbelieve illusions, and resist Control Animal, Telepathy, and other spells. Their strange thoughts also seem to confuse and repel slimes and no slime has ever been spotted within 200 yards of a living hexapus. The hexapus uses no language and hence its memory will be entirely sensory, without narrative, just strange emotions.
The Fantasy Trip(t.m.) is a trademark of Steve Jackson Games, and their rules and art are copyrighted by Steve Jackson Games. All rights are reserved by Steve Jackson Games.
This game aid is the original creation of Henry J. Cobb and is released for free distribution, and not for resale, under the permissions granted in the Steve Jackson Games Online Policy.