Vampire Bat & Were-Vampire Bat (New Monster)

These are two new monsters for Holmes Basic, the first of which is featured in Area 6 of The Forgotten Smugglers' Cave adventure (which is indexed here), and originally appeared as part of my list of One Hit Point Monsters.

Illustration by Lore Suto

Vampire Bat

Move: 180 feet/turn flying
Hit Dice: 1/8 (1 hit point)
Armor Class: 3 (9 while attached)
Treasure Type: nil

Alignment: neutral

Attacks: 1 bite

Damage: 1 point

A native of subtropical climes, the vampire bat has of late begun appearing in certain temperate coastal towns, apparently escaping from traders importing them for clients unknown. Roosting in colonies of up to 50 individuals, often in the warmer caves of the near underworld, they venture out in smaller groups (2d6 bats) to feed on livestock, other mammals, or even humans. 

When suitable prey is located, the bats will silently swoop down and attack from behind (surprise on 1-5 in 6, attack at +4). A hit inflicts a point of damage and allows a bat to attach and, unless stopped, automatically drain another point for each of the next two rounds (thus, three points total), before detaching and flying away. Attacks on an attached bat are against armor class 9, but a miss with a weapon will automatically hit the victim for a point of damage. Unattached bats will continue attacking in an attempt to distract the prey from disturbing attached bats.

For each round of attachment, there is a 1% chance that a bat will transmit a rare form of lycanthropy, causing the victim to become a were-vampire bat (see below) in 2d12 days.

Established colonies produce a layer of pinkish guano across the floor of their cavern, which which produces an acrid smell that can be detected from a distance, and is prized as a fertilizer (20 gp per bucket). Due to the strength of the odor and slippery consistency, any melee in such areas is conducted at a -4 to hit, with a natural 1 indicating a slip and fall.

The bats sleep soundly in the lair during the day, but any activity in the lair has a 1 in 6 chance per character (e.g., 2 in 6 chance for 2 characters) of waking the bats. Once disturbed, all of the bats of the colony will join in on a frenzied attack on the intruders.

It is rumored that larger forms of the vampire bat exist in the tropics.

Were-Vampire Bat

Move: 120 feet/turn flying (giant bat form) or 60 feet/turn flying or 120 feet/turn walking (man-bat form)
Hit Dice: 2 + 2
Armor Class: 3 (giant bat form) or 5 (man-bat)
Treasure Type: C

Alignment: neutral/lawful evil

Attacks: 1 bite (giant bat form) or 1 bite and 2 claws (man-bat form)

Damage: 1d3 (giant bat form) or 1d6/1d3/1d3 (man-bat form)

The unfortunate victims of the vampire bat may, on occasion, be inflicted with a rare form of lycanthropy, eventually transforming into a were-vampire bat. Like the were-rat, the were-vampire bat may take three different forms: human, giant bat, or horrible hybrid man-bat. As with other lycanthropes, it is immune to normal weapons in the latter two forms. In man-bat form, it is less agile but stronger of limb, and able to attack with claws in addition to biting.

If possible, the were-bat will roost and hunt together with a colony of ordinary vampire bats, favoring old buildings that allow egress in either bat or human form. It can summon these bats to its aid at will, and will hunt together with a group of them in giant bat form.

Were-shark ("New" Monster)

An unholy symbol depicting a were-shark; illustration by Lore Suto

A "new" monster for Holmes Basic, which is featured in Area #10 of The Forgotten Smugglers' Cave adventure.

The were-shark is one of the few monsters that was introduced into D&D by J. Eric Holmes, and certainly his most iconic monster contribution. He mentioned them in the entry for Lycanthropes in the Holmes Basic rulebook, and they featured prominently in his novel The Maze of Peril, in scenes based on actual game sessions from his early years running D&D for his sons. 

Holmes never provided us with a formal write-up of this beast, so here finally is a version for use with Holmes Basic & OD&D. Note that I've used the hyphenated spelling ("were-shark") in line with the way it appears in the Holmes Basic rulebook and The Maze of Peril.

Were-shark

Move: 60 feet/turn walking, 150 feet/turn swimming
Hit Dice: 4
Armor Class: 5
Treasure Type: C

Alignment: neutral/chaotic evil

Attacks: 1 bite and 1 tail slap
Damage: 2d6/1d6

An old coastal legend tells of a primordial sea deity who, angered by the increasing intrusion of land-dwellers into its domain, sent forth a lycanthropic curse to punish these interlopers. It begins with a grievous shark bite that, if survived, leads to something even more horrible. At night, the victim will find themselves yearning to swim, an urge that will grow until the light of the full moon striking the sea draws them inexorably into the water to complete the cycle by transforming into an enormous shark, hunting for food and further victims. Perhaps most disturbingly, they can also assume an unnatural hybrid form having the body of a shark joined with muscular human arms and legs, rendering neither watercraft nor beach a safe haven from their depredations. The sight of this hybrid emerging from the water may paralyze even the stoutest of souls (make a saving throw against turn to stone or be unable to take any action; may try again each round).

 

While a strong-willed were-shark may regain some measure of control while the moon is waning, as time goes on they typically spend more and more nights in the sea, and trend chaotic and evil as their affinity for their deital creator strengthens. Their presence in the water will attract other sharks to the vicinity, and the smaller ones can be summoned when in need.

Sharks (1d6): MV 240 feet/turn swimming, HD 1d3, AC 6, AT 1 bite for 1d6.

Eventually a were-shark will abandon civilization for a lair on a deserted island or hidden sea cave, occasionally shared with others of their kin, where they will sleep in human form during the day among a hoard of items plundered from anglers and sailors. Some become guardians for other followers of the deity, although their tendency to attack allies as well as foes renders them somewhat unreliable. 

In shark or hybrid form, their primary means of melee attack is a ferocious bite, but in hybrid form they can also slap a second opponent with their tail, which in addition to inflicting damage may stun the target (drop anything held on 1-2 in 6). As with other lycanthropes, a were-shark in animal or hybrid form is immune to normal weapons, but is subject to silver or magic. Sages caution that land-based plants such as wolvesbane may be ineffective against a were-shark. Whether there exists a seaweed or coral that can be substituted remains to be determined.

Chris' original illustration of the Wereshark from A&E #13, July 1976

See Also:

---Chris Holmes on the Origin of the Wereshark

---The Holmes Manuscript Part 28: "Thus We Find Were-Sharks in Polynesia"

---All of the posts tagged WERESHARK in the Holmes Basic G+ Community Archive

Chris Holmes' inscription in a copy of Tales of Peril:

Chris Holmes on the Origins of the Wereshark

Chris' original illustration of the Wereshark from A&E #13, July 1976

On his website, Chris Holmes has a new article about the origins of the Wereshark. He said I could repost it here, but I'd rather have you check out his website. It's accompanied by a contemporary picture by Chris, different than the one shown above:
 

WereSharks Created by Dr. Holmes

Instead I'll share some supporting information:

-"Were-shark" is J. Eric Holmes' second Alarums & Excursions article, and ran in issue #13, July 1976, with Chris listed as a co-author. It's an early version of Chapter 2 of the Maze of Peril.

-There are no stats in the article, which is written as a campaign story, but they are compared to were-tigers ("If there are were-tigers and sharks are tigers of the sea..."), implying similar strength (5 HD in OD&D).

Update: After writing this I remembered that in the story a M-U puts 4 of 5 were-sharks in a group to sleep with a Sleep spell, meaning they must have a HD of 4 or less. The 1975 Warlock version of Sleep affects "one 6-sided die of 3rd or 4th level types". This differs from the OD&D Vol 1 version which affects 1d6 of 3 HD but only 1 of 4 HD.

-Gygax sent in letters published in A&E # 2, 8 and 15, and the last letter references issue #14, so it's likely he also read issue #13 with Holmes' article.

-Holmes next mentioned the were-shark in one sentence in the Basic manuscript: "Thus we find were-wolves in Europe, were-tigers in India, were-leopards in Africa and were-sharks in Polynesia". Per Gygax, "I reviewed Eric's manuscript" and "I was in charge of the manuscript when it was turned over", which means he would have encountered the idea of the were-shark here even if he didn't see them in the A&E story. Gygax left the sentence referring to the were-sharks unchanged in the published Basic rulebook, which is where most of us encountered and wondered about it. Update: I meant to also mention that the were-shark is also significant because it is the first non-mammalian lycanthrope in D&D.

-The Monster Manual then mentions, "There are some other forms of lycanthropes, but these are very rare in the extreme". This comes after Holmes mentioned the possibility of were-leopards and were-sharks. Eventually in 1983 the Monster Manual II would include a few more of these, including Gygax's take on the were-shark.

-Holmes' were-sharks surfaced again in the Maze of Peril (1986), where we learn more about them and the Dagonites they associate with. One detail from Maze of Peril that I liked is that the Dagonites clad the hulls of their outriggers with silver to "ward off the were-sharks", suggesting an uneasy alliance.

See also: Part 28: "Thus We Find Were-Sharks in Polynesia"

Updates: 

See all of the posts tagged WERESHARK in the Holmes Basic G+ Community Archive.

I wrote-up a version of the Were-Shark for inclusion in the Forgotten Smugglers' Cave adventure.