Blackmoor Week - Northern Minotaur Lizard

 

Northern Minotaur Lizard

Hit Dice: 9d8 (36)
Armor Class: 2[17]
Attacks: 2 claws (1d8), bite (2d6)
Saving Throw: 6
Morale: 11
Special: Snow hunter, cold-bred, rend, drag prey
Move: 12
Alignment: Chaos
Number Encountered: 1d3
% in Lair: 60
Challenge Level/XP: 11/2,400

Traits 

Snow Hunter: In snow, sleet, icy terrain, or against similarly pale surroundings, a Northern Minotaur Lizard surprises opponents on 1–3 on 1d6.

Cold-Bred: Northern Minotaur Lizards are immune to ordinary natural cold and take only half damage from magical cold. Fire attacks inflict +1 point of damage per die.

Rend: If both claw attacks hit the same opponent in one round, the lizard inflicts an additional 2d6 damage.

Drag Prey: Whenever the lizard successfully rends a man-sized or smaller opponent, it may immediately drag that victim up to 20 feet without sacrificing its next action.

Notes 

• Native to the Skandaharian and often found either kept by particularly strong warlords or being one of several threats populating the Egg of Coot's dungeons is the Northern Minotaur Lizard, what is said to be a large and fiercer off-shoot of the equally hostile southern Minotaur Lizard, also known plainly as a 'Minotaur Lizard.'
• Due to its tough scales and tundra coloring, a Northern Minotaur Lizard is capable of ambushing its prey in the Skandaharian norther along with the cold fens and hills of the Egg's northern reches. The lizards like to snatch and drag off what it can, but particularly smaller prey, such as halflings or gnomes first.
• Northern Minotaur Lizard's horns are a solid spell component for adventurers looking into cold spell researchers. Because of the lizard's association with the wastes and the Egg of Coot, the bailiff of Coot's Watch often pays a fair bounty for authentic Northern Minotaur Lizard horns.