Several experienced woodsmen and hunters have recently disappeared in a nearby forest.
Rumors say the woods are haunted. Still others contend is an ancient curse upon the land. One made it back to the in to warn others about the Lurker In Darkness. This nameless, faceless black mass lurks in the treetops until dusk before obtaining its meals.
For Dungeon Crawl Classics and other OSR games.
The Lurker in Darkness appears as a huge black cloud with writhing tentacles stretching out of its body in random intervals. This horrifying nightmare of a creature makes its home in the canopies or high branches of trees in densely forested areas. It shambles from one tree to the next in a somewhat bizarre combination of tentacles and snakelike locomotion.
The creature seemingly has no eyes or discernable face. It does possess bat-like sonar and uncanny awareness of its surroundings. Likewise no nose or mouth appears on the creature. It feeds by dragging its prey directly into its body with its tentacles. Whatever it doesn’t digest is released to the ground in a gory heap.
It has near perfect stealth in the dark and generally avoids bright light sources, heat, and loud noises. It prefers to hunt one or two targets at a time and usually waits until its prey are alone or away from the group. The creature is large enough to absorb two men or one horse in a given meal. It is usually dormant for 10-12 hours after feeding.
Init +3; Atk tentacle +4 ranged (1d6) and absorb (Special); AC 13; HD 4d8; MV Climb or treetop shamble 40’; Act 8d20; SP grasp 1d4, camouflage; SV Fort +2, Ref -2, Will +2; AL N
For each tentacle that strikes the same character, the Lurker receives 1d6 on an opposed Strength check to lift the character up. For example, if 6 tentacles
hit a character in a single round, the character takes 6d6 points of damage, and the Lurker rolls 6d4 on a Strength check against the character. If the Lurker wins the Strength check, the character is grappled and cannot attack unless
he spends the next round struggling and succeeds on an opposed Strength check. After 1d4 rounds, the creature is lifted to the Lurker and absorbed.
A Lurker in Darkness can only absorb once it has grappled a creature and won/held a Strength check for 1d4 rounds. After absorbed, the prey must make a DC 12 Fort Save each round or take 1d6 dissolving damage. The creature will expel its victim and rest for 10-12 hours after it has healed all damage, has drained half again as many hp as it began with, or the absorbed creature succeeds on 3 saving throws (total.)
Lurkers have unnatural camouflage that lets them change color and pattern to match treetops nearby. This grants them a +5 bonus to any attempt
to hide or move silently.
Jeff's Game Box 