Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Cryptid Wednesday: Cynocephali

It's Wednesday again. This is an ancient cryptid, with roots going back as long as any monster, in legend living in Central Asia and reflected in Greek, Indian and Chinese stories.


Cynocephali (Dog-Men)

Hit Dice: 1+1
Armor Class: 7 [12]
Attacks: Bite (1d6) or by weapon
Saving Throw: 17
Special: Furious attack
Move: 12
Alignment: Chaotic
Challenge Level/XP: 1/15

Cynocephali are primitive, dog-headed relatives of humans. They are not considered humanoids or lycanthropes, and have canine heads but completely human bodies, including their hands and feet. These dog-headed men live in tribes like packs, and speak their own language which includes a series of barks and growls, and is difficult for humans to speak. They are inherently chaotic and live in a winner-take-all society.

The leader of a cynocephali tribe has 3 HD and has 1d4 2 HD bodyguards. Generally, cynocephali will fight with weapons but prefer combat that is close up enough to bare their teeth. When attacking with their powerful bites, these dog-men attack at +2 due to their savage fury.

4 comments:

  1. I like it! I may have to make use of this in my own game

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  2. "They are inherently chaotic and live in a winner-take-all society."

    I immediately thought of Vargr.

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  3. One of the wonderful things about the Cynocephali is that when European monks got to northern India, they asked the locals about them. The locals essentially said, 'Oh, yeah, we've heard of them. We thought they lived closer to you...'

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  4. A wonderful historical thing about the Cynocephali:

    Some European monks, on their way to northern India and China, looked around for the Dogheads, but didn't find any. When they got to India, they asked the locals about them, and got this answer:

    'Oh, yeah, those guys. We've heard about them. We thought they lived closer to you...'

    ReplyDelete

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