Making Monsters: Cinco de Mayo Edition
I’m still pushing ahead with my monster-related #secretproject, despite several delays. In honor of the day, here’s a creature from Aztec folklore.
For first-time readers, this post is part of a series in which I am trying to develop a system-agnostic format for describing monsters, relying on your suggestions and feedback to get it just right before I launch this particular #secretproject formally. The Comments section is at the bottom of the page, so let me know what you think.
The Ahuizotl
The Ahuizotl is a medium-sized predator, about the size of a dog and combining the physical appearance of a dog and a monkey. It has black fur and four limbs ending in dextrous hands and a long, flexible tail ending in a fifth hand.
It lives in rivers and watery caves, hiding beneath the water and using its prehensile tail to grab victims and drag them to their deaths. Sometimes it will mimic the crying of a lost child to lure victims close enough to be grappled.
It eats the corpses of its victims, especially relishing the digits, the teeth, and the eyes. If prey is plentiful it will leave the rest of its victims uneaten. An Ahuiztol lair is usually an underwater cave, strewn with bones and uneaten corpses.
The name ahuizotl translates from the Aztec Nahuatl language as “spiny aquatic thing.” Although reports of the creature do not normally mention spines, optional rules for spines have been added under “Special Abilities” below.
RANGE
Image by Jean Vervelle, borrowed from his ArtStation page (https://www.artstation.com/doctorchevlong).
Real World: Mexico
Fantasy World: Tropical rivers. Lone or pack (2d4).
TYPE: Animal
SIZE: Medium (4ft/1.25m long)
MOVEMENT
Run: 50 feet (15m) per round
Swim: 30 feet (10m) per round
ATTRIBUTES
Strength: Animal, medium (e.g. wolf)
Dexterity/Agility: Animal, medium, dextrous (e.g. monkey)
Constitution: Animal, medium (e.g. wolf)
Intelligence: Animal, intelligent (e.g. wolf)
Willpower: Animal, intelligent (e.g. wolf)
Hit Points/Health: Animal, medium (e.g. wolf)
Armor/Defense: Fur + Agility (e.g. wolf)
ATTACKS
Bite: Animal, small to medium (e.g. medium dog, wolf)
Grapple: High skill (65%)
Stealth: Moderate skill (35%), underwater only
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Aquatic: The Ahuizotl is fully aquatic and capable of breathing underwater.
Spines (Optional): Sharp spines, up to 1 foot/30 cm long, erupt from the creature’s vertebrae. They confer a slight armor advantage against attacks from that direction. Any character trying to grapple the creature must make an appropriate skill or attribute test (wrestling, dexterity/agility, or similar) each round: failure means the character suffers damage as from a successful dagger or short sword attack.
Links
If you would like to know more, here are a few links. Any search engine will find many more.
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Graeme Davis 
This seems like the sort of monster that could do with some extra description to make it more useable (and interesting) for those of us unfamiliar with it. The Jersey Devil and Chupacabra descriptions both told us a fair amount about the stories told about them – something this lacks.
Extra details, stories told about and/or real life reports of the beast give it life.
Very Cool! I am adding a pack of these to my next session for the players to encounter.
Thanks!