Warhammer Quest

The Formor Bestiary

By Jo Vernelen - 8 Nov 1996

Where formors lurk...

The entire population in the Old World had been quite surprised by the coming of the formors. The enormous power and toughness of the creatures, combined with the gigantic amounts of Magic (and warpstone) used by them caught the interest of most mortals. Even the emperor himself visited the scenes where the formors had been killed, and immediatly erected a new body whose sole objective was to prevent further multiplication of the formors. The new council, named the Council of Octavius, had representatives of humans, elves and dwarfs. The council worked day and night, reviewing the tactics used by the formors, and trying to find their weak spots. However the results of the meetings were always the same: They didn't hav e the necessary information to design tactics or equipment that could stop the formors once and for all. After a few months a strange man opened the door of the conference hall where the council of Octavius was in session. He introduced himself as Weiland the Smith, and said that the best way to kill the formors was during their hibernation. The formors would lay completely silent in their colony and would be totally defenseless against even small hunting parties of no more than 4 men. The only problem to his solution was that it wouldn't be easy to spot a formor colony when the formors would be hibernating. And even with those small hunting parties it would be impossible to search each cave in the entire Old World for formors, there was simply no way to start.

The only way to locate the other formors is to use the warpstone that is the heart of all of the formors, and investigate it over and over and over again. Maybe then it would be possible to locate the other formor colonies. In order to get to the formor hearts Karl Franz sent a small group of scientist into a former formor colony in search for the hearts. Of course the scientist were accompanied by a small regiment of warriors, yet none of them was ever seen again. Maybe they got lost, maybe they got attacked by other formors or Skaven looking for warpstone, nobody knows. But there hasn't been another scientist that was willing to enter the caves... Although Weiland the Smith strongly disaggreed Karl Franz sealed off the colony entrance, and burried everything that was inside. Weiland knew then that the empire still underestimated the power of the formors, and started leading small parties on his own, in search for formor colonies.

The hunting parties

The small hunting parties of Weiland the Smith always consisted of the following men:

One dwarf, capable of searching every rock inside a cave, and possessing enough muscle to beat any intruders that stop him for getting through. However, as the search for formor colonies is officially over, he has to hire the dwarfs himself, and that might turn out pretty expensive. One barabarian, as stupid and ignorant as a mule's ass, but capable of hitting a bit harder than a horse's hooves, thus being quite a help in case of unknown monstrocities. One wizard. Although he is probably the most powerfull of all all sorcerers on the face of the planet, Weiland allways takes a wizard with him, either for distracting the formors, or for healing the warriors in case he has something better to do. One elf. Weiland never gave a good reason why to use an elf. It's suppose d he likes them, why nobody knows.

Before sending them into battle, Weiland always initiated them into the many secrets the formor keep. Most of these secrets have never been revealed, yet some of the warriors that returned spoke about strange plants inside the dark colony caves, that appeared nowhere else on the planet

The inside of the colonies

Indeed, there are some plants and animals that are uniquely found in formor colonies. Weiland believes that it is the combination of the warm and moisty rooms, the warpstone and the pure magic the formors are breathing. He didn't think they were `designed' by a formor queen because they were far too primitive. Yet s ome of them were powerful enought to kill with a single touch.

Note: next to the plant/animal name is an idication of the gold-value that Weiland will give to the warriors if they return with one of these things.

Ash Clams 10g

These strange plants/animals are often found near the entrance of a formor colony. The clams dwell underneath the covering of rocks and dirt and are extremely sensitive to vibrations. If somebody comes too close to a clam, it will awake and try to grab the prey. Yet a man (and a dwarf as well) is far too big to get consumed by the clam. However, if somebody gets attacks by an ash clam, the clam will close and trap the victim's ankle, making it impossible to get free. The victim can try to get his ankle out of there if he succeeds a strength test. While the victims is trapped, he can't search rooms, he won't even move at all. The only way a victim can attack is when another monster attacks him, and in that case the attacking monster is at +1 to hit, and the warrior is at -1 to hit. The model will not be able to escape pinning either, and skills like Evade can not be used. If the victim has the tunnel-fighter skill (or something that looks like it) he can ignore the -1 to hit because he knows how to act when his movement is extremely limited. Once the victim gets out of the clam, roll 1D6. If the roll is a 1 or a 2 then the victim's ankle has suffered some damage, and he won't be able to use his normal walking distance. The victim is at -1 to move until the end of the adventure. It's best to nominate some of the rooms in the dungeon as clam-rich. If a warrior rolls a 1 during his movement phase, he gets caught by a clam. Of course a potion of flight or anything like that will nullify all the effects caused by the clams, as the warrior is supposed to look where he's putting his feet. As ash clams usually hide in ash, the only thing as a GM to do is to state that there is a lot of rubble or ash on the ground.

Gas Fungus 5g

These extraordinary plants can be found in the lowest levels of the formors' colonies. They feed on the moisty soils filled with tiny sparks of warpstone. This gives them some strange characteristics, because they have a druglike effect on non-formors dwelling the cave systems. If a warrior walks through a room where there is a substantial amount of Gas Fungus, there is a chance that the plants might change his way of thinking. The gasses extracted by the plant stimulate certain parts of the brain that affect the way the person hears, sees, thinks and does. Roll 1D6 for each turn the warrior is inside a certain room, 2D6 if he's standing next to the plant. As soon as this total is over 15 (this can be adapted according to the amount of fungi, the size of the room etc) the warrior might have been affected by the hallucigen gas. Roll 1D6, if this result is lower than the model's thoughness he passed the test, otherwise...

Roll 1D6 on the following table:

1-2	They're crawling all over me The warrior is convinced that he is covered with rats, spiders, bats and other dungeon critters. He can do nothing else this turn but try to beat them off. No monster will get the idea of attacking a warrior that's acting like this. Even barbarians that go bezerk look like half-dead compared to the warrior.
3	Over there The warrior thinks that the enemy is standing next to him. He immediatly starts attacking with the weapon he's holding in his hand. He'll attack every other warrior standing next to him (he'll attack as many warriors a s possible), but with a -1 to hit because he's in total panic.
4	Run for it The warrior will try to leave the room as soon as he can. If he is fighting at that time, he must try to escape pinning (and use everything he has to increase the possibility to escape pinning).
5	Traitors The warrior thinks that one of his companions is fighting for `the other side'. He'll attack that warrior (determine randomly, but if the party leader has not been selected the first time, determine again. The next result is valid, no matter which warrior comes up.)
6	knocked out The effect of the gas on the warrior is so great that he passes out. The warrior will remain passed out for 1D3 turns, as if he was using the play dead skill. However he can't use potions or the like.

As soon as the warriors enter a room it should be possible for one of them to detect the fungi. If one of the warriors has been affected by the fungi before, he'll notice it from the moment he steps into the room, and he'll know where they are as well. Otherwise the warriors have to go from stone to stone. If a warrior is standing on a stone that has fungi on top or underneeth, he'll notice it automatically as well. Don't be afraid to put the fungi underneeth a barrel or a rock, it would make the game a lot more fun.

There is no need to represent the gas fungi. They are too small.

Brain Leaf 30g

As with the gas fungus, the brain leaf has the ability to affect the warrior's mind. If a warrior is standing next to a brain leaf plant the plant will attack him by putting a small leaf on the warrior's skin. Roll 1D6. If the roll is higher than the warrior's armour characteristic the leaf has been put on the warrior. A roll of 6 is allways succesful, a roll of 1 is never succesful. If the leaf is put on the warrior, he'll have to make a succesful leadership test to get the leaf off his body. If he doesn't succeed the plant will take over the warrior. From now one the warrior will be under the control of the gamesmaster. The only way to get the warrior to act normal again is to either kill the plant, or to get the leaf off the warrior's body. Of course the plant will order the warrior to protect the leaf.

wounds	30
move	-
Weapon skill	-
Ballistic skill	-
Strength	-
Toughness	4
initiative	2
attacks	1
gold	30
armour	-
damage	special

You can use whatever you want to represent the plant. In a Necromunda game I used an onion. Maybe it was a stupid sight, but that blody onion dominated an entire section of the battleground. Makes you think twice when you're cooking, doesn't it.

Sludge jellies

These odd creatures live in the small moisty pools inside the dungeons. If a warrior is standing next to a pool containing a jelly, he'll be attacked by this strange creature, and consumed if he looses. The jelly itself has a tentacle with a small needle at the end. If this tentacle touches a warrior, it will sting the warrior and paralysing it during the process. Once a warrior has been stung by jelly, he must see whether he'll go unconscious or not. Roll 1D6, if the value is above the warrior's toughness, he'll pas s outand drop to the floor. From then on the jelly will try pulling the warrior closer to the pool. During each monster phase after the attack, roll 1D6 (2D6 if the warrior is an elf or a wizard, because they aren't that heavy as a mighty barabarian or a weighty armour clad dwarf: off course a naked dwarf isn't heavy eather, so GM's, haven some fun wi th this one). If the total is over 10 the warrior drops into the pool ... AND DIES. While the jelly is pulling the other warriors are at +2 to hit.

Wounds	7
move	-
Weapon skill	3
Ballistic skill	-
Strength	1
Toughness	2
initiative	2
attacks	1
gold	60
armour	-
damage	special

As sludge jellies hide in pools, you can make your own tiny pool. I made a couple by using putty, and painting the inside putrid green. Looks neat, noone will get near that one !!!

Face-eaters 20g/350g

These creatures reside in small dark holes in the ceiling of the formor lairs. If a warrior is standing next or underneeth a face-eater, it will jump down from the ceiling and try to hit the warrior. If the hit is successful (use the face-eater's ballistic skill), the face- eater will remain on the warrior's head untill it is being pulled off, or the warrior dies. In the latter case the face-eater will have eaten enough face for the day, and will jump back into the ceiling, where it will be impossible for the warriors to find it. If the warrior is wearing an open helmet, the face-eater is at -1 to hit, if he is wearing a closed helmet the face-eater is at -3 to hit. Note that a roll of 6 is allways succesful, because the strong digestive enzymes will pour through the holes in the helmet. Armour is useless against face-eaters. If the warrior tries to pull the face-eater off his face, roll 1D6, and add this to the warrior's strength. If the score is 10 or more, the warrior will have removed the face- eater from his head, and caused so much damage to the face-eater that it dies. The warrior will also take a (2*face-eater strength)-hit, because of the damage caused while getting the thing off his head. If the roll is a 1 however, the face-eater has not been pulled off at all !!! If another warrior decides to help his companion, add this warrior's strength to the total determined above. If the face-eater has not been pulled off this warrior will suffer a hit equal to the strength off the face-eater -1, because of the digestive fluids that are being spilled all over the model's hands. Note that, if the first warrior rolls a 1, the second warrior won't be able to avoid the enzymes either. The warriors can't detect a face-eater when it's hanging on the ceiling , because it has been very well camouflaged. In fact, future research will reveal that the face-eaters are part of the ceiling that becomes alive when exposed too formor-like influences. If the face-eater misses the warrior, put it next to the warrior. It will spring again during the next monster phase to the closest warrior it can see (up to the face-eater's movement that is).

	Face-eater	Big face-eater
Wounds	7	15
Move	6	6
Weapon skill	-	-
Ballistic skill	5+	3+
Strength	2	4
Toughness	2	4
initiative	2	4
attacks	1	2
gold	20	350
armour	-	-
damage	1D6	2D6

The face-eaters can't be spotted for as long as they haven't attacked. Once tey attack, they can be represented by a small (or larger) amount of plasticine.

Lashworms

These worms are really hard to find, and impossible to kill. This is because they are faster than lightning, and hide in the hundreds of tiny cracks in the dungeon walls. If a warrior is standing next to a dungeon wall with lashworms hiding in it, the worms will make a special lash attack, as the worm whips out its tail and slashing a piece of flesh off its victim. The attack automatically hits at strenght 2. Once the worm has made its attack, the tail will curl up and move back inside the tiny crack, where the worm will spend the following hours digesting the meat it just got. There is no need to represent the lashworms (or you should have a very fast party).

Rubber moss 5g per 1x1m patch

Rubber moss isn't really a danger to the average warrior, as much as it i s a nuisance. When walking on rubber moss the warrior can't move more than half his normal movement. If he decides to move faster, he will bounce off in a pretty random direction, at his normal movement distance. This can be pretty fun at first, but as soon as the moss is growing near chasms and such (as it normally does), most dungeon- dwellers decide to walk rather slowly. Goblins sometimes fancy a ride on rubber moss, especially fanatics. It's even said to be a game of some sort in the goblin societies that have made contact with this strange plant. What you can do to determine a random direction is to give each tile next to the warrior a number, and roll 1D8 (if you have those dice with you, otherwise there are easy tricks to get 1D8). The warrior moves in the direction given. If he hits a wall, feel free to make it hurt. This plant can be used in cobination with the gas fungus. They have to get there fast, but the only thing they can't do is go fast !!! You don't have to tell them the moss is there. If they investigate the floor they'll notice, if they don't they'll fly.

Wire weed and Spine Crystals 15g

As with the rubber moss, these are plants (or minerals in the case of Spine Crystals) then count as difficult terrain. This means that a warrior getting through it must be extremely careful. A warrior walking through this mess only has 1 movement left (unless he is using a potion of flight or something else the GM might approve of). If he decides to go faster roll 1D6 per extra movement. If any of the dice come up as 3 or less, the warrior will suffer a hit with strength equal to the current battle level, and a half as many attack dice, rounding fractions up (what else did you expect).

You could use the small rectangular shaped thingy that they put in blister packs.

Enjoy, Teppe