PLEISTOCENE CREATURES

Axe beaks are prehistoric carnivorous flightless birds. They are very fast runners and aggressively hunt during daylight. An axe beak resembles an ostrich in its lower portions, with a strong neck and a heavy, sharp beak.

This creature is a prehistoric ancestor of the rhinoceros. It is a huge herbivorous mammal with a tendency to charge at anything nearby in order to trample it. If two are encountered they will be a mated pair, if three are encountered the third will be a young baluchitherium (roll percentile dice to determine size).

BEAVER, Giant

Neutral Man-sized Monster (animal, mammal) (6-ft, 280-lbs)

FREQUENCY: Very rare

NO. APPEARING: 10-40

SURPRISE: 33%

SENSES: night vision

ARMOR CLASS: 6

MOVE: 6" — swim 12"

HIT DICE: 4 (hp 18)

% IN LAIR: 80%

TREASURE TYPE: C

THAC0: 15

MELEE: bite (4d4)

SPECIAL ATTACKS: none - Hits As: normal

SPECIAL DEFENSES: none

MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard

INTELLIGENCE: Semi- (2-4) or Low to Average (4-10)

MORALE: +20%

SAVES: Poison 13, Petrify 14, Wand 15, Breath 16, Spell 16

LEVEL: III (XP 60 + 4 per hp)

These intelligent but docile creatures will flee any attack if at all possible, but if cornered, or if their huge lodge is threatened, they will fight fiercely. Their habitat is a lake created by their vast dam, and in the middle of the body of water thus created, they build a veritable castle of mud and logs with walls not less than 5-ft thick. The entire community lives in this single dwelling, and if an alarm (tail slap on the water) is sounded, all beavers rush to this place to defend it and their young. For every adult beaver there will be a young one (roll percentile dice for size determination). 

[In sylvan settings:] Giant beavers sometimes trade, and if coins or other valuables are offered they can sometimes be persuaded to undertake the building of dam-like constructions if there is water near the building site, for they use such water to work in/from. They prize highly certain barks and tender twigs, notably birch, aspen, and willow. Their hides are worth from 500 to 2,000 gold pieces each. Giant beaver kits of under 8 hit points can be subdued, captured, and sold in the market for from 100 to 200 gold pieces per hit point.