Crawling Claw

Armor Class 7
Hit Dice 1-1 (2-4 HP)
Size T (Himanoid hand)
Move 18 (9)
Attacks 1
Damage 1d4 (armored) or 1d6 (unarmored)
No. Appearing 1-20
Save as F1
Morale 12
Treasure Any
Intelligence Non (0)
Alignment Neutral
XP Value 5
Monster Type Construct
Frequency Very Rare
Terrain Any

must assemble the severed limbs that are to animated. The maximum
The much-feared crawling claw is frequently employed as a guardian number of claws that can be created at any one time is equal to the level of
by those mages and priests who have learned the secret of its creation. the person enchanting them. The hands (or paws) can be either fresh,
No single description of a crawling claw is possible as they are not uniform skeletal, or at any stage of decomposition in between.
in appearance. Since claws are the animated remains of hands or paws of Claws can be controlled in one of two ways: directly or via
living creatures, they are apt to be found in a wide variety of shapes and programming. The manner of a claw’s control must be specified when it is
sizes. created and cannot be changed thereafter. All of the claws in a particular
When a claw detects a potential victim, it leaps to the attack. batch must be controlled in the same manner.
Although it may not appear to be capable of such a feat, its great strength Programmed claws are given a single, brief instruction that they
enables it to do so. The maximum distance a claw can leap is 15 feet. attempt to carry out to the best of their ability. The maximum length of the
Once a claw lands on its victim, it attacks in one of two ways. If the programming, in words, is 15 plus the level of the creator. This
victim is wearing metal armor, the claw delivers a powerful blow that programming sets the conditions under which the claw attack. A sample
inflicts 1d4 points of damage. Against those who are not armored (or only command might be: Kill anyone except me who opens this chest.
wearing leather) the claw can employ its great strength in a crushing grip. Directly controlled claws are manipulated by the thoughts of their
This manner of attack causes 1d6 points of damage. creator. The mental effort of controlling claws is quite tiring and cannot be
In some cases, a claw may be instructed to attempt to strangle or maintained for more than three consecutive rounds without a one-round
gouge out the eyes of a victim. In any such case, the DM should consider rest. Further, the range of such control is limited to 10 feet plus 5 feet per
all aspects of the situation and determine how much, if any, damage is level of the creator. A person controlling claws cannot undertake
done. spellcasting or any other activity. Injury to a controller does not break his
Claws are immune to any form of death magic or raise dead spells, control unless unconsciousness results. If direct control is broken for some
although a resurrection spell renders them immobile for a number of turns reason, the claws continue to follow the last orders they were given.
equal to the level of the caster. Claws have the same resistance to charm,
sleep, and hold spells that undead do, but claws are not subject to turning,
control undead spells, or damage by holy water. Cold-based spells make
claws brittle so that all rolls to damage them are increased by 1 point per
die.
Edged weapons inflict only half damage on a claw; all magical
weapons cause damage as if they were not enchanted in any way
(although to hit bonuses still apply).
Crawling claws are nothing more than the animated hands and paws
of once-living creatures. As such, they have no culture or society to speak
of. Despite this, crawling claws do have a limited ability to communicate
with each other. This takes the form of a basic telepathic link between all
the claws of a single “batch”. Whenever one claw finds a victim, all of the
others in the area who were made at the same time move in to help it.
In addition, claws that have been instructed to do so can act in concert with
each other to move large objects. The DM should use five pounds per claw
as a reasonable limit to the weight that can be moved.
Crawling claws can be created by any mage or priest who has
knowledge of the techniques required to do so. To begin with, the creator