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An Outback Bestiary

As part of my efforts to flesh out an Australian campaign setting, already sketched out in my little article on Uluru, I present here the AD&D game statistics for a number of real world Australian creatures. The emphasis tends to be more on extinct life forms, as once Australia possessed a host of large animals or "megafauna," such as 25 foot carnivorous lizards, rhino-sized wombats, 10 foot tall kangaroos, and marsupial lions. Though these creatures became extinct on Earth, they may exist in a campaign set in Pleistocene or Ice Age Australia, or in a fantasy version of the continent.

Rounding out the article are number of smaller, present-day creatures of that land, covering a wide range of types; small marsupial predators such as the bandicoot and the tiger cat; the infamous Tasmanian Devil; kangaroos; dingoes; the flightless birds known as emus; and several others.

Bandicoot

Climate/Terrain:	Tropical forest	Hit Dice:	_ to 1+1
Frequency:	Common	THAC0:	19
Organization:	Solitary	No. of Attacks:	1
Activity Cycle:	Any	Damage/Attack:	1-2
Diet:	Omnivorous	Special Attacks:	Nil
Intelligence:	Semi-	Special Defenses:	Nil
Treasure:	Nil	Magic Resistance:	Nil
Alignment:	Neutral	Size:	S
No. Appearing:	1-2	Morale:	Average
Armor Class:	5	XP Value:	35
Movement:	18

Predatory marsupials of the forest floor somewhat resembling long-snouted guinea pigs , the bandicoot group actually includes several different species. The giant bandicoot has hindfeet adapted for leaping, while the striped bandicoot has hindfeet adapted instead for running. The variation reflects different hunting techniques, and therefore different prey.

Bandicoots are commonly encountered in any forest area of a fantasy Australia, such as Uluru.

A wizard casting Find Familiar in Uluru would stand a good chance of acquiring one of these as his or her familiar.

Dingo

The dingo is a very early form of dog, and on Earth arrived with the first humans to settle Australia, 5000 years ago. It is not known how they first arrived on the continent, but they insinuated themselves well into Aboriginal life, scavenging around the camps for food and useful as sleeping companions on frosty nights.

Dingoes are very adaptable animals, feeding on carrion as well as a large range of live prey, from insects and lizards to wallabies and kangaroos. With large prey, the strategy is pursuit - keeping up a sustained pace over long distances to wear the quarry down. They form packs, rather loose arrangements that break up and reform to suit changing circumstances. Only the pack leader has the right to mate, a system that keeps dingo numbers within the limits of the country's ability to support them.

This flexible lifestyle has made dingoes masters of the bush, oftentimes at the expense of native predators such as the thylacines.

If well fed, they should generally seek to avoid contact with humans and their kind. However, the outback can be a harsh place, and not all dingo packs get enough to eat, especially when they have young.

Dingoes can be tamed and trained if separated from the pack.

Diprotodon

At one time the Australia of Earth had a host of large animals, of a size and in frequency to rival the African savanna. Today this megafauna is now extinct, but in a prehistoric and/or fantasy Australia, this need not be the case.

The Diprotodontids are perhaps the best known of the Australian megafauna. There were several species of these large herbivorous marsupials, with Diprotodon optatum being the largest. This giant was the size of a rhinoceros - three metres long and two metres high at the shoulder and weighing in at two tonnes, and has the distinction of being the largest marsupial ever. Resembling a big hairy hippo in appearance or a gigantic wombat, they had big incisor tusks, but with cheek teeth like that of a kangaroo. They had a hippo-like lifestyle as well.

In Uluru, the "Australia" on southern Toril, such creatures are quite common in slow moving lakes and rivers, and range fairly far inland especially in the moister areas such as forests and swamps, where they feed on a variety of plant life. Generally, they are harmless, but will act to protect their young from real and imagined treats, using their gigantic teeth and mouths to bite for 2-12 points of damage.

Dromornis

Dromornis stirtoni was a huge flightless bird; with a height of at least three metres and a weight of over half a tonne, it is the heaviest bird known. Most likely it was omnivorous, though given the size and the damage it could do, as well as its relative speed, was likely an effective hunter.

Dromornis is yet another of the deadly predators of Uluru.

Emu

Ostrich-like flightless birds of the grasslands, the emu is a familiar animal of Australia. It will generally run from danger, but if cornered has a fairly effective kicking attack. Their meat is sought after by the Aborigines.

Genyornis

Genyornis newtoni was a large, emu-like bird. It grew to 5 feet tall, weighed about 80 to 100 kilograms (175 to 220 pounds) (twice the size of the modern emu), had short, stocky legs, and probably moved more slowly than the emu. While the emu survived, scientists suggest that Genyornis's clumsy features may have contributed to its extinction.

Abundant when the first humans arrived in Uluru, it has become increasingly rare. Able to withstand natural predation, it has not been able to recover from human hunting. In some areas it is not all that rare, while in others it has virtually vanished.

Australian Monsters page 2 >