Giggle Bug - Caterpillar

Giggle Bug - Caterpillar
Giggle Bug - Caterpillar

Creature Metadata

Reported By
John M. Maxstadt
Source
Dragon Magazine 126
Role
Monster
Base Stock
Puss moth
MCC Stat Block
Giggle Bugs (Caterpillars) (1): Init +2; atk see description; AC 20; HD 3D7 hp 12; MV 8' ; 1d20; SV Fort +0, Ref +0, Will -2
Mutations
(P) Beguiling, Poison Immunity, Taller

Combat & Physical Stats

Number Appearing
1
Morale
10
Hit Dice
HD 3D7
Armor
10 (AC 20)
Size
Medium 1 meter long with 5 meter wingspan
Movement
MV 8'
Attack
See Description

Ability Scores

MS:
4
PS:
10
IN:
9
DX:
9
CH:
2
CN:
11

Ecology & Logistics

Frequency
Rare
Organization
Unknown
Activity Cycle
Day
Diet
Grass Plants, Especially Poisonous Ones
Habitat
Temperate Forests and Scrublands
Tech Level
0 - 0
Artifacts
Unknown

Description (Initial Observations): Giggle bugs spend most of their lives as caterpillars (the statistics in parentheses above refer to the adult moths, which do not have the beguiling mutation). Unlike most caterpillars with protective coloration, giggle bugs are quite prominent and distinctive: spotted, striped, and checkered in green, yellow, pink, red, blue, and white, with a clownlike false face on each end and mobile projections that resemble pin- wheels and party noisemakers. The effect is magnified by its mutational powers to become highly comical so much so that most intelligent creatures that see a giggle bug must make a successful check vs. their MS x 2 or collapse in helpless laughter. A new MS check is rolled every 6 action turns after a failed one; if a crea- ture makes a subsequent roll, then it may stop laughing and crawl away. However, if a creature having made a successful MS check continues to look at the caterpillar, however, or even thinks about it clearly enough to make an attack, another MS check is required every action turn.If a creature laughs without rest for more minutes than it has points of CN, then exhaustion sets in, incapacitating the creature for 3 search turns. During this time, the creature may make no attacks, and must move at half speed. Creatures (including PCs) with IN less than 4 or greater than 16 are not affected by the giggle bugs comical appearance. Blind creatures and machines with purely artificial intelligence (like androids and robots) are also immune, but cyborgs, with their human brains, are not.Giggle bugs are immune to all kinds of poison, and they habitually feed on poisonous plants; consequently, their bodies are also poisonous (roll 3d6 for poison intensity for any giggle bug that a character tries to bite or eat). Giggle bugs remain in cater- pillar form from March through November. They pupate in the winter and emerge the following March as huge, gaudy moths that live only long enough to mate and lay eggs. The eggs take a full year to hatch. Eggs, pupae, and adult moths are all harlequin-colored; they cannot excite laughter as the caterpillars do, but they are equally poisonous.

Behavior & Society

Reactions
No known interactions
Behavior
Behavior modeling incomplete
Repair & Healing
Behavior not recorded
Society
Anthropological studies incomplete

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