Giggle Bug - Caterpillar

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

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

MS:

4

PS:

10

IN:

9

DX:

9

CH:

2

CN:

11

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.

Reactions: No known interactions

Behavior: Behavior modeling incomplete

Repair and Healing: Behavior not recorded

Society: Anthropological studies incomplete