Today’s item isn’t something I had a hand in making. This was given to me. Well, “given” by way of hurled at me by a little snake-looking fella while I was investigating an uncharted island out in the South Pacific. This is basically a pair of metal fangs joined by a cross-bar at the base. There’s a hole between the fangs where a thin pointed stick about as long as your arm fits through. Ya just whip your arm & flick the wrist, and this thing goes flying at whoever you aim at. It’s similar to an atlatl in use, but not in design. The real interesting part is that the fangs can hold all kinds of poisons or other nasty chemicals. When this one was chucked at me, it started to dissolve the tree it stuck into next to my head. Well, I of course returned the gift of the fang thing with a load of 6-guage buckshot, and my aim was better. Ugly little fella, even before I shot him. I also picked up this nice little statue of another snake-looking guy with a walking stick. The guy depicted by the statue doesn’t looks as cheesed off as the one I took it from. Oh, well. Takes all kinds, I guess. Be sure to check out the Miskatonic U site thing where you can read all about this serpent fang-slinger. That’s it this time, class. Remember, it’s always safer to assume that a telegram from that uncle you haven’t seen in over 20 years is an invitation to trouble.   Game Information A Serpent-Man’s fang weapon is a specialized dart that is launched with the use of a sling-stick. The fang-like dart is a pair of 10” long slightly inward curing darts. The pair of darts are 2” in diameter wide at their base, and taper to a sharp point at the tips. The base of each dart is mounted to a 1/8” thick platform that is 2” wide and 6 ½” long, with a hole in the center of the platform that is 2” in diameter. Also, each “fang” of the dart is hollow to allow for poison to be added-in. A pair of fang-darts mounted to one platform is considered a single fang-dart unit. The “fang” dart is paired with a perfectly straight and slender stick. The stick has an ergonomic handle at one end that transitions into 2’ long stick. The stick, similar to the fang-dart, is 2 ½” wide at the base, (right next to the ergonomic handle), and then tapers to a sharp point at the tip.

How to Use: The sling-stick is slid through the hole in the platform of a fang-dart unit, with the tips of the fang-dart unit pointing away from the handle of the sling-stick. Because the fang-dart cannot be “locked” onto the stick, a user holding a “loaded” fang weapon needs to hold it upright so the fang-dart doesn’t slide off. To fire the weapon, a user simply slings their arm and snaps their wrist at the end of the sling. This motion will create an enormous amount of kinetic energy that will launch the fang-dart off of the stick.

SERPENT-MAN FANG WEAPON

Skill	Base	Damage	Attack	Special	Range	Hands	HP	Parry	STR/DEX	Malfunction
Throw	Throw	1D6+1	½	Impaling, Poison	30	1H	6	Yes (stick)	9/9	00

  Serpent-Man Poisons: Serpent-Men are master chemists and biologists; they have perfected a wide variety of toxins and poisons. The following is only a possible list of toxins that can be utilized in the fang weapon.

SERPENT-MAN POISONS

Poison	Pot	Effective Speed	Description
Tranquilizer	16	1 – 5 rounds	This powerful tranquilizer is designed to render the victim unconscious in a matter of seconds. With a successful CON roll, the victim is able to remain conscious, but suffers a -30% penalty on all skills for the next 24 hours. Also, the victim must attempt to overcome the toxin for each of the five combat rounds when the poison is at its most potent levels. If any CON roll fails, then the victim falls immediately unconscious for CON +1D6 hours. The victim still suffers the -30% penalty to all skills until 24 hours after initial exposure to the poison has elapsed.
Carotid Toxin	20	CON in days	This rare poison causes the slow degeneration of the carotid arteries. If the victim fails his CON roll, then the poison slowly eats away the victim’s carotid arteries. In CON days, the arteries disintegrate causing massive internal bleeding and nearly instantaneous death. If the victim succeeds his CON roll, then he falls horribly sick 1D6 days after being exposed to the poison. The victim’s STR and CON temporarily drop to a value of 3, confining him to bed utterly exhausted and hallucinating. Medical examinations will be unable to find evidence of disease, but CON days after exposure to the toxin the victim begins to recover. After another 1D6 days, the victim will regain all but 1 of his original STR and CON values; the final point of STR and CON are permanently lost due to the ordeal.
Mutagen	12	½ CON in days	This unique toxin is designed to unlock Hyperborean DNA that has been suppressed after millions of years of evolution. If the victim fails his CON roll, then in ½ CON days he will develop a random new feature: 1. Gills – Victim is no longer able to breath normal air, and must filter oxygen through water. If the victim is not submerged in water to breath, then they begin to suffer from the asphyxiation. 2. Fur – Victim develops a thick coat of fur over 90% of their body. The thick rough fur provides a 3-point layer of armor. 3. Carapace – Victim develops a 5-point layer of chitinous armor over 40% of his body. 4. Tail – Victim develops a thick tail that is as long as half his height. This tail is used to help counter-balance the victim’s new spine that forces him to walk hunched over at a 45-degree angle. 5. Compound Eyes – Victim sprouts four additional secondary eyes on his temples and forehead, for a grand total of six eyes. Like a spider, all six eyes are bulbous, lidless, and jet-black in color. The victim can now see in a 300-degree arc. Only a narrow corridor directly behind him is in his new blind spot. 6. Tentacles – Victim develops 1D6 tentacles that sprout from his abdominal region. These tentacles are 4’ long and prehensile; each has a STR value equal to 1/3rd of the victim’s current STR value. Each tentacle has 3 hit points, and, (if amputated), will regenerate back to full strength in 1D3+1 days. The restructuring of the victim’s flesh and bone is incredibly painful; resulting in 1D3 hit points of damage per day of mutation. Upon completion of the transformation, the victim must make a 1D3/1D6 +1 Sanity check. Anyone who views a person who has been transformed by the mutagen toxin must make a 1/1D4 Sanity check. If the victim succeeds CON roll, then he falls ill for 4 +1D4 days, with a temporary reduction of his STR and CON attributes to half their normal value. Once fully recovered, the victim’s STR and CON attributes return to their full strength values.

  Monterey Jack is used with permission of Ben Monroe and Fantasy Flight Games.]]>