Savage Menagerie: Jacket

No. Enc.: 1d6 (3d10)
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 90' (30') Fly: 180' (60')
Armor Class: 5
Hit Dice: 6
Attacks: 3 (claw/claw/bite or sting)
Damage: 1d6/1d6/1d8 or 1d6/Special
Save: L3
Morale: 9
Hoard Class: XVII

Jackets are 4' tall intelligent humanoid wasps. They may initially be mistaken for a giant bee or hornet, but rather than a set of multifaceted insectoid eyes, they have a pair of large, leering, mammalian eyes. Jackets have four "legs" which hang beneath them in flight. When standing, the limbs are used as clawed arms and legs, respectively. In combat, they can claw for 1d6 hit points of damage, and their mandibles can bite for 1d8 hit points. Jackets also have a poisonous stinger that they can use as well. If stung, a PC takes 1d6 hit points of damage, then must save vs. poison or take an additional 2d6 points of poison damage (half-damage with a successful save).

Jackets live in large beehive-like nests they construct out of any materials they can lay hands on. These cobbled-together abodes are huge -- often 50 to 100 feet tall -- housing 3d10 Jackets within. Jacket colonies work on a hierarchy system, with all Jackets answering to one primary king or queen who makes the decisions for the entire colony.

There are currently four known species of Jackets found in the Mutant Future, each "tribe" acting independently of each other. They can be distinguished by their coloring and personality, as well as the specific additional mutation they have:

• Yellow Jacket -- The most aggressive of Jackets, Yellow Jackets will attack any interlopers they encounter near their nesting grounds. They are tinted a dull ochre-yellow and they may be found wearing clothing and trinkets scavenged from those they have killed. Yellow Jackets can fire an electrical energy ray from their eyes once every three rounds. This ray will do 3d6 hit points of electrical damage if struck. Yellow Jackets are usually found in Ancient ruins and other formerly inhabited regions.
• Blue Jacket -- Blue Jackets are the only Jackets found to use weapons in combat as well as their own naturally occurring claws and stingers. Any Blue Jackets encountered may be equipped with a club or spear that they will use in combat. (There is a 20% chance that one may have a pistol or rifle at the ML's discretion.) Blue Jackets have a light robin's-egg blue coloring, and they can fire an ice energy ray from their eyes once every three rounds. This ray will do 3d6 hit points of cold damage if struck. Blue Jackets are usually found in icy Arctic tundra areas.
• Red Jacket -- Red Jackets are the most intelligent of the Jacket races, speaking fluently and living in a more civilized manner. However, they are more cunning and devious in their dealing with strangers. Red Jackets have been known to befriend a foe against a common enemy before turning around and betraying their "ally" once their usefulness has ended. Red Jackets have a scarlet coloring, and they can fire a heat energy ray every three rounds. This ray will do 3d6 hit points of heat damage if struck. Red Jackets are usually found in arid desert areas and near geothermal pockets.
• Black Jacket -- The most secretive and little-seen of the Jacket races, Black Jackets are also the most feared. It is whispered that spying a Black Jacket is an omen of death itself, as the creatures so value their solitude that they will wipe out entire villages to protect their hidden nests. Few have seen a Black Jacket and lived. They are rumored to be an ashen-grey in color, and they use their killing sphere mutation to permanently silence those who stumble upon them. Black Jackets are said to live in rocky, mountainous, inaccessible regions.

The various Jacket colonies do not interact with each other, as each one views its specific color as the "primary" one. All other Jackets are viewed as offshoots or "poor copies of the original." Due to these prejudices, Jacket colonies are often at war with each other. Heaven help the village that finds itself between two warring factions.

Mutations: complete wing development, toxic weapon, energy ray (special), killing sphere (special)