Monster of the Week: Grievous Bat

Creatures of Chaos, but good in a fight.

Grievous bats are huge creatures, with wingspans of 35’ or more. They attack with a vicious bite, and have the astonishing ability to hover like a monstrous humming-bird, although the buffeting of their wings forces those within 10’ to Save vs. Dragon Breath or be knocked prone.

Chaotic beasts, grievous bats can be trained to serve as mounts, but only with difficulty. Even when trained, they are hard to control, especially in combat. While being ridden, the bat gets a Save vs. Paralysis each turn (when out of combat) or each round (while in combat). A successful save means the bat will perform contrary to the rider’s will—going in the wrong direction, hovering, landing, attacking, not attacking, etc.

During late fall and winter, grievous bats find large caves and hibernate in colonies. While hibernating, they cannot be woken or used as mounts.

Armor Class: 5
Hit Dice: 7
Move: 120’ (40’)
Flying: 360’ (120’)
Attack(s): 1 bite
Damage: 2d8
No. Appearing: 1 (1-10)
Save As: Fighter 4
Morale: 8
Treasure Type: E
Alignment: Chaotic
XP: 450

N.B. The grievous bat is inspired by the giant, chaotic bats ridden by the troops of Castle Moidel, Michael Moorcock’s The Knight of the Swords.