Skull Knockers

Skull Knockers are the ornery, foul tempered descendants of Mountain Goats that were common to the Rocky Mountains of Canada and the United States of America. Over the generations and exposure to radiation and other mutagenic compounds, the creatures grew in size and strength and developed a temperament that only a mother could love.

No. Enc: 3d10
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 120' (40')
AC: 0 (head) 4 (rest of body)
HD: 6
Attacks: 1 Ram or 1 bite and 2 hoofs
Damage: 2d10 or 1d4/1d6/1d6
Save: L4
Morale: 6
Hoard Class: None

Skull Knockers are the ornery, foul tempered descendants of Mountain Goats that were common to the Rocky Mountains of Canada and the United States of America. Over the generations and exposure to radiation and other mutagenic compounds, the creatures grew in size and strength and developed a temperament that only a mother could love.

Physically these mutant goats are about 4’ in height at the shoulder and with the exception of the head, are covered with fairly long, grey fur. The head of the creature appears to be that of a bare skull but is in fact covered by a thin layer of bare flesh over an incredibly tough bone structure.

The creatures whenever threatened, will always turn to face their opponent and will do everything they can to ensure that they’re always facing a dangerous opponent, as the skull is very damage resistant compared to the rest of the body.

Any opponent facing one of these mutants will have to get past the thick armour in order to damage the creature, but if one or more opponents are able to flank it or get behind the mutant where the skull won’t protect it, they’ll find it far easier to kill.

When they are engaged in combat, they will attempt to ram a creature. Any target hit by the ram will have to make a save versus death or be knocked prone. If this happens the Skull Knocker will immediately get a bite and two hoof attacks, which may not necessarily hit (they will still have to make a to hit roll with any bonuses for a target that is prone).

Many a creature has discovered much to their dismay that even mental attacks have a great deal of difficulty penetrating the thick bony skull. In reality this is simply because the creature has a nearly indomitable will (Will Power of 18).

And to top it off, the creature has a very strong constitution and is highly resistant to poisons and radiation, and many poisons will either simply not affect the creature or if it somehow manages to get past the creatures natural defenses has a greatly reduced effect. (For game terms this means that all poisons affect the creature for half damage if it fails the save, or it takes no damage at all for a successful save. If the result for failure is death, the creature can still be killed but doesn’t take any damage from a successful save. And it is immune to sleep and paralysis poison).

These mutant goats live in large herds of up to thirty creatures. Approximately 25% of those encountered will be juveniles, and have only 2 hit dice and are non-combatants.

There will always be one ‘Alpha’, who has 10 hit dice instead of 6 and if he is taken down the others will automatically fail their moral checks and will be forced to flee. The Alpha will do the regular damage but each dice type will be increased to the next higher dice (d10 becomes d12, d4 becomes a d6 etc.).

Some tribes and other communities have managed to domesticate these mutants and use them as a food staple, and continue to use the fur for clothing. The meat is very gamy but highly nutritious and can fetch a high price (characters eating the meat of one of these creatures gain +2 to strength and only need to eat half as much. The strength bonus lasts for 4 hours and can only be gained once per 24 hours).

Mutations: Bizarre appearance(d), immunity to poisons (special), increased will power, natural armour

Source: Fallout New Vegas (2010)