Australia has been blessed (or cursed,
depending upon your point of view) with a superabundance of dangerous
creatures. Even those creatures which are not natively venomous tend to be
toxic in some way. Amongst snakes alone, Australia is home to seven of the top
ten most dangerous snakes in the world. Thankfully, Australia is free of the
menace of rabies which plagues other continents, so at least this is not an
issue for travellers to worry about.
*****
Ants
Ants in Australia tend to be large and
voracious. In the temperate and dry areas of the continent, they tend to be
encountered as ‘meat ants’: these are reddish brown and up to a centimetre in
length. They form huge underground colonies, vast nests up to two metres across
and a metre deep. They are relatively mild-mannered as ants go and walkers who
foolishly stand on the nests can be savagely, although often not dangerously,
bitten.
More worrisome are Bull-ants (sometimes
called Jumping Jacks) which can grow up to three centimetres in length and
which have a vicious pair of pincers with which to deal out damage. Bull-ants
tend to roam away from the central nest, scouting the territory for enemies:
when they bite they inflict painful stinging welts (2 points of damage, POT 5
Poison) that itch furiously; in cases these have been known to cause
anaphylactic shock, or to suppurate and kill through subsequent infection.
Small children and babies have been known to die from these effects.
In Queensland, there is a species of ant
called the Fire-ant which lives an arboreal existence along the branches of
trees and other foliage in the wild forests. These are either red or green
(depending on the species) and can inflict a vicious burning sting on the
exposed flesh of those who inadvertently brush against them (POT: 4, half
damage). Regardless of the type of ant encountered, a successful strike against
one will kill it immediately.
Cassowaries
Only encountered in the northern wilds of
Queensland and in New Guinea, the Cassowary is a seldom-met but dangerous
denizen. Smaller than the Emu but more stockily built, this bird has a high,
domed crest of bone on top of its head, with which it charges its enemies
(usually those who blunder into its well-guarded territory). Occasionally, this
crest is used to beat down walls of intervening foliage. Along with a powerful
set of clawed feet, the Cassowary is deadly to tangle with. Its
brightly-coloured plumage allows it to blend in well with the greens and bluish
shadows of its rainforest home, so its standard form of attack is one of
ambush, bursting out upon the unwary wanderer with the benefit of surprise.
STR: 11 (2D6+4)
CON: 10-11 (3D6)
SIZ: 11 (2D6+4)
POW: 13 (2D6+6)
DEX: 19 (2D6+12)
Move: 14
HP:
11
Av Damage Bonus: none
Weapon: Peck 20%, 1D4; Kick 50%, 1D8;
Head Butt (after a successful Charge) 35%, 1D6; Charge (requires a 3 metre
run-up) 50%, +1D8
Armour: 3 points of feathered bulk
Skills: Hide in Trees 80%
Habitat:
rainforests of the “Top End” (far North Queensland and the Northern Territory)
and New Guinea
Crocodiles,
Saltwater
Saltwater Crocodiles (or ‘Salties’) are
the oldest, biggest and deadliest Crocodiles in the world. They live along the
Top End of Australia in coastal estuaries and mangrove tidal zones. They tend
to be solitary, coming together only briefly to mate: at other times they are
fiercely territorial and resent intrusions by all other living creatures.
Salties tend to snatch their prey
whenever they wander too close to the edge of the water in which they are
hiding, pretending to be logs or other waterway obstructions; however they have
also been known to walk a fair distance overland – into campsites for instance
– to snatch sleeping prey from burrows or tents. Once they have gained a firm
grip, they then adopt a tactic known as the ‘death roll’ whereby they begin to
spin longitudinally while plunging under the surface: this has the combined
benefits of breaking limbs, disorientating the prey and speeding the drowning
process. The Salty’s jaws, while powerful, are not designed for repetitive
biting and most damage to the victim is caused by the bludgeoning effect of the
beast thrashing about by means of its powerful tail. Once the victim is
subdued, the Salty then stores it in a bank side lair where it can rot
sufficiently for a few days to allow the victor to easily shear the meat from
the bones. Sometimes, the victim is still alive when it first arrives in this
‘larder’...
Finally, as if this gruesome ordeal
wasn’t enough, the teeth of the Saltwater Crocodile are alive with bacteria
from the rotting refuse of previous meals. Even the lucky few who escape the
Salty’s attack can succumb to the effects of massive infections (20% chance,
POT: 9).
STR: 26 (4D6+12)
CON: 18-19 (3D6+8)
SIZ: 29-30 (5D6+12)
POW: 10-11 (3D6)
DEX: 7 (2D6)
Move: 6/8 Swimming
HP:
22-23
Av Damage Bonus: +2D6
Weapon: Bite: 50%, 1D10+db
Armour: 6 point hide
Skills: Swim Stealthily 75%; Hide 60%;
Sneak 50%
Habitat:
Rivers, lakes and the oceans of the Top End
Dingoes
The Dingo gained itself a lurid notoriety
during the 1970s and 80s as a result of the Azaria Chamberlain murder case, in
which a baby only a few weeks old was snatched from the campsite of its parents
during the dim of sunset at Alice Springs and never found again. Up until this
time, Dingoes were seen as relatively benign animals of no danger to human
beings; the court case forced the world to reassess the matter.
The Dingo is, strictly-speaking, a native
dog which was brought from Indonesia by travellers in distant times. The
sandy-coloured breed has a quiet and occasionally playful temperament and lives
in small family groups of four or five. Many Aboriginal tribes keep dingoes to
aid in hunting. Dingoes are highly intelligent and opportunistic scavengers
occasionally known to operate in pairs to achieve their goals. They are
efficient thieves when they want to be, able to perform acts of fine
manipulation such as opening doors and this was the finding in the case of the Crown vs. Lindy Chamberlain. Like any
other dog they can bite savagely when threatened or cornered and travellers
should take the standard precautions when dealing with them. Fortunately, the
contraction of rabies is not an issue when encountering these canids.
STR: 4-5 (1D6+1)
CON: 10-11 (3D6)
SIZ: 4-5 (1D6+1)
POW: 9-10 (1D6+6)
DEX: 13 (2D6+6)
Move: 15
HP:
7-8
Av Damage Bonus: -1D6
Weapon: Bite: 30%, 1D6
Armour: None
Skills: Listen 40%; Track 80%
Habitat:
Throughout Australia, but mainly in the arid or desert areas
Emus
STR: 11 (2D6+4)
CON: 10-11 (3D6)
SIZ: 13 (2D6+6)
POW: 13 (2D6+6)
DEX: 19 (2D6+12)
Move: 14
HP:
12
Av Damage Bonus: none
Weapon: Peck: 30%, 1D4; Kick: 60%, 1D10
Armour: 3points of feathered bulk
Skills: Locate picnic basket 75%; Kick
Dunny Down 95%
Habitat:
Throughout Australia
Fans of the Emu are no doubt apt to
praise the intelligence of the bird; however the creature is fairly universally
reviled for its stupid nature.
Emus live in close packs of up to several
dozen. The males care for the young and eggs while the females forage. Male
emus are extremely territorial concerning their nest sites and their offspring
and become very single-minded in their defence. These birds are flightless but
can run very fast for great distances, often running into objects or people
which they fail to negotiate or anticipate. Emus often top six feet in height
and they are not averse to making stabbing pecks at the eyes of those who annoy
them; equally, they can make vicious strikes at objects that they believe might
be edible, such as a piece of paper held flapping in an unwary hand or a shiny
pocket-watch. The most dangerous threat from an emu however, is its powerful
feet, which it uses to kick its foes. These are heavily clawed and inflict
punishing damage upon the unwary. It has given rise to the colourful Australian
Bush curse which runs “may all your chickens turn into Emus and kick your dunny
down”.
Feral
Creatures
Australia is a closed environment: cut
off from the rest of the world, it has evolved its own creatures and flora that
exist nowhere else on the planet. In the early days of Settlement, white
visitors did their level best to introduce various creatures from their home
countries – deer, hares, rabbits, starlings, sparrows - often to simply
alleviate the home-sickness they felt. It is singularly fortunate that myriad
animal diseases (such as rabies) which plague other countries were not
introduced at the same time. The current import/export policies which prevail
in Australia serve to maintain the delicate ecological balance and have proven
locally effective; that being said, some animals are loose in the wilds of
Australia which should never have come here and some of them are notoriously
dangerous. Statistics for these creatures can mostly be found in the Call of Cthulhu rulebook.
Buffalo – The Cape Buffalo (not the American
Bison) was introduced by visitors from Indonesia and New Guinea. It is found
along the Top End and is a relatively benign visitor to our shores. That being
said, if angered, it is a surly and savage foe, capable of trampling and
butting its opposition. Populations of these creatures are kept largely in
check by Saltwater Crocodiles which find them very tasty.
Camels – When the first railway lines were
being run across the Australian Continent, the Government of the day employed
Afghan workers, reasoning that they would be better suited to the climates with
which they would be dealing. Along with the Afghans came camels, again due to
their ability to handle hot, dry conditions. This was all very well in theory
but the camels were cantankerous and often escaped, disappearing into the
Outback to breed prolifically and create a menace to the local wildlife. Unlike
cattle, sheep and goats, camels have soft feet which have little impact on the
delicate soil structures of the Central Australian environments; unfortunately,
they can strip the greenery from the countryside much faster than the
indigenous wildlife and this makes them a pest. Like all other camels, they
also bite, kick and trample.
Cats – All domestic cats, even the fluffiest
and most pampered of them, will, if released into the wild to fend for
themselves, become the toughest, angriest, spitting-est Hell-cat in short
order. This is a universal truth.
Once free from domesticity, the short
under-fur of the precious kitty-cat thickens and becomes darker, allowing the
feline to blend into the Bush; even the lightest coloured cat can darken up in
no time at all. The predatory musculature of the cat bulks up and the cat can
grow from one third up to one half again its normal size. Kittenish behaviours
so endearing to an abandoned owner are shed as the business of survival and
territoriality comes to the fore. Cats can eliminate birdlife, lizards and
small marsupials from a Bushland setting in no time at all; they can also kill
newborn lambs.
Cats are seldom met in the Bush: they
know enough to stay away from people if they’ve gone wild. They are often found
in rabbit or fox traps however and extracting them is fraught with difficulty
as they will defend themselves to the uttermost. Tales of exceptionally large
feral cats may well have given rise to the legends of Phantom Cats.
Dogs – In the early days of the Sydney
Settlement, mobs of wild dogs - escapees from domesticity - roamed freely
through the Sydney streets and were capable of bringing down lone stragglers
wending their way home after dark. The problem became so dire that the constabulary
held shooting days, where they shot any dog seen walking in the street,
regardless of the presence of a human attendant. It wasn’t until the early
1910s that organised dog patrols were created to lessen the menace of feral
dogs within the city and in due course the problem of ‘killer dog gangs’ became
confined to the rural areas of Australia. It’s not that these dogs were driven
insane by rabies or any other epidemiological cause; they were simply on the
loose and reverting to the typical, instinctual nature of pack hunters.
Donkeys
– Explorers and settlers
in the early 1800s primarily used horses to push into wilderness areas of
Australia. Unfortunately, the local flora proved toxic to most horse breeds and
feed had to be carried on extended forays into the Bush. It was later
discovered that donkeys were able to browse the local greenery without
impairment and they soon took over as the beast of burden of choice in the
country. Unfortunately, donkeys are wilful and hard to control and soon they
were escaping into the undergrowth to breed and run wild. By the 1920s, massive
herds of them were roaming the countryside. Like most non-Australian species,
they over-graze areas, destroy delicate soil systems with their hooves and have
been known to pollute waterholes and destroy fences.
Goats – Anyone who has worked with goats knows
that they are cunning and wilful, determined to do what they want to do
regardless of their human attendant’s desires. From the early days of the
Sydney Settlement, goats often escaped into the Bush and took up residence
there: with their ability to eat practically any kind of greenery, no matter
how coarse or unappetizing, they thrived in practically every type of
environment that Australia had to offer – at the expense of the local wildlife.
Furthermore, goats have tough, hoofed feet which ruin the fine soil structures
of the desert and arid areas of the country, causing massive erosion and soil
loss.
Pigs – Like goats, pigs have escaped
confinement wherever they have been kept throughout Australia’s history. Like
goats, they are voracious and their hooves ruin the soil whilst their tusks can
denude whole areas of bushland through ringbarking. Worst of all, they can
become vicious killers, hiding in dense scrub and attacking from ambush. Like
many kinds of feral creatures, once free of the constraints of domesticity,
wild pigs can grow to massive size and develop a ferocity to go with it.
Toads,
Cane – The Grey-backed
Cane Beetle had become a veritable pest in the sugar-cane growing areas of
Australia by the early 1930s. As a countermeasure, it was decided that the Cane
Toad (Bufo marinus) should be
introduced to deal with them. This was a mistake. The introduced pairs of toads
generated 60,000 young in their first year and thereafter found that there were
loads of far more interesting things to devour in this country. The Toads are
viciously poisonous and compete strongly for the territory occupied by their
antipodean counterparts. Many Queenslanders have a haphazard cruelty in regard
to these amphibians which regularly kill their dogs and cats and destroy
chicken colonies. However, the toads are notorious for being well-nigh
indestructible, despite being shot, run over, clubbed or stamped on. Within the
next five years they will invade the wilderness preservation areas of the
Northern Territory and the world will be the poorer for it. By the way, the
Grey-backed Cane Beetle was successfully eliminated by pesticide spraying in
the two years after the Cane Toads’ release.
Goannas
‘Goanna’ is often thought to be an
Aboriginal term for the family of lizards called monitors; in fact it is a
corruption of the word ‘iguana’. Monitors (family: Varanidae) live in the desert and arid areas of Australia; they are
large reptiles growing up to six or seven feet in length, with large powerful
claws, long flat heads and long necks. They also have deeply forked tongues
which restlessly flick out from their jaws. Goannas are highly carnivorous and
are adept at scavenging. Unlike other types of lizards, the monitor lizards are
able to breathe while they are running and they can keep up a steady pace for
quite awhile; other lizards need to stay within short range of a burrow or
cleft wherein they can dart and hide. Goannas tend to shy away from confrontation,
unless they think they can win a fight; if cornered, they can inflict painful
wounds with their curved talons. A goanna fleeing in fright can often mistake a
man standing still and upright for a tree and will run up them, raking them
terribly as they do so.
STR: 7 (2D6)
CON: 16-17 (3D6+6)
SIZ: 11 (2D6+4)
POW: 10-11 (3D6)
DEX: 19 (2D6+12)
Move: 12
HP:
14
Av Damage Bonus: none
Weapon: Bite 40%, 1D6; Claws 30%, 1D4
Armour: 2 points of scaly leather
Skills: Track Prey 85%; Climb 100%
Habitat:
Arid and Desert areas of Australia
Jellyfish
Australia’s coastline is replete with a
wide variety of poisonous life forms (which has to make one wonder why
Australians are so fond of swimming!); chief amongst these are the jellyfish,
of which the following two species are the most well-known:
Blue-bottles – notorious on Sydney beaches throughout
the summer months, the blue-bottle (Physalia
utriculus, known elsewhere in the world as the Portuguese Man-o-war) is a
bright blue air sac about the size of a champagne cork, with trailing lengths
of brilliant blue tentacles up to 50 metres long. They are often deposited upon
the shore by rough seas or high winds. Contact with these creatures –
specifically with their tentacles, even if the creature is dead and dried on
the beach – causes an instant excruciating pain, which can sometimes shock the
victim into unconsciousness. Thereafter the victim must endure a burning agony
for several hours until the toxin (POT: 20) is processed out of their system.
Treatment is to immerse the area of the sting in hot water for at least twenty
minutes, denaturing the toxin until the pain begins to decrease.
Box
Jellyfish – The Box
Jellyfish is usually a resident of the northern waters around Queensland and
the Northern Territory, but strong seasonal currents and storms occasionally
bring it further south. There are many types of Box Jellyfish but the one for
which the term is predominantly used as a nickname is Chironex fleckeri, possibly the most toxic creature on the planet. C. fleckeri is known to actively hunt
its prey, travelling through the water at up to 4 knots. Each tentacle of this
creature contains on average 500,000 cnidocytes,
needle-sharp harpoons, which can inject massive amounts of nematocysts - toxic cells capable of delivering enough neurotoxins
to disable the prey in about 600 nanoseconds (POT: 40). The pain of the poison
is intense and lasts about twenty minutes, during which time the patient often
experiences back and abdominal spasms, headaches, vomiting, sweating, anxiety,
nausea and heart failure; if the first twenty minutes is survived, the patient
will often endure. It is sometimes possible for the tentacles to leave massive
scarring welts on the skin of the victim which can last for life. Vinegar is
known to reduce the effects of the poisoning by killing the unfired cnidocytes
lodged in the victim’s skin.
Another type of Box Jellyfish is
responsible for ‘Irukandji Syndrome’ named in 1952 after an Aboriginal tribe
amongst whom its presence was common. This is the sting (POT: 35) of the
thumbnail sized Carukia barnesi
jellyfish, which begins as a minor irritation akin to the bite of a mosquito.
Over time symptoms including severe headache, backache, muscle pains, chest and
abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, sweating, anxiety, hypertension,
tachycardia and pulmonary edema, accompanied by a morbid pleading to be allowed
to die, are experienced. The whole process lasts from about 4 to 30 hours –
although some cases have lasted two weeks - and death is rare.
All Jellyfish are easily avoided on land;
any successful blow will kill one.
Kangaroos
While not often thought of as dangerous,
a kangaroo is capable of badly hurting a human opponent. A kangaroo (or
wallaby, wallaroo, potoroo or quoll) will prefer flight to confrontation
wherever the option is available; however, if cornered, a kangaroo – especially
one of the Red Kangaroos which can stand up to six feet tall – will bring to
bear the sharp claws on its hind feet to counterattack. Often the kangaroo will
brace itself against a tree or similar defence and balance itself upon its
tail, thus freeing up its powerful hind feet to scratch and kick furiously at
its enemy; once kicked by a kangaroo, an opponent will rarely continue the
conflict.
STR: 10-11 (3D6)
CON: 13 (2D6+6)
SIZ: 13 (2D6+6)
POW: 7 (2D6)
DEX: 13 (2D6+6)
Move: 12
HP:
13
Av Damage Bonus: none
Weapon: Kick 40%, 1D8; Brace & Rake
20%, 2D8
Armour: none
Skills: Listen 40%; Scent Water 60%
Habitat:
Throughout Australia
Koalas
Deceptively cute and fluffy, these
creatures were tagged with the moniker ‘QANTAS Bears’ by Japanese visitors in
the ‘80s. Regardless of the promotional hype however, these bad-tempered
tree-dwellers are anything but pleasant in close quarters: first-time
experiences with koalas usually result in surprise at either the damage they
can do with their claws (even while seemingly asleep), or the
pungently-tenacious qualities of their urine.
Koalas are not bears per se despite the physical resemblance. They are marsupials and,
unusually even for marsupials, have a pouch to carry their young which opens
rearward. Their dietary system, like that of the Panda, is incredibly
inefficient and they require huge amounts of eucalyptus leaves each day in
order to absorb the nutrients which they require. They drink no water, gaining
all of their liquid resources from gum leaves and they suffer a narcotic effect
from the leaves as well, which means that they sleep most hours in the day.
Given their inefficient digestive processes, a koala is quite content to eat
its own faeces several times over to more fully digest its meal, if it can’t be
bothered to relocate to a tree with more leaves. Land clearances and endemic
illnesses (such as a species-particular form of chlamydia) have reduced the habitat of the koala and it is
currently endangered.
Despite its disgusting dietary
perquisites and docile appearance, the koala can move quickly when required to
do so, to avoid fires and attacks from other creatures. For preference, the
koala will try to avoid an enemy by hiding, for which it has a great knack; if
pressed however, it will rely on its claws which can rake quite fiercely and
its offensively-redolent urine, the stench of which can take some scrubbing to
remove.
STR: 7 (2D6)
CON: 10-11 (3D6)
SIZ: 2-3 (1D4)
POW: 7 (2D6)
DEX: 10-11 (3D6)
Move: 6
HP:
6-7
Av Damage Bonus: -1D6
Weapon: Claw 40%, 1D4
Armour: 2 points of thick fur
Skills: Hide 85%; Repel with Urine 60%
Habitat:
Treetops throughout Australia
Octopus,
Blue-Ringed
Another of the poisonous denizens of the
Australian coastline, the Blue-ringed Octopus lurks in tidal pools, rocky
inlets and seaweed infested nooks on the shore. It is about the size of a golf
ball and generally well-camouflaged; when angered it becomes yellowish-brown
and is covered by bright-blue and black circles. The Greater Blue-ringed
Octopus ranges throughout the Western Pacific while the Southern Blue-ringed
Octopus and the Blue-lined Octopus dwell only in Australian waters. They feed
on crabs and small fish, poisoning them and devouring them from the inside by means
of their small, tough beaks. The creature is universally acknowledged to be one
of the most toxic animals on the planet (POT: 35).
The Blue-ringed Octopus is shy and
retiring, like other types of octopi, although, when aroused to anger, it will
not hesitate to bite. The bite of the Blue-ringed Octopus contains enough
toxins to kill 26 adult human beings. The poison interrupts the transmissive
properties of sodium salts within the body, leading to paralysis. Medical care
involves constant provision of cardio and respiratory aid until the toxin
breaks down within the victim’s system. Horribly, the victim can be conscious
and quite lucid during the whole process before succumbing, usually to
breathing difficulties, suffocation and cardiac arrest. A victim who survives
the first 24 hours usually goes on to make a full recovery
Sharks
Sharks are often seen as synonymous with
Australia. The oceans around the continent are full of many species of shark
and they are increasingly seen as necessary inhabitants of an healthy ocean
ecosystem. There are many species of shark within Australian waters and a
complete run-through of their various foibles and characteristics would exhaust
the scope of this work; instead, here are some general points relating to these
oceanic predators and their interactions with humans:
Sharks move with the ebb and flow of
seasonal oceanic currents. They move to where the water temperature suits their
bodily systems. The Great White Sharks, or White Pointers, generally inhabit
the colder waters of the Great Australian Bight south of Adelaide in South
Australia; seasonal changes see them head north, past Perth in the west and
Sydney in the East. They range across the Indian Ocean to the coastal areas of
South Africa where they are known as ‘Jumpies’ (YOOM-peez) for the fact that
they hurl themselves many tens of metres into the air in an annual hunt for
migrating penguins and seals. Other sharks prefer warmer water in which to hunt
and breed and the variations in current strengths from year to year have led to
the recognition of so-called ‘Shark Years’ wherein sharks are more plentiful
and range far more widely. These years are thus more noted for shark attacks on
humans.
Sharks are known to not actively seek
human beings out for prey: simply stated, we don’t taste nice to them. Most
sharks, however, will strike first and make a decision about their meal later.
This means that most attacked swimmers have been bitten once and then ignored.
Like all creatures though, a cornered or wounded shark, or one that is feeling
threatened, will attack repeatedly to end its sense of conflict. The sharks in
Australian waters that will need little provocation in these matters are the
Tiger Shark, the Bull Shark and the Great White.
Sharks have a magnificent sense of smell
and can detect blood in the water from miles distant. They have fine detectors
in their snouts that allow them to sense electrical currents, magnetic
emissions and temperatures: smacking a shark in this delicate piece of
equipment is a sure way to get it to let go of you. Sharks keep growing until
they are killed: they never suffer the debilitating effects of ageing that
other creatures endure nor do they grow cancers or other tumour-like growths or
suffer degeneration of their brain activity.
For a long time it was thought that
sharks needed to keep moving or else they would die. This notion has since been
laid to rest and it seems that sharks are capable of sleeping in undersea
currents that allow their gills to keep moving without direct muscular control.
Interestingly, it has recently been
discovered that the Bull Shark contains a special organ known as the Rectal
Gland which regulates the flow of salts into and out of the shark’s body. This
enables the creature to live in water in which other sharks would perish. This
fact has led to these sharks being found living in freshwater lakes up to 80
kilometres from the Queensland coast.
In the many beaches off the coast of
Sydney the swimming areas are protected by shark nets. These deep offshore net
systems prevent sharks from approaching too closely to the beach and the
swimmers there. Oftentimes the sharks become snagged in the nets and are
released by trained observers.
Sadly, the sharks which abounded in
Australian waters have been decimated by poachers from New Guinea and Indonesia
to provide shark fins for the restaurants of Singapore, Malaysia and China.
Whole reef systems in Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia
risk falling into ruin from the actions of these pirates and their actions are
crying out to be checked.
Tiger
Shark (Galeocerdo cuvier)
STR: 30-31 (3D6+20)
CON: 25-26 (3D6+15)
SIZ: 25-26 (4D6+15)
POW: 13 (2D6+6)
DEX: 16-17 (3D6+6)
Move: 12
HP:
27-28
Av Damage Bonus: +3D6
Weapon: Bite 80%, 1D8+db
Armour: 3
Skills: Scent Blood 95%
Habitat:
Murky coastal waters, from Sydney north around to Perth
Bull
Shark (Carcharhinus leucas)
STR: 27 (2D6+20)
CON: 20-21 (3D6+10)
SIZ: 22 (2D6+15)
POW: 13 (2D6+6)
DEX: 13 (2D6+6)
Move: 9
HP:
21-22
Av Damage Bonus: +2D6
Weapon: Bite 65%, 1D8+db
Armour: 4
Skills: Scent Blood 95%
Habitat:
Fresh and saltwater coastal shallows, north from Perth around to Melbourne
Great
White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias)
STR: 42-43 (5D6+25)
CON: 35-36 (3D6+25)
SIZ: 45 (7D6+20)
POW: 13 (2D6+6)
DEX: 13 (2D6+6)
Move: 11
HP:
40-41
Av Damage Bonus: +4D6
Weapon: Bite 70%, 1D10+db
Armour: 6
Skills: Scent Blood 99%
Habitat:
From Cairns south around to Broome, inshore at surface level
Snakes
As with sharks, there are just too many
types of poisonous snakes in Australia to list individually; therefore here is
a brief overview of snake activity within this country.
The level of danger presented by snakes
is determined by two different factors: toxicity and ferocity. The most
dangerous snake in the world, purely on the basis of its venom, is the African
Black Mamba which delivers an exorbitant amount of poison in each successful
bite; The Australian Taipan however, while only marginally less venomous, is
easily angered and will strike repeatedly against an attacker, often pursuing
it at length, even after it has opted to flee. This aggressive nature makes it
only the second most dangerous (not
the most venomous) snake on the
planet; first place goes to another Australian snake known by the somewhat
prosaic name of ‘Fierce Snake’, less poisonous but far, far more aggressive
than even the Taipan.
All snakes in Australia are relatively
timid when first encountered; most will simply attempt to get away from
potential threats by sliding rapidly into the undergrowth. When cornered, most
snake species adopt a threat posture, rearing up or hissing and inflating hoods
or thrashing coils to alarm any would-be aggressors. A snake will only choose
to bite as a last resort; this is because a single bite cannot be guaranteed to
deliver enough poison to eliminate the foe: sometimes it takes two or three
bites to deliver enough, or any, poison into the victim. The most commonly
encountered poisonous snakes in Australia are the Death Adder, the Brown Snake
and the Red-bellied Black Snake.
There are many types of pythons that
inhabit Australia also, and these, by their very definition, are not a serious
danger to travellers within the country. The Carpet Snake, the Diamond Python,
the Children’s Python and The Arafura File Snake (from the Northern Territory)
can bite when roughly handled, but the bite is non-venomous; equally, they are
none of them as large as the Reticulated Pythons of Asia and therefore are
rarely able to constrict creatures as large as human beings.
To confuse matters, Australia is home to
many species of legless lizards which can grow to substantial length. Some of
these are able to deliver a vicious – though non-venomous – bite and have often
been mistaken for snakes. Australians learn very early on to be wary when
walking through the Bush and never to pick up any innocuous-looking smooth
sticks...
Death
Adder (Acanthophis antarcticus)
STR: 5 (2D4)
CON: 7 (2D6)
SIZ: 5 (2D4)
POW: 4-5 (1D8)
DEX: 10-11 (3D6)
Move: 8
HP:
6
Av Damage Bonus: n/a
Weapon: Bite 50%, 1D2 + POT 12 Poison)
Armour: none
Skills: Hide in Cover 80%; Move Quietly
90%
Habitat:
Beneath leaf litter and under logs in forests along Australia’s east coast and
from there towards the Red Centre.
Red-bellied
Black Snake (Pseudechis porphyriacus)
STR: 10 (2D4+3)
CON: 10 (2D4+3)
SIZ: 13 (2D6+6)
POW: 7 (2D6)
DEX: 17 (2D6+10)
Move: 10
HP:
12
Av Damage Bonus: n/a
Weapon: Bite 40%, 1 point damage plus POT
7 Poison
Armour: none
Skills: Hide in Cover 90%; Move Quietly
90%
Habitat:
Beneath leaf litter and under logs in forests along Australia’s east coast and
from there towards the Red Centre.
Brown
Snake (Pseudechis australis)
STR: 11 (2D4+6)
CON: 10 (2D6+3)
SIZ: 13 (2D6+6)
POW: 10-11 (3D6)
DEX: 17 (2D6+10)
Move: 9
HP:
11-12
Av Damage Bonus: n/a
Weapon: Bite 60%, 1 point damage plus POT
16 Poison
Armour: none
Skills: Hide in Cover 80%; Move Quietly
90%
Habitat:
within the underbrush, throughout Australia
Spiders
Spiders are also an issue in this
country. Many common spider species are deadly in the extreme and it is only in
relatively recent times that treatments have been developed to counteract their
venom. The most common is the Red Back, which, like the American Black Widow,
combines a creepily sleek body design with a striking paint job of black with a
splash of scarlet on the top of the abdomen. The bite of this arachnid is
generally non-fatal to grown humans (POT: 7) but has been known to kill
children and babies: most adults will only endure nausea, itchiness and unsteadiness
for a day or so.
Another commonly encountered spider is
the Huntsman, a non-web-spinning arachnid that prefers to directly encounter
its prey under ambush conditions. Huntsmen are often discovered lurking on the
ceilings of houses during the warmer months, tracking mosquitoes to devour. If
roughly handled a Huntsman can deliver a painful bite (POT: 4) which itches
intolerably for a few days; problems can occur when the Huntsman is mistaken
for a Mouse Spider, a beast similarly designed but with a more bulbous body:
the Mouse Spider’s venom is much more efficacious (POT: 7) and can cause
nausea, heart palpitations dizziness and vomiting along with itchiness and
topical discomfort in adults. In children it is quite often fatal.
The king, or perhaps queen, of the spider
kingdom in Australia however, is the Funnel Web Spider. This arachnid builds
large funnel-shaped webs amongst the leaf litter and detritus of forest floors.
It enjoys dark, moist conditions in which to hide and is sometimes discovered lurking
in gumboots or gardening gloves. It is aggressive and can jump up to three feet
vertically to assault its victims. It is able to walk on the meniscus of watery
bodies or to crawl along the bottom of lakes or pools using air trapped in the
hairs of its body to breathe. Its bite is invariably fatal (POT: 20),
especially that of the female of the species, unless treated with an antivenin.
Like the Taipan, the Funnel Web is an aggressive opponent and will strike
multiple times in a single attack to ensure that the prey is poisoned.
Any successful strike upon a spider will
kill it.
Tasmanian
Devils
These tough little brutes are confined to
the island state of Tasmania to the south of the main part of Australia. They
are about the size of cats, black with white spots and with a stocky, doggish
appearance. They have pointed ears, a short tail and pronounced whiskers and a
superabundance of teeth. ‘Devils are scavengers and tend to snuffle up only
that which has been left behind by other predators; for this reason they are
often encountered by roadsides where they sometimes, themselves, come to a
grisly end.
Tasmanian Devils are cranky and
mean-spirited, able to inflict savage bites on those that they feel mean them
no good. A decent snap from a ‘Devil can sever fingers or break bones and a
group of these beasts are well able to take down a sick or disorientated
creature; Tasmanian Devils tend to be solitary however, so this rarely happens.
Sadly, the species has recently developed
a tendency to develop unusual and disfiguring cancers - due to profound
pollution of their habitats and an ever-diminishing gene-pool - which may well
see them extinct before too much longer.
STR: 7 (2D6)
CON: 10-11 (3D6)
SIZ: 2-3 (1D4)
POW: 7 (2D6)
DEX: 19 (2D6+12)
Move: 9
HP:
6-7
Av Damage Bonus: -1D6
Weapon: Bite 20%, 1D10
Armour: none
Skills: Make Alarming Night-time Noises
80%; Scavenge Predatory Leftovers 75%; Scent Interesting Things 60%
Habitat:
Forested environments in Tasmania
Wombats
The wombat, like the koala, is a
deceptively dozy beast; however, where the koala tends to be sleepy due to its
dietary requirements, the wombat is simply solitary, pig-headed and
anti-social. A marsupial, the wombat has a pouch in which it carries its young
and it grazes widely in the forests which it calls its home.
A non-arboreal lifestyle has meant that
the wombat must be ready for encounters with threatening entities and it has
evolved significant strategies in this regard: first, it is stocky and
muscular, with heavy bones and a thick skull; secondly, it can dig very quickly
with its massive claws, disappearing under the earth in a matter of minutes;
thirdly, the back end of a wombat, beneath its thick coat, dense hide and tough
muscle, is composed of heavy, cartilaginous, overlapping plates, which means
that, with its head in the ground, there is very little that a predator can do
to dislodge it. A wombat’s usual strategy is to dig a hole and plug the
entrance with its bottom; if it can’t do this it will rely on its sharp claws
and chisel-like teeth. Many a tourist has fallen for the cute, fluffy appeal of
the wombat, only to be rudely disappointed.
STR: 13 (2D6+6)
CON: 14 (4D6)
SIZ: 11 (2D6+4)
POW: 7 (2D6)
DEX: 7 (2D6)
Move: 8
HP:
13
Av Damage Bonus: none
Weapon: Bite 20%, 1D4; Claw 40%, 1D6
Armour: 6-point hide, hair, muscle and
cartilaginous plates
Skills: Dig 80%
Habitat:
Throughout Australia, but mainly southern and eastern non-desert regions
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