Spelljammer

Bird - Gullion

Oiseau - Goélion

MC Spelljammer Appendix II



Gullion
Climate/Terrain:Planet/Around ships
Frequency:Common
Organization:Flock
Activity Cycle:Any
Diet:Omnivore
Intelligence:Animal (1)
Treasure:Nil
Alignment:Neutral

No. Appearing:10-100
Armor Class:10 (6 in flight)
Movement:10, Fl 12
Hit Dice:1
THAC0:20
No. of Attacks:1
Damage/Attack:1d2
Special Attacks:Nil
Special Defenses:Nil
Magic Resistance:Nil
Size:S (3’)
Morale:Irregular (5)
XP Value:7

Gullions are related to terrestrial seagulls but have adapted to life in space. Spelljamming crews despise them, because they waste precious air and demand a good deal of food.

Due to exposure to many different magics and climes, the gullions vary widely in color, from purple to orange to normal gull colorings, but all are shaped like large seagulls.

Combat: Gullions try to steal food. For birds with animal intelligence, they are incredibly sneaky; they sometimes stage diversions in order to get their beaks on someone’s dinner.

Gullions only attack in numbers and only when extremely hungry. If a large group of gulls haven’t eaten in days, they attack the nearest food – usually crew members on a ship. They flock together and attack with their beaks, trying to knock foes unconscious. Once a crew member has been knocked out, the gullions search for food on the body. If there isn’t enough food to satisfy them, they start eating the victim.

Many green crews plagued with gullions try to kill as many as possible as soon as they enter wildspace. This is difficult, for the gulls have adapted to the air envelope around ships and use the gravity line to fly erratically. This gives them a low Armor Class. More experienced crews tolerate the colorful birds, and usually cast food out into the air envelope to keep the scavengers satisfied.

Habitat/Society: Gullions can survive in almost any environment. They hitch rides with ships from one world to another. The gulls stay in the travelling ship’s air envelope, as they have no spelljamming ability. These gulls have also grown accustomed to the gravity plane and actually sleep while floating along the plane.

Upon landfall, gullions jump spelljammers and may inhabit port towns their whole lives. Planet-bound natives often wonder how these colorful gulls suddenly appeared.

Ecology: As scavengers, gullions aren’t picky about what they eat: Rats, garbage, and leftovers all form part of their diet. Some inkeepers encourage gullions to stay around, primarily to eat the remains of last night’s dinners.

Nesting areas for flocks of gullions with exceptionally bright colors can become tourist attractions. This can lead to nasty infighting between bar owners about which establishment owns a particular flock. The gullions don’t care, as long as they get fed.