Cthulhu Against the Son of Hercules

[seneschal]

Medusa Against the Son of Hercules, Embassy Pictures, 1963.  Original Italian title something like Perseus Invincible.

We've seen Medusa petrify folks in Clash of the Titans, The Gorgon, and assorted other movies.  She gets a different take in Medusa Against the Son of Hercules.  The film is your standard sword-and-sandal epic, brawny hero opposing evil king and winning heart of nubile princess.  However, it features a pretty good lake monster.  Medusa herself isn't a snake-haired lady but a 9-foot-tall anemone-like creature with a single baleful yellow eye in the center of its tentacles.  It crawls along on crab-like or root-like legs at the base of its stalk.  It is capable of grappling with a foe but its main attack is its evil Care Bear Stare, must make eye contact to work.  The creature is pretty tough, able to take plenty of sword strokes without serious harm.  Its Achilles heel is the eye itself.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056343/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_1

 

[seneschal]

Trying to put the monster in game terms.  Here's what I've come up with so far.  Suggestions appreciated.

Italian Gorgon

Source:  Medusa Against the Son of Hercules, Embassy Pictures, 1963

No snake-haired lady, this creature is a 9-foot-tall anemone-like creature with a single baleful yellow eye in the center of its tentacles.  It crawls along on crab-like or root-like legs at the base of its stalk.  Although it can grapple foes with its tentacles, the medusa’s primary attack is its evil stare, which requires prolonged eye contact to petrify a victim.  The creature is able to endure multiple sword strokes without serious injury, but its eye is its Achilles heel.  A land creature despite its oceanic appearance, the medusa lives in a perpetually mist-shrouded valley strewn with statues, the bodies of men and animals it has slain.  It actively hunts intruders.  Legend has it that the medusa’s victims will revive if the monster is killed, but so far no one has managed to do that.

STR 30

CON 24

SIZ 31

INT 8

POW 30

DEX 10

Move:  5

Hit Points:  28

Damage Bonus:  +3D6

Armor:  5 (tough hide)

Attacks:  Grapple 60%, 1d3+DB; Petrify 70% (special)

Skills:  Projection 70%, Sense 45%, Stealth 60%, Track 55%

Chaotic Trait – Hideous appearance; POW vs. POW, if target fails all tasks against the medusa are Difficult for 1D6+2 rounds.  SAN penalty 0/1D8.

Powers:

Petrify – Projection 2d6 (radiation), must make eye contact, victim totally calcified when reaches 0 hit points; 20 points, 2 power points

Create Mist –

Extra Energy,

Failings:

Notes:  POW based on average for Call of Cthulhu critters.  It was hard to determine the creature's INT.  It defends its territory, but no more cunningly than any beast, and it certainly makes no attempt to communicate with its victims.  I finally settled on a medium value between smart animal and dumb human level.

Edited July 31, 2015 by seneschal
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