Numenera Discovery
Terror doesn't even begin to describe it. The woods seem still. Quiet. At the risk of being cliché, too quiet. Then there is a tremor. A rumbling. Then, far more quickly than you might expect (if you were smart enough to realize that the rumbling was the approach of a large beast), a terrible but beautiful shape emerges from the tall trees, a creature as colorful as a jungle flower but burgeoning with teeth and hunger and death. Your doom charges at you as though destiny guided its feet. The only mercy is that it ends as quickly as it began.
Jiraskars are fierce, apex predator reptiles. Their colorful bodies have fleshy frills and only two functioning limbs: powerful legs that carry them at prey with great speed. They have terrible (practically nonexistent) natural senses but can use their brains to tap into the datasphere, which guides them to where they need to go. The huge beasts live only to hunt because most of their prey is small, so they must kill continually to survive.
Motive: Hungers for flesh
Environment: Jiraskars hunt alone or in pairs in any wet or wooded area. They are also drawn to
large crystals, such as those found beneath the Cloudcrystal Skyfields.
Health: 40
Damage Inflicted: Major wound (10 points)
Movement: Long
Modifications: Perception as level 10. Speed defense as level 5 due to size. Intellect defense as level 4. Climbs as level 2.
Combat: Jiraskars are extremely fast. They charge in with a savage bite and don't stop biting until the prey is dead or they are. Things like invisibility, illusions, disguises, camouflage, and crafty hiding places mean nothing to them.
Interaction: Jiraskars are animals and act as such.
Use: Because jiraskars are so fast, an encounter with one can arise very quickly. And because they are so powerful, an encounter can also end very quickly.
GM Intrusion: The jiraskar's tail knocks the character prone. In addition to taking damage from the creature's bite attack, the PC is also trampled under its clawed feet for 7 points of damage.