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Astral stalkers were creatures of the Astral Plane that hunted across the planes.[2][1]
Description[]
An astral stalker looked like a muscular humanoid, standing around 6 feet (1.8 meters) tall, with black-green skin, a prominent jaw, and great razor-sharp claws.[2]
Personality[]
Astral stalkers lived for the thrill of hunting down prey, and gained status in their communities by the amount and strength of those creatures they hunted down. Thus they preferred intelligent prey as it would fight back far smarter than unintelligent beasts. Indeed they gained a great deal of pleasure from hunting down their most elusive prey, and would even make sure their quarry was somehow warned about their coming hunt in advance.[2]
Always seeking to test themselves, they would hunt down stronger prey, but neither stupid nor reckless they would seldomly engage in the true hunt without extensive preparation, including scouting out the terrain and their opponents. Once the hunt was on, they would use ambush attacks.[2]
Abilities[]
An astral stalker could shoot a poisoned dart from its throat,[2][1] and turn invisible until the very moment it attacked their quarry. Once they had the identity of a prey creature, they had an uncanny ability to know where it was, even across planar boundaries.[1]
Combat[]
In combat, the astral stalker would weaken their quarry with darts and terror before moving in and raking the prey with their claws.[2][1] If the target escaped or shook off the effects of the poison, they would try to disappear before moving in once more.[1]
Society[]
They gathered in small tribes led by the astral stalker with the most impressive hunting trophies, thus the leadership position could and would change hands whenever one of its members succeeded in hunting down new and mighty prey.[1]
The astral stalker community had a list of Rules of the Hunt that they saw as absolute. First, if a quarry managed to escape and the astral stalker lost track of it, it would never again be hunted by that astral stalker. An employer who had hired an astral stalker was off-limits from becoming prey for at least one year after hiring the astral stalker. Finally, no astral stalker would ever hunt down another astral stalker.[2]
History[]
They were created as living weapons of the gods in the Dawn War. After the Dawn War, the astral stalkers escaped to the Astral Sea.[1]
Appendix[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Mike Mearls, Stephen Schubert, James Wyatt (June 2008). Monster Manual 4th edition. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 10. ISBN 978-0-7869-4852-9.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 Andrew Finch, Gwendolyn Kestrel, Chris Perkins (August 2004). Monster Manual III. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 12. ISBN 0-7869-3430-1.