The 10th entry in my series of monsters from Barlowe’s Guide to Extra-Terrestrials is the Demu from F. M. Busby’s Cage a Man.
Demu
FREQUENCY: Very Rare
NO. APPEARING: 2-12
ARMOR CLASS: 4
MOVE: 12″
HIT DICE: 2+2
% IN LAIR: 75%
TREASURE TYPE: Individuals N; in lair I, S, T
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-6
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Enervation ray
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Genius
ALIGNMENT: Lawful Evil
SIZE: M (6′ tall)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
Demu roam the stars beyond their empire of planets, inhabited as well as enslaved, on a crusade to find intelligent beings to be enslaved and transformed into Demu using psychological conditioning and physical alteration.
For each three Demu in a roaming group, one will be a level 1 cleric. The third cleric will instead be level 3 and the fourth level 5. Higher level clerics may be found in larger Demu conclaves, though the overall density of clerics is usually lower in these population centers.
Demu have hard exoskeletons that protect them from attack. They wield advanced technology, but they prefer to take their victims alive. They frequently wield enervation rays capable of firing a beam once per round. Targets must succeed on a save versus wands or fall unconscious for 2-8 turns. This save is at +2 between 30′ and 60′ and +4 between 60′ and 120′, the maximum range. They may also wield nets.
Description: Demu have bone-colored exoskeletons, complete with flexible joints. They have deep-set glowing white eyes. They have no teeth, but their exoskeletal mouth has deep, cutting grooves.
I read some summaries of Cage a Man trying to figure out the Demu behavior, but I didn’t figure out much. Part of me wants to read some of these books to get a better idea, but at the same time, I don’t know if I could stomach this one.
Mind Weave Role-Playing Platform 