JOB 41:4 (GLoG monster-as-class: Beithir)

 The Dragon, hated and hateful thing that it is, occupies a place of power in the mind; it is the ultimate adversary, a challenge which dynasties have proven or ended themselves against. Some would seek to become like them, to consume the enemy and steal its strength- one of many bad ideas.

A very long time ago, when there was no one king and many Wizard-Kings did as they saw fit, one of these tyrants got the bright idea to reinvent the dragon; a beast of the Thunder, loyal to its Wise One as the dragons were loyal to theirs, powerful and terrible yet unable to surpass its masters. A cocodril's egg, injected with the blood of a sylph and the semen of the Wizard-King in question, birthed the first of these creatures: the Beithir.

Beithir

Naturally, like anything ever made by a Wizard, they escaped into the wild. Not only could they breed true, Beithirs could think- and want. They exist in small populations scattered across the world, hidden in wild places or displayed in menageries, terrors or curiosities; it is only natural that something so interesting would seek an interesting life.

Skills: 1. Wild Animal. 2. Wizard's Servant. 3. Literacy. If you don't start with this, you are illiterate.

Starting Items: Three Hoarded Goods.

+2 HP per template.

A Loathly Worm, +2 MOVE, +1 ND

B Shocking Grasp, +1 to hit, +1 ND

C Treesplitter, +2 MOVE, +1 ND

D Basiliscus, +1 to hit, +1 ND

As a Beithir, you are proficient with your natural weapons and with swords- a gift from the Thunder. Any armor you wear will have to be custom-fitted, and you are not proficient with any kind.

Loathly Worm

You are a monstrous thing. Your head is that of a constrictor snake with a ram's curling horns, granting you a natural 1d6 bite attack. Your torso is somewhat like a featherless bird's, with vaguely-human arms and wet, slimy skin that gives you natural light armor. Below that, you have the body of a massive newt, with four short legs and a long, paddle-like tail; you have a +[templates] bonus to rolls for swimming and climbing. You can hardly speak- single words, almost coughed out from jaws unfit to pronounce them. Your daily ration consumption is doubled.

You can breathe bolts of lightning. Start with the spell Lightning Bolt, cast exclusively with your ND: Natural Dice, much like Magic Dice, only for representing your ability to vomit electricity at things.

Lightning Bolt.

R: n/a T: a [dice]×50' line D: instant

A beam of superheated plasma emits from your mouth, striking anything in the target area for [sum] damage, SAVE for half. Those wearing or carrying a significant amount of metal get no SAVE. This will burn through thin barriers, but will "bounce" off of solid, non-conductive surfaces like earth and stone, possibly striking the caster in the process. 

People will react to your strangeness accordingly. You are a monster; unaccompanied, you are likely to be met by violence; if people are with you, you will be seen as a terrifying exotic pet. Wizards might seek to possess you, or gut you for reagents. No matter what, you will draw attention.

Shocking Grasp

Through your flesh, the power flows. Anything you touch automatically takes 1 damage. This applies to your melee attacks with natural or metal weapons as long as the result is 10 or higher. You may choose to turn this effect on or off once per round, if it comes down to it. You take half damage from electricity; if a succsssful SAVE would permit you to halve this damage further, a success negates the damage instead.

Treesplitter

You're stronger now, and larger; a head taller than a man, with another two pairs of legs on your lower body. You don't have to eat your old skin after the molt, but it would be a waste not to. Your bite attack does 1d10 damage, and your skin is medium armor. You can charge in a 50' straight line, forcing anything in your way SAVE or be trampled for 2d6 damage. If a target is smaller than a horse, a failed SAVE also knocks them prone.

Basiliscus 

Four more horns sprout from your head; a crown, at last. Your ND are only lost on rolls of 5 or higher. When casting Lightning Bolt, you can change the Target to a [dice]×25' cone. Under an open sky, you can change the Range to [dice]×100' and the Target to [dice] creatures or objects exposed to the air.

Hoarded Goods:

1. A medium antenna sword. A fine piece of arsenical bronze, well-kept through centuries of use. 1 slot.
2. 50' of chain. This may have been around your neck, once. 2 slots.
3. A light javelin. Has doubled throwing range, and can be two-handed for 1d8 damage. 1 slot.
4. 100' of copper wire in a coil. 1 slot.
5. Barding Helmet. Close-fitted iron plates with gutta-percha insulation, providing protection to the head, eyes, and neck at the cost of peripheral vision. +1 AC. 1 slot carried, 0 slots worn.
6. A 10' pole with a crossbar, once meant to hold a standard. 2 slots.
7. TOWER icon. A clay miniature of a lightning-struck Wizard, shot through with blackened lines. Will turn reduce a critical hit against the wearer to a single point of damage once, exploding into little fragments in the process.
8. Slate with three sticks of chalk. Even if you can't read and write, a mark can mean a lot. 1/3rd of a slot.
9. Horsekiller Sword. A misnomer- it's actually for killing horsemen. A massive blade with a long handle and a sharply-hooked tip for pulling people out of the saddle, often in two pieces. 4 slots.
10. A small bowl made from the top of a human skull, scrimshawed on the inside with crying eyes. At dawn, it fills with clear, fresh rainwater. 1/3rd of a slot.
11. A bundle of ten rushlights. Shed 10' of dim light when lit, burning for 30 minutes each. Smell faintly of petrichor. 1 slot.
12. The Garden of Stars, a scroll of astrological fables depicting various celestial bodies as animals. Lavish illustrations explain the nature and movements of stars through allegory, with very sparse text; this was made to educate the illiterate. Consulted from in one hand, this scroll grants the skill Astronomy. 1 slot.