Wednesday, April 29, 2015

A to Z of Vampires: Yara-ma-yha-who


Let's head to the land down under for one of the strangest vampires I have found.

The Yara-ma-yha-who is a vampire of the aboriginal peoples of Australia.

It appears as a small red man with a large mouth but no teeth.  He lives in fig trees and jumps on people as they walk by attacking them with his sucker tipped fingers.   The Yara-ma-yha-who will then suck blood out the person unless he is flung off.  Each attack by the Yara-ma-yha-who makes the person a little shorter.  The attack drains 1 point of Constitution while attached.  A successful grapple role is needed to remove it.

Anyone drained to death by this creature will become one. The Yara-ma-yha-who will open it's wide mouth and swallow the dead victim whole.  It will sleep and then regurgitate the victim who will be small and red like the Yara-ma-yha-who itself. It will rise by the next dawn as a new Yara-ma-yha-who and must find a fig tree of it's own to haunt.

Unlike other vampires the Yara-ma-yha-who hunts during the day and sleeps at night.

Reducing the vampire to 0 hp or turning it will cause it to flee to it's tree.
The Yara-ma-yha-who can only be destroyed is by staking it int he heart with wood from  it's own tree and then then burning it and it's tree.

A Yara-ma-yha-who cannot enter a personal dwelling or holy land at all.

Yara-ma-yha-who
Frequency: Very Rare
No. Apperring: 1
Size: Halfling-sized (S)
Armor Class: 5 [15]1
Movement
 Basic: 120' (40')
 Advanced: 12"
 3e: 30ft
Hit Dice: 8+1 (37 hp)
% in Lair: 100% (fig tree)
Treasure Type: Attacks: 2 (claw/claw) + Blood Drain
Damage: 1d4/1d4 + Blood Drain
Special Attacks: Per Vampire; Blood Drain
Special Defenses: Only killed by fig tree wood
Save As: Fighter 82
Magic Resistance: Normal
Morale: 83
Alignment: Chaotic evil
Level/XP: 8/3,450 + 12/hp

STR: 16 INT: 10 WIS: 10 DEX: 19 CON: __(10)4  CHA: 135

1 Descending and [Ascending] Armor classes are given.
2 This is used for Basic games, and S&W. Also for monsters that I think need to save a little differently than others.
3 Morale is "Basic" Morale and based on a 1-12 scale.
4 Have not decided yet if I want to use 3.x style undead Constitutions or not. (15) Reflects what their Con would be if I do use it.  I might just put a number in () like I do for Ghosts of Albion.
5 obviously more reflective of personality and character than looks.

I am working on a monster stat block that I can use in my old-games and future publications (if I do any).  I want something that anyone can pick up and use regardless of the system they are using.
What do you think?


15 comments:

Matthew MacNish said...

He's kind of cute.

Jeremy [Retro] said...

reminds me of the film Mummy Returns... there were the same kinds of creatures... eating at your ankles until dead.

great post for the challenge, it's almost over... sleep is near.

A Tarkabarka Hölgy said...

Hah, no teeth and suction fingers. Nope... not less creepy :D But kinda cute!

@TarkabarkaHolgy from
Multicolored Diary - Epics from A to Z
MopDog - 26 Ways to Die in Medieval Hungary

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Freaky looking creature. And tough to kill.

Door2Lore said...

Boy, you've got to be prepared to kill the Yara-Ma-yha-who. Note to self - bring axe or chainsaw, firestarter. Off to Australia!
@Door2LoreSue
PowerofStoryABlog - Every Hero Has a Story

Misha Gerrick said...

Creepy. Kinda makes me think of a tick.

Anna (herding cats-burning soup) said...

LOL I kinda think he's cute too. Never heard of that. Very interesting :D

Unknown said...

LOL! That thing is beyond disturbing looking, could you imagine just strolling through the woods and it drop on you. Seriously, I'd run into a tree screaming.

Stephen Tremp said...

Can I have one? I have some neighbors I don't like.

And I got your email from last week. Just trying to survive A to Z at the moment. Almost there!

A Daft Scots Lass said...

A Zombie with no teeth? How exactly does that work?

Dr. Theda said...

We actually read on this one while studying Folklore...
Cool post...

Lisa Southard said...

I love figs, I'm a high risk group for that sucker attack :-/

Anonymous said...

I recall last year someone featuring this vampire and he was an interesting sounding little dude.

~Patricia Lynne aka Patricia Josephine~
Member of C. Lee's Muffin Commando Squad
Story Dam
Patricia Lynne, Indie Author

LilyElement said...

Now that is a different kind of vampire :D

Tasha Duncan-Drake said...

He is an odd little critter isn't he. :)
Tasha
Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)