Death Goats
Death Goats are very large mutant mountain goats. They are predatory but they are very territorial and will attack anything they perceive as being a threat to their grazing lands, often attacking horses and mules.
While ordinary mountain goats are sure footed on steep slopes and rocky terrain, Death Goats are supernaturally sure footed. They can scale up walls and cling to surfaces upside like a spider.
They can also jump immense distances with incredible precision, capable of jumping onto or off of airborne or falling targets with uncanny accuracy.
Death goats are immune to falling damage. They can subconsciously and instinctually manipulate gravity. When they leap they are reducing gravity's effect on them to jump farther and higher. When they pounce on a foe they can intensify gravity's effect on them stomping them with greater force.
While they can headbutt and kick with great power and accuracy, their preferred tactic is to knock opponents off of ledges or cliffs. If they are really threatened or provoked they will take opponents off of ledges with them taking advantage of their immunity to fall damage.
"Death goats are canny enough to wait till till their targets are dangerous close to the edge of a ledge before attacking. Even though they run up and down vertical surfaces, they don't have a ranged attack. If you can spot them quickly, you can try to take them out with ranged attacks so when traveling through a wild mountain pass, it's good to have a keen eyed archer in your party...if one is available..." Brigid. adventurer, among other things.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Death goats are anatomically very similar to ordinary mountain goats except that they are much larger and their horns are proportionally larger. Their horns are sometimes twisted in unusual shapes and configuration that set them apart from ordinary mountain goats.
Their fur is commonly white or light grey but darker colors are known.
They also have a vague air of menace about them as they almost psychically broadcast "STAY OUT OF MY TERRITORY!"
Biological Traits
Typical mountain goats are roughly three feet three inches tall and roughly four feet to six feet long nose to tail. They between 100 and 300 pounds on the extreme ends, with typical males weighing about two hundred pounds and females being a fair bit lighter
Death Goats are typically between six feet to eight feet tall and are roughly ten to fifteen feet long nose to tail. They weigh between 600 and 3000 pounds on the extreme ends, typically weighing in around 1000 pounds.
Genetics and Reproduction
It is generally believed that death goats are a mutation of normal mountain goats and that periodically normal mountain goats give birth to Death Goat kids.
Death goats are more likely to be male by a ratio of roughly 2:1 or it could be that female death goats are less aggressive towards outsiders or more wary of humanoids so they could be just as common as males, just less often witnessed.
While female Death Goats are known, no one has ever seen a female Death Goat with kids in tow and lived to tell about it. Either Death Goat females cannot bear healthy young or they never let outsiders see them and live.
Ecology and Habitats
Death Goats range in tall mountains, often with spare vegetation causing them to be very aggressive in defending their food supplies.
Their roaming grounds often coincide with elemental fonts of energy, especially those or earth and air and this is believed to have something to do with how ordinary mountain goats sometimes produce Death Goat kids.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Death Goats are herbivores eating more or less the same plants that normal mountain goats do, they just eat a lot more.
Death Goats have voracious appetites and they will vigorously protect their territory. Seeking to kill or drive off other grazers that are passing through their stomping grounds. They will leave normal mountain goats and small critters like rodents alone, but all other grazers are fair game. Death Goat territories are often conspicuously absent of large game.
Death Goats are not threatened by ordinary predators like bears and mountain lions and they are thus indifferent to them. On rare occasions, Death Goats can find themselves prey to supernatural predators such as dragons or chimera. When threatened by a serious predators, Death Goats will fight back vigorously, so much so that most predators large enough to take down a Death Goat will be so injured from their "victory" that they will avoid Death Goats for the rest of their lives, assuming they survive to heal from their wounds.
Typically Death Goats enter enter conflict with humans when the Death Goats attack their pack animals and livestock. Death Goats are intelligent enough to recognize humanoids as the masters and protectors of herbivores and are thus priority targets. They also occasionally attack humanoids without livestock or pack animals when they are foraging but this fairly rare.
While aggressive, a Death Goat that is clearly outmatched will flee.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Some sages speculate that Death Goats mate with ordinary mountain goats though this has never been witnessed.
Both male and female Death Goats will not attack or hinder ordinary mountain goats in their territory, but they have never been seen defending ordinary mountain goats from predators or any other external threat.
Domestication
No one has managed to domesticate a Death Goat, nor has any known magic allowed a domesticated goat to give birth to a Death Goat kid.
Some legendary barbarian warriors have managed to tame and ride Death Goats.
Some mages have managed to magically bind the minds of Death Goats temporarily.
Uses, Products & Exploitation
Their wool has latent magical ability and qualifies as a durable reagents , useful as the base material for magical cloaks or any magical item that can feasibly be made from wool.
Few risk hunting a Death Goat for their wool, but like regular mountain goats, they molt their winter coats in the spring and this wool can be collected fairly safely and easily by those who know where to look.
Average Intelligence
They are clever beasts but not human level sentience.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Death Goats have keen vision able to see clearly over long distances.
Their nearsighted vision is excellent too, they can aim their kicks and leaps extremely precisely. They can instinctually calculate very precise jumps and can even jump on a target mid air and use that to gain extra altitude or to change direction.
They have a wide a 270 degree range of vision, so they are rarely taken by surprise.
Their sense of hearing and smell is comparable to normal mountain goats, good but not amazing.
Civilization and Culture
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Death goats famously try to kill or drive off large herbivores in their territory apart from mountain goats. Death Goats aren't even a little afraid of mountain lions or bears. More monstrous predators can threaten a Death Goat, but most beasts strong enough to take down a Death Goat are also smart enough to hunt softer prey. You aren't going to see many predators of any stripe in a Death Goats territory because there are so few prey animals, thus you have few predators. Death Goats come into conflict with humans, orcs, or dwarves when they try to bring livestock through a Death Goats territory and this provokes a hostile response. It is rumored that since they won't attack mountain goats, they won't attack satyrs because they view us as kindred spirits. This is simply true. This is immediately obvious after you seen a death goat attack a domesticated goat which are more closely related to us satyrs than mountain goats. If on of us appears to threaten a Death Goat's grazing land, it will kill us just as dead as a human or orc. We satyrs are simply better than other mortals at not provoking Death Goats. For one thing, we don't keep ride horses and we don't keep a lot of livestock. For another thing, we can recognize the borders of their territory. The first sign that a Death Goat is nearby is a conspicuous lack of wild game. Since Death Goats drive away most other beasts, a Death Goat's territory is actually one of the safest stretches of highland you will ever find, provided you are packing enough food. We Kionus generally stay out of Death Goat territory except around spring to quietly collect their molted wool, then we leave. Kuvyos, Kionus satyr
Typical Adult Death Goat
Willpower 7 Lethal Soak 9 dice Dexterity 5, Strength 7, Stamina 6, Perception 3, Wits 3 Abilities: Alertness 5, Animal Ken 2, Athletics 5, Brawl 6, Dodge 4, Intimidation 2, Stealth 2, Survival 3 (+1 foraging) Head Butt: 11 dice bashing damage Kick: 8 dice lethal damage Immune to Falling Damage. It can add three dice to the falling damage of any opponent it knocks off a cliff and make all bashing damage falls lethal. Death Goats can cling to sheer surfaces as they always had Spider Climb cast on them. While it mimics the spell, anti-magic counter measures do not stop this ability. Death Goats can take two full B actions a round. They often use this to charge-in and attack, dodge against the immediate retribution, then withdraw by jumping or running where their enemies cannot follow while preparing for a second charge.
Lifespan
unknown
Average Height
6 feet, hooves to horns
Average Weight
200 pounds
Average Length
12 feet, nose to tail
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Fur colors are commonly brown, white, or light grey. Other colorations are not unknown.
Geographic Distribution
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