Friday Creature Feature: Bloodbeard

Here's another critter from Qalidar converted to Peryton RPG as part of my slow progress towards restoring that setting to the game for which it should always have been written. And hey, special bonus, I've added the never-before-seen beard fungus mechanic to make it new and improved. See, sometimes you do get good stuff for free! Well, fungus anyway.

BLOODBEARD
Medium Humanoid
Hit Dice: 1d10
Speed: 20 ft
Armor Class: 14 (patchwork armor)
Attack Bonus:  +2 melee
Damage: 1d8 (axe)
Special Qualities: Darkvision
Saves: Fort +6, Ref +0, Will -1
Abilities: Str 15, Dex 10, Con 15, Int 4, Wis 9, Chr 1
Environment: cursed ruins

Bloodbeards are stocky, grizzled humanoids with a fondness for metal and shiny rocks. They have wild hair and absurdly long beards that are infested with fungus. Legends say they were once a civilized race, before Qalidar's corrosive sky brought out their true nature. Now they roam the city in packs, killing and eating anyone they can, preying even on their own kind when they smell weakness.

Rage: A bloodbeard can fly into a rage, temporarily gaining 10 hit points, a +2 bonus to melee attacks and a +2 bonus on Will and Fortitude saves. While in a rage, bloodbeards take a –2 penalty to Armor Class. While raging, a bloodbeards cannot use any abilities that require patience or concentration, nor can they cast spells or activate magic items. A fit of rage lasts for five rounds. At the end of the rage, the bloodbeard loses the rage modifiers and restrictions and becomes fatigued (–2 penalty to Strength, –2 penalty to Dexterity, can’t use rage) for the duration of the current encounter.

Beard Fungus: Any bearded dwarf who engages in melee combat or makes physical contact with a bloodbeard must make a Fortitude save (DC 20) or become infected with beard fungus. For the first day, this will only be apparent as a mild itching sensation. At this point, shaving the beard will allow the dwarf to make a second saving throw (also DC 20) with success indicating complete excision and failure indicating that the fungus has already moved on to the flesh and must be magically cured. After the first day, shaving the beard will have no effect either way, and the dwarf will begin losing 1d4 points of Intelligence and Charisma every day until one of the scores reaches 1, at which point the character becomes a full bloodbeard and can no longer be cured. If the disease is magically cured in time, the lost ability points will naturally recover at a rate of one per day.