I was in the same mindspace as The Antalop for this one. Not sure I have much to add, but I’m glad I landed on these more “vague” statistics than my first posts, because I feel like it generalizes well to the simpler systems I prefer currently.
Recovered: The Devil’s Darning Needle
Dragonflies have long had a bad reputation. Called “ear cutters,” “eye-pokers,” “eye-snatchers,” and “adder’s servants” in parts of Europe, the story I grew up with was that they were “the devil’s darning needles,” and they would sew your lips and eyelids shut.
I actually think dragonflies are pretty cool, and obviously they don’t hurt people, but if they did…
(Image by Moses Harris, public domain, from Wikimedia Commons.)
A devil’s darning needle looks similar to a dragonfly except that when it flies it always flies “backwards.” They are encountered alone, in pairs, or in swarms of 2d20, and are a favorite summon of Beelzebub and his ilk when enforcing contracts. The darning needle attacks by poking, prodding, and piercing its prey, weaving it with invisible magic cords while it does. Eventually the prey is immobilized, at which point the darning needles wait for it to die before feeding on the carrion.
For statistics, use a sprite, except that its type is magical beast, every hit deals an additional 1 point Dex damage, and they only have 1 hp.
This post was first shared on August 23, 2012.