The brown scavver, which range from a sun-dappled gold to a dark rusty umber, is very much like the other three basic groups of scavvers (gray, night and void) in that they are shark like creatures of wildspace, dominated by a single huge, shark like eye at the leading edge of the head, and a wide, sweeping mouth.
Combat: The brown scavver is built along the lines of minimum effort – they are little more than gullets with enough brains to point them selves in the right direction. They are pure scavengers, and will flee a particular bit of trash if challenged, only to return later. They have two abilities that make them less desirable than their smaller cousins. The first is that they can swallow a creature up to medium-sized or smaller creatures whole and have poisonous bite and gaseous cloud around them at all times.
Flight (Ex): A Scavver's body is naturally buoyant. This buoyancy allows it to fly as per the spell, as a movement action, at a speed of 30 feet for gray and brown scavvers, and 50 feet for void and night scavvers. This buoyancy also grants it a permanent
feather fall effect with personal range.
Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, the brown scavver must hit a medium-size or smaller opponent with its bite attack. If it gets a hold, it can try to swallow the foe.
Poisonous Gullet (Ex): Once a victim is swallowed, the poisons in the gullet requires the victim to make a Fortitude save (DC 17); initial damage 1d6 temporary Constitution and 1d6 temporary Dexterity, secondary damage 2d6 temporary Constitution and 2d6 temporary Dexterity.
Poisonous Cloud (Ex): A brown scavver evacuated from its gullet a small cloud of poisonous gas that is used against an attacker (5 ft. diameter). Outside the gullet, the droplets of poison are less potent, requiring Fortitude save (DC 14), but are no less deadly (initial damage 1d6 temporary Constitution and 1d6 temporary Dexterity, secondary damage 2d6 temporary Constitution and 2d6 temporary Dexterity). The brown scavver can do this once per day to a single target in front of it. Brown scavvers are immune to their own poison, though the poison of other species of scavvers can affect them
Suspend Bodily Functions (Ex): In deep space, all scavvers can shut down their basic body functions, so that they require no air or food for long, periods of time. In this fashion they drift until their paths collide with a passing ship or a solar body.
Swallow Whole (Ex): A brown scavver can try to swallow a medium-size or smaller opponent by making a successful grapple check. The swallowed creature takes 1d8+4 points of crushing damage per round plus 4 points of acid damage from the scavver's gullet. A swallowed creature can cut its way out by using claws or a small or tiny slashing weapon to deal 8 points of damage to the gizzard/stomach (AC 22). Once the creature exits, muscular action closes the hole; another swallowed opponent must again cut its own way out. Unfortunately, the scavver does not learn from experience, and will try to swallow the same reluctant piece of food several times before giving up or dying.
The scavver's gullet can hold one Medium-sized, two Small, four Tiny, eight diminutive or smaller opponents. Once the scavver's gullet is full the scavver cannot swallow any more opponents, but may still bite!
In the Spheres The flesh of a brown scavver is laced with its gullet poison: as a result, it is not eaten, but often saved by spelljamming crews and used as poisoned bait for other scavvers. Most other space life will avoid dead browns, but gray scavvers will eat and die whenever the flesh is offered. A company of Shou dragon ships has declared the brown to be perfectly palatable if prepared properly, and one captain swears to have served the scavver to the Emperor himself. Cynics believe that the Emperor had priests with
detect,
slow, and
remove poison spells on hand, and that the captain was run back into space as a result.
Most scavvers (including the brown scavver) travel in packs and are found trailing ships, asteroids, and gargantuan or larger creatures, along the plane of gravity, waiting for a free meal. Unless repelled, they will follow a ship until a better or larger target presents itself. Many large cities, like the Rock of Bral, have a permanent scavver crew whose job is to kill scavvers that come onto the rock from arriving ships. The scavver crew is usually made up of ship captains and crews guilty of bringing these creatures in.
The scavvers tend to avoid large planets, since flying against gravity is too much work. They are found in every known sphere in the phlogiston as well.
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Brown Scavver, © 1989 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
d20™ System, Conversion of Brown Scavver ©2002,
Mark Doolan
Original Source: Lorebook of the Void