The zurchin, commonly called "star urchin" or "space porcupine," is a spherical mollusk with myriad radial spines. It moves slowly, using a muscular belly-foot for propulsion. The zurchin scavenges organic matter, dust, and wood.
Individuals appear in many bright colors, yellow and red, purple and blue. Striped varieties are not uncommon. They range in size from 6" to a foot in diameter.
Combat: The zurchin normally attacks only when disturbed.
Poisonous Spines (Ex): The zurchin shoots its poisonous hollow spines with deadly accuracy. These dart do 1d2 hit points of damage and have 60 feet range increment. Their poison is released on impact, expelled by a small sac inside the spine, requiring Fortitude save (DC 16); initial and secondary damage 1–3 hit points of damage and 1–2 temporary Strength. A zurchin typically has hundreds of spines.
Implant Eggs (Ex): Each female zurchin's has 10–20 darts that contain thousands of microscopic eggs instead of poison. There is only 1 in 20 chance that any given dart striking a target has eggs, such dart injects the eggs into the a victim, naturally the victim suffers no poison or ill effects (except impact damage).
Over the next week, the egg-bearer loses its appetite, becomes confused, and begins to itch uncontrollably. At the end of a week the victim is paralyzed and dies of suffocation. Then each egg hatches a tiny new zurchin, which feeds on its dead host and its fellow hatchlings. A
Remove Disease spell destroys the incubating eggs.
The egg-laden dart can also lodge in a wooden or organic spelljammer hull. Incubation time doubles to two weeks. A spelljammer may be far away from the original asteroid reef when the crew discovers a sudden, major zurchin infestation.
Consume Structures (Ex): The zurchin spines conceal a complex 40-part mouth that can extrude hard, sharp teeth that can excavate holes in wood, rock, and even iron. Given enough time the zurchin will consume a ship at a rate of 1 hit point every 3 days, more than one dragonfly ship has suddenly broke apart, surprising the crew and leaving nothing intact but the helm and a few hundred zurchins.
In the Spheres Zurchins are peaceful scavengers that inhabit the rocks of asteroid reefs, eating bits of cast-off food that fall into the gravity planes. The zurchin teeth often creates holes which in turn they use as hiding places or mating areas, some times these areas are found among colonies of mortises.
Some few are willing to brave death by the zurchin's poisinous flesh, as such they have few if any natural preditors.
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Zurchins, © 1991 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
d20™ System, Conversion of Zurchins ©2002,
Mark Doolan
Image by
Ron Pollard
Original Source: Monstrous Compendium #9
Zurchin