BX Monsters A to Z: Devil Swine

 Today's monster is the most powerful lycanthrope in the B/X rules as written, the devil swine from the Expert Set.

Devil swine are described as lycanthropes who appear as either huge hogs or fat humans, who can switch between these forms freely at night but must remain in one or the other while the sun is up. I'm not aware of any specific reference from mythology or folklore for these monsters; if you know of any, please feel free to let me know in the comments! Aside from the unfortunate possibilities of making your players distrust every overweight NPC they encounter and making yourself a target for accusations of body shaming if you're not careful, devil swine are rather interesting monsters. They are meat-eaters, preferring human flesh, and live on the outskirts of human settlements, presumably for a convenient source of tasty humans, and especially those near swamps or forests, presumably so they have somewhere to flee should they be in danger of being discovered or slain by local heroes. 

Besides being locked into one shape during the day, there is no mention of any other restriction on shape-changing, and nothing about phases of the moon or any such thing. (Then again, nothing is said explicitly of lunar phases with respect to standard lycanthropes in the Basic Set either, though it's at least vaguely implied.) There is also no specific mention of transmitting their form of lycanthropy; whether you choose to take that omission at face value or infer transmissibility based on the use of the word "lycanthrope" is apparently at your own discretion. (In the module X8: Drums on Fire Mountain, the primary antagonist is specifically stated to have contracted devil swine lycanthropy by the typical means, but that's technically a BECMI module, so isn't even canon for B/X.) 

Devil swine are immune to attacks from normal weapons, being susceptible to harm only from silver or magical arms. While the standard lycanthropes in the Basic Set are explicitly stated to be vulnerable to normal attacks when in human form, no such caveat appears in the devil swine's entry. They're also unnaturally tough, having an AC of 3 in swine form (the standard 9 in human form) and a full 9 Hit Dice, 50% more than the next-toughest lycanthrope, the werebear. Seriously, this thing is as durable as an elephant. Their goring tusk attacks do a very respectable 2-12 points of damage, while in human form they must use weapons and do normal weapon damage (and presumably not spreading lycanthropy, if that's something you've decided they can do in hog form). Their morale score is a fearsome 10, and in hog form they are swift despite their bulk at a rate of 180' (60'), easily able to chase down their hapless human prey. 

Devil swine also have the ability to cast a powerful charm person spell three times per day, whether in human or hog form, with victims saving at -2. They may have an entourage or bodyguard of 1d4-1 charmed victims under their control. This might imply that the monster can maintain control over a maximum of three people at once; then again it might imply no such thing. Use your own judgment. A shrewd devil swine might use this power to hold a few prominent persons in the settlement where it lives under its command, the better to keep its true nature secret from the other townsfolk and the world at large. 

As if all that wasn't frightening enough, you could encounter more than one of these beasts at a time: 1-3 in the dungeon, or 1-4 in the wilderness or settlements, and each potentially with its own contingent of charmed humans. A group of devil swine posing as a human family, with the entire town council in their pockets, would make an interesting challenge for a party of mid- to high-Expert-level characters.

Unfortunately, for all the danger and bother of rooting them out and defeating them, devil swine have Treasure Type C, a profoundly mediocre haul. (And one that absolutely should not be the default for all lycanthropes, seeing as how its most likely constituent loot is... silver?) 

The changes I might make to the devil swine would be mostly clarifications: Yes, it can transmit lycanthropy via its bite; yes, it is vulnerable to normal weapons in its human form; no it is not a slave to the full moon; and yes, it can maintain a maximum of three charms at a time. I'd also give it Treasure Type F, a much more lucrative trove for a powerful intelligent monster, with the caveat that the silver and electrum should be converted either to gold or gems. 

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