HD: 3 (14 HP)
Appearance: big slimy salamander, cute shiny eyes
Voice: guttural screeches, short broken sentences (“Want fire!”)
Wants: to eat fire and light sources
Intelligence: like greedy 10 year old
Morale: 4
Morality: is not eager to kill but places its own desires above any other concerns.
Attack: 1d4 pathetic claw
Abilities:
Tongue snatch: once per encounter, extends its tongue ‘30, usually in order to grab a lit torch. Opposed Dex check to evade. (Treat different stalking events as different encounters for tongue reset purposes.)
Stalking: when stalking, the antimander stays just out of sight, patiently waiting for its chance. Whenever the players are distracted (by traps, by combat) it will attempt to snatch a torch again. Rolls to evade its tongue are performed at a disadvantage of at least -5 while distracted or in melee.
(The consequences of the antimander eating a lit torch in combat can be grave: in total darkness all checks are performed with a -10 penalty (or whatever your system uses.)
While stalking, roll an opposed WIS check for the players every 3 rounds. On a succes, those players see a glimpse of the antimander (see table). When the antimander is glimpsed a ranged attack roll can be made at a -5 penalty.
Behaviour
If an antimander has surprise on its side during an encounter, it will go into stalking mode.
Otherwise it will aggressively demand or pathetically beg for the player's lit torch. It the players give a lit torch, it burps loudly; make a reaction roll + the amount of torches fed so far. On less than a 7, it will demand another.
It will eat other fire sources than torches, but it won't believe the players if they say it just needs to accompany them to the other room (where all the wood is).
If the players deny, it will screech in frustration and attempt to snatch a torch and/or attack. If it fails a morale check in combat, it will flee and go into stalking mode.
1d6 Glimpses when being stalked
1 Eyes glittering wetly in the dark
2 Slimy paws just at the edge of darkness
3 Slithering sounds
4 Wet raspy breathing
5 Wet slimy tail at the edge of darkness
6 Wet plodding feet sounds
Commentary: I think it's a cool and scary moment when torches go out in a tense situation and it rarely happens. The antimander is a weak foe but one that waits for its time to strike. I can see it adding tension not because of how dangerous IT is, but how it could really complicate other dangerous situations.
