The spin-off media, however, have been more willing to include them. They have so far appeared in two of the licensed audios (and one older one, outside the regular license) and two novels. The most significant of these is probably the Eighth Doctor novel
, which features a batch of infant skarasen. Each of these stories has, naturally, also included the Zygons; there have been many Zygon stories without the skarasen, but never the reverse.
Description and Biology
The skarasen is a large reptilian-looking creature somewhat resembling a dinosaur. As an alien, it isn't literally a reptile, and one can point to the decidedly mammalian-looking teeth that it possesses as an indication that it doesn’t fit within our real-world evolutionary framework. The body form resembles a sauropod, such as
Brontosaurus, more than it does the plesiosaur that the Loch Ness Monster is more usually compared with.
The head is, however, proportionately larger than that of a sauropod, with large teeth that suggest a carnivorous diet. The feet are also larger, with splayed toes that make sense for something semi-aquatic, although not the flippers of a plesiosaur. But it is hairless, perhaps scaly and has a long neck that may be more flexible than we actually see.
Besides the teeth, another clear non-reptilian feature is that the skarasen is said to produce 'milk'. The Zygons claim to need this to survive, although the absence of the creature in the modern show would suggest that they're either exaggerating or have come up with a synthetic alternative by the 21st century. The novel Sting of the Zygons states that this is green but functionally it's presumably used for the same purpose as mammalian milk.
The skarasen is also said to be partially cybernetic, so what we encounter is likely not the 'natural' form. The biological creature is itself probably domesticated and bred for large size and high milk production, as a dairy cow is, but they need an implant to be obedient, so we're not talking anything quite like a dog. Sting of the Zygons adds that their skeleton is laced with a durable alloy and their skin enhanced to make them resistant to physical injury.
Game Attributes
It's difficult to say exactly how large the skarasen is supposed to be, due to the limitations of the special effects of the day (and budget). However, the feet are big enough to stomp on a human, and perhaps two metres or so across. Because of their shape and long toes, we can't scale that up to a real sauropod to get an idea of the size, but from what we can see the head, neck, and body have to be at least 15 metres (50 feet) combined. This would be large for a Brontosaurus, but not exceptionally so. The length of the tail is unclear, but it seems likely to be proportionately shorter than that of a typical sauropod, which would make the overall snout-to-tail tip length shorter than the real dinosaur – but the neck is also shorter, so the body makes up more of the length, suggesting that it would be heavier. So probably over 20 tons, then.
Different game systems have different ways of describing unusually large creatures, and this is going to be near the upper end for many of them.
Still, while it may be big, it isn't Godzilla and shouldn’t be unmanageable. The large size would, in most systems, be reflected in a very high strength, something that’s described linearly in some systems but not in others – so the values may be different, even if they're normally similar for human-sized beings. We're told in the TV story that it's invulnerable to anything short of a nuclear weapon; we’ll assume that's hyperbole, but there’s no doubt it’s extremely well armoured. From a purely physical perspective, the thing is going to be remarkably hard to kill.
Indeed, in more realistic systems, the great size and almost impenetrable hide may combine to make it effectively impossible to take out in anything resembling regular combat.
It doesn’t seem especially agile, nor any faster than a human, although it probably has more endurance in a chase. On the other hand, it's
semi-aquatic, and so may be more agile in the water than on land. At best, it's an intelligent as a dog, able to follow simple instructions, but no more. Its bite must be deadly, but its primary attack mode against human-sized targets is apparently just to stamp on them. Which, if it weighs 20 tons, is going to be equally terminal.
5E - Skarasen
Gargantuan monstrosity, unaligned
Armour Class: 22 (natural)
Hit Points: 250 (10d20+40)
Speed: 30 ft., swim 30 ft.
STR 22 (+6) | DEX 10 (+0) | CON 18 (+4) |
INT 3 (-4) | WIS 12 (+1) | CHA 10 (+0) |
Skills: Perception +5
Senses: Passive Perception 13
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit,
reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 20 (4d6+6) piercing damage.
Stomp. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit,
reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 28 (4d10+6) bludgeoning damage.
Challenge: 10 (5,900 XP)
BRP - Skarasen
STR 4D10+30 (62) | CON 2D6+24 (31) | SIZ 4D10+50 (72) |
DEX 3D6 (10-11) | POW 3D6 (10-11) | |
Hit Points: 52 | Move: 10 (swim 10) | |
Base SR: 3 | Damage Bonus: +7D6 | |
Armour: 24-point synthetically reinforced hide
Skills: Spot 60%, Swim 95%
Combat Skills: Bite 50% (1D10+7D6 damage), Stomp 70% (8D6)
GURPS - Skarasen
ST 70 | DX 10 | IQ 3 | HT 16 |
Speed: 6.5 | | Move: 5 | |
DR: 60 | | Size: +5 | |
Traits: Amphibious, Damage Resistance +60,
Quadruped, Sharp Teeth (8d-1 cutting damage), Wild animal
Skills: Tracking-12
Savage Worlds - Skarasen
Agility: d6 | Smarts: d6 (A) | Spirit: d6 |
Strength: d12+6 | Vigour: d12 | |
Skills: Athletics d6, Fighting d6, Notice d6
Special Abilities: Hardy, Bite (Str +d6), Stomp (Str)
Pace: 6 Parry: 5 Toughness: 22 (6*) Size: 8 (Huge)
STA - Skarasen
Control: 8 | Fitness: 12 | Presence: 10 |
Daring: 12 | Insight: 5 | Reason: 2 |
Command: 1 | Security: 2 | Science: 0 |
Conn: 0 | Engineering: 0 | Medicine: 0 |
Stress: 28 | Resistance: 4 | |
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