DW Monsters: Fendahleen

The next story is The Invisible Enemy, where the “monster” is the Swarm, which, in game terms, is more of a disease than a creature. Even then, it's a unique entity and outside our scope here; individually infected people could be described in game terms, but they're basically just mind-controlled. The monster in Image of the Fendahl is slightly more ambiguous, in that it's presented as if it were a unique entity, but some of the dialogue suggests it is merely the last of its kind and, while the others may be trapped in a time loop, they could theoretically show up again. 

The Fendahl does not appear again in the TV series, but it has featured in a tie-in novel and both a Doctor Who and a Torchwood audio, which give some suggestions as to how it could return. 

Description and Biology

The Fendahl is described as a “gestalt” entity; a single mind with thirteen physical bodies. Twelve of these bodies are Fendahleen, which are its primary means of interaction with the material world. The Fendahleen are large, eyeless, worm-like creatures with segmented bodies. The head, insofar as there can be said to be one, is largely occupied by an open maw from which numerous tentacles sprout. The creature also has frills on either side of the front part of its body. 

Assuming that it really is a species, it's difficult to see how a creature could, in reality, evolve to have thirteen bodies. A more likely explanation, should we want one, is that the Fendahleen evolved independently, as regular animals and the thirteenth part – the Fendahl Core – somehow gained the ability to control them and eventually incorporate them into itself. If so, the Fendahleen must have natural biological functions and have the full set of requisite internal organs essential for life. Their obviously alien form hints that these would be very different from anything in a human, while their large size implies that they would also likely be more anatomically complex than, say, an earthworm.

So we can say that they probably have a heart (or hearts), some sort of respiratory system, a digestive system, and so on. They don't have visible nostrils, but these could be hidden, or else the creature might breathe through the mouth, which doesn't seem to close. The tentacles are likely sensory and/or feeding appendages, while the frill might be a holdover from their evolutionary ancestors, part of a threat display similar to a cobra's hood. Their vulnerability to salt is explicitly stated to be related to their nervous system, so we know that they have one of those, even if the controlling intelligence is in the Core, and the original Fendahleen may have been purely animalistic. One organ system that's likely lacking is that for reproduction since they no longer need that now that they are part of the Fendahl and cannot exist independently.

The Core is somewhat different. Technically, we only see its skull, but that looks all but indistinguishable from a human one, and it's therefore likely that the form we know that it takes after possessing a human body is very similar to its original one. However, it has clearly evolved beyond the need for any regular anatomy, since it is perfectly capable of surviving simply as a skull, a mental force tied to an (indestructible) physical object, but no longer an organic being. It can create new Fendahleen, preferably from a living creature of human size or larger, but also out of thin air if it has sufficient energy to do so.

Game Attributes

The Core is indestructible, which makes providing statistics for it difficult. It’s also probably better treated as a unique enemy with individual powers, rather than as a race (even if it’s technically part of one) and so I’ll only look at the Fendahleen.

Given their large size, we can infer that the Fendahleen are physically strong, even if they lack the arms to lift objects or otherwise manipulate things. The lack of opposable thumbs implies a low dexterity, and they are certainly neither agile nor fast. On the other hand, they are highly resilient to damage, much of which is perhaps due to a tough, rubbery, hide. Salt is an exception, working like a poison and potentially killing them rapidly if you can get it into their mouth or somehow inject it into them (by firing it from a shotgun, in the TV story, but other methods may work). 

While the Fendahleen don’t communicate, and so don’t seem very intelligent, they are animated by the Core, which clearly is; the Fendahl has a single mind, so its mental statistics must be shared by all parts of its body. Thus, we can assume a high natural intelligence and, more importantly, a very high psychic potential, which may be defined differently in different systems. While the Core has a range of psychic powers at its disposal, it can only use the telekinetic ability to paralyse opponents through the Fendahleen bodies.

---

5E - Fendahleen

Large aberration, chaotic evil

Armour Class: 15 (natural)

Hit Points: 51 (6d10+18)

Speed: 20 ft.

STR 18 (+4)	DEX 8 (-1)	CON 16 (+3)
INT 16 (+3)	WIS 16 (+3)	CHA 22 (+6)

Saving Throws: Wisdom +5, Charisma +8

Damage Resistances: Psychic

Senses: Passive Perception 13

Bash. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d6+4) bludgeoning damage.

Paralysis: Ranged Psionic Attack: +8 to hit, range 100 ft., one target. Hit: The target must succeed on a DC16 Wisdom saving throw or be paralysed for as long as the Fendahleen remains in range. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the paralysis on itself on a success.

Vulnerability to Salt: If the Fendahleen ingests salt or is injured by a weapon coated in, or consisting of, salt, it is automatically poisoned, and takes 3d10 poison damage. The damage is halved on a successful DC20 constitution saving throw. 

Challenge: 2 (450 XP)

BRP - Fendahleen

STR 1D6+15 (18-19)	CON 2D6+9 (16)	SIZ 1D6+18 (21-22)
INT 16	POW 25
DEX 1D6+3 (6-7)	CHA 8
Hit Points: 19	Move: 6
Base SR: 5	Damage Bonus: +1D6

Armour: 4-point rubbery hide

Combat Skills: Brawl 60% (2D6 damage)

Paralysis: The Fendahleen can telekinetically freeze any living being or animate object that it can see, attacking with a POW v POW roll. On a failure, the target is paralysed, or otherwise unable to move, for 1 minute. The attack requires the expenditure of 3 magic points but takes this from the full pool of the Fendahl’s points (30 for the Core, plus 25 for each Fendahleen currently alive) rather than relying solely on its own.

GURPS - Fendahleen

ST 18	DX 10	IQ 16	HT 15
Speed: 6.25	Move: 4		Size: +1

Traits: Amphibious, Binding-20 (psychokinetic), Dark Vision, Invertebrate, No Eyes, No Fine Manipulators, No Legs (slithers), No Neck, Vulnerability (salt x3)

Savage Worlds - Fendahleen

Agility: d6	Smarts: d10	Spirit: d12+2
Strength: d12	Vigour: d10

Skills: Fighting d6, Focus d12

Special Abilities: Armour +4, Entangle (linked to Focus, breaking free requires a Spirit roll instead of Athletics), Environmental Weakness (salt)

Pace: 4                  Parry: 5                 Toughness: 7 (3)           Size: 1

STA - Fendahleen

Control: 8	Fitness: 12	Presence: 10
Daring: 12	Insight: 8	Reason: 10
Command: 4	Security: 2	Science: 2
Conn: 0	Engineering: 1	Medicine: 1
Stress: 14	Resistance: 2

Traits: Paralysis The Fendahleen can telekinetically freeze any living being or animate object that it can see, making a Daring + Command roll opposed by the target’s Presence + Command. If the Fendahleen succeeds in the opposed task, the target is paralysed, or otherwise unable to move, for 1 minute.