Author’s Note: This series looks at the various North American Cryptids as if they were real, tangible beings that have managed to elude scientific observation. Many of the creatures I will be featuring have appeared in other Savage Worlds products. Often times they have been altered and tweaked to fit that particular setting or to make them more interesting or challenging. My interpretation tries to stay closer to the available lore I could find on each. I hope you enjoy this series and like my interpretations of these wonderfully imaginative creatures!
Note 2: This was written up using the new Savage Worlds Adventure Edition.
While each region that they were sighted in has named them differently (though similarly), these cryptids are all the same species of large aquatic serpent-like creature. While many sightings have these as being long and eel-like, others describe the body being larger and possessing flippers like a plesiosaur. When researching these, they each are nearly identical in characteristics. So each will be described then a single stat block provided for the serpentine cryptids.
The first cryptid on this list is the Ogopogo found in Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, Canada. While first mention with that name was in 1912, the Native American folklore of the Secwepemc and Syilx dates much farther back, calling it Naitaka. These first tribes saw the Ogopogo as a powerful and malevolent spirit of ill intent. They believed Naitaka required a sacrifice in order to safely cross the lake. These first nations would sacrifice small animals prior to making any lake crossing.
The earliest non-native sighting was from 1872, when Susan Louisa Moir Allison wrote her account of witnessing a large serpentine creature breaking the surface of the lake for a few moments before disappearing again.
In most of the sightings, Ogopogo is seen from a distance, a brief glimpse before the cryptid dives below the water’s surface to the safety of the murky depths below. Most have been described as 20-30 feet in length, though some of the ones below are larger…
The Igopogo, also a serpentine cryptid, has been sighted in Lake Simcoe, Ontario, Canada. The first written account of this creature is from 1952, though the oral tradition of the Native people in the region goes much farther back. As with many of these aquatic cryptids, most sightings are from a distance or are just glimpses before the creature was able to retreat to the depths of Lake Simcoe.
Descriptions of Igopogo are largely similar to the others found on this list with one striking difference, Igopogo has a canine-esque head.
Manipogo is another, very similar serpentine cryptid from the Canadian North, named after the lake in which it has been spotted in Lake Manitoba, Manitoba, Canada. The Manipogo had been sighted in the lake beginning in 1908, when a log snake-like creature was seen near the coastline by Valentine McKay. Lake Manitoba is so large (over 4600 square kilometers in size) and with a few sightings occurring rather close together, it is believed by some that there are multiple Manipogo serpents in the cold waters of the lake. One group of sightings was by seventeen people, all purported to be strangers to one another, in August of 1961.
It could be due to the size of the lake allowing for the creature to grow in size (much like certain types of fish), but many of the sightings put the Manipogo being more than 60 feet in length.
The final Canadian serpent we will look at is the Memphre. Again, named after the lake in which it was first sighted, Lake Memphremagog which is situated along the Canadian/United States border in Vermont & Quebec. Another sizable lake, it is over thirty miles long and averages fifty feet deep, though a portion of this lake is just over 350 feet deep! There are only a few sightings of this serpent cryptid through the years, with the earliest right around the turn of the 20th century to the most recent being 2005. A few of the descriptions from relatively close up sightings describe the Memphre as have reptilian skin like that of a lizard.
Found in Lake Champlain, Champ is another, very similar serpentine Cryptid. The lake runs along the New York/Vermont state line. Champ has among the most sightings of any cryptids, with over 300 sightings since the first one back in 1609.
The first ever sighting was by French explore and Quebec founder Samuel De Champlain for whom the lake and by proxy, Champ, was named. There was a spike of sightings in the 1970’s and 80’s, with nearly 100 reported sightings during this time.
Most descriptions of champ all put him on the larger size, typically 50-60 feet in length, with some accounts having this beast as big as 180 feet!
Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d6(a), Spirit d6, Strength d12+2, Vigor d10
Skills: Athletics d6, Fighting d6, Notice d8, Stealth d6
Pace: 6; Parry: 5; Toughness: 11
Size 4: This grants +4 toughness and an additional wound (for 2, if playing them as an extra)
Aquatic: While these cryptids can venture onto land, they are not built for land travel. Their pace on land is 3 and their run die is d4. Additionally, they make all trait rolls at a -1 while on land.
Bite: Str +d6
Natural Swimmer: When in the water, they gain a 2 die step in strength for any ability checks, such as opposed strength checks to avoid being pulled onto a boat or to drag a boat along behind it.
Manipogo or Champ (and any large variety of Serpentine Cryptid)
Make the following changes if you want an abnormally large specimen.
Size 8: +8 toughness, +4 Scale modifier, +2 wounds (so an extra would have 3 wounds)
Until next time, cheers!