* On a successful hit, inflicts [[Venom]] +1.
= Other information =
Creature traits:
*'''Yields extra items when butchered''': If [[Hunting|butchered]], this creature will produce extra items:
** 1d2-1 [[Meds|Small poison glands]]
Gila monsters are small reptilian creatures that were named after the first person to discover them, Dr. Herbert Gila of the Biology Science Team. Unknown to the world until Era 5, Dr. Gila discovered these strange reptilian creatures in E5-203 in a part of the Uncivilized Area between the Central and Southern Zones, near the area that later became [[Citadel Lambeth]]. They have since spread across the entirety of the Mazes, and nowadays can be found just about anywhere.
In the Mazes, "Gila" is pronounced ''guee-lah'' or ''gai-lah'' instead of ''hee-lah'' as in the real world. When referring to the creature, the word "gila" is uncapitalized.
On average, these creatures are 20 inches long and weigh about 2 to 3 pounds, but some specimens can reach lengths over 30 inches and masses exceeding 5 pounds. They are creatures covered in camouflaged scales, with colors usually ranging between oranges, coppers and browns, with dark brown or black blotchy stripes. About 20% of their body is made up of their tail.
These creatures are lazyvery passive, preferring to laze around in hot rooms or sections with sources of heat. They can be seen aggregating around pipes carrying hot water, and sometimes try to invade civilized areas to huddle inside of generator rooms or factories, purely to benefit from the ambient heat. Gila monsters are carnivorous; they hunt mice and other small varmint in the wild, but they are capable of eating just about any kind of meat they can find. On occasion, courageous gila monsters can be found trying to snatch meat from adventurers if they happen to be cooking on the field.
Although not considered to be dangerous, the gila monster is classified as nominally hostile, because it will bite any creature that is within its reach if it feels threatened, and because that bite is venomous. Fatalities are rare; not because gila monsters lack the agility, but they often lack the ''range'' to bite other creatures or people, and because that venom is not the most powerful and can be easily treated, even if the creature scored multiple bites. It was estimated that roughly 97% of gila monster bites are non-fatal, and that fatal doses were only administered in extreme outlier cases, usually involving people falling asleep near a gila nest, or from playing with these creatures in a careless manner.