Hello all,
Over the last little while, I've been trying to liven up my game with a couple of unusual creatures. Having set Ebon Triad HQ under a sunken ziggurat out in the jungle, I've been having a lot of fun trying out some of the critters that don't often show up in dungeons. One in particular that caught my eye is the Tendriculos:
Tendriculos
Size/Type: Huge Plant CR 6
Hit Dice: 9d8+54 (94 hp)
Initiative: -1
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares)
Armor Class: 16 (-2 size, -1 Dex, +9 natural), touch 7, flat-footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +6/+23
Attack: Bite +13 melee (2d8+9)
Full Attack: Bite +13 melee (2d8+9) and 2 tendrils +8 melee (1d6+4)
Space/Reach: 15 ft./15 ft.
Special Attacks: Improved grab, paralysis, swallow whole
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, plant traits, regeneration 10
Saves: Fort +12, Ref +2, Will +4
Abilities: Str 28, Dex 9, Con 22, Int 3, Wis 8, Cha 3
Skills: Hide +9, Listen +1, Move Silently +1, Spot +1
Feats: Alertness, Iron Will, Power Attack, Stealthy
Improved Grab (Ex)
To use this ability, a tendriculos must hit a creature at least one size smaller than itself with its bite attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can try to swallow the opponent in the following round. A tendriculos can also use its improved grab ability on a tendril attack. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold, picks up the opponent, and transfers it to the mouth as a free action, automatically dealing bite damage.
Swallow Whole/Paralysis (Ex)
A tendriculos can try to swallow a grabbed opponent by making a successful grapple check. Once inside the plant’s mass, the opponent must succeed on a DC 20 Fortitude save or be paralyzed for 3d6 rounds by the tendriculos’s digestive juices, taking 2d6 points of acid damage per round. A new save is required each round inside the plant. The save DC is Constitution-based. A swallowed creature that avoids paralysis can climb out of the mass with a successful grapple check. This returns it to the plant’s maw, where another successful grapple check is needed to get free. A swallowed creature can also cut its way out by using a light slashing or piercing weapon to deal 25 points of damage to the tendriculos’s interior (AC 14). Once the creature exits, the plant’s regenerative capacity closes the hole; another swallowed opponent must cut its own way out. A Huge tendriculos’s interior can hold 2 Large, 8 Medium, 32 Small, 128 Tiny, or 512 Diminutive or smaller opponents.
Regeneration (Ex)
Bludgeoning weapons and acid deal normal damage to a tendriculos. A tendriculos that loses part of its body mass can regrow it in 1d6 minutes. Holding the severed portion against the mass enables it to reattach instantly.
Another was brought to mind by the apocryphal "Gazebo Incident" (for those poor few of you who are not familiar with this, please check it out here: http://www.dndadventure.com/html/articles/gaming_stories.html)
My wife found this story to be so amusing that she asked me to elaborate on it in game, and so I give you Gazebo!
Gazebo, Advanced Mimic, CR 8
Size/Type: Huge aberration (Shapechanger)
Hit Points: 21d8+ 126 (210)
Initiative: +1
Speed: 10
AC:16 (-2 Size, +8 Natural), Touch 8, Flat-Footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +15/+31
Attack: +22
Full Attack: +22/+22 (2d6+8, slam), 19/20
Space/Reach: 15/15
Special Attacks: Adhesive, Crush
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft, immunity to acid, mimic shape
Saves: Fort +14, Ref +9, Will +14
Abilities: STR 27, DEX 10, CON 21, INT 10, WIS 13, CHA 10
Skills: Climb +20, Disguise +20, Spot +9, Listen +9, Diplomacy +12
Feats: Alertness, Great Fortitude, Improved Critical (Slam), Improved Sunder, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Toughness (+1HP/HD), Weapon Focus (Slam)
Adhesive (Ex)
A mimic exudes a thick slime that acts as a powerful adhesive, holding fast any creatures or items that touch it. An adhesive-covered mimic automatically grapples any creature it hits with its slam attack. Opponents so grappled cannot get free while the mimic is alive without removing the adhesive first.
A weapon that strikes an adhesive-coated mimic is stuck fast unless the wielder succeeds on a DC 16 Reflex save. A successful DC 16 Strength check is needed to pry it off.
Strong alcohol dissolves the adhesive, but the mimic still can grapple normally. A mimic can dissolve its adhesive at will, and the substance breaks down 5 rounds after the creature dies.
Crush (Ex)
This mimic deals 2d6+8 points of damage with a successful grapple check.
Mimic Shape (Ex)
This mimic tends to assume the shape of a small garden gazebo, about 10 feet across and a roof 8 ft high. A mimic’s body is hard and has a rough texture, no matter what appearance it might present. Anyone who examines the mimic can detect the ruse with a successful Spot check opposed by the mimic’s Disguise check. Of course, by this time it is generally far too late.
Skills
A mimic has a +8 racial bonus on Disguise checks.