| blargney the second |
There's mention of a dragon eel in the Savage Tidings article that goes with Tides of Dread, so I ended up making this monster with a weakness for shark sashimi. A random encounter with 4 great whites en route from Farshore to Tanaroa inspired yon beastie. (The PCs witnessed it one-shotting and eating a huge shark right before it attacked their ship.)
I ran this fight entirely underwater to great effect. For some additional scenery, I tossed in a couple of entangling kelp masses to get knocked into, as well as an abyss where dropped items (stunning!) can fall.
Init +2; Senses Listen +26, Spot +26; DV 60’, blindsense 500’
AC 25, touch 11, ff 25 (-4 size, -2 Dex, +14 natural, +7 deflection)
hp 253 (22d8+154); Bloodied 126, creates Ink Cloud & loses 1 tentacle
Ink Cloud 60’ total darkness immediately when first bloodied, dissipates after 2 Backwashes
Fast healing 5 at start of turn, regrows severed tentacles in 1d6 days
Fort +14, Ref +5, Will +14; Willful (can re-save vs mind-affecting next round)
Speed swim 50’, Burst (can charge 5x speed, or run 10x with no AoO and Backwash behind)
Melee full-attack 1 tentacle trip +21 touch, trip check +25, rake and Hurl
and 2 tentacle rakes +21 (2d6+9/19-20) and Improved Grab
Hurl on successful trip, can throw 10’/size difference in direction of choice
Backwash 60’ cone, trip check +21 and Hurl, if within 15’ take 3d6+9 from tail Reflex DC 30 for half.
Improved Grab +37 or +17, if two tentacles grapple same foe make immediate swallow whole attempt.
Swallow Whole +37 if starts round with creature in tentacle for rake damage & swallowed. No light, 2d6 acid, Shark In Gullet, Swim DC 15 (succeed 1d3s and act normally, or fail 1d6s and Swim or drowning), interior AC 17, 25 damage with light slash or pierce = get vomited out immediately.
Sonic Lance once/two rounds, 240’ ranged touch +10, 6d6 sonic and Fort DC 25 or dazed one rnd.
Keening once/encounter, 120’ spread, Will DC 25 or stunned for duration +1d4 rnds. If victim attacked or violently shaken (full-round action) they save again. Mind-affecting sonic compulsion, 1/24 hrs, sustain as standard action
Attack options Power Attack, Cleave, Combat Expertise, Improved Trip, Dire Charge (pounce on surprise round and first round of combat), Swim-by Attack (1 move, standard anywhere)
Str 28, Dex 7, Con 25, Int 14, Wis 13, Cha 18
Space/reach 30’/30’
BAB/grapple +16/+37
Feats Power Attack, Cleave, Combat Expertise, Improved Trip, Improved Critical, Improved Initiative, Dire Charge, Swim-by Attack
Skills Listen +26, Spot +26, Hide +8, Swim +39 (take 10, can run)
--
Shark In Gullet, squeezing and can’t see in darkness
AC 11, touch 6, ff 11 (-2 size, +2 Dex, +5 natural, -4 squeezing)
hp 70 of 126; Bloodied 63
takes 7 acid damage per round
Fort +11, Ref +9, Will +4
Melee bite +12 (2d6+7) and improved grab +20
Swallow Whole +20 if it starts round with a creature in its bite for bite damage and swallowed and still grappled, 1d6+4 crushing plus 1d8 acid per round, interior AC 12, 25 damage with light slash or pierce = get vomited out immediately.
It's essentially a regressed and modified neothelid from the XPH. With a little surprise for the eaten. :)
-blarg
| Jovan Vasiljevic |
Why did you put so much extra abilities...? I mean, it's just an overgrown eel. Somehow, I doubt you'll get to use more than one or two of them, yet you added special stuff for... everything. Even will saves.
Deflection bonus to ac? From what? A lot of other abilities don't really make sense, too. Why is that thing mutated anyways?
Not really a big fan of homebrew...
| blargney the second |
I'm running my Savage Tide in Xen'drik, so mutants are traditional. :)
Believe it or not, pretty much every ability on it comes from some published variant of a serpent, sea or otherwise. I picked and chose between them to make a creature that could be a viable solo encounter. It's a magically mutated dragon eel with reflective scales and sonar powerful enough to use as a weapon.
I left off an important section - Round-by-Round Tactics:
1) Dire charge in the surprise round or the first round, swallowing a foe if possible.
2) Melee time! Smack one creature away with a Hurl, and grab and swallow another each round until bloodied.
3) Sometime around when it gets to half hit points, use the keening to stun as many foes as possible. Maintain it for a round or two as their dropped possessions sink. :>
4) When it's bloodied, everything changes. It uses hit and run tactics from here on out, giving the fast healing time to do its magic. The ink cloud blinds everything, including the eel, and the beast also loses a tentacle.
5) On its next turn it runs away 200', Backwashing everything behind it, dealing area effect damage to anything nearby and sending them tumbling away.
6) Sonic Lance a random target. Don't forget the 50% miss chance.
7) Charge in and attack (once).
8) Full attack.
9) Backwash away again, this time dissipating the ink cloud.
10) Keep repeating 5 through 8 until it or the party is dead.