I faced this issue while GMing yesterday: Slurks, despite being frog-like creatures, don't swim. They are not meant to live in water, but in caverns.
So, when playing the slurk in its pond, I suddenly realized I needed Athletics check to just move around and that my slurk was flat-footed all the time.
The pond is only supposed to be 4 feet deep with another foot of mud on the bottom, I think the slurk is capable of sitting on the bottom and still having their snout stick out. It is greater difficult terrain, but otherwise I don't think it requires an athletics check for them to move around.
With a speed of 30ft, they can start their turn with a 15ft leap and pretty much be free of the pond.
Yeah, after reading everything, I realized my mistake.
The thing is: It works, but not by a lot. I made the mistake of considering that the pond was roughly 5 feet deep, and it screws everything when you realize the slurk doesn't swim.
Well, ultimately, it didn't had much of an impact as my players didn't know what a slurk is.
But after reading the slurk entry in the bestiary, I'm wondering if slurks really live in ponds. They are not pictured as aquatic creatures at all.
I read it as this slurk has found a relatively easy food source, and comfortable environment to lounge and bath in. It spits sticky slime at a mitflit and then eats the creature when it gets stuck trying to clean itself off, or the mitflits just feed it on their own. The water provides relatively good cover for the slurk to hide in and avoid becoming prey of any hunting swamp drakes.
Also maybe this is a slightly more amphibious variety of slurk that dwell in the fogfen. Clearly there are some cavernous rocky caves in the area that can be kept water free, but a swamp is pretty wet overall.
It is possible that the slurk is not an exactly perfect fit for the encounter, but was maybe much more preferable than a generic giant frog, and was mechanically functional enough in the location to work?
It is possible that the slurk is not an exactly perfect fit for the encounter, but was maybe much more preferable than a generic giant frog, and was mechanically functional enough in the location to work?
It has been my feeling when I've realized it was not having a swim speed. I've houseruled that it had one, but if I hadn't I'm pretty sure my players would have wondered why a non-aquatic creature ended up in an aquatic environment.
Creative Director
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Slurks don't live in ponds, normally. The slurk in the pond is a sort of easter egg to the Moat House in Temple of Elemental Evil, but I also wanted to put the slurk in terrain that's not 100% to its advantage; I probably should have called that out a bit more clearly in the text. I wanted the top level of the ruins to have some "easier" encounters so that players wouldn't have to fight for their lives in every battle from the start, basically (that's also why the mitflits do some goofy things too), since I've long believed that foes making mistakes or sub-optimal choices adds to an adventure's flavor.
But yeah, the slurk lives there because it's comfortable with the easy food sources.
(A giant frog, with its stronger advantage in water, is a bit unfair to potentially throw at brand new PCs in this encounter I think.)
Another question about the Slurk encounter; under Treasure it says that there's a spike snare bundled securely in the backpack of the dead kobold nearby. Is this supposed to be loot or a hazard? Because I was under the impression that snares couldn't be moved from the square they're crafted in, and that they can't be precrafted and then set up elsewhere.
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Creative Director
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It's loot, but it's kinda confusing in how it's presented. It's supposed to be the materials yo need to craft a spike snare. Could have probably been a bit more clear on that. If it were set up and ready to go it would have been listed under Hazard.
The intent, in any case, is that it's trapmakin' stuff which is the type of loot you might expect to find on a dead kobold.
Was there a similar intention with the Corpselights in the chapel? I feel like sticking a bunch of sunlight vulnerable critters next to a stained glass window is a big encounter balance shifter.
