Friday, January 12, 2018

Frightful Fridays! Awful Aquatica

Hello and welcome back to another Frightful Fridays! (with extra alliteration) Today's monsters make aquatic adventuring even more of a challenge, but many players enjoy challenges, right? So, chuck on of these into the pool for an even better chance of a character's watery death.

I hope you enjoy these underwater horrors. See you next week with something else!


 This (im)pales in comparison to other fish

This mud-colored fish has a powerful jaw and a mouth filled with sword-like teeth.
Bubble Burster Fish      CR 9
XP 6,400
CN Large magical beast (aquatic)
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., detect magic, low-light vision; Perception +10
DEFENSE
AC 24, touch 12, flat-footed 21 (+2 Dex, +1 dodge, +12 natural, –1 size)
hp 114 (12d10+48)
Fort +12, Ref +10, Will +8
OFFENSE
Speed 5 ft., swim 60 ft.
Melee bite +18 (3d6+7 plus grab and bleed), tail slap +13 (2d6+3)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks bleed (1d6), bubble burster, drag to the depths
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 12th; concentration +14)
   constant—detect magic
ECOLOGY
Environment temperate and warm water
Organization solitary or school (2–16)
Treasure indicental
STATISTICS
Str 25, Dex 15, Con 18, Int 5, Wis 18, Cha 14
Base Atk +12; CMB +20 (+24 grapple, +24 sunder); CMD 33 (35 vs. sunder, can't be tripped)
Feats Dodge, Greater Sunder, Improved Sunder, Mobility, Power Attack, Spring Attack
Skills Perception +10, Spellcraft +9, Stealth +9, Swim +19; Racial Modifiers +12 Spellcraft
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Bubble Burster (Su) If a bubble burster fish grapples a foe at the beginning of its turn, it can attempt to dispel magic (using its HD as its caster level) on all spells or effects that provide the foe with air bubbles or water breathing. It makes a single dispel check against all applicable spells and effects.
Drag to the Depths (Ex) If a bubble burster fish uses its Spring Attack feat and grabs a foe with its bit attack, it can carry the foe with it by succeeding on a second combat maneuver check to grapple the foe. On a failed check, the fish no longer grapples its opponent, but it can complete its movement per Spring Attack.

Bubble burster fish were bred by aquatic races specifically to thwart invasion attempts by land-dwelling creatures. They still serve that role, but many of the fish have escaped captivity and now roam the oceans, seas, and wide rivers where they were once employed. They have an instinctive ability to discern landbound prey from aquatic prey and they supplement this a sensitivity to magic which allows its recipients to survive underwater. While independent bubble burster fish prefer to attack prey originating from land, they have no qualms about attacking marine creatures. However, they find it enormously satisfying to render useless magic (through their dispel magic ability) or physical items (via sundering) sustaining trespassers with no ability to breathe water, so they attack such prey in preference to others.

A bubble burster fish measures 12 feet in length and weighs 350 pounds.

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This gray marine mammal moves lazily through the water.
Meanatee      CR 7
XP 3,200
NE Large magical beast (aquatic)
Init –1; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +14
DEFENSE
AC 20, touch 8, flat-footed 20 (–1 Dex, +12 natural, –1 size)
hp 85 (9d10+36)
Fort +10, Ref +5, Will +6
DR 10/piercing; Resist cold 10
OFFENSE
Speed 10 ft., swim 40 ft.
Melee head butt +14 (2d8+5/19–20), 2 slams +13 (2d6+5)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks crushing embrace, nerve-rattling blow
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 9th; concentration +12)
   3/day—slow (DC 15)
STATISTICS
Str 21, Dex 8, Con 19, Int 4, Wis 17, Cha 16
Base Atk +9; CMB +15 (+17 bull rush); CMD 24 (26 vs. bull rush)
Feats Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical (head butt), Power Attack, Quick Bull Rush[UC], Weapon Focus (head butt)
Skills Bluff +3, Perception +14, Swim +17
SQ amphibious, playful antics
ECOLOGY
Environment temperate and warm rivers and lakes
Organization solitary, pair, or smash (3–12)
Treasure none
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Crushing Embrace (Ex) If a meanatee hits the same target with both of its slam attacks, it can attempt a combat maneuver check to grapple its foe (with a +4 racial bonus to the attempt). If successful, it immediately deals damage per its slam attack to the target. If the meanatee begins its turn with an opponent grappled in this way, it deals damage per its slam attack, and it can move with its opponent during its turn.
Nerve-Rattling Blow (Ex) If a meanatee confirms a critical hit with its head butt attack, the target must succeed on a DC 18 Fortitude save or become stunned for 1d6 rounds. On a successful save, the target is instead staggered for 1 round. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Playful Antics (Ex) A meanatee can roll around and frolic, similarly to a manatee, in an attempt to lull its prey into a false sense of security. At the beginning of combat, if the meanatee is adjacent to an intelligent foe and succeeds on a Bluff check (with a +12 racial bonus), opposed by the adjacent foe’s Sense Motive check, it treats that opponent as flat-footed.

Meanatees originally resembled gray orcas, but the same wild surge of magic that granted them a modicum of arcane power also allowed to alter their appearance to the more benign form they wear. The creatures take advantage of this relatively harmless appearance to lure in and attack unsuspecting prey that might view them as “cute” or mistakenly as easy targets. They overcome their relative lack of speed on land and in the water with their own ability to make their prey sluggish. They attack with their surprisingly hard heads, capable of temporarily overwhelming their opponents’ nervous systems to paralyze them, and by using their powerful flipper to grab hold of opponents and drag them away, preferably into the depths.

Meanatees are typically 11 feet long and weigh close to 500 pounds.