As Frightful Fridays! A-Z! settles into its normal Friday slot, I've got a cute monster for you that has an unusual attack method. Anyone who has seen these frogs that smash into each other as a means of hunting knows that I like throwing out something goofy like this every now and again. Hopefully, its goofiness won't make it any less terrifying when it drops from a tree branch, blows up in size, and then crushes characters unfortunate enough to be underneath it.
Today's extra takes the notion of the queemp opening a portal to another plane for its expansion and applies it to a bag a character can use to draw in elemental material that he can then fire at his opponents.
Have a great Friday, and I'll see you tomorrow for the "R" entry. Thanks for reading!
Queemp CR 4
XP 1,200
CN Tiny Aberration
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +11
Defense
AC 17, touch 17, flat-footed 12 (+4 Dex, +2 size, +1 dodge)
hp 37 (5d8+15); regeneration 5 (acid or fire)
Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +7
Immune bludgeoning damage, falling damage, fear; Resist electricity 10
Offense
Speed 15 ft., climb 10 ft.
Melee slam +9 (1d4-2), 4 tentacles +4 (1d3-2)
Space 2.5 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks pounce, queemp feint, trample (1d4-2, DC 8)
Statistics
Str 7, Dex 18, Con 17, Int 6, Wis 17, Cha 16
Base Atk +3; CMB +5; CMD 14 (can't be Tripped)
Feats Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack(B), Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +17 (+9 jump), Bluff +5 (+13 for queemp feint only), Climb +10, Escape Artist +9, Perception +12, Stealth +16; Racial Modifiers +8 Acrobatics, +8 Bluff for queemp feint only, +4 Perception
Languages Aklo (can’t speak)
Ecology
Environment jungle
Organization solitary, pair, or cluster (3–8)
Treasure incidental
Special Abilities
Pounce (Ex) A queemp can make a full attack as part of a charge, or as part of a Spring Attack. As part of its charge, the queemp expands to size Huge and can trample all targets in a 15 foot square, as well as 4 tentacle attacks that reach 10 feet beyond the 15 foot square. During this size-changed attack, the queemp deals 2d6+6 damage with its trample and 2d4+6 damage with each tentacle; its attack rolls and overall AC do not change (touch AC drops to 13). The creature then bounces away 15 feet and reverts to its normal size. A queemp may use pounce as an attack during any of its turns, but it must wait at least 4 rounds between uses of super-growth.
Queemp Feint (Ex) As part of a queemp’s first pounce in an encounter, it makes a feint attempt (per the Bluff rules) as its size change takes its target(s) off guard.
Named for its piteous cry, the queemp is a surprisingly skilled hunter that uses deception to lure foes close enough that it can launch itself at them and squash them. Fortunately for the queemp and unfortunately for other creatures, it has plenty of places to perch in its jungle home and wait for unsuspecting victims. A queemp in its normal form is roughly 18 inches in diameter and weighs 20 pounds.
A queemp attacks by taking its prey by surprise as it drops from a high perch or leaps at its prey from the ground and grows to about 20 times its normal size. The queemp expects its sheer weight will kill its prey, and if it does not, the creature will seek an advantageous spot to hide from its opponent and wait until it can undergo its spontaneous yet momentary growth spurt again. Another tactic it takes if that fails is to lie on the ground and wail with its distinctive “queemp” sound. A character who speaks Aklo and succeeds at a DC 25 Diplomacy check can take a queemp as a companion, and it will happily remain with its new friend and protector, provided the character can meet the queemp’s required diet of 20 pounds of raw meat per week.
Speculation abounds regarding a queemp’s origins and abilities. The most accepted thought about the queemps’ unusual habitat given their apparently aquatic nature is that the creatures were launched into their new jungle homes in some great oceanic calamity, and the jungle’s humidity suits the creatures well enough. As for its size change, experimentation with the creature has shown that it opens a temporary portal to another plane from which it sucks up a vast amount of material that its weird, rubbery anatomy can accept. The portal then closes rapidly, recalling the material back to its original plane. Those who have studied the queemp are unsure if this is an engineered ability or something the creature somehow evolved as a means of protection or predation.
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Bag of Elements
Aura moderate conjuration and evocation; CL 11th
Slot none; Price 18,000 gp; Weight 1 lb.
Description
This pink bag has a nub protruding from the thickest part of the bag. As a full-round action that does not incur an attack of opportunity, the bag’s owner can press the nub, which fills the bag with material, and expel the material as a 30-foot cone of energy (selected by the bag’s owner) that deals 4d4 damage (DC 17 Reflex save for half). The bag takes 1d4+1 rounds to reset, and it can only be used 4 times per day.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, major creation, creator must be an elementalist or have the Elemental Spell feat; Cost 9,000 gp
