Hello, and welcome to another installment of the currently wildly misnamed Frightful Fridays! Today's monster is courtesy of Paris Crenshaw, and, for some reason, my imagination took me to the possibility of an extraplanar bounty hunter. The abductor prawn spends a considerable amount of time watching its opponent, and when it is ready to strike, it ususally grabs its target from invisibility. Once it latches onto its target, the prawn transports the target to the location of the creature that contracted it. It then disappears to the same location to collect its payment (or the remainder thereof).
I hope you enjoy the abductor prawn, and I'll be back sometime in the next seven days with another monster. As always, thanks for reading!
The abductor prawn is based on the skeleton shrimp, found here.
This creature appears to be a floating skeleton belonging to a gigantic shrimp, but the shrimp's near-invisible carapace soon reveals itself.
Abductor Prawn CR 12
XP 19,200
LN Large outsider (extraplanar, lawful)
Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +23
Defense
AC 27, touch 13, flat-footed 23 (+3 Dex, +1 dodge, +14 natural, –1 size)
hp 168 (16d10+80); fast healing 5
Fort +15, Ref +15, Will +9
DR 10/chaotic; Immune cold, mind-affecting effects; Resist acid 20, electricity 20; SR 21
Offense
Speed 10 ft., fly 60 ft. (perfect)
Melee 4 pincers +20 (2d6+5 plus grab)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks constrict (2d6+5), I have you now, learn routine
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 16th; concentration +19)
Constant—detect magic
At will—greater invisibility
3/day—plane shift (DC 20)
1/day—dimensional lock, discern location
Statistics
Str 20, Dex 17, Con 20, Int 15, Wis 18, Cha 16
Base Atk +16; CMB +22 (+26 grapple); CMD 36 (44 vs. trip)
Feats Combat Reflexes, Disruptive, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Lunge, Spellbreaker, Teleport Tactician[APG]
Skills Bluff +22, Disable Device +20, Fly +20, Knowledge (planes) +21, Perception +23, Sense Motive +15, Spellcraft +21, Stealth +18, Survival +23 (+31 when tracking); Racial Modifiers +8 Survival when tracking
Languages Celestial, Common, Infernal
SQ complete the contract, lockout wake
Ecology
Environment any
Organization solitary or pair
Treasure double
Special Abilities
Complete the Contract (Su) An abductor prawn can travel (or force an unwilling creature to travel) to its contractee's precise location when it uses plane shift.
I Have You Now (Su) If an abductor prawn succeeds at pinning its opponent, it can use plane shift as a swift action against its opponent and imposes a –8 penalty on the opponent's Will save.
Learn Routine (Ex) An abductor prawn that spends one hour studying its mark (including at least one combat) predicts how its target behaves. This grants the prawn a +4 bonus on all attack rolls against the target for 24 hours afterwards. The prawn cannot benefit from this ability against more than one creature.
Lockout Wake (Su) If an abductor prawn uses its plane shift spell-like ability on itself, it leaves a dimensional lock in its wake. It must have at least one use of its dimensional lock spell-like ability to create this effect, and this ability expends one use of dimensional lock.
Bizarre planar bounty hunters, abductor prawns have achieved a reputation for always collecting their targets. Once abductor prawns have received their assignments, only death will keep the prawns from completing them. This doggedness comes at a premium, of course, but many powerful outsiders that do not have the time to pursue someone themselves easily have the means to pay an abductor prawn to do the dirty work for them. Their inherent lawfulness attracts devils and archons alike, both of which seek to find targets due for some sort of punishment. Additionally, chaotic creatures, aware of the prawns' reputation, put aside their disdain for their lawful nature to contract them to hunt down targets.
Abductor prawns exert considerable patience when hunting their prey. They plane shift into the last known location of their targets and use discern location to gain a precise fix. If discern location fails, they use their prodigious tracking ability as a mundane substitute. Once they have acquired their target, the prawns follow it around invisibly to observe the target's actitivities, noting capabilities and vulnerabilities. If they can catch a target alone, they will attack at that moment, but they possess enough physical strength to ward off all but the most determined defenders. As a last resort, the prawns plane shift away without their quarry, but they are sure to attempt a capture again, after more observation.
A rare few abductor prawns apply their talents to the art of assassination. Since nearly all abductor prawns find tasks involving murder distasteful at best, finding one willing to carry out an assassination is difficult. However, these deadly prawns have an evil alignment, so a savvy creature with the ability to detect evil or otherwise discern another creature's alignment will have less trouble finding an assassin.
Posted with Blogsy
