Frightful Fridays! Giant Hell Ant

Hello and welcome to this week's Frightful Fridays! on the second Friday in a row. I'm doing something wrong. This week's monster is a giant ant--pretty mundane, right? Well, this ant is based on a prehistoric ant that drinks blood, has vertical mandibles, and an impaling spike. I only turned a couple of things up from the base creature, because nature(?) did most of the work for me.

I hope you enjoy the giant hell ant, and I'll see you next week (maybe on Friday again) with another monster. Thanks for reading!

You can read about this nightmare creature here

This enormous black ant has vertical mandibles and a blood-stained spike protruding from just above the mandibles.

Giant Hell Ant      CR 8

XP 4,800

N Large vermin

Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., lifesense; Perception +17

DEFENSE

AC 22, touch 12, flat-footed 19 (+3 Dex, +10 natural, –1 size)

hp 102 (12d8+48)

Fort +12, Ref +7, Will +5

Defensive Abilities ferocity

OFFENSE

Speed 50 ft., burrow 20 ft., climb 30 ft.

Melee bite +15 (4d6+7/19–20 plus grab), gore +15 (1d6+7 plus 2d6 bleed and blood drain)

Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.

Special Attacks bleed, blood drain, crippling bite, gnaw

STATISTICS

Str 25, Dex 16, Con 19, Int —, Wis 12, Cha 5

Base Atk +9; CMB +17 (+21 grapple); CMD 30 (38 vs. trip)

Skills Acrobatics +3 (+11 to jump), Climb +15, Perception +17; Racial Modifiers +16 Perception

ECOLOGY

Environment warm forests

Organization solitary, pair, army (3–20), or colony (1 giant hell ant queen plus 21–100 giant hell ants)

Treasure none

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Blood Drain (Ex) A creature struck by a giant hell ant’s gore attack must succeed on a DC 20 Fortitude save or take 1d4 points of Constitution damage. If the creature is currently suffering bleed damage, it takes a –4 on its Fortitude save. The ant gains 5 temporary hit points if it drains blood from a victim. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Crippling Bite (Ex) A giant hell ant’s bite attack threatens a critical hit on a roll of 19–20. If the ant scores a critical hit on a target, its mandibles cut deep, resulting in a wound that causes 2d4 bleed and leaving its foe staggered for 1d4+1 rounds from the pain dealt by the grievous wound.

Gnaw (Ex) If a giant hell ant begins its turn with a grabbed foe, it inflicts automatic bite damage.

Gore (Ex) If a giant hell ant succeeds at maintaining a grapple against a foe, in addition to automatically dealing bite damage, it can attempt a gore attack against the grappled opponent.

Giant hell ants are blood-drinking ants with powerful jaws capable of rending flesh from bone and a porous spike filled with an anticoagulant agent. They latch onto opponents and worry at wounds they inflict with their terrible mandibles. While they’ve got their opponents locked in their mandibles, they attempt to spear their victims with their spikes to induce more blood flow. Giant hell ants are so aggressive, they continue attacking until they drop dead.

Vampires and other intelligent, bloodsucking creatures sometimes employ giant hell ants to harvest blood from victims, and they in turn harvest the blood from the vermin. Undead creatures don’t register as prey for giant hell ants, so they have no fear of suffering backfire from using the ants.

A typical giant hell ant is 10 feet in length, stands 4 feet tall, and weighs 300 pounds. A giant hell ant colony is similar to an ordinary ant colony, except there are only soldier ants and a single queen (which applies the advanced and giant creature templates).

Giant Hellfire Ant (+1 CR) This strange, Hell-touched variant of the giant hell ant gains the advanced creature template and possesses immunity to fire, vulnerability to cold, and a breath weapon (30-ft. cone, 6d8 fire damage, Reflex DC 20 for half, usable every 1d4 rounds).

Frightful Fridays! Trapper Slug

Hello and welcome to another Frightful Fridays! Thanks to the magic of missing a week, I've managed to return to Friday (at least temporarily). This edition's monster is a giant slug that is slick on the outside, and quite the opposite on its underside. It encases its prey in acidic goop and waits for the acid to dissolve its prey, so it can eat. It's absolutely delightful.

I hope you enjoy the trapper slug, and I'll see you again with another monster. Thanks for reading!

The inspiration for this slug can be found here

Slime glistens on this black slug. A trail of sizzling and acrid tar follows it.

Trapper Slug      CR 5

XP 1,600

N Large vermin (aquatic)

Init –1; Senses darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 60 ft.; Perception +1

DEFENSE

AC 18, touch 8, flat-footed 18 (–1 Dex, +10 natural, –1 size)

hp 59 (7d8+28); aquatic healing

Fort +9, Ref +1, Will +3

Defensive Abilities protective slime; DR 5/piercing; Immune bludgeoning damage; Resist acid 10

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft., climb 20 ft., swim 40 ft.

Melee slam +8 (1d6+6 plus entrap)

Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.

Special Attacks dissolute entrapment, entrap (DC 17, 1d4 minutes, hardness 5, hp 10)

STATISTICS

Str 18, Dex 9, Con 19, Int —, Wis 13, Cha 4

Base Atk +5; CMB +10; CMD 19 (27 vs. grapple, can't be tripped)

Skills Climb +12, Swim +12

SQ amphibious

ECOLOGY

Environment temperate or warm water and coastlines

Organization solitary or cornucopia (2–12)

Treasure incidental

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Aquatic Healing (Ex) While submerged in water, a trapper slug gains fast healing 2.

Deliquescent Entrapment (Ex) A creature rendered helpless by a trapper slug’s entrap attack takes 1d6 points of acid damage at the beginning of its turn. Once free, the creature no longer takes this damage.

Protective Slime (Ex) A trapper slug is coated in protective slime that grants it a +8 racial bonus to CMD against grapple attempts and immunity to fire. If a spell or effect deals 10 or more points of fire damage to the slug, it takes no damage, but it loses it protective slime, removing its immunity to fire and bonus to CMD. A trapper slug that spends 1 minute submerged in water replaces the slime.

Trapper slugs are aquatic slugs typically found in the depths of lakes and along calm seashores. They typically content themselves with feeding on fish and other waterborne fauna. However, when drought strikes or when their sources of food go scarce, they emerge onto land to continue their hunts. Trapper slugs possess a slimy outer coating, allowing them to escape even larger predators. In contrast, the slime changes to a sticky substance on the slugs’ underside, which hardens around the slugs’ prey. The slime then becomes acidic to dissolve prey, and the slugs feed on the resulting slurry after the slime becomes brittle and breaks apart. While unintelligent, trapper slugs are aware of the nearest sources of water and retreat to them when they are near death (6 hp for the typical trapper slug), so they can regenerate their slimy coating and heal quickly in the water.

Trapper slugs typically measure 8 feet in length and weigh at least 800 pounds. They reproduce asexually, laying their eggs in the liquefied remains of a victim and leaving the immature slugs to fend for themselves.

Here Be Monsters 4!

Hello! There will be a new monster later today, but I first wanted to let you know about the Here Be Monsters 4 contest, beginning now.

http://aswordforhire.blogspot.fi/2017/09/here-be-monsters-4-out-of-primal-world.html

The theme for this year is the primal realm, home to fey and several otherworldly creatures. The catch is we are not accepting fey creatures for the contest.

I hope you decide to enter! I also look forward to sharing the top 5 later on in the blog.

Frightful Fridays! Octopus Dragon

Hello and welcome to another Frightful Fridays! This monster is courtesy of my friend David Mallon, who pointed out his illustration during a discussion about octopus dragons. You can find more of his art here: https://davemallon.net/. Check it out!

As for the dragon itself, I had originally planned to create a one-off, like many other draconic creatures, but then I decided it really needed a full write up with age categories. As it grows older, it sprouts more tentacles, making it a grappling machine.

I hope you enjoy the octopus dragon, and I'll see you next time with another monster. Thanks for reading!

You can find this great illustration here

This creature combines the awe-inspiring presence of a terrestrial dragon with the rubbery and tentacular nature of an octopus.

Octopus Dragon

NG dragon (water)

BASE STATISTICS

CR 5; Size Small; Hit Dice 6d12

Speed 20 ft., swim 60 ft.

Natural Armor +4; Breath Weapon cloud, 2d8 cold

Str 13, Dex 18, Con 15, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 17

ECOLOGY

Environment any water

Organization solitary

Treasure triple

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Aberrant Hunter (Su) Once per day as a swift action, an adult or older octopus dragon can grant all its natural weapons the bane (aberrations) weapon special ability. This effect lasts for 2 rounds per age category.

Animal Companion (Ex) A young octopus dragon gains an octopus as an animal companion as if it were a druid equal to its caster level.

Cephalopod Speaker (Su) An octopus dragon benefits from a constant speak with animals effect, but only for cephalopods.

Crush of the Deep (Su) Once per day as a standard action, a great wyrm octopus dragon can cause a 60-foot-radius area of water within its line of sight to greatly increase its pressure. Creatures caught within the area at the beginning of their turn suffer 14d6 points of bludgeoning damage and are stunned (Fortitude save halves and reduces the stunned effect to staggered). The area of intensified pressure lasts for as long as the dragon concentrates on it plus 10 rounds after its stops concentrating.

Fast Swimmer (Ex) A juvenile octopus dragon increases its swim speed by 30 feet. When the dragon increases its size category, its swim speed increases by a further 30 feet.

Inky Breath (Su) A very young or older octopus dragon’s breath weapon creates a cloud of ink. In addition to the cold damage it inflicts, the cloud acts as an area of darkness for 1 round. The duration increases by 1 round per additional age category beyond very young, and the octopus dragon can use a move action to move the cloud 60 feet. The cloud deals no additional damage beyond the initial effect. When an octopus dragon reaches the adult age category, the cloud acts as an area of deeper darkness, and it can move the cloud as a free action. The dragon is unaffected by the darkness or deeper darkness created by its inky breath.

Land Walker (Ex) A young adult octopus dragon becomes more comfortable on land and increases its base speed by 10 feet. For every increase in size category, its base speed increases by a further 10 feet.

Multi-Grab (Ex) An old or older octopus dragon can grapple multiple opponents with its tentacles. Instead of the –20 penalty on its CMB check to make and maintain the grapple to avoid gaining the grappled condition, it takes a –5 penalty per target grappled. To use this ability, the dragon must grapple opponents at least one size category smaller than itself.

Spells (Sp) An octopus dragon casts spells as a druid with the indicated caster level. It uses Wisdom as its spellcasting ability score.

Watery Ally (Sp) Once per day, an ancient or older forest dragon can summon a greater water elemental. The caster level for this effect is the same as the dragon’s caster level.

Age Category	Special Abilities	Caster Level
Wyrmling	Cephalopod speaker, immunity to cold	—
Very young	Amphibious, inky breath	—
Young	Animal companion, purify food and drink	1st
Juvenile	Fast swimmer, frightful presence, protection from chaos	3rd
Young adult	DR 5/cold iron, land walker, spell resistance	5th
Adult	Aberrant hunter, black tentacles	7th
Mature adult	Amorphous, DR 10/cold iron	9th
Old	Multi-grab, wall of force	11th
Very old	DR 15/cold iron and magic	13th
Ancient	Freezing sphere, watery ally	15th
Wyrm	DR 20/cold iron and magic	17th
Great wyrm	Crush of the deep, tsunami	19th

Young Octopus Dragon      CR 9

XP 6,400

NG Large dragon (water)

Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +16

DEFENSE

AC 22, touch 12, flat-footed 19 (+3 Dex, +10 natural, –1 size)

hp 115 (10d12+50)

Fort +11, Ref +10, Will +10

Immune cold, paralysis, sleep

OFFENSE

Speed 20 ft., fly 100 ft. (poor), swim 60 ft.

Melee bite +14 (2d6+5/19–20), 3 tentacles +15 (1d8+5 plus grab)

Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.

Special Attacks breath weapon (40-ft. cloud, 6d8 cold damage, DC 19), inky breath

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 10th; concentration +14)

   At will—purify food and drink

Druid Spells Prepared (CL 1st; concentration +4)

   1st—entangle (DC 14), hydraulic push^APG

   0 (at will)—detect magic, know direction, stabilize

STATISTICS

Str 21, Dex 16, Con 19, Int 16, Wis 16, Cha 19

Base Atk +10; CMB +16 (+18 bull rush, +20 grapple); CMD 29 (31 vs. bull rush, can't be tripped)

Feats Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical (bite), Power Attack, Toughness, Weapon Focus (tentacle)

Skills Acrobatics +3 (–1 to jump), Fly –3, Intimidate +17, Knowledge (arcana) +16, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +16, Knowledge (nature) +16, Perception +16, Spellcraft +16, Stealth +12, Swim +26, Use Magic Device +17

Languages Aquan, Common, Draconic; cephalopod speaker

SQ amphibious

--------------------

Adult Octopus Dragon      CR 13

XP 25,600

NG Huge dragon (water)

Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +24

Aura frightful presence (180 ft., DC 24)

DEFENSE

AC 29, touch 10, flat-footed 27 (+2 Dex, +19 natural, –2 size)

hp 216 (16d12+112)

Fort +16, Ref +12, Will +15

DR 5/cold iron; Immune cold, paralysis, sleep; SR 24

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft., fly 100 ft. (poor), swim 90 ft.

Melee bite +22 (2d8+8/19–20), 4 tentacles +23 (1d8+8 plus grab)

Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft.

Special Attacks aberrant hunter, breath weapon (50-ft. cloud, 12d8 cold damage, DC 24), constrict (1d8+8), crush (Small creatures, DC 24, 2d8+12), inky breath

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 16th; concentration +22)

   At will—black tentacles, protection from chaos, purify food and drink

Druid Spells Prepared (CL 7th; concentration +12)

   4th—ball lightning^APG (DC 19), dispel magic

   3rd—neutralize poison, remove disease, water breathing

   2nd—barkskin, bull's strength, chill metal (DC 17), unshakable chill^UM (DC 17)

   1st—entangle (DC 16), faerie fire, hydraulic push^APG (2), magic fang, speak with animals

   0 (at will)—detect magic, know direction, resistance, stabilize

STATISTICS

Str 27, Dex 14, Con 23, Int 20, Wis 20, Cha 23

Base Atk +16; CMB +26 (+28 bull rush, +30 grapple); CMD 38 (40 vs. bull rush, can't be tripped)

Feats Critical Focus, Exhausting Critical, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical (bite), Power Attack, Tiring Critical, Toughness, Weapon Focus (tentacle)

Skills Appraise +24, Fly +13, Intimidate +25, Knowledge (arcana) +24, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +24, Knowledge (nature) +24, Perception +24, Spellcraft +24, Stealth +13, Swim +35, Use Magic Device +25

Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Aquan, Common, Draconic; cephalopod speaker

SQ amphibious

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Ancient Octopus Dragon      CR 18

XP 153,600

NG Gargantuan dragon (water)

Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +34

Aura frightful presence (300 ft., DC 30)

DEFENSE

AC 38, touch 7, flat-footed 37 (+1 Dex, +31 natural, –4 size)

hp 372 (24d12+216)

Fort +22, Ref +17, Will +21

Defensive Abilities amorphous; DR 15/cold iron and magic; Immune cold, paralysis, sleep; SR 29

OFFENSE

Speed 60 ft., fly 120 ft. (clumsy), swim 150 ft.

Melee bite +33 (4d6+12/19–20), 6 tentacles +33 (1d8+12 plus grab)

Space 20 ft.; Reach 15 ft.

Special Attacks aberrant hunter, breath weapon (50-ft. cloud, 20d8 cold damage, DC 30), constrict (1d8+12), crush (Medium creatures, DC 30, 4d6+18), inky breath, multi-grab

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 24th; concentration +32)

   At will—black tentacles, freezing sphere (DC 24), protection from chaos, purify food and drink, wall of force

   1/day—summon (level 9, 1 greater water elemental 100%)

Druid Spells Prepared (CL 15th; concentration +22)

   8th—stormbolts^APG (DC 25)

   7th—control weather, creeping doom (DC 24), vortex^APG (DC 24)

   6th—antilife shell, epidemic^UM (DC 23), repel wood, swarm skin^APG

   5th—baleful polymorph (2, DC 22), blessing of the salamander^APG (DC 22), insect plague (summons jellyfish with the same effect), stoneskin

   4th—ball lightning^APG (DC 21), control water, dispel magic, geyser^APG (DC 21), rusting grasp

   3rd—hydraulic torrent^APG (2), greater magic fang, neutralize poison, remove disease, water breathing

   2nd—barkskin, bear's endurance, bull's strength, chill metal (2, DC 19), unshakable chill^UM (DC 19)

   1st—entangle (DC 18), faerie fire, hydraulic push^APG (3), speak with animals

   0 (at will)—detect magic, know direction, resistance, stabilize

STATISTICS

Str 35, Dex 12, Con 27, Int 24, Wis 24, Cha 27

Base Atk +24; CMB +40 (+42 bull rush, +44 grapple); CMD 51 (53 vs. bull rush, can't be tripped)

Feats Awesome Blow, Critical Focus, Exhausting Critical, Flyby Attack, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical (bite), Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Tiring Critical, Toughness, Weapon Focus (bite), Weapon Focus (tentacle)

Skills Acrobatics +1 (+13 to jump), Appraise +34, Bluff +35, Diplomacy +35, Fly +14, Intimidate +35, Knowledge (arcana) +34, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +34, Knowledge (nature) +34, Perception +34, Spellcraft +34, Stealth +16, Swim +47, Use Magic Device +35

Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Aquan, Celestial, Common, Draconic, Infernal; cephalopod speaker

SQ amphibious

Ancient foes to aboleths and other underwater abominations, octopus dragons were nearly driven to extinction before retreating to the Plane of Water. There they regrew their numbers and allied themselves with native water elementals. When they returned, they began their war with the aboleths anew, but this time they have learned not to make a frontal assault. When they can, they use water elemental allies to soften up their foes, and they have taken to asking for return favors from creatures they have rescued from watery doom. While they have taken care not to become as deceitful as their major antagonists, their unquestioning benevolence now potentially comes with a price, especially for those who have proven themselves adept in other areas.

Sci-Fi Sunday (Jewel Caterpillar)

Hello and welcome to a new feature on the blog! I plan to convert monsters that make sense to transfer to the Starfinder Roleplaying Game, and the jewel caterpillar seemed like the best candidate to kick this off (because lasers).

I'll be back tomorrow with another monster for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Thanks for reading!

This spiky caterpillar appears to be made from a translucent crystal.

Jewel Caterpillar      CR 4

XP 1,200

N Diminutive magical beast

Init +7; Senses blindsense (gems, vibration) 60 ft., darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +6

DEFENSE                              HP 52

EAC 18; KAC 19

Fort +7, Ref +7, Will +3

Defensive Abilities can’t be tripped, fade out; DR 5/bludgeoning Immune electricity, fire; Resist acid 10

OFFENSE

Speed 20 ft., climb 10 ft.

Melee bite +4 (1d2–5 P plus jewel caterpillar poison)

Ranged energy ray +12 (3d6 A, C, E, or F [see below]; crit burn 1d6)

Space 1 ft.; Reach 0 ft.

Offensive Abilities consume gem, spines

STATISTICS

Str –5, Dex +3, Con +3, Int –3, Wis +0, Cha +2

Feats Go Unnoticed^APG

Skills Athletics +11, Perception +6, Stealth +19

ECOLOGY

Environment any temperate or warm land

Organization solitary, pair, or vault (3–12)

Treasure standard (intact jewel caterpillar corpse)

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Consume Gem (Ex) As a full action, a jewel caterpillar can destroy a gem it touches. When it does so, it heals an amount of hit points equal to 1/10 the gem’s value in credits. A magic gem receives a Reflex save (DC 15) to avoid destruction.

Energy Ray (Ex) A jewel caterpillar can fire an energy ray that deals 3d6 points of damage of a chosen energy type (acid, cold, electricity, or fire). Once it fires an energy ray, it must wait 1 round before it can fire another energy ray. During this delay, it changes color to match the type of energy damage it will deal on its next attack (acid—green, cold—blue, electricity—yellow, fire—red). The ray has a 40-foot range increment.

Fade Out (Ex) As a swift action, a jewel caterpillar can make itself translucent or return to its fully visible state. This grants it partial concealment (20% miss chance) and a +8 racial bonus on Stealth checks. While translucent, the caterpillar cannot use its energy ray.

Jewel Caterpillar Poison (Ex) Bite—injury; save Fort DC 15; track Dexterity; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect at the immobile state, the victim becomes a gem statue (worth 1,000 credits per creature’s total HD), as if affected by flesh to stone; cure 2 saves.

Spines (Ex) Any creature attacking a jewel caterpillar with natural weapons or an unarmed strike takes 1d2 points of piercing damage and is subject to the caterpillar’s poison. A creature that grapples a jewel caterpillar takes 1d4 points of piercing damage each round it does so.