As promised, here is the Frogtober monster intended for yesterday. The Inktober theme was "drain," and much as I wanted to go with an undead critter that stole some attribute or other from the PCs, I instead went with a different interpretation. The funnel frog creates trap door-style funnels that drain PCs down to its waiting maw.
Hugo Solis (https://deviantart.com/butterfrog) created an awesome illustration showing the funnel frog getting impatient and bursting through the ground to hunt its prey.
I hope you enjoy the funnel frog, and I'll see you in a few more hours with today's monster!
Here's Froggy!
This stony frog has a
long-raspy tongue and a pair of powerful mandibles, not attached to its jaws,
but instead attached to its tongue.
Funnel Frog CR 9
XP 6,400
N Gargantuan magical beast
Init –2;
Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light
vision, scent, tremorsense 60 ft.; Perception +16
DEFENSE
AC 24, touch 4,
flat-footed 24 (–2 Dex, +20 natural, –4 size)
hp 114
(12d10+48); regeneration 5 (cold)
Fort +12, Ref +6, Will +10
DR 10/magic; Resist acid 10, electricity 10
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft.,
burrow 30 ft., climb 20 ft.; earth glide
Melee bite +18
(3d6+9/19–20),
tongue +17 (2d8+9 plus grab)
Space 20 ft.; Reach 15 ft. (30 ft. with tongue)
Special Attacks
create funnel, pull (tongue, 10 feet), quicksand patch
Spell-Like Abilities
(CL 12th; concentration +15)
At will—create pit[APG] (DC 15), expeditious excavation[APG]
3/day—soften earth and stone
1/day—hungry pit[APG] (DC 18)
STATISTICS
Str 29, Dex 6, Con 19, Int 5, Wis 18, Cha 16
Base Atk +12; CMB +25 (+29 grapple); CMD 33 (37 vs. trip)
Feats Bleeding
Critical, Critical Focus, Diehard[B], Endurance[B], Improved Critical (bite),
Iron Will, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (bite)
Skills Climb +21,
Perception +17, Stealth –10 (+10 in rocky areas), Survival +16; Racial Modifiers +20 Stealth in rocky
areas, +12 Survival
SQ stone-crushing
mandibles
ECOLOGY
Environment
temperate and warm deserts or mountains
Organization
solitary, pair, or cratering (3–8)
Treasure
incidental
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Create Funnel (Ex)
As a standard action, a funnel frog can create a funnel-like pit that measures
15 feet in diameter and 20 feet deep. Creatures caught in the area may avoid
falling in with a successful DC 20 Reflex save. The sand and broken rock soften
the fall, so a creature only takes 1d6 points of damage on a failed save. The
frog can make an attack of opportunity against any creature that falls into the
funnel. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Grab (Ex) If a
funnel frog succeeds on its combat maneuver check to maintain a grapple, it can
make a bite attack against the grappled target with a +2 circumstance bonus as
an immediate action.
Quicksand Patch (Ex)
A funnel frog can spend 1 hour to create a 60-foot-diameter, 15-foot-deep patch
of quicksand in any soft earth surface. The frog makes a single Survival check
opposed by Perception or Survival checks to spot the quicksand before stepping
in.
Stone-Crushing
Mandibles (Ex) A funnel frog that makes a bite attack against a stone
object or structure deals double damage.
Funnel frogs are castaways from the Elemental Plane of
Earth, left behind when an antediluvian wave from the earthen plane retreated
to its original location. Knowledgeable scholars believe the frogs were left
behind, since earth elemental creatures regarded them as little more than
destructive vermin akin to gigantic prairie dogs and gophers. Funnel frogs
adapted quickly to their subterranean homes and then found their way to the
surface, where they continue the destructive behavior that ousted them from
their former homes.
Funnel frogs wait 10 to 20 feet below the surface to ambush
their prey. Since they only know their prey from footfalls, they are inherently
less than discriminating when it comes to choosing their victims. This results
in their quick demise when they tunnel under dragons and similarly powerful
creatures. However, they are more often successful than not, and prosperous frogs
know how to find the best hunting grounds.
Those funnel frogs that haven’t established a permanent lair
use their mandibles to quickly drill holes under potential prey. The mandibles
are attached to their tongues, which sit in a socket in their throats, allowing
the frogs to spin their tongues and the attached mandibles freely. Established
frogs spend their time crushing earth into fine grains, so they can create
quicksand-like pits to confuse and disorient their prey as they sink toward the
waiting frogs.
A typical funnel frog measures 22 feet in length and weighs
2 tons, a weight for which they seem adept at distributing evenly in sandy
surfaces. A funnel frog can reach a natural lifespan of 500 years, but it
rarely does, as its hunting habits eventually lead to its early demise.
