Friday, October 12, 2018

Frightful Fridays! Frogtober! Amphrogoliath

Hello! Day 12 of Frogtober comes back to a semi-frequent theme on this blog: mashup monsters. Today's theme was "whale," so I decided to smoosh a frog and a whale together. It works! (I think) Hugo Solis (https://deviantart.com/butterfrog) admirably illustrated the amphrogoliath and added a number of cool features to the original description I gave him. It looks really cool, and I think it would be terrifying to run into one of these in the water, or just out of it.

I hope you enjoy the amphrogoliath, and I'll see you tomorrow with another frog-based monster!

Off-brand version of the "Jaws" theme plays



This bizarre cross between frog and whale has the length and pectoral fins (albeit frog-shaped) of a typical whale. Its head is an amalgam of frog and whale, it has powerful frog hindlegs that aid with its speed in the water, and it has a row of relatively stubby frog forelegs near where its tail would be. Its blue coloration, with rich green striations, helps it blend in with its aquatic environs.
Amphrogoliath      CR 12
XP 19,200
N Gargantuan magical beast (aquatic)
Init 2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +16
DEFENSE
AC 28, touch 4, flat-footed 28 (2 Dex, +24 natural, 4 size)
hp 168 (16d10+80); fast healing 5
Fort +15, Ref +8, Will +11
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft., swim 90 ft.
Melee bite +23 (6d6+11 plus grab), tail slap +21 (3d6+5), tongue +21 (1d8+5 plus grab)
Space 20 ft.; Reach 15 ft. (40 ft. with tongue)
Special Attacks capsize, pull (tongue, 15 feet), smashing breach, swallow whole (6d6 bludgeoning damage, AC 22, 16 hp), trample (6d6+16, DC 29)
STATISTICS
Str 32, Dex 6, Con 21, Int 3, Wis 18, Cha 11
Base Atk +16; CMB +31 (+33 bull rush, +35 grapple); CMD 39 (41 vs. bull rush, 43 vs. trip)
Feats Awesome Blow, Crippling Critical[APG], Critical Focus, Improved Bull Rush, Iron Will, Multiattack, Power Attack, Quick Bull Rush[UC]
Skills Perception +16, Stealth 5 (+15 in water), Swim +23; Racial Modifiers +20 Stealth in water
SQ amphibious
ECOLOGY
Environment temperate or warm oceans and coastlines
Organization solitary, pair, or crash (36)
Treasure incidental
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Fast Healing (Ex) If an amphrogoliath completely leaves water, its fast healing is reduced to 2 beginning on its next turn.
Smashing Breach (Ex) As a full-round action, an amphrogoliath can make a special charge attack against creatures on the surface of the water. At the end of its charge, the amphrogoliath breaches, then slams down onto the target with incredible force. Any Large or smaller creatures in the amphrogoliath’s space must make a DC 23 Reflex save or take 6d6+16 points of bludgeoning damage and be forced into the nearest space adjacent to the amphrogoliath. This breach automatically attempts to capsize any boats caught wholly or partially in this area. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Trample (Ex) An amphrogoliath can only trample creatures when it is on land.

Amphrogoliath origins have been lost to the mists of time, but the prevailing theory among scholars of ancient aquatic empires is that transmuters creates amphrogoliaths as engines of war against landbound kingdoms. While those ancient kingdoms are no more, or, at the very least, no longer threaten those living above the wave, amphrogoliaths still ply the seaways and endanger ships and coastal dwellers alike.

Amphrogoliaths have exceptionally slow metabolisms and swim lazily about the oceans they claim as their territories. Since they have few natural (or unnatural) predators and seldom require much food, they share the water with a wide variety of creatures with no issue. However, in the rare occasions where they must exert themselves or otherwise become hungry, they quickly depopulate an area measuring a mile in radius. If they happen to be near shore, they hop up on land and raid nearby villages for food, which includes hapless villagers in their way.

Either their odd biology, or a failsafe mechanism bred in by their creators, makes it so amphrogoliath offspring cannot survive in open water. The “tadpoles” must live in damp mud for the first two years of their lives, while they grow at a prodigious rate. One or both parents lurks in open water nearby or on the shore where they deposit their offspring. The parents are fierce protectors of their young but leave their progeny on their own once they reach maturity. Unless food is scarce, crashes of amphrogoliaths get along well with each other and often protect other amphrogoliaths under attack.

An adult amphrogoliath measures 75 feet long and weighs 50 tons. An amphrogoliath that spends its life peacefully can reach 70 years of age.