The Giant Pistol Shrimp

Today, Monday, is promising to be 30-plus degrees C outside, and while my cat oozes from futon, to floor, and back again, I made a promise a few days ago to start releasing free monsters for U20 subscribers. So here I am, upstairs, crouched over the keyboard, watching the little red LEDs on my stand-up fan flicker as they struggle for life against the energy-draining whir of the plastic blades set to "atomize."

I'm still working on a subscription service for U20. Until then, I present the Giant Pistol Shrimp (3.5 edition) to everyone who visits U20, for your personal use. Treat this as just a taste of what's to come in the U20 store.

Thanks for stopping by. :)

Giant Pistol Shrimp

Large Animal
HD: 4d8+12 (30 hp)
Initiative: +1
Speed: 40 ft., swim 40 ft.
AC: 19 (-1 size, +1 dex, +9 natural)
BAB/Grapple: +3/+12
Attack: Large pincer +6 melee (1D10+4/x2)
Full Attack: Pincer +6 melee (1D6+4) and large pincer +6 melee (1D10+4/x2)
Face/Reach: 10ft./5ft.
Special Attacks: Stunning Blow
Special Qualities: /
Saves: Fort +7, Reflex +5, Will +2
Abilities: Str 18, Dex 12, Con 16, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 4
Skills: Spot +8, Swim +15 (giant pistol shrimps have a +8 racial bonus to swim checks and can always take 10 on them)
Feats: Ability Focus (stunning blow), Improved Natural Armor.
Climate/Terrain: Any coastal underwater.
Organization: Solitary, or mated pair.
CR: 3
Treasure: 1/2 Standard
Alignment: Neutral
Advancement: 5-6 HD (Large), 7-10 HD (Huge)

This creature looks like a gray, brown, and red crawfish as big as a wagon. It glides forward, dozens of spindly legs churning the water. One normal-looking pincer flexes open and closed, but the other, much larger, pincer creaks open slowly as if ratcheted. Finally it snaps into place, and the creature points it right at you.

Giant pistol shrimp are ill-tempered and aggressive, attacking anything that enters their territory.

Combat
Giant pistol shrimp attack anything size small or larger moving through their territory, fighting to the death. A giant pistol shrimp always begins combat with its stunning blow as it moves forward to snip up its prey, and isn't shy about using the stunning blow repeatedly to keep prey disoriented while it eats.

Stunning Blow: Once the giant pistol shrimp cocks its large pincer (a move action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity, as drawing a weapon) it can forego its large pincer attack in favor of snapping it shut as a free action once per round. The pincer snaps shut with tremendous force, and the resulting bubble-filled sound and pressure wave is 10 feet wide, 5 feet high, and 20 feet long. The first two living creatures caught in the pressure wave (one in each 5-foot wide line of effect from the giant pistol shrimp) must succeed at a fortitude save DC 18 or be stunned* for one round (until just after the giant pistol shrimp's next turn).

If the stunning blow is used outside of water, or in water less than three feet deep, there is no pressure wave. Instead, all creatures within 10 feet of the giant pistol shrimp (excluding the giant pistol shrimp) must succeed at a fortitude save DC 16 or be deafened for 24 hours. The save DC is strength-based, but the giant pistol shrimp's ability focus feat only applies to its intended, underwater use.

* Stunned: (Page 301 3.5 DMG) Stunned creatures drop everything held, take no actions, and take a -2 penalty to AC while also losing their dexterity bonus to AC.

[Design Notes: The Giant Pistol Shrimp is based on the pistol shrimp of RL that creates a similar pressure wave to stun prey before eating them. A canny DM might want the Giant Pistol Shrimp to cock its large pincer and then use the cocked pincer as a melee attack to devastating effect. U20 recommends that this is awesome, and suggests a couple of ways to handle the situation:

• A full power attack (so, a large pincer melee attack at +3 to hit, dealing 1D10+7 damage) is probably the simplest, most balanced approach.
• Resolve the large claw attack normally, but double the claw's threat range and critical multiplier to 19-20/x3.

Finally, be conscious of water's effect on an encounter. As far as environments go, they don't get much more hazardous, and water tends to mitigate ranged attacks and provide bonuses to your critters (full mobility, concealment modifiers to AC, and an escape route), while penalizing your players (limited movement, lessened/negated attacks). If the environment plays a factor in your game, you should probably reward your players as if they have overcome a CR 4 encounter instead of the CR 3 recommended here.]

Comments

[Jason]

[Jason]

Claw Shrimp!