[Creature] Desert Eel

[wippit]

Desert Eel
Small Magical Beast (Earth)

Hit Dice: 2d8+2 (11 hp)
Initiative: +6
Speed: 30 ft. (4 squares), burrow 30 ft
Armor Class: 17 (+2 Dex, +5 natural)
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+1
Attack: Bite +3 melee (1d4 plus poison)
Full Attack: Bite +3 melee (1d4 plus poison)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Poison
Special Qualities: Tremorsense
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +1
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 15, Con 13, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 2
Skills: Hide +7*, Listen +5, Move Silently +7, Spot +5
Feats: Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse*
Environment: Desert
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 3
Advancement: 3–4 HD (Small); 5–6 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: -

Desert Eels are a rare species which can be found in sandy deserts, and are thought to be native to the Elemental Plane of Earth. Different from both aquatic eels or terrestrial snakes, these eels breathe in (and expel from their gills) sand, extracting silicon from the grains which is uses instead of oxygen. They injest quartz rather than flesh or plants for their nourishment.

Poison (Ex): Injury DC 14. Initial damage none. Secondary damage petrification (as quartz). The save DC is constitution-based and includes a +2 racial bonus.

Skills: Desert Eels have a +4 racial bonus on Hide, Listen, Move Silently and Spot checks. *They gain an additional +8 cover bonus on hide checks when buried under the sand.

Feats: Desert Eels receive the Weapon Finesse feat for free

[I_Got_This_Name]

Slight chemistry problem here. Silicon is one step down from Carbon (and therefore has similar chemical properties, and a silicon-based lifeform would use it for everything we use carbon for); Sulfur is a step down from Oxygen, but it's solid, which might make breathing it a bit harder.

[wippit]

Are we debatnig chemisrty in a D&D thread?

I just picked the most common element found in most desert sand.

And actually, giant tube worms which live close to undrwater thermal vents breathe sulfer instead of oxygen, so at that level it's possible. But there's little to no sulfer in sand unless it's volcanic.

Could make is cyanide, maybe... trace amounts may exist in sand...

[Lord Iames Osari]

Cyanide is not an element. It is a combination of carbon and nitrogen, IIRC. I'd like to give this a Yes, but the flavor text nags at me. Change it so it works, even if you just say "It's MAGIC! :D", and a shiny yes vote shall be yours.

[Jacob_Gallagher]

Ooo... TREMORS!!!

[Umbral_Arcanist]

Cyanide is not an element. It is a combination of carbon and nitrogen, IIRC. I'd like to give this a Yes, but the flavor text nags at me. Change it so it works, even if you just say "It's MAGIC! :D", and a shiny yes vote shall be yours.

Yeah, same here...even if it is from the elemental plane of earth, i think that bit of flavor text needs some changing or modification.....

[fangthane]

How about being an oxy-breather like the rest of us, except that since it doesn't have lungs as such it's required to take in rock, process the compounds for oxygen and expels the rest. In which case I can think of lots of reasons why a smith might keep one as a pet - feed it rust for oxygen content, quartz for silicon, and pull iron filings from its enclosure, to make new items.

Edit - I should also point out that quartz is an oxide of silicon too, so potentially breathing and eating can be a merged process, at least to an extent.

I don't know why, but I enjoy postulating the biology of completely made-up creatures :)