Palanan
2013-07-10, 10:19 PM
" the most beautiful fish I had ever seen...five feet long, a pale, mauvy blue with faint flecks of whitish spots; it had an iridescent silver-blue-green sheen all over. It was covered in hard scales, and it had four limb-like fins and a strange little puppy dog tail."
Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer
Coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae)
Medium Animal (Aquatic)
Hit Dice: 2d8+6 (15 hp)
Initiative: +6
Speed: Swim 10 ft.
Armor Class: 14 (+2 Dex, +1 natural, +1 mucilage), touch 13, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+1
Attack: Bite +3 melee (1d6+4)
Full Attack: Bite +3 melee (1d6+4)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Engulfing gape, snaptail lunge
Special Qualities: Coldlife, nightsight, electric eye, mucilaginous touch, disagreeable flesh
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +4, Will +1
Abilities: Str 12, Dex 14, Con 17, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 4
Skills: Escape Artist +10, Hide +11, Spot +13 (in darkness only), Swim +8
Feats: Improved Initiative
Environment: cold aquatic (depths from 200-2300 ft.)
Organization: Solitary (night) or cave group (daytime only)
Challenge Rating: 1
Treasure: none
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: None
Level Adjustment: -
Drifting silently on cold night-currents, the coelacanth is a slow-moving ambush predator of deep reefs and undersea cliffs. Often reaching six feet in length and weighing over two hundred pounds, coelacanths hunt in darkness, snapping up fishes, squids, eels, and even small sharks that stray too close to their powerful jaws. In addition to their excellent night vision, coelacanths rely on their sensitivity to minute electrical fields, perceiving the flickering nerves and beating hearts of nearby living prey. Their uniquely hinged skull allows for a surprisingly wide bite--and a sudden lunge doubles its effective range.
During daylight hours, coelacanths take shelter in deep undersea caves, sometimes quietly resting in groups of a dozen or more. The pattern of white-flecked spots, unique as a fingerprint for each individual, helps camouflage them against a background of rock and reef--for coelacanths have their own predators, primarily the larger sharks, and a coelacanth has no hope of outrunning them.
Coelacanths are slow, deliberate creatures in nearly every aspect of their lives. They have the slowest metabolism of any known vertebrate, and the longest gestation period: three full years, after which the mother coelacanth gives live birth to as many as two dozen pups. (The eggs, at nearly four inches across, are the size of a moderate orange and the largest fish eggs known.) This metabolic lethargy contributes to their extremely long lifespans--perhaps a hundred years or more--but it comes at a cost, since coelacanths cannot tolerate warmer waters.
Their internal anatomy is a hodgepodge of archaic and unusual features: a primitive tubular backbone; a pseudo-lung filled with fat; hollow-spined fins and a cartilaginous skeleton; and a brain which occupies barely one percent of the cranial cavity, the rest being taken up with more fat. Despite this abundance of fatty deposits, the fish is almost universally considered inedible--since, like sharks, it saturates its tissues with metabolic urea to maintain its osmotic balance.
Coelacanths are rare, ancient creatures, having survived long aeons in essentially their present state. Once widespread and numerous, they are now found only in deep, rocky regions, supporting minimal populations in remote corners of the ocean, isolated and nearly forgotten.
Engulfing Gape (Ex): Unique among living fishes, coelacanths possess a hinged cranium which allows the entire head to open wide, delivering a crushing bite and drawing smaller creatures entirely into the mouth. On a successful bite attack against a target of Small or smaller size, the target is completely engulfed as per the Swallow Whole ability.
Snaptail Lunge (Ex): Despite its typical lethargy, a coelacanth can strike with instant ferocity when a likely meal swims within range. A sudden surge of its massive, paddle-shaped tail launches it forward while the jaw expands to engulf its prey. The extra power delivered by the lunge adds five feet to the coelacanth's effective reach, allowing it to attack prey up to ten feet away from a standing start.
Coldlife (Ex): Adapated over long ages to the chill of deep ocean waters, coelacanths fare poorly in the warmer surface layers. A coelacanth in water above 50 degrees must make a DC 14 Fort save or take 1d4 points of heat damage for each hour it remains overheated. It makes a new Fort save every hour, but the DC rises by 2 for each hour after the first.
Nightsight (Ex): A coelacanth's eyes, like a cat's, have a reflective layer behind the retina which gives exceptionally sensitive night vision. A coelacanth gains a +8 racial bonus to Spot checks during the night or in other conditions of nonmagical darkness. However, coelacanths are at a powerful disadvantage during the daytime or in a strong light source, and will often hide away from the full moon. A coelacanth exposed to strong light takes a -8 penalty to Search and Spot checks.
Electric Eye (Ex): Unique among all living vertebrates, the coelacanth possesses an electrosensory organ in its snout which allows it to detect the slightest variations in the surrounding electromagnetic field. A coelacanth is able to sense the faint bioelectric activity of any creature with a nervous system, including virtually all marine animal life. Coelacanths cannot use this ability to sense undead or magically animated constructs, although a construct with metal components would be detectable. This ability otherwise functions as if it were blindsight with a radius of ten feet.
Mucilaginous Touch (Ex): A coelacanth's body continually exudes a thin oily coating across its fins and scales. This provides a +1 mucilage bonus to AC, and a +8 racial bonus to Escape Artist checks and opposed grapple checks.
Disagreeable Flesh (Ex): The scales and tissues of a coelacanth are saturated with oils and metabolic waste. Any creature that makes a successful bite attack on a coelacanth must make a DC 14 Fortitude save or be nauseated for one minute.
Skills: A coelacanth gains a +8 racial bonus on Hide checks on deep reefs, seamounts and rocky undersea slopes. This bonus does not apply when the coelacanth is swimming above a grassy or sandy substrate, a well-lit shallow reef, or in clear sunlit water--all unusual and dangerous situations for a coelacanth.
Notes
A few days ago Koda the kobold posted a request for a homebrewed coelacanth, since he wanted the base stats to build a hengeyokai with. Not having the faintest concept what a hengeyokai actually is, I did some background reading on Latimeria, and worked up a version based on some of the quirky, oddball features one finds in coelacanths.
I like most of what's here, but one special quality I couldn't work out was related to the extremely deep evolutionary history of coelacanths, and the almost complete morphological stasis they've shown over the past 300 million years or so. That's on a par with horseshoe crabs for stability of design through geological time; and in an attempt to reflect this in some small way, I came up with a simple ability called Timeless Form, which gave them a +8 bonus on saves to resist being polymorphed into other forms.
Turns out that either Polymorph can't be used against an unwilling target, or I simply don't get Polymorph, or quite possibly both. I like the idea of the coelacanth having some ability relating to its immensely deep history in the same form...just not sure what would work here. I'm open to suggestions, as well as to comments and corrections on the rest of the coelacanth 'brew.
Sources
Amemiya et al. 2013. The African coelacanth genome provides insights into tetrapod evolution. [I]Nature 496 (18 April 2013): 311-316.
Anonymous. Latimeria chalumnae Smith 1939. Encyclopedia of Life (http://eol.org/pages/225251/details).
Banister, K. E. 1985. Coelacanth, lungfishes, bichirs. In: Encyclopedia of Aquatic Life, K. Banister and A. Campbell (Eds.), pp. 124-127. Facts on File Publications, New York.
Butler, C. and Ballesta, L. 2011. Ancient swimmers. National Geographic, March 2011, pp. 86-93.
Fricke, H., Hissmann, K., Froese, R., Schauer, J., Plante, R. and Fricke, S. 2011. The population biology of the living coelacanth studied over 21 years. Marine Biology 158(7): 1511-1522.
Hissmann, K., Fricke, H., Schauer, J., Ribbink, A. J., Roberts, M., Sink, K. and Heemstra, P. 2006. The South African coelacanths — an account of what is known after three submersible expeditions. South African Journal of Science 102: 491-500.
Keim, B. 2011. The man who swims with coelacanths. Wired Magazine interview (http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/05/hans-fricke/) with Hans Fricke.
Weinberg, S. 2000. A Fish Caught In Time: The Search for the Coelacanth. Harper Collins, New York.
.
Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer
Coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae)
Medium Animal (Aquatic)
Hit Dice: 2d8+6 (15 hp)
Initiative: +6
Speed: Swim 10 ft.
Armor Class: 14 (+2 Dex, +1 natural, +1 mucilage), touch 13, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+1
Attack: Bite +3 melee (1d6+4)
Full Attack: Bite +3 melee (1d6+4)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Engulfing gape, snaptail lunge
Special Qualities: Coldlife, nightsight, electric eye, mucilaginous touch, disagreeable flesh
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +4, Will +1
Abilities: Str 12, Dex 14, Con 17, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 4
Skills: Escape Artist +10, Hide +11, Spot +13 (in darkness only), Swim +8
Feats: Improved Initiative
Environment: cold aquatic (depths from 200-2300 ft.)
Organization: Solitary (night) or cave group (daytime only)
Challenge Rating: 1
Treasure: none
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: None
Level Adjustment: -
Drifting silently on cold night-currents, the coelacanth is a slow-moving ambush predator of deep reefs and undersea cliffs. Often reaching six feet in length and weighing over two hundred pounds, coelacanths hunt in darkness, snapping up fishes, squids, eels, and even small sharks that stray too close to their powerful jaws. In addition to their excellent night vision, coelacanths rely on their sensitivity to minute electrical fields, perceiving the flickering nerves and beating hearts of nearby living prey. Their uniquely hinged skull allows for a surprisingly wide bite--and a sudden lunge doubles its effective range.
During daylight hours, coelacanths take shelter in deep undersea caves, sometimes quietly resting in groups of a dozen or more. The pattern of white-flecked spots, unique as a fingerprint for each individual, helps camouflage them against a background of rock and reef--for coelacanths have their own predators, primarily the larger sharks, and a coelacanth has no hope of outrunning them.
Coelacanths are slow, deliberate creatures in nearly every aspect of their lives. They have the slowest metabolism of any known vertebrate, and the longest gestation period: three full years, after which the mother coelacanth gives live birth to as many as two dozen pups. (The eggs, at nearly four inches across, are the size of a moderate orange and the largest fish eggs known.) This metabolic lethargy contributes to their extremely long lifespans--perhaps a hundred years or more--but it comes at a cost, since coelacanths cannot tolerate warmer waters.
Their internal anatomy is a hodgepodge of archaic and unusual features: a primitive tubular backbone; a pseudo-lung filled with fat; hollow-spined fins and a cartilaginous skeleton; and a brain which occupies barely one percent of the cranial cavity, the rest being taken up with more fat. Despite this abundance of fatty deposits, the fish is almost universally considered inedible--since, like sharks, it saturates its tissues with metabolic urea to maintain its osmotic balance.
Coelacanths are rare, ancient creatures, having survived long aeons in essentially their present state. Once widespread and numerous, they are now found only in deep, rocky regions, supporting minimal populations in remote corners of the ocean, isolated and nearly forgotten.
Engulfing Gape (Ex): Unique among living fishes, coelacanths possess a hinged cranium which allows the entire head to open wide, delivering a crushing bite and drawing smaller creatures entirely into the mouth. On a successful bite attack against a target of Small or smaller size, the target is completely engulfed as per the Swallow Whole ability.
Snaptail Lunge (Ex): Despite its typical lethargy, a coelacanth can strike with instant ferocity when a likely meal swims within range. A sudden surge of its massive, paddle-shaped tail launches it forward while the jaw expands to engulf its prey. The extra power delivered by the lunge adds five feet to the coelacanth's effective reach, allowing it to attack prey up to ten feet away from a standing start.
Coldlife (Ex): Adapated over long ages to the chill of deep ocean waters, coelacanths fare poorly in the warmer surface layers. A coelacanth in water above 50 degrees must make a DC 14 Fort save or take 1d4 points of heat damage for each hour it remains overheated. It makes a new Fort save every hour, but the DC rises by 2 for each hour after the first.
Nightsight (Ex): A coelacanth's eyes, like a cat's, have a reflective layer behind the retina which gives exceptionally sensitive night vision. A coelacanth gains a +8 racial bonus to Spot checks during the night or in other conditions of nonmagical darkness. However, coelacanths are at a powerful disadvantage during the daytime or in a strong light source, and will often hide away from the full moon. A coelacanth exposed to strong light takes a -8 penalty to Search and Spot checks.
Electric Eye (Ex): Unique among all living vertebrates, the coelacanth possesses an electrosensory organ in its snout which allows it to detect the slightest variations in the surrounding electromagnetic field. A coelacanth is able to sense the faint bioelectric activity of any creature with a nervous system, including virtually all marine animal life. Coelacanths cannot use this ability to sense undead or magically animated constructs, although a construct with metal components would be detectable. This ability otherwise functions as if it were blindsight with a radius of ten feet.
Mucilaginous Touch (Ex): A coelacanth's body continually exudes a thin oily coating across its fins and scales. This provides a +1 mucilage bonus to AC, and a +8 racial bonus to Escape Artist checks and opposed grapple checks.
Disagreeable Flesh (Ex): The scales and tissues of a coelacanth are saturated with oils and metabolic waste. Any creature that makes a successful bite attack on a coelacanth must make a DC 14 Fortitude save or be nauseated for one minute.
Skills: A coelacanth gains a +8 racial bonus on Hide checks on deep reefs, seamounts and rocky undersea slopes. This bonus does not apply when the coelacanth is swimming above a grassy or sandy substrate, a well-lit shallow reef, or in clear sunlit water--all unusual and dangerous situations for a coelacanth.
Notes
A few days ago Koda the kobold posted a request for a homebrewed coelacanth, since he wanted the base stats to build a hengeyokai with. Not having the faintest concept what a hengeyokai actually is, I did some background reading on Latimeria, and worked up a version based on some of the quirky, oddball features one finds in coelacanths.
I like most of what's here, but one special quality I couldn't work out was related to the extremely deep evolutionary history of coelacanths, and the almost complete morphological stasis they've shown over the past 300 million years or so. That's on a par with horseshoe crabs for stability of design through geological time; and in an attempt to reflect this in some small way, I came up with a simple ability called Timeless Form, which gave them a +8 bonus on saves to resist being polymorphed into other forms.
Turns out that either Polymorph can't be used against an unwilling target, or I simply don't get Polymorph, or quite possibly both. I like the idea of the coelacanth having some ability relating to its immensely deep history in the same form...just not sure what would work here. I'm open to suggestions, as well as to comments and corrections on the rest of the coelacanth 'brew.
Sources
Amemiya et al. 2013. The African coelacanth genome provides insights into tetrapod evolution. [I]Nature 496 (18 April 2013): 311-316.
Anonymous. Latimeria chalumnae Smith 1939. Encyclopedia of Life (http://eol.org/pages/225251/details).
Banister, K. E. 1985. Coelacanth, lungfishes, bichirs. In: Encyclopedia of Aquatic Life, K. Banister and A. Campbell (Eds.), pp. 124-127. Facts on File Publications, New York.
Butler, C. and Ballesta, L. 2011. Ancient swimmers. National Geographic, March 2011, pp. 86-93.
Fricke, H., Hissmann, K., Froese, R., Schauer, J., Plante, R. and Fricke, S. 2011. The population biology of the living coelacanth studied over 21 years. Marine Biology 158(7): 1511-1522.
Hissmann, K., Fricke, H., Schauer, J., Ribbink, A. J., Roberts, M., Sink, K. and Heemstra, P. 2006. The South African coelacanths — an account of what is known after three submersible expeditions. South African Journal of Science 102: 491-500.
Keim, B. 2011. The man who swims with coelacanths. Wired Magazine interview (http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/05/hans-fricke/) with Hans Fricke.
Weinberg, S. 2000. A Fish Caught In Time: The Search for the Coelacanth. Harper Collins, New York.
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