I want to create a monster based on an angler fish

[Scalenex]

I'm developing some undersea Mer civilizations for my fantasy setting and I want more monsters for aquatic adventurers to fight.

I think a monster based on an angler fish would be cool.


https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Finding_nemo_anglerfish_108.jpg

To catch a well armed fully sapient adventurer they need to have more than a bright ball on a stalk.

Only instead of just a bright light, I like the idea of giving the monster enough divination and illusion magic to create whatever would allure the target.

It might be a shiny pile of treasure. It could be a supposed ghost of a lost loved one.

Given that I want a monster to take down adventurers they probably need more than a mouth full of sharp teeth.

How can I beef up the humble angler fish and still keep them true to the spirit of the template animal.

[BerzerkerUnit]

Living Dungeon.

The mouth is disguised as a gate/door, monsters inside are parasites or symbiotic entities.

[Morphic tide]

I do agree with the Illusion/Divination setup as the most obvious solution, but rather than the complexities of using a pure Glamour to lure people in, use a Pattern type of effect to make the party pass a Will save (or Wisdom if 5e) to be able to say no and realize something is off without any hint as to what, and still have the illusion look like something that may be desired. Make the Divination effects be crunchy rather than arbitrary, giving an explicit change to the save DC of the Illusion, and possibly identifying saving throws, so there's one party member particularly screwed with.

One thought, if you're talking about 3.5, would be making use of how IRL male anglerfish are basically vestigial vehicles for sex organs that physically merge with the females and crunch out these males as Symbiotes (See Fiend Folio for the rules on that, the short version is that they can attach to a creature and behave as an intelligent magic item), perhaps being the carriers of the target identification effects and possessing more supportive abilities like Mirror Image that make up a lot of the real threat of the species by screwing with attempts at hitting them and offering some more direct offenses.

[John Out West]

I might introduce something useful to adventurers into the environment, and have the Anglerfish as a trap version of that object. That way you can reasonably lure players towards glowing orbs in the distance.
Say, if volcanic vents produce enough bubbles for adventurers to refill their air-tanks, the fish may mimic the glow of these vents to lure them in.
Perhaps, glowing jellyfish are extremely valuable for their insides, but are too dangerous to harvest when in a swarm. Lone Jellyfish that have fallen away from the school are basically a treasure-chest of potions & poisons. The Anglerfish could similarly mimic these glows, even swaying in a way that mimics a jelly fish.
In the deepest depths, the mer-folk may use glowing orbs to illuminate paths between towns, allowing travelers to move from orb to orb to avoid getting lost. The Anglerfish may sit on these paths, luring travelers off the paths.

Hope that helps!

[Cicciograna]

So essentially a Water Mimic.

Edit: something like this.

https://i.imgur.com/oI7LHDi.jpg

[Scalenex]

So essentially a Water Mimic.

Edit: something like this.

https://i.imgur.com/oI7LHDi.jpg


The core concept is correct, but the implementation is very good. Any one who is an adventurer or even heard tavern stories (or whereever merfolk go in place of taverns) would be suspicious of an intact treasure chest floating in the middle of nowhere.



I might introduce something useful to adventurers into the environment, and have the Anglerfish as a trap version of that object. That way you can reasonably lure players towards glowing orbs in the distance.
Say, if volcanic vents produce enough bubbles for adventurers to refill their air-tanks, the fish may mimic the glow of these vents to lure them in.
Perhaps, glowing jellyfish are extremely valuable for their insides, but are too dangerous to harvest when in a swarm. Lone Jellyfish that have fallen away from the school are basically a treasure-chest of potions & poisons. The Anglerfish could similarly mimic these glows, even swaying in a way that mimics a jelly fish.
In the deepest depths, the mer-folk may use glowing orbs to illuminate paths between towns, allowing travelers to move from orb to orb to avoid getting lost. The Anglerfish may sit on these paths, luring travelers off the paths.

Hope that helps!


That is very clever! A treasure chest or the ghost of your true love is really enticing, too enticing so any seasoned adventurer is going to be on guard.

Mimic or resource camping near a moderately valuable resource will not put people's threat radar up as much.


The other option is that the treasure dangled is not realistic but it is SO COMPELLING that people go for it anyway. The whole nebulous heart's desire thing. Kind of like the Siren's call but below the water instead of near a rock shore.



I do agree with the Illusion/Divination setup as the most obvious solution, but rather than the complexities of using a pure Glamour to lure people in, use a Pattern type of effect to make the party pass a Will save (or Wisdom if 5e) to be able to say no and realize something is off without any hint as to what, and still have the illusion look like something that may be desired. Make the Divination effects be crunchy rather than arbitrary, giving an explicit change to the save DC of the Illusion, and possibly identifying saving throws, so there's one party member particularly screwed with.

I like this idea of one target being shown their heart's desire that is very hard to resist and the others seeing a mesmerizing pattern that is moderately easy to resist.

I just need to figure out how to decide which character (probably PC) is the one particularly screwed with. The strongest willed? The weakest willed? Something else.


One thought, if you're talking about 3.5, would be making use of how IRL male anglerfish are basically vestigial vehicles for sex organs that physically merge with the females and crunch out these males as Symbiotes (See Fiend Folio for the rules on that, the short version is that they can attach to a creature and behave as an intelligent magic item), perhaps being the carriers of the target identification effects and possessing more supportive abilities like Mirror Image that make up a lot of the real threat of the species by screwing with attempts at hitting them and offering some more direct offenses.

Gross but intriguing.

Originally I was creating a 3.5 world (and it would be fairly easy for me to adapt my world back to 3.5 if I wanted to, but for now I'm using a homebrew fantasy system based off White Wolf's d10 system, so the Angler monster would end up making some kind opposed roll against the target's Willpower for whatever it's doing. Maybe difficulty 6 to resist for pretty lights or difficulty 8 to resist for a glamor of their heart's desire.



While most of the idea given are about the type of bait the Angler Monster is using. What does the Angler Monster attack with during the surprise round? Does it have a mouth full of pointy teeth or does it have something more exotic to attack with? How well does the Angler Monster fight when it doesn't have the element of surprise?