Beware those that sail the high seas!

[TheThan]

Most folk, know of sea serpents as simply stories and fantasies told by drunken sailors embellishing on their adventures out at sea. But despite all the talk and the disbelief of most folk, these stories are real, and are by far one of the most terrifying things in the open sea.

Sailors depict this monstrosity as a massive serpentine creature, as long as a whale but with a sinewy and scaled body. Often times a ridge like fin rises from its back and stretches from its head half way down its back. It also sports dorsal and ventral tail fins. Descriptions vary on the number of eyes they possess, some sailor’s spot one massive, lidless eye in the center of its head, above its gapping maw. Others claim they have anywhere from 2 to 10 eyes of various shapes and colors. All descriptions however tell of its massive tooth lined maw, each tooth capable of slicing a man in half.

They say, that on the darkest and coldest of nights, these brutes can be seen rising to the surface. For what reasons none know. What is known, is that they attack almost at random. Some ships can sight one for several hours and not be threatened, the serpent eventually diving back into the sea. Other ships are attacked immediately and with no provocation.


They attack by plucking unluckily sailors off the deck of the ship and swallow them wholly. When a defense is mounted, the sea serpent dives back into the water, only to appear on the other side of the ship, where it plucks another sailor off the deck and devours him. Occasionally a serpent will wrap its massive coils around a ship and crush it, sending it to the bottom of the ocean. No one knows exactly what happens afterwards, survivors say the sea monster takes the sunken ship down to the depths of the ocean floor where it uses as a lair, others suggest that it stores the bodies of the dead and devours them at a later time.

Recently a merfolk ambassador verified their existence, claiming that no one alive knows the truth behind their origins. He says they have legends saying they were the pets of some long dead god of the deep. Some say they sever some ancient sentience from the deep, a mighty Kraken or Aboleth perhaps. Merfolk rarely come into contact with them (fleeing when they do), as they frequent the dark and cold waters of the north, while merfolks prefer the shallower and more tropical seas (possibly for this reason). They also claim to have a legend that once long ago, a great sea serpent attacked the famous coral city of Atlantis, nearly destroying the city, before it was killed. Many of the merfolk’s greatest heroes participated in that battle.

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Sea Serpent
Size/Type: Colossal magical beast
Hit Dice: 24d10+144 (276 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 5 ft. (1 square), Swim 50 ft.
Armor Class: 12 (Dex +0, Size -8, +10 Natural), Touch 2, Flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +24/+55
Attack: Bite +31 melee (4d8+15)
Full Attack: Bite +31 melee (4d8+19) or slam +26 melee (2d6+15)
Space/Reach: 25 ft./25 ft.
Special Attacks: Drag under, improved grab, swallow whole
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 10/magic, darkvision 60 ft, hold breath, immunity to cold, low-light vision, SR 24.
Saves: Fort +18, Ref +12, Will +6
Abilities: Str 40, Dex 11, Con 23, Int 5, Wis 12, Cha 10
Skills: Listen +15, Spot +14
Feats: Awesome Blow, Blow hard, Crush, Fling Enemy, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Mighty Roar, Power attack, Swim-By Attack^{B (Stormwrack)}
Environment: Cold oceans
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 11
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Usually Neutral
Advancement: Colossal 25-48 (HD)
Level Adjustment: —

Hold Breath (Ex): A sea serpent can hold its breath for a number of minutes equal to 10 × its Constitution score before it risks suffocating.

Improved Grab (Ex)
To use this ability, a sea serpent must hit an opponent of at least huge or smaller with its bite attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can attempt to swallow the opponent the following round or use it's constrict ability.

Swallow Whole (Ex)
The sea serpent can try to swallow a grabbed opponent of Huge or smaller size by making a successful grapple check. Once inside, the opponent takes 2d8+8 points of crushing damage plus 2d8+6 points of acid damage per round from the sea serpents digestive juices. A swallowed creature can cut its way out by dealing 50 points of damage to the sea serpents’ digestive tract (AC 25). Once the creature exits, muscular action closes the hole; another swallowed opponent must cut its own way out. The sea serpents gullet can hold 2 Huge, 8 Large, 32 Medium, 128 Small, or 512 Tiny or smaller creatures.

Constrict (Ex)
On a successful grapple check, a sea serpent throws its coils around a victim and begins crushing it. The sea serpent deals 2d8+15 points of crushing damage. An opposed grapple check or a DC 35-escape artist check will allow a constricted enemy to escape from the sea serpent’s coils

Drag under (ex)
Often times, a sea serpent is not content to simply pluck sailors off the deck of a ship; it instead tries to sink the entire ship. While dragon turtles try to capsize ships by surfacing underneath them, a sea serpent has a different approach. Instead it lashes out with its long coils and begins to wrap itself around the boat, throwing seamen and passengers alike into the cold dark ocean. The sea serpent deals 2d8+15 points of damage to the ship’s hull (to the two most middle sections of the ship if you’re using stormwrack), per round. If the sea serpent deals enough damage to destroy the ship, it successfully pulls the ship into the water. A successful sunder attempt can sever enough of the serpent’s body that it cannot keep its grip, and releases the ship, additionally the party can deal at least 25% of the creature’s current HP of damage, will cause it to release the ship and slink back into the dark waters.

Feat descriptions

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BLOWHARD [GENERAL]- savage species
You can blow targets over with your breath.
Prerequisite: Con 20, Huge size, Power Attack.
Benefit: As an attack action, you can use your breath affect all creatures in a cone 5 feet in length per point of y Constitution bonus. Each creature in the area is affected through struck by a wind effect (see Table 3–17: Wind Effect in the DUNGEON MASTER’s Guide). The strength of the wind effect depends on your size category, as given on the table bellow

Size Category Wind Effect
Huge: Strong
Gargantuan: Severe
Colossal: Windstorm
If you have a breath weapon, you cannot use this feat and your breath weapon at the same time.


CRUSH [GENERAL] savage species
Like a dragon, you can hurl your body onto opponents to deal tremendous damage.
Prerequisite: Huge size.
Benefit: As a standard action, you can jump or fall onto opponents, using your whole body to crush them. This attack is useful only against creatures at least three size categories smaller than yourself. The base damage for a crush attack depends on your size category, as given on the table above. Add 1 1/2 times your Strength bonus to this base damage to determine the total damage for the attack.
A crush attack deals bludgeoning damage and affects as many creatures as can fit under your body (see Large and Small Creatures in Combat in Chapter 8 of the Player’s Handbook). Each creature in the affected area must succeed on a Reflex save (DC 10 + your Str modifier + your size modifier for grapple attacks). On a failure, the opponent is pinned and automatically takes crush damage each round the pin is maintained.

Size Category Crush Base Damage
Huge-2d8
Gargantuan-4d6
Colossal-4d8


FLING ENEMY [GENERAL] savage species
You can pick up an opponent and fling it.
Prerequisites: Str 23, Huge size, improved grab.
Benefit: You can make a grapple check at a –20 penalty against an opponent at least two size categories smaller than you. If you succeed, on your next action you can use an attack action to fling the held opponent. The range increment for the thrown creature is 120 feet.
A creature may be thrown horizontally or vertically. If thrown vertically, it takes normal falling damage. If thrown horizontally, it takes damage as if it had fallen half the distance thrown (rounded down). For example, if a hurled orc is thrown horizontally 170 feet, it takes 8d6 points of damage.
You may also fling the creature at another creature. To do so, make an attack roll at a –4 penalty, with appropriate range penalties, against the target creature. If you hit, both creatures take the amount of damage that the thrown creature would have taken otherwise, as given above.


MIGHTY ROAR [MONSTROUS] savage species
You unsettle opponents with a dreadful roar as you attack.
Prerequisite: Animal or magical beast; Large size.
Benefit: Once per day, you can use this feat as a standard action. Your mighty roar affects every opponent within 30 feet of you that can hear your roar and has a character level lower than yours. An affected opponent must make a successful Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 your Hit Dice + your Cha modifier) to negate the effect. Failure means that opponent becomes shaken for 1d6 rounds. A shaken creature takes a –2 morale penalty on attack rolls, checks, and saving throws.

Ok it’s been a long time since I’ve made any monsters for dnd. I was never that good at it in the first place, so there are probably all sorts of mistakes with this. If you spot then, kindly let me know what is wrong and I’ll be happy to make the appropriate changes.

edit1:
fixed attack bonuses, hit points and added constrict
edit 2:
Added missing feats.
edit 3:
added hold breath, reworked stat block, it should be right now.

[Mulletmanalive]

Attack bonuses should be +31 for the primary and +26 for the secondary unless you give it multiattack.

The thing's Natural Armour is pretty thing for something of its size and HD. Might be worth increasing it. Monty Cooke pointed out that in D&D, around a 20 + CR is a reasonable challenge and against opimisters, you could probably put in an extra 5 on top of that [not that i'm suggesting they're anything like average players].

It's short 5 of it's 9 feats for the HD.

Drag Under would make more sense if the beast were given a Constrict attack and then adding in the secondary component [as it is, it can't crush dangerous foes].

Beyond that, it's a solid melee brute. Not much more to say about it.

[deuxhero]

Given the int is more than 3, it should have an alignment or have it's int droped (I'd go for alignment, droping a cr 11 with a single spell doesn't seem very climatic).

[Chainsaw Hobbit]

I like the fluff!

[TheThan]

Attack bonuses should be +31 for the primary and +26 for the secondary unless you give it multiattack.

Ok how did you get 31, I got 10 (attack bonus)+15(str)-8(size)=17 for attack bonus. I did forget to sutract 5 for the secondary attack though.

The thing's Natural Armour is pretty thing for something of its size and HD. Might be worth increasing it. Monty Cooke pointed out that in D&D, around a 20 + CR is a reasonable challenge and against opimisters, you could probably put in an extra 5 on top of that [not that i'm suggesting they're anything like average players].

It didn’t look quite right to me; the thing is very easy to hit, even for lower level characters. I was thinking of throwing on some DR/slashing ,but I’m not totally sure about that at this point. I might just stack an extra 10 natural armor on it and call it a day

It's short 5 of it's 9 feats for the HD.

oops.

Drag Under would make more sense if the beast were given a Constrict attack and then adding in the secondary component [as it is, it can't crush dangerous foes].

originally I was going to give it a constrict ability but it sort of morphed into the drag under. Your right, it can’t constrict a dangerous enemy. So I’ll probably give it the ability to do so.

Beyond that, it's a solid melee brute. Not much more to say about it.

That’s pretty much what it’s supposed to be.

Given the int is more than 3, it should have an alignment or have it's int droped (I'd go for alignment, droping a cr 11 with a single spell doesn't seem very climatic).

Yeah I sorta forgot about alignment. I’ll probably stick chaotic neutral or evil on it and call it a day.


I’ll get around to making the appropriate changes some time today.

[Mulletmanalive]

Ok how did you get 31, I got 10 (attack bonus)+15(str)-8(size)=17 for attack bonus. I did forget to sutract 5 for the secondary attack though.

Actually, the better question would be "how did I manage to get a +10 BAB out of 24 HD with a 1/1 attack progression?"

My math is correct because I was only looking at the HD. On the subject of HD, you should really indicate how many bonus HP the critter has from Con (+144 in this case, though i presume those are included in the average value already).

[TheThan]

Actually, the better question would be "how did I manage to get a +10 BAB out of 24 HD with a 1/1 attack progression?"

My math is correct because I was only looking at the HD. On the subject of HD, you should really indicate how many bonus HP the critter has from Con (+144 in this case, though i presume those are included in the average value already).

Ok I originally set it at CR 10, and gave it 1/1 ratio for each CR it had, ignoring hit dice.
That’s where the 10 bab comes from. Honestly I don’t know where that idea came from, but I’m blaming the monster manual for its terrible directions on monster construction.

Also the hit points are off it should be 264, going with an average of 5 per die it should come out looking like this: (5x24=120+144=264). I did add the con bonus in the first time I did it, but I either screwed up the math or simply did something wrong.

editing the above right now.

[Drogorn]

Than, you might try this thing out.

[TheThan]

Ok guys I just went through and added in the missing five feats that the monster was missing. now he can smash guys and send them flying into the sea. Several of these are taken from savage species so I’ve taken the liberty of posting here. I’m also upping the CR of this thing because now it’s got some more special attacks.

Spoiler

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BLOWHARD [GENERAL]
You can blow targets over with your breath.
Prerequisite: Con 20, Huge size, Power Attack.
Benefit: As an attack action, you can use your breath affect all creatures in a cone 5 feet in length per point of y Constitution bonus. Each creature in the area is affected through struck by a wind effect (see Table 3–17: Wind Effect in the DUNGEON MASTER’s Guide). The strength of the wind effect depends on your size category, as given on the table bellow

Size Category Wind Effect
Huge: Strong
Gargantuan: Severe
Colossal: Windstorm
If you have a breath weapon, you cannot use this feat and your breath weapon at the same time.


CRUSH [GENERAL]
Like a dragon, you can hurl your body onto opponents to deal tremendous damage.
Prerequisite: Huge size.
Benefit: As a standard action, you can jump or fall onto opponents, using your whole body to crush them. This attack is useful only against creatures at least three size categories smaller than yourself. The base damage for a crush attack depends on your size category, as given on the table above. Add 1 1/2 times your Strength bonus to this base damage to determine the total damage for the attack.
A crush attack deals bludgeoning damage and affects as many creatures as can fit under your body (see Large and Small Creatures in Combat in Chapter 8 of the Player’s Handbook). Each creature in the affected area must succeed on a Reflex save (DC 10 + your Str modifier + your size modifier for grapple attacks). On a failure, the opponent is pinned and automatically takes crush damage each round the pin is maintained.

Size Category Crush Base Damage
Huge-2d8
Gargantuan-4d6
Colossal-4d8


FLING ENEMY [GENERAL]
You can pick up an opponent and fling it.
Prerequisites: Str 23, Huge size, improved grab.
Benefit: You can make a grapple check at a –20 penalty against an opponent at least two size categories smaller than you. If you succeed, on your next action you can use an attack action to fling the held opponent. The range increment for the thrown creature is 120 feet.
A creature may be thrown horizontally or vertically. If thrown vertically, it takes normal falling damage. If thrown horizontally, it takes damage as if it had fallen half the distance thrown (rounded down). For example, if a hurled orc is thrown horizontally 170 feet, it takes 8d6 points of damage.
You may also fling the creature at another creature. To do so, make an attack roll at a –4 penalty, with appropriate range penalties, against the target creature. If you hit, both creatures take the amount of damage that the thrown creature would have taken otherwise, as given above.


MIGHTY ROAR [MONSTROUS]
You unsettle opponents with a dreadful roar as you attack.
Prerequisite: Animal or magical beast; Large size.
Benefit: Once per day, you can use this feat as a standard action. Your mighty roar affects every opponent within 30 feet of you that can hear your roar and has a character level lower than yours. An affected opponent must make a successful Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 your Hit Dice + your Cha modifier) to negate the effect. Failure means that opponent becomes shaken for 1d6 rounds. A shaken creature takes a –2 morale penalty on attack rolls, checks, and saving throws.

[Debihuman]

I'm gonna put in the corrected serpent in standard 3.5 format in a spoiler but I'm going over this critter for you.

Hit points are based on 24x5.5 plus 24xCon modifier (+6) for a total 276 hit points.

Normally you put the land speed in feet followed by how many squares in parentheses followed by any other speed.

Touch AC disregards armor including natural armor (Touch AC is 2). Since it has a dexterity penalty, flat-footed AC is 12.

Attack: you only list the primary attack here. Since it has Bite as its primary attack only that attack goes here. The full attack line should indicate the or between the two attacks. You should also note if the attacks are melee (obviously in this case) or ranged.

Grapple is BAB + Str Bonus + special size modifier. Grapple uses a different size modifier from Attack. For Colossal creatures the size modifier is +16. See Grapple under Combat in the SRD for further explanation. 24 +15 + 16 = 55

Special abilities should be listed alphabetically. Darkvision is one word, low-light vision is always hyphenated. Generally speaking, epic creatures [creatures with either CR of 20 + or Creatures with 20+ HD) should have more special abilities. I'd recommend no more than 1 Special ability per 2 HD. Here are a few things that you might want to add: Damage Reduction, Hold Breath (as it has a land speed) for 60 minutes (10 minutes x Con modifier), Immunity to Cold, Spell Resistance 24 (1 point for each HD)

Also, the Drag Under special ability sounds almost identical to Constrict. You may want to note that any attack that constricts automatically can attempt to drag down a boat. The amount of drag should probably be based on the size of the boat rather than just how much damage it does. I think Stormwrack may have rules on this.

Feats should also be listed alphabetically. Creatures have to qualify for feats just like characters (except for bonus feats). It has no bonus feats so make sure this critter meets all the requirements including prerequisites for feats. I don't have time to check this completely but I think you got it right. You may want to give it the bonus feat Swim-By Attack from Stormwrack. I'm adding it to the statblock.

Skills: Magical beasts get skill points equal to (2 + Int modifier, minimum 1) per Hit Die, with quadruple skill points for the first Hit Die. It has an Int of 5 so it gets a -3 to its Int modifier since the minimum is 1 it gets 4 skill points for its first HD and 1 for every HD thereafter for a total of 27 skill points and then you add the appropriate Ability modifier. In the stat block, I'll be showing Listen +15 (14 ranks +1 Wisdom) and Spot +14 (13 ranks +1 Wisdom) but you could divide this any way you like.

I think it is safe to assume that the standard sea serpent is usually neutral in alignment.

Creatures advance generally by doubling their HD. So it could Advance as Colossal 25-48 HD.

Spoiler

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Sea Serpent
Size/Type: Colossal magical beast
Hit Dice: 24d10+144 (276 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 5 ft. (1 square), Swim 50 ft.
Armor Class: 12 (Dex +0, Size -8, +10 Natural), Touch 2, Flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +24/+55
Attack: Bite +31 melee (4d8+15)
Full Attack: Bite +31 melee (4d8+19) or slam +26 melee (2d6+15)
Space/Reach: 25 ft./25 ft.
Special Attacks: Drag under, improved grab, swallow whole
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 10/magic, darkvision 60 ft, hold breath, immunity to cold, low-light vision, SR 24.
Saves: Fort +18, Ref +12, Will +6
Abilities: Str 40, Dex 11, Con 23, Int 5, Wis 12, Cha 10
Skills: Listen +15, Spot +14
Feats: Awesome Blow, Blow hard, Crush, Fling Enemy, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Mighty Roar, Power attack, Swim-By Attack^{B (Stormwrack)}
Environment: Cold oceans
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 11
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Usually Neutral
Advancement: Colossal 25-48 (HD)
Level Adjustment: —

Hold Breath (Ex): A sea serpent can hold its breath for a number of minutes equal to 10 × its Constitution score before it risks suffocating.

I hope this helps.

Debby

[TheThan]

I was looking at the suffocation and drowning rules in the SRD, and I realized that according to those rules this thing could hold its breath for an hour. Since most combats don’t last nearly that long. I figured it’d be safe to assume that this thing can hold its breath long enough that it wouldn’t risk drowning during any given fight. though I suppose it’s a good idea to list it for completeness.

I missed swim by attack. Though the only time I picture this thing using it is to attack creatures already in the water. When it attacks ships, I picture it rearing up like a snake and plucking sailors off the deck and gobbling them up. Though it is a nice improvement and I’m happy with it, so we’ll keep it.

Anyway thanks for the help with the stat block, I really appreciate it.