#deinevare

[thecreaturecodex]

Deinevare

Concept art from Dark Souls--Man Eater Shell. Accessed at pinterest here

[Commissioned by @goluxexmachina, based on the song “The Legend of Reuben Clamzo and His Strange Daughter” by Arlo Guthrie. My first song-based commission! The name is an anagram of “Veneridae”, the clade that includes most of the clams eaten on the American East Coast.]

Deinevare CR 11 CE Aberration This immense creature looks something like a clamshell, with a host of spindly legs growing from its underside. It opens its shell, revealing it to be a razor-toothed maw.

Deinevares are sometimes called “humongous clams”, but that does not do justice to their malice or maneuverability. Unlike true clams, which are nearly sessile, deinevares can swim rapidly, walk on both the land and the surface of the water, and even fly for short periods of time. A deinevare can survive out of the water for several hours at a time, and make feeding raids both above and below the water’s surface. They are ravenous predators that enjoy a challenge, and so go out of their way to hunt sapient creatures.

In combat, a deinevare snaps with its razor-edged shell and strikes with its spindly, aberrant legs. Creatures grabbed by the shell are gobbled up and digested while still alive, although the deinevare must remain sealed shut until its prey stops squirming. Their siphon can be protruded from the shell even when it has a victim, however, and they use powerful jets of water to dissuade enemies from attacking it while it has a swallowed prey item. Although deinevares typically prefer making hit and run attacks, grappling a single choice morsel and making a retreat, they can be driven to distraction by music. For some unknown reason, deinevares hate music, and will fight to self-destruction if they hear so much as a whistle or a sea shanty.

A deinevare stands twenty feet high and has a diameter of 10 feet. They are long-lived creatures, capable of surviving for centuries unless slain in combat.

Deinevare           CR 11 XP 12,800 CE Huge aberration (aquatic) Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +12, tremorsense 30 ft. Defense AC 26, touch 7, flat-footed 26 (-2 size, -1 Dex, +19 natural) hp 147 (14d8+84) Fort +10, Ref +3, Will +11 DR 10/bludgeoning; Resist cold 10, fire 10 Weakness musical frenzy Offense Speed 40 ft., swim 40 ft. Melee bite +17 (2d8+9/19-20 plus grab), 2 slams +17 (1d6+9) Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft. Special Attacks shell trap, siphon spray, swallow whole (2d6+13 bludgeoning, AC 26, hp 28) Spell-like Abilities CL 11th, concentration +11 Constant—water walk 1/day—fly Statistics Str 28, Dex 9, Con 23, Int 7, Wis 14, Cha 10 Base Atk +10; CMB +21 (+25 bull rush, grapple); CMD 30 (32 vs. bull rush, 40 vs. trip) Feats Greater Bull Rush, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical (bite), Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Step Up, Vital Strike Skills Perception +12, Swim +27 Languages Aquan SQ reduced water dependency Ecology Environment coastlines Organization solitary, pair or shoal (3-10) Treasure incidental Special Abilities Musical Frenzy (Ex) Deinevares hate music, and the sound of it drives the creatures into a rage. A deinevare that can hear music must succeed a DC 20 Will save or become affected as by a rage spell and compelled to attack the source of the music. This effect lasts until the music stops or it is slain. A deinevare that succeeds on this save is immune to being enraged by that source of music for the next 24 hours. Reduced Water Dependency (Ex) A deinevare can survive out of water for up to 10 minutes per point of Constitution. Beyond this limit, the creature runs the risk of suffocating as if it were drowning. Shell Trap (Ex) A deinevare gains its full natural armor bonus to its stomach for the purposes of swallow whole, and a swallowed creature must deal damage equal to 1/5 the deinevare’s total hp (28 damage for the average deinevare) in order to cut its way free. However, a deinevare with a swallowed opponent cannot make bite attacks without release its swallowed victim into an adjacent square. Siphon Spray (Ex) As a standard action three times per day, a deinevare can spray water in a 60 foot line. All creatures in the area take 10d6 points of bludgeoning damage and are knocked prone. A successful DC 23 Reflex save halves the damage and negates the prone condition. The save DC is Constitution based.