Apodalypse |
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Huge Aberration
(Aquatic)
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| Hit Dice: 13d8+65 (123 hp) |
| Initiative: +5 |
| Speed: Swim 20 ft (4 squares) |
| Armor Class: 20 (-2 size, +1 Dex, +11 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 19 |
| Base Attack/Grapple: +9/+27 |
| Attack: Bite +17 melee (4d6+10) |
| Full Attack: Bite +17 melee (4d6+10) and 4 extra limbs +15 melee (1d8+5) |
| Space/Reach: 15 ft/10 ft |
| Special Attacks: Energy drain, extra limbs, improved grab, swallow whole |
| Special Qualities: Amphibious, damage reduction 10/good and magic, darkvision 60 ft, fortification, immunity to cold, keen scent, necrotic life, spell resistance 21, undead aura, unliving immunities, vulnerability to holy water, vulnerability to turning |
| Saves: Fort +11,
Ref +5, Will +11
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| Abilities: Str 31,
Dex 13, Con 21,
Int 6, Wis 12,
Cha 14 |
| Skills: Listen +9, Spot +9, Swim +18 |
| Feats: Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Multiattack, Power Attack |
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| Environment: Any aquatic and underground |
| Organization: Solitary or clutch (1 apodalypse plus 1-6 progeny) |
| Challenge Rating: 13 |
| Treasure: Double standard |
| Alignment: Always neutral evil |
| Advancement: 14-26 HD (Huge); 27-39 HD (Gargantuan) |
| Level Adjustment: --- |
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This creature from the darkest of nightmares has an unstable form, a patchwork made up of the skin of humanoids with screaming faces and flailing arms, contrasted with fish scales, octopoidal tentacles, and manta wings. This mess surrounds a massive, shark-like maw.
The apodalypse was the horrible result of a foolish experiment combining reanimated shark tissue implanted in living humanoids. The first apodalypse was created using formulae and recipes found in the unholy tome, The Nekton Fragments.
An apodalypse consists of an undead core, sheathed in a husk of still-living flesh that is constantly disintegrating and falling away. This aquatic monstrosity steals the flesh of the living to maintain its form and it's semi-undead existence. It can spend days unmoving to conserve its stolen flesh before it is forced to go hunting for the living. When prey is plentiful, an apodalypse can release a clutch of progeny, each of which has the potential to grow into a full-fledged apodalypse.
An apodalypse is about 30 feet in diameter and weighs 10 tons.
COMBAT
An apodalypse attacks with its savage bite, trying to swallow as many opponents as possible. Creatures that die within an apodalypse have their flesh cannibalized and incorporated into the evil horror. The flesh remains faintly living while it becomes a part of the beast.
Energy Drain (Su): Living creatures inside an apodalypse's interior gain 2 negative levels each round. The DC is 18 for the Fortitude save to remove a negative level. The save DC is Charisma-based. For each such negative level bestowed, the apodalypse gains 5 temporary hit points.
Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, an apodalypse must hit 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 try to swallow the foe the following round.
Swallow Whole (Ex): An apodalypse can try to swallow a grabbed opponent of Large or smaller size by making a successful grapple check. Once inside, the opponent is subject to the creature's energy drain. A swallowed creature can cut its way out by using a light slashing or piercing weapon to kill the apodalypse from the inside (AC 15).
An apodalypse's interior can hold 2 Large, 8 Medium, 32 Small, 128 Tiny, or 512 Diminutive or smaller opponents.
Extra Limbs (Ex): An apodalypse has a multitude of appendages on its body stolen from previous victims it has incorporated into its body. It may use up to four of these appendages at random in any given round, each of which usually consists of a slam, claw, bite, sting, gore, tentacle, tail slap, or wing. Each such attack form deals 1d8 points of damage of the type appropriate to the attack form (see p. 312 in the Monster Manual).
Amphibious (Ex): Although an apodalypse is aquatic, it can survive indefinitely on land.
Fortification (Ex): When a critical hit or sneak attack is scored on an apodalypse, there is a 50% chance that the critical hit or sneak attack is negated, and damage is instead rolled normally.
Keen Scent (Ex): An apodalypse can notice creatures by scent in a 180-foot radius and detect blood in the water at ranges of up to a mile.
Necrotic Life (Ex): Even on a failed save, an apodalypse suffers only half damage from spells or effects that deal hit point damage due to negative energy, such as inflict spells, and with a successful save, a apodalypse suffers no damage.
Undead Aura (Ex): An apodalypse registers as an undead creature for the purposes of spells and effects that detect undead (such as detect undead). An apodalypse counts as half its HD for the purposes of aura strength.
Unliving Immunities (Ex): An apodalypse is immune to mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects), poison, sleep effects, paralysis, disease, and death effects. An apodalypse is not subject to ability drain or energy drain. An apodalypse is immune to damage to its physical ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution), as well as to fatigue and exhaustion effects.
Vulnerability to Holy Water (Ex): Holy water scalds the flesh of an apodalypse, dealing 1d4 points of damage per direct hit with a flask.
Vulnerability to Turning (Ex): Any turning attempt targeting an apodalypse that would turn or rebuke an undead of the apodalypse's HD dazes the apodalypse for 1 round. A turn attempt that would destroy or command an undead of equivalent Hit Dice instead stuns an apodalypse for 2d4 rounds.
Skills: An apodalypse has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight line. |
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1997 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
Originally found in module Night of the Shark (1997, Bruce R. Cordell). |
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