TIRICHIK
Gargantuan Magical Beast (Cold)
Hit Dice: 13d10+130 (201 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares), climb 20 ft. (4 squares), burrow 15 ft. (3 squares)
Armor Class: 23 (-4 size, +2 Dexterity, +15 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 21
Base Attack/Grapple: +13/+36
Attack: Bite +20 melee (3d8+11)
Full Attack: Bite +20 melee (3d8+11), 2 tentacles +15 melee (2d6+5)
Space/Reach: 20 ft./15 ft. (20 ft. with tentacles)
Special Attacks: Stretch attack
Special Qualities: Blindsense 120 ft., darkvision 60 ft., icewalking, immunity to cold, tremorsense 60 ft., vulnerability to fire
Saves: Fort +17, Ref +10, Will +9
Abilities: Str 32, Dex 15, Con 29, Int 4, Wis 16, Cha 10
Skills: Climb +19, Hide* +5 (+13 in snowy regions), Listen +11, Move Silently +16, Spot +11
Feats: Improved Natural Attack (bite), Improved Toughness, Improved Overrun, Iron Will, Power Attack
Environment: Cold Plains, Hills, Mountains
Organization: Solitary or pair
Challenge Rating: 10
Treasure: None
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Advancement: 14-26 HD (Gargantuan); 27-40 HD (Colossal)
Level Adjustment: ---
Icewalking (Ex): This ability works like the spider climb spell, but the surfaces the dragon climbs must be icy. It is always in effect.
Stretch Attack (Ex): Once every other round, the tirichik can elongate its neck and strike like a snake. This gives it a +2 bonus to its attacks, but it suffers a -2 penalty to AC until the end of its next turn, as it spends time reattaching its neck back in place.
Skills: Gains a +8 racial bonus to Listen, Hide, Move Silently, and Spot checks. In snowy regions, the bonus to Hide increases to +16.
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Here's what I did. I realized this creature is supposed to be a rather tough and dangerous creature, something white dragons and frost giants hunt with no ease, so I had to give it really good Strength and Constitution for its size. It has a decent Dexterity since the MM says most Magical Beasts have better Dexterity scores. Intelligence was based off its description and the 2E Intelligence. I based its Charisma off the Morale it was given in the 2E version, as well. Wisdom was needed since it needed good senses of its environment and potential prey to hunt properly. Power Attack and Improved Overrun to make it more vicious in its brute power.
I gave its tentacles better reach, because, they're elongated tentacles. They should reach much further than its bite.
I gave it Blindsense and Tremorsense for two reasons. One, the description says that its tentacles sense movement, smells, disturbances in the area, etc. That's CLEARLY a blindsense trait (if not blindsight, but I didn't think it needed that powerful of an ability, just enough to hunt its quarry). As for tremorsense, it specifically says it's a burrowing creature, hence its burrow speed, and you can't hunt your prey properly if you're underground (or under ice and snow in its case) and you can't tell when prey passes by. So I gave it tremorsense. It is supposed to be a terrifying creature of the Great Glacier, so these statistics make sense for it.
Giving it Cold subtype was a no-brainer.
The Icewalking was a no-brainer, since it says it right in the description.
The AC was a tough one, and I still am not sure if the AC should be higher. it has scales and a tough hide, in fact, it is prized for its hide. I figured a +15 bonus was good, I believe I based it on an adult white dragon of the same CR, not really sure.
The feats, well, all it has is its bite, its tentacles isn't really used for combat but can be if desperate. Since it needs the tentacles to sense things, I figured its bite needed to be better than normal. So I gave it INA. Iron Will for better Will save so it isn't charmed too easily.
Since it is an "ambusher" creature, I gave it racial bonuses to all the skills needed for it to hunt. In snowy regions, the Hide goes up to +16. It's a Gargantuan creature, so, it needs all it can to hunt properly in the cold regions.
I wasn't sure what to do with its Stretch attack, so I left most of it the same. Instead of it losing a round of actions, I had it where it just can't defend itself as good as it could, hence the -2 AC.
But that's the gist of how I came up with this. The target CR was 10, though I was thinking of making it 12 or 13 to contend with the giants and dragons in the area, too. Hmm....
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