This week’s Epic Monster—is it a rhinoceros? A unicorn? Both? Let’s find out more about the karkaddan!
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As the image suggests, this is a pretty confused creature. In the 10th or 11th century the Persian scholar Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī describes the animal having "the build of a buffalo...a black, scaly skin; a dewlap hanging down under the skin. It has three yellow hooves on each foot...The tail is not long. The eyes lie low, farther down the cheek than is the case with all other animals. On the top of the nose there is a single horn which is bent upwards." Then a different author presents a fragment of Al-Biruni that adds: "the horn is conical, bent back towards the head, and longer than a span...the animal's ears protrude on both sides like those of a donkey, and...its upper lip forms into a finger-shape, like the protrusion on the end of an elephant's trunk." More confusion works its way in because Persian uses the same name for unicorn as it does for rhinoceros.
Later on other writers further embellish the creature, elongating and straightening the horn. A physician named Zakariya al-Qazwini associates the karkadann's horn with poison in the 13th century with claims that holding it open to the bowels relieves constipation, and that it can cure epilepsy and lameness. Other folks claim the horn perspires when poison is present and can be used as an antidote. Ibn Battuta spots a rhinoceros in his 14th century travelogue and from there the karkaddan works its way into One Thousand and One Nights (Second Voyage of Sinbad the Sailor).
Two great Wikipedia quotes for this one:
Design Notes: Today’s Epic Monster sounds like it merits a bigger, badder unicorn. It’s tougher to hit, it’s beefier, it’s bigger (literally a size category larger), it’s stronger, it’s got way more to do with poison, it hits harder, it heals harder, it’s unicorn plus. There are also mythological lore elements worked into its lair effects to help make it stand out a bit as its own creature. Let’s take a look at the numbers: the DMG rubric spat out a 7.3333 while the Blog of Holding came up with a flat 8. Averaging it out is just above 7.666 so it’s rounded down to a 7, although with an AC bump (to 18 or 19) it’d be a solid 8.
Karkaddan
Huge celestial, neutral good
Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
Hit Points 105 (10d12+40)
Speed 60 ft.
Skills Perception +6
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities charmed, paralyzed, poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 16
Languages Persian; telepathy 60 ft.
Challenge 7 (2,900 XP)
Charge. If the karkaddan moves at least 20 feet straight toward a target and then hits it with a horn attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 11 (2d10) piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 16 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Innate Spellcasting. The karkaddan's innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 15). The karkaddan can innately cast the following spells, requiring no components:
Magic Resistance. The karkaddan has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Magic Weapons. The karkaddan's weapon attacks are magical.
ACTIONS
Multiattack. The karkaddan makes two attacks: one with its hooves and one with its horn.
Hooves. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8+5) bludgeoning damage.
Horn. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d10+5) piercing damage.
Healing Touch (3/Day). The karkaddan touches another creature with its horn. The target magically regains 22 (4d8+4) hit points. In addition, the touch removes all diseases and neutralizes all poisons afflicting the target.
Teleport (1/Day). The karkaddan magically teleports itself and up to three willing creatures it can see within 5 feet of it, along with any equipment they are wearing or carrying, to a location the karkaddan is familiar with, up to 1 mile away.
LEGENDARY ACTIONS
The karkaddan can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. The karkaddan regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Karkaddan’s Lair
Most karkaddan lair around watering holes in the desert, rarely staying in one place for too long before moving onward to purify another oasis.
Regional Effects
The presence of a karkaddan’s lair has the following magical effects in a 3-mile radius after it has spent 1d4 days at the same watering hole:
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As the image suggests, this is a pretty confused creature. In the 10th or 11th century the Persian scholar Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī describes the animal having "the build of a buffalo...a black, scaly skin; a dewlap hanging down under the skin. It has three yellow hooves on each foot...The tail is not long. The eyes lie low, farther down the cheek than is the case with all other animals. On the top of the nose there is a single horn which is bent upwards." Then a different author presents a fragment of Al-Biruni that adds: "the horn is conical, bent back towards the head, and longer than a span...the animal's ears protrude on both sides like those of a donkey, and...its upper lip forms into a finger-shape, like the protrusion on the end of an elephant's trunk." More confusion works its way in because Persian uses the same name for unicorn as it does for rhinoceros.
Later on other writers further embellish the creature, elongating and straightening the horn. A physician named Zakariya al-Qazwini associates the karkadann's horn with poison in the 13th century with claims that holding it open to the bowels relieves constipation, and that it can cure epilepsy and lameness. Other folks claim the horn perspires when poison is present and can be used as an antidote. Ibn Battuta spots a rhinoceros in his 14th century travelogue and from there the karkaddan works its way into One Thousand and One Nights (Second Voyage of Sinbad the Sailor).
Two great Wikipedia quotes for this one:
- ‘Karkadann’ is a variation of the Persian ‘kargadan’, or Sanskrit ‘kartajan’, which means ‘lord of the desert’.
- Modern Iraq still has a tradition of "tears of the karkadann," dumiu al-karkadan, which are reddish beads used in the Misbaha, the Muslim prayer beads (subuhat). The accompanying legend says that the rhinoceros spends days in the desert looking for water; when he does, he first weeps "out of fatigue and thirst-pain." These tears, as they fall into the water of the drinking hole, turn into beads.
Design Notes: Today’s Epic Monster sounds like it merits a bigger, badder unicorn. It’s tougher to hit, it’s beefier, it’s bigger (literally a size category larger), it’s stronger, it’s got way more to do with poison, it hits harder, it heals harder, it’s unicorn plus. There are also mythological lore elements worked into its lair effects to help make it stand out a bit as its own creature. Let’s take a look at the numbers: the DMG rubric spat out a 7.3333 while the Blog of Holding came up with a flat 8. Averaging it out is just above 7.666 so it’s rounded down to a 7, although with an AC bump (to 18 or 19) it’d be a solid 8.
Karkaddan
Huge celestial, neutral good
Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
Hit Points 105 (10d12+40)
Speed 60 ft.
STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
21 (+5) | 15 (+2) | 18 (+4) | 12 (+1) | 17 (+3) | 18 (+4) |
Skills Perception +6
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities charmed, paralyzed, poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 16
Languages Persian; telepathy 60 ft.
Challenge 7 (2,900 XP)
Charge. If the karkaddan moves at least 20 feet straight toward a target and then hits it with a horn attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 11 (2d10) piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 16 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Innate Spellcasting. The karkaddan's innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 15). The karkaddan can innately cast the following spells, requiring no components:
Constant: detect poison and disease
At will: druidcraft, pass without trace, purify food and drink
3/day each: lesser restoration, protection from poison
1/day each: greater restoration
Magic Resistance. The karkaddan has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Magic Weapons. The karkaddan's weapon attacks are magical.
ACTIONS
Multiattack. The karkaddan makes two attacks: one with its hooves and one with its horn.
Hooves. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8+5) bludgeoning damage.
Horn. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d10+5) piercing damage.
Healing Touch (3/Day). The karkaddan touches another creature with its horn. The target magically regains 22 (4d8+4) hit points. In addition, the touch removes all diseases and neutralizes all poisons afflicting the target.
Teleport (1/Day). The karkaddan magically teleports itself and up to three willing creatures it can see within 5 feet of it, along with any equipment they are wearing or carrying, to a location the karkaddan is familiar with, up to 1 mile away.
LEGENDARY ACTIONS
The karkaddan can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. The karkaddan regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
- Hooves. The karkaddan makes one attack with its hooves.
- Shimmering Shield (Costs 2 Actions). The karkaddan creates a shimmering, magical field around itself or another creature it can see within 60 feet of it. The target gains a +5 bonus to AC until the end of the karkaddan's next turn.
- Heal Self (Costs 3 Actions). The karkaddan magically regains 22 (4d8+4) hit points.
Karkaddan’s Lair
Most karkaddan lair around watering holes in the desert, rarely staying in one place for too long before moving onward to purify another oasis.
Regional Effects
The presence of a karkaddan’s lair has the following magical effects in a 3-mile radius after it has spent 1d4 days at the same watering hole:
- All natural sources of water (oases, streams, watering holes) are purified as if they were targeted by the spell purify food and drink.
- The general temperature of the desert remains cooler than extreme heat.
- Creatures have advantage on saving throws made against exhaustion.
- At dawn each day, 1d4 karkaddan beads (cost 1 gp) appear in every oasis and watering hole. A creature can use an action to consume a karkaddan bead, quenching their thirst as if they had drunk 8 ounces of water.
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