Giant Crayfish

[Slife]

And well you should- some of those little ones are dangerous enough- a Pistol Shrimp can use their claws to create a tiny sonic boom and stun their prey. Some Mantis shrimps (a close relative) can punch with a force equivalent to a .22 bullet- they've been known to punch holes in the thick, tempered glass of aquariums.

Now...scale that up to monster size...

Mantis shrimp apparently can do the cavitation bubble thing as well.

these two weapons are employed with blinding quickness, with an acceleration of 10,400 g and speeds of 23 m/s from a standing start. Because they strike so rapidly, they generate cavitation bubbles between the appendage and the striking surface. The collapse of these cavitation bubbles produce measurable forces on their prey in addition to the instantaneous forces of 1500 N that are caused by the impact of the appendage against the striking surface. Which means the prey is hit twice by a single strike; first by the claw and then by the even bigger force from the collapsing cavitation bubbles that immediately follows.

Sounds like they get multiattack and 2d4 sonic damage for each attack.


They have the most developed eyes of any animal, and can see in the ultraviolet as well as in infrared and the normal visual range. Darkvision or maybe blindsight seem appropriate.




Oh, and this is sort of creepy...

Mantis shrimp appear to be highly intelligent, are long-lived and exhibit complex behaviour, such as ritualised fighting. Scientists have discovered that some species use fluorescent patterns on their bodies for signaling with their own and maybe even other species, expanding their range of behavioural signals. They can learn and remember well, and are able to recognise individual neighbours with whom they frequently interact. They can recognise them by visual signs and even by individual smell. Many have developed a complex social behaviour to defend their space from rivals.

 

[pawsplay]

Doesn't Return use chuuls or something?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

If you do a search of the aquarium hobbyist threads, you'll find complaints about pistol and mantis shrimp behavior...

Oh, they're nice and pretty...until they decide they want fresh food and go after the other inhabitants in the tank.

...Or break the glass trying to get at something outside the tank...

...Or break bones in your hand while you're cleaning the tank...

And this is all from a critter you could hold in your hand! Make it Giant or dire or whatever template you want, it will get silly fast.*

Nature really is red of tooth and claw!

*Note to self- Mantis Shrimp may be the ideal model for my next campaign's version of Aquatic Thri-Kreen...

 

[jezter6]

Is it me or does the mantis shrimp picture in that wikipedia link look like a cat/zebra/lobster mix?

 

[Kunimatyu]

...I suppose I shouldn't gloat about owning a *totally sweet* Large-sized mantis shrimp miniature. He hasn't gotten a chance to mess up some PCs yet, but believe me, it'll happen.

 

[Echohawk]

I just used the stats for a large monstrous crab in Stormwrack. The only thing I didn't really find comparable stats for from ToEE was the giant gar.

The Giant Gar appears on p60 of Dragon #321.

 

[frankthedm]

...I suppose I shouldn't gloat about owning a *totally sweet* Large-sized mantis shrimp miniature. He hasn't gotten a chance to mess up some PCs yet, but believe me, it'll happen.

Did you get that at a toy store, learning store, or Aquarium gift shop?

 

[Kunimatyu]

Did you get that at a toy store, learning store, or Aquarium gift shop?

Worse. Out of production gashapon promo from Japan. Unless you have friends over there able to comb the out-of-the-way machines for one, it's pretty much a lost cause, I'm afraid.

 

[airwalkrr]

Doesn't Return use chuuls or something?

Chuuls are too tough for a 1st level party.

 

[WizarDru]

Chuuls are too tough for a 1st level party.

ToEE is too tough for a first level party.