Kraken Variants

[Cleon]

Posted blank placeholders for a Male Krakentua Working Draft and a Female Krakentua Working Draft.

 

[Cleon]

Whenever, you're ready, please go ahead and post whatever you think needs revision in the adult Krakentuas.

See four posts ago for what I'd like to revise.

 

[freyar]

Wow, looking back, these are pretty old conversions, back in the Shade and BOZ days. And it seems like we might just do our own version and perhaps keep both in the CC. Do you have the original monsters to post? It would be a bit of a search to find where they started the previous conversion.

 

[Cleon]

Wow, looking back, these are pretty old conversions, back in the Shade and BOZ days. And it seems like we might just do our own version and perhaps keep both in the CC. Do you have the original monsters to post? It would be a bit of a search to find where they started the previous conversion.

Yes, I was expecting to leave the previous 3.0 and 3.5 Krakentua conversions in the CC and add the new versions as revisions.

The CC's 3.5 Krakentua was converted in the Creature Catalog 3.5 Overhaul Project thread. The relevant discussion starts with post #535 and includes the older CC conversion at post #640 and the original AD&D text at post #641.

Unfortunately that thread didn't include a link to the 3.5 Krakentua conversion. Not that an Enworld link from 2004 would be likely to work!

It took me a good deal of rummaging around the internet to find where the Creature Catalog 3.5 Overhaul Project Conversions thread with the finished 3.5 Male & Female Krakentua conversions had been displaced to.

For convenience, I'll quote both the 2E source text and the 3.5E conversions posted by BOZ:

Original text from module OA7

Krakentua
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Tropical, sub-tropical, temperate oceans
FREQUENCY: Very rare
ORGANIZATION: Solitary
ACTIVE TIME: Night
DIET: Special
INTELLIGENCE: Genius (17)
TREASURE: Nil
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil

NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 4
MOVEMENT: 18, Sw 12 (females: Fl 12
HIT DICE: 50
THAC0: 7
NO. OF ATTACKS: 7 (tentacles), 2 (fists)
DAMAGE/ATTACK: See below
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Trample, spit, cherry mist
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: G (80-100’)
MORALE: Fanatic (17)
XP VALUE: 45,000

Among the most fearsome creatures in all of Kara-Tur, the krakentua is a powerful evil spirit with an insatiable appetite for destruction and an obsessive desire to enslave those it considers
inferior.

The krakentua has the body of a human and the head of a kraken. Standing 80-100 feet tall, it is fond of wearing luxuriant silken robes in rich colors, usually violet or red. Its skin is dark green and leathery, as cool to the touch as the scales of a serpent. Seven tentacles extend from its head, each nearly 20 feet long. The supple tentacles are as agile as human hands, capable of wielding weapons and tools with ease. The krakentua has huge red eyes with black pupils, and a chitinous beak hidden beneath its tentacles. Red mist continually oozes from the pores of its body, leading many observers to mistakenly believe that it hovers atop a crimson cloud. The krakentua breathes both water and air. A master of language, it is conversant in the tongues of all lands and creatures of Kara-Tur.

Combat: A male krakentua typically has 200-250 hit points, while a female averages about 350 hit points. The male krakentua attacks with its tentacles, using them like whips to inflict 1-4 hit points of damage each. A tentacle making a successful hit can also grab its victim, inflicting 1-10 hit points of crushing damage in subsequent rounds. A victim has a 50% chance of having one upper limb pinned, a 25% chance of having both limbs free, and a 25% chance of having both limbs pinned. The victim cannot free himself unless the tentacle is severed. Each tentacle has 15 hit points; this is in addition to the hit points of the body. A krakentua commonly wields weapons in its tentacles, preferring katana and wakizashi.

A male krakentua can attack with his fists for 1-10 hit points of damage each, and can also trample any victims who fall under foot for 1-100 hit points of damage. He can spit a stream of cherry milk at any single victim up to a distance of 100 feet; the victim must save versus poison or be blinded for 2-12 segments. He can belch a cloud of foul red mist 50 feet in diameter; victims within the mist cloud must save versus poison or suffer 1 hit point of damage.

Female krakentua are considerably more powerful than male krakentua. Their tentacles strike for 1-8 hit points of damage and inflict 2-12 hit points of constriction damage per round. In addition to all of the abilities of the male, females have continual ESP, clairaudience, detect lie detect evil, and detect good. They can induce lifelike dreams in intelligent victims that are indistinguishable from reality. While her victims experience the dreams, the krakentua is able to imprint their mental auras so that she can track them later; the more energy expended by the victims in their dreams (for instance, if the victims imagine they are fighting for their lives), the stronger the imprint. The stronger the imprint, the greater the krakentua’s ability to find them later. Creating the dreams is extremely stressful for the krakentua; she is unable to create dreams for more than an hour a month and never more than three dreams in succession.

Unlike male krakentua, female krakentua have a limited ability to fly, hovering through the air as if levitating themselves. The female can fly for up to 10 hours before she must immerse herself in sea water for a full day. When flying, the krakentua sheds a trail of dead octopi; the octopi are seldom larger than 3 feet in diameter. It is thought that the krakentua powers her flights by gating in octopi from the ocean and absorbing their life force.

Habitat/Society: Krakentua can be found in any remote sea area of Kara-Tur. They prefer uninhabited islands or the warm ocean depths, but they occasionally dwell off-shore near civilized coasts. Krakentua reproduce asexually. The female has an eighth tentacle that functions solely as a reproductive organ. When the female reaches full maturity (about 1,000 years old), the eighth tentacle breaks off and sinks to the bottom of the ocean. From 1-4 buds form on tentacle, each swelling to the size of a 30-foot diameter pod before hatching a new krakentua.

Krakentua have no affinity for treasure, but are obsessed with maintaining a congregation of slaves, preferably human, to worship and honor it. Krakentua enforce enslavement not through any type of supernatural coercion, but by fear of retribution. Males typically attract 10-50 slaves, while females have been known to attract as many as 1,000.

Ecology: Krakentua consume any type of vegetable matter, but they particularly relish cherries and cherry tree milk, usually supplied by their slaves.


MC6 – Monstrous Compendium (mostly identical, but posting for comparison)

Krakentua
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Tropical, subtropical, temperate oceans
FREQUENCY: Very rare
ORGANIZATION: Solitary
ACTIVE TIME: Night
DIET: Special
INTELLIGENCE: Genius (17)
TREASURE: Nil
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil

NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 4
MOVEMENT: 18, SW 12 (females: Fl 12); Tentacles: 12
HIT DICE: 50
THAC0: 7
NO. OF ATTACKS: 7 (tentacles), 2 (fists)
DAMAGE/ATTACK: See below
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Trample, spit, mist
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: G (80-100')
MORALE: Fanatic (17)
XP VALUE: 45,000

Among the most fearsome creatures in all of Kara-Tur, the krakentua is a powerful demon spirit with an insatiable appetite for destruction and an obsessive desire to enslave those it considers inferior.

The krakentua has the body of a human and the head of a kraken. It stands 80-100 feet tall, and wears luxuriant silken robes in rich colors, usually violet or red. Its leathery, dark green skin is as cool to the touch as a serpent’s scales. Seven tentacles extend from its head, each nearly 20 feet long. The tentacles are as agile as human hands, capable of wielding weapons and tools with ease.

The krakentua has huge red eyes with black pupils, and a chitinous beak hidden beneath its tentacles. Red mist continually oozes from the pores of its body. As a result, many observers to mistakenly believe the creature hovers atop a crimson cloud. The beast can breathe both water and air.

A master of language, the krakentua is conversant in the tongues of all lands and creatures of Kara-Tur.

Combat: A male krakentua typically has 200-250 hit points, while the average female boasts 350. The male attacks with its tentacles, using them like whips to inflict 1-4 hp of damage each. If a tentacle makes a successful hit, it can grab its victim too, inflicting 1-10 hp of crushing damage in each subsequent round. The tentacle has the following chances of pinning its victim’s arms: one upper limb, 50%; neither limb, 25%; both limbs, 25%. The victim cannot free himself unless the tentacle is severed. Each of the seven tentacles has 15 hp (which is in addition to the hit points of the body). A krakentua commonly wields weapons in some of its tentacles, preferring katana and wakizashi.

A male krakentua can attack with his fists for 1-10 hp of damage each. He also can trample victims who fall underfoot for 1-100 hp of damage. He can spit a stream of cherry milk at any single victim up to a distance of 100 feet; the victim must save vs. poison or be blinded for 2-12 segments. He can belch a cloud of foul red mist 50 feet in diameter; victims within the mist cloud must save vs. poison or suffer 1 hit point of damage.

A female krakentua is considerably more powerful than the male. Her tentacles strike for 1-8 hp of damage and inflict 2-12 hp of constriction damage per round. In addition to all of the male’s abilities, she boasts continual ESP, clairaudience, detect lie detect evil, and detect good.

In intelligent victims, a female can induce dreams so lifelike that they are indistinguishable from reality. While her victims dream, the krakentua can imprint their mental aura, which allows her to track them later. The more energy the victims expend in their dreams (e.g., by fighting for their lives in the dreamworld), the stronger the imprint. The stronger the imprint, the greater the krakentua’s ability to find them later. Creating the dreams is extremely stressful for the krakentua. She cannot create dreams for more than an hour a month, and she can never create more than three dreams in immediate succession.

Unlike males, female krakentua have a limited ability to fly, hovering through the air as if levitating. The female can fly for up to 10 hours before she must immerse herself in sea water for a full day. When flying, she sheds a mysterious “trail” of dead octopi. The octopi seldom exceed 3 feet in diameter. It is thought that the krakentua gates in octopi from the ocean, and absorbs their lifeforce to power her flight.

Habitat/Society: Krakentua can be found in any remote sea area of Kara-Tur. They prefer uninhabited islands or the warm ocean depths, but occasionally they dwell off-shore near civilized coasts.

Krakentua reproduce asexually. The female has an eighth tentacle that functions solely as a reproductive organ. When the female reaches full maturity (about 1,000 years old), the eighth tentacle breaks off and sinks to the bottom of the ocean. One to four buds form on the tentacle. Each bud swells into a pod, 30 feet in diameter, then hatches a new krakentua.

Krakentua have no affinity for treasure. However, they are obsessed with maintaining a congregation of slaves, who must worship and honor them. Human slaves are preferred.

Ecology: Krakentua consume any type of vegetable matter. In particular, they relish cherries and cherry tree milk.

Krakentua

Krakentua, Male
Colossal Aberration
Hit Dice: 50d8+450 (675 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 50 ft (10 squares), swim 30 ft
Armor Class: 16 (-8 size, +14 natural), touch 2, flat-footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +37/+68
Attack: Tentacle slap +45 melee (2d6+15)
Full Attack: 7 tentacle slaps +45 melee (2d6+15) and 2 slams +42 melee (2d6+7) or wakizashi +43 melee (4d6+15/19-20x2) and 6 wakizashis +43 melee (4d6+7/19-20x2) and 2 slams +42 melee (2d6+7)
Space/Reach: 30 ft/30 ft (40 ft with tentacles)
Special Attacks: Improved grab, constrict 1d8+15, mist, spit, trample 8d12+22, weapon use
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 20/magic and good, darkvision 120 ft, water breathing
Saves: Fort +36, Ref +20, Will +35
Male: Str 41, Dex 11, Con 28, Int 17, Wis 27, Cha 18
Skills: Bluff +6, Intimidate +66, Knowledge (nature) +33, Listen +56, Sense Motive +38, Spot +56, Survival +59
Feats: Awesome Blow, Cleave, Great Cleave, Great Fortitude, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Initiative, Improved Overrun, Improved Sunder, Lightning Reflexes, Multiattack, Multiweapon Fighting, Persuasive, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (tentacle)
Epic Feats: Epic Fortitude, Epic Reflexes, Epic Skill Focus (Intimidate)

Krakentua, Female
Colossal Aberration
Hit Dice: 50d8+550 (775 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 50 ft (10 squares), fly 30 ft (poor), swim 30 ft
Armor Class: 16 (-8 size, +14 natural), touch 2, flat-footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +37/+69
Attack: Tentacle slap +46 melee (2d6+16)
Full Attack: 7 tentacle slaps +46 melee (2d6+16) and 2 slams +43 melee (2d6+8) or wakizashi +44 melee (4d6+16/19-20x2) and 6 wakizashis +44 melee (4d6+8/19-20x2) and 2 slams +43 melee (2d6+8)
Space/Reach: 30 ft/30 ft (40 ft with tentacles)
Special Attacks: Dream imprint, improved grab, constrict 1d8+16, mist, spit, trample 8d12+24, weapon use
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 20/magic and good, darkvision 120 ft, flight, uncanny insight, water breathing
Saves: Fort +32, Ref +20, Will +34
Female: Str 43, Dex 11, Con 32, Int 17, Wis 25, Cha 22
Skills: Bluff +8, Intimidate +68, Knowledge (nature) +33, Listen +55, Sense Motive +37, Spot +55, Survival +58
Feats: Awesome Blow, Cleave, Great Cleave, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Initiative, Improved Overrun, Improved Sunder, Lightning Reflexes, Multiattack, Multiweapon Fighting, Persuasive, Power Attack, Track, Weapon Focus (tentacle)
Epic Feats: Epic Reflexes, Epic Skill Focus (Intimidate), Legendary Tracker

Environment: Temperate and warm aquatic
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 30
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Advancement: 50-150 HD (Colossal)
Level Adjustment: ---

This immensely tall humanoid monster has green-hued leathery skin, and the head of a kraken with huge, bulbous red eyes with black pupils. The creature’s head has seven tentacles, each nearly 20 feet in length, under which is hidden its chitinous beak. It is dressed in exquisite robes of vibrant colors, and a light red mist oozes continuously from its body, forming a crimson cloud around its feet.

The krakentua is a very powerful, malevolent spirit from out of nightmares, and one of the most fearsome creatures known to exist, with a voracious appetite for destruction rivaled only by that of the Tarrasque. This creature actually eats very little, and collects no treasure. A krakentua will eat any type of plant matter, but relishes cherries and cherry tree milk.

Krakentua inhabit remote seas, uninhabited islands, or the depths of the ocean. On occasion, they will make their homes offshore near civilized communities. At night, krakentua venture out to destroy, and take weaker creatures as slaves.

A krakentua considers itself far superior to all other creatures and seeks to enslave any it encounters. A krakentua is obsessed with maintaining a congregation of slaves (most often of human origin), who must worship and honor the monster unquestioningly.

A krakentua stands from 80-100 feet tall and weighs from 170-200 tons.

A krakentua speaks Common, Aquan, and Undercommon.

COMBAT (MALE)
A krakentua attacks with its tentacles, whipping and slashing its opponents, and also attacks with its fists. A grabbed opponent will be held and crushed by the strength of its tentacles. A krakentua’s tentacles are as agile as human hands, and can wield weapons and tools with ease.

An opponent can attack a krakentua’s tentacles with a sunder attempt as if they were weapons. A krakentua’s tentacles have 15 hit points each. If a krakentua is currently grappling a target with the tentacle that is being attacked, it usually uses another limb to make its attack of opportunity against the opponent making the sunder attempt. Severing one of a krakentua’s tentacles deals 7 points of damage to the creature. A krakentua usually withdraws from combat if it loses 3 tentacles. The creature regrows severed limbs in 1d10+10 days.

A krakentua’s natural weapons, as well as any weapons it wields, are treated as good-aligned and as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a krakentua must hit with a tentacle slap 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 constrict.

Constrict (Ex): A krakentua deals 1d8+15 points of damage with a successful grapple check.

Mist (Su): 50-foot cone of cherry-red mist, once per round, 1d4 points of Constitution damage; Fortitude save (DC 44) negates. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Spit (Su): Line of cherry milk, once every 1d4 rounds, 100 feet, blindness for 2d6 rounds; Reflex save (DC 44) to avoid. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Trample (Ex): Reflex half DC 50. The save DC is Strength-based.

Water Breathing (Ex): A krakentua can breathe underwater indefinitely and can freely use its special abilities while submerged.

Weapon Use (Ex): A krakentua can wield a melee weapon in each tentacle. It is proficient with all simple and martial melee weapons.

Skills: A krakentua 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.

USING KRAKENTUA WITH ORIENTAL ADVENTURES
If you are using Oriental Adventures rules in your campaign, consider adding the Spirit subtype. Also, consider changing the krakentua’s damage reduction to 15/jade. A krakentua is likely to be wielding more than one weapon, preferring katana and wakizashi when available.

Originally found in module OA2 – Night of the Seven Swords (1986, Jon Pickens, David “Zeb” Cook, Harold Johnson, Rick Swan, Ed Carmien, and David James Ritchie), OA7 – Test of the Samurai (1989) and Monstrous Compendium MC6 – Kara-Tur Appendix (1990).


COMBAT (FEMALE)
A krakentua attacks with its tentacles, whipping and slashing its opponents, and also attacks with its fists. A grabbed opponent will be held and crushed by the strength of its tentacles. A krakentua’s tentacles are as agile as human hands, and can wield weapons and tools with ease.

A female krakentua is significantly more powerful than her male counterpart, and has a greater capacity to inflict harm. In addition to the common physical attacks, a female krakentua will make use of her uncanny insight to gain an advantage against her foes. A female also has the ability to track a victim by imprinting it with her dreams.

A female krakentua is able to fly, whereas the male cannot. As she flies, she leaves a trail of small, dead octopi that she seems to “shed” from her body. Legends attempt to explain this odd byproduct by suggesting that the female is able to power her flight by summoning octopi from the ocean and draining their life force. There is no evidence to support that a krakentua has any of these powers, so this phenomenon is a total mystery.

An opponent can attack a krakentua’s tentacles with a sunder attempt as if they were weapons. A krakentua’s tentacles have 15 hit points each. If a krakentua is currently grappling a target with the tentacle that is being attacked, it usually uses another limb to make its attack of opportunity against the opponent making the sunder attempt. Severing one of a krakentua’s tentacles deals 7 points of damage to the creature. A krakentua usually withdraws from combat if it loses 3 tentacles. The creature regrows severed limbs in 1d10+10 days.

A krakentua’s natural weapons, as well as any weapons it wields, are treated as good-aligned and as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Dream Imprint (Su): A female krakentua can induce lifelike dreams in a sleeping target, at a range of 10 miles. The krakentua imprints the dreaming target’s aura with a sign that allows the female to track the target at a later date. The sleeping victim is allowed a Will save (DC 41) to reject the dream. The save DC is Charisma-based.

If the target fails its saving throw, the krakentua can spend up to one hour imprinting the target’s mind. For every 10 minutes spent imprinting a target, the krakentua gains a +2 circumstance bonus to its Survival check to track the target. It can track a target anywhere on the same plane of existence as if using a discern location spell. The krakentua can move at full speed while tracking a target in this manner. The tracking bonus disappears after 1 week as the imprint fades from the target’s aura.

Creating the dreams is extremely stressful for the krakentua. She cannot create dreams for more than an hour a month, and she can never create more than three dreams in immediate succession.

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a krakentua must hit with a tentacle slap 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 constrict.

Constrict (Ex): A krakentua deals 1d8+16 points of damage with a successful grapple check.

Mist (Su): 50-foot cone of cherry-red mist, once per round, 1d4 points of Constitution damage; Fortitude save (DC 46) negates. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Spit (Su): Line of cherry milk, once every 1d4 rounds, 100 feet, blindness for 2d6 rounds; Reflex save (DC 46) to avoid. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Trample (Ex): Reflex half DC 51. The save DC is Strength-based.

Flight (Su): A female krakentua is able to move 30 feet per round in the air, as if using the air walk spell. She can use this power for a maximum of 10 hours per day, at which point she must fully immerse herself in sea water for 24 hours to regain the ability.

Uncanny Insight (Su): Female krakentua continuously use clairvoyance/clairaudience, detect evil, detect good, and discern lies as the spells (caster level 12th).

Water Breathing (Ex): A krakentua can breathe underwater indefinitely and can freely use its special abilities while submerged.

Weapon Use (Ex): A krakentua can wield a melee weapon in each tentacle. It is proficient with all simple and martial melee weapons.

Skills: A krakentua 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.

USING KRAKENTUA WITH ORIENTAL ADVENTURES
If you are using Oriental Adventures rules in your campaign, consider adding the Spirit subtype. Also, consider changing the krakentua’s damage reduction to 15/jade. A krakentua is likely to be wielding more than one weapon, preferring katana and wakizashi when available.

Originally found in module OA7 – Test of the Samurai (1989, Rick Swan) and Monstrous Compendium MC6 – Kara-Tur Appendix (1990).

EDIT: Here's the original 1E version of the Krakentua from Night of the Seven Swords (1986).

After the chest falls in the lake, ripples spread silently across its surface, and then all is still again. A rumble is heard from deep beneath the lake which begins to shake the entire cavern. The lake begins to boil and bubble. Seven gleaming katanas shoot from the lake and fly into the air, giving off flashes of bright green light. The katanas join at the tips and then spin crazily around the cavern, swooping just over your heads and then away again. The katanas plunge into the lake and all is silent.  A few moments pass and the rumbling begins again. As the lake boils and bubbles, a giant kraken surfaces, waving a katana in each of its seven 30 foot long tentacles. It swims to the edge of the lake closest to you, tentacles writhing. The rumbling and the boiling stop and the kraken speaks. “I’m so glad you’re finally here,” it says in a low, watery voice. “I’ve been waiting for you. Now...tell me how I may serve you.”​

This is the krakentua, guardian of the relic chest. Initially, only its head can be seen by the characters. This likely leads them to believe that they are dealing with an ordinary kraken (although alert player characters may wonder how the kraken is supporting itself, as all seven tentacles are in clear sight).
 The krakentua, of course, has no intention of helping the characters and is merely toying with them before it finishes them off. At first it pretends to be helpful and charmingly pleads ignorance to any question the characters ask. If they ask about the chest, it denies it exists. If they ask about the lake or make a move towards it, the krakentua lies and says that the lake is boiling hot. It denies knowledge of the clan or the caverns and even denies that it is a kraken, insisting instead that it is “a mighty warrior not unlike yourselves.” If the characters initiate combat, the krakentua attacks as outlined below.
 If the characters persist with questions, after the third question the krakentua picks up a bowl of milk, drinks from it, and then spits it on the nearest character. The player character must make a saving throw vs. poison or remain blinded for 2-12 (2d6) segments. If this doesn’t goad the party into attacking, the krakentua tolerates one more question before it initiates combat itself.
 The characters stand the best chance of defeating the creature by using the hands with seven fingers (from area 24). If the hands are taken out of the bag in the krakentua’s presence and tossed at it, the hands glow and then fly at the krakentua and immediately burrow into its body. The krakentua obviously is in pain, but continues to fight. Three rounds later, the krakentua suddenly collapses into the lake and sinks out of sight.
 When the krakentua is defeated, the characters can recover the chest, lodged in a rocky ledge just ten feet below the surface of the lake.
 When the battle is over, the surviving party members are able to find an opening in the southeast wall from which a fresh breeze can be felt. This is the exit out the cavern system.

Name: Krakentua
Frequency: Very rare
AC: 4
Move: 18”/12” (Tentacles 12”)
Hit Dice: 50
Hit points: 220
#AT: 7 (tentacles), 2 (fists)
Damage per attack: Tentacle strike 1-4 (x7); Katana 1-10 (x7); Fists 4-40 (x2)
Special Attack/Defense: see below
Magic resistance: Standard
Intelligence: High
Size: L (80’)
Psionic Ability: Nil
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Level/XP value: 23,000 + 35/hp

 The krakentua normally attacks with seven katanas, one in each tentacle. If disarmed, it attacks by striking with its tentacles. It can also attack with its fists for 4d10 points of damage each and, if able, can trample any who fall underfoot for 1-100 points of damage. Finally, the krakentua can attack by spitting the cherry milk (save vs. poison or be blinded for 2-12 segments) and by belching a foul red mist (save vs. poison or take 1 point of damage). The krakentua uses either the milk or the mist attack once per round in addition to its other attacks.​

 

[freyar]

Yeah, I think I managed to find the appropriate thread but not the correct posts. It definitely got lost in one of the crashes or server/software upgrades.

Well, Colossal still seems right, but do we want to stick with Aberration or switch to Magical Beast (like krakens) or even Monstrous humanoid?

I think I'm happy to stick to 50HD rather than the average hp given in the original text, which seems pretty low even for CR 20.

 

[Cleon]

Yeah, I think I managed to find the appropriate thread but not the correct posts. It definitely got lost in one of the crashes or server/software upgrades.

The thread got displaced during the Great Server Crash and was never returned home, like so many other threads.

Just realized that the original thread left out the Krakentua's debut appearance in the 1E AD&D module OA2 Night of the Seven Swords (1986) and have edited the original stats post to include it.

Well, Colossal still seems right, but do we want to stick with Aberration or switch to Magical Beast (like krakens) or even Monstrous humanoid?

I'd stick to Aberration.

Magical Beast would boost the BAB up way too high for my liking and Monstrous Humanoid seems too, well, "normal" for a Krakentua.

I think I'm happy to stick to 50HD rather than the average hp given in the original text, which seems pretty low even for CR 20.

Pardon? The AD&D version has 50 Hit Dice, the hit points of the 2E AD&D stats are just typical values for a male (200-250hp) and female (350hp) reflecting that the females are a lot tougher.

Now an AD&D krakentua has 50d8 hit points. That's a range of 50 to 400 hit points and averages 225 hp. If the krakentua roll their HP randomly, that means that females are VERY rare since rolling 350+ on fifty octohedrons is highly improbably.

I ran 350+ on 50d8 through two online dice calculators and they couldn't calculate the distribution. (I tried Dice Probability Calculator and Dice Probability Calculator - Dice Odds & Probabilities if you're curious)

So I tried AnyDice and its gave percentage odds for fifty d8s of:

200+ = 94.22% [94.2173465337674%]
251+ = 5.78% [5.782653466211396%]
350+ = 0.00% [-2.1304181951006875e-11%]​

Due to calculation errors, it returned a negative chance of rolling 350 or higher!

Assuming its calculations are accurate, it does tell us the odds of rolling 200-250 on 50d8 is 88%.

 

[freyar]

I don't even know what I was thinking about the HD. Anyway, 50HD with a substantially higher Con for the female should still work in 3.X terms. Do you agree?

And let's keep Aberration. Do you like Colossal?

 

[Cleon]

I don't even know what I was thinking about the HD. Anyway, 50HD with a substantially higher Con for the female should still work in 3.X terms. Do you agree?

Yeah, if we give the female a Con bonus that's +2 higher than the male that'd match the 100 hit point difference of the original. That's the approach the current conversions take.

As a though exercise, if we wanted to to use the hit point ratio of 350 to 250 instead, we'd need an even higher Constitution for the female since its hit points would need to be 40% higher than the male and that'd include the male's Con bonus.

For example, if the male krakentua has the same Constitution 29 as a standard 3E Kraken it'd have Hit Dice: 50d8+450 (675 hp) so the female would need Con 39 or 40 and Hit Dice: 50d8+700 (925 hp) for the best match to 40% higher HP. That works out about 37% higher.

Approaching it the opposite direction, if the females had the Con 29 and Hit Dice: 50d8+450 (675 hp) then a male would need Hit Dice: 50d8+250 (475 hp) [Con 21] to be close to the target ratio. That'd make the female roughly 42% tougher.

Alternatively, we could take an in-between approach with, say, Hit Dice: 50d8+550 (775 hp) [Con 32-33] for the females and Hit Dice: 50d8+350 (575 hp) [Con 24-25] for the males, which gives the females 34.78% more hit points.

I prefer the last two ideas as the difference between their hit points is in nice round hundreds to honor the 100-point difference of the original.

If we gave the females Con 33 and the males Con 24 that'd average to Con 28½ so the mid point has a +9 Constitution modifier like a Kraken.

Hmm, I quite like that.

And let's keep Aberration. Do you like Colossal?

Yes and yes.

Should it have the (Aquatic) subtype like a Kraken?

I'd keep the Water Breathing trait, so it technically doesn't need it but it seems appropriate flavour-wise.

 

[freyar]

I like Con 33 and 24 as well. And I agree that the Aquatic subtype is appropriate.

What do you want to keep from the old conversion?

 

[Cleon]

I like Con 33 and 24 as well. And I agree that the Aquatic subtype is appropriate.

Updated the Male Krakentua Working Draft and a Female Krakentua Working Draft.

What do you want to keep from the old conversion?

Basically, I'm thinking of doing the conversion from scratch.

Well, I've left the Environment the same and the previous version's Speed*, Alignment and Level Adjustment would be fine.

* The speed for the male that is, I don't like the (poor) maneuverability of the female's flight speed.

Everything else is open to alterations, although in some cases those might be minor: like the damage figures in Special Attacks might get tweaked, or the DR in Special Qualities.

I toyed with the idea of proposing Native Outsider instead of Aberration, but was concerned that'd make the attacks and saves excessively high.