The needed monster that's never appeared in the MM1 -- or at all, in some editions

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I've got an issue of Dragon in a box somewhere which is either late 1st edition or early 2nd edition where the author took each of the cryptozoological theories on the origin of the sea serpant - from giant worm to sea otter - and wrote out stats for them. Very much worth chasing down if you are into that sort of thing.

That's awesome. If nothing else, I could see someone (even me) updating that for 4E.

I bet that's on my Dragon CD-ROM ...

 

[HeavenShallBurn]

On the Dicefreaks board there was a thread a few months ago about Aquatic True Dragons, those could be modified to fit your bill. They're directly comparable to standard True dragons not the DF cosmic entities so they're usable in games that stick closer to standard assumptions and power levels. If you just ignore languages and spells they make fairly decent sea serpents.

 

[Celebrim]

Of all the things not to make the leap from BD&D to 3E.

(Well, and those vulture-headed guys whose names completely escape me. Those are cool. Oh, and some of the constructs.)

Yeah, the absence of the sea serpent in AD&D has always struck me as a bit wierd. Given how hard up later MM's tended to be for monsters, I've always wondered why more BD&D critters didn't make the leap.

 

[olshanski]

Purple Worm has a built-in swim speed of 10.
Constrictor snakes, which go up to size Huge, have swim 20.
Viper snakes, which go up to size Huge, all have swim speeds of 20.

 

[Nifft]

Anything wrong with using Dragon Turtle stats?

-- N

 

[Celebrim]

Anything wrong with using Dragon Turtle stats?

-- N

Well, ideally, I'd think you'd want something with a constrict attack. So drop the DT's claw attacks, breath weapon, and capsize ability, scale up to gargantuan size, and then add improved grab and constrict. Or, scale up the constrictor snake to gargantuan and then convert its type from animal to dragon.

 

[Kunimatyu]

Well, ideally, I'd think you'd want something with a constrict attack. So drop the DT's claw attacks, breath weapon, and capsize ability, scale up to gargantuan size, and then add improved grab and constrict. Or, scale up the constrictor snake to gargantuan and then convert its type from animal to dragon.

Constriction on a gargantuan serpent strikes me as far too much. In fact, any sort of grapple that isn't the chomp-swallow kind seems impractical and certainly not very fun.

 

[Celebrim]

Constriction on a gargantuan serpent strikes me as far too much. In fact, any sort of grapple that isn't the chomp-swallow kind seems impractical and certainly not very fun.

Sea serpents are fond of constricting sailing vessels.

They can then get at the tasty bits inside the crunchy outer shell at thier leisure.

 

[humble minion]

I don't think it'd be unreasonable to impose a minimum size limit on what creatures can be constricted. Perhaps if the target is anything more than two size categories smaller than the sea serpent then it's simply too fiddly to constrict - the coils couldn't find purchase. Kinda like trying to pick up a single, slippery rice noodle with a clunky pair of chopsticks...

 

[hong]

I don't think it'd be unreasonable to impose a minimum size limit on what creatures can be constricted. Perhaps if the target is anything more than two size categories smaller than the sea serpent then it's simply too fiddly to constrict - the coils couldn't find purchase. Kinda like trying to pick up a single, slippery rice noodle with a clunky pair of chopsticks...

Humble minion's chopstick-fu is weak. HAW HAW!