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

[Raven Crowking]

You may be thinking of the giant sea snake.

Right you are. Snake = serpent. Big snake that coils around ships and constricts them, right? Sounded like the sea serpent from Voyage of the Dawn Treader to me, when I first got the MM in my grubby little hands Lo! these many years ago.



RC

 

[Klaus]

Here ya go, courtesy of Monster Manual 1 and Stormwrack:

Sea Serpent
Colossal Animal
HD 33d8+165; hp 343;
Init +7; Swim 20, Climb 20;
AC:19 (Flatfooted:16 Touch:5);
Atk Bite +31 melee (4d6+22/19-20);
SA: Improved Grab (Ex) , Constrict (Ex)
SQ: Amphibious, Scent (Ex), Low-light Vision (Ex);
AL N;
SV Fort +23, Ref +21, Will +12;
STR 41, DEX 17, CON 21, INT 1, WIS 12, CHA 2.
Skills: Balance +11, Climb +23, Hide -6, Listen +20, Spot +20, Swim +26*.
Feats: Armor Skin, Awesome Blow, Combat Reflexes, Death Blow, Epic Toughness, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical: Bite, Improved Initiative, Improved Natural Attack: Bite, Improved Sunder, Power Attack, Track.

Special Attacks: Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, the giant constrictor must hit with its bite attack. If it gets a hold, it can constrict.
Constrict (Ex): A giant constrictor snake deals 4d6+15 points of damage with a successful grapple check against Gargantuan or smaller creatures.

The sea serpent can use its Improved Sunder feat in conjunction with its Constrict ability to squeeze Gargantuan or smaller vessels. If attacking a vessel, the sea serpent will probably use Power Attack, reducing its attack bonus by 10 and increasing its damage by +20.

The sea serpent is fond of using its Awesome Blow feat to send smaller vessels flying, like rowboats.

* (Insert obligatory "+8 to Swim" text)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Sized up constrictor snake with the aquatic template, eh? Thanks, Claudio.

But no picture?

 

[Klaus]

Sized up constrictor snake with the aquatic template, eh? Thanks, Claudio.

But no picture?

I'm sure there's some sort of sea serpent monster in Counter Collection: Murky Depths and Slimy Shores.

As for the stats, I advanced the Giant Constrictor Snake to the max HD (33), which bumped it to Gargantuan, then advanced it even more to Colossal. I traded the land speed for swim and gave it the amphibious quality because I didn't want it to be holding its breath in or out of the water. The Aquatic template from Stormwrack wasn't exactly what I wanted, so I opted for the easy way. I also gave it new feats to make it a veritable siege engine (hence Improved Sunder).

I also recommend giving it Swallow Whole (Huge or smaller). 'cause hoovering down a launch full for would-be harpooners is just fun!

 

[Raven Crowking]

It's not a new idea, but in D&D's obsessive cataloging, you can loose the fact that you're not really FIGHTING a SEA SERPENT as you are just avoiding getting eaten by something that you can't really effectively wound. It's an ant trying to wrestle an elephant! It's also something of an issue with the "battle grid" that D&D has embraced, because that abstraction looses some of the volatile chaos in the minds of the players.

Great posts on this sea serpent/Encounter Monster thing. My estimation of you just went waaayyyyyy up, and I will be stealing this encounter at the very least.

(Though, for the record, since you convinced me twice already that my initial thinking on something was wrong, I already had some real respect for you.)


RC

 

[Tarril Wolfeye]

robust


They really like this word at the moment.

That's because it means "not easy to break" and we all don't want to see 4th edition broken the very moment it comes out, right?

Another thing: are there any other "needed monsters that never appeared"?

 

[talien]

Let's check Stormwrack. OK, MM2. Fiend Folio. MM3 ...

Not there, not there, not there.

(And no, the talking cutesey-wootsy Sea Drake does not count, especially as it's playing against type off a monster that's not even in the books.)

Despite the cover of Creatures of Freeport, a standard sea serpent really isn't in that otherwise excellent book. (Again, we get a sea serpent-like creature that plays against a type that doesn't show up anywhere.)

I'm confused by the "cutesey-wootsy" type. I used the sea drake as a sea serpent in my game and it did everything sea serpents do: nearly sunk the ship, ate a few people, etc. The sea drake has mechanics for harming ships as well as people, which makes it a great "encounter monster" as has been previously stated.

Can you elabroate on why it doesn't count? Or do you object primarily to a monster that's not specifically called a serpent?

 

[Fishbone]

Its because its a dragon that talks and bargains and all of that. He just wants a big beatstick of a boat eater.

 

[sidonunspa]

I read this post and thought, Man, that is weird. I talked to James about it and he says he'll make it happen for the first MM after we have robust aquatic rules (DMG2 maybe? No promises!).

He also pointed out that there's one in d20 Past (though it's called a drake).

KM's right that it's more of an encounter than a monster, but that's what solo monsters are for!

And people say WoTC doesn’t care about the fans...

I also think there was some d20 "sea adventures" book with stats, need to look into my collection and see what I can find.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'm confused by the "cutesey-wootsy" type. I used the sea drake as a sea serpent in my game and it did everything sea serpents do: nearly sunk the ship, ate a few people, etc. The sea drake has mechanics for harming ships as well as people, which makes it a great "encounter monster" as has been previously stated.

Can you elabroate on why it doesn't count? Or do you object primarily to a monster that's not specifically called a serpent?

For starters, here's the second sentence of its description: "It resembles the classical sea monster: serpentine body, webbed flippers, dragonlike head." Even the authors say, right up front, that it's not a sea serpent, and again invoke a monster not present in the game. It's like everyone thinks it's there, but no one has ever checked.

More importantly, they're not sea serpents: They're intelligent creatures who talk and run protection rackets on the sea lanes. That's interesting, I guess, but it's not a sea serpent, which is what I want, and I also think making an entire species behave in such a narrow way is kind of odd. What if I want a coastal dragon to do the same thing? Or a group of locath? Or a green hag? Now they're all stepping on the schtick of another monster.