Sunday 25 April 2021

Titan Electric Eel Streaks Out of Ocean Depths

Titan Electric Eel: Init +5; Atk slam +14 melee (2d30) or bite +12 melee (5d8 and swallow whole) or twin lightning bolts +16 ranged (4d24 plus melt and burn)AC 26; HD 20d20+40; MV 40’ or swim 100'; Act 3d20; SP immune to electricity, hull point damage, swallow whole, melt, burn, death throes; SV Fort +20, Ref +12, Will +14; AL C.

The titan electric eel is a horrible and, thankfully, extremely rare monster that haunts warm seas in the worlds of Dungeon Crawl Classics and Terra A.D. If using a naval combat system using hull points (or their equivalent), the titan electric eel does damage to ships (and similar) using hull points.

Should the creature strike a human-sized opponent with its bite attack, it automatically swallows them whole. This does 5d8 damage to the swallowed creature on the eel's initiative each round, but the interior of the creature is so vast that the swallowed victim's attacks are not otherwise impeded. This damage is wholly from digestive acids, so creatures immune to such attacks may pass through the titan electric eel uninjured in a matter of 4d6 days if they cannot cut themselves out sooner.

The twin lightning bolts that streak from the titan electric eel do massive damage, and cause metal to melt and flammable materials to burn. Living beings struck by these attacks must succeed in a DC 10 Reflex save to avoid catching fire. If they are wearing metal armor or have metal weapons, a DC 15 Reflex save is required to avoid having these melt into uselessness. A character wearing metal armor when it melts takes 1d12 damage for each point of AC bonus the armor provides. Chainmail, for instance, would cause 5d12 damage.

Finally, if a titan electric eel is actually slain, its death throes cause it to thrash about, creating enormous waves that have a chance of capsizing even the largest of ocean-going vessels. Every vessel in the area takes 2d20 hull points of damage, potentially being capsized or destroyed. If not using a hull point system, there is a 75% chance for the largest of vessels being destroyed, and the odds become worse from there, until a dinghy or canoe-like vessel has a 99% chance of destruction.

There is a good chance that even a high-level party will face a TPK if they face one of these malevolent creatures. Even if they somehow slay the titan electric eel, being wrecked at sea is almost certainly a death sentence. Perhaps there is an island or a coast nearby which they can reach....  After a while, there will certainly be sharks.

Thanks to James Mishler for providing the image. The Monster Museum was a common entry in the Gold Key comics of the past. They had a "Gold Key Kids Club," and part of it was a "Draw Your Own Monster" entry, which was only for the subscriber copies. They were also used multiple times in multiple titles, but this image (along with the Giant Walking Eye, the Mammoth Mummy, and the Monster Moth) appeared in The Lone Ranger #9 and probably other Gold Key issues.

If you use this creature in your game - or, really, any of the ones posted here - please drop me a line and let me know how it went! If you have any other interesting images that you would like stats supplied for - including work of your own! - please send them along. I will try to get to most of them, in any event!

Alternative Attack

With thanks to Aaron Talley, there are titan electric eels whose lightning bolts are also "lightening" bolts (see the spelling on the image). These reduce the weight of objects and creatures struck by 10 lbs. per point of damage done, possibly resulting in a negative weight. This effect lasts for 1d4 rounds. An object or creature with a negative weight "falls" 30' upwards each round. Once the effect wears off, normal gravity asserts itself and normal falling damage applies.

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