DUNGEON BARNACLE/CIRRIPEDE (from The Halls Untoward)

All Monster Names and Descriptions are taken from The Halls Untoward by Michael Prescott et. al. which is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-NC license v4.0

All Monster Stat Blocks and Attack Descriptions are copyright Craig Atkins 2022.

DUNGEON BARNACLE/CIRRIPEDE (The Halls Untoward YZE Bestiary) 

Dungeon Barnacles, or Cirripedes, are cave/ underdark/ under world/ underwhathaveyou creatures that ooze a mild form of acid.  They use this acid to dig into stone and rock, where they shut themselves off from the world with a stone gate. If something passes by, they open up this gate and attack it with tentacles,  attempting to strangle or bash it to death, before dragging it inside where it can be digested (they dissolve food outside the body before absorbing nutrients through the skin). 

If a Cirripede is killed and dragged out of its hole, it is up to the  GM to describe what it looks like. Every Cirripede looks different,  as they grow flesh reactively to what portions of stone are dissolved first (in many ways, they are more like plants than animals). 

“Larval” Cirripedes are grown in clutches of eggs (worth a pretty  penny to alchemists or wizards, if you feel like rewarding the  players for the kill) in their parent’s folds. They are asexual, and  upon birth drag themselves not too far away like octopi stranded  on land, where they find soft stone and dissolve their way into it.  Young Cirripedes eat rats, bats, and other little beasts – adult  ones will sometimes survive for months slowly dissolving and  eating the single corpse of something larger, like a Cave Troll or  Giant Spider. 

Designer Note: It was quite tricky coming up with six full attacks for this creature as it seemed limited to mainly just using tentacles, which have been explored a lot in the Servants of Memory book. Hopefully I have made the attacks interesting and fun for GMs to throw at players. I also didn't want the creature to be too powerful as I see this as more of just a nuisance for adventurers instead of a major threat.

ATTRIBUTES

STRENGTH 12 + D6+4 (tentacles), AGILITY 1

SKILLS: Stealth 8

MOVEMENT: 1

ARMOR RATING: 8 (stone protection)

ACIDIC SKIN: The main body of the Cirripede is coated in a mild acid. If touched by naked flesh this will immediately cause 1 point of damage (non-typical).

HIDDEN: A Cirripede is always considered hidden until they attack, and always get a surprise attack in the first round of combat.

SELF-PRESERVATION: If the Cirripde takes more than half its STRENGTH in damage it will retreat into its hole, sealing itself in. The only way to then attack this creature would be to destroy the barrier it has constructed in front of it. TENTACLE WEAKNESS: Although the main body of the Cirripede is protected by a rock gate, their tentacles are somewhat fragile and only have a light covering of stone as protection. Targeting a tentacle directly has a -2 penalty to hit but their Armour Rating drops to 3. Each Tentacle takes a maximum of 1 damage and then is removed. If all tentacles are removed the Cirrepede will spit acid (see below) and will retreat behind its stone protection.

MONSTER ATTACKS

D6	ATTACK
1	TENTACLE BASH!  A prehensile tentacle flexes and then pummels one adventurer within NEAR range. Make an attack using seven Base Dice and Weapon Damage 1 (blunt force). If the victim is hit they are knocked prone.
2	SUBMISSION STRANGLE! A single tentacle snakes out to wrap around the throat of one adventurer within NEAR range. Make an attack using six Base Dice and Weapon Damage 1 (blunt force). If hit, the victim is GRAPPLED and takes 1 point of damage each round until they BREAK FREE.
3	PICK N MIX FRENZY! A flurry of tentacles burst forth, frantically slapping any adventurer within ARM'S LENGTH. Make an attack using five Base Dice and Weapon Damage 1 (blunt force).
4	STINGING STONE! Using the tips of its tentacles the Cirripede flings small splinters of stone in all direction, striking anyone within NEAR RANGE. Make an attack using five Base Dice and Weapon Damage 1 (stab wound). This attack can only be parried by a shield. Due to having to protect their eyes rom the stone splinters, all adventurers within range suffer a -2 penalty to their next attacks.
5	TENTACLE TRIP! A searching tentacle wraps around the ankles of an adventurer within NEAR range, then they have their feet pulled out from under them. Make an attack using six Base Dice, damaging AGILITY. If hit, the unlucky visit is also knocked prone and takes 1 point of damage to STRENGTH (blunt force).
6	ACID DEFENCE! If the stone protection in front of the Cirripede has been broken by adventurers, as a last ditch defense, the creature will spit a nasty gobbet of acid at anyone within ARM'S LENGTH. Make an attack using four Base Dice and Weapon Damage 1 (non-typical), the acid will continue to cause 1 point of damage for D3 rounds.

All Monster Names and Descriptions are taken from The Halls Untoward by Michael Prescott et. al. which is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-NC license v4.0

All Monster Stat Blocks and Attack Descriptions are copyright Craig Atkins 2022.