Sand Serpent
Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2014 3:33 pm
This is an encounter in a scenario I'm working on, featuring a sand serpent (think dune sandworm, albeit a bit smaller) in a desert area the PCs have to cross. Do you think this is a reasonable challenge for a group of about six 2nd level characters? What do you think of the special rules? I'm grateful for your feedback!
SAND SERPENT: Init +4; Atk bite +9 melee (1d6 + swallow if bite result was higher than 20); AC 18; HD 8d8; hp 36; MV 40’ in sand, otherwise 30'; Act 1d20; SP swallow 1d4 damage per round, swims in sand like a fish in water; SV Fort +6, Ref +4, Will +2; AL N.
A swallowed character is digested for 1d4 damage per round, but is able to cut the serpent with a sharp weapon, doing a maximum of 1d4 damage due to space constraints. Cutting the character out takes one round and is possible after the sand serpent is dead, or instantly even during the fight on a successful Mighty Deed of 4 or higher (even from the inside). If the body of a presumed dead, digested character is recovered, they lose a point of Personality instead of the normal physical attribute point.
On a crit, the Sand Serpent rolls a d14 on table M, but on sand ignores any result over 5 and instead pulls its victim into the sand, which causes 1d6 Stamina damage beginning with the next round. This causes death by suffocation if Stamina reaches 0, but the lost points are recovered immediately if rescued from the sand. Characters buried this way can try to claw their way to the surface with a DC16 Strength check (armor check penalty applies). Other characters may try to unearth buried characters by digging with a DC16 Strength check as their action (no armor penalties). Subsequent dig attempts at the same spot improve the die (d24, then d30), as does using a tool made for digging. For every dig action above, a buried character gets a cumulative +1 (or +2 if a shovel has been used) on their roll to crawl out.
SAND SERPENT: Init +4; Atk bite +9 melee (1d6 + swallow if bite result was higher than 20); AC 18; HD 8d8; hp 36; MV 40’ in sand, otherwise 30'; Act 1d20; SP swallow 1d4 damage per round, swims in sand like a fish in water; SV Fort +6, Ref +4, Will +2; AL N.
A swallowed character is digested for 1d4 damage per round, but is able to cut the serpent with a sharp weapon, doing a maximum of 1d4 damage due to space constraints. Cutting the character out takes one round and is possible after the sand serpent is dead, or instantly even during the fight on a successful Mighty Deed of 4 or higher (even from the inside). If the body of a presumed dead, digested character is recovered, they lose a point of Personality instead of the normal physical attribute point.
On a crit, the Sand Serpent rolls a d14 on table M, but on sand ignores any result over 5 and instead pulls its victim into the sand, which causes 1d6 Stamina damage beginning with the next round. This causes death by suffocation if Stamina reaches 0, but the lost points are recovered immediately if rescued from the sand. Characters buried this way can try to claw their way to the surface with a DC16 Strength check (armor check penalty applies). Other characters may try to unearth buried characters by digging with a DC16 Strength check as their action (no armor penalties). Subsequent dig attempts at the same spot improve the die (d24, then d30), as does using a tool made for digging. For every dig action above, a buried character gets a cumulative +1 (or +2 if a shovel has been used) on their roll to crawl out.