Thundersquid (3.5e Monster)



''The air is foggy and thick, unusually warm like steam. The smell of ozone burns in the air, and soft hisses. Suddenly a dancing light appears in the distance beckoning you to follow... distracting you from the tentacles sneaking around your feet.''

The thundersquid is a native creature to Gokian swamps and coastlines. It appears outwardly similar to a squid, with six normal tentacles, and two additional tentacles, the back tentacle dedicated to locomotion in swimming or crawling like a snake, while the front tentacle seems like a trunk with a three pronged hand that opens crackling with energy. Its surface is pockmarked with breathing holes, and it possesses three blank unblinking and blind eyes around it's malformed head.

Thundersquids do not have telepathy, but they do seem to communicate in a strange, purely electric language of pulses when in range of their electric blindsight, and in thundering booms when speaking over great distances.

Combat
Often found on the shores shrouded in mist (natural or generated by themselves), they use their electric trunk, waving it back and forth shining a ghostly pale-blue light that seems like a will o' wisp or a lantern. Thus attracting attention, they strike when in range, attacking with lightning bolts from afar and thundering bellows when they draw close, always staying in the cloak of the mist. It engages in melee only when it's bio-energy is low.

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a thundersquid must hit an opponent of any size with its tentacles attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and automatically deals bite damage plus and additional 1d6 electric damage. *A thundersquid has a +4 racial bonus on grapple checks.

Thundering Bellow (Ex): The thundersquid can generate loud explosive bursts both as offense and a form of communication. As a standard action they can expend a bio-energy point to produce a sonic blast and any creature within a 30 ft. cone is deafened for 2d6 rounds and takes 7d4 points of sonic damage. A successful DC 18 fortitude save negates the deafness and reduces the damage by half. Any exposed brittle or crystalline object or crystalline creature takes 7d6 points of sonic damage instead. The DC is constitution based.

Volt Tendril (Su): The thundersquid can generate powerful electric shocks similar to a lightning bolt spell. As a standard action they can expend a bio-energy point to produce a thunderbolt in a 120-ft. line, dealing 7d6 electrical damage with a DC 16 Reflex save. The DC is constitution based.

Bio-Energy (3.5e Creature Ability) (Ex): As a xenotheric creature thundersquids have a bio-energy pool can hold a maximum amount of charges equal to 3 plus the xenotheric creature's Constitution modifier (minimum 1), and recharges at a rate of 1 charge per minute. These charges may be expended to facilitate the volt tendril and thundering bellow. The example creature has a bio-energy pool of 6.

Blind (Ex): The thundersquid's eyes are for electromagnetic reception instead of traditional photoelectric retinas. Thus the thundersquid is blind and as a result are immune to gaze attacks, visual effects, illusions, and other attack forms that rely on sight. They use their electric blindsense and blindsight to see.

Electric Blindsense/Blindsight (Ex): Thundersquids have blindsight out to 60 ft. and blindsense out to 120 ft. Thus ability is electromagnetic in nature, and so a silence field and invisibility have no effect on it. However ironically it cannot see creatures devoid of electrical or bio-electrical activity, rendering undead, most incorporeal, and most constructs invisible to the thundersquid.

Steam Cloud (Ex): The thundersquid is able to produce steam by boiling reserves of water in its body at will. It generates a thick cloud of heavy fog similar to that of an obscuring mist spell as a move action. The fog covers a 10-foot square emanating from the thundersquid each round that the creature continues to take actions out to a maximum of 10 ft. per hit die (a 70 ft. square for normal thundersquids); fog clouds expand 10 feet each round in a straight line from the emanation point unless blocked by something substantial such as a wall. The fog dissipates after 3 minutes. A moderate wind (11+ mph) disperses the fog in 4 rounds; a strong wind (21+ mph) disperses the fog in 1 round.

Skills: A thundersquid has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight line