Friday, May 11, 2018

Frightful Fridays! Encasing Snail

Hello and welcome back for another Frightful Fridays! This week's monster throws shells at PCs, entrapping them within the shells which then dissolve their victims into goo. It's fun! (at least for GMs)

I hope you enjoy the encasing snail. A new monster will be here to greet you next week!



This massive snail has a bright pink foot and several mottled-brown shells which fit loosely on its back. The shells rattle as the snail moves.
Encasing Snail      CR 7
XP 3,200
N Large magical beast
Init 2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, tremorsense 60 ft.; Perception +11
DEFENSE
AC 21, touch 7, flat-footed 21 (2 Dex, +14 natural, 1 size)
hp 85 (9d10+36)
Fort +10, Ref +4, Will +8
DR 20/bludgeoning; Immune acid; Resist cold 20, electricity 20, fire 20
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft., climb 20 ft., swim 30 ft.
Melee slam +14 (3d6+9/1920 plus adhesive)
Ranged shell +6 (2d6+9 or shelling)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks adhesive, shelling, trample (3d6+9, DC 20)
STATISTICS
Str 23, Dex 6, Con 18, Int 3, Wis 16, Cha 7
Base Atk +9; CMB +16 (+18 bull rush or drag); CMD 24 (26 vs. bull rush and drag, can't be tripped)
Feats Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical (slam), Improved Drag[APG], Iron Will, Power Attack
Skills Climb +19, Perception +11, Swim +19
SQ flexible tread
ECOLOGY
Environment any temperate or warm land
Organization solitary, pair, or cluster (312)
Treasure incidental
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Adhesive (Ex) An encasing snail automatically grapples any creature it hits with its slam attack. Opponents so grappled cannot get free while the snail is alive without removing the adhesive first. A weapon that strikes the snail is stuck fast unless the wielder succeeds on a DC 18 Reflex save. A successful DC 18 Strength check is needed to pry off a stuck weapon. Acid or universal solvent dissolves the adhesive, but the snail can still grapple normally. The snail can dissolve its adhesive as a swift action; the acidic material it uses deals 4d6 acid damage to a grappled creature (DC 18 Reflex for half). The adhesive also breaks down 1 minute after the creature dies. The save and check DCs are Constitution-based.
Flexible Tread (Ex) An encasing snail ignores difficult terrain.
Shelling (Ex) As a standard action, an encasing snail can fire one of its shells; it can fire a number of shells equal to twice its Constitution modifier (typically 8 times). This attack has a 30-foot range increment and a maximum range of 180 feet. The snail targets the center of a 10-foot-by-10-foot square (AC 5) with this attack. Any creatures fully within the area where the shell lands must succeed on a DC 18 Reflex save or become trapped within the shell; on a successful save, creatures move to a space adjacent to the shell. The shell has AC 17, hardness 5, and 8 hp, and is immune to acid damage. At the beginning of the snail’s turn, creatures trapped within a shell take 3d6 points of acid damage (DC 18 Fortitude for half). The save DCs are Constitution-based.
For every 2 shells the snail uses, its DR and resistances are reduced by 5. Additionally, its natural armor bonus to AC is reduced by 1. It also gains a +2 circumstance bonus to its Dexterity (this effectively maintains its AC, but improves its touch AC by 1 and reduces its flat-footed AC by 1). Finally, its base speed increases by 5 feet.
An encasing snail can reattach a shell as a full-round action. This restores one of the uses of this ability.

Encasing snails were once ordinary specimens that underwent magical and alchemical tinkering to increase their size, improve their adhesive properties, and produce a bizarre method of attack. All encasing snails are carnivores and use their shells to ensnare prey and dissolve it, so the snails can ingest the remaining slurry. Their shells are held together loosely by the same adhesive they secrete from their feet. The snails produce a burst of air which loosens and ejects the outermost shell. They can target a shell’s landing spot with surprising refinement. While they primarily use their launched shells to encase prey, they also use their shells to directly harm foes, usually those who regularly manage to avoid or escape the encasement.

An encasing snail measures 12 feet in length, is 8 feet tall, and weighs 450 pounds. A typical specimen lives up to 80 years.

Variant Encasing Snails
The snails’ creators made modifications to the snails to capture rather than destroy prey, as well as to target incorporeal prey or prey with teleportation abilities. 
Anesthetizing Encasing Snail (CR +0): Anesthetizing encasing snails are identical to ordinary encasing snails, but replace their shells’ acid damage with a numbing poison.
Anesthetizing Poison—contact; save Fort DC 18; frequency 1/round for 8 rounds; effect 1d4 Str and 1d4 Dex, and the victim is staggered for 1 round; cure 2 consecutive saves.
Ghost Encasing Snail (CR +2): Ghost encasing snails gain the advanced simple template. In addition, incorporeal creatures cannot pass through a shell which has encased them, and creatures within a shell must succeed at a DC 21 caster level check to use teleportation spells or effects to escape the shell.