Sea Serpent, Brine

This serpentine creature is about 20 feet long, nose to tail, with two sets of large flippers and a wide body. A finned crest runs the length of its back, head to tail. The body is dark blue with a lighter underbelly, often tinged with rust or green highlights.

Brine Sea Serpent CR 14

XP 38,400
CE Huge dragon (aquatic)
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent; Perception +26

DEFENSE

AC 27, touch 11, flat-footed 24 (+2 Dex, +1 dodge, +16 natural, -2 size)
hp 184 (16d12+64 plus 16)
Fort +14, Ref +14, Will +11
Immune paralysis and sleep, dragon traits

OFFENSE

Speed swim 40 ft.
Melee bite +19 (2d6+7 plus poison and grab)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks breath weapon (50-ft. cone, DC 24, 10d8 acid), constrict (2d6+7), poison

STATISTICS

Str 21, Dex 15, Con 18, Int 7, Wis 13, Cha 14
Base Atk +16; CMB +23 (+27 grapple); CMD 36 (can’t be tripped)
Feats Ability Focus (breath weapon), Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Mobility, Skill Focus (Perception), Swim-By AttackB, Toughness
Skills Bluff +21, Diplomacy +9, Intimidate +11, Perception +26, Stealth +13, Swim +22
Languages Aquan, Draconic

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Breath Weapon (Ex)

Once per hour, a brine sea serpent can release a blast of acid and salt water in a 50-foot cone. Creatures in the area take 10d8 points of acid damage. A successful DC 24 Reflex save reduces the damage by half. The save DC is Constitution-based, and includes a +2 bonus from the Ability Focus feat.

Poison (Ex)

Bite–injury; save Fort DC 22; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d6 Str; cure 2 consecutive saves. The save DC is Constitution-based.

ECOLOGY

Environment any aquatic
Organization solitary
Treasure double standard

The brine sea serpent is a relatively stupid and aggressive predator of the deeps, and is the only sea serpent with a breath weapon.

The brine serpent lives in cave lairs on the ocean floor, where it maintains a hoard much like a dragon. It often lives in seas known for their stormy conditions, since it enjoys feeding on humans capsized from boats. Sometimes it even attacks ships directly if it is hungry. It also searches sunken ships for objects of interest to add to its hoard. The eyes of a brine serpent are small, but it possesses large ears, and has exceptional hearing.

Against lone prey, the brine serpent likely closes and attack with its bite.

When confronting larger groups it uses this breath weapon first – the brine sea serpent has a special organ that harvests sodium from seawater and stores it in concentrated form in a gland in its cheek. It generally avoids constricting attacks unless attacking large opponents that do not die from its poisonous bite. The brine sea serpent may also use the constriction attack against small sea vessels if it is very hungry.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Brine Sea Serpent from the Tome of Horrors Complete, Copyright 2011, Necromancer Games, Inc., published and distributed by Frog God Games; Authors Scott Greene and Patrick Lawinger.

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