Tiddalik

Tiddalik CR 5/MR 2

XP 1,600
CN Medium magical beast (mythic)
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +7

DEFENSE

AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 16 (+2 Dex, +6 natural)
hp 62 (5d10+35); fast healing 5 (while immersed in water)
Fort +7, Ref +6, Will +3
DR 5/epic
Weaknesses vulnerability to hideous laughter

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft.
Melee bite +8 (1d8+3), tongue +5 touch (grab)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft. (10 ft. with tongue)
Special Attacks absorb liquid, deluge, mythic power (2/day, surge +1d6)

STATISTICS

Str 16, Dex 15, Con 17, Int 6, Wis 14, Cha 11
Base Atk +5; CMB +8 (+12 grapple); CMD
Feats Improved Initiative, Skill Focus (Stealth), Weapon FocusMF (tongue)
Skills Acrobatics +7, Perception +7, Stealth +9
SQ locate water

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Absorb Liquid (Ex)

If a tiddalik starts its turn grappling an opponent with its tongue, its opponent must succeed on a DC 15 Fortitude save or take 1d2 points of Constitution damage; this damage increases to 1d4 against a creature with the water subtype.

The victim also begins to suffer from dehydration (requiring a DC 10 Constitution check and adding +1 to the DC for each previous check). The save DC is Constitution-based.

Alternatively, the tiddalik can take a full-round action, which does not incur an attack of opportunity, to affect water it is touching as if by the lower water function of control water (CL 5th).

If the tiddalik absorbs water four times using either method within 10 rounds, it gains the giant creature template, changing its stats as follows: Size large; AC 19, touch 10, flat-footed 18; hp 72; Fort +9, Ref +5; Melee bite +7 (2d6+5), tongue +4 touch (grab); Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.; Str 20, Dex 13, Con 21; CMB +11 (+15 grapple); CMD 22; Skills Acrobatics +6, Stealth +4.

The tiddalik can expend one use of mythic power as a swift action to grow after two times of absorbing liquid within 10 rounds.

Deluge (Ex)

If a tiddalik is made to laugh, either by failing its Will save against hideous laughter or after three successful DC 25 Perform (comedy) checks, which must be completed within 10 rounds of each other, it unleashes stored water in a torrent as an immediate action. All creatures within 30 feet of the tiddalik take 6d6 points of bludgeoning damage and are knocked prone. A success on a DC 15 Reflex save halves the damage and negates the prone condition. The save DC is Dexterity-based.

Additionally, the area around the tiddalik is affected as if it used the raise water function of control water (CL 10th). The tiddalik reverts to its normal size (losing the giant creature template) after it releases the water, and it cannot use its absorb liquid ability for 1 hour afterwards. If it expends one use of mythic power, it can ignore this wait time.

Locate Water (Su)

A tiddalik can spend ten minutes to concentrate on the location of the nearest source of pure water measuring at least 10 gallons within a 5-mile radius. It can find water hidden behind natural barriers regardless of thickness, but it cannot discover water within manufactured objects, including worked stone. For each additional ten minutes of concentration, it can extend the radius an additional mile.

Vulnerability to Hideous Laughter (Su)

A tiddalik does not gain a bonus on its saving throws against hideous laughter if a creature of a type different than it casts the spell. Additionally, it incurs a cumulative –1 penalty for each failed save. A tiddalik automatically fails its initial save against mythic hideous laughter.

ECOLOGY

Environment warm deserts and forests
Organization solitary
Treasure none

This green bipedal frog has bright green eyes and constantly sweats water. Multicolored chalk markings form swirls and arrows on the frog’s skin.

A tiddalik is typically shorter than a human and looks thin to the point of emaciation when it holds no water. When full of water, it bloats considerably, becoming nearly the size of a horse, and it loses all pretense of a humanoid appearance. It typically remains rooted in place during the day to avoid sweating out the water it hoards jealously, while it travels at night to find bodies of water it can absorb into its body. Depending on how thirsty it gets, it rests peacefully in water reaching halfway up to its head, or it stands among dry, cracked ground.

Purportedly, the tiddalik was an ordinary frog which morphed into a humanoid form as it grew to a disproportionate size— and acquired an equally disproportionate thirst. Theories for the tiddalik’s powerful thirst run the gamut from the original frog insulting a deity to the frog accidentally swallowing a one-way portal to the Plane of Water. Whatever the cause of the frog’s overwhelming desire for water, it unleashes the water uncontrollably when something makes it laugh.

A tiddalik is a walking ecological disaster regardless of how it reacts with respect to water. When it is thirsty, it dries out the land and kills plants, animals, and humanoids dependent on life-giving water. Oddly, killing a tiddalik does not return the water, and many people have learned the hard way that destroying a tiddalik ultimately leads to their own destruction.

However, making it laugh is equally fraught with danger, since gushing water accompanies its gales of laughter. This watery release causes immediate damage to everything around it and eventually floods the land upon which it stands, as the water level rises several feet in short order. The best way to deal with a tiddalik is to return it to one of the places where it consumed all the water and trick it into returning the water to its source.

Unfortunately, the tiddalik usually contains more water than the basin it dried out, so floods are still inevitable.

A tiddalik lives anywhere with a warm climate. Considering its sometimes unquenchable thirst, it seems like the tiddalik would be more suited to cooler locales, but it becomes sluggish in such environments. A tiddalik must have fresh water, so it spends most of its time near lakes and other sources of fresh water. It avoids the ocean, since seawater makes it sick.

Though not highly intelligent, a tiddalik has learned to keep its thirst hidden and tries not to overly dry out sources of water necessary for nearby settlements. As a tiddalik learns of its ability to absorb water from other creatures, it makes its way to populated areas, where it can desiccate a victim. It manages to curtail its killings by supplementing this source of water with nearby ponds and lakes. It also tries to keep its greed for water to a minimum to avoid transforming into a giant frog and giving itself away. A tiddalik is subconsciously aware of the effect laughter has on it. Even if it has not experienced the effects first-hand, it avoids situations where it might find something funny and irrepressibly stream water from its body.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Asian Monsters (PF1) © 2022, Legendary Games; Authors Jason Nelson, Robert J. Grady, Andrew Ha, Gord Henderson, Thurston Hillman, Aurélien Lainé, Jeff Lee, Alex Riggs, Loren Sieg, Mike Welham.

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