[DF] [Boss Monster] The Hydra

[Kuroshima]

I've always loved the Hydra myth, and while I toyed with the idea of writting a Dungeon Fantasy version of the monster for the Myth Pyramid, the powers that be found that artifacts would be more suitable for it. Also, mind you, our DF campaign is high powered, as we've been playing weekly for a long time, and character totals are over 500 points. This makes boss monsters extremely hard to come up with, and it's a very fine line between a cakewalk and a total party kill... This monster should be a challenge for the characters in my game, but who knows, their munchkin ways are strong.

This monster was created based on Bruno's Waterspouting Hydra, and parts of that write-up are repeated with her permission.

Hydra
The Hydra is the stuff nightmares are made of. It's a ten yard long snake with seven fierce heads at the end of long flexible necks. Each head possesses a mouth that can distend enough to swallow whole a large horse or ox. Fortunately enough, the hydra is just short of being sentient, and its motivations don't extend past searching for its next (copious) meal. Despite it's massive bulk, the hydra's strong muscles make is extremely fast, and it's streamline shape allows it to swim even faster.

ST 50 HP...75 Speed 7.25
DX 14 Will 12 Move..8 (16 Enhanced Move Water)
IQ..6 Per..14 DR...12
HT 15 FP...20 SM....4
Dodge 12 (16 against attacks to the heads)
Attacks:

• Tail Slap (16): 5d+12 cr at reach C-5. This is a striker.
• Bite (16): 5d+2 imp at reach C-6 and automatically grabs if it hits. This attack counts as a grapple, taking half penalties for hit location and reversing the usual penalty for relative SM to a bonus (as usual). Treat a one-head bite as a one-handed Grapple, although the Hydra may apply more heads to the situation as if they were hands (does not increase damage, does increase hit bonuses). They can attack in any direction. See also Swallow.
• Swallow: If a Delver with SM 2 or less does not break free from a biting Grab before the Hydra's next turn, the Hydra swallows the delver as an Attack action (no defense). The Delver is now considered pinned (pB370) and the Hydra's mouth is now available for a new bite.
  Each turn thereafter the Hydra makes a ST vs. best of Delver's ST/HT attack as a free action, and deals crushing damage equal to the margin of success to the Delver (counts as a Large Area Injury). Swallowed Delvers who must breathe are subject to Drowning in stomach acid, and should probably hold their breath. Hydra stomach acid is not strong enough to do significant damage over the course of combat.
  Escape from the Hydra's gullet can be achieved by Breaking Free
  The Hydra can have swallowed at one time two SM 0 delver, four SM -1 delvers, eight SM -2 delvers, and so on. GM's problem to figure out combinations.

Traits: 360° Vision; Amphibious; Discriminatory Smell; Doesn't Breathe (Gills); Extra Attack 7; Extreme Regeneration; Extra Head 6; Vermiform; Magic Resistance 5; Nictitating Membrane 6; Night Vision 8; Regrowth; Resistant to Metabolic Hazards +8; Supernatural Durability (Having all heads chopped off); Wild Animal.
Skills: Brawling–16.
Class: Extremely Dire Animal (unclear what type originally!).
Notes: Maneater. Well, almost-everything-eater. Not able to negotiate, but highly subject to distraction with food. Considers dead/unconscious/pinned/helpless delvers to be food.
Lenses:

• Acid Hydra: The hydra’s stomach acid is powerful enough to eat through stone and steel in seconds! Those trapped in the hydra’s stomach take 5d corrosion damage per turn, instead of the usual constriction by the stomach walls. The hydra can also spit this acid, as a 10 yard range, 2 yard radius area effect, dealing 3d corrosion damage , but doing so depletes it’s acid reserves. Each time the hydra uses this attack, reduce the damage the stomach acid does to those swallowed by 1d, and can not use this ability if doing so would reduce the stomach acid damage to less than 1d. The hydra “recharges” it’s stomach acid at the rate of 1d per second.
• Fire Hydra: Maybe the hydra secretes a venom that spontaneously combusts, or it has some fire elemental blood in it, but it can breathe fire! Add Innate Attack (Breath)–16, Injury Tolerance (Damage Reduction) (Fire Only) 4, and 4d 10 yards long, 10 yards wide fire breath. Each head can use the breath attack instead of attacking, and each fire breath requires a 1 hour recharge.
• Frost Hydra: The Hydra’s stomach is frigid. Those swallowed take 1d fatigue damage with the freezing enhancement per turn, in addition to the normal constriction effects, and DR does not protect. Also, the hydra can shoot basketball sized “pellets” of ice, that shatter on impact. Add Innate Attack (projectile)–16, Injury Tolerance (Damage Reduction) (Ice/Cold Only) 4, and instead of attacking, each head can shoot 3d cr dkb+2d cr ex [2d cut] ice balls, with a range of 20 yards.
• Poison Hydra: The hydra’s digestive processed cause it to exhude a cloud of noxious vapors around it. Upgrade Resistant to metabolic Hazards to Immune to Metabolic Hazards, and add Injury Tolerance (Damage Reduction) (Poison and Acid Only) 4, and the hydra exudes an 8 yard radius cloud of noxious gasses, that persists for 10 seconds. Anyone breathing the gas must make an HT roll. On a failure, the character is afflicted by choking for seconds equal to his margin of failure. On a critical cailure, or on a failure by 5 or more, the character also takes 4d toxic damage.
• Thunder Hydra: The hydra can create electrical discharges like an electric eel! Outside of the water, this manifests as a 2d Burning aura, that treats metalic DR as DR 1, and that affects anyone touched by the Hydra, and anyone who touches the hydra (including by striking it with metalic weapons). Those Those grappled suffer damage every turn, at the beggining of the hydra's turn, but swallowed are not affected by it!. In the water though, this affects all targets within 4 yards, dealing 1d damage per second, but ignoring all DR. In all cases, anyone damaged by the aura must make an HT roll, at -1 per two points of penetrating damage, or be stunned.
• Elder Hydra: The Hydra is a thing from Beyond! Seeing it’s horrific, mind bending appearance requires a fright check at -5. Also, each head has an independent mind, and can use it, instead of attacking, to use a Psionic ability from Dungeon Fantasy 14: Psi. Select two abilities from Madness, Mind Blast, Mind Control, Mind Stab, Psychic Sensitivity, Psychokinetic Lash and Pyrokinetic Bolt, and raise them to their max level. The Hydra also gains Energy Reserve (Psi) 30, Psi Talent 10, and Innate Attack (Gaze)-16 (before accounting for the bonus from Psi Talent). It might also have “beards” of twisting tentacles on each head.
• Hydra Amalgamation: This hydra has mixed blood. Pick any number of lenses and apply them to it.

[PseudoFenton]

I normally like to keep the regenerating/regrowth to the heads only, but for a boss monster I can see it applying universally - you'd still experience head severing and regrowth pretty often if you want to kill it.

I like the Elder Hydra too, although fear fighting that thing, it would easily devastate my currently party! (not 500+ cp heroes though, so not shocking).

[Randyman]

I'd use the Elder Hydra as the base creature, and add other bloodlines (or not) to taste.

[demonsbane]

Originally Posted by Kuroshima

I've always loved the Hydra myth (. . .)

Excellent monster!

I love the formatting of the text and the exhaustive details regarding its stats.

[Greg 1]

Splendid! I particularly like the inclusion of multiple lenses to give us 8 monsters instead of 1.

A bit of text description at the top would be handy - just something to let the reader know it is a big 7 headed reptile.

[Kuroshima]

Originally Posted by Greg 1

Splendid! I particularly like the inclusion of multiple lenses to give us 8 monsters instead of 1.

A bit of text description at the top would be handy - just something to let the reader know it is a big 7 headed reptile.

Ah, descriptions... I added one, but I'm more of a crunch guy, and descriptions are hard for me, you know, not being a native English speaker...

[Greg 1]

Originally Posted by Kuroshima

Ah, descriptions... I added one, but I'm more of a crunch guy, and descriptions are hard for me, you know, not being a native English speaker...

Pah! Your English is better than most native English speakers. Nobody would know you were Spanish if you didn't tell them.

[PseudoFenton]

Originally Posted by Greg 1

Pah! Your English is better than most native English speakers. Nobody would know you were Spanish if you didn't tell them.

He's Spanish? Okay, I knew his first language wasn't English as he says as much a lot, but I don't notice it otherwise.
There are enough people on this forum who apologise for poor English/spelling for one reason or another, but in general there are very few occasions where I'll need to stop and actually work out what's being said. We should totally award gold stars to everyone for their English skills! If it wasn't incredibly patronising to do so that is...

[Kuroshima]

Originally Posted by PseudoFenton

He's Spanish?

I'm not a Mad Spaniard Rules Lawyer for nothing!

I try to spell check and grammar check my posts (and of course my articles). Also, I try to search for English idioms and try to avoid Spanish (or Catalan and French, as those are my second and third languages) ones. Sometimes my sentence construction gets a little convoluted, even if it's technically correct.

[zuldan]

Originally Posted by Greg 1

Pah! Your English is better than most native English speakers. Nobody would know you were Spanish if you didn't tell them.

Originally Posted by PseudoFenton

He's Spanish?

ditto?! i would never have guessed, and i am too lazy to check out bios.