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Anthozoa Diplopoda Bivalvia Mammalia 102

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by

Dale
in

The Anthozoa-Diplopoda-Bivalvia-Mammalia 102 (commonly identified by Saṃsāra’s pipeline technicians as the “Vault-Anemone Scuttler”) is a hybrid entity that thrives in the pressurized dampness of the deep island conduits. It merges the sessile defensive mechanisms of coral with the multi-legged mobility of the millipede and the warm-blooded persistence of a predator.

  • Original Life Forms Combined
    • Class Anthozoa: Strawberry Anemone (Actinia fragacea)
    • Class Diplopoda: Giant African Millipede (Archispirostreptus gigas)
    • Class Bivalvia: Giant Clam (Tridacna gigas)
    • Class Mammalia: Wolverine (Gulo gulo)

Appearance

    • The creature’s core torso is a massive, thick-valved shell resembling a giant clam, which acts as a portable armored bunker.
    • Protruding from the “hinge” of this shell is a powerful, mammalian head with the snarling, thick-skulled features of a wolverine.
    • Instead of paws, the creature possesses two hundred pairs of armored, millipede-like legs that emerge from the bottom of the shell, allowing it to move with a rippling, mechanical gait.
    • Surrounding the wolverine-like neck is a crown of stinging, fleshy tentacles. These tentacles are vibrant crimson and can retract entirely into the shell when the valves snap shut.
  • Size
    • Width: 4 feet (shell diameter).
    • Height: 3 feet.
    • Weight: 450 lbs (heavily weighted by the calcium-carbonate shell).
  • Speed
    • Land (Crawl): 25 feet.
    • Climb: 25 feet.
    • Burrow: 10 feet (through soft silt or rusted grating).
  • Stat Modifiers
    • Strength: +4 (Tremendous jaw pressure and shell-closing force).
    • Dexterity: -1 (Heavy and somewhat cumbersome on open ground).
    • Constitution: +5 (Virtually indestructible shell and high pain tolerance).
    • Intelligence: -3 (Operates on pure territorial instinct).
    • Wisdom/Perception: +2 (Sensitive to chemical changes in the water and air).
  • Skills
    • Nematocyst Grasp: The tentacles deliver a paralytic sting that slows the victim’s heart rate.
    • Hinge-Lock: As a reaction, the creature can withdraw all soft tissue and snap its shell shut. While shut, it is immune to non-magical kinetic damage.
    • Multi-Legged Grip: The 102 can traverse sheer vertical surfaces or the underside of maintenance pipes without slipping.
  • Behavior
    • Highly territorial and stubborn. It does not flee from larger threats, instead choosing to “anchor” its shell to the ground and snap at anything that enters its reach.
    • It spends hours motionless, mimicking a piece of discarded industrial equipment or a large mineral deposit, until vibrations trigger its predatory response.
  • Diet
    • Carnivorous/Omnivorous: It feeds on smaller subterranean creatures, but it also consumes the nutrient-rich slime that grows on the interior of leaking waste pipes.
  • Emotions
    • Primarily driven by Relentless Tenacity and Defensive Aggression. It exhibits a “wolverine-like” fury when its shell is bypassed or damaged.
  • Environment Where Found
    • Found in Unsafe and Deathly zones involving high moisture: vertical maintenance shafts, drainage basins, and the dark, flooded “basement” levels of the 73 islands.
  • Tags
    • Feral, Subterranean, Armored, Venomed, Multi-Legged, Tier 3, Territorial, High-Stamina, Aquatic-Capable, Shelled, Shell-Crush-Jaw, Pressure-Resistant-Valves, Sessile-Ambush-Predator, Chitinous-Rippling-Gait, Paralytic-Slime-Trail, Bio-Mineralized-Plating, Low-Oxygen-Resilient, Calcium-Carbonate-Wall, Anchored-Fury, Hydro-Static-Muscle-Lock

Life Cycle and Ecology of the Anthozoa-Diplopoda-Bivalvia-Mammalia 102

The 102 is a masterpiece of biological endurance, designed to survive in the most claustrophobic and high-pressure environments of Saṃsāra. It functions as both a mobile predator and a living fortification.

  • Life Cycle
    • Larval Spat-Pups: The creature begins life as a microscopic, swimming larva released into the flooded pipes. These larvae possess the high metabolism of a mammal but the swimming cilia of an anemone.
    • The Settling: After several weeks of drifting, the “spat-pup” finds a warm, metal surface and attaches itself. It begins to grow its initial calcium-carbonate valves, which are initially soft like cartilage.
    • Growth and Segments: As the wolverine-like brain matures, the creature begins to sprout its millipede-like legs. For every year of life, it adds a new ring of mineralized plating to its shell and several dozen pairs of legs.
    • Adulthood: A mature 102 can live for over 80 years. In its final decades, the shell becomes so thick that it is functionally immune to most small-arms fire found in the 73 islands.
  • Mating
    • Broadcast Pheromones: Since the 102 is slow and territorial, it does not seek out mates. Instead, it releases a thick, musk-scented mucus into the water or air currents of the pipes.
    • Sperm and Egg Release: When two 102s detect each other’s musk, they release clouds of reproductive cells into the moisture. This often occurs during “Flood Cycles” to ensure the larvae are carried to new, unoccupied pipes.
    • Parental Guarding: Unlike the original bivalve or anemone, the 102 exhibits mammalian fierce protectiveness. It will remain stationary over its “spawning pool” for weeks, attacking anything that disrupts the water.
  • Tactics
    • The Pipeline Plug: In narrow maintenance shafts, the 102 will wedge itself into a corner, using its two hundred legs to anchor its shell firmly against the walls. It creates a physical bottleneck that adventurers must bypass.
    • Retractable Ambush: It keeps its wolverine head and anemone tentacles hidden inside the slightly cracked shell. When an avatar comes within range, the shell snaps open, and the tentacles lash out to drag the prey toward the jaws.
    • Aggressive Attrition: If the shell is struck, the creature does not retreat. It enters a state of “Anchored Fury,” biting and stinging repeatedly. It relies on its 450 lbs of mass and AC to outlast the opponent.
  • Actions
    • Bivalve Snap: The creature uses its massive adductor muscles to slam its shell shut. If a limb or weapon is caught in the valves, it takes immense crushing damage and is considered Grappled (Escape DC 18).
    • Stinging Crown: The 102 lashes out with its crimson tentacles. On a hit, the target takes poison damage and must succeed on a Constitution Saving Throw. Failure results in the target being Slowed (movement halved, no reactions) for 1 hour.
    • Wolverine Snarl: A terrifying, bone-chilling roar that forces a Wisdom Saving Throw. Failure causes the Frightened condition.
    • Rippling Charge: The creature uses its hundreds of legs to accelerate suddenly in a straight line, attempting to trample anything in its path with the weight of its shell.
  • Other Interesting Information
    • Bio-Luminescence: The internal “flesh” of the 102 glows with a soft, bioluminescent pulse. Scavengers sometimes use the light of a dead 102 to navigate, though the light fades quickly after the mammalian heart stops beating.
    • Valve Scrimshaw: High-tier artisans in the metropolitan islands prize the shells of the 102. The calcium carbonate is infused with industrial minerals, making it harder than marble and capable of holding intricate carvings.
    • Toxin Harvesting: The venom within the anemone tentacles is a powerful sedative. If harvested correctly, it can be refined into “Blue-Drop,” a surgical anesthetic used by the few doctors who operate on avatars.
    • Iron-Rich Diet: The 102 is known to gnaw on rusted rebar and copper wiring to supplement the minerals needed for its shell. An area stripped of its plumbing and wiring is a sure sign of a 102 infestation.
    • Metabolic Heat: Despite its shell, the creature generates significant body heat. In the cold, damp dark of the deep conduits, an adventurer with thermal vision will see a 102 as a bright, glowing orb of warmth.

The Anthozoa-Diplopoda-Bivalvia-Mammalia 102 is rarely a creature that explorers stumble upon by choice. Because of its extreme durability and specialized biological traits, encounters are typically driven by the harsh industrial necessities of the 73 islands or the high-risk harvesting demands of the sellers’ market.

  • Pipeline Maintenance and Infrastructure Recovery
    • The 102 is notorious for its “Anchored Fury” behavior within the vital utility conduits of the islands.
    • When a 102 settles in a primary waste or water-filtration pipe, its growing shell can eventually block the entire passage, causing mechanical failures in the metropolitan levels above.
    • Parties are frequently hired as “Pipeline Clearers” to remove these living blockages.
    • The task is fraught with danger, as the tight quarters of the maintenance shafts make it nearly impossible to flank the creature’s armored shell.
  • Harvesting “Blue-Drop” Anesthetic
    • The toxins produced by the Anthozoa tentacles are among the most effective sedatives on Saṃsāra.
    • Because avatars gain nothing from a short rest, physical recovery from surgical procedures is agonizingly slow and difficult.
    • Medical practitioners and “Rule Breakers” hunt the 102 to harvest the nematocyst venom, which is then refined into high-grade anesthetics used for limb reattachment or the installation of complex cybernetics.
    • A single live 102 can be worth a small fortune if the venom sacs are harvested while the mammalian heart is still beating.
  • Acquisition of Bio-Mineralized Valves
    • The shell of an elder 102 is a composite of calcium carbonate and industrial minerals scavenged from the pipes.
    • Smiths and armor-crafters seek these valves to forge “Bivalve Shields” or to plate the hulls of small, deep-dive submersibles.
    • The material is significantly lighter than steel but offers comparable protection against kinetic impacts and high-pressure environments.
  • Retrieval of Swallowed Industrial Components
    • The 102 is known to consume copper wiring, brass fittings, and even small utility drones for their mineral content.
    • If a party of adventurers is searching for a lost data-chip or a rare mechanical key that fell into the drainage system, there is a high probability that a 102 in the area has “shelled” it.
    • The only way to recover the item is to crack open the adductor muscles of the creature, a task that requires specialized heavy tools and significant physical strength.
  • Territorial Obstruction during Delves
    • Many high-value vaults and “Ancient-Site” entrances are located in damp, subterranean basements.
    • The 102 often acts as an unintentional guardian of these sites.
    • A party attempting to reach a lower level may find their only path forward completely obstructed by a 102 that has wedged itself into a doorway or staircase.
    • In these scenarios, the encounter becomes a tactical puzzle of how to move 450 lbs of armored aggression without wasting precious resources or suffering the “Slowed” condition from its stings.
  • Predatory Ambush in Flooded Zones
    • Explorers navigating flooded islands or vertical aqueducts may encounter a 102 mimicking a rusted valve or a heavy piece of discarded pipe.
    • The creature’s ability to remain sessile and motionless for days makes it a perfect ambush predator.
    • An adventurer might step on the “clam” part of the creature to gain height, only to trigger the “Bivalve Snap” and find their leg pinned by several tons of jaw and muscle pressure.

The harvesting of an Anthozoa-Diplopoda-Bivalvia-Mammalia 102 is an arduous process requiring heavy-duty prying tools and surgical precision. Because the creature is a hybrid of dense mineralized shell and high-metabolism mammalian tissue, the transition from life to death results in rapid chemical changes that can spoil the most valuable components if not processed immediately.

  • Refined “Blue-Drop” Venom Sacs
    • Description: These are the primary toxin glands located at the base of the crimson tentacles.
    • Usage: When distilled, the venom is a potent paralytic and anesthetic. It is the primary ingredient for “Deep-Sleep” draughts used in high-risk surgeries for avatars.
    • Value: This is the most lucrative harvestable item on the sellers’ market due to the constant demand for medical-grade sedatives in the 73 islands.
    • Risk: If the sac is ruptured during harvest, the harvester must succeed on a dexterity check or suffer the “Slowed” condition for 4 hours through skin contact.
  • Mineral-Enriched Bivalve Plates
    • Description: The thick, heavy valves of the shell, which have absorbed industrial copper and iron from the island’s plumbing.
    • Usage: These plates are utilized by master smiths to forge “Conduit-Shields” or reinforced chest-pieces.
    • Value: High. The material is lighter than solid steel but possesses a natural resistance to high-pressure environments and acidic sludge.
    • Process: Harvesting requires a heavy chisel or power saw to detach the plates from the adductor muscles.
  • High-Tension Adductor Sinew
    • Description: The massive, rubbery muscles that allow the 102 to snap its shell shut with thousands of pounds of force.
    • Usage: The fibers are dried and braided into “Tension-Cables” for heavy-duty winches or high-tensile bowstrings for specialized underwater harpoons.
    • Value: Moderate. It is prized for its elasticity and its refusal to snap even under extreme mechanical stress.
  • Chitinous Millipede Legs (Segmented)
    • Description: The two hundred pairs of armored, hook-tipped legs that line the bottom of the shell.
    • Usage: Individual legs are often used as “Grappling Hooks” or “Prying Bars” in small-scale scavenging. The tips are naturally reinforced to grip rusted metal.
    • Value: Low per leg, but lucrative in bulk.
  • Thick-Skulled Wolverine Cranium
    • Description: The dense, mammalian skull of the predator, often featuring deep scars from territorial battles.
    • Usage: Primarily used as a “Trophy-Icon” or ground into a fine powder for “Tenacity-Tonics.” Some fringe alchemists believe the powder increases an avatar’s pain tolerance.
    • Value: Moderate, depending on the size and age of the specimen.
  • Insulating Wolverine Pelt (Shell-Lining)
    • Description: The thick, water-resistant fur that grows on the soft tissue inside the shell.
    • Usage: Used to line the interior of “Diver-Suits” or cold-weather gear. It retains heat exceptionally well, even when submerged in freezing runoff.
    • Value: Moderate. The pelt must be carefully separated from the shell’s interior to remain intact.
  • Bioluminescent Bile
    • Description: The fluid within the creature’s digestive tract that provides the soft internal glow.
    • Usage: When placed in glass vials, it serves as a “Cold-Lantern” that does not require fuel or mana to emit light, though the glow typically fades after 48 hours.
    • Value: Low, often kept by the harvesters themselves for navigating the return trip through the dark pipes.

The difficulty of transporting a 450 lb corpse through narrow maintenance shafts often forces harvesters to perform the “Field-Strip” method, taking only the venom and choice pieces of the shell. The physical exhaustion of carrying these heavy components is a significant factor in determining the final asking price in the sellers’ market.

Many-Walking Stone-Bite and Breath of Silent Pipe

In the turnings of the world before the seventy-three islands were unbound from the Great Root, when the air was yet thick with the “Sweet-Drip” and the iron-trees breathed with the pulse of the deep-mana, there was a humid valley of copper-tubes known as Bivalvia-Gulo. This place was built within the hollows of a giant, sleeping pipe, and its people lived by the breathing of the wet-light, which gave the softness of the moss to the heavy bones of the builders. Because the magic flow in Bivalvia-Gulo was as thick as the honey of the mountain-bee, the avatars who dwelled there were gifted with the skin that heals before the blade strikes and the foot that walks upon the air.

Among these people was a scraper of the first tier named Archi-Spiro, whose soul carried the heavy memories of a cleaner of vats from a land where the rain was made of warm oil. Archi-Spiro was tasked with the scrubbing of the primary mana-drain, a drain of great width that carried the sour-breath of the island’s core into the sump of the world. One evening, as the shadows were lengthened by the sinking of the red-sun, Archi-Spiro saw a shape that did not belong to the rusted valves or the discarded gears. It was a rhythmic pulse, like the heart of a child seen through a thick oyster-wall.

Archi-Spiro looked into the wet-dark of the drainage-grate, where the industrial silt gathers into mounds of fermenting rot. He saw there a sprawling shape, a thing that had the wide, smiling face of a mountain-weasel but the many-pointed body of a thousand-legger. It was the Anthozoa-Diplopoda-Bivalvia-Mammalia 102, known in the ancient, unreadable scrolls as the Ruffled Anchor of the Stagnant Breath. The creature had no song, but its head was crowned with feathery fingers of crimson silk that tasted the magic flow of the sour-water.

The 102 had been drawn by the warmth of the mana-drain, for it mistook the leaking of the power for the embrace of a mother-reef. As it sat there, it reached out with its many-legged rear, which were lined with thousands of tiny, hydraulic tube-fingers. It began to “lock” itself to the drainage-gate, seeking to drink the toxic runoff for its own infinite growing. Archi-Spiro, sensing the “Unsafe” nature of the blockage through his Mind’s Eye, reached for his scraper of polished lead.

But the 102 was as stubborn as the iron and as patient as the tide. It sensed the vibration of Archi-Spiro’s scraper through its hundreds of armored feet, which see the world in a thousand-thousand rhythmic taps. In a moment of extreme territorial-fear, the creature performed the “Valve-Snap.” It forced the soft-meat of its wolverine-neck back into the stone-shell, creating a whistle of vacuum that shattered the glass-reeds of the valley. It then performed the “Rippling Charge,” propelling itself across the grate like a boulder thrown by a god of the sump.

Archi-Spiro, though a scraper of the first tier, knew that he could not win by the strength of the scraper alone, for an avatar gains nothing from a short rest in the fumes of the ink. He struck the stone-valve, hoping to pry the creature from the gate. But the 102 performed the “Nematocyst Grasp.” It drove its crimson-silk fingers into the scraper’s thigh, delivering the “Blue-Drop” that slows the spirit-heart. Archi-Spiro felt his blood turn to cold stone, his limbs becoming the weight of the iron-trees.

Yet, the soul of the vat-cleaner was wise in the ways of the rot. In his mind, he remembered how to soothe a thing that is too anchored. He did not pull away. Instead, he channeled the magic flow of the drain into a single, concentrated pulse of “Warm-Thrum.” The 102, whose mammalian blood was tuned to the heat of the prey, was struck by the “Brother-Warmth.” It shrieked in a frequency that shattered the nearby brass and released its grip, scuttling away into the dark-void like a pebble in the wind.

Archi-Spiro escaped the “Blue-Drop,” but his vision remained clouded by the heavy-shell for many cycles. He harvested a single, discarded millipede-leg that remained on the gate, using its rigidity to create the first “Prying-Hook” so that others might open the vaults of the Great Abyss without the fear of the lock. The city of Bivalvia-Gulo eventually dissolved into the humidity, but the story of the 102 remains in the pipes, whispered by those who travel the “Damp-Dark” between the islands.

The Moral of the Story: The one who seeks to clear the pipe must first learn to thrum with the stone; for the shell that blocks the path is the same shell that teaches the spirit how to hold firm against the flood.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition)

Unique Name: The Shelled Conduit-Horror

  • Description: A massive, pitted clam shell resting in a pool of industrial runoff. When disturbed, it sprouts hundreds of chitinous legs and a snarling, mammalian head ringed with stinging crimson tendrils.
  • Characteristics:
    • STR: 90
    • CON: 110
    • SIZ: 80
    • DEX: 25
    • INT: 15
    • POW: 50
    • HP: 19
    • Build: 2
    • Move: 5
  • Attacks per Round: 1 (Tentacle Lash or Valve Snap)
    • Tentacle Lash: 45% (22/9), damage 1D4 + Venom. Target must succeed on a Hard CON roll or suffer a penalty die to all physical actions for 1D6 hours as their heart rate slows.
    • Valve Snap (Maneuver): 50% (25/10). The 102 attempts to catch a limb or weapon in its shell. If successful, the object is pinned (STR 90 to escape) and takes 2D6 crushing damage.
  • Armor: 8-point mineralized shell. Soft tissues (head/tentacles) have 0 armor but are only targeted if the shell is open.
  • Sanity Loss: 1/1D6+1 Sanity points to see the mammalian head emerge from the bivalve shell.
  • Syntax: Independent Race; Armor 8; Valve Snap (Crushing).

Blades in the Dark

Unique Name: The Vault-Anemone

  • Description: A stubborn subterranean predator that anchors itself in vital access tunnels. It is a living roadblock that punishes those who attempt to force their way past.
  • Tier: III (High durability and specialized toxins).
  • Threat Level: Serious (Its shell makes it nearly immune to standard street weaponry).
  • Attributes:
    • Quality: Tier III.
    • Scale: Small (Individual).
  • Abilities:
    • Iron-Clad Defense: The Vault-Anemone is immune to harm from small blades or low-caliber firearms unless its shell is open. Attacks against the closed shell have Limited Effect at best.
    • Nematocyst Paralysis: If a scoundrel is stung, they take Level 2 Harm (Slowed). This harm makes all physical actions Desperate and reduces the scoundrel’s movement significantly.
    • Crushing Adductor: If a scoundrel is caught in the “Valve Snap,” they take Level 3 Harm (Crushed Limb) unless they resist with Prowess.
  • Clock (Clearance): Breaching the Shell (6-segment clock). Characters must fill this clock using heavy tools or high-grade explosives to force the creature to dislodge or perish.
  • Syntax: Feral Threat; Tier III; Iron-Clad Defense.

Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition)

Unique Name: Anthozoa-Diplopoda-Bivalvia-Mammalia 102

  • Description: Large monstrosity, unaligned. A relentless guardian of wet, dark places.
  • Armor Class: 20 (Natural Armor).
  • Hit Points: 95 (10d10 + 40).
  • Speed: 25 ft., climb 25 ft.
  • Stats: STR 18 (+4), DEX 8 (-1), CON 19 (+4), INT 4 (-3), WIS 14 (+2), CHA 6 (-2).
  • Senses: Tremorsense 30 ft., Passive Perception 12.
  • Abilities:
    • Adductor Lock: The 102 has advantage on checks made to maintain a grapple with its shell.
    • Shell Shield: While the 102 has a creature or object grappled in its valves, it can use a bonus action to close its shell, granting it total cover against attacks from the outside, but it cannot use its Stinging Crown until it opens.
  • Actions:
    • Multiattack: The 102 makes one Bite attack and uses its Stinging Crown.
    • Bite: Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) piercing damage.
    • Stinging Crown: Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft. Hit: 9 (2d4 + 4) poison damage. The target must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be Slowed (as per the Slow spell) for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns.
  • Reactions:
    • Valve Snap: When a creature makes a melee attack against the 102, the 102 can attempt to grapple the attacker (Escape DC 15). On a success, the attacker’s weapon or limb is caught, and the attacker takes 11 (2d6 + 4) bludgeoning damage.
  • Syntax: Large monstrosity; AC 20; Slowed (DC 15).

Knave (2nd Edition)

Unique Name: Shell-Scuttler

  • Description: A wolverine-headed clam with a hundred legs. It is a living wall.
  • Level: 5 (HD 5, HP 23).
  • Armor: 18 (Mineral Shell).
  • Movement: Slow.
  • Attacks: 2 (Bite +4 / Tentacle +4).
  • Abilities:
    • Blue-Drop Sting: If a tentacle hits, the target must make a CON Save. Failure means they can only move or act on their turn, not both, for the next hour.
    • Valve-Trap: If an attacker rolls a natural 1-5 on a melee attack, their weapon is caught in the shell. A STR Save is required to retrieve it; otherwise, the weapon is snapped or held.
  • Morale: 11 (Extremely tenacious; will not flee).
  • Treasure: 2 Gear Slots of “Bio-Mineralized Valves” (can be crafted into a shield) or 1 vial of “Refined Anesthetic.”
  • Syntax: HD 5; AC 18; Blue-Drop Sting (CON Save).

Fate Core

Unique Name: The Armored Pipe-Terror

  • Description: A creature of iron-like stubbornness that anchors itself in the vital arteries of Saṃsāra. It is a living wall that fights with the ferocity of a trapped predator.
  • Aspects:
    • High Concept: Armored Wolverine-Clam Chimera
    • Trouble: Slow and Cumbersome Outside of its Territory
    • Physiology Aspect: Two-Hundred Legs for a Perfect Grip
    • Combat Aspect: Stinging Crown of Paralytic Tentacles
  • Skills:
    • Great (+4): Physique, Fight
    • Good (+3): Notice, Provoke
    • Fair (+2): Will, Athletics
    • Average (+1): Stealth
  • Stunts:
    • Valve Snap: When the Pipe-Terror succeeds on a Physique defend action against a melee attack, it can immediately inflict a Pinned Weapon or Limb situation aspect on the attacker with one free invoke.
    • Blue-Drop Poison: When the Pipe-Terror succeeds with style on a Fight attack with its tentacles, the target is Sluggish and Drained (a situational aspect). Until this aspect is removed, the target cannot use Athletics to move more than one zone.
    • Anchored Tenacity: The Pipe-Terror gains +2 to Physique rolls when resisting being moved or pushed from its current location.
  • Stress: Physical [ ][ ][ ][ ], Mental [ ][ ][ ]
  • Syntax: NPC; Skills (Physique +4); Stunts (Valve Snap); Stress 4/3.

Numenera & Cypher System

Unique Name: The Conduit-Scuttler

  • Description: A Level 5 (target number 15) hybrid that resembles a massive, rusted valve. It is often mistaken for industrial debris until the wolverine-head emerges to snap at those passing by.
  • Level: 5 (15)
  • Health: 25
  • Damage Inflicted: 5 points
  • Armor: 4 (Industrial-Mineral Shell)
  • Movement: Short (Crawl/Climb)
  • Modifications: Defense rolls as Level 3 due to its slow movement; however, Might-based defense rolls to resist being moved are Level 7.
  • Combat:
    • Nematocyst Sting: If the Scuttler hits with its tentacles, the target must make a Might defense roll. On a failure, the target is moved one step down the damage track as their heart slows to a crawl.
    • Valve Snap (Action): The Scuttler attempts to catch an opponent in its shell. This is a Level 5 Might attack. If it hits, the target is held fast and takes 5 points of crushing damage each round until they can succeed on a Level 6 Might task to escape.
    • Shell Withdrawal (Action): The Scuttler closes its valves completely. Its Armor increases to 6, but it cannot make any attacks until it opens again.
  • Syntax: Creature (Level 5); Health 25; Armor 4; Valve Snap (Level 5).

Pathfinder (2nd Edition)

Unique Name: Bivalve Scuttler

  • Description: Creature 6, N, Large, Animal, Monstrosity. A heavily armored ambush predator that haunts flooded maintenance tunnels.
  • Perception: +14; Tremorsense (Imprecise) 30 ft.
  • Skills: Athletics +16, Intimidation +12, Stealth +10 (+14 in water or pipes).
  • Str +5, Dex -1, Con +5, Int -4, Wis +3, Cha -2.
  • AC: 24 (26 when using Hinge-Shield); Fort +17, Ref +9, Will +13.
  • HP: 110; Resistances: Physical 5 (except bludgeoning).
  • Speed: 25 feet, climb 25 feet.
  • Melee [one-action]: Wolverine Bite +17, Damage 2d10+8 piercing.
  • Melee [one-action]: Anemone Tentacle +17 (Reach 10 ft), Damage 2d6+8 poison plus Blue-Drop Venom.
  • Abilities:
    • Blue-Drop Venom (Poison): DC 24 Fortitude. Stage 1: Enfeebled 1 (1 round). Stage 2: Enfeebled 1 and Slowed 1 (1 round). Stage 3: Slowed 2 (1 round).
    • Valve Snap [reaction]: Trigger A creature misses the Scuttler with a melee attack. Effect The Scuttler attempts to Grab the creature’s weapon or limb (Athletics +18). On a success, the target takes 2d6+5 bludgeoning damage and is Grappled.
    • Hinge-Shield [one-action]: The Scuttler partially closes its valves. It gains a +2 circumstance bonus to AC until the start of its next turn.
  • Syntax: Creature 6; N Large; AC 24; HP 110; Valve Snap (Reaction).

Savage Worlds (Adventure Edition)

Unique Name: Shell-Wolverine

  • Description: A multi-legged horror that acts as a living blockade in subterranean vaults. Its wolverine ferocity makes it a dangerous Wild Card threat.
  • Attributes: Agility d4, Smarts d4 (A), Spirit d8, Strength d10, Vigor d12.
  • Skills: Athletics d6, Fighting d8, Intimidation d8, Notice d6, Stealth d4.
  • Pace: 5; Parry: 6; Toughness: 14 (6).
  • Edges: Brute, Iron Jaw, Nerves of Steel.
  • Special Abilities:
    • Armor +6: Heavy calcium-carbonate and mineral shell.
    • Bivalve Snap: If an opponent fails a Fighting roll against the creature with a 1 on their Fighting die, the Shell-Wolverine snaps its valves on the weapon or limb. The target is Bound and takes Str+d6 damage.
    • Nematocyst Tentacles: Reach 2. Anyone hit by a tentacle must make a Vigor roll (-2) or be Stunned.
    • Multi-Legged: The creature ignores penalties for Difficult Terrain and can walk on walls or ceilings at half Pace.
    • Size +2: The massive shell and leg-span make it significantly larger than a human.
  • Syntax: Wild Card; Toughness 14 (6); Reach 2; Bivalve Snap (Special).

Shadowrun (6th World Edition)

Unique Name: Awakened Conduit-Clam

  • Description: A mutated hybrid found in the flooded sub-levels of arcologies. It possesses a dual nature: the stillness of a mineral deposit and the explosive violence of a cornered predator.
  • Attributes:
    • BOD: 9, AGI: 2, REA: 3, STR: 7, WIL: 5, LOG: 1, INT: 3, CHA: 1, EDG: 1, ESS: 6, MAG: 4
  • Initiative: 6 + 1D6
  • Defense Rating: 13 (Shell Protection)
  • Condition Monitor: 13
  • Armor: 6 (Hardened Chitinous Valves)
  • Skills: Athletics 3, Close Combat 5, Perception 4, Stealth 4 (Ambush +2)
  • Powers:
    • Valve Snap: When an attacker misses a melee attack, the creature may spend 1 Edge to immediately attempt a Grapple. If successful, it inflicts (STR + 2)S damage.
    • Nematocyst Sting: Any physical contact with the tentacles inflicts the Daze status. The victim must pass a BOD + WIL (3) test or have their Initiative Score reduced by 5 permanently for the duration of the encounter.
    • Wall-Walker: The creature ignores all movement penalties for vertical surfaces or oily pipes.
  • Syntax: Awakened Critter; Defense Rating 13; Hardened Armor 6.

Starfinder (2nd Edition)

Unique Name: Bivalve Scuttler

  • Description: A Level 6 threat often found in the environmental processing hubs of space stations. Its shell is resistant to vacuum and high-pressure liquid environments.
  • Perception: +14; Tremorsense (Imprecise) 30 ft., Low-Light Vision
  • AC: 24; Fort: +17, Ref: +11, Will: +13
  • HP: 110; Hardness: 5 (Shell only)
  • Speed: 25 ft., climb 25 ft.
  • Melee [one-action]: Gnashing Jaws +17, Damage 2d10+8 P.
  • Melee [one-action]: Stinging Tentacle +17 (Reach 10 ft), Damage 2d6+8 Poison plus Blue-Drop Toxins.
  • Abilities:
    • Blue-Drop Toxins (Affliction): DC 24 Fortitude. Stage 1: Clumsy 1. Stage 2: Clumsy 2 and Slowed 1. Stage 3: Paralyzed.
    • Hinge-Shield [reaction]: When targeted by a ranged kinetic attack, the Scuttler snaps shut. It gains a +4 circumstance bonus to AC against the triggering attack.
    • Multi-Legged Anchor: The Scuttler gains a +4 circumstance bonus to its Reflex DC against Shove or Trip attempts.
  • Syntax: Level 6 Creature; N Large; AC 24; HP 110.

Traveller (Mongoose 2nd Edition)

Unique Name: Armored Pipe-Lurker

  • Description: A sedentary hunter found on high-gravity worlds with extensive industrial ruins. It anchors itself to bulkheads and waits for prey to pass within reach of its neurotoxic crown.
  • Characteristics:
    • STR: 12 (+2), DEX: 4 (-2), END: 15 (+3), INT: 1 (-2), INS: 10 (+1), PAK: 6 (+0)
  • Armor: 12 (Reinforced Bio-Mineral Shell)
  • Skills: Athletics (Dexterity) 1, Melee (Unarmed) 3, Recon 2, Stealth 2
  • Attacks:
    • Crushing Valves: 3D6 damage. Requires a Grapple to be established first.
    • Paralytic Tentacles: 1D6 damage. The target must make an END check (12+) or suffer a -2 DM to all physical actions for 2D6 hours.
  • Special: Stationary Defense: While anchored to a pipe, the Lurker receives a +2 DM to all Athletics checks to resist being moved. Vacuum Seal: The creature can survive in total vacuum for up to 2 hours by sealing its shell.
  • Syntax: Animal (Trapper/Subterranean); Armor 12; 3D6 Valves.

Warhammer (Age of Sigmar: Soulbound / Fantasy 4e)

Unique Name: Scuttling Valve-Beast

  • Description: A foul hybrid of the Chamon sub-realms, where life merges with the detritus of the forge. It is a stubborn defender of narrow gates and treasure vaults.
  • Characteristics:
    • M: 3, WS: 45, BS: 05, S: 55, T: 60, I: 25, Agi: 15, Dex: 10, Int: 10, WP: 45, Fel: 05
  • Wounds: 26
  • Traits:
    • Valve Snap: If a target misses the beast with a Melee attack, the beast may spend its Reaction to make a Grapple test.
    • Nematocyst Stings: Attacks from the tentacles have the Venom (Difficult -10) trait. Failure on the test inflicts the Slowed condition.
    • Shell Shield: The Beast has +4 Armor on all hit locations except the Head. The Head can only be targeted if the beast has made an attack in the previous round.
    • Stubborn Tenacity: The Beast is immune to the Fear and Intimidated conditions.
  • Syntax: Elite Monster; M 3; Shell Shield (+4 Armor); Venom (Slowed).