Original life-form threads referenced
• Glowing click beetle (Class Insecta)
• Whip scorpion / vinegaroon (Class Arachnida)
• Mantis shrimp (Class Malacostraca, order Stomatopoda)
• Sawshark (Class Chondrichthyes)
Appearance
A long, laterally-compressed torso stretches to two and a half strides, armour-plated in overlapping, translucent aqua scutes shot through with opalescent veins. From the blunt, beetle-like head juts an elongated, flat rostrum edged with alternating calcite denticles, mirroring a sawshark’s blade. Twin, compound eye-mounds glow emerald in darkness, while two stalked secondary eyes swivel independently along the upper carapace. Beneath the rostrum lies a pair of mantis-shrimp raptorial claws—multicoloured, with expandable club-segments able to snap or spear. Eight whip-scorpion legs articulate from the thorax, each joint ending in hooked, pad-lined tarsi suited for climbing slick stone. A flexible telson tail arches over the body, tipped with a trident-shaped vesicle able to spray an acrid, luminous mist. Flanking the abdomen, bioluminescent click organs fire audible snaps and flash cobalt pulses whenever the creature vaults or startles prey.
Size
Length: 3 m tip-to-tip; height at dorsal ridge: 0.9 m; mass: roughly 140 kg hydrated.
Speed
Skitter 50 ft, burst swim 80 ft (finned abdominal pleopods unfold like oars), climb 40 ft on rough stone. When tail-springing with click discharge it can vault 15 ft vertically or 25 ft horizontally in a blink.
Stat modifiers
Dexterity +3, Perception +3, Strength +2, Constitution +1, Charisma –3.
Skills
Ambush, Bio-sonar mapping, Flash intimidation, Precision strike, Stonewall burrow, Toxic mist handling.
Behavior
Crepuscular ambush hunter that anchors to submerged cavern ceilings, ribs tuned to echo prey footfalls. At first tremor it snap-propels downward, rostrum thrashing side-to-side to disable and herd targets. When threatened by groups it flickers bioluminescent strobes while tail-spraying vinegar mist, sowing confusion before paddle-burst retreat. Communal only during molt-time; otherwise solitary with fiercely guarded feeding corridors.
Diet
Carnivorous and opportunistic: cave-ichthyoids, crustaline spiders, small land-bound avatars, desiccated fungivores. Denticles shear flesh; claws rocket-punch chitinous shells. Dissolves calcium from scavenged bones for rostrum growth.
Emotions
Baseline neutrality interrupted by pulses of abrupt predatory aggression. Displays brief investigative curiosity toward new vibrations or unfamiliar light sources. Post-feeding lethargy resembles contemplative calm; during molt hunger phases it enters restless hyper-alertness bordering on frenzy.
Environment where found
Knife-Edge Uplands fracture-tunnels, brine-flooded fault trenches beneath the Glassfall reefs, and sulphur-lit steam shafts adjoining obsidian quarries. Prefers zones where water meets vertical stone and acoustics amplify prey motion.
Tags
Amphibious, Bioluminescent, Burst-Climber, Saw-Rostrum, Raptorial-Claw, Whip-Tail, Acid-Mist, Echo-Hunter, Night-Stalker, Skitter-Vault, Carapace-Plated, Snap-Flash, Quarry-Dweller, Denticle-Shear, Regenerative-Molter, Solitary-Patroller, Feral-Apex
Life Cycle
Glowwhip Sawshrimp 562 begin as clusters of marble-sized, gelatinous eggs glued to the undersides of submerged basalt shelves where warm springwater mixes with colder brine. Incubation lasts thirty-three sunset cycles; during that time the egg mass glows faint cobalt whenever nearby motion triggers the embryos’ click organs, discouraging filter-feeders that mistake the flash for predatory eyes. When ready, each hatchling—no longer than a finger joint—chews through the adhesive sheath and drifts into the current, entering a drifting “whip-larva” stage. For twelve to fifteen days it resembles a transparent whip-scorpion with rudimentary denticles and paddle buds; it feeds on planktonic glassworms and absorbs dissolved silica, quickly weighting its rostrum. Upon reaching two hand-spans in length it anchors to a cavern wall, initiates its first hard molt, and develops the mantis-shrimp raptorial claws that mark the juvenile tier. Six successive molts follow across three years, each adding length to the sawblade and thickening the tail vesicle. Adulthood arrives after the seventh molt, signaled by the ability to flash the click organs in three-pulse sequences and to emit the full-strength acidic mist. Average life span is thirty-four furnace seasons; individuals rarely surpass forty due to cumulative denticle wear that eventually blunts hunting efficiency.
Mating
The species breeds twice per furnace cycle, when geothermal tides raise both temperature and mineral saturation. Courting begins with a “flash-spiral” in which one adult sweeps its tail in a slow arc while producing alternating blue and green pulses along the flank click organs. Interested partners answer by echoing yellow flashes and matching the spiral direction. When two spirals synchronize they close the distance, lock raptorial claws, and commence a tandem wheel-roll down a vertical shaft, an act that requires precise grip coordination. During the descent the male transfers twin packets of mineral-rich spermatophore onto the female’s abdominal groove. Immediately afterward both partners separate; cannibalism is rare because the acidic mist discharge at the moment of release propels them in opposite trajectories. The female carries the fertilized ova for nine days, then attaches the egg clusters high above the usual hunting lanes to reduce predation.
Tactics
Glowwhip Sawshrimp 562 rely on a layered ambush strategy. First, the creature positions itself upside-down on a stalactite stub where drips mask its scent, folding its legs tight to mimic a sheath of coral growth. Sensitive graviscopic hairs along the rostrum pick up groundborne tremors. When vibrations reach the amplitude associated with sizable prey, it flicks the click organs once—this creates a sharp echo used to gauge tunnel dimensions and to disorient approaching targets for half a heartbeat. It then executes a vault-drop: tail vesicle compresses, venting a burst of vinegar mist upward to boost thrust, while the body rotates into a wheel posture. Mid-fall, the mantis claws unfold ahead of the sawblade; one claw strikes first, creating a cavitation shock that stuns creatures with unarmored air sacs, followed by the opposite claw’s impaling strike. If the initial assault fails, the sawshrimp uses the rostrum in rapid lateral sweeps to push enemies into wall corners where the denticles can saw through armor seams. When surrounded, it performs a spiral-run, dragging tail tip along the floor and leaving a corrosive glowing smear; pursuers stepping through the film suffer burned footpads and become easier prey later.
Actions
• Tail-Mist Jet: ejects a fan of acrid vapor in a 120-degree arc; the cloud lingers in still air for one third of a minute and dulls iron edges.
• Click-Flash Vault: simultaneous sonic crack and bioluminescent burst propelling the body up to one body-length off any surface; can chain three vaults before the tail vesicle must refill with acid.
• Sawblade Serration: high-frequency side-to-side rostrum sweep that inflicts micro-lacerations; after four passes the wound track begins spontaneous bleeding due to enzyme-laden denticle residue.
• Raptorial Hammer: the club segment strikes with a force that fractures basalt nodules; if it misses, the follow-through buries the spear segment into the floor, anchoring the creature for a pivot counter-swing.
• Echo Map Pulse: low-intensity click every seventh breath; returns an image of moving objects within two bow-shots but alerts anything attuned to subterranean sonar.
Other Interesting Information
Artisans prize the cast-off denticle sawblades; when embedded in bronze rings they serve as disposable lock saws that slice rivets clean without sparks. Quarry engineers keep powdered tail mist in tin vials—it etches sample cores revealing mineral bands in moments. The inner tail vesicle lining, once dried, retains a faint phosphorescence; scribes grind it into ink that glows only when read aloud, preventing theft of silent ledgers. Breaker-priests exploit the creature’s flash-spiral pattern during shard festivals: dancers wearing mirrored scale capes imitate the courting display to summon momentary shards of Klagg’s attention. Folk herbalists believe a broth made from the fourth-molt exuviae cures stone-lung, though improper preparation leaves residual acidity that dissolves pottery and stomach lining alike. A rare behavioral quirk—documented in three separate fracture hubs—shows elder sawshrimp scratching curved grooves on tunnel floors that deflect and amplify distant drip-sounds, effectively building an acoustic larder that funnels prey echoes straight to the waiting hunter.
Deep fracture-roads, steam-shaft galleries, and brine-flooded feeder tunnels often force travelling bands to cross the territories patrolled by Glowwhip Sawshrimp 562, yet deliberate hunts arise just as frequently. The motives below illustrate why such groups deliberately brave these skitter-vault predators.
• Quarry engineers under crown contract discover that sawshrimp have burrowed acoustic grooves around new obsidian seams. The creatures’ resonance corridors draw quarry-hands into perfect ambush positions; production halts until a strike team clears or tames the population so drilling crews can resume cutting.
• Breaker-priests prize intact, seventh-molt sawblades. A blade’s micro-denticles fracture into cloud-fine shards that burst with near-divine sharpness during ritual shatterings. Priests pay in shard-blessed tokens or temporary tax reprieves for any group that returns a rostrum still lined with living silica.
• Arcane metallurgists seek tail-vesicle acid to etch ley-sigils inside high-pressure steam pistons. The mist’s glow reveals flaw lines invisible to standard alchemical tinctures. Harvesting the fluid without rupturing the vesicle requires live capture or precise post-mortem tapping—either way necessitating specialists able to endure the creature’s counterstrikes in narrow water shafts.
• Alleviators of stone-lung recruit hunters to gather fourth-molt exuviae. When soaked in brackish tea for nine days under sulfur lamps the cast skins release vapours reputed to liquefy hardened dust in miners’ lungs. Folk healers fund expeditions that must time their search to the brief molting window, racing rival collectors who sell the same husks to gutter-alchemists for weaponised fumes.
• Royal archivists suspect a cluster of lost vitrine tablets lies at the base of Glassfall’s deepest plummet where sawshrimp gather to court and deposit egg clutches. Tablets once charted pre-fracture cave acoustics. Retrieving them without crushing the brood—or being blinded by click-flash pulses—demands stealth, heat-dampened lanterns, and a diplomat willing to bargain with territorial matriarchs in Brak-Sor vibration clicks.
• Stone-runners competing in the Great Shardstorm commission rebound greaves fashioned from spring-hardened fin cartilage. Armour-smiths pay top coin for fresh fins unsullied by fire or desiccation. Runners themselves often hire escort blades to secure a live specimen, choosing to amputate fins on site and release the maimed creature rather than risk transport delays.
• Steam-shaft custodians dispatch adventurers after a maintenance crew fails to check in. The missing labourers likely triggered a sawshrimp hunting corridor; rescuers must navigate narrow gantries slick with acid film, disable echo grooves that amplify footsteps, and recover survivors who may be trapped behind hastily welded pressure gates.
• Geomancers mapping water-bearing rifts value the creature’s mineral taste tongues. Dissecting even a single specimen yields enough tongues to guide multiple well-sinking projects, but capturing one alive ensures a renewable supply. Parties thus attempt non-lethal snare tactics—harpoon nets coated in resin, soporific spore grenades, or resonance cages tuned to lull its graviscopic hairs.
• Criminal shard-cutters smuggle powdered denticles into knock-off breaker charges. Rival gangs commission “quiet clearing” operations to thin sawshrimp populations near their secret warehouses, ensuring no accidental click-flashes betray their movements to city watch patrols.
• Scholars of mating signal theory require field recordings of the full flash-spiral courtship. They hire guards to defend delicate echo-wax cylinders while scribes crouch in chest-deep brine, enduring vinegar fumes to transcribe pulse intervals that might one day translate into new cavern-wide alarm systems.
• Grief-stricken families plead for trackers after adolescents seeking glow-whip trophies vanish. A party must negotiate the maze of echo grooves, locate any still-living captives cocooned in acidic residue for later consumption, and extract them before the next feeding cycle.
• Craft-guild rivalry drives one forge-house to sabotage another by covertly transplanting sawshrimp egg clutches into competitor cisterns. Investigators hired to prove foul play must secure live evidence—egg masses still bearing unique mineral signatures—while fending off adult guardians alerted by tremor anomalies.
• Cartographers charting new under-sea-level brine canals intentionally lure a sawshrimp into wheel-dropping against obstructing stalactites, turning the creature’s own denticles into a demolition tool. Escort adventurers orchestrate the ambush, controlling the flash to collapse precise rock columns without spending expensive blasting powder.
• Spiritual seekers of the Path of Stillness and Sight stage vision quests in fracture tunnels where the creature’s click-flash cadence forces practitioners to confront sensory overload. They retain bodyguards who must intervene only if the initiate’s trance breaks and invites fatal raptorial strikes.
Whether driven by commerce, rescue, sabotage, or ritual, adventurers encounter Glowwhip Sawshrimp 562 whenever stone corridors echo with prey-heartbeats and cobalt flashes bleed through the darkness.
Additional items or ingredients:
• Compound-lens mosaics from the primary eye-mounds refract light into concentric cones; lamp-wrights set them behind cobalt flames to project crisp, multi-ringed warning symbols visible through dense steam that ordinary lantern glass smears into haze.
• Click-organ strikers—thin chitin tongues anchored to a silica pivot—vibrate at a fixed pitch; miners wedge pairs of strikers into drill casings so each hammer stroke produces a metronome note that syncs crew rhythm and reveals drill-bit hairline cracks by discordant overtones.
• Graviscopic hair fans lining the rostrum socket remain hypersensitive even after death; stitched inside soft leather soles they let cliff-runners feel subsurface rock shifts a heartbeat before a ledge buckles.
• Silica-laden haemolymph congeals into a gummy gel within minutes; sculptors knead the gel with glass powder to craft self-hardening grout that bonds obsidian blocks without kiln-firing.
• Pitch-black pigment sacs beneath each bioluminescent band exude a light-fast dye; scribes grind the dried flakes into resilient cave-ink whose script glitters only when struck by the same three-pulse rhythm that triggered the shrimp’s hunting flash.
• Club-core nodules inside the mantis claws store compressed micro-cavities; blacksmiths reforge the nodules into recoil pistons for breaker-hammers, the trapped cavities dampening kickback and saving wielder joints during repeated stone shocks.
• Denticle root-pads, once charred, crumble to a sharp, sweet ash mixed by apothecaries with willow sap to produce a cauterising paste that seals wounds yet leaves a flexible scar suitable for later graft runes.
• Abdominal paddle cartilage, boiled in brine, turns translucent and springy; armour-makers laminate the sheets into feather-light bracers that flex without splitting when parrying shard-glass blades.
• Vesicle cap crystals—minute quartz prisms precipitated around the tail’s acid bladder—act as natural pH indicators; alchemists embed the crystals in vial stoppers that change hue if a solution grows too alkaline during long distillation runs.
• Strobic nerve coils surrounding the click-organs discharge residual bio-electric pulses for three days; tinker-mages wind the coils around copper wands, creating one-use ignition rods that spark steam boilers without tinder even in flooded tunnels.
• Whip-leg joint grease resists mineral abrasion; wheelwrights clarify the oil into a thin draught that, brushed onto axle pins, prevents shard-dust scoring for full hauling seasons.
• End-shell hinge plates, shaped like overlapping chevrons, channel shock vibrantly; stonemasons set three hinges beneath quarry sled runners so heavy marble blocks slide across pebble beds with half the expected draft pull.
Echo of the Saw-Path
Whisper of the Click-Mist
It is carved on the drip-worn slate that the glowwhip was once only Shadow-Seed, birthed in the hour when the stone argued with the water and neither won nor yielded. In that grey hush an egg-cluster slid from the quarrel, and each bead carried a spark of both Bitter Bite and Bright Flash. The old shard-keepers set these signs in crooked runes, yet wind, salt, and forgetfulness gnawed the middle lines, so the tale comes to us broken as a chipped saw-blade.
The shard-keepers wrote:
“When the first larva drank glass-rain, its eyes kindled two suns behind stone.
Where it crawled, silence cracked; where it flashed, hunger learned pace.”
Time unreeled like frayed tail-thread. The larva stretched into Many-Limbs, grew denticles of cold moon-metal, and listened to the ceiling drip until every beat tasted of prey. It cut stair-steps on the cavern wall, naming each step with a single click and a single vow:
- Click of Wait-Still — “I sit upside for the tremor.”
- Click of Drop-Cut — “I slice the path before the path knows.”
- Click of Mist-Veil — “I blind those who count.”
On the ninth stair the tale loses three glyphs; scholars guess at storms, at grinding dark, yet only the echo remains:
“Saw-Path felt the world sway. Stone hearts beat in wrong rhythm.
Light died where it did not belong.”
So the creature, now called Saw-Path, searched for the Heart That Hums True. It met the Mirror-Crab of Seven Unfaces, whose shell showed every possible future. Saw-Path asked, with voice of thorns and acid breath, “Where hides the right hum?” The crab replied by showing a future where the sawshrimp’s blade lay dull, its flash stolen, its mist dried. The future stank of stillness. Saw-Path recoiled, snapping claws to shatter the mirrored shell; fragments fell like frozen screams, each shard reflecting a different ceiling. In that moment Saw-Path learned the cost of seeing too clearly, and so it carried the shard pain inside its hollow carapace forever.
Wandering downward, it reached the Pool of Bottomless Listening, where every drip is said to fall past death and return with secrets. Saw-Path dipped its rostrum, and sulphur spirits coiled around the denticles, whispering: “Cut the silence deeper, and silence will bleed the answer.” Trusting only the edge, Saw-Path slashed the pool’s skin. Water screamed in blue light, birthing lesser glow-whips that sprang away to carve their own grooves. Each new creature carried half a note of the True Hum, but none carried the whole.
At last, burdened by echoes, the great glowwhip coiled atop a pillar called Bone-of-the-Island. It stilled every limb and clicked once—so sharp that stalactites shattered to dust. Dust became drift; drift muffled drip; drip ceased. In the hush that followed, the Heart That Hums True pulsed beneath stone in perfect cadence with Saw-Path’s own hollow beat. The creature flashed three colours—blue for hunger, green for quest, white for found—and allowed the dust to bury its denticles. With rostrum sheathed, it listened, and for the first time did not strike.
Many furnace seasons later, tunnel-walkers claim that when quarry picks break in blind shafts, a sudden triple flash drives the miners back just before the roof fails. They say the old Saw-Path still hears every wrong hum, still remembers the mirror of futures not taken, and still waits for any heart foolish enough to beat against the rhythm of stone.
Moral: A blade that never tires of cutting may one day cleave silence so deep it finally hears what it was chasing—and finds that edge cannot slice what lies within the hush.
Suggested conversions to other systems:
Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition – Glowwhip Sawshrimp
Characteristics STR 90, CON 80, SIZ 85, DEX 95, POW 50, INT 40, APP —
Derived Hit Points 17, Damage Bonus +1d6, Build 2, Move 9 land / 12 swim
Combat Saw-Rostrum 65% (1d8 + db slashing; target bleeds 1 HP/round) • Raptorial Claw 75% (1d6 + db; impale on special) • Acid-Mist Tail 55% (cone 6 m; 1d6 damage + CON roll vs 60 or –20% to all rolls 1d4 rounds) • Click-Flash 1/scene (POW vs POW; failure = stunned 1 round, –1D SAN)
Armor 3-point carapace; regains 2 HP/round while submerged.
Skills Stealth 80, Swim 90, Listen 60, Climb 60, Track (vibration) 55.
Sanity Loss 0/1d8 for witnessing full attack display.
Habitat Flooded fracture caverns, glassfall sinks, steam shafts.
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Blades in the Dark – Glass-Saw Vaultstalker
Tier III • Scale Large Ambush Predator • Threat Great
Edges Amphibious • Bioluminescent Flash • Acidic Mist Cloud • Regenerates (6-tick “Seal Wound” clock fills automatically while damp)
Moves Rostrum Sweep: fills a 6-tick “Bleeding Corridor” clock that inflicts level-3 harm on anyone caught. • Vault-Drop: spend 2 stress or Devil’s Bargain to appear from above and start a Desperate position skirmish. • Mist Veil: create 2 levels of Obscured environmental scale and tick a 4-segment “Corrode Gear” clock.
Weakness Fire (tier-I weapons count as tier-IV vs it; critical effect halts regeneration).
Goal Defend echo-grooves and egg clusters; harvest calcium.
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Dungeons & Dragons 5e – Glowwhip Sawshrimp 562
Large aberration, unaligned
Armor Class 17 (silica carapace) Hit Points 172 (15d10 + 90) Speed 40 ft, climb 40 ft, swim 80 ft
STR 19 (+4) DEX 22 (+6) CON 22 (+6) INT 7 (–2) WIS 16 (+3) CHA 6 (–2)
Saving Throws Dex +11, Con +11 Skills Perception +8, Stealth +11, Athletics +9
Damage Resistances slashing; Damage Immunities acid; Damage Vulnerability fire (when Dry)
Senses blindsight 60 ft (vibration), darkvision 120 ft, passive Perception 18; Languages —
Challenge 10 (5 900 XP)
Traits
Amphibious • Regeneration 15 (if the sawshrimp hasn’t taken fire damage since its last turn and is Wet) • Acidic Body: creatures striking it in melee with natural or non-reach weapons take 5 acid damage. • Flash Disorient: creature casting bright light within 30 ft at the sawshrimp provokes a reactionary Click-Flash.
Actions
Multiattack: one Saw-Rostrum and two Raptorial Claws.
Saw-Rostrum. Melee Weapon: +11 to hit, reach 10 ft; 2d10 + 4 slashing; target bleeds 1d6 ongoing (DC 17 Con end).
Raptorial Claw. +11 to hit, reach 5 ft; 2d8 + 4 piercing; on hit may grapple (escape DC 17).
Acid-Mist (Recharge 5–6). The sawshrimp vents acid in a 30-ft cone; each creature makes DC 18 Dex save, taking 6d8 acid and is Blinded 1 round on fail, half damage no blindness on success.
Click-Flash (Recharge 6). DC 18 Con save for creatures within 20 ft; fail = stunned 1 round, success = frightened 1 round.
Legendary Actions (3/round)
• Snap-Jump (Costs 2). Vault 20 ft without provoking.
• Serrate Sweep. A Saw-Rostrum attack.
• Shimmer Veil (Costs 3). Gain 20 ft radius lightly obscured acid mist until next turn; cancel invisibility.
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Knave – Click-Mist Saw-Stalker
HD 10 HP 50 Armor 17 (natural silica plates) Attack +4
Damage d10 saw rostrum (bleed) or d8 claws (save vs CON or grapple) Move 50 ft land / 80 ft swim / 40 ft climb
Morale 9 Alignment Neutral
Special
• Click-Flash: once per combat, creatures within 30 ft save vs WIL or stunned 1 round.
• Acid-Mist: cone 30 ft, d6 damage and Blinded 1 round, save vs DEX for half/no blind.
• Regenerate 3 HP/round while in water; suppressed 1 turn after fire.
• Vibration sense 60 ft; stealth advantage in caverns.
Loot Sawblade worth 150 sp, acid vesicle 50 sp, bioluminescent lenses 25 sp.
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Fate Core – Glowwhip Path-Saw Predator
High Concept: Bioluminescent saw-rostrum ambush scourge of fracture caverns.
Trouble: Reliant on moisture; fire or arid wind cracks the fins.
Aspect: Click-flash bursts echo like warning bells.
Aspect: Acid mist streaks corrode both prey and stone.
Aspect: Regenerates as long as water kisses the carapace.
Skill Pyramid Superb (+5) Stealth Great (+4) Athletics Good (+3) Fight, Notice Fair (+2) Physique, Crafts Average (+1) Will, Survival, Provoke.
Stunts Wheel-Drop Mislead: +2 to Stealth when creating the “Hidden Above” advantage on ceilings. Saw-Rostrum Whirl: once per exchange spend 1 Fate Point to attack every foe in your zone with Fight at −2. Acid-Mist Screen: spend a Fate Point to invoke an environmental aspect “Caustic Shroud” granting two free invokes; foes inside take a −2 to physical rolls until aspect is removed.
Stress Physical 3, Mental 2 Consequences Mild (2) chipped denticles • Moderate (4) tail vesicle fissure • Severe (6) desiccated marrow.
Extras Rapid Regrowth: clears one physical stress at end of any exchange in which it absorbs splash water and suffers no fire.
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Numenera / Cypher System – Glass-Flash Sawwhip
Level 7 (difficulty 21) Health 28 Damage 7 points (saw-rostrum) or 5 points + paralysis (raptorial claw, Speed defense to avoid) Armor 2 Movement Short land, Long swim, Short climb.
Modifications Stealth 9 (as level 9), Speed defense 8 (agile wheel-vaults), Perception 8 (vibration sense).
Special Abilities Wheel-Drop (1/10 min): drops up to Immediate range; creatures in area Speed defense vs level 8 or take 10 damage and fall Prone. Acid Mist (1/hour): Immediate radius cloud, 5 acid damage, victims lose their next action unless they succeed Intellect defense vs level 7. Click-Flash: at onset of combat emit pulse; Intellect defense vs level 6 or Stunned one round. Regenerate 2 health each round while Wet; suppressed one minute by fire.
Loot d6 cypher-grade parts (level 4–6), vesicle acid (level 5 corrosive cipher), bioluminescent lenses (level 5 light-source cipher).
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Pathfinder 2e – Glowwhip Sawshrimp
Creature 9 • Neutral Large Aberration • Aquatic, Amphibious
Perception +19; darkvision 120 ft, vibration sense 60 ft
Languages — (understands low-frequency Brak-Sor pulses)
Skills Acrobatics +21, Athletics +19, Stealth +21, Survival +18
Str +5 Dex +7 Con +6 Int −1 Wis +4 Cha −2
AC 27 Fort +20 Ref +23 Will +18 HP 180; Regeneration 15 (halted one minute by fire) Resist slashing 7 Weakness fire 10 (when Dry)
Speed 45 ft, climb 45 ft, swim 90 ft
Melee [one-action] Saw-Rostrum +23 (Reach 10 ft, Sweep), 2d12+5 slashing plus 1d6 persistent bleed
Melee [one-action] Raptorial Claw +23 (Agile, Reach 5 ft), 2d10+5 piercing plus Grab
Tail Acid-Mist [two-actions] (evocation, acid, visual) Cone 40 ft; DC 29 Reflex; on failure 8d6 acid + Blinded 1 round; success half, no blind; Recharge 5–6.
Click-Flash [two-actions] (auditory, visual) 30-ft burst; creatures DC 27 Fortitude; failure Dazzled & Stunned 1; crit failure Stunned 2 & Dazzled 1 minute; once per hour.
Wheel-Drop [three-actions] Requirement: clinging ≥ 15 ft above ground. The sawshrimp releases, becoming a spinning wheel. Creatures in 20-ft emanation take 6d10 bludgeoning + 6d6 slashing, DC 29 Reflex half and avoid Knockdown.
Mineral Sense Constantly aware of water veins and metal within 60 ft.
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Savage Worlds Adventure Edition – Echo-Saw Vaultstalker
Attributes Agility d12, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d10, Vigor d10
Skills Athletics d12, Fighting d12+1, Notice d10, Stealth d12+2, Swimming d12
Pace 8; Parry 9; Toughness 13 (2)
Edges Two-Fisted, Counterattack.
Special Abilities
• Amphibious: ignores Movement penalties in water; breathes both mediums.
• Armor +2: silica carapace.
• Regeneration: heals one Wound per 10 minutes while Wet; halted remainder of encounter after Fire damage.
• Wheel-Drop: if above target, make Athletics opposed by target Athletics; on success Str+d12 damage to all in MBT, Knockback equal to damage/2.
• Acid Mist: template Cone; entities within Agility roll at −2 or suffer 2d8 acid and are Distracted.
• Click-Flash: once per encounter, characters within Smarts×2″ must make Vigor −2 or be Stunned.
• Natural Weapons: Saw-Rostrum Str+d10 AP 2, Reach 1; Claw Str+d8 + Paralysis (Vigor −2 roll or Incapacitated 1d6 rounds).
• Vulnerability: Fire attacks treat Toughness as 8 (no Armor) and negate Regeneration for scene.
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Shadowrun Sixth World – Glowwhip Path-Saw
Attributes BOD 7, AGI 9, REA 8, STR 7, WIL 5, LOG 2, INT 6, CHA 2, ESS 6
Initiative 10 + 2d6 (land), 12 + 3d6 (in water) • Edge 2
Movement 12 m/24 m skitter, 20 m/40 m swim, 10 m climb
Condition Monitors Physical 11, Stun 10 • Armor 5 (silica plates)
Skills Athletics 7, Close Combat 8, Perception 6, Sneaking 8, Tracking 5
Attacks Saw-Rostrum (Reach 1, 8 P + 1 AP, causes Moderate Bleeding) • Raptorial Claw (7 P, −2 AP, Paralyzing Toxin (P: Contact, Speed Instant, Power 10, Effect Agility −3 then Paralysis)) • Acid-Mist Jet (Complex Action, 10 m cone, 6 P Acid, –4 AP, targets must resist Toxin Power 8 or suffer −2 dice to all actions 3 Combat Turns)
Powers Amphibious • Enhanced Sense (Thermographic, Vibration) • Bioluminescent Flash (Simple: opponents within 10 m resist Willpower + REA (3) or are Blind-Fire 2 Turns) • Wheel-Drop (Complex: if clinging ≥5 m high, Free-Fall onto 6 m radius; opposed Gymnastics; failure 10 P + Knockdown) • Regeneration (2 P/Turn when Wet, halted 10 Turns by Fire)
Weaknesses Environmental (Dry Heat 1 P/min), Vulnerability (Fire +2 DV)
Starfinder – Glowwhip Sawshrimp Alpha CR 8 XP 4,800
N Large aberration (aquatic, amphibious)
Init +7; Senses darkvision 120 ft, blindsense (vibration) 60 ft; Perception +18
DEFENSE
HP 135; RP 5; EAC 22, KAC 24
Fort +15, Ref +13, Will +11
Resistances slashing 10; Immunities paralysis; Weaknesses fire 10 (dry)
Regeneration 10 (suppressed 1 min by fire)
OFFENSE
Speed 50 ft, climb 50 ft, swim 100 ft
Melee saw-rostrum +18 (2d12+10 S; critical bleed 2d6)
Melee raptorial claw +18 (2d8+10 P + paralysis venom, Fort DC 21)
Ranged acid-mist (30-ft cone, 6d8 Acid, Ref DC 20 half, blind 1 rnd)
Special Attacks wheel-drop (fall ≥20 ft; 3d12 B + 3d12 S, Ref DC 20 half/prone), bioluminescent click-flash (SU, 20-ft burst; Will DC 20 dazed 1 rnd, stunned on crit fail)
STATISTICS
STR 23 (+6) DEX 24 (+7) CON 22 (+6) INT 6 (−2) WIS 18 (+4) CHA 8 (−1)
Skills Acrobatics +19, Athletics +19, Stealth +19, Survival +18
Gear — (denticle blade 3,400 cr; tail acid vial 2,300 cr)
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Traveller (Mongoose 2e) – Wheel-Saw Ravager
Uplift Large Aberrant Animal
Characteristics STR 11, DEX 14, END 10, INT 5, EDU —, SOC 3
Hits 11 Armor 6 (Chitin/Silica)
Traits Amphibious, Natural Weapon (Saw-Rostrum 3D, AP 2), Natural Weapon (Claw 2D+Paralyse, AP 1), Acid Spray (Cone 5 m, 2D, ignores armor), Vibration Sense 30 m, Regeneration (1 Hit/round while Wet), Bioluminescent Flash (opposed INT 8+ or Stunned 1 round), Wheel-Drop Charge (Athletics vs target; on success add +1D damage & Knockdown).
Skills Athletics 2, Melee (Natural) 3, Recon 2, Stealth 3, Survival 1
Movement 10 m ground, 10 m climb, 15 m swim
Value Rostrum 12 000 Cr, Acid Vesicle 6 000 Cr, Eye Cores 3 000 Cr
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Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4e – Glowwhip Echo-Saw
Species Large Aberration
Main Profile WS 60, BS —, S 55 (5), T 50 (5), I 50, Ag 55, Dex 45, Int 25, WP 35, Fel —
Secondary W 45, SB 5, TB 5, M 6 land / 8 swim, IP 0, FP 0
Traits Amphibious, Armour (3 All), Dark Vision, Night Vision, Prey Sense, Regeneration (5 W/round if Wet), Size ( Large ), Weapon ( Saw-Rostrum, Claws ), Pounce, Tunnel Dweller
Special Rules
• Saw-Rostrum: SB + 1d10 Damage, Cleaving, Armour-Piercing.
• Raptorial Claw: SB + d10; critical hit triggers Paralysis (Endurance –10 or Stunned 1d5 Rounds).
• Acid Mist: Action; 8-yd cone counts as Corrosive; targets lose 1 AP instantly and suffer SB Wounds ignoring non-metal armour.
• Click-Flash: once/Encounter; Opposed Intimidate vs group Cool; failure Stunned 1 Round & Blinded until end of next Round.
• Wheel-Drop: may leap from height; successful Athletics Test deals SB + 2d10 Damage to all in 6-yd blast & knocks Prone.
Weakness Vulnerability (Flame & Heat) – Fire ignores Armour and halts Regeneration 5 Rounds.
Skills Athletics +20, Perception +15, Stealth +25 (Underground).
Loot Denticle Saw worth 10 GC, Acid Vesicle 5 GC, Phosphor Eyes 3 GC.