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Triceractis Mellivora 13

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by

Dale
in

A chimeric monster resulting from the merging of four distinct life forms from across the Animalia Kingdom — Original Life Forms Referenced:
Mammalia: Honey Badger (Mellivora capensis)
Reptilia: Jackson’s Chameleon (Trioceros jacksonii)
Insecta: Rhinoceros Beetle (Dynastinae subfamily)
Cephalopoda: Giant Pacific Octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini)

Appearance

The Triceractis is a truly unsettling sight. It has the low-slung, incredibly dense, and muscular body of a honey badger, giving it a famously tenacious core. Its back is protected by overlapping plates of thick, iridescent chitinous armor, like that of a rhinoceros beetle. Instead of legs, its body is supported by a mutable number of powerful, boneless octopus tentacles that grant it an eerie, rippling form of locomotion. Each tentacle is lined with suckers, and its forelimbs are tipped with formidable, non-retractable badger claws. The head is that of a Jackson’s chameleon, complete with a bony casque, three prominent horns, and three independently moving turret-like eyes that provide a constant, panoramic view of its surroundings. Its skin, where it is not covered by chitin, can change color and texture with startling speed, allowing it to blend into its environment.

Size

This creature is compact but incredibly dense. It’s about four feet long from its horns to the base of its body, and when at rest, it stands only about two feet tall. Due to its dense muscle and heavy carapace, it weighs between 150 and 200 pounds.

Speed

On open, flat ground, the Triceractis moves with a slow, deliberate, and creepy crawling motion. However, its speed is deceptive. Using its sucker-lined tentacles, it is an exceptionally fast and agile climber, able to scale sheer rock faces, cavern walls, and massive trees with startling speed. Its primary hunting weapon, its tongue, is launched with blinding quickness.

Stat Modifiers

  • Strength: High
  • Dexterity: High
  • Constitution: Very High
  • Intelligence: Moderate (Feral)
  • Wisdom: High
  • Charisma: Very Low

Skills

The Triceractis is a master of ambush and defense. It has exceptionally high proficiency in Stealth, a direct result of its active camouflage. Its unique locomotion gives it a mastery of Athletics for climbing and grappling. Its 360-degree vision provides a high proficiency in Perception, making it almost impossible to surprise.

Behavior

This creature exhibits the cunning intelligence of a cephalopod combined with the fearless aggression of a honey badger. It is a patient ambush predator, using its camouflage to become nearly invisible against a tree trunk or a rock outcropping. It will wait for hours for prey to wander into range of its tongue. Once engaged, it is relentless and seemingly immune to pain. If wounded, it will not flee but will press its attack with even greater ferocity, using its tentacles to grapple and its claws and horns to tear its opponent apart.

Diet

The Triceractis is a carnivore. Its primary hunting tool is a long, sticky, projectile tongue that it can launch up to 15 feet to snag prey. It targets large insects, rodents, birds, and any mammal up to the size of a deer. Once the prey is ensnared and dragged in, the creature uses its eight claw-tipped tentacles and three horns to shred and dismember its meal.

Emotions

Its emotional state is a bizarre fusion of predatory calm and explosive rage. It displays the cold, problem-solving curiosity of an octopus when observing its environment, but when a threat is perceived or a hunt begins, it shifts instantly into the fearless, indomitable aggression of a honey badger. It does not feel fear, only varying degrees of caution and rage.

Environment Where Found

The Triceractis Mellivora 13 thrives in environments that offer extensive cover and verticality. It is most commonly found in dense old-growth forests, humid jungles, and rocky, overgrown canyons. It makes its lair in hollowed-out trees, tight caves, or high up on cliff faces where its climbing ability gives it a supreme advantage.

Tags: Feral, Monster, Chimeric, Ambusher, Climber, Camouflage, Territorial, Tenacious, Armored, High-Threat, Projectile Tongue, Grappler, Horned, Multi-limbed, Prehensile Limbs, Panoramic Vision, Cunning Hunter, Forest Predator, Bio-Armor, Intelligent Beast

Life Cycle

The life cycle of the Triceractis is a testament to its tenacious mammalian core, beginning with a live birth and a period of intense maternal protection.

  1. Birth and Infancy: After a gestation period of several months, a female gives birth to a single, well-developed offspring, known as a kit. The kit is born with its eyes open, its horns already budding, and its eight tentacles able to cling with surprising strength. For the first few months, it is effectively helpless and lives entirely on its mother’s back, nestled against her chitinous carapace and concealed by her active camouflage.
  2. Maternal Care: The mother is fiercely protective during this period. Her already aggressive honey badger instincts are amplified, and she will attack any creature that comes near her young without hesitation. The kit learns to hunt by observing its mother and consuming scraps from her kills.
  3. Forced Independence: At around six months of age, the kit’s tentacles are strong enough for it to climb and hunt small prey on its own. At this point, the mother’s protective instinct abruptly ceases. She abandons the juvenile, driving it from her territory to force it into self-sufficiency. This is the most dangerous period of a Triceractis’s life, as it must find and secure its own territory.
  4. Maturity and Lifespan: The creature grows rapidly, reaching its full adult size within two years. If it survives the perils of its youth, a Triceractis can live for up to 20-25 years, its exceptional toughness and cunning allowing it to endure injuries that would kill most other predators.

Mating

As a solitary and territorial species, the mating rituals of the Triceractis are a rare and complex display of both power and intelligence, blending reptilian display with cephalopodian communication.

  • Chromatic Courtship: Rather than engaging in brutal combat, males compete through intricate displays. When a male enters a female’s territory, he will find a prominent location and begin a chromatic courtship display. His skin will ripple with vibrant, pulsating colors and complex patterns, a visual signal of his health and genetic fitness.
  • Feats of Strength: This visual display is accompanied by feats of strength. The male will use his horned head to uproot small trees or employ his eight tentacles to lift and stack large rocks, demonstrating his physical prowess to the observing female.
  • Female’s Selection: The female will watch these displays from a safe distance. If a male’s patterns are weak or his strength is unimpressive, she will simply ignore him or drive him off with a threatening display of her own. If his display is acceptable, she will respond by shifting her own skin to a specific, receptive pattern.
  • Brief Union: Mating is a brief and cautious affair. Afterward, the pair may share the territory for a few days, but their solitary natures soon reassert themselves, and the male departs. No long-term pair bond is formed.

Tactics

The Triceractis is a cunning and patient hunter, relying on stealth, intellect, and overwhelming force.

  • The Invisible Perch: Its primary tactic is ambush. It will find a high-traffic area and scale a nearby cliff face, a massive tree trunk, or the ceiling of a large cavern. Using its active camouflage, it blends in perfectly with the texture and color of the surface, becoming virtually impossible to spot.
  • Tongue Lash Initiation: From this invisible perch, it uses its panoramic vision to wait for suitable prey to pass below. It initiates the attack with its projectile tongue, which it uses not just to kill, but to snag and pull a target off-balance or away from a group.
  • Grapple and Overwhelm: Once the prey is pulled within reach, the creature descends upon it, using all eight of its sucker-lined, claw-tipped tentacles to grapple and constrict. The goal is to completely immobilize the target while its horns and claws go to work. It is a living trap from which escape is nearly impossible.
  • Tenacious Assault: If a fight turns against it or its ambush fails, its honey badger ferocity takes over. It will not retreat. It will press the attack relentlessly, absorbing incredible damage while using its powerful body and horns as a battering ram.

Actions

  • Multiattack: The Triceractis makes three attacks: one with its Tongue Lash and two with its Clawed Tentacles.
  • Tongue Lash: A ranged attack with a reach of 15 feet. On a hit, the target takes minor piercing damage and is pulled up to 15 feet straight toward the creature, becoming grappled.
  • Clawed Tentacle: A melee attack that inflicts moderate slashing and bludgeoning damage. The Triceractis has advantage on attack rolls against any creature it is grappling.
  • Horn Gore: A powerful melee attack. If the Triceractis moves at least 10 feet straight toward a target and then hits it with a Horn Gore attack on the same turn, the target takes extra piercing damage and must succeed on a Strength-based challenge or be pushed back 10 feet and knocked prone.
  • Active Camouflage: As a special action, the Triceractis can attempt to hide even while being observed. Its skin shifts to match its surroundings, granting it a significant advantage on any Stealth checks until it moves or attacks.

Other Interesting Information

  • Rudimentary Tool Use: Its cephalopod-derived intelligence is high for a feral creature, allowing for basic tool use. It has been observed dropping rocks from cliffs onto larger prey or wielding a large, broken tree branch as a club to smash open armored creatures.
  • Ecological Niche: The Triceractis is a highly adaptable predator that carves out a unique niche as a climbing, camouflaged ambusher. It doesn’t compete directly with ground-based pack hunters, instead preying on creatures that move through its arboreal or cliff-side territory.
  • Harvestable Reagents: Its body is a source of rare components. The chameleon eyes are prized by enchanters for creating items that grant panoramic vision or see through illusions. The tough, flexible tentacle hide can be crafted into magical gloves that grant the wearer a powerful grip and climbing ability. The three horns, when ground into a powder, are a potent reagent for potions of strength.
  • Silent Terror: Because of its incredible camouflage and patient hunting style, many ecosystems it inhabits show no outward signs of its presence. It is a silent terror, and creatures can live their whole lives in its territory, only becoming aware of it in the final, terrifying moments before its tongue strikes.

There are several reasons why a party of adventurers in the world of Saṃsāra would either stumble upon or be actively hunting the Triceractis Mellivora 13.

Incidental Encounters

These encounters happen when the adventurers are not the hunters, but the prey. The creature’s unique predatory nature makes it a terrifying and unexpected obstacle.

  • The Perfect Ambush: The most common way to encounter a Triceractis is to not see it at all. A party might be navigating a dense jungle path, scaling a cliff face, or exploring a cavern system. The creature, using its flawless active camouflage, would be flattened against a rock face or a large tree branch directly above or beside them, completely invisible. The first sign of its presence would be its long, sticky tongue shooting out to snatch the party’s scout, a pack animal, or the last person in line, dragging them off the path and into a chaotic, disorienting battle against an enemy they cannot immediately locate.
  • The “Haunted” Thicket: The party could be hired by a small, remote village to investigate a “haunted” section of their local forest. The villagers would tell stories of people and livestock vanishing without a sound, of a “silent ghost” that leaves no tracks. The adventurers, perhaps expecting a phase-beast or an actual spirit, would enter the woods to investigate. They would eventually discover that the “ghost” is in fact a Triceractis, whose ability to climb, ambush from above, and blend into its surroundings perfectly explains the mysterious disappearances.
  • A Battle of Monsters: While traveling, the party might hear the sounds of a ferocious struggle. Upon investigating, they would find a Triceractis locked in combat with another large predator, such as a territorial Griffon or a Dire Bear. The adventurers are then faced with a difficult tactical choice: try to sneak past while the two monsters are distracted, wait to see which one wins to face a weakened victor, or intervene. Any action risks drawing the full, tenacious fury of the Triceractis upon themselves.

Purposeful Hunts

The bizarre and unique physiology of the Triceractis makes its body parts highly sought after for crafting, alchemy, and enchanting, leading to many quests that require hunting it specifically.

  • The Enchanter’s Shopping List: A high-level enchanter or master artisan posts a lucrative quest for components that only this creature possesses. The reward is substantial due to the extreme danger involved.
    • The Chameleon Eyes: The creature’s independently moving, panoramic eyes are required as a focal point for crafting a Helm of Unfailing Vigilance, an item that grants the wearer resistance to being flanked and the ability to see in multiple directions at once.
    • Cephalopod Skin: The chromatophore-rich hide from its tentacles can be alchemically treated and crafted into a Cloak of Shifting Hues, which allows the wearer to blend into their surroundings with magical potency. The suckers can be integrated into gloves to grant an unnaturally strong grip.
    • The Honey Badger’s Heart: Legends and alchemical theories suggest that the heart of this famously tenacious creature, when used as a core ingredient in a potion, can grant the imbiber a state of fearless rage or the ability to ignore the effects of pain for a short time.
  • The Scholar’s Dangerous Obsession: A natural philosopher or a member of an explorers’ guild becomes obsessed with the creature’s impossible biology. They believe the Triceractis holds the key to understanding magical evolution or how creatures can merge traits from multiple animal classes. They hire the adventurers for a capture mission, not a kill mission. The party would be tasked with subduing the beast—a monumental challenge given its ferocity—and retrieving it alive, or at the very least, securing live tissue samples and detailed observations of its camouflage and hunting techniques.
  • A Test of Ultimate Stealth: A secretive organization, such as a thieves’ guild or an order of assassins, might use the Triceractis as the ultimate final exam for its initiates. The task is not to kill the beast, but to prove one’s mastery of stealth by entering its known territory and retrieving a specific item—a rare flower that grows only in its lair, or a single egg from its clutch—without being detected. The initiate would hire the adventurers as backup, to create a diversion, or as a rescue team in the likely event that their stealth attempt fails.
  • Eradicating a Perfect Sentinel: A Triceractis has made its lair in a location of strategic importance—a ruin containing a powerful artifact, a grove of rare alchemical plants, or a hidden rebel outpost. Its panoramic vision and perfect camouflage make it a better guardian than any magical ward or mortal sentry, and it attacks anyone who approaches. The group that needs access to this location would hire the party for a high-stakes extermination, offering a massive reward commensurate with the difficulty of hunting a monster that can see everywhere at once and become invisible at will.

A skilled harvester with knowledge of alchemy and enchanting can gather a wealth of rare and powerful ingredients from the corpse of a Triceractis Mellivora 13. Beyond the most obvious components, its unique chimeric physiology yields materials that cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

Elastic Tongue Cartilage

  • Harvestable Item: The long, coiled, and hyper-elastic cartilaginous rod that forms the internal structure of the creature’s projectile tongue.
  • Uses: This material possesses an unparalleled ability to store and release kinetic energy. When carefully extracted and treated by a master fletcher or engineer, it can be incorporated into the limbs of a crossbow or the riser of a composite bow. A “Tongue-Lash Bow” made with this cartilage has an incredibly fast and snappy draw, allowing its user to reload and fire with greater speed than a normal weapon of its type. In a more industrial application, the cartilage can be used as a key component in constructing powerful winches or kinetic launchers, such as those that fire grappling hooks.

Chimeric Ink Sac

  • Harvestable Item: A surprisingly large ink sac, a relic of the creature’s cephalopod ancestry, located deep within its body cavity.
  • Uses: The ink produced by the Triceractis is not ordinary. It is a thick, viscous fluid infused with the same chromatophores that allow its skin to camouflage. When this ink is used as a reagent for a smoke bomb or magical fog, it creates a roiling cloud of darkness that actively shifts in color and texture, visually confusing not only normal sight but also magical senses like darkvision. A skilled scribe can also refine the ink to create secret messages on scrolls; the text remains invisible until a specific magical or alchemical trigger is applied, causing the chromatophores in the ink to activate and reveal the writing.

The Hidden Beak

  • Harvestable Item: Concealed within the soft tissues of the creature’s chameleon-like mouth is a hard, sharp, and durable beak, much like that of an octopus.
  • Uses: This beak is one of the few parts of the creature that is not flexible cartilage or chitin. It is made of a unique, incredibly dense material. When carefully extracted and mounted onto the head of a mace or warhammer, it creates a vicious armor-piercing point capable of punching through plate mail. Alchemists have also found that dust ground from the beak is a potent neutralizer for powerful magical adhesives and can be a component in crafting items designed to shatter or sunder other magical constructs.

The Resonant Casque

  • Harvestable Item: The hollow, bony crest or “casque” from the top of the creature’s chameleon-like head.
  • Uses: This lightweight but strong structure acts as a natural resonating chamber for the creature. When it is carefully cleaned, carved, and prepared by a skilled luthier or artisan, it can be fashioned into a unique musical instrument—a flute, horn, or ocarina. Instruments made from a Triceractis casque produce eerie, multi-tonal sounds that are deeply unsettling. A skilled bard using such an instrument can more easily channel magic that creates effects of confusion, fear, or disorientation in their audience.

Glands of Tenacity

  • Harvestable Item: A pair of small but potent scent glands located at the base of the creature’s body, a holdover from its honey badger ancestry.
  • Uses: While the creature doesn’t use this for defense like a skunk, the musk within the glands is incredibly persistent and biochemically complex. Alchemists can refine this substance into a “Tincture of Ferocity.” It is not a potion to be drunk, but an oil to be applied to armor or weapons. The tincture gives off a subliminal psychic scent that triggers a primal fear response in lesser beasts and monsters, making them hesitant to attack the wearer. More potent versions are rumored to give the user a faint aura of intimidation that can even affect sentient avatars.

Hunter Who Lost His Eyes

This story comes from a great distance of time, passed from a language that is now dust, so its shape may not fit the comfort of your ear.

There was a hunter whose name was Roric. They called him Roric the Unfailing, for it was said that his eye was the keenest in any land, and his arrow was a true brother to his eye. No beast, no matter how swift or how hidden, could escape the truth of his bow. He was a man made of pride, and his pride was a tall, shining tower.

Roric the Unfailing came to a village that sat at the edge of a great and ancient forest. The trees in this forest were so old their bark was like the skin of a stone, and their branches covered the sky, making a roof of green darkness. The people of the village were troubled. They told Roric of a ghost in their woods.

“It is a Many-Limbed Ghost,” they said. “It leaves no clear track. A woodcutter goes to chop a tree, and all that is found is his axe. A goat wanders to the forest edge, and it is gone. We hear no roar. We see no sign. It is a silence that eats.” They offered Roric a great purse of gold for the head of this beast, if a ghost has a head to be taken.

Roric laughed. His laugh was a loud sound in the quiet village. “Ghosts are for children. Every beast has a body, and every body can be filled with my arrows. I will bring you the head of this ‘ghost’.”

An old woman, whose face was a map of years, looked at him. She spoke, and her voice was like the rustle of dry leaves. “Your eye is strong, hunter. It is a single, sharp spear. But the Ghost That Climbs has eyes that are two, and they look in different directions at the same time. It sees the bird above and the worm below. You cannot hunt a thing that sees you before you have even seen the tree it hides upon.”

Roric the Unfailing smiled a proud smile. “My one eye is better than its two,” he said, and he walked into the great forest.

The hunting was a hard hunting. He walked a walk of many days. He found signs, yes, but they were mad signs. Here, the track of a great claw, like a badger’s. There, beside it, the round mark of a sucker, like a sea thing. And the tracks would go to the base of a great stone cliff and then they would vanish, as if the beast had grown wings and flown away. He found a deer that had been killed. Its body was torn and broken, but also squeezed, as if by a great snake. The world of the forest was wrong, and Roric’s pride began to feel the first small prick of a thorn.

He knew he was being watched. He could feel it. The feeling was a cold weight on the back of his neck. He was Roric the Unfailing, the hunter. But in this forest, he felt like the deer. He became more clever. He laid a trap, a pit with sharp sticks. The next day, he found the trap was sprung, but the branches that covered it were pulled away from above. He left a piece of meat as bait, tied with a strong rope. The next day, the meat was gone, but the rope was not cut. The knot was untied.

His pride turned to a cold anger. This was not a mere beast. This was a rival.

At last, he saw it. It was a shimmer. A place in the air, high on the branch of an ancient tree, where the light seemed to bend and go strange. He raised his bow, his heart a drum in his chest. His eye was true. His arrow was true. He fired. The arrow flew like a striking bird. It hit the branch where the shimmer had been. But the shimmer was already gone. There was nothing there but bark and moss.

Roric understood then. He could not win with his eyes. The beast’s eyes were better. He had to win with his mind.

He found a small clearing with one giant, ancient tree in its center. A perfect place for a ghost to watch. He made a camp. He made it with much noise. He made a fire. He laid his bedroll. He made himself look tired and careless. But this was a trick. From his spare clothes and some moss, he made a doll of a man, a thing that looked like him, sleeping by the fire. Then he himself, Roric, crawled into the deep, dark bushes at the very edge of the clearing. He covered himself in mud and leaves. He put his bow away. He held only his longest, sharpest knife. He became a stone. He waited.

The moon rose. The fire crackled. The forest was quiet. A quiet that was a listening quiet. Then, from the great tree, something moved. It was not a movement of a body, but a movement of a shadow. The Many-Limbed Ghost was coming down. It flowed down the trunk of the tree, its skin the same color as the bark. It was silent. It was death coming on soft feet.

It perched on a low branch, just above the camp. Its chameleon head turned. One eye looked at the dummy of the sleeping hunter. The other eye looked everywhere else. It looked at the trees. It looked at the shadows. It looked at the bushes. It was slow. It was careful.

It did not attack the dummy. It seemed to know something was wrong. Its terrible head tilted. Then, a thing happened that made Roric’s blood a river of ice. The beast’s tongue, a pink whip, shot out. It did not strike the dummy. It struck the bow, Roric’s great bow, which he had leaned against a tree near his hiding place. The tongue wrapped around the bow and snatched it, pulling it up into the high branches.

The beast knew. It had not been looking for the hunter. It had been looking for the hunt. It had seen his weapon. It had disarmed him first.

Roric, in his hiding place, was no longer a hunter. He was only a man with a knife, holding his breath. He stared in terror as the chameleon head turned. The two eyes, which had been looking at all the world, now swiveled and pointed together. They looked directly at the bush where Roric was hiding. They had found him. They had been watching him all along.

The story, as it is told by the old ones, becomes very simple here.

The Ghost That Climbs came down from the tree. Roric the Unfailing was no longer unfailing.

They say that other travelers, years later, found the clearing. They found a knife, dark with rust, lying in the mud. And if you look up, in the highest branches of the great, ancient tree, some say you can still see a hunter’s bow, hanging by a single, dry vine, swaying in the wind. A testament.

The Moral of the Story: A single eye that looks only forward is a blind eye. A mind that sees only its own skill is a fool’s mind. For the truest hunter is not the one who sees the beast, but the one who understands that he is also, always, being seen.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition)

Triceractis Medium monstrosity, unaligned

Armor Class 17 (natural armor) Hit Points 144 (17d8 + 68) Speed 20 ft., climb 40 ft.

STR 18 (+4) DEX 16 (+3) CON 19 (+4) INT 8 (-1) WIS 16 (+3) CHA 7 (-2)

Skills Athletics +8, Perception +7, Stealth +11 Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 17 Languages — Challenge 8 (3,900 XP)

Chameleon Skin. The triceractis has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks. As a bonus action, it can take the Hide action.

Panoramic Vision. The triceractis can’t be surprised.

Spider Climb. The triceractis can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.

Tenacious. When the triceractis is reduced to 0 hit points by damage that isn’t from a critical hit, it can make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw. If it succeeds, it drops to 1 hit point instead.

Actions

Multiattack. The triceractis makes three attacks: one with its Tongue Lash and two with its Clawed Tentacles.

Tongue Lash. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 20 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6 + 4) piercing damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 16). Until this grapple ends, the target is pulled up to 20 feet closer to the triceractis. The triceractis can only have one target grappled with its tongue at a time.

Clawed Tentacle. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) slashing damage.

Horn Gore. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 16 Strength saving throw or be pushed 10 feet away and knocked prone.

Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition)

The Unseen Watcher of the Woods This creature is an impossible fusion of reptile, mammal, and something wholly other. It is a cunning, patient predator whose existence defies all known biological laws. Its most terrifying quality is not its strength, but its unnerving intelligence and ability to become one with its surroundings.

STR 75 CON 95 SIZ 65 DEX 70 INT 50 POW 65 HP 16

Damage Bonus: +1D4 Build: 1 Move: 4 / 8 (climbing) Sanity Loss: 1/1D8 Sanity points to witness its impossible form; 0/1D3 to witness its intelligent, tactical use of camouflage or its tongue attack.

Attacks Fighting (Brawl) 60% (30/12), damage 1D3 + damage bonus ** • Grappling Tentacles (8 Limbs):** 60%. If successful, it has grappled the investigator. On subsequent rounds, it can use an action to automatically inflict 1D6 crushing and slashing damage. Breaking free requires an opposed STR roll at a penalty die. ** • Projectile Tongue:** 70%, range 5 yards. This attack does no damage. Instead, a hit target is ensnared and must win an opposed STR roll or be dragged 1D3 yards toward the creature.

Dodge 35% (17/7) Armor: 4-point chitinous carapace on its back.

Special Abilities Perfect Camouflage: The Unseen Watcher is perpetually hidden. Spotting it requires a Hard Spot Hidden roll, and only if the creature moves or attacks. Otherwise, it is effectively invisible. Panoramic Vision: The creature cannot be surprised or attacked from a blind spot.

Blades in the Dark

The Silent Stalker of Gaddoc Rail A ghost story made flesh, this creature haunts the overgrown ruins and forgotten districts. It is said to watch from the walls, learning the routines of its prey for weeks before striking. It doesn’t just kill; it deconstructs, taking apart its victims with a terrifying, deliberate intelligence.

Threat Level: 3 (A cunning, semi-sentient horror that requires a clever, multi-faceted plan) Scale: 2 (a large creature with multiple dangerous limbs) Instinct: To observe, learn, and perfectly ambush its prey.

Traits:

  • Uncanny Camouflage: Can become invisible against almost any surface.
  • Panoramic Gaze: It sees everything around it at once; it’s impossible to get the drop on it.
  • Prehensile Tentacles: Its eight limbs can grapple, climb, and manipulate objects with eerie coordination.
  • Projectile Tongue Snare: Can snatch items or people from a distance, pulling them into danger.
  • Fearless Tenacity: When it decides to fight, it does not stop. It feels no fear, only rage.

Clocks:

  • The Stalker learns the crew’s tactics (6-segment)
  • A crew member is isolated and ensnared by its tongue (4-segment)
  • It vanishes into the architecture, preparing a new ambush (4-segment)
  • Its relentless rage is triggered; it attacks without caution (6-segment)

Knave (2nd Edition)

The Tree-Octopus A cunning, chimeric predator that lives in deep forests and ruins. It blends perfectly with its surroundings and uses its long tongue to snatch prey from afar before dragging them into its eight-limbed embrace.

Level 7 (Terrifying Foe) HP 31 (7d8) Armor 17 (chitinous carapace) Morale 11 (Relentless)

Attacks

  • Tongue Snare: Range 20 ft. On a hit, target is grappled and pulled 20 ft. towards the Tree-Octopus.
  • Clawed Tentacle (x2): d8/d8 damage.

Qualities

  • Perfect Camouflage: The Tree-Octopus cannot be seen unless it moves or attacks. Even then, spotting it requires a successful Wisdom saving throw.
  • Panoramic Vision: Cannot be surprised. Attacks against it from behind are not made with advantage.
  • Expert Climber: Can climb any surface (walls, ceilings) at its full speed without needing to make a check.
  • Tenacious: The first time it is reduced to 0 HP in a combat, it returns to 1 HP at the start of its next turn.
  • Intelligent Hunter: It will use clever tactics, such as disarming opponents with its tongue, pulling them off ledges, or dropping rocks from above.

Fate Core System

The All-Seeing Ghost of the Canopy This creature is less a beast and more a living, predatory environment. It doesn’t just hide; it watches, learns, and becomes the forest around its victims before striking with unnerving intelligence and relentless ferocity.

Aspects

  • High Concept: Cunning Arboreal Apex Predator
  • Trouble: Vindictive and Utterly Relentless
  • Other Aspects: Skin Like a Shifting Leaf; Eight Limbs, Each a Perfect Weapon; My Gaze Sees All Angles

Skills

  • Superb (+5): Stealth
  • Great (+4): Athletics, Fight
  • Good (+3): Notice, Physique
  • Fair (+2): Provoke

Stunts

  • Perfect Camouflage: The creature gets a +2 bonus to Stealth when creating an advantage by blending into its surroundings. It can defend against Notice checks using its Stealth skill even while being actively observed, so long as it remains still.
  • Projectile Snare: As an action, the creature can make a Fight attack against a target up to one zone away. If successful, instead of dealing stress, it attaches the Snared by the Tongue situation aspect to the target with one free invocation and may immediately pull that target into its zone.
  • Relentless Tenacity: Once per scene, when this creature would be taken out by a physical consequence, it can choose to remain in the scene. It clears all its stress boxes and instead takes a severe consequence that reflects its grievous injury but allows it to keep fighting.

Stress & Consequences

  • Physical Stress: [1][1][1][1]
  • Consequences: One mild, one moderate, and one severe consequence slot.

Numenera & Cypher System

Triceractis Stalker A highly evolved or bio-engineered predator, the Triceractis Stalker is a master of its forested domain. Its unusual physiology makes it a puzzle for explorers to solve, as a direct confrontation is almost always fatal.

Level: 7 (target number 21 for all tasks related to the creature) Health: 35 Damage: 7 points Armor: 3 Movement: Short; Long when climbing.

Modifications:

  • Stealth as level 9 due to its active camouflage.
  • Perception as level 8 due to its panoramic vision; it cannot be surprised.
  • Climbing tasks are eased by three steps.

Combat: The Triceractis Stalker fights with cunning, preferring to use its environment and unique abilities to gain an advantage before closing in for the kill. As its action, it can use its Tongue Snare against a target within immediate range. This is a level 7 attack. If successful, the target is pulled adjacent to the stalker and takes 3 points of damage. The stalker can then immediately make a Clawed Tentacle attack against the ensnared target as part of the same action, which inflicts 7 points of damage.

Its eight limbs allow it to grapple multiple foes. The GM can use an Intrusion to have the creature use two tentacles to grapple a single character, hindering all of that character’s physical actions by two steps until they escape.

Its Perfect Camouflage hinders the first attack any character makes against it by two steps. After that first attack, all subsequent attacks are only hindered by one step as the characters adjust to its shifting form.

Pathfinder (2nd Edition)

Canopy Creeper Creature 8 Unaligned, Large, Beast

Perception +18; all-around vision, darkvision Skills Acrobatics +16, Athletics +18 (+22 to Climb), Stealth +18 Str +6, Dex +4, Con +5, Int -3, Wis +4, Cha -2

All-Around Vision The canopy creeper can see in all directions at once and cannot be flanked.

AC 27; Fort +19, Ref +16, Will +16 HP 135 Hardness 5 (carapace only)

Speed 20 feet, climb 40 feet

Melee [one-action] Clawed Tentacle +20 (Agile, Reach 10 feet), Damage 2d8+9 slashing Melee [one-action] Horns +20, Damage 2d6+9 piercing

Reactive Camouflage [reaction] Trigger: The canopy creeper is targeted by an attack or becomes the subject of a skill check. Effect: The canopy creeper becomes hidden, stepping up to 10 feet in any direction, including vertically. It can then make a Stealth check to remain hidden.

Tongue Snare [two-actions] The canopy creeper makes a ranged attack with its tongue against a target up to 30 feet away. The attack roll is +20. On a hit, the target takes 3d6 bludgeoning damage and is pulled 20 feet toward the creeper. The target is grabbed by the creeper.

Constricting Embrace [one-action] Requirements: The canopy creeper has at least one creature grabbed. Effect: The creeper deals 2d8+9 bludgeoning damage to all creatures it has grabbed. Each creature must also make a DC 26 Fortitude save or become restrained until the end of its next turn.

Savage Worlds Adventure Edition

The Jungle Horror A legendary monster that haunts the deepest jungles, this creature is a Wild Card known for its cunning and sheer refusal to die. It is a prize for any hunter, but a nightmare for anyone who stumbles upon its territory unprepared.

Attributes: Agility d10, Smarts d6(A), Spirit d8, Strength d10, Vigor d12 Skills: Athletics d12, Fighting d10, Notice d10, Stealth d12+2 Pace: 4; Parry: 7; Toughness: 11 (2) Bennies: 3

Special Abilities:

  • Armor +2: Hardened chitinous carapace.
  • Camouflage: Its skin shifts to match its surroundings, imposing a -4 penalty to Notice rolls to spot it when it is still.
  • Claws/Horns: Str+d6.
  • Frenzy: Can make two Fighting attacks per action at no penalty.
  • Hardy: A second Shaken result does not cause a Wound.
  • Reach 1″: Its tentacles give it a longer reach.
  • Size 1: A bit larger than a normal human.
  • Tentacles: The creature is a master grappler. It gets a +2 bonus to all grapple checks and can grapple up to four targets at once (two per Frenzy action).
  • Tongue Lash: Ranged attack with a range of 4/8/16. A hit does not cause damage but initiates an opposed Strength roll. If the Jungle Horror wins, the target is dragged adjacent to it.
  • Wall Walker: Can move at its full Pace on any vertical or inverted surface.

Shadowrun, Sixth World

Chameleonic Grappler A rare and highly dangerous paranormal critter, the Chameleonic Grappler is a prized subject for corporate xenobiologists and a nightmare for shadowrunners caught in its territory. It is believed to be an awakened chimera native to remote, magically active jungles. It hunts with unnerving intelligence and tenacity.

(Attributes) Body: 6 Agility: 6 Reaction: 5 Strength: 5 Willpower: 5 Logic: 2 Intuition: 5 Charisma: 1 Edge: 3 Essence: 6.0 Initiative: 10 (5 + 5)

Condition Monitor: 11 Physical, 11 Stun Defense Rating: 9 Armor: 10

Skills: Athletics (Climbing) 6, Unarmed Combat 5, Perception 5, Stealth 6

Powers

  • Armor: The creature’s hardened carapace provides a natural armor rating of 10.
  • Camouflage (Active): The creature can change its skin color and texture. When using this ability, any character attempting to spot it takes a -4 penalty on their Perception test.
  • Engulf: The creature can use its eight tentacles to grapple a target. If it achieves 3 or more net hits on its Unarmed Combat test, the target is fully engulfed and cannot move or make most physical actions until they escape.
  • Enhanced Senses: 360-degree vision.
  • Natural Weapon (Claws/Horns): The creature’s claws and horns are its primary weapons. Use its Unarmed Combat skill for the attack. The attack has a DV of 3P and an AP of -2.
  • Tongue Lash: As a Major Action, the creature can make a ranged touch attack against a target within 10 meters. If successful, the target is entangled and pulled 5 meters closer.
  • Wall Walking: The creature can move on vertical and inverted surfaces at its normal speed.

Starfinder Roleplaying Game

Triceractis Ambusher CR 8 XP 4,800 N Medium magical beast Init +5; Senses all-around vision, darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +16

Defense EAC 20; KAC 22 HP 125; RP 4 Fort +12; Ref +12; Will +9 Defensive Abilities tenacious

Offense Speed 20 ft., climb 40 ft. Melee clawed tentacle +19 (2d6+11 S) or horns +19 (2d8+11 P) Space 5 ft.; Reach 10 ft. (with tentacles) Offensive Abilities constrict (2d6+11 B), tongue snare

Statistics STR +3; DEX +5; CON +4; INT -3; WIS +2; CHA -1 Skills Athletics +21, Stealth +16

Ecology Environment warm forests, jungles, or canyons Organization solitary

Special Abilities

  • All-Around Vision (Ex) The creature cannot be flanked.
  • Shifting Skin (Ex) As a move action, the ambusher can activate its camouflage, gaining the benefits of concealment (20% miss chance) until it moves or attacks.
  • Tenacious (Ex) Once per day, if the ambusher would be reduced to 0 Hit Points, it can immediately regain 30 Hit Points as a reaction.
  • Tongue Snare (Ex) As a standard action, the ambusher can shoot its tongue at a target within 20 feet. It makes a ranged attack roll (+19). If it hits, the target is grappled and pulled 15 feet toward the ambusher.

Traveller (Mongoose 2nd Edition)

Arboreal Grappler (Mellivora Octopoda Triceros) Homeworld: Xylos (UWP B889634-A) – A high-gravity, dense jungle world known for its incredibly competitive ecosystem.

Profile STR 10 (+3) DEX 12 (+4) END 11 (+3) Animal 5D Damage 3D Armor 2D Skills: Athletics (climbing) 3, Recon 2, Stealth 3, Survival 1 Pace: 6m / 12m (climbing) Weight: 85 kg

Traits

  • Armour: The creature’s carapace provides 7 points of armor against all damage.
  • Camouflage (Active): The creature can change its skin color and texture to match its surroundings. This imposes a DM-6 penalty on all Recon checks to spot it when it is still.
  • Climber (Expert): Can move on any vertical or inverted surface at its climbing pace.
  • Grappler (8 limbs): Gains a DM+4 on any checks made to grapple or hold a target.
  • 360-degree Vision: The creature cannot be surprised by conventional means.
  • Snare Tongue: As an attack, the creature can make a DEX check to shoot its tongue at a target up to 6 meters away. If successful, the target is ensnared and may be pulled towards the creature on an opposed STR check.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (4th Edition)

That Which Watches A creature of nightmare, whispered about by the wood elves of the Laurelorn Forest and feared by those who travel the Drakwald. It is a silent, intelligent hunter, a freak of nature that seems to possess a hateful cunning. It does not kill to eat, but for the sheer pleasure of the hunt.

Characteristics WS 60 BS 0 S 55 T 60 I 50 Ag 55 Dex 45 Int 25 WP 65 Fel 5

Traits:

  • Armour (3): Its head and back are covered in thick, chitinous plates, providing 3 Armour Points.
  • Fear (2): The creature’s unnatural form is terrifying.
  • Horns: +9 (SB+4), Damaging, Impale quality.
  • Silent: As per the Stealthy Trait, but applies even in unusual environments like treetop canopies.
  • Size (Medium)
  • Tenacious: When this creature suffers a Critical Wound, it may make a Challenging (+0) Willpower Test. If it succeeds, it may ignore the effects of the Critical Wound, though it still loses the Wound.
  • Tentacles (x4): +9 (SB+4), Entangle, Pummel qualities. The creature may attack with up to four tentacles, targeting one or multiple opponents.
  • Tongue Lash: The creature can make a Ranged attack with a range of 6 yards using its Agility. On a hit, it does not cause damage, but instead initiates a grapple with the Entangle quality on the target.
  • Wall-crawler: Can move on walls and ceilings at its normal speed.