The PCs, traveling underground or simply exploring a cave, fall into a sinkhole and down a sloping shaft until they find themselves quite deep underground in entirely unknown
territory. This new cave system is the domain of a darval that has lain dormant for months. Awakened by the noise, the creature activates its attraction ability, trying to draw prey to it.
If it manages to lure some (but not all) of the PCs, and the remaining characters pose too much trouble for it to eat its fill, it moves to an area of the cave that contains yet another unstable sinkhole. It slides down into the sinkhole and buries itself 60 feet below. Later, it crawls out into a still deeper cave to wait for the PCs it had attracted previously to come back to it.
Dothrog
Large Aberration
Hit Dice: 4d8+4 (22 hp), dying/dead –2/–12 Initiative: +0
Speed: 20 feet, swim 30 feet
AC: 15 (–1 size, +6 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 15 Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+9
Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d6+2) Full Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d6+2) Space/Reach: 10 feet/10 feet
(Face/Reach: 5 feet by 5 feet/10 feet)
Special Attacks: Improved grab, stinging stream, swallow whole Special Qualities: Agile leaper, low-light vision, prodigious
leaper
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +1, Will +1
Abilities: Str 14, Dex 11, Con 12, Int 5, Wis 10, Cha 8 Skills: Jump* +30, Spot* +7
Feats: Affinity With Skill (Jump), Power Leap†, Weapon
Focus (bite)
Environment: Temperate marsh
Organization: Solitary, pair, or pod (3–12) Challenge Rating: 3
Treasure: Standard
Advancement: 5–8 HD (Large); 9–16 HD (Huge) Level Adjustment: +2
This lizardlike beast has a large, spherical body, two mas- sive hind legs, and a pair of puny forelimbs much like a tyrannosaurus rex’s arms. It has slimy, scaly skin and round, bulging eyes. A dothrog maintains a small colony of its young within its body. It drinks tremendous amounts of water and swallows prey whole to feed them. In battle, it can blast a foe with a combination of mucus and a stream of its stinging, tadpolelike young. These creatures are usually little more than a nuisance in swampy areas, though they can cause severe injury when they combine their melee attacks with their acidic mucus.
Dothrogs have a strange life cycle that has drawn the interest of many researchers. They reproduce asexually, with a single dothrog spontaneously producing a swarm of viable young every few years from within its gullet. Dothrogs con- tinually have small clusters of their young within their stom- achs, but the vast majority of these tiny creatures never mature into adults. A “pregnant” dothrog swallows prey and digests it to give its spawn sustenance. After a few months, it belches them into the swamp’s waters, thereafter requiring them to fend for themselves. These creatures undergo a rapid, explosive period of growth soon after their liberation. Within a few months, they mature into adult dothrogs.
In their tadpole form, dothrogs are easy to capture but dif- ficult to tame. Still, their ferocity makes them a popular
mount for creatures that dwell in swamplands. Their strength and impressive leaping ability can prove useful to an owner, but training a dothrog is a difficult task. The stub- born creatures prove resistant to most training methods, but a trained dothrog is a faithful companion.
Combat
Dothrogs are usually skittish and fearful of humanoids, but hunger can drive them to attack almost anything. They pre- fer to harry an opponent with repeated, quick strikes. A dothrog may leap in to bite an opponent and jump away before its foes can ready a response. Many expeditions into wet areas have been surprised by a dothrog that leaped into their midst, swallowed a guide or pack bearer, and disap- peared into a thick grove of trees or similar terrain before the other explorers can counterattack.
* Skills (Ex): With their long, powerful legs, dothrogs
gain a +20 racial bonus to all Jump checks. Their wide, large eyes give them a +4 racial bonus to all Spot checks.
Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, the dothrog must
hit with its bite attack. If it gets a hold, it can attempt to swallow its opponent.
Stinging Stream (Ex): Dothrogs carry their stinging,
tadpolelike young within their gullets. If one of these crea- tures stands in a pool, it can gulp down water and then forcibly eject a combination of acidic mucus and stinging, tiny young dothrogs at an opponent. This attack functions as a ranged touch attack that deals 2d6 points of acid dam- age with a maximum range of 30 feet and no range incre- ment. If a dothrog has a creature in its gullet when it uses this attack, the swallowed foe flies from its mouth toward the target. The swallowed creature takes 1d6 points of dam- age and lands prone in the target square. If the attack hits, the target takes an additional 1d6 points of damage from the impact.
Swallow Whole (Ex): A dothrog can try to swallow a
Medium or smaller opponent that it has grabbed. It must make a successful grapple check to force an opponent down its gullet. Once inside, the opponent takes 1d8+2 points of damage as digestive fluids and the dothrog’s young eat away at it. A swallowed creature can cut its way out by using a light slashing or piercing weapon to deal 10 points of dam- age to the dothrog’s gizzard (AC 10). Once the creature exits, muscular action closes the hole; another swallowed oppo- nent must cut its own way out. A dothrog’s interior can hold one Medium, two Small, or four Tiny or smaller opponents.
Agile Leaper (Ex): With their strong legs, dothrogs can
leap high into the air with a minimum of effort and wasted motion. They never provoke attacks of opportunity due to moving if their movement consists entirely of a jump. For example, if a dothrog jumps through a threatened area, it does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
Prodigious Leaper (Ex): A dothrog’s massive hind legs
allow it to leap through the air with ease. In addition to the racial bonus to Jump checks mentioned above, a dothrog is considered to be making a running long jump even if it does not move before attempting a Jump check.