Sea Scorpions
by Mike HarveyThe Sea Scorpion (Eurypterid) is a prehistoric monster. They infest coastal marshes in the Thanegioth Archipelago and Serpent Peninsula, but have only rarely been encountered elsewhere.
Sea Scorpions are small, ranging from a few centimeters for a hatchling (1 hp) up to the size of a housecat (HD 1/2) for a very old specimen. They resemble small lobsters but with a stinger at the end of their tail instead of a flipper. The stinger is long and straight like a stingray and sometimes deadly: the stinger inflicts 1d6 damage from poison, and victims must save vs poison (at +4) or die. The tail is useless for propulsion but two of the scorpion's legs are adapted into flippers. The scorpion also has lobster like claws that do no damage but if they hit, the scorpion whips it's tail around to sting. Sea Scorpions only prey on small creatures, against humans the sting and then flee. (#attacks 2: claw/claw, if either claw hits then it also stings with its tail.) Sea Scorpions prefer warm shallow coastal waters. They do not swim far, but dart rapidly for a short distance. (MV 30')
Giant Sea Scorpions grow up to seven feet long (2m) and weigh up to 200 lbs. The live in the weeds and muck of coastal marshes. Their standard attack is to lunge out of the much with surprise, grab a victim with their claws, and drag it down to drown it. They do have stingers but it is a slow awkward attack and a weak poison, it inflicts 1-4 damage and on a failed save vs Paralysis it stuns for 1-6 rounds. The sting is only inflicted if they grab and hold prey with a claw for a full round -- the sting is inflicted on the next ground. A victim can escape the claw with a successful open doors check. (HD 3, AC 2, #AT claw/claw + sting, Damage 1-6/1-6, ML 9). A giant scorpion can be driven away if you reduce it to half hit points... it's not suicidal.
All sea scorpions are somewhat amphibious and can crawl out onto land, but they prefer the water and feel safer there.