Stone-Ribs — Haida Sea Hero of Haida Gwaii

Stone-Ribs is a formidable sea-going hero of Haida narratives, particularly traditions recorded from the southern islands of Haida Gwaii. In one telling, he is a son of Djila′qons. A supernatural halibut skin allows him to travel beneath the water, but it is a loan, not a permanent treasure claimed through conquest. He is remembered for destroying a five-finned sea being that was killing people and leaving their settlements short of food.

The channel is passable again, but another danger has begun to keep shellfish-gatherers from their boats. Stone-Ribs has the borrowed halibut skin and the strength to face it. What he lacks is certainty about when the skin must be returned, and how to protect people who will remain on the shore after he leaves.

At a Glance

Identity: Stone-Ribs, a supernatural Haida sea hero; human-shaped in ordinary company, with shape-changing power through a borrowed skin.
Tradition: Haida narratives associated with the Ninstints country and Haida Gwaii, not a generic “North American pantheon.”
Family and origin: Son of Djila′qons in the Ninstints-country account collected by John R. Swanton.
Present concern: Keep the tidal passage safe while the borrowed halibut skin remains in his possession.
Notable foe: Qꜝā′g̣awa-i, a destructive five-finned sea being; other accounts describe a giant crab obstructing a channel.
Allies: Canoe travellers, fishing families and coastal supernatural beings who deal honourably with him.
Powers: Extraordinary strength, copper weapons and the temporary ability to take the form of a great halibut.
Limits: The skin can be reclaimed by its original owner, and the hero cannot remain to guard every stretch of shore.
Use in play: A threatened shellfish expedition, an underwater rescue and a disagreement over a powerful borrowed object.

Game Statistics

Stone-Ribs is a powerful human-shaped hero with a temporary gift that lets him move beneath the sea. The borrowed halibut skin belongs to a supernatural owner. Without it, Stone-Ribs has exceptional strength and knowledge of coastal travel, but he cannot simply change shape at will. The older versions use the Ranger class for practical fighting and travel skills. These are game adaptations of a Haida account, not official translations of the source.

5.5e / 2024Pathfinder 1eD&D 3.5e

Stone-Ribs — 2024

Medium Humanoid (Human), Neutral Good

AC 17 (protective leather and agility); Initiative +4 (14); HP 135 (18d8 + 54); Speed 30 ft.; with the halibut skin, Swim 60 ft.

STR18(+4)

DEX18(+4)

CON16(+3)

INT12(+1)

WIS16(+3)

CHA14(+2)

Saves Dex +7, Con +6, Wis +6; Skills Athletics +7, Perception +6, Survival +9; Senses Passive Perception 16; Languages Haida; CR 7 (2,900 XP; PB +3, original campaign estimate); Gear Copper-tipped arrows, sturdy bow, spear and temporarily borrowed halibut skin.

Traits

Coastal Wayfinder. Stone-Ribs has Expertise in Survival (included). Given an actual observation of current and tide, he can estimate a safe crossing, but cannot prevent storms or changing currents.

Borrowed Halibut Skin. If he is carrying the supernatural skin, Stone-Ribs can wear it as a Bonus Action and become a Large halibut (Speed 5 ft., Swim 60 ft.; he breathes underwater). He retains HP and mental ability scores, cannot speak or use weapons, and can use Tail Strike below. He reverts as a Bonus Action; the magic ends if the skin is lost or reclaimed by its owner. This is a removable gifted object, not an innate racial ability.

Actions

Multiattack. In human shape, Stone-Ribs makes two Copper Bow or Spear attacks. In halibut shape, he makes one Tail Strike instead.

Copper Bow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, range 150/600 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) Piercing. He begins an encounter with four unusual copper-tipped arrows, each expended when fired; ordinary arrows thereafter deal 8 (1d8 + 4) Piercing.

Spear. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft.; Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) Piercing.

Tail Strike (Halibut Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft.; Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) Bludgeoning.

Break the Swallower (1/Day). While swallowed by a creature and wearing the halibut skin, Stone-Ribs forces his way through the enclosing flesh. The swallowing creature takes 31 (6d8 + 4) Piercing damage and must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or regurgitate him into an adjacent space. This attack is inspired by the recorded myth but does not automatically kill every creature that swallows him.

Bonus Actions

Don or Shed the Skin. Change between the above two forms while carrying the halibut skin.

Reactions

Brace Against the Current (2/Day). When forced to move by rushing water, Stone-Ribs reduces the forced movement by 10 feet if he can see or feel the current; this does not negate damage or move him through solid barriers.

Encounter note: The CR is unplaytested homebrew and depends heavily on whether the halibut skin is available. A lost skin removes his swim-form abilities.

Stone-Ribs — Pathfinder 1e

CR 9 (6,400 XP); male human ranger 10; NG Medium humanoid (human); Init +8; Senses Perception +16.

Defense

AC 16, touch 14, flat-footed 12 (+4 Dex, +2 leather); hp 85 (10d10 + 30); Fort +10, Ref +11, Will +6.

Offense

Speed 30 ft.; Ranged masterwork composite longbow (+4 Str) +16/+11 (1d8 + 4, ×3, 110-ft. increment); with Rapid Shot +14/+14/+9; Melee spear +14/+9 (1d8 + 6, ×3, two hands). Special attacks ranger favored enemy and archery style as appropriate to the actual campaign; the five-finned sea being is not an ordinary humanoid favored enemy.

Prepared ranger spells caster level 7; 1st level (3): longstrider, speak with animals, endure elements; 2nd level (2): barkskin, resist energy; 3rd level (1): water walk. The 3rd-level slot exists through high Wisdom at this level and is not a 3.5e ranger spell allowance.

Statistics

Str 18, Dex 18, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 14; BAB +10; CMB +14; CMD 28; Feats Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot (combat style), Manyshot (combat style), Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus (longbow), Endurance and Track (class features); Skills Perception +16, Survival +16, Swim +18, Stealth +15, Knowledge (nature) +14; Languages Haida.

Borrowed Halibut Skin (campaign wondrous item). As a standard action he may wear the skin to assume the shape of a Large aquatic fish, gaining Swim 60 ft., water breathing and a natural tail strike (1d8 + Str) for up to 10 minutes per day, dismissible as a standard action. He cannot wield his bow in that form. The skin can be taken back by its original supernatural owner; do not treat its power as a celestial template’s smite, spell resistance or damage reduction.

Equipment Leather armor, masterwork bow and copper-tipped arrows, spear, provisions and the loaned skin. Use Pathfinder’s actual ranger spell and action rules, not D&D 2024’s Bonus Actions.

Stone-Ribs — D&D 3.5e

Human ranger 10; Medium humanoid (human), Neutral Good; CR 10.

Hit Dice	10d8 + 30 (75 hp)
Initiative	+8 (+4 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative)
Speed	30 ft.
Armor Class	16 (+4 Dex, +2 leather), touch 14, flat-footed 12
Base Attack / Grapple	+10 / +14
Attack	Masterwork composite longbow (+4 Str) +16 ranged (1d8 + 4, ×3); spear +14 melee (1d8 + 6, ×3)
Full Attack	Bow +16/+11 ranged; with Rapid Shot +14/+14/+9, expending one arrow per attack
Space / Reach	5 ft. / 5 ft.
Saves	Fort +10, Ref +11, Will +6
Abilities	Str 18, Dex 18, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 14
Skills	Survival +16, Swim +18, Spot +16, Listen +16, Hide +15, Knowledge (nature) +14
Feats	Track and Endurance (ranger bonus feats), Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot and Manyshot (archery style), Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus (longbow)
Gear	Leather armor, masterwork bow, copper-tipped arrows, spear and borrowed halibut skin

Ranger spells caster level 5; 1st level (2): longstrider, speak with animals; 2nd level (2): barkskin, resist energy; no 3rd-level spell slots at Ranger 10 under the D&D 3.5e progression.

Borrowed Halibut Skin (custom wondrous item). Donning it takes a standard action and changes the wearer to a Large halibut for 10 minutes a day, gaining Swim 60 ft., the ability to breathe water and one natural tail strike (1d8 + Str). It is not a standard SRD item, and the supernatural owner can reclaim the loan. Unarmed or weapon rules do not transfer unchanged between fish and human form.

What Is Stone-Ribs Doing Now?

A group of mussel-gatherers have been unable to approach a sheltered island after a great shape was seen between the canoes. Stone-Ribs knows the island once fed families during another time of hunger. The borrowed halibut skin can carry him under the breaking surf, but the eagle that holds a claim on it has appeared above the shore. He must choose between using the skin immediately and trying to secure the means for a later rescue.

He asks the travellers how many boats are missing, where the tide will run at dusk and whether anyone has actually seen the thing below the surface. A story about one creature cannot solve the problem if the harbour mouth is also blocked by a second danger.

Encounters

The exposed mussel beds. The people need shellfish from rocks beyond a channel patrolled by something large enough to smash a canoe. The party can launch scouts along the cliffs, protect a harvesting boat or search for a narrow crossing on the ebb. Stone-Ribs may use the halibut skin to draw the danger away, but only if the other canoes can reach shore before the current reverses.
A borrowed thing reclaimed. After Stone-Ribs returns from destroying the sea creature, an eagle carries off the skin. A worried navigator asks the characters to retrieve it, but the skin’s supernatural owner says the loan is over. The party can seek another route or bargain for a new favour; stealing it again solves no enduring problem and changes their relationship with those who lent it.

Personality and Behaviour

Stone-Ribs is powerful enough to answer a threat directly, yet pays attention to coastal families who must live with its consequences. He enjoys proving that something formidable can be beaten. What unsettles him is a promise he cannot keep: the halibut skin makes him mighty beneath the waves, but it is never his to command forever. He respects people who understand a tidal crossing better than he does.

Relationships and Local Powers

Djila′qons is identified as his mother in the Ninstints-country telling recorded by Swanton. An eagle and other supernatural owners determine who may use the halibut skin. Canoe travellers, fishers and the holders of particular family and clan privileges have their own authority. Stone-Ribs can win crests and songs in the tradition, but such honours are tied to the communities and relationships within the narrative, not spare treasure for anyone to take.

Adventure Hooks

Before the tide turns. Two fishing canoes have not returned from an island. A rescue boat has one safe passage left before dark. Stone-Ribs can travel below the waves but cannot carry everyone; the party must organise a second means of getting the stranded crew home.
The guest who asks for a crest. An outsider offers payment for the right to display a powerful crest supposedly won during Stone-Ribs’ adventures. The local family disputes that a visitor can buy such a right. Finding who made the promise could matter more than recovering an object from the sea.

Equipment and Treasure

Stone-Ribs carries a spear, copper-tipped arrows and travelling provisions. The halibut skin is borrowed and can be taken back. Songs, names and crests mentioned in the traditional account belong in their cultural relationships rather than on a generic loot list. A carved paddle, a sound canoe or information about a tide would be useful, ordinary rewards for a coastal expedition.

Campaign Connections

The Western NPC directory and North America provide regional navigation. The Ranger class is a mechanical basis for the older-edition conversion, while the bestiary may supply independent coastal hazards suited to the encounter. Do not substitute a generic fantasy beast for Qꜝā′g̣awa-i when describing the Haida narrative itself.

Tradition, Texts and Sources

The Haida account of Stone-Ribs was recorded in Haida Texts and Myths: Skidegate Dialect (1905) by John R. Swanton. The stories were told to him by named Haida narrators, including a Ninstints-country account of Djila′qons’ son. A five-finned sea being named Qꜝā′g̣awa-i devours people and threatens their food supply. The hero puts on a supernatural halibut skin within the creature and kills it from the inside; in later adventures he faces a great crab and returns to shore without the skin when its owner claims it back.

Swanton’s collection was recorded and translated under colonial-era conditions; variant names and details matter. This page gives readers a grounded introduction, not a claim that all Haida families share one identical version or that hereditary crests and songs are free for outsiders to use. The underwater rescue and disputed loan above are campaign adaptations, separate from the events in the recorded telling.

John R. Swanton, Haida Texts and Myths (1905) — see the Stone-ribs narratives, recorded from Haida storytellers.
Smithsonian Institution — original Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 29, source text and publication history.

Edition Rules and Licences

The 2024 conversion includes modified material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 (SRD 5.2.1), © Wizards of the Coast LLC, available from D&D Beyond under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. This is an original game adaptation of a traditional narrative, not an official Haida or D&D publication.

The Pathfinder 1e and D&D 3.5e ranger rules use Open Game Content from the Pathfinder Core Rulebook and D&D 3.5e System Reference Document under Open Game License v1.0a reproduced below. The original narrative wording here and the cultural discussion are not designated Open Game Content.

Open Game License version 1.0a and copyright notices

OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a

1. Definitions: (a)”Contributors” means the copyright and/or trademark owners who have contributed Open Game Content; (b)”Derivative Material” means copyrighted material including derivative works and translations (including into other computer languages), potation, modification, correction, addition, extension, upgrade, improvement, compilation, abridgment or other form in which an existing work may be recast, transformed or adapted; (c) “Distribute” means to reproduce, license, rent, lease, sell, broadcast, publicly display, transmit or otherwise distribute; (d)”Open Game Content” means the game mechanic and includes the methods, procedures, processes and routines to the extent such content does not embody the Product Identity and is an enhancement over the prior art and any additional content clearly identified as Open Game Content by the Contributor, and means any work covered by this License, including translations and derivative works under copyright law, but specifically excludes Product Identity. (e) “Product Identity” means product and product line names, logos and identifying marks including trade dress; artifacts; creatures characters; stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic and other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of characters, spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and special abilities; places, locations, environments, creatures, equipment, magical or supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic designs; and any other trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Product identity by the owner of the Product Identity, and which specifically excludes the Open Game Content; (f) “Trademark” means the logos, names, mark, sign, motto, designs that are used by a Contributor to identify itself or its products or the associated products contributed to the Open Game License by the Contributor (g) “Use”, “Used” or “Using” means to use, Distribute, copy, edit, format, modify, translate and otherwise create Derivative Material of Open Game Content. (h) “You” or “Your” means the licensee in terms of this agreement.

2. The License: This License applies to any Open Game Content that contains a notice indicating that the Open Game Content may only be Used under and in terms of this License. You must affix such a notice to any Open Game Content that you Use. No terms may be added to or subtracted from this License except as described by the License itself. No other terms or conditions may be applied to any Open Game Content distributed using this License.

3. Offer and Acceptance: By Using the Open Game Content You indicate Your acceptance of the terms of this License.

4. Grant and Consideration: In consideration for agreeing to use this License, the Contributors grant You a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license with the exact terms of this License to Use, the Open Game Content.

5. Representation of Authority to Contribute: If You are contributing original material as Open Game Content, You represent that Your Contributions are Your original creation and/or You have sufficient rights to grant the rights conveyed by this License.

6. Notice of License Copyright: You must update the COPYRIGHT NOTICE portion of this License to include the exact text of the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any Open Game Content You are copying, modifying or distributing, and You must add the title, the copyright date, and the copyright holder’s name to the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any original Open Game Content you Distribute.

7. Use of Product Identity: You agree not to Use any Product Identity, including as an indication as to compatibility, except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of each element of that Product Identity. You agree not to indicate compatibility or co-adaptability with any Trademark or Registered Trademark in conjunction with a work containing Open Game Content except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of such Trademark or Registered Trademark. The use of any Product Identity in Open Game Content does not constitute a challenge to the ownership of that Product Identity. The owner of any Product Identity used in Open Game Content shall retain all rights, title and interest in and to that Product Identity.

8. Identification: If you distribute Open Game Content You must clearly indicate which portions of the work that you are distributing are Open Game Content.

9. Updating the License: Wizards or its designated Agents may publish updated versions of this License. You may use any authorized version of this License to copy, modify and distribute any Open Game Content originally distributed under any version of this License.

10. Copy of this License: You MUST include a copy of this License with every copy of the Open Game Content You Distribute.

11. Use of Contributor Credits: You may not market or advertise the Open Game Content using the name of any Contributor unless You have written permission from the Contributor to do so.

12. Inability to Comply: If it is impossible for You to comply with any of the terms of this License with respect to some or all of the Open Game Content due to statute, judicial order, or governmental regulation then You may not Use any Open Game Material so affected.

13. Termination: This License will terminate automatically if You fail to comply with all terms herein and fail to cure such breach within 30 days of becoming aware of the breach. All sublicenses shall survive the termination of this License.

14. Reformation: If any provision of this License is held to be unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable.

15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE

System Reference Document Copyright 2000–2003, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich Baker, Andy Collins, David Noonan, Rich Redman, Bruce R. Cordell, John D. Rateliff, Thomas Reid, James Wyatt, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.