Snallygaster, The Tentacled Terror of the Skies
“Terrifying Winged Beast with Razor-Sharp Beak and Claws Haunts the Skies of Appalachia!”

The Snallygaster is a monstrous amalgamation of reptilian and avian traits, evoking both primal terror and fascination. It measures over 20 feet in length, with a wingspan exceeding 30 feet, its bat-like, membranous wings veined and translucent under moonlight. Its body is covered in a scaly, armored hide with an iridescent sheen that shifts between shades of mossy green, dusky brown, and oily black, rendering it nearly invisible in dense foliage. Its head is avian but grotesque—dominated by an elongated, hooked beak filled with rows of serrated, shark-like teeth. Massive, glowing yellow orbs serve as its eyes, capable of piercing through the gloom of night. From its shoulders protrude thin, prehensile tentacles tipped with barbed suckers, which writhe with unsettling autonomy. Its talons are long and curved, capable of rending flesh and gripping prey with unyielding strength. A long, sinuous tail adorned with spines aids in balance during flight or when perched.
Behavior:
The Snallygaster is a master predator, its movements calculated and deliberate. Solitary and territorial, it fiercely defends its chosen hunting grounds, often covering a range of several square miles. It is nocturnal, preferring to emerge under the cover of darkness, using its exceptional night vision to locate prey. Despite its size, it is unnervingly silent in flight, its wings designed for near-soundless gliding. It has been observed (in folklore) circling its prey multiple times before striking, suggesting a strategic intelligence. The creature is rarely seen during the day, retreating to its lair to rest and avoid exposure. It is also said to be incredibly sensitive to human presence, vanishing at the slightest sign of large gatherings or active pursuit.
Habitat:
The Snallygaster inhabits the remote, untamed regions of the Appalachian Mountains, particularly the dense forests, craggy cliffs, and deep ravines of Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Its lairs are typically inaccessible caves perched high on cliff faces or hidden in dark, overgrown woods near water sources. These locations provide it with both security and access to a diverse range of prey. Local legends suggest that it has an affinity for areas with historical mining activity, potentially drawn to the minerals or the hidden caverns left behind. Swamps and rivers also play a role in its territory, as they attract unsuspecting animals and offer ideal ambush points.
Modus Operandi:
The Snallygaster’s hunting strategy is ruthless and efficient. From its high vantage point, it scans the terrain below for movement. Once it identifies a target—whether livestock, wildlife, or a lone human—it strikes with horrifying precision. It descends in near-total silence, swooping down at incredible speeds. Its preferred method of attack is to seize the victim with its talons or tentacles, lifting them into the air. Depending on the size of its prey, it may dismember them mid-flight, often leaving behind little more than scattered bones or bloodied remains. Witnesses claim the creature emits a blood-curdling screech, likened to a mix of a train whistle and a banshee’s wail, often heard moments before an attack. It has also been rumored to exsanguinate its victims, leading to comparisons with vampiric folklore.
Motivation:
While its primary drive is survival, the Snallygaster is often attributed with sinister, otherworldly motivations. Some legends depict it as a cursed or demonic entity, sent to punish humanity for its encroachment on nature or as an agent of chaos. Its selective attacks on isolated individuals and livestock fuel the belief that it acts not just out of hunger, but out of malice or territorial dominance. Certain accounts also connect the creature to superstition, suggesting it is drawn to specific times of year, phases of the moon, or even particular behaviors, such as trespassing into forbidden areas. This blend of primal instinct and eerie malevolence cements its reputation as a creature of both legend and fear.
Snallygaster 5e
Snallygaster Pathfinder
Snallygaster

Large monstrosity, chaotic evil
Armor Class 17 (Natural Armor)
Hit Points 225 (18d10 + 108)
Speed 40 ft., fly 60 ft.
STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
20 (+5) | 17 (+3) | 22 (+6) | 6 (-2) | 14 (+2) | 16 (+3) |
Saving Throws Dex +7, Con +10
Skills Perception +6, Stealth +7
Damage Resistances Psychic, Fire
Senses Darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 16
Languages Understands Common, but cannot speak
Challenge 12 (8,400 XP)
Traits
Legendary Resistance (3/Day)
If the Snallygaster fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Predator’s Reflex
The Snallygaster can use its Reaction to make a Tentacle Attack against any creature that moves within 10 feet of it.
Tentacle Grasp (Recharge 5-6)
The Snallygaster can use its Tentacle Grasp attack as a bonus action once per turn. The Snallygaster lashes out with one of its tentacles and grabs a creature within 15 feet of it. The creature must succeed on a DC 17 Strength saving throw or become restrained by the Snallygaster’s tentacle. While restrained, the creature takes 2d8 piercing damage at the start of each of its turns. The creature can break free with a DC 17 Strength (Athletics) check as an action.
Apex Vision
The Snallygaster’s single eye grants it supernatural awareness. It can see invisible creatures and objects within 60 feet, and it has advantage on attack rolls against creatures within its line of sight.
Aura of Dread (30-foot radius)
Each creature within 30 feet of the Snallygaster must succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. Creatures that succeed on the saving throw are immune to this effect for 24 hours.
Actions
Multiattack
The Snallygaster makes three attacks: one with its Beak, one with its Tentacles, and one with its Claws.
Beak
Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 18 (2d10 + 5) piercing damage.
Tentacle
Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target.
Hit: 14 (2d6 + 5) bludgeoning damage, and the target must make a DC 17 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Claw
Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 12 (2d6 + 5) slashing damage.
Tentacle Slam (Recharge 5-6)
The Snallygaster slams one of its tentacles into the ground with a violent force. Each creature within a 15-foot radius of it must make a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw or take 22 (4d10) bludgeoning damage, or half as much on a successful save. Creatures who fail the saving throw are also knocked prone.
Eye Beam (Recharge 6)
The Snallygaster fires a blast of focused energy from its single glowing eye. The target must be within 60 feet of the Snallygaster and make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the target takes 40 (9d8) radiant damage and is blinded for 1 minute. On a successful save, the target takes half damage and is not blinded.
Legendary Actions
The Snallygaster can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time, and only at the end of another creature’s turn. The Snallygaster regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
- Tentacle Attack. The Snallygaster makes a Tentacle attack.
- Wing Buffet (Costs 2 Actions). The Snallygaster flaps its wings, creating a gust of wind. Each creature within 10 feet of the Snallygaster must succeed on a DC 17 Strength saving throw or be pushed 15 feet away from the Snallygaster and knocked prone.
- Frightening Glare (Costs 2 Actions). The Snallygaster uses its Aura of Dread to force creatures within 30 feet to make a Wisdom saving throw as described in its trait.
Tactics
- Pre-Combat: The Snallygaster is a stealthy predator, lurking in shadows and waiting for its prey to get close. It will try to ambush targets, using its Tentacle Grasp and Eye Beam to weaken them before engaging in melee.
- During Combat: In the heat of battle, the Snallygaster focuses on disabling and damaging foes with its Tentacle Slam and Tentacle Grasp. It uses its Eye Beam to target spellcasters or those with high mobility. It constantly uses its Legendary Actions to reposition itself and maintain control over the battlefield.
- Flight & Mobility: If the Snallygaster is overwhelmed or outnumbered, it can use its flight speed to escape or maneuver around enemies, using its Tentacle Attack to pick off targets from a distance. Its Apex Vision ensures it can track hidden or invisible foes even when in flight.
- Endgame: If the Snallygaster is severely wounded, it will become more desperate, using its Tentacle Grasp to secure a prone target and possibly take it out of the fight with its overwhelming strength and sustained attacks.
Legendary Actions Overview:
- Tentacle Attack: Make a Tentacle attack.
- Wing Buffet (Costs 2): Pushes enemies away, knocking them prone.
- Frightening Glare (Costs 2): Forces enemies to make a Wisdom save to avoid fear.
Appearance and Lore
The Snallygaster is a massive creature from the deep, with bird-like features, tough, black scales, bat-like wings, and a single glowing eye that sees all. It has a powerful beak and tentacles that sprout from its mouth, capable of grabbing and crushing its enemies. Residing in the forests or mountainous regions, it strikes from the shadows, preferring to take down prey with stealth before engaging in direct combat. Frightening and ancient, this creature was once a part of the nightmares of old, now given flesh to hunt once again.
Snallygaster

This lean, scaly beast has broad wings, horns, a single eye, and writhing tentacles within its sharp, toothy beak.
Source Bestiary 4 pg. 247, Pathfinder #61: Shards of Sin pg. 88
Orginally posted in Archives of Nethys
The snallygaster is a hideous amalgamation of lizard and bird that preys on unwary travelers. Its claws and beak have an almost metallic sheen to them, hinting at their sharpness and strength. Black stripes run the length of its scaly blue hide all the way to the tip of its long, sinuous tail. The snallygaster’s serpentine neck terminates at a small, birdlike head with a single eye set in the center of the forehead. In place of a tongue, its long throat contains a slobbering mass of tentacles that twist and squirm grotesquely whenever the creature extends them.
A typical snallygaster measures 9 feet from the tip of its tail to the point of its beak, with a wingspan of 15 feet and a weight of approximately 200 pounds.
The snallygaster is an ambush predator, attacking its prey from above. Once it spots a potential victim, it dives toward its unsuspecting foe, using the fall to build up momentum. Once its foe lies dead or unconscious, the snallygaster uses its tonguelike tentacles to slurp up the victim’s blood. The only thing a snallygaster craves more than blood is Alcohol, and it spends much of each autumn scouring its territory for fermenting fruit, on which it gorges itself until thoroughly inebriated. Intoxicated snallygasters are extremely aggressive.
Snallygasters prefer to nest in wooded, mountainous regions. They are primarily active during the day, which they spend searching for food or scaring off rivals. Whether or not a female snallygaster finds a mate, it lays one to two eggs per year.
Snallygaster CR 3 |
XP 800 Init +2; Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Scent; Perception +7 |
DEFENSE |
AC 15, touch 12, flat-footed 13 (+2 Dexterity, +3 natural) hp 30 (4d8+12) Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +6 |
OFFENSE |
Speed 20 ft., Fly 60 ft. (good) Melee bite +6 (1d8+3/×3 plus bleed), 2 claws +6 (1d4+3), sucking tentacles +1 (1d4+1 plus grab) Special Attacks aerial charge, bleed (1d6), sucking tentacles |
STATISTICS |
Strength 17, Dexterity 15, Constitution 16, Intelligence 5, Wisdom 14, Charisma 9 Base Atk +3; CMB +6 (+10 grapple); CMD 18 (22 vs. trip) Feats Flyby Attack, Skill Focus (Stealth) Skills Fly +10, Perception +7, Stealth +9 (+13 in forests); Racial Modifiers +4 Stealth in forests Languages Aklo (can’t speak) |
SPECIAL ABILITIES |
Aerial Charge (Ex) When a snallygaster charges downward at an angle of 45 degrees or more, its bite attack deals double damage (or triple damage on a critical hit). Bleed damage is not multiplied for this attack. Sucking Tentacles (Ex)A snallygaster uses its retractable tentacles to suck blood from its victim’s bleeding wounds. If a target has a bleed effect and the snallygaster grabs it with tentacles or maintains a grapple against it, the target takes double the normal bleed damage at the beginning of its next turn. When the snallygaster is using its tentacles, it cannot make bite attacks. |
ECOLOGY |
Environment temperate forests or mountains Organization solitary or pair Treasure none |