Buy me a coffeeBilldad, the Swamp Stalker
“Meet the Mythical Billdad: A Beast with Kangaroo Legs, a Hawk’s Beak, and a Jump That Will Shock You!”
The Billdad is a hybrid creature with a distinct blend of aquatic and terrestrial traits, designed for both speed and strength. It stands about the size of a large dog, with a muscular, compact body that is built for agility and force. Its hind legs are long and powerful, resembling those of a kangaroo, granting it remarkable jumping abilityâup to 60 feet in a single leap. The creatureâs webbed feet are adapted for both land and water, allowing it to easily navigate through swamps, marshes, and muddy riverbanks.
Its most striking feature is its hawk-like beak, a sharp, angular tool used for grabbing and crushing prey, which could include small animals or fish. Below its sharp bill, the Billdadâs eyes are large and intelligent, constantly scanning its environment for danger or opportunity. The forelimbs are short but strong, assisting with stability, and its broad, flat tail resembles that of a beaver and is used for striking water with immense power to stun prey or create waves to disorient opponents.
Behavior and Motivation:
The Billdad is primarily a solitary creature, avoiding large groups but fiercely territorial, especially in its breeding season. It is opportunistic, often hiding in the misty environments of swamps and forests where it can use its camouflage to ambush prey. It is most active during dawn or dusk, using its keen senses to detect movement in its vicinity.
Its modus operandi revolves around stealth and surpriseâit uses its powerful tail to create a splash or stun prey, before pouncing on them with its strong hind legs. When confronted by larger threats, they may use its ambush tactics to escape or evade, retreating to water where it is most comfortable.
Habitat:
It thrives in swamps, marshes, and forests with access to water. Its amphibious nature allows it to move effortlessly between land and water, where it can both hunt and evade predators. It favors environments that offer dense foliage and foggy conditions, which enhance its ability to camouflage and set up ambushes.
Motivation:
The Billdad is driven by survival instinctsâprimarily hunting for food, protecting its territory, and ensuring the safety of its young during breeding seasons. It avoids conflict but is not afraid to defend itself fiercely when threatened. Its curious and territorial nature also means it may engage with its environment, making it a creature that can both thrive in solitude and defend its space from intruders.
Billdad 5e
Billdad Pathfinder
Billdad
Medium monstrosity, chaotic neutral
Armor Class: 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points: 70 (8d8 + 40)
Speed: 30 ft., swim 30 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 (+2) | 16 (+3) | 20 (+5) | 8 (-1) | 14 (+2) | 10 (+0) |
Saving Throws: Strength +5, Dexterity +6, Constitution +8
Skills: Perception +5, Stealth +6, Survival +5
Damage Resistances: Cold, Poison
Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15
Languages: Understands Common but cannot speak
Challenge: 4 (1,100 XP)
TRAITS
- Amphibious. It can breathe both air and water.
- Keen Eyes. It has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.
- Webbed Movement. It can move through difficult terrain created by water or mud without expending extra movement.
- Camouflage. The Billdad can attempt to hide in natural terrain, particularly swampy, misty, or forested areas, even when only lightly obscured.
ACTIONS
- Multiattack. It makes two attacks: one with its Beak and one with its Tail Strike.
- Beak. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d6 + 2) piercing damage.
- Tail Strike. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d4 + 2) bludgeoning damage. On a hit, the target must succeed on a DC 13 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
- Pounce. If the Billdad moves at least 15 feet straight toward a creature and then hits it with a Beak attack on the same turn, that target must succeed on a DC 13 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. If the target is prone, the Billdad can make one Tail Strike attack against it as a bonus action.
BONUS ACTIONS
- Ambush Tactics. When the Billdad is hidden in a foggy, misty, or swampy area, it gains advantage on its first attack roll against a surprised creature.
LEGENDARY ACTIONS
It can take 2 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 Billdad regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
- Move. The Billdad moves up to its speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
- Beak Strike (Costs 2 Actions). The Billdad makes one Beak attack.
TACTICS
The Billdad uses its Ambush Tactics to set up surprise attacks, often hiding in misty or swampy areas to catch its prey unaware. It will start by attempting to Pounce, knocking its target prone, then following up with a devastating Tail Strike. If a foe is small enough, it may use Swallow to incapacitate them and prevent retaliation.
When fighting in its natural environmentâlike near the water’s edge or in a forestâit relies on its Camouflage and Webbed Movement to swiftly maneuver through difficult terrain, dodging attacks and striking from unexpected angles. If overwhelmed, it may retreat to the water, using its Amphibious nature to escape.
ECOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR
- Habitat: It resides in swamps, marshes, and forests near water sources such as ponds and lakes. Its environment is misty and foggy, providing it with plenty of opportunities for camouflage and surprise attacks.
- Diet and Hunting: They are skilled fishermen, often using their Pounce and Tail Strike to stun fish from a distance before swallowing them. They are shy creatures, typically avoiding human contact unless provoked.
- Social Structure: Billdads are usually solitary, though they can occasionally be seen in pairs during the breeding season. They are territorial, especially during spawning periods or when protecting their young.
Billdad
This chimerical biped resembles a rodent with powerful hind limbs and the head of a bird of prey. It has a large flat tail covered in scales.
Taken from the Creature Codex
Billdads are carnivorous hybrid creatures that dwell along the rivers and lakes of the lumberwoods. They resemble a chimera between a beaver and an eagle, possessing a beaverâs pelt, tail and webbed feet but with the claws and beak of a bird of prey. They favor their eagle side for diet, preying on small animals and fishes. Their beaks are weaker than those of eagles, being unable to grab and tear struggling prey, so they use their powerful tails to batter foes into submission.
Billdads are not aggressive with larger beasts or humanoids, only fighting if trapped or cornered. They much prefer to flee, leaping much longer than their body length in a single bound. The crash of a full-grown billdad leaping into a pond or stream explains some of the strange sounds heard in the wilderness, although old hands are liable to tease greenhorns by attributing every unexplained noise to billdad activity. Billdads are also protected from predation by their toxic meatâcreatures dining on billdad flesh go temporarily insane. Claims that people eating billdad meat think that they are billdads themselves and leap into the water are just tall tales. Probably.
They do not build dens like their beaver kin, instead scratching out nests in tree hollows or muddy banks and lining them with sticks and down. Billdad kits are guarded by their parents; mother and father billdad alternate protecting the offspring with gathering food. A fully grown billdad grows to three feet long, half of which is tail, and weighs 40 pounds.
A billdad is a suitable familiar for the Improved Familiar feat. A spellcaster of 5th level or higher with a neutral component to their alignment may have a billdad familiar.
Billdad CR 1
XP 400
N Small magical beast
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, Perception +5, scent
Defense
AC 13, touch 12, flat-footed 12 (+1 size, +1 Dex, +1 natural)
hp 13 (2d10+2)
Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +1
Resist sonic 10
Defensive Abilities poison flesh
Offense
Speed 30 ft., swim 30 ft.
Melee slam +3 (1d4 plus 1d6 sonic plus stun)
Statistics
Str 10, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 2, Wis13, Cha 7
Base Atk +2; CMB +2; CMD 13
Feats Improved Initiative
Skills Acrobatics +13, Perception +5, Swim +8; Racial Modifiers +8 Acrobatics
SQ hold breath,leap
Ecology
Environment temperate and cold forests and rivers
Organization solitary, pair or family (1-2 plus 1-6 young)
Treasure none
Special Abilities
Leap (Ex) A billdad does not take any penalties to Acrobatics checks made to jump for making a standing jump. If it takes a running start, it covers double the distance it would ordinarily cover. A billdad can move farther than its base speed using this ability.
Poison Flesh (Ex) Any creature biting or consuming a billdad is exposed to its poisonous flesh. Billdad poisonâingested; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; save DC 14; damage 1d4 Wisdom damage; cure 2 saves. The save DC is Constitution based, and gains a +2 racial bonus.
Stun (Ex) Any creature struck by a billdadâs slam attack must succeed a DC 12 Fortitude save or be stunned for 1 round. This is a sonic effect. The save DC is Constitution based.