Devilfish

This purple, seven-armed octopoid monstrosity is the size of a horse, with hook-lined tentacles and cold, blue eyes.

Source: Pathfinder d20pfsrd.com

Devilfish CR 4

XP 1,200 NE Large magical beast (aquatic) Init +3; Senses Low-Light Vision, see in darkness; Perception +5

DEFENSE

AC 17, touch 12, flat-footed 14 (+3 Dexterity, +5 natural, -1 size) hp 42 (5d10+15) Fort +7, Ref +7, Will +2 Resist cold 10

OFFENSE

Speed 10 ft., Swim 40 ft.; jet (240 ft.) Melee tentacles +7 (3d6+4 plus grab) Space 10 ft.; Reach 15 ft. Special Attacks savage bite (+7 melee, 2d6+4/18-20 plus poison), unholy blood

STATISTICS

Strength 17, Dexterity 17, Constitution 16, Intelligence 3, Wisdom 12, Charisma 8 Base Atk +5; CMB +9 (+13 grapple); CMD 22 (can’t be tripped) Feats Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Power Attack Skills Escape Artist +5, Perception +5, Stealth +3, Swim +15 Languages Abyssal, Aquan, Common SQ water dependency

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Poison (Ex)   Savage bite – injury; save Fort DC 15; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d2 Strength; cure 2 consecutive saves. Savage Bite (Ex) A devilfish can attack with its savage bite whenever it makes a successful grapple check. This attack is in place of any other action made with a successful grapple check. The bite threatens a critical hit on a roll of 18–20, and injects the target with poison as well. Unholy Blood (Su) A devilfish’s blood is infused with fiendish magic. Once per day, as a swift action, a devilfish can emit a night-black cloud of this foul liquid, filling a 20-foot-radius cloud if underwater, or a 20-foot-radius burst on land. In water, the blood provides total concealment for everything but a devilfish (which can see through the blood with ease); on land the slippery blood coats the ground, making the area difficult terrain. The blood persists for 1 minute before fading. Anyone who enters a cloud of the blood in the water or who is within the area of a burst of blood on land must make a DC 16 Fortitude save or be nauseated for 1d4 rounds this save need be made only once per cloud. The save DC is Constitution-based. Water Dependency (Ex) A devilfish can survive out of the water for 1 hour, after which it becomes fatigued. After 2 hours, the devilfish becomes exhausted and begins to suffocate.

ECOLOGY

Environment any aquatic Organization solitary Treasure none

Sample Stories about Devilfish

Devilfish have plagued the seas for ages, and most sea captains can spin a tale or two about them.

Birth Brings Death: Women are ill luck at sea to some captains, more so when pregnant. Devilfish crave the souls of unborn babes and infants, and can smell a woman with child miles off. Many captains refuse to allow pregnant women aboard their vessels, and if they discover a woman on their ship who starts to show, they let them off at the closest port’ the most cruel might even toss them to the unforgiving sea.

The Change: It is said that each octopus harbors a devilfish in its mysterious soul. Any octopus can become a devilfish at any moment, when the change comes upon it. Some transform when they pass through bloody waters, or when a tussle with a shark or other predator brings out their dark side. Some coastal communities hunt octopi to extinction in their region for this reason, leaving beaches strewn with severed tentacles and savaged bodies.

Marked by the Devil: Anyone who survives a devilfish attack turns to murder and evil. The taint of a devilfish’s tentacles darkens his soul forever, and it’s only a matter of time before the survivor kills the innocent. More than a few survivors of devilfish attacks have been preemptively slaughtered by their friends and neighbors shortly afterward due to this taint.

Pathfinder 7: Edge of Anarchy. Copyright 2008, Paizo Publishing LLC. Author: Nicolas Logue

Devilfish Orgins

Sailors and sages alike whisper the tale of Kaktora’s Last Stand. A titanic kraken, Kaktora once ruled the vast sea floor, her crushing tentacles claiming thousands
of ships. Then Dagan came. The sea devil could not bear Kaktora’s arrogant claim to the seas any longer, and in a rage he descended on the great kraken and tore her to pieces. Yet while Kaktora was slain, Dagon’s blood filled the waters in which the countless fragments of her corpse floated. These fragments absorbed the sea demon’s blood, twisting and transforming into a new life of their own. What swam out of that legendary battleground were the first devilfish, born from violence and raised on the blood of a demon god.

Devilfish are often mistaken for octopi, but they are in fact rather intelligent. Their tentacles are connected by a thick webbing, and when the creature attacks it does so with all seven of these hook-lined arms. Fishermen tell stories of devilfish purposely hooking themselves on lines just to increase the chances of capturing and capsizing fishing boats’ often, even rumor of a devilfish sighting is enough to keep an entire fleet of fishermen on land for a week.

Ecology

Devilfish are larger than common octopi, their bodies on average growing 10 to 12 feet in length. These sick brooding sea monsters are also far more cunning than many other aquatic predators, luring prey into ambush, most often by allowing creatures to believe they are safe on dry land and then suddenly lurching out of the water to attack. Dagon’s blood gifts devilfish with unnaturally long lives and they continue to grow until the moment of their death. A few devilfish have survived for centuries below the waves, plaguing shipping lanes for generations. Some specimens reach terrifying proportions, dwarfing the greatest megalodons and pulling the mightiest Chelish warships below the waves with a casual tug of one tentacle. Devilfish only require sustenance every few weeks to survive, but most gorge themselves whenever prey is available.

Habitat & Society

Devilfish hate their own kind as much as they hate everything else. They are solitary creatures who hide from men’s eyes except when they are overcome by the urge to feast. Devilfish are asexual, and can produce offspring three or four times during their lives by disgorging a small clutch of live young.

The parent immediately abandons these young, who fight and feast among each other until only one survives. This lone devilfish grows quickly, reaching maturity in just a few weeks after a voracious feeding frenzy that usually involves the depopulation of schools of fish and pods of dolphins.

Gutaki

The majority of devilfish encountered along coastal waters are little more than monsters gifted with just enough Intelligence and cruelty to enjoy their murderous ways. Yet in the deep ocean trenches of the world dwell the gutaki, said to be the most direct descendants of the ancient kraken Kaktora. The gutaki have taken to the worship of Dagan with fanatic fervor, venerating him as their creator, for without his wrath and blood, the fragmentary remains of the Mother would have rotted to nothing.

The gutaki have very little contact with surfacedwelling races, for unlike the typical devilfish, they are not amphibious. Adapted to life in the tremendous pressures of the depths, they even fare poorly in the upper reaches of the sea. The average gutaki has an Intelligence score of 12. Their cities are said to be things of both beauty and madness, to rival even those of the ancient aboleths, with whom these cruel beasts have warred for countless eons.

Pathfinder 7: Edge of Anarchy. Copyright 2008, Paizo Publishing LLC. Author: Nicolas Logue

Section 15: Copyright Notice – Bestiary 2

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 2, © 2010, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors Wolfgang Baur, Jason Bulmahn, Adam Daigle, Graeme Davis, Crystal Frasier, Joshua J. Frost, Tim Hitchcock, Brandon Hodge, James Jacobs, Steve Kenson, Hal MacLean, Martin Mason, Rob McCreary, Erik Mona, Jason Nelson, Patrick Renie, Sean K Reynolds, F. Wesley Schneider, Owen K.C. Stephens, James L. Sutter, Russ Taylor, and Greg A. Vaughan, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams.