Tizheruk

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Huge beast, chaotic evil
Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
Hit Points 210 (20d12 + 80)
Speed 40 ft., swim 80 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
24 (+7)	16 (+3)	18 (+4)	2 (-4)	14 (+2)	6 (-2)

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Saving Throws Dex +7, Con +8, Wis +6

Skills Stealth +12 (in water), Perception +6

Senses Darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 16

Languages —

Challenge 12 (8,400 XP)

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TRAITS

• Amphibious. The Tizheruk can breathe air and water.
• Camouflage (Water). While submerged or in murky water, the Tizheruk has advantage on Stealth checks, and creatures have disadvantage to detect it using sight.
• Legendary Resistance (2/Day). If the Tizheruk fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
• Swallow Whole. The Tizheruk can swallow a creature it has grappled. A swallowed creature takes 15 (4d6) acid damage at the start of each of the Tizheruk’s turns. A swallowed creature can make a DC 18 Strength or Dexterity saving throw at the end of each of its turns, escaping on a success. If the Tizheruk takes 30 damage or more in a single turn, it must make a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or regurgitate the swallowed creature. If the creature is not rescued, it will be dissolved in 3 rounds.
• Water Lash. The Tizheruk can manipulate the water around it to strike at enemies. All creatures within 20 feet of the Tizheruk must make a DC 17 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone and pushed 10 feet away. A creature that fails the saving throw by 5 or more is also restrained until the end of the Tizheruk’s next turn.

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ACTIONS

• Multiattack. The Tizheruk makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its tongue.
• Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 25 (4d8 + 7) piercing damage plus 10 (3d6) poison damage.
• Tongue. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 20 ft., one target. Hit: The target is pulled up to 10 feet closer to the Tizheruk. The target must make a DC 17 Strength saving throw or be pulled into the Tizheruk’s mouth.
• Water Surge (Recharge 5–6). The Tizheruk causes a surge of water to flood its area. All creatures within 30 feet must make a DC 18 Strength saving throw or be pushed 15 feet away and knocked prone. Creatures who fail by 5 or more are also restrained by the flowing waters for 1 minute, until they break free using an action and a successful DC 18 Strength or Dexterity check.

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LEGENDARY ACTIONS

The Tizheruk 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 Tizheruk regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.

• Tongue Lash (Costs 1 Action). The Tizheruk makes a tongue attack with reach 20 feet.
• Water Whip (Costs 2 Actions). The Tizheruk strikes at a creature within 30 feet with a whip of water. The creature must make a DC 18 Strength saving throw or be pulled 10 feet toward the Tizheruk and take 14 (4d6) bludgeoning damage.
• Water Surge (Costs 3 Actions). The Tizheruk causes a violent surge of water, affecting creatures within 20 feet. Creatures must make a DC 18 Strength saving throw or be pushed 10 feet away and knocked prone.

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REACTIONS

• Rippling Defense. When a creature hits the Tizheruk with a melee attack, the Tizheruk can use its reaction to cause the water around it to surge. The attacking creature must make a DC 16 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone and pushed 10 feet away. The Tizheruk gains advantage on the next attack against that creature.

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ENVIRONMENTAL INTERACTIONS

• Tidal Wave (Passive). The Tizheruk can create minor waves in the surrounding area, making it difficult for enemies to land attacks or move freely in water. Creatures within 20 feet of the Tizheruk have disadvantage on attack rolls and checks to escape grappled conditions if the area is submerged.

Tactics

• Ambush Predator: The Tizheruk prefers to lie in wait, using its Camouflage and Water Lash to knock enemies into deeper water or onto land, where it can make use of its Swallow Whole ability. It will often use its Water Surge to disrupt enemies before closing in for a bite.
• Water Manipulation: In difficult terrain or when in shallow water, the Tizheruk will use Water Surge and Water Lash to control the flow of the battlefield, using its legendary actions to stay mobile and keep enemies off-balance.
• Tactical Withdrawal: If seriously injured, the Tizheruk will retreat into deep water, using its Legendary Resistance to avoid debilitating effects and rely on its Camouflage to hide until it heals.

Tizheruk

This serpentine beast has transparent, scaly skin that reveals the creature’s murky red-and-brown organs through its flesh.

Source Tears at Bitter Manor pg. 63
Originally posted in Archives of Nethys

The vicious tizheruk is a foul freshwater predator that wreaks havoc in the lakes and rivers it inhabits. To make matters worse, tizheruks also frequently travel far inland via smaller streams where animals and humanoids might think themselves safer. When a tizheruk swims upstream in such waters, it naturally compresses its muscles and organs, enabling it to remain in water less than a foot deep. It explodes to its full size as soon as it attacks, swallowing smaller prey or dragging larger creatures into the water before swimming away with its meal.

Though tizheruks mostly subsist on aquatic prey, they supplement their diets with creatures on the shore, particularly sizeable mammals such as deer or wild boar. To capture such creatures, a tizheruk extends its tightly coiled, whiplike tongue to snare one of the prey’s legs, then retracts the appendage to pull the creature to its mouth.

A tizheruk’s skin is nearly transparent, granting it a sort of natural camouflage beneath the water because its rust-colored organs and tissue can easily be mistaken for the floor of a creek or stream. After gorging itself on fish or on land animals that wander near the shore, the tizheruk compresses itself on the bottom of a lake or river while it slowly digests its prey.

An adult tizheruk is 8 feet long and weighs 180 pounds, though a tizheruk that has just fed may weigh up to two or three times as much.

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Tizheruk CR 5

XP 1,600 N Large magical beast (aquatic) Init +3; Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Low-Light Vision; Perception +7

DEFENSE

AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 15 (+3 Dexterity, +6 natural, –1 size) hp 52 (5d10+25) Fort +9, Ref +7, Will +2

OFFENSE

Speed 10 ft., Swim 40 ft. Melee bite +12 (2d6+10 plus grab) or tongue +12 (grab and pull) Space 10 ft., Reach 10 ft. (20 ft. with tongue) Special Attacks pull (tongue, 15 ft.), swallow whole (1d6 acid damage, AC 14, 8 hp)

STATISTICS

Strength 24, Dexterity 17, Constitution 21, Intelligence 2, Wisdom 13, Charisma 6 Base Atk +5; CMB +13; CMD 26 (can’t be tripped) Feats Power Attack, Skill Focus (Stealth), Weapon Focus (bite) Skills Perception +7, Stealth +6 (+14 in water), Swim +19; Racial Modifiers +8 Stealth in water SQ compression, see-through skin

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Compression (Ex) A tizheruk can use its compression ability to remain in waterways as shallow as 8 inches deep. While compressing itself against the floor of a body of water, a tizheruk gains a +4 circumstance bonus on Stealth checks.   See-Through Skin (Ex) Because so much of a tizheruk’s body is transparent, a creature swallowed whole by it has line of sight to creatures outside the creature, and creatures outside the tizheruk can see anyone inside. Tongue (Ex) A tizheruk’s tongue is a primary attack with a reach equal to double the tizheruk’s normal reach (20 feet for a Large tizheruk). A tizheruk’s tongue deals no damage on a hit, but can be used to grab a creature and pull it closer. A tizheruk doesn’t gain the grappled condition while using its tongue in this manner.

ECOLOGY

Environment temperate rivers and marshes Organization solitary or pair Treasure none