Vurgens (Giant Gulper Eel)

This massive, mottled brown, eel-like creature is little more than an enormous pair of jaws attached to a long, sinuous body. Rows of spines run down each side of its body, beginning behind the jaws and terminating in a pointed cluster at the tip of the tail. A pair of tiny, flat black eyes are dwarfed by its massive maw.

Originally Posted by Shade of the En World forums.

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Vurgens (Giant Gulper Eel)

Huge Animal (Aquatic)

Hit Dice: 9d8+48 (88 hp)

Initiative: +4

Speed: Swim 40 ft. (8 squares)

Armor Class: 16 (-2 size, +8 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 16

Base Attack/Grapple: +6/+27

Attack: Bite +14 melee (2d6+9 plus Paralysis) or tail slap +13 melee (3d4+9)

Full Attack: Bite +14 melee (2d6+9 plus Paralysis) or tail slap +13 melee (3d4+9)

Space/Reach: 15 ft./10 ft.

Special Attacks: Improved grab, Paralysis, spines, swallow whole

Special Qualities: Low-Light Vision, Scent

Saves: Fort +13, Ref +6, Will +4

Abilities: Strength 29, Dexterity 11, Constitution 20, Intelligence 1, Wisdom 12, Charisma 2

Skills: Hide -4, Listen +7, Spot +11, Swim +17

Feats: Great Fortitude, Improved Grapple (B), Improved Initiative, Toughness, Weapon Focus (bite)

Environment: Any aquatic

Organization: Solitary

Challenge Rating: 7

Treasure: None

Alignment: Always neutral

Advancement: 10-18 HD (Huge); 19-27 HD (Gargantuan); 28-30 HD (Colossal)

Level Adjustment: –

Vurgens are massive predatory eels that claim vast tracts of the ocean as their territories. Also known as “giant gulper eels” due to their predilection for swallowing anything they can fit in their jaws, these solitary hunters consider any creature their size as rivals, and anything smaller as prey. They are known to clash in titanic undersea battles with krakens, whales, and others of their own kind. They terrorize aquatic races, such as locathah and tritons.

Every other year, vurgens spawn, producing 20 to 40 offspring, which the female carries within her. Foot-long hatchlings emerge within a year, and reach full maturity
in six years, if they survive.

Vurgens are rarely seen by surface dwellers, for only great disturbances can drive them to shallower water.

A typical vurgens is 20 feet long and weighs 200 pounds. Most vurgens mottled brown, though coloration of olive, russet, white, and purple are possible.

COMBAT

Vurgens simply chase down prey and attempt to swallow it quickly before moving on to the next victim. They bite with toothless, bony ridges to grasp prey, then saliva mixes with their digestive juices to paralyze swallowed victims.

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a vurgens must hit an opponent of its size or smaller with its bite attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can try to swallow the target in the following round.

Paralysis (Ex): Those hit by a vurgens’s bite attack must succeed on a DC 19 Fortitude save or be paralyzed for 1d4 rounds. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Spines (Su): Any creature striking a vurgens with handheld weapons or natural weapons takes 1d4+9 points of piercing and slashing damage from its spines. Note that weapons with exceptional reach, such as longspears, do not endanger their users in this way.

Swallow Whole (Ex): A vurgens can try to swallow a grabbed opponent of up to its size by making a successful grapple check. Once inside, the swallowed creature takes 2d6+8 points of bludgeoning damage and 8 points of acid damage per round from the vurgens’s digestive juices. Additionally, a swallowed creature is exposed to the vurgens’s paralytic saliva (see Paralysis, above). A swallowed creature can cut its way out by using a light slashing or piercing weapon to deal 25 points of damage to the vurgens’s digestive tract (AC 14). Once the creature exits, muscular action closes the hole; another swallowed creature must cut its own way out.

A Huge vurgens’s gullet can hold 1 Huge, 2 Large, 8 Medium, 16 Small, 32 Tiny, 128 Diminutive, or 512 Fine or smaller opponents.

Skills: Vurgens have a +4 racial bonus on Hide and Spot checks. A vurgens has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action when swimming, provided it swims in a straight line.

Originally appeared in Dragon Magazine #89 (1984).