Monster Monday - Harpoon Scorpion (Patreon)

Steps echoed throughout the cave along with the conversation of the novice party. Attempts by the ranger to shush the boisterous barbarian only served to keep the conversation going. Most creatures scattered at the obvious intruders, but within the dark that threatened to consume the dancing light of the torches, there remained those not so skittish. The barbarian was in the midst of attempting to impress his new companion with more stories of his exploits when there was a strange hiss alongside a chittering sound. A second later, a jagged spear shot from the dark and bit into the flesh of the warrior who, to his credit, kept his expression of pain to a grunt rather than a howl. However, he couldn't stop the small scream as the cord attached to the chitinous harpoon retracted and hauled the berserker off his feet. He skidded across the ground, grabbing at the impaling weapon as he scowled at the owner - and came face to face with eight eyes set above menacing mandibles.

Host of a horrid hook that is honed to harm, our homely horror hauls in hordes of heroes to hand out a harrowing heaping of hurt.

I like scorpions. I mean, I like creepy-crawlies in general, but scorpions hold a special place in my heart. I've had an idea for a scorpion that could fire its tail at prey for a while, but I struggled with my original concept being a bit too similar to standard scorpion creatures. I reworked it for a bit before I was able to create this fearsome friend. I decided to use a level of two for my harpoon scorpion since the cave scorpion is at level one and the giant scorpion is at level two. This lets it fit in between them quite nicely while still giving me room to work.

As a creature, I think the harpoon scorpion is another cave dweller that is typically content to fish in underground lakes and streams. But when bigger prey presents itself, its happy to partake!

I designed the harpoon scorpion with a moderate attack bonus on its claws but its harpoon stinger, whether used at range or near, has a high attack bonus. The main point behind this is that the scorpion uses its tail to capture prey before ravaging them with its claws. To facilitate this concept, it has the Grab ability on its melee harpoon stinger. However, when used at range, it instead has Impale. This requires a high DC Reflex save from the struck creature and also requires a high DC Escape check. Having a save that triggers off of every successful attack work at a high DC might seem like a bit much but while this does inflict the grabbed trait, it doesn't actually immobilize the creature. Outside of that, the harpoon scorpion would have to retract its tail before it can use it again on a failed Strike, which means that it can make, at most, two ranged harpoon stinger Strikes in a round. I think these factors balance out the use of high DCs and rather than a poison, our scorpion inflicts persistent bleed when creatures fail to Escape its tail.

Assuming that enemies can't Escape, the harpoon scorpion is in prime position to Reel In, which is actually the main reason it has an Athletics that is a point above high. This is pulled from the culdewen though I had the range a creature is pulled in be shorter since the harpoon scorpion is a lower-leveled creature. Its Reactive Strike does finish off its tail related abilities and was included largely because it's seen on other scorpions. I was briefly worried about the harpoon scorpion using its ranged harpoon stinger to Impale people, but my worry was unfounded because Reactive Strike itself can only be used with melee Strikes. That just leaves its Tearing Claws. The flourish trait is included on this to keep the harpoon scorpion from spamming this, but that may be unnecessary due to the fact that this action doesn't mitigate MAP. However, if the harpoon scorpion is able to land both of these Strikes, that pesky persistent bleed rears its head.

There's actually a Monster Mash for this one!

ENCOUNTER HOOKS

One Step Closer to the Edge: The heroes are delving into a cavern, perhaps for them to get their start as adventurers, but may be unaware of the harpoon scorpions that lurk there. The scorpions wait at the bottom of cliffs or short falls, and when the heroes get too close to the edge they will attempt to impale them and drag them over. Outside of the damage from falling, this will likely knock creatures prone and thus make them easier prey for the harpoon scorpions. However, these falls shouldn't be longer than 10 feet to avoid making them too punishing against low-level PCs.

Fishing for Trouble: The heroes owe money to a loan shark known as the Scorpion or by a similar epithet. This predatory lender works to ensure that the heroes can't pay off in time, which likely leads to a confrontation with the loan shark. They find that the crook has a pet harpoon scorpion that the loan shark regularly uses its Interest is Due! on to hook the players and drag them in. In such scenarios, the loan shark may try to instigate a hostage situation with one of the PCs and force them to carry a specific job for them as a final repayment.

Have a monstrous Monday!