The product of renegade mages’ experiments in transmutation, a race of creatures called bothrians slithers and sucks its way through the remotest parts of the kingdom of Enteria’s rainforests. These horrifying amalgams of mollusk, insect and animal bear a haunting resemblance to the unfortunate creatures onto which their tentacles and additional eyes were grafted. The remnants of a humanoid face, an animal’s pelt, or a bird’s twisted wings often swirl together with outlandish webbing and tentacles.
Most bothrians are sterile, doomed to live brief, painful lives and then succumb to the inherent madness of their own forms. A few of the most “successful” of the arcane flesh-weavers’ experiments have successfully made the jump to become a true-breeding species of their own. A few bothrians, escapees through neglect or accident from their masters’ pens, are now found in the wild.
Sample Bothrian
Bothrian Troll
Size/Type: Large Aberration (Aquatic)
Hit Dice: 6d8+48 (75 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares), climb 20 ft., swim 20 ft.
Armor Class: 21 (-1 size, +3 Dex, +9 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 18
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+17
Attack: Tentacle +12 melee (1d4+9) or adhesive slime +6 ranged touch
Full Attack: 5 tentacles +12 (1d4+9) and bite +7 melee (1d8+4)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Adhesive slime, constrict 1d4+9, improved grab
Special Qualities: Amphibious, amorphous body, darkvision 90 ft., low-light vision, regeneration 5, resistance 10 to acid, scent, tentacle regeneration
Saves: Fort +13, Reflex +5, Will +4
Abilities: Str 29, Dex 16, Con 27, Int 2, Wis 11, Cha 2.
Skills: Climb +17, Hide +6, Listen +6, Spot +7, Swim +17
Feats: Alertness, Iron Will, Skill Focus (Hide)B, ToughnessB, Track
Environment: Cold aquatic
Organization: Solitary or gang (2-4)
Challenge Rating: 7
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Neutral
Advancement: —
Level Adjustment: —
Bothrian trolls slither on a tangled mass of tentacles. Their movement is ragged, and when they run their upper tentacles drag along the ground. For all of this seeming awkwardness, they are very agile. A typical bothrian troll stands 9 feet tall and weighs 500 pounds. Females are slightly larger than males. A bothrian troll’s rubbery hide is moss green, mottled green and gray, or putrid gray, with a tinge of pink or purple in some cases.
Combat
Bothrian trolls have no fear of death: they launch themselves into combat without hesitation, flailing wildly at the closest opponent. Even when confronted with fire, they try to get around the flames and attack.
Adhesive Slime (Ex): Once every 1d3 rounds, a bothrian troll with this ability can fling a gobbet of sticky mucus as a ranged touch attack, to a maximum range of 60 feet. If the attack is successful, the target suffers a -2 penalty to attack rolls and a -4 penalty to Dexterity for 2d4 rounds and must make a DC 21 Reflex save or be glued to the floor, unable to move. A flying creature is not stuck to the floor, but it must make a DC 21 Reflex save or be unable to fly (assuming it uses its wings to fly) and fall to the ground. This ability does not function underwater.
Creatures that are glued to the ground can escape by succeeding at a DC 23 Strength check, or by dealing a total of 13 slashing damage to the hardened mucus. A creature trying to scrape off the adhesive (or another creature assisting in the task) does not need to make an attack roll. Hitting the adhesive is automatic, after which the creature that makes the hit rolls damage to see how much was scraped off. An application of universal solvent to a stuck creature dissolves the adhesive immediately.
Amorphous Body (Ex): Bothrian trolls possess a hellish mixture of physiologies because of the varied species used to create them. As a result, it is difficult to determine where to strike in order to damage their vitals. Any critical hit or sneak attack inflicted against a bothrian troll suffers a 25% chance of dealing normal damage, instead.
Amphibious (Ex): Although bothrian trolls are aquatic, they can survive indefinitely on land.
Constrict (Ex): A bothrian troll deals 1d4+9 damage with a successful grapple check.
Improved Grab (Ex): A bothrian that hits an opponent of any size can 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 constrict.
Regeneration (Ex): Fire deals normal damage to a bothrian troll. If a bothrian troll loses a limb or body part, the lost portion regrows in 3d6 minutes. The creature can reattach the severed member instantly by holding it to the stump.
Tentacle Regeneration (Ex): An opponent can attack a bothrian troll’s tentacles with a sunder attempt as if they were weapons. The tentacles have 10 hit points. If a bothrian troll is currently grappling a target with the tentacle that is being attacked, it usually uses another limb to make its attack of opportunity against the opponent making the sunder attempt. Severing a tentacle deals 5 points of damage to the creature. A bothrian troll usually withdraws from combat if it loses half of its tentacles.
Creating a Bothrian
“Bothrian” is an inherited template that can be applied to any corporeal animal, dragon, fey, giant, humanoid, magical beast, monstrous humanoid, or vermin (referred to hereafter as the base creature). A bothrian uses all of the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.
Size and Type: The creature’s type changes to aberration. Size is unchanged. Do not recalculate base attack bonus or saves. A bothrian creature gains the Aquatic subtype.
Hit Dice: The base creature’s racial Hit Die changes to d8. Do not change class Hit Dice.
Speed: As the base creature. Additionally, a bothrian gains a swim speed of 20 ft. and a climb speed of 20 ft. The base creature loses its flight speed unless its capacity for flight was supernatural in origin.
Armor Class: Natural armor increases by +4.
Attack: A bothrian creature’s limbs change to tentacles, replacing any slams, claws, or other natural attacks based on the limbs. It grows an additional tentacle for every 2 Hit Dice it possesses. Additionally, it gains a bite attack if it did not already possess one. The tentacles are primary attacks and the bite is a secondary attack. If the base creature is able to use weapons, the bothrian retains this ability.
Damage: Bothrian creatures have tentacle and bite attacks. If the base creature does not have these attack forms, use the damage values listed in the table below. Otherwise, use the values below or the base creature’s values, whichever are greater.
| Size | Bite Damage | Tentacle Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Fine | 1 | — |
| Diminutive | 1d2 | — |
| Tiny | 1d3 | 1 |
| Small | 1d4 | 1d2 |
| Medium | 1d6 | 1d3 |
| Large | 1d8 | 1d4 |
| Huge | 2d6 | 1d6 |
| Gargantuan | 3d6 | 1d8 |
| Colossal | 4d6 | 2d6 |
Special Attacks
A bothrian retains all of the special attacks of the base creature and gains the following special attacks.
Constrict (Ex): A bothrian deals damage equal to its tentacle attack with a successful grapple check.
Improved Grab (Ex): A bothrian that hits an opponent of any size can 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 constrict.
In addition to the special attacks described above, a bothrian possesses one of the following special attacks:
Acidic Spray (Ex): Once every 1d4 rounds as a free action, a bothrian with this ability can emit a cloud of acidic droplets in a 15-foot cone, dealing 1d6 points of acid damage for every 2 Hit Dice it possesses. Creatures within the affected area receive a Reflex saving throw for half damage. The Difficulty Class is equal to 10 + ½ the bothrian’s Hit Dice + the bothrian’s Constitution modifier.
Adhesive Slime (Ex): Once every 1d4 rounds, a bothrian with this ability can fling a gobbet of sticky mucus as a ranged touch attack, to a maximum range of 60 feet. If the attack is successful, the target suffers a -2 penalty to attack rolls and a -4 penalty to Dexterity for 2d4 rounds and must make a Reflex save or be glued to the floor, unable to move. A flying creature is not stuck to the floor, but it must make a Reflex save or be unable to fly (assuming it uses its wings to fly) and fall to the ground. This ability does not function underwater. The Difficulty Class of the Reflex save to avoid being stuck to the ground or prevented from flying is equal to 10 + ½ the bothrian’s Hit Dice + the bothrian’s Constitution modifier.
Creatures that are glued to the ground can escape by succeeding at a Strength check (the DC is equal to 12 + ½ the bothrian’s Hit Dice + the bothrian’s Constitution modifier), or by dealing a total of 10 + ½ the bothrian’s Hit Dice slashing damage to the hardened mucus. A creature trying to scrape off the adhesive (or another creature assisting in the task) does not need to make an attack roll. Hitting the adhesive is automatic, after which the creature that makes the hit rolls damage to see how much was scraped off. An application of universal solvent to a stuck creature dissolves the adhesive immediately.
Hypnotic Skin (Su): As a standard action, a bothrian creature can charm a single creature within 30 feet by rapidly changing the pigmentation of its skin. The victim is allowed a Will saving throw (with a saving throw DC equal to 10 + ½ the bothrian’s Hit Dice + the bothrian’s Charisma modifier) to negate the effect. Creatures that successfully save cannot be affected by the same bothrian’s hypnotic skin for 24 hours.
Stench (Ex): A bothrian with this ability secretes foul-smelling oil that almost all living creatures find disgusting. All living creatures (except other bothrians) within 30 feet must succeed on a Fortitude save or be sickened for 10 rounds. Creatures with immunity to poison are not affected, and creatures resistant to poison receive their normal bonus on their saving throws. The save DC is equal to 10 + ½ the bothrian’s Hit Dice + the bothrian’s Constitution modifier. A creature that successfully saves cannot be affected by the same bothrian’s stench for 24 hours.
Special Qualities
A bothrian retains all of the special qualities of the base creature and also gains those described below.
Amphibious (Ex): Although bothrians are aquatic, they can survive indefinitely on land.
Amorphous Body (Ex): Bothrians possess a hellish mixture of physiologies because of the varied species used to create them. As a result, it is difficult to determine where to strike in order to damage their vitals. Any critical hit or sneak attack inflicted against a bothrian suffers a 25% chance of dealing normal damage, instead.
Resistances (Ex): A bothrian has resistance 10 to acid.
Tentacle Regeneration (Ex): An opponent can attack a bothrian’s tentacles with a sunder attempt as if they were weapons. A bothrian’s tentacles have 10 hit points. If a bothrian is currently grappling a target with the tentacle that is being attacked, it usually uses another limb to make its attack of opportunity against the opponent making the sunder attempt. Severing one of a bothrian’s tentacles deals 5 points of damage to the creature. A bothrian usually withdraws from combat if it loses half of its tentacles. The creature re-grows severed limbs within 1d10+10 days. If the base creature possesses the regeneration special quality, severed limbs instead re-grow at the pace stipulated by the regeneration, if any, and can reattach severed limbs if so stipulated by the base creature’s regeneration ability.
Abilities: Change from the base creature as follows: Str +6, Dex +2, Con +4, Int -4, Wis +2, Cha -4.
Skills: A bothrian gains skill points as an aberration and has skill points equal to (2 + Int modifier) x (Hit Dice +3). Do not include Hit Dice from class levels in this calculation. The bothrian gains aberration skill points only for its racial Hit Dice, and gains the normal amount of skill points for its class levels. Treat the base creature’s list as class skills, and other skills as cross-class.
Bothrians can change color, giving them a +4 racial bonus on Hide checks. They can also contort and squeeze their bodies, giving them a +10 racial bonus on Escape Artist checks.
A bothrian has a +8 racial bonus on Climb and Swim checks. It can always choose to take 10 on Climb checks, even if threatened. It has a +8 racial bonus on Swim checks to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight line.
Feats: Bothrians gain Alertness, Skill Focus (Hide), and Toughness as bonus feats, assuming the base creature does not already have these feats.
Environment: Any aquatic, or as the base creature.
Organization: Any (usually solitary).
Challenge Rating: Same as the base creature +2 (minimum 3).
Alignment: Any.
Level Adjustment: —.