aripockily

[Coast] Monster - Sand Clippers

Added 2022-07-25 14:00:07 +0000 UTC

The light sandy carapace hides the sand clipper just beneath the surface of coastal beaches. Keen eyes may recognize the small spikes that protrude from their shells, or the occasional cluster of giant barnacles that grow there. Their two long claws resemble perfectly serrated shears or “clippers,” capable of hewing fish in two. Luckily, the claws are not immediately fatal to larger creatures.

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The "boss" of this compendium is the king clipper: a large crab creature with Lair Actions, Legendary Actions, and attackable bits! Players will have to consider their attack strategies, whether attacking the clipper outright or first taking out the barnacles/anemone that boost its vitality and attack.

A couple things make this challenging, including the grappling bleeding claws that only healing can end, and a "bulwark shell" that drops low rolls on damage dice. This makes weapons with larger damage dice more valuable (Greataxe > Greatsword!) as well as Great Weapon Fighting Style, forcing a different tactic, while not being too punishing (dropping 1s and 2s isn't so bad in the grand scheme). Monks and rogues will have to find a different way to help for this one.

Finally, the lair and legendary actions add more variety, including summoning small CR 3 sand clippers to the king clipper's aid. The geyser lair action doesn't deal damage immediately, but encourages players to reposition. Also, the king clipper isn't inherently magical, so the lair actions should be described as various things the king clipper is doing, like screeching or smashing rocks.

This should be a really fun one :D