Carcass Crab

While the stench of this battlefield is horrid, nothing could have prepared you for what lies before you now. A monstrous crab, with claws as long as a man is tall, emerges from under the remains of the king's soldiers. Many of their bloated faces sticking at odd angles as their dead weight shifts and stretches across the creature's shell. Broken pieces of plate mail and old shields line the creature's legs, bound by spines and pus-colored glue. Peering from through the commander's helmet, his decaying face still inside, are four eye stalks, each no thicker than child's wrist.

Carcass Crab

CR 8

XP: 4,800

N Huge Magical Beast

Init: +1; Senses: darkvision 60', low-light; Perception +9

DEFENSE:

AC: 23, Touch 9, Flat-Footed 22 (-2 size, +1 Dex, +8 natural, +6 armor)

HP: 150 (12d10+72)

Fort: +13; Ref: +9; Will: +4

Defensive Abilities: spiny defense, adhesive

OFFENSE:

Speed: 30 ft

Melee: 2 claws +18 (2d6+8 plus grab), barb +11 ranged (1d4 plus poison, 20' rng)

Space: 15 ft.; Reach: 15 ft.

Special Attacks: Underbite +13 (1d6+4)

Poison: Barb - injury, save Fort DC 21; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d6 Dexterity damage; cure 1 save

STATISTICS:

Str 26, Dex 13, Con 20, Int 5, Wis 10, Chr 9

Base Atk: +12; CMB: +22 (+2 vs bull rush); CMD: 31 (+2 vs bull rush, +4 vs, trip)

Feats: Awesome Blow, Improved Bull Rush, Point Blank Shot, Power Attack, Precise Shot, Toughness

Skills: Perception +9, Stealth +1 (+8 circumstance bonus in battle grounds, charnel fields and similar terrain)

SPECIAL ABILITIES:

Underbite (Ex): The mandibles of a Carcass Crab are located under the body and pointed downward, thus preventing the carcass crab from biting anyone unless they are already grappled or otherwise under the Carcass Crab. If the Carcass Crab has someone grappled, treat this as the constrict monster ability, doing 1d6+4 each round of the grapple, except that it is piercing damage. Otherwise, treat this as a secondary natural attack but only against creatures in the same squares as the Carcass Crab.

Adhesive (Ex): Carcass Crabs incur no armor penalty from the additional bits and pieces they gather. Also, as a move action, the carcass crab can affix a single unattended object or incapacitated body of a size category at least two smaller than itself, pinning to its shell as per the grappling rules for being pinned. Doing so does not raise the armor bonus, but attempting to remove something from the adhesive surface requires a Strength check against a DC of 21. This DC is Constitution based, although an application of universal solvent automatically disolves the bonds of one Medium size creature.

Spiny Defense (Ex): Any time the Carcass Crab is successfully hit with a natural weapon or unarmed attack, the spiny carapace does 1d6 points of piercing damage back to the attacker.

ECOLOGY:

Environment: Warm temperate (preferring battle grounds, charnel fields and mass graves)

Organization: Solitary

Treasure: Incidental

Role: Combat

Source: ECB, pg. 277

The Carcass Crab is an example of what happens when prolonged, uncontrolled magic mutates the terrain and the lifeforms in that area. Related to the giant crab, the Carcass Crab is an ambush predator. It remains perfect still, usually lightly buried under the remains of dozens of dead bodies and other debris of war. Once a hapless wanderer walks nearby or, more likely, on top of the Carcass Crab, it quickly comes out of hiding, bull rushing the weakest away from the rest of the group, attempting to down its prey, stick it on its back and run off to eat in peace.

While more intelligent than a typical animal, Carcass Crabs are not likely to use a strategy that relies on group participation. They only gather for mating or when food sources get scarce enough to force them compete. They will, however, use the environment to their advantage, often hiding in areas that are prone to sinkholes or mudslides.

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