Amphi Dragon

Born of a green dragon crossed with a sea dragon, this one-of-a-kind hybrid is among the cruelest, most repellent things in the ocean, sharing the green's hatred of all good creatures. It has a green dragon's smooth, supple deep green scales, but the shape of a giant toad, with useless stubby wings, webbed feet, bony ridges around small black eyes, and yellow warts all over. On land its rotten-egg reek carries 100 yards. It speaks its own tongue and the evil dragon tongue and can make itself understood by every human and demihuman people.

Flightless and ungainly ashore, it can still leap 18 feet across or 6 feet up every other round, though it cannot move the round after a jump. It would rather bury itself in the mud of the seabed and wait. It attacks almost unprovoked and considers any size of creature prey, breathing first and then using fore claws and bite, while saving tongue attacks for lone targets, particularly smaller ones. It may deliberately stretch out a kill to enjoy the victim's last struggles.

The breath is a 60-foot-long, 3-foot-wide jet of acid whose damage depends on age; a save vs. breath weapon halves it. It works as well in water as in air and recharges every three rounds.

The tongue reaches 2 feet per age category and needs only to hit AC 10. A victim stuck to it is pulled to the mouth at the round's end, then bitten automatically each round until the tongue suffers 12 or more damage and lets go. A victim reduced to 0 hit points is swallowed the next round.

Acid constantly seeps from the warts, so every melee attacker must pass a Dexterity check or take 1d6 damage. Amphibious from birth, it can also match its skin to its surroundings and is 80% undetectable while camouflaged and motionless. Once-daily powers come with age: detect magic (adult), suggestion (old) and darkness, 15' radius (wyrm).

Too idle to build real lairs, amphi dragons settle in wrecks or empty undersea caves. Every other ocean dweller, including other amphi dragons, avoids them. Mothers desert their hatchlings within days, and only about one in four survives.

They eat nearly anything but favor live prey, above all the deep-dwelling and shallow-water sea elves. They also scavenge seabed refuse and eat algae, seaweed, fish and minerals.