Bunyip

About 6 feet long, the bunyip looks like a shark crossed with a seal. Unlike a seal it cannot leave the water at all, and like a shark it breathes through gills. Shaggy black hair covers its body, along with a long mane that is nearly always dark gray or black. It is not evil, just mischievous, but its bulk and strong jaws mean its play often seriously injures swimmers, and it can flip small boats.

A latent telepathy warns a bunyip when humans or similar beings approach. It then has a 50% chance to confront them by raising its head and letting out a huge roar; characters below 4th level must save vs. wand at -2 or flee in panic for 2d4 rounds. Its shearing bite deals 1d6 and may do worse to small creatures.

It is 80% likely to go after a small creature swimming or floundering in the water, such as a dwarf, gnome, or halfling, and on a natural 20 its bite takes off a limb and swallows it, with the DM choosing which limb by circumstance or at random. It does not normally bother anything bigger than a dwarf or halfling, but a bunyip that is attacked and cannot escape will fight a foe of any size.

Blood in the water excites it; there is a 50% chance it goes into a feeding frenzy and attacks anything nearby, gaining +2 to hit while its neglected defenses give enemies +2 to hit it as well.

Bunyips live alone, swimming, feeding at leisure, and now and then pestering other creatures. They prefer lakes and rivers but sometimes live in swamps and marshes. Once a year a bunyip finds a mate and the pair journeys to the sea. In salt water the female changes slightly and mating takes place. She bears a single pup three months later; the father soon heads back to his old home to wait for the next season.

The pup stays with its mother for two years, after which she sends it off and returns home herself. At that age it has only 3 Hit Dice and a 1d4 bite but is otherwise like an adult. It cannot mate for another three years and joins the rituals in its sixth year.

Fish and other aquatic animals make up most of its diet. When food is scarce it may lunge at creatures at the water's edge or at birds flying low. Its meat is edible but oily and strong-flavored, so few peoples hunt it, and its hide makes tough leather no better than that of easier game. Trappers therefore mostly leave it alone, apart from accidental catches. More of a problem is the bunyip that learns to set off traps or steal the animals caught in them.