Crabman

A crabman stands on two pairs of legs, about as tall as a human. Above them are two pairs of arms: short ones ending in small pincers for delicate work and long ones bearing heavy claws. Two eyestalks bob over a mouth of beak-like mandibles. Males are brightly colored; females run to green, black or reddish brown.

Crabmen are peaceful unless attacked, then fight back with their claws for 1d6 damage each. In some subspecies the males bear one oversized claw dealing 1d8. They never use weapons, and lost limbs or eyestalks regrow in 1-4 weeks.

When a tribe outgrows its food, though, it turns ravenous, attacking rival tribes and other shore dwellers and sometimes raiding seaside towns, assaulting anything that moves. These frenzies end within a few days, usually after the fighting has cut the population back to sustainable numbers.

Tribes live in sea caves or dig burrow complexes into coastal cliffs, each member keeping a private den around a central meeting hall. They scavenge carrion, strain algae and suck the nourishment out of mouthfuls of sand, spitting out hard, fist-sized pellets that give away a nearby lair.

The sexes are about equal in number and mate at any time of year. A female produces some 100 eggs within two weeks and lays them in the sea, where they hatch into soft, transparent larvae (AC 8, 1 HD, claws for 1-2 points of damage). After six months they molt, harden and move ashore. Eggs and larvae are delicious, so predators take most of them. Survivors molt and grow all their lives, up to a reported 10 feet, and live as long as 20 years.

A dominant elder with maximum hit points leads each tribe. Crabmen distrust outsiders and seldom deal even with other tribes, and their hissing, clicking language is all but impossible for humans to learn; a few sages know some basic words.

They craft seaweed weavings, driftwood carvings and shell structures, often fleeting but sometimes beautiful, thought to be religious and guarded jealously. They also crave shiny silvery metal, unable to tell silver, platinum and steel apart, and pile it in their lairs or shape it into sculptures. Tarnished pieces may be scraped bright again or simply discarded.

Collectors sometimes pay well for crabman art, though it is fragile and plant-based pieces rot. The creatures are reputedly delicious, especially legs and claws, and primitive coastal peoples, sahuagin in particular, raid their villages for meat. Shed shells soon turn brittle and make poor armor, but a claw serves as a passable club.