Dragon Fish
Huge, fang-crammed eels that track prey by scent, motion and electric sense, toy with the wounded before swallowing them whole, and hoard sunken metal in their lairs.
Appearance
Fishermen named these giant, cunning eels for their likeness to eastern serpent-dragons, but they are true fish, not reptiles. There are three kinds: the common dragon fish, the smarter and nastier electric dragon fish, and the saber-toothed dragon fish, whose fangs are too big to let it close its mouth. All can unhinge their jaws and shift their organs to gulp prey as large as themselves. The common and saber-toothed kinds have no language, though speak with animals can convey ideas to them; electric ones live in families and talk with clicks and pulses of current.
Combat
Tritons call them devil fish. Always hungry, they follow prey up to half a mile away by smell and water movement, then home in on its electrical aura, gaining +2 on surprise rolls.
Common and electric kinds sneak up on victims and then play with them like a cat with a mouse. A common dragon fish bites, lets the maimed prey go, and later trails the blood to finish it; when ready to eat, it swallows the target whole on an attack roll of 18 or more.
The electric kind stuns with jolts filling a 30-foot radius: 3-24 damage within 10 feet, 2-12 out to 20 feet and 1-8 out to 30 feet, halved by a save vs. breath weapon. Anyone hit must also save vs. paralyzation or spend 1d4 rounds stunned, without Dexterity bonuses to AC and at -2 to attacks and saves. It has three jolts per day and is immune to electricity.
The saber-toothed kind is less clever and less cruel, attacking openly out of plain hunger. Bigger than the common sort but unable to swallow prey whole past its teeth, it shreds victims with scissoring fangs and slurps up the remains.
Habitat and Society
They lair in sunken hulls or seafloor caves and amass large metal hoards, perhaps because metal conducts so well, preferring coins and armor to ore or nodules. Mating happens every third year, with live birth after 6-8 weeks. Common and saber-toothed males depart afterward, but electric males stay to form families. The young of all kinds remain in the nest about a year, until full size.
Ecology
They range hundreds of miles hunting, and deep-dwelling octopus communities that they raid consider them a grave danger.
More: Monsters starting with D · Dragon Magazine monsters · All monsters A-Z
Statistics
| Electric | Giant | Saber-toothed | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Climate/Terrain | Deep ocean/Any | Deep ocean/Any | Deep ocean/Any |
| Frequency | Very rare | Rare | Very rare |
| Organization | Family | Solitary | Solitary |
| Activity Cycle | Any | Any | Any |
| Diet | Carnivore | Carnivore | Carnivore |
| Intelligence | Low to Average (7-9) | Low (5-7) | Semi-(2-4) |
| Treasure | B, H | B | Bx2 |
| Alignment | Neutral (evil) | Neutral (evil) | Neutral |
| No. Appearing | 2-8 | 1 | 1 |
| Armor Class | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Movement | Sw 24 | Sw 18 | Sw 18 |
| Hit Dice | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| THAC0 | 15 | 15 | 14 |
| No. of Attacks | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Damage/Attack | 2-12 | 3-18 | 4-24 |
| Special Attacks | Jolt | Swallow whole | Nil |
| Special Defenses | See text | See text | See text |
| Magic Resistance | Nil | Nil | Nil |
| Size | L (8' long) | L (10' long) | L (12' long) |
| Morale | Steady (11) | Elite (13) | Champion (15) |
| XP Value | 750 | 650 | 975 |