Dune Trapper

To a lost traveler a dune trapper looks like rescue: up to an acre of greenery around a small, shining pool. Many who hurry toward it never leave.

When a victim drinks at or stands near the pool, which marks the creature's true center, the trapper drops into its pit and engulfs him; its sheer size makes an attack roll unnecessary. Every round it then bathes the prey in digestive fluid for 10d4 acid damage (save vs. paralyzation for half) until he is dissolved.

A trapped victim makes two Dexterity checks each round. Two successes mean he scrambles completely free unharmed. One failure means only a limb or similar part is held, and he suffers half damage automatically. Two failures mean he is swallowed and can use only psionics. A freed character wishing to fight must first dig for one round to uncover part of the trapper.

This symbiotic, parasitic plant-animal defies classification. It can reach an acre, 200 feet on a side, and digs a broad sand pit capped by its star-shaped head, buried an inch or so beneath the surface; only the middle of its throat stays uncovered. Its roots run miles down to deep water, and it pumps up just enough to fill a pool 5 to 50 feet wide that is never deeper than an inch. Animals that can smell water travel great distances to reach it. Though solitary, a trapper sometimes waters nearby plants to make the illusion more convincing.

Cut open, a dead trapper yields one quart of water for each of its hit points. Most humanoids find its flesh inedible, but four-armed desert giants consider it delicious.