Pit Snatcher

Pit snatchers live in the tar pits of the desert world. Some sages believe these pits are no natural feature but scars left by life-draining magic so violent that the ground itself broke out in smoking sores of black ooze, and the pits the snatchers haunt are indeed hotter, smokier and fouler than any others under the red sun. The same sages guess the snatchers were once earth elementals caught in the soil when that magic tore the life out of the land, and are now tormented things that want only to pull others into their misery.

A snatcher is built like an earth elemental, but its body is dripping, steaming tar. Three holes in its head make crude eyes and a howling mouth that leaks fumes without pause. Its arms reach well over six feet beyond the pit's edge, and its grip leaves black stains on skin that never wash away. It shows cunning but has never been heard to use anything resembling speech.

Psionically it commands clairsentience (science: precognition; devotions: know location, know direction, feel light, feel sound) and telepathy (science: mind link; devotions: life detection, contact, attraction).

A snatcher lurks under the tar until it senses someone near, then bursts out and grabs at anything standing in arm's reach, up to six feet from the edge. A hit from either arm sticks the victim fast in clinging tar.

Every round afterward, both sides roll 1d20 and add Strength-based attack bonuses, with the snatcher getting +1. Beating the snatcher by 4 or more frees the victim, forcing the snatcher to grab again later. A snatcher margin of 4 or better means the victim is pulled into the pit, taking 3d8 damage at once and 1d8 each round after. Any closer result means a stalemate for that round. A captive may also attack in the same round, but then both the attack and the pulling roll suffer -2.

Its semi-fluid body takes only 1 point from slashing or piercing weapons, while blunt and magical weapons deal full damage. On a natural attack roll of 13 or 20, the searing tar burns a permanent black brand into the victim's skin. Some elf tribes take these marks as proof of treachery and will not trust the bearer; the region's gethrak merely regard the bearer as a fool who wandered too close to the pool.

A snatcher can seep through the ground up to 20 yards to surface in another tar pit. Hauled out of a pit, it sinks into the earth and reappears in a nearby pool 1d10+2 rounds later. Kept from tar for over an hour, it melts into a puddle of jelly and dies.

What these beings do down in the bubbling dark between victims is anyone's guess. Travelers say that on a still night, as tar bubbles pop, a patient listener can hear a low, wretched moan rising from below.

Faced with a cleric of elemental earth, a snatcher tries to reach out to the priest, but it has almost no way to express its strange wishes and eventually flies into a rage and attacks. Legend says such a priest could release a snatcher from its torment, but every one who has tried was dragged under when the creature lost patience.

Since a snatcher can move between nearby pits, explorers who mark one pool as dangerous and then turn their backs on the next are often lost; frequently, all that remains is a heap of abandoned gear spattered with tar. Victims' belongings settle at the bottom of the pool. The bolder folk around the ancient fallen city love to plan ways to fish them out, but if anyone has found a safe method, they have kept quiet, and the subject remains tavern talk.