RMA: Giant...Fish?

Now this is an interesting one. Well, several really. I've talked before about aquatic encounters of various types, but it seems that whole topic is incomplete without discussing this listing. 

Giant fish covers unusually large versions of more or less real-world fish; including piranha, rockfish, catfish, and sturgeon. When the books says "giant", it means it! These are some big guppies! Unsurprisingly, none of these are found wandering in dungeons, they are either wilderness or placed encounters only.

Let's put the stat table up for a peek, shall we?

Giant Fish (from Cook)

Just looking at things like AC, HD, and damage, these are not trivial encounters. Especially when the added challenge of most such confrontations would be in or under the water.

Giant Piranha: Let's just take a moment to appreciate the fact that the "wimpy" one on this list is a GIANT PIRANHA which, by the by, are five feet long! Growing up in the 70s, I was personally convinced the three most likely ways nature would take me out would be: Shark, Piranha, or Killer Bees. And those piranha were less than a foot long! Moving on, these monsters aren't unstoppable brutes, but even 3+ HD means they aren't something you just one-hit away. Couple that with their morale-less frenzy and up to eight of them on a single target dealing 1d8 each, that's a bad time for their fella that gets ganged up on. 

Giant Spiny Rockfish: While the listing doesn't specify how big this fish is, given that it has more HD than the piranha and is sometimes mistaken for boulders, at least 6' seems not unreasonable. It's size isn't really the issue. The fact that one might not recognize it and get to close is the problem. Not only does it have a poison attack, it had FOUR of these per round! The spines do 1d4 regardless, so up to 16 damage is still a cause for concern. The spines are melee only, but if you don't realize what your dealing with there in the shallows and actually step on or grab hold of that "rock", the fish automatically hits all four times! And yes, that means FOUR save or die rolls. It's also worth noting that the poison gives no "time until effect" meaning an insta-kill. It's AC isn't great, though, so it's not exactly unkillable. It also has a skittish morale, as befits a creature that relies on camouflage. What's odd about the listing in Cook is that it has no asterisk next to the HD denoting bonus XP for extra abilities. 4 attacks with poison would seem to merit that in my opinion.

Giant Catfish: Now things are getting serious. Fifteen feet long! Eight-plus hit dice! 2d8 bite damage! The giant cat's big guns are its feelers, though. Those bring it up to FIVE attacks and up to 32hp damage dealt in one round! Again, not a great morale score, but a markedly better AC than the earlier entries.

Giant Sturgeon: Oof! This thing approaches dragon levels of difficulty. 30' long, 10+ HD, and AC 0! What's more, they swallow whole 10% of the time and the victim stands a fair chance of being immobilized while taking 2d6 damage per round in the fish's gullet. And that's after taking 2d10 damage from the bite! 

 

What's the worst thing about all of these encounters, you ask? It's not the damage per round, or the fact that you're probably fighting them in their element (and out of yours), it's the treasure! Rather, the lack thereof. Imagine having to battle your way clear from a school of piranha, or kill a rockfish after it poisoned a party member, or gut a PC's corpse out of a sturgeon gut, only to get not a single copper piece from the monster toward the raise dead fund! talk about a poor ROI.

Looking at these creatures less as monstrous foes and more like dangerous, fantastic animals that are part of your game-world probably casts them in a more accurate light for the PCs. It's like encountering a bear in the woods. Chances are, he's not why you're there. Be careful, keep your distance, and things will probably be fine. Act recklessly or be inattentive, and there could be consequences.

RMA: Nixies

I thought I'd spend a little time looking at some of the more "fairy tale" creatures in the monster listings. Many are lifted right out of classic folklore and I think can be a real plus to giving a setting more of a fantasy/fantastic tone.

Usually, when I've talked about aquatic encounters in the past, I've focussed on the nautical. Nixies are river and lake dwellers, as opposed to mermaids and the like. They occur on the river and swamp wandering monster tables (there is no "Lake" table).

Nixie (from Cook)-

AC: 7
HD: 1
Move: 120' (40')
Att: 1
Dmg: 1d4
No. App.: 0 (2-40)
Save: E1
Morale: 6
AL: N
Treasure: B

There are many variations of this creature in folklore, but in BX nixies are described as 3' tall water sprites, resembling beautiful women with green, blue or gray-green skin. The AD&D version includes both genders and are slightly taller. I find the 1e version a bit too "monster" and not "fae" enough for my taste.

At 1 HD and AC 7, it's small wonder that they are shy of combat (see the Morale score). While they do have weapons, they are hardly formidable (1d4). Of course, the point of the nixie as an encounter is not to have them attack the party.

The nixies' charm ability is particularly interesting to me for a few reasons. First off, it takes ten of them to charm a target. At 2d20 appearing at or near their lairs, it's likely that at least one PC could be targeted. I imagine this as a chorus. A song with a literally enchanting harmony that throws its web over the character's will.

Some creatures, such as a harpy, use their charm effects to bypass a character's defenses and then slay him. Not so the nixie. They will take the character under the water and keep him as a slave for a year. So the PC isn't dead, but is will be out of the adventuring game for a while without rescue. Further, unlike the spell charm person, the character gets no opportunity after the initial saving throw to break the charm before the year is up. I assume things like dispel magic will do the trick, though.

Next, it mentions that the nixies can cast water breathing on their slaves, but needs to be renewed daily. This is an interesting little tweak as well. It ensures that their slaves can be kept well away from the surface, making rescue that much more difficult.

A final bit of interesting magic is their ability to summon GIANT BASS to their aid! These fish are a bit more hardy than the nixies (2HD), but are not individually terrifying. What's scary is that EACH nixie can summon one fish. Now I'm extrapolating a bit here, but under the Giant Fish entry on X31-32, the closest type in HD to the bass is the giant piranha. (3+3 HD vs. 2). The piranha is described as 5' long. So I'd put the bass at approximately 3' long, which would weigh in at about 25 pounds.

Let's imagine the party is crossing a river or lake on a rowboat or similar and a dozen or so nixies show up. They croon one of the PCs into servitude and he starts climbing out of the boat.

Well of course his buddies aren't going to stand by and just let that happen, so they attack. The nixies summon twelve 3' long bass to defend them and all 300 pounds of these fish start shoving and rocking the boat. Next thing you know, the PCs are in the drink and at a serious disadvantage.

That said, I repeat that I don't think the nixies are best used as a combat encounter. I see the fae types not so much evil or malign as alien. Their concepts of morality is totally different from mortals. If they are immortal like in some fairy tales, why would the character make such a fuss about staying with them for a year?

Some ideas for nixie-related fun: The nixies might have useful information, or maybe they can retrieve something under the water for the PCs. If they want a slave, but the PCs aren't going to give up one of their own (and saving throws are made), bargaining with fairies is always rich meat for plot wrinkles. Since they are pretty much aquatic, maybe they want something from dry land they can't get themselves? If nothing else, an underwater adventure to rescue someone taken by the nixies might make a fun side quest.