Hodag
Description
As stout as a bull with a reptile's scaly, spiked body, hodags are legendary forest predators that hunt along the edges of civilization in thick woods. Green, gray, and black scales cover the beasts, helping them blend in amid underbrush, and sharp spikes stand along their backs and run down their powerful, dangerous tails. Loggers share stories of being followed by hodags and seeing their glowing red eyes in the otherwise oppressive darkness of the deep forest. In the wintertime, when snow and ice blankets the region, hodags grow a foul-smelling coat of greasy, dark brown fur that sprouts in tufts from between their scales.
Many believe that hodags are not simply strong beasts but rather unique and specific terrors that have lived and hunted certain woodlands for ages. Others living near such wildernesses, however, consider hodags a myth, nothing more than the sort of tall tale that is typical of excitable rural folk. A male hodag measures 10 feet long and weighs 700 pounds.
Combat Stats
- Melee
- bite +11 (1d8+4), 2 claws +11 (1d6+4), tail slap +11 (1d4+4)
- Space
- 10 ft.
- Reach
- 10 ft.
- Defensive Abilities
- ferocity
Ability Scores
Special Attacks
Spiked Tail — A hodag's tail spikes allow the creature's tail slap to deal both bludgeoning and piercing damage. A hodag's tail slap is a primary attack.
Toss — A hodag charging 20 feet or more that damages a foe with an attack can throw its foe with a special combat maneuver check. The opponent must be corporeal and at least one size category smaller than the hodag. If the combat maneuver check succeeds, the hodag's opponent is thrown 10 feet through the air in a direction chosen by the hodag and falls prone. The hodag can only toss its opponent in a straight line. If an obstacle prevents the creature's movement, both the creature tossed and the object struck take 1d6 points of damage, and the creature falls prone in the space adjacent to the obstacle. A hodag can also toss an opponent 10 feet up into the air. The victim lands in the same square it started in, falls prone, and takes 1d6 points of damage.
Special Qualities
Trackless — A hodag sweeps its tail behind itself in a way that obscures its tracks. Attempts to track a hodag have their normal DC increased by +10.
Feats
Special Abilities
Universal Monster Rules
Special Abilities
Feats, Traits & Items
Once per day, you may reroll a Will save. You must decide to use this ability before the results are revealed. You must take the second roll, even if it is worse.
You can choose to take a –1 penalty on all melee attack rolls and combat maneuver checks to gain a +2 bonus on all melee damage rolls. This bonus to damage is increased by half (+50%) if you are making an attack with a two-handed weapon, a one handed weapon using two hands, or a primary natural weapon that adds 1-1/2 times your Strength modifier on damage rolls. This bonus to damage is halved (–50%) if you are making an attack with an off-hand weapon or secondary natural weapon. When your base attack bonus reaches +4, and every 4 points thereafter, the penalty increases by –1 and the bonus to damage increases by +2. You must choose to use this feat before making an attack roll, and its effects last until your next turn. The bonus damage does not apply to touch attacks or effects that do not deal hit point damage.
When you use the attack action, you can make one attack at your highest base attack bonus that deals additional damage. Roll the weapon's damage dice for the attack twice and add the results together before adding bonuses from Strength, weapon abilities (such as flaming), precision based damage, and other damage bonuses. These extra weapon damage dice are not multiplied on a critical hit, but are added to the total.
Skills
Climb +10, Perception +7, Stealth +2, Swim +8
- Type
- Magical Beast
- Alignment
- N
- Size
- Large
- Environment
- temperate forests or marshes
- Organization
- solitary
- Treasure
- incidental
- Senses
- darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent; Perception +7
- Languages
- Common (cannot speak)
- Source
- Bestiary 3