Deep Sea Star
Monsters that have minions are a classic, but villains have to innovate to keep up with the times. To help, we offer you the latest in hero-devouring technology: a monster made of minions.
The Deep Sea Star, like its more mundane cousins, regrows severed limbs, and its severed limbs regenerate full sea stars. Even worse, a seemingly dead star will usually reawaken barely an hour later, meaning a single star can quickly turn into many, many monsters. And, unlike their docile cousins, every Deep Sea Star hates you, and will kill you. Without specially tailored methods, hurting a Deep Sea Star will only propagate more mouths for it to use to eat you.
Players might have trouble exterminating a Deep Sea Star infestation even with some planning, but a particularly diabolical DM could even use the star as a random encounter with especially dire consequences for an inattentive party. If they aren't careful, your players might cause an infestation themselves with only a few solid Attack actions! And that's to say nothing of what a villain with a sturdy cage and an axe could get up to over only a few days.
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Deep Sea Stars
Five-limbed masses of undulating flesh, these starfish-like horrors can be found anywhere in the ocean where the water is deep enough to support coral reefs or other bottom- dwelling creatures. Ravenous beasts, deep sea stars have two predominant behaviors— hunting and eating. They are too slow to reliably chase down prey, but are capable of lying in ambush - often on walls or ceilings - and if one can get ahold of a creature, it crushes it with powerful arms then stuffs it into a teeth-lined maw upon its belly.
Dark Harvest. Deep sea stars reproduce through the willful shedding of their limbs in pit or valley-like spawning grounds. They then enter a feeding frenzy, consuming many of the resulting spawnlings - those strong or wily enough to remain uneaten until they achieve maturity form the next generation.
Simple Predators. Deep sea stars are single minded when it comes to hunting. Only able to eat one thing at a time, they chase off competition by battering it while restraining their chosen prey with a vice-like grip. Because of their slow speed and simple intellect, it’s easy to get away from one so long as it hasn’t latched onto you already. If presented with multiple targets, a deep sea star can recognize physical prowess, and will target the weakest potential meal first.
Resilient and Relentless. While slow and dim witted, deep sea stars are extremely difficult to kill. They can eat almost anything and if allowed to shed or spawn, can quickly become a plague that threatens entire regions. In spite of this, many of the sea’s larger denizens such as aboleths, krakens, and dragon turtles consider deep sea stars to be a delicacy, and will snap them up when opportunity arises. While this can help to keep deep sea star populations down, particularly messy eaters often do more harm than good by leaving many limbs behind, only resulting in more of the bothersome creatures to deal with.
Deep Sea Star
Large Monstrosity, Unaligned
Armor Class 13 (natural armor)
Hit Points 200 (21d10 + 84)
Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft., swim 40 ft.
STR 19 (+4)
DEX 9 (-1)
CON 18 (+4)
INT 2 (-4)
WIS 11 (+0)
CHA 5 (-3)
Skills Athletics +7, Stealth +5, Survival +3
Damage Resistances cold, thunder; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks
Condition Immunities prone
Senses blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 10
Languages —
Challenge 7 (2,900 XP) Proficiency Bonus +3
Amphibious. The deep sea star can breathe air and water.
Spider Climb. The deep sea star can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.
Limb Regeneration. The deep sea star has five limbs, each of which can be used for movement or attacking. When the deep sea star takes 15 or more damage at once, one of its limbs is severed. At the end of the deep sea star’s turn, if it has fewer than five limbs and has not taken any acid or lightning damage since the end of its previous turn, it regrows a limb and regains 25 hit points.
If a deep sea star is reduced to 0 hit points and has not taken any acid or lightning damage since the end of its last turn, it goes dormant instead of dying. A dormant deep sea star regenerates all of its limbs and returns to life with half of its hit points after 1 hour.
Spontaneous Revival. Severed deep sea star limbs can suddenly spring to life. At initiative count 0, roll a d6 for every severed limb. On a 6, a limb springs to life as a deep sea star spawnling. A limb has an AC of 13 and automatically fails saving throws. If a limb was severed using acid or lightning damage, or is dealt acid or lightning damage after being severed, this trait no longer functions for it.
Actions
Multiattack. The sea star makes a slam attack for each unoccupied limb it has, then uses its engulf attack if it has at least one unoccupied limb.
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit 7 (1d6 + 4) bludgeoning damage.
Engulf. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) The target is grappled (escape DC 15) and is restrained while it is grappled. While grappling a creature in this way the sea star’s speed is reduced to 0. The sea star can grapple a number of creatures at one time up to the number of limbs it has.
Crush. Melee Weapon Attack: automatic hit, reach 5 ft., one target grappled by the deep sea star. Hit: The deep sea star deals 14 (3d6+4) bludgeoning damage for each limb it has.
Deep Sea Spawnling
Small Monstrosity, Unaligned
Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 33 (6d6 + 12)
Speed 10 ft., climb 10 ft., swim 20 ft.
STR 16 (+3)
DEX 15 (+2)
CON 14 (+2)
INT 2 (-4)
WIS 11 (+0)
CHA 5 (-3)
Damage Resistances cold, thunder; bludgeoning, slashing, and piercing from nonmagical attacks
Condition Immunities prone
Senses blindsight 30 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 10
Languages —
Challenge 3 (700 XP) Proficiency Bonus +2
Amphibious. The spawnling can breathe air and water.
Rapid Maturation. If a spawnling has not taken any acid or lightning damage for 10 minutes, it becomes a deep sea star with two limbs and half of its maximum hit points.
Regeneration. The spawnling regains 5 hit points at the start of its turn. If the spawnling takes acid or lightning damage, this trait doesn't function at the start of the spawnling's next turn. The spawnling dies only if it starts its turn with 0 hit points and doesn't regenerate.
Actions
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) bludgeoning damage.