Lasher Scallop

Small beast, unaligned

Armor Class 13
Hit Points 44 (8d6+16)
Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
14 (+2)	17 (+3)	14 (+2)	2 (-4)	14 (+2)	3 (-4)

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12
Languages –
Challenge 1/2 (100 XP)

Actions

• Multiattack. The lasher scallop makes three tentacle attacks.
• Tentacle. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 3 (1d3 + 2) bludgeoning damage and the target must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or the lasher’s tentacle sticks to it (escape DC 13). While stuck, the lasher scallop has advantage on attack rolls against the target and the target has disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws. The scallop can still use these stuck tentacles to attack, but only against the stuck target by constricting it. If all three of its tentacles are stuck, it no longer can make attacks of opportunity.
• Shell Retreat. The lasher scallop can retreat into its shell, making it much harder to strike. While in its shell the lasher scallop is AC 18 but its speed is 0.
• Reappear. The lasher scallop can come out from its shell, regaining its normal armor class and the ability to move.

About

Found in seacaves, shaded hollows along tidal shelves, and mangrove swamps, lasher scallops are agile and curious cephalopods that are equally at home on land and in the water. Their five tentacles are ideal for climbing around the tangled environs of the tunnels and forested hummocks, while their sharp eyes are able to penetrate the gloom of thick-canopied swamps and caverns alike. With strong limbs and an incredibly sharp beak they hunt insects, small mammals, as well as fallen fruit and mushrooms. Quick and ever alert for danger, lasher scallops flee larger predators when they must, but if threatened without the opportunity to escape they grab onto any available surface and retreat completely into their shell, offering no soft point for a potential threat to attack.

A lasher scallop measures three feet across without counting its tentacles and weighs 150 lbs.

Intelligent Bivalves. Extremely intelligent animals, lasher scallops commonly fashion simple tools from rocks and sticks and have been observed to have complex problem-solving skills. Social beasts, they can often be found in small family groups, or routs, that travel and forage together.

Naturally capable of metachrosis-the ability to change their pigmentation-they express their emotions via complex color bursts and patterns on their skin and can make whistling calls channeled through their shells to communicate over long distances.

Egg Layers. Lasher scallops reproduce by laying eggs, which the female will typically attach to the bottoms of roots, cave shelves, or tree limbs where the rout is nesting. The eggs take eight to twelve months to hatch, and stars can spawn roughly once a year, with the entire rout guarding the clutch. Lasher scallops mature within 5-7 years but rarely live beyond 20.

Curious Collectors. More curious than cautious, lasher scallops quickly overcome any fear they might have of the trappings of civilization. Attracted to the sounds and smells, they can be found around settlements of any size, and are particularly drawn to dumps and trash heaps for the easy foraging. Natural problem solvers with clever appendages, they are regarded as something of a nuisance as few places can be considered truly ‘lasher scallop proof ‘ from the always hungry little omnivores. Nothing short of a locked metal box can keep a lasher scallop away from provisions once it has caught the scent of them, and some naturalists joke that it is only a matter of time before the cephalopods figure out how to pick locks. It is not unusual for lasher scallops to steal other items as well, as they have an insatiable fascination with bright shiny things, which they invariably bring back to the rout nest.