Tentacle Crab

Large aberration, lawful evil

Armor Class 17 (natural)
Hit Points 29 (16d10+12)
Speed 20 ft.; swim 40 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
20 (+5)	10 (+0)	17 (+3)	6 (-2)	17 (+3)	14 (+2)

Saving Throws Wis +2
Damage Resistances piercing, slashing
Senses darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 12
Languages Aquan, Deep Speech
Challenge 10 (5,900 XP)

SPECIAL Traits

• Amphibious. The ulat-kini can breathe both air and water.
• Detachable tentacle. Once a tentacle crab has successfully grappled an opponent, it may use a reaction to detach the tentacle. The consistency of the gel that makes up the tentacle becomes extremely tacky, increasing the escape DC to 18. A typical creature has 4 tentacles and regrows a detached tentacle with a Recharge roll of 5-6.
• Regeneration. The tentacle crab regains 5 hit points at the start of its turn if it has at least 1 hit point.

ACTIONS

• Multiattack. The tentacle crab makes four attacks, two with its tentacles and two with its bite.
• Tentacle. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target, Hit: 14 (2d8+5) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a creature, it becomes grappled (escape DC 16).
• Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target, Hit: 10 (1d8+5) piercing damage.

This horse-sized crustacean has four arms, two on each end of its shell. The arms sprout bizarre ectoplasmic tentacles, which lash the air with abandon. Between each set of arms is a wicked-looking set of jaws. A long stalk rises from the center of its shell, bearing a grape- like cluster of dark eyes.

Tentacle crabs were created by the aboleth early in their reign to capture humanoids as slaves and to serve as beasts of war. Intelligent enough to follow complex orders yet not intelligent enough to question them, tentacle crabs still serve their overlords today, with a few feral specimens wandering lonely shorelines.

Tentacle crabs are straightforward fighters, grabbing foes worthy of capture in their tentacles and biting those that would not make good slaves to pieces with their jagged jaws. They generally keep two tentacles whole at all times, allowing shed tentacles to regenerate. A single crab may capture an entire fishing village, gathering up their shed tentacles and the victims they contain and dragging them back to the sea.

A tentacle crab is conditioned by instinct to follow the orders of any aboleth, and will do so without hesitation.

Many of them will also respond to orders given by skum, assuming the skum is confident. A weak-seeming skum is assumed to be unworthy, and promptly attacked. Skum, for their part, both desire the crabs as beasts of war, and hate them for their superior power.