Asquenti

Medium monstrosity, neutral

Armor Class 13 (natural armor)
Hit Points 45 (6d8 + 18)
Speed 20 ft., swim 60 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
14 (+2) 14 (+2) 16 (+3) 10 (+0) 12 (+1) 8 (-1)

Skills Nature +2, Survival +3
Damage Resistances thunder
Senses darkvision 60 ft., incredible sight, passive Perception 11
Languages Asquenti, Aquan
Challenge 2 (450 XP)

Special Traits

  • Incredible sight. The asquenti’s eyes pick up colors well beyond human range, and it can see perfectly in all light conditions. As long as it is not blinded, it is treated as if it has blindsight out to 60 feet.
  • Water Breathing. The asquenti can breathe only underwater.

Actions

  • Multiattack. The asquenti makes two attacks with its claws.
  • Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) bludgeoning damage.
  • Sonic Lance. Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 100 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) thunder damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be stunned for 1 round.
  • Sonic Pincer. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6+2) bludgeoning damage plus 5 (1d6 + 2) thunder damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be stunned for 1 round.

About

Asquenti live in the shallow upper reaches of the world’s oceans, using their innate sense of the waters around them to hunt for prey with their sonic lance. Once a foe is stunned, asquenti swarm them and finish them off with pincers, hoping to keep them stunned and non-resistant. As apex predators, they have undisputed dominance of their territories.

Asquenti colonies can have several thousand residents, and create wondrous coral cities, coaxing the living coral into useful structures. Scholars and technologists use a combination of subsonic frequencies and their knowledge of the marine world to rapidly increase coral growth and grow buildings in a matter of weeks. Asquenti colonies regularly patrol their territories, ensuring their food isn’t poached by others, as well as looking out for kraken agents lurking in the depths.

Toxin Intolerance. Their sense of the natural world around them is particularly sensitive to foreign technological or magical pollutants. Not only do these threaten their habitat and their food sources, but an excess of pollutants in their waters catalyzes biochemical reactions in asquenti. These changes affect their psychology to be more militant, and inflame their passions, causing them to attack the cause of the disruption. While this doesn’t turn asquenti into mindless killing machines, it does strengthen their martial instincts, causing most asquenti to become aggressive to all outsiders. Most asquenti assume land dwellers pollute their waters, and even when their home waters are pristine, asquenti have an innate distrust of land dwellers. Persistent peaceful overtures can overcome this distrust, especially in the asquenti who fail to succumb to their biochemical drives.

A typical asquenti stands 7 feet tall and weighs 500 pounds.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Sea Monsters (5E) © 2021, Legendary Games; Authors Michael Ritter, Michael “solomani” Mifsud, Robert J. Grady, Mark Hart, Jeff Ibach, Alex Riggs, Scott D. Young, Jeff Lee, Matt Kimmel, and Jason Nelson.

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