Lusca
This beast has three sharklike heads on short, scaly necks, while its lower body appears to be that of an octopus.
Lusca CR 17
Source Bestiary 5 pg. 161, Isles of the Shackles pg. 53
XP 102,400
CE Gargantuan magical beast (aquatic)
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +28
Defense
AC 32, touch 6, flat-footed 32 (+26 natural, –4 size)
hp 270 (20d10+160)
Fort +20, Ref +12, Will +11
Immune electricity, poison
Offense
Speed 10 ft., swim 40 ft., jet 200 ft.
Melee 3 bites +27 (2d8+11/19–20), 8 tentacles +26 (1d8+5 plus grab)
Space 20 ft., Reach 20 ft.
Special Attacks constrict (1d8+5 plus poison), rend ship, vicious grapple
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 18th; concentration +22)
3/day—chain lightning (DC 20), geyser (DC 19)
1/day—summon (level 8, 1d4+1 dire sharks 50%), vortex (DC 21)
Statistics
Str 32, Dex 11, Con 26, Int 13, Wis 21, Cha 18
Base Atk +20; CMB +35 (+39 grapple); CMD 45
Feats Awesome Blow, Critical Focus, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical (bite), Improved Initiative, Multiattack, Power Attack, Sickening Critical, Snatch, Weapon Focus (tentacle)
Skills Perception +28, Stealth +11, Swim +42
Languages Aquan, Common
SQ vicious grapple
Ecology
Environment warm oceans
Organization solitary
Treasure double
Special Abilities
Poison (Ex) Constrict—injury; save Fort DC 28; frequency 1/ round for 6 rounds; effect 1d6 Dex; cure 2 consecutive saves.
Rend Ship (Ex) As a full-round action, a lusca can attempt to use four of its tentacles to grapple a ship of its size or smaller by attempting a combat maneuver check opposed by the ship captain’s Profession (sailor) check; the lusca receives a cumulative +4 bonus on the check for each size category smaller than Gargantuan the ship is. If the lusca grapples the ship, it holds the ship motionless; it can attack targets anywhere on or within the ship with its remaining four tentacles, but can’t attack foes at all with its shark heads. Each round it maintains its hold on the ship, it automatically deals bite damage from all three heads to the ship’s hull.
Vicious Grapple (Ex) A lusca does not gain the grappled condition if it grabs a foe with its tentacles. It can attempt to maintain a grapple against any number of creatures in its tentacles as a swift action.
Description
Luscas are among the most feared predators in the open ocean—their snapping shark heads and writhing tentacles spell the end for many crews. A lusca’s presence can first be felt in the air, as its body naturally conducts electricity. Sailors who have encountered the being and survived claim that thunderclouds seem to roll in alongside the creature and strange electrical f ires dance in the air before it attacks, lending an eerie aura of foreboding to the oncoming assault. Ravenous and unpredictable, a lusca claims wide swaths of territory in order to maximize the number of ships it can sink and crews it can feast upon; luscas brook no other large predators in their claimed territory, and battle even mighty krakens for control. They are equally territorial with their own kind, and an encounter between two luscas, except to mate, almost always ends with one dead or driven off. While luscas prefer to make quick meals of the sailors onboard a ship, they will eat just about any aquatic creature, and even giant octopuses and whales know to steer clear of a hungry lusca’s vicinity.
The average lusca is 90 feet from tentacle to snout and weighs 3,800 pounds. Legends tell of even larger luscas that can sink Colossal ships.
