Medium monstrosity, unaligned
Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
Hit Points 58 (9d8 + 18)
Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft.
Proficiency Bonus +2
Proficiency Bonus +4 (5th Edition Advanced Mode)
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 (+3) | 13 (+1) | 14 (+2) | 3 (-4) | 10 (+0) | 3 (-4) |
Skills Perception +2; Stealth +5.
Senses blindsight 60 ft., passive Perception 12
Languages —
Challenge 3 (700 XP)
Adhesive Filament. The cave fisher can use its action to extend a sticky filament up to 60 feet, and the filament adheres to anything that touches it. A creature adhered to the filament is grappled by the cave fisher (escape DC 13), and ability checks made to escape this grapple have disadvantage. The filament can be attacked (AC 15; 5 hit points; immunity to poison and psychic damage), but a weapon that fails to sever it becomes stuck to it, requiring an action and a successful DC 13 Strength check to pull free. Destroying the filament deals no damage to the cave fisher, which can extrude a replacement filament on its next turn.
(suggested) Should a tempting target escape the monster’s neatly laid traps, the cave fisher will try another mode of attack. It will spend one round drawing its filament in and then shoot it at the prey, striking with advantage this time.
Flammable Blood. If the cave fisher drops to half its hit points or fewer, it gains vulnerability to fire damage.
Spider Climb. The cave fisher can climb difficult surfaces including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.
ACTIONS
- Multiattack. The cave fisher makes two attacks with its claws.
- Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) slashing damage.
- Filament. One creature grappled by the cave fisher’s adhesive filament must make a DC 13 Strength saving throw, provided that the target weighs 200 pounds or less. On a failure, the target is pulled into an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the cave fisher, and the cave fisher makes a claw attack against it as a bonus action. Reeling up the target releases anyone else who was attached to the filament. Until the grapple ends on the target, the cave fisher can’t extrude another filament.
5th Edition Advanced Mode
Limiting the power of a character and making the overall difficulty of the game harder, does not reduce the creativity, indeed it does quite the opposite.
The Game Master has the option to use any and all of the instances proposed in this guide, or just some of them according to their preference.
It is the lack of something that move and motivate characters, not the abundance of it
DESCRIPTION
A cave fisher is a monstrous creature that resembles a giant lobster with a long, sticky filament that it uses to catch its prey. It has a hard, chitinous shell of overlapping plates that protects it from attacks, and two large claws that can crush bones. It has no eyes, but relies on its blindsight and auditory sensors to locate its prey. It has a long snout that can fire its filament at any creature that wanders by. It can grow up to 7 feet long and weigh up to 400 pounds.
COMBAT
A cave fisher hunts by hiding on ledges or ceilings above passageways and shooting its filament at any creature that wanders by. The filament is very sticky and strong, and can adhere to anything that touches it. A creature stuck to the filament is grappled by the cave fisher and slowly reeled in. The cave fisher then attacks with its claws, tearing its prey apart. The filament is very hard to cut, and any weapon that fails to sever it becomes stuck to it as well. The only way to escape the filament is to make a strength check with disadvantage, or to use fire, which the cave fisher fears. Fire can also damage the cave fisher’s blood, which is flammable.
HABITAT / SOCIETY
Cave fishers live in dark, underground environments, such as caves, dungeons, or mines. They prefer areas with high ceilings and ledges where they can ambush their prey. They are not very social creatures, and usually hunt alone or in small groups of less than five. They are intelligent enough to avoid large groups of enemies, and to coordinate their attacks with other cave fishers. However, they are also greedy and territorial, and will fight over food or territory with other cave fishers. They have no use for clothing, armor, or weapons, and their lairs are often littered with the possessions of their former victims.
Cave fishers prefer living on ledges and caves located above well traveled paths, sharing their lairs with others of their kind. No more than four cave fishers will be found in one lair. Their filaments are always strung before their lair, and they attempt to kill anything they trap, often storing food for future use.
Their territories are very small, and never larger than about 300 feet to either side of the lair. Anything man-sized or smaller is considered fair game by the cave fisher and halflings are thought to be tasty treats.
A single cave fisher would never attack a large, well armed party for the sake of a single meal. Still, they are cunning, and a group of the monsters might reel in filaments and attempt an ambush if they thought they could get away with it. If hunting in one area becomes scarce, the cave fisher will simply find a new area to hunt where the small game is more plentiful and careless.
Females lay eggs in the vicinity of the lair, which they protect from predators. The young scatter when the eggs hatch, seeking lairs of their own.
ECOLOGY
Cave fishers are carnivorous creatures that feed on any living thing they can catch with their filaments. They have a voracious appetite and will eat as much as they can when they have the opportunity. They will also store extra food in their lairs, wrapping it in filaments and sticking it to a surface for later consumption. They have few natural predators, as most creatures avoid their hunting grounds or are unable to reach them. They are sometimes hunted by adventurers or explorers who seek their valuable shells or blood, which can be used for crafting or alchemy. Cave fishers have a long lifespan of over 100 years.
The cave fisher preys primarily on small flying game, such as bats. It is not the top predator in its ecological niche, and has learned caution in dealing with other monsters.
The cave fisher is sufficiently intelligent to know the dangers of preying on large well-organized groups, who might grow tired of its depredations and hunt it to extinction. The monster instinctively picks the easiest route for survival, and relies on stealth and cunning to trap its prey and avoid being eaten itself.
The filaments of the cave fisher are highly prized by many thieves’ guilds, for they can be made into thin and very strong rope which is nearly invisible. The filaments are wound onto reels and then specially treated to dilute the adhesive.
The resulting strands are made into ropes, while the diluted adhesive is turned into a special solution, which when applied to gloves and boots, greatly increases traction for climbing.