Oathpool Sentinel
This hazard is the drowned oath of the swamp given shape by bone, blood, and old warning rites. It does not hunt like a beast so much as rise when its boundary is crossed, dragging trespassers into the depths and battering them against roots, stones, and submerged jaws. It is meant to feel like the swamp itself has decided to defend a secret.
Oathpool Sentinel
Defenses
Detection
“A shallow black pool lies unnaturally still among the reeds, ringed by half-submerged bones and sunken totems carved like open jaws. At the waterline, pale bubbles rise in slow, steady breaths, and the mud around the pool bears the drag marks of something large that never fully came ashore.”
Standard Engagement
A creature enters the marked pool, crosses the bone ring, or disturbs the submerged fetishes without offering proper tribute.
On the round after it is triggered, the oathpool surges. One creature in or adjacent to the water takes Drowning Grip, and the pool becomes difficult terrain until the start of the hazard's next turn. If a creature is already grabbed, the hazard targets that creature first. If no creature remains in or near the water, the pool still churns and the fetishes emit a low croak, warning nearby creatures that the guardian is awake.
The hazard resets after 10 minutes of undisturbed water, or immediately if another living beast enters the pool and the fetishes remain intact.
A tendril of black water lashes out at one creature in the hazard's reach. The target must attempt a DC 26 Reflex save. Critical Success: No effect. Success: The creature takes 2d6 bludgeoning damage and is pushed 5 feet. Failure: The creature takes 4d6 bludgeoning damage, is pushed 10 feet, and falls prone if it ends this movement in water or difficult terrain. Critical Failure: The creature takes 6d6 bludgeoning damage, is pushed 15 feet, falls prone, and is grabbed until the start of the hazard's next routine.
The water surges with foul pressure and mud boils up around the target's legs. A creature grabbed by the hazard must hold its breath if it can breathe air, and it takes a -2 circumstance penalty to checks made to Escape or Swim until it is no longer grabbed.
While a living beast remains in the pool, the guardian's first routine after being triggered targets the beast instead of the nearest humanoid, unless the beast leaves the water or is slain.
If the hazard is disabled by breaking the fetishes, the pool remains safe for 24 hours but still contains the bones, murk, and half-submerged altar that hint at its former purpose.
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