Skip to content
CharGen Icon
CreatePricing
Brine-Bound Horror - AI-generated fantasy Monster

Brine-Bound Horror

Created by the Deep-Scholars of a sunken civilization, these horrors are sent to the surface whenever the Scriptorium's archives require new information. They target cities specifically to find 'complex' minds.

Monsters
Large construct · Hard · Rare

Brine-Bound Horror

A nautical abomination fused from maritime debris and necromantic kelp that serves as a collection agent for a forbidden undersea library.
AC16
HP136/136
CRHard
Init
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
ConditionsNone

Combat

AC 16 · HP 136 · Hard

Brine-Bound Horror

Large construct (undead), neutral evil
Armor Class16 (Natural Armor)
Hit Points136 (13d10 + 52)
Speed
30 ft.,
Swim 40 ft.
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
Saving ThrowsConstitutionWisdom
SkillsAthleticsPerception
Damage Resistances
Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks
Immunities
Poison,
Psychic
Weaknesses
Fire
Senses
Darkvision 60 ft.,
Passive Perception 14
Languages
Understand Common and Aquan but cannot speak
ChallengeHard
Waterlogged Resilience. The Horror has advantage on saving throws against being moved or knocked prone while in water.
Bioluminescent Pulse. While the Horror is below half its maximum hit points, it sheds bright blue light in a 20 foot radius and dim light for an additional 20 feet.
False Appearance. While the horror remains motionless and submerged, it is indistinguishable from a pile of shipwreck wreckage.

Actions

Multiattack. The horror makes two Anchor Slam attacks. It can replace one slam with a Harbor Haul attack if it has a creature grappled.
Anchor Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 16 () bludgeoning damage. If the target is a Medium or smaller creature, it is grappled (escape ). The horror has two anchors, each of which can grapple one creature.
Harbor Haul. The horror pulls one creature it is grappling into its rib-cage hull. The creature is restrained and has total cover against attacks and other effects outside the horror. At the start of each of the horror's turns, the restrained creature takes 10 () necrotic damage from the kelp drains. If the horror moves into water, the creature begins drowning.
Ghost-Light Discharge (Recharge 5-6). The kelp flares with blinding intensity. Each creature within 15 feet must make a Constitution saving throw or be blinded for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns.

Reactions

Spiteful Splash. When the horror takes more than 20 damage from a single source, it releases a spray of pressurized brine. All creatures within 5 feet must succeed on a Strength saving throw or be pushed 10 feet away.
Role
Heavy Grappler and Controller
Built for
7

Gear

  • Rusted Hull-Plating (Armor, 0)Armor made from the sides of merchant ships.

Feats

Tavern Brawler (Adapted for Anchors)

Augmentations

Necrotic Kelp Infusion

Notes for the game master

Creatures inside the 'hull' cannot be targeted from outside.
Fire damage suppresses the Bioluminescent Pulse trait for one round.
Drowning rules apply immediately if the horror submerges with a victim.

Tactics

  1. Opening

    The horror initiates combat from under a pier or in deep fog. It uses its reach to snatch the two least-armored targets with its anchors.

  2. Mid-fight

    Once it has 'collected' one or two victims, it uses Ghost-Light Discharge to blind remaining foes and retreats toward the water.

  3. End of the fight

    If heavily damaged, it uses its Reaction to clear space and dives into the harbor, dragging its haul down to the Scriptorium.

  4. Retreat

    The Horror is single-minded. It will not flee unless it has secured at least one captive. If it has a captive, it retreats at 50% health.

How it fights

Focus on grapples over raw damage.
Use the environment: drag players into the water where they have disadvantage.
Position so that the 'hull' protects its most vulnerable points.

Who it attacks first

Unarmored Casters (seen as high-value information sources)
Small-sized characters (easier to stuff into the hull)
Anyone holding a book or scroll

Works well with

Fog Cloud (natural or cast) makes the Horror's reach and grapples much more dangerous.
Water Elementals can provide cover for the Horror's retreat.

How to beat it

Freedom of Movement spell negates its primary threat.
Force movement (Repelling Blast) can push it away from the water.
Fire damage to slow its regeneration or lighting.

Ways to avoid a fight

A character with high Arcana or History can 'talk' to it in Aquan, offering a rare book in exchange for a captive.
Covering oneself in kelp and sea-rot may cause the Horror to perceive the character as 'processed' material and ignore them.

Ecology

A towering, hunchbacked mass of splintered ship hulls and barnacle-encrusted oak. Its 'arms' are massive rusted chains ending in jagged fluke anchors. Pulsating, neon-blue bioluminescent kelp weaves through the timber like veins, and a single lantern-like growth protrudes from a head made of a shattered figurehead.

Behavior

It moves with a rhythmic, wet grinding sound. It ignores gold and cargo, focusing entirely on living creatures. Once a target is subdued, it tucks them into a hollow cavity in its chest 'hull' to transport them beneath the waves.

How it lives

An artificial apex predator. It does not eat but requires fresh biological 'material' to fuel the bioluminescence that keeps its necrotic timber animated.

Lair

The Drowned Scriptorium, a submerged archive where the Horror deposits its captives to be harvested for their memories or turned into more kelp-growth.

Habitat
Coastal trade cities, dilapidated docks, foggy ship graveyards, and sewer outlets.

Signs that it is near

Large, rectangular gouges in wooden piers
Trails of glowing blue slime leading into the harbor
The smell of ancient, stagnant salt water and ozone
A rhythmic clanking of heavy iron chains heard through the fog

Tags

Oceanic,
Golemic,
Coastal

Lore

Created by the Deep-Scholars of a sunken civilization, these horrors are sent to the surface whenever the Scriptorium's archives require new information. They target cities specifically to find 'complex' minds.

What drives it

To fulfill its ancient directive: fetch 'fresh scrolls' (living beings) for the Scriptorium's masters.

After the fight

Once defeated, the kelp withers instantly, leaving a pile of mundane shipyard trash. However, the Scriptorium will likely send two more to investigate the 'failed retrieval' within 1d4 weeks.

Variants

The Barnacle King: A CR 12 version with legendary actions and a Shell Armor shell.
The Driftwood Scout: Medium sized, focuses on stealth and tracking.

Hooks

Plot hooks

The city's lead librarian has been snatched from her balcony by a 'clanking mass of wood'.
Trade has stopped because something is pulling dockworkers into the harbor at midnight.
An ancient ship's log was found, describing how to command the 'Hulks of the Scriptorium'.

How to use it

A night-time raid on a seaside tavern.
A sudden attack during a diplomatic meeting on a trade vessel.
Guardians of a flooded cellar in a city's warehouse district.

Treasure

The anchors contain 200gp worth of rare rusted iron alloys.
Inside the hull, 1d4 half-digested books with waterproof casings containing lost lore.
Glowing Kelp Fronds (can be used to brew Potions of Water Breathing).

Media

0 images

No images yet.

Visual sheet

Turn Brine-Bound Horror into a sheet

A high-res, share-ready sheet you can post or print.