Eel

Eels are long, snake-like fish that are usually not aggressive. Nevertheless, nature has provided the various types of eels with interesting - and dangerous - methods of defense.

Electric Eels

Reaching 9' in length, the electric eel has a long, scaleless body. The eel swims using its two small pectoral fins and the long fin that stretches along 80% of its stomach, and is able to propel itself rapidly in any direction including backward. The coloration of an electric eel is mostly dull gray, though it often has a bright patch of red or green along its stomach and throat.

Combat: An attacking eel, whether in self-defense or hunting for food, will discharge a jolt of electricity. This charge has a 15-foot-radius range. Creatures less than five feet from the eel suffer 3d8 points of damage; creatures five to ten feet away receive 2d8 points of damage; all other creatures within range suffer 1d8 points of damage. An eel must recharge itself for an hour (six turns) between attacks.

If hunting, an eel will search the surrounding water for fish, frogs, or other creatures that are easily stunned or killed by its attack. As it has no teeth, an electric eel eats only small creatures it can swallow whole. If defending itself, an eel will seek to flee its attackers while they are recovering from the electric charge. The electric eel is immune to all electricity-based attacks.

Habitat/Society: Shallow, slow-moving, fresh water rivers in the warmer climates are the abodes of the electric eel. Not a social animal, the electric eel lives a solitary life when it is not breeding. However, when an eel discharges electricity, there is an 80% chance that 1-2 other nearby eels approach in the hope of securing something to eat.

Giant Eels

Giant eels usually dwell in warm salt water, though a few are found in fresh water (10%). They all have no electrical discharge attack. Instead, they attack with their teeth. Reaching up to 20' in length, these eels are ill-tempered and most often attack by darting out from a cave or crevice.

Marine Eels

These giant eels are large, salt water versions of the electric eel. Since they strike with amazing speed, marine eels receive a +1 bonus to initiative rolls. Growing from 20-40' in length, marine eels have a very powerful electrical discharge. This attack has a range of 15'; creatures less than 5' from the eel suffer 6d6 points of damage; those between five and ten feet receive 4d6 points of damage; all others in the range suffer 2d6 points of damage. Victims of the marine eel must also roll a successful saving throw vs. paralyzation or be stunned for a number of rounds equal to the damage they sustained from the electrical shock. However, the farther away a creature is from the eel, the greater its chance to save. If the victim is five to ten feet away from the eel, it gets a +1 bonus to its saving throw. Creatures ten to 15 feet away get a +2 bonus. A successful saving throw means that the victim still takes full damage. but he is not stunned by the electrical charge.

Weed Eels

These eels get their name from their remarkable resemblance to seaweed. In fact, they can be spotted by a trained observer only on a roll of 1 on 1d6. The bite of the weed eel is poisonous - victims that fail a saving throw vs. poison die in 1d4 rounds.

Weed eels are at home in both fresh and salt water, 25 to 40 feet deep. They live in loose, communal groups of 10 to 60 eels. Each colony has a lair consisting of an central cave, roughly 30' long and 20' wide and high. The floor of the central cave is covered with small stones, coins, and gems that the eels have scavenged. Radiating from this central cave are a series of six-foot-diameter tunnels, which in turn lead to a network of six- to eight-inch-diameter holes. These are the homes of the individual eels that make up the colony. Weed eels are fiercely protective of their lairs, especially the central cave where their young are raised.