| Standard | Large | Giant | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Climate/Terrain: | Warm salt and fresh water | Warm salt and fresh water | Warm salt and fresh water |
| Frequency: | Uncommon | Uncommon | Uncommon |
| Organization: | Solitary | Solitary | Solitary |
| Activity Cycle: | Any | Any | Any |
| Diet: | Carnivore | Carnivore | Carnivore |
| Intelligence: | Non- (0) | Non- (0) | Non- (0) |
| Treasure: | Nil | Nil | Nil |
| Alignment: | Neutral | Neutral | Neutral |
| No. Appearing: | 1-4 | 1-4 | 1-4 |
| Armor Class: | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Movement: | Sw 9 | Sw 8 | Sw 7 |
| Hit Dice: | 9 | 13 | 18 |
| THAC0: | 11 | 7 | 5 |
| No. of Attacks: | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Damage/Attack: | 4-16 | 3-18 | 5-20 |
| Special Attacks: | Nil | Nil | Nil |
| Special Defenses: | Nil | Nil | Nil |
| Magic Resistance: | Nil | Nil | Nil |
| Size: | G (50' long) | G (108' long) | H (180' long) |
| Morale: | Average (8) | Average (8) | Average (8) |
| XP Value: | 975 | 3,000 | 10,000 |
This is just what it sounds like: an enormous eel. There may be more than one species, as some have blunt heads, some pointed; some are reddish, some are blue or blackish-brown on top and white underneath, while still others are speckled (the speckled ones seem confined to the Mediterranean). Most seem built on the order of a greatly enlarged conger or moray eel. They are all different from the other "sea serpents" Heuvelmans describes due to the fact that we know they exist.
In 1930, the Danish oceanographer and biologist Dr. Anton Bruun was conducting a marine survey in the South Atlantic; one which included trawling the depths to see what lived down there. Among the specimens he brought back up was an elver (an eel larvae) six feet long. Normal elvers are only a few inches long at most, yet they can grow into 6 eels. Extrapolating from this, Dr. Bruun calculated that this elver might grow into an eel anywhere from 108-180 in length! A more conservative approach, assuming a slower growth rate, still suggests an eel 50 in length. To top this off, he brought the eel larvae up in the exact vicinity of one of the most famous sea serpent sightings of all time: that of the S.S. Daedalus in 1848. The drawings and descriptions of this creature are far more like an eel than anything else: an interesting coincidence, at the very least. The last I heard, Bruuns specimen was still preserved in alcohol at the Charlottenlund Marine Biological Laboratory, on the very outskirts of Copenhagen.
For AD&D® game purposes, the super eel should be treated as a giant eel, but one 50, 108, or 180' in length. Its swimming speed should be reduced to 8 and 7 for the last two versions, while the HD for the three specimens would be boosted to 9, 13, and 18, respectively. THAC0 for them is 11, 7, and 5. XP value is 975, 3,000, and 10,000 for the largest! Damage/Attack is 4-16, 3-18, and 5-20, while AC and all other stats are the same.
by Gregory W. Detwiler