Taking 20 Podcast - Ep 181 - Monster Series - Ambush Predators

Episode Date: July 2, 2023

Your PCs tend to stroll through life like everything is great.  They're walking through the Underdark, not a care in the world, oblivious to everything down here that wants to eat you.  It's time to remind them that they may not be the apex predators in the dark places of the world.  In this episode I talk about using ambush predators in your game, including one strong caution about how they can make your players feel.    #dnd #pathfinder #dmtips #ambushpredators   Resources: The Monsters Know What They’re Doing by Keith Amman:  https://www.themonstersknow.com/roper-tactics/ 5e Piercer - https://www.aidedd.org/dnd/monstres.php?vo=piercer  Lurker - https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Lurker  PF2e cloaker - https://2e.aonprd.com/Monsters.aspx?ID=82  5e cloaker - https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/16826-cloaker  Taking 20 Podcast Episode 121 - Earthfall https://taking20.podbean.com/e/ep-121-lore-series-earthfall-on-golarion/  Taking 20 Podcast Episode 164 - Death of Aroden https://taking20.podbean.com/e/ep-164-lore-series-death-of-gods-and-aroden/  PF2e Invisible Stalker - https://2e.aonprd.com/Monsters.aspx?ID=179  5e Invisible Stalker - https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/16934-invisible-stalker  Taking 20 Podcast Episode 96 - Mimics - https://taking20.podbean.com/e/epidose-96-monster-series-mimics/

This week on the Taking20 Podcast. It has the spider climb ability and can crawl up vertical surfaces, likely using its strands to do so. It can attack with four strands, pull you in, and bite you, all as part of its multi-attack ability. Thank you for listening to the Taking20 Podcast, episode 181. Continuing the monster series this time about some of our favorite ambush predators in the dungeon. I want to thank this week's sponsor, Radishes. Do you know what's small, red, and can only whisper when it speaks? A horse radish.

Do you want to help this podcast survive and grow? If so, I would always welcome more donations to ko-fi.com slash taking20podcast. If you don't have the money, I completely understand. You could always just review the podcast wherever you found it, share it on social media, or even just like and subscribe to the podcast. I want to begin this week with an apology and a peek behind the Taking20 podcast curtain. Here you go. Come on, just step over that player of mine who fell asleep on his mountain of dice. This is the gaming table I use with an old TV laying down on the surface. I can bring up digital maps on it and come on, sit down and have a seat.

Oh, watch your knees scooting up to the table, by the way. It's an old pool table that I've repurposed and the legroom is a little limited. Now that you're here, I want to apologize for skipping a week. I could make a lot of excuses, but the fact is that I had precious few hours to record my episode very early Friday morning and my voice was completely shot. I sounded squeaky like I was going through puberty again and would very soon get hair in funny places and start thinking about girls in my case. I tried to record the episode and there's only so much audio processing can do to make me sound normal. I was out of time to record and edit the episode and I had a choice. Release a really bad sounding episode or wait a week.

So I decided to wait a week. To be fair, I think that's only the third week that I've missed since starting this podcast more than three years ago. So please consider this a formal apology for missing last week. It had been a hot minute since I did an episode on the Monster series, so I want to talk about ambush predators. There are a ton of ambush predators in the worlds of Galarian, Toril, Pact Worlds, or other homebrew and game system settings. What are ambush predators, and what are the good and bad sides of using them in a game?

I'm glad you asked, voice in my head, because that's what today's episode's about. Ambush predators are carnivorous animals that capture or trap prey via stealth, luring them in, or by typically instinctive strategies. They utilize an element of surprise. Unlike pursuit predators like humans and wolves who chase to capture prey using sheer speed or endurance, ambush predators avoid fatigue by staying concealed, waiting patiently for the prey to get near before launching a sudden overwhelming attack that quickly incapacitates and captures their prey. overwhelming attack that quickly incapacitates and captures their prey. Ambush predators and ambushes in general work best when the predator can get close to the prey without the prey knowing

that they're there. The most common way that they do this is by hiding like big species of cats do or by having natural camouflage like some insects that can blend in nearly perfectly with the surrounding environment or maybe even have the ability to change the pigment of their skin like chameleons can. Examples of ambush predators in the real world? Cats, fish, alligators, gar, various insects, snakes, and crocodiles. Many of them, they stay motionless for a long time. They'll strike quickly to deadly effect. Even slow-moving creatures have the

capacity to move with very sudden speed. They're patient. They wait for the exact right moment to maximize their chances to collect the prey and actually have a meal without expending a lot of energy to do it. Some of them even use lures, like the snapping turtle will lay at the bottom of cloudy water with its jaw open so the tongue looks like a little worm to draw fish in. Or if you go deep into the ocean, the anglerfish that has the light that hangs in front of its jaws that draws fish in until they're a little too close and it's a little too late. There are a ton of different ambush predators that we could talk about in the various game systems, but I want to focus on four this particular episode, starting with piercers. Pathfinder 2E GMs, I'm very sorry, there's not a piercer in your game world, at least in the default books, but they can be easily

converted over from 5E with just a little bit of work. In 5E, piercers look almost exactly like stalactites, only with eyes on the sides. As a reminder, by the way, if you get them mixed up like a lot of us do, stalactites are the pointed rock formations that are on the ceiling, while stalagmites are the rock formations on the ground. Stalactites hold tight. That's how I remembered it, at least. Piercers are giant gastropods of which the pointy stalactite-esque part is the shell. Its tail and other squishy parts can almost never be seen. The color of it

ranges from brown to black to gray to green or even blue depending on the environment. Piercers will wait on the ceiling using their acute senses of hearing and touch and can usually detect when prey comes by. When it hears prey approaching, it will crawl to the cavern's ceiling and disguise itself as a stalactite. At the right moment, it drops down and attempts to impale its prey on its hard outer shell. If the prey dies, it then eats them wherever they happen to fall. Although they are unintelligent, piercers are smart enough to know they only get one shot at this and they wait for the exact right time. Because if they miss, they are slow CR one-half

creatures with no real way to defend themselves and they're usually easily killed and eaten on the half shell. Fry them up in butter and garlic and they taste like a larger version of escargot. They know they don't get the chance to attack prey very often, and so they've evolved a second stomach that breaks down food very slowly and stores large reserves of fat. Piercers live in colonies of 10 or so individuals, although it's rumored that very deep in the earth, colonies of hundreds are said to exist.

When attacking prey, they often very deep in the earth, colonies of hundreds are said to exist. When attacking prey, they often fall down in unison, making an area briefly very dangerous to anything that's passing through. Piercers cannot speak, and they are neutrally aligned. I tend to use piercers as surprise encounters in caverns like the Underdark and in the Darklands. I mentioned they don't exist in Pathfinder 2e, so I tend to make piercers a level 2 or 3 trap in that game system that eventually resets if the adventurers don't kill it, which I don't even require them to roll initiative for. If the

piercer misses, if they say they want to kill it, there's no point in actually having a combat. They can't even defend themselves. I hand wave it and move on. Speaking of moving on, let's talk about ropers. While similar to piercers, ropers are much more dangerous creatures. They are CR5 creatures in 5e and a level 10 encounter in Pathfinder 2nd Edition. Ropers, like piercers, resemble stalactites, but they are also capable of posing as stalagmites as well. They are difficult to distinguish when they are motionless and close their eyes and jaw. Ropers are smarter, they have more hit points, they are harder to hit, and they have multiple sticky whip-like strands that they can extend, grapple a creature,

and pull it up to its jaws to be bitten and or eaten. creature and pull it up to its jaws to be bitten and or eaten. Ropers are incredibly strong, with a strength modifier of plus 6 in Pathfinder 2nd Edition and a strength score of 18 in 5e. The 5e version of a roper has an intelligence of 7, so it's smart enough to assess threats and wait for an opportune moment to strike. It has the spider climb ability and can crawl up vertical surfaces, likely using its strands to do so. It can attack with four strands, pull you in, and bite you, all as part of its multi-attack ability. Keith Amon from the blog The Monsters Know What They're Doing suggests that 5e ropers on the ceiling are a lot safer than those posing as stalagmites on the ground, and honestly that makes a ton of sense. Their tendrils can reach 50 feet, and he suggests that

the only time they would be on the ground is if the ceiling were more than 50 feet away from their potential prey. So they couldn't hunt their preferred way, waiting on the ceiling, sticking strands to their prey, and then pulling them up helplessly into the air to eat them. The Pathfinder 2E Roper is even smarter, with an intelligence modifier of plus one, so that's about a twelve. They could actually speak both Aklo and Undercommon, so if the adventure unfolded a certain way, the Roper could talk to the party. Like 5E, their only damaging attack is a bite, but it has those sticky strands that it can use to capture prey and pull them towards their toothy jaws. Also, in second

edition, ropers will actually keep treasure from victims that can remind them of the thrill of capturing and eating the victim. They also have gizzards that can be cut open after they die to retrieve the indigestible goodies like jewelry and gemstones. I play ropers as nasty ambush creatures. I think both the 5th edition and Pathfinder 2nd edition versions are smart enough to recognize lightly armored creatures compared to the ones that are covered in inedible metal, so they tend to go for unarmored creatures first. They prefer to stay on the ceiling where it's hard for melee creatures to get close to them unless they're stuck in the strands and then they will get really close to the roper, like uncomfortably close to the roper, close enough to get gnawed on. Play ropers as

smart sudden strikers from a hidden location in a ceiling and that's how you can introduce your party to a very dangerous ambush predator. Let's stay with a drop bear type of attackers from the Underdark and talk about lurkers. Lurkers look like huge manta rays that can fly and stick to the ceiling. Their skin resembles stone and it allows them to blend into natural stone ceilings with ease. Back in the old days, they used to be called lurkers above. And why do I mention that? Because there's an alternate lurker called a lurker below that is aquatic and can swim instead of fly. They would hide along the tops of caverns and tunnels, attaching themselves with their camouflage facing downwards. When prey walked under them, they would drop from the ceiling, glide to the victim, wrap them up, and squeeze the life out of them,

suffocating them. I just want a hug. Ah! Interestingly, according to the Monstrous Compendium, Volume 2, which came out in 1989, they said lurkers are omnivorous, but doesn't indicate what types of plants or fungi they would eat. I would assume they prefer meat, but will settle for plant life or fungi if it's the only thing available. I would assume they prefer meat, but will settle for plant life or fungi if it's the only thing available. Lurkers, by the way, are extremely territorial, with hunting grounds that can span several miles in the Underdark. This means they are usually solo encounters. Unlike piercers, they don't group together at all, and it's unknown how they reproduce. That's not something I am going to speculate on, it's not that kind of podcast, at all.

Come up with your own headcanon how these territorial monsters shake the sheets. Lurkers are a 5e only monster with no real equivalent I can find in the Paizo bestiaries. I love using lurkers in my dungeons and at challenge rating of 7 they can make for a dangerous encounter for a mid-level party. They have keen scent and dark vision, so they can still hunt in the darkest part of the Underdark. Fair warning though, lurkers can be even more frustrating to parties than piercers and ropers that I mentioned previously. The reason? Twofold. One, they don't just drop, do a massive amount of damage, and either you're unconscious or you're not. They drop, envelop, and smother. When they grapple a PC, that PC is

restrained, blinded, can't speak or use spells with verbal components, and could suffocate. With a strength of 18 and plus 7 to their athletics, they can win grapple contests more often than not, and PCs will die slowly if they can't get out of the grapple. Second reason they can be more frustrating is that when they are grappling a PC and other PCs attack the Lurker to get it off their friend, the Lurker only takes half damage and the other half is transferred to the PC they're grappling. Keep Lurkers deep underground because they're sensitive to sunlight and you have another surprise ambush predator to drop into your campaign. Yes, we've had one flying manta ray

looking predator, but what about a second manta ray looking predator? Oh, I'm glad you asked. Because if you hate lurkers, you're really, really gonna hate cloakers. Unlike lurkers that ambush from the ceiling, cloakers can ambush from a nearby coat rack. You go to put on your raincoat and then suddenly chomp slash moan. Ah! Wait, wait, wait. That sounded vaguely sexual. You go to put on your raincoat and then suddenly chomp slash moan scream. Wait, that sounded vaguely sexual. Let me start over.

Cloakers are called, well, cloakers, because how's this for a nightmare? When they're motionless, they can look like a dark leather cloak just hanging there waiting to be taken. I detect magic and oh, one of these three cloaks is magical. This one is nice, it's warm, and it's hugging me and oh my gods! In 5e, cloakers love ambushing prey with their powerful bite, slashing tail, and frightening moan. When given the opportunity, they will bite a creature and attach to it, preferably on the head if they have advantage, blinding and suffocating their victims. They're strong, requiring a DC 16 strength check and 5e to dislodge the creature.

Cloakers have a moan that can strike fear into anyone within 60 feet. And if that's not scary enough, cloakers can cast the equivalent of a mirror image spell, making three duplicates of itself as long as it's not in bright light. In Pathfinder 2nd Edition, a little more background is given about these strange creatures. They were bred by the... God, I never say this word right. The Algolthus, to spy on the Aslanti humans. When Aslant fell, the cloakers were cast out and fled to the Darklands, and over time became these egotistical, sadistic, and paranoid creatures that they are today. They generally lead solitary lives.

They're very intelligent with a plus two intelligence modifier and plus three wisdom modifier. They speak both Aklo and Undercommon. For more information about the fall of Aslan, see the Earthfall episode 121, I'll put a link down in the resources, and episode 164, The Death of Erodin. If you're listening on YouTube, there should be little links in the video, a little card in the corner. Otherwise, they'll be in the episode resources. Go check those out. a little card in the corner. Otherwise, they'll be in the episode resources. Go check those out.

Needless to say, cloakers hate Ogulthus with a fiery passion and will have nothing at all to do with them. Very occasionally, there'll be a cloaker priest, by the way, who has the charisma to lead a group of cloakers for various nefarious purposes. Sometimes they worship ancient gods, and they're only held together by the force of personality of the Cloaker Priest. When the priest dies, the group scatters. They're similar to their 5e counterparts in that they can disguise as a hanging piece of cloth, envelop victims to restrain them, and then when damaged while restraining, only take half damage while passing the other half to the restrained victim.

However, the 2e Cloaker's moan is shorter range, but more versatile. Besides a fear effect, they can also induce nausea to make you sickened too, or a stupor that causes those that fail the save to become clumsy one and stupefied one. Unlike their 5e counterparts, they can't conjure phantasmal versions of themselves to act like mirror image. Cloakers fun to scatter around with other loot and around any other type of hanging cloth. One of my favorite encounters I ever made with them was to have them hanging out under the city in the sewage caverns where the poorest of the poor were living. They'd hide among laundry or other pieces of hanging cloth to surprise those who came too close. Given that they are smart, they chose to attack only when someone was alone in that area of the

cavern, killing their victim, feeding on it before it could be discovered by someone else. Put your cloakers somewhere remote where people go along, say, I don't know, an underground privy and watch the panic ensue. Oh, I finally found the bathroom. Thank goodness. Look, somebody hung a cloak up here in case we get cold. That was very nice. Let's do one more ambush predator. Invisible stalkers. Invisible stalkers are invisible. Well, there you go. That was tough. Got research done. Okay, fine. Invisible stalkers hail from the elemental plane of air.

Most of them the approximate shape of a human form about eight feet tall. Even magic that lets you see invisibility only reveals a vague outline of the creature. At least in D&D 3.0, the spell True Seeing would only reveal a cloud of vapor. In 5e, invisible stalkers are as intelligent as the average humanoid, and they can fly, hover in place, and are extremely dexterous and fast, with a 19 dexterity and a 50-foot movement speed. When summoned, they're usually given someone or something to track, which it can track perfectly. The Stalker knows the direction and distance to its quarry as long as they're all on the same plane.

What makes 5e Invisible Stalkers so dangerous is the fact that they're hard to find, resistant or immune to a ton of different attack types and conditions, they have 60 feet of dark vision, and you can't shake them from your trail except by shifting to a different plane of existence. Given that they are a challenge rating 6, most adventuring parties won't have access to that type of magic yet. In Pathfinder 2e, they are level 7 creatures. Invisible except when they attack, and then they're only hidden instead of undetected. instead of undetected. Since they're so hard to find, stealth modifier of plus 18, most of the time creatures are flat-footed to its attacks, taking an additional 2d6 damage. One change from 5e is that invisible stalkers in Pathfinder 2e are a little dumber, with an intelligence modifier

of minus 2. But they make up for it with an even higher dexterity. They are fantastic trackers, but not the inexorable, relentless, never-fail trackers that they are in 5e. Invisible Stalkers are great for ambushing the party when they least expect it. Since they're invisible, they'll sometimes follow the party for hours, or even days, waiting for the right moment to strike. This could be when the party is resting and have stripped off their armor for the night, or, my favorite tactic, the Stalker will hit the party from the back while they're fighting something else. If the party turns their attention to the stalker, it just goes invisible and flies away

to wait for the next opportunity to strike them. After all, PCs have to sleep sometime. This is not even close to an exhaustive list of possible ambush predators we could discuss. This is not even close to an exhaustive list of possible ambush predators we could discuss. Off the top of my head, we could talk about Nereids, Mimics, see episode 96, Nucleovies, Shadows, Wraiths, Spiders, Crocodiles, Assassin Vines, Bulettes, Ghosts, Autugues, and of course any intelligent humanoid creature that could set up an ambush. Many times creatures are just plain to see and available during encounters as if they've been held in stasis until the party arrives, so they can all die at the pointy end of the fighter's sword or be burned to a crisp by an arcane spellcaster.

I want to encourage you to think like ambush predators before throwing them into your game. They should be smart. They want to survive. So they should take every advantage they can to strike suddenly and when the PCs aren't expecting it. However, final word of caution. By their very nature, ambushes against PCs tend to catch them unaware or unprepared. These encounters can quickly turn more dangerous than their encounter level or challenge rating would indicate. Be prepared to adjust the encounter behind the screen and or make the encounter a little easier until you're sure you know what the characters can handle. Plus, even if you're making secret perception checks behind the screen for the PCs,

the players may not be happy that they're not on the giving end of a surprise attack. I'd say that in the real world, sometimes creatures get the better of the PCs and can put characters on the back foot. Or, in two words, if you've ever seen the original Jurassic Park, as the hunter quickly became the hunted, clever girl. Ambush predators can be so much fun. It's a great encounter for a dungeon or a cave.

Most of these creatures are patient and wait for the right moment to strike. Treat them almost like traps with a tempting lure of treasure or resources. Spring the monster on the PCs to remind them that they're not in Waterdeep or Absalom anymore, and I'll bet you and your players would have fun doing it. If you like the podcast, please consider telling your gaming group or posting about it on social media. Alternatively, if you have suggestions for making the podcast better or topics that I could cover, please send them to me at feedback at taking20podcast.com. Tune in next week when we'll talk about how to run campaigns where the PCs can participate in

events that are so much bigger than they could ever influence. Things like wars, apocalypses, disasters, revolutions, and so forth. But before I go, I want to thank this week's sponsor, Radishes. You know what root vegetable is strong and can pull carriages? A horse radish. That's right, baby. Two different jokes, same stupid punchline with homophones. You know, horse as in raspy throat and horse as in the equine mammal. I'm trying, guys. I really am. This has been episode 181, all about dungeon ambush predators. My name is Jeremy Shelley, and I hope that your

next game is your best game.