Monster Monday: Skimmers (Part 1) - Flying Jellyfish

Today's Monster Monday is part one of a two-parter featuring different types of flying jellyfish, called skimmers. This week, we'll look at the Medium-sized common skimmer, which glides over the surface of the ocean and stuns its prey with jolts of electricity. We'll also see the smaller crimson skimmer, which latches on to its prey with blood-sucking tentacles.

Common Skimmer and Crimson Skimmer

These gelatinous predators drift on the wind, with only a minimum of control over their speed and direction. They can jet out of danger by suddenly releasing the gas from their sacs, but for the most part they are adrift in the air currents, like true jellyfish are in water. Things get hairy when a bloom of skimmers collides with a ship, or gets blown onto shore. When the wind so favors them, they supplement their normal diet of fish and seabirds with the flesh and blood of hapless sailors and fishermen.

The following text in gold is available as Open Game Content under the OGL. Open Game Content is ©2018 Jonah Bomgaars.

This flying jellyfish drifts through the air on undulating gelatinous sacs, long tentacles trailing below it.

Skimmer     CR 1

XP 400

N Medium magical beast

Init +2; Senses blindsense 60 ft.; Perception +4

DEFENSE

AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 10 (+2 Dex)

hp 13 (2d10+2)

Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +0

Immune mind-affecting effects, paralysis, sleep

OFFENSE

Speed fly 30 ft. (clumsy), jet 120 ft.

Melee tentacles +2 (1d4 electricity plus paralysis and grab)

Space 5 ft.; Reach 10 ft.

Special Attacks paralysis (DC 12, 1d4 rounds)

STATISTICS

Str 10, Dex 15, Con 13, Int 1, Wis 11, Cha 1

Base Atk +2; CMB +4 (+8 grapple); CMD 14

Feats Agile Maneuvers

Skills Fly -2, Perception +4

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Electricity (Ex)

A skimmer’s tentacle attack deals 1d4 points of electricity damage, and creatures hit must make a DC 12 Fortitude save or be paralyzed for 1d4 rounds. Any creature grabbed by the skimmer is subject to the skimmer’s tentacle attack each round. Creatures immune to electricity are immune to the paralysis effect. The save DC is Constitution-based.

ECOLOGY

Environment any ocean or coastal

Organization solitary, pack (2-5), or bloom (6-12)

Treasure none

Skimmers are giant jellyfish-like creatures that float through the air on gas-filled bladders, usually letting their tentacles trail across the surface of the water in search of fish or seabirds. Their tentacles deliver jolts of electricity that can stun their prey. Skimmers generally float with the air currents, making slight adjustments by venting gas from their jets or adjusting parts of their mantle that act as rudders. If a skimmer encounters danger, it will instinctively jet away at great speed. Skimmers are a danger to sailors, because they can drift into a ship’s rigging and wreak havoc on deck with their electric tentacles. Ships caught in windless doldrums will sometimes find themselves surrounded by dozens of skimmers trapped there with them.

This floating jellyfish is tinged with red, granting it an eerie cast as it drifts through the air

Skimmer, Crimson        CR 1/2

XP 200

N Small magical beast

Init +3; Senses blindsense 60 ft.; Perception +4

DEFENSE

AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 10 (+3 Dex, +1 size)

hp 7 (1d10+2)

Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +0

Immune mind-affecting effects, paralysis, sleep

OFFENSE

Speed fly 20 ft. (clumsy), jet 80 ft.

Melee touch +0 (attach)

Special Attacks paralysis (DC 12, 1d4 rounds)

STATISTICS

Str 8, Dex 16, Con 15, Int 1, Wis 11, Cha 1

Base Atk +1; CMB +0 (+8 grapple when attached); CMD 13

Feats Weapon Finesse

Skills Fly -3, Perception +4

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Attach (Ex)

When a crimson skimmer hits with a touch attack, its tentacles latch onto the target, anchoring it in place. An attached crimson skimmer is effectively grappling its prey. The skimmer loses its dexterity bonus to AC and has an AC of 11. The skimmer has a +8 racial bonus to maintain its grapple on a foe once it is attached. An attached crimson skimmer can be struck with a weapon or grappled itself. If its prey manages to win a grapple check or Escape Artist check against it, the skimmer is removed.

Blood Drain (Ex)

A crimson skimmer drains blood at the end of its turn if it is attached to a foe, inflicting 1 point of Constitution damage. Each point of Constitution damage it drains grants it one temporary hit point. Once a crimson skimmer has dealt 4 points of Constitution damage, it detaches and floats off. If the victim dies before the skimmer’s appetite has been sated, the skimmer detaches to seek a new target.

ECOLOGY

Environment any ocean or coastal

Organization solitary, pack (2-5), or bloom (6-12)

Treasure none

Crimson skimmers lack the electricity generating abilities of their larger cousins, instead using their tentacles to drain blood from their prey. Crimson skimmers, so named because of the blood which colors their translucent forms, seek out blood from surfacing whales, resting seabirds, and even sailors at sea. They also tend to be more commonly found on the shoreline than larger skimmers.

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Plot Hooks and Encounter Ideas

• A bloom of skimmers collides with the ship that the party is sailing on. They become tangled in the masts and begin to lash out at the crew with stunning tentacles.
• Last night's storm has scattered bloodsucking crimson skimmers all across the coastal swamp, making the area hazardous even to seasoned swampers.
• The PC's ship becomes trapped in the windless doldrums, unable to move until the wind picks up. Through the thick fog, they notice that hundreds of skimmers are trapped there with them. 

Next week, we will see two larger species of skimmer: the nearly transparent birdcatcher and the ominous cloud jelly.

-your saccate d20 despot