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This entry in Epic Monsters is a real deep cut, a monster that only the most serious scribes of esoteric real world lore will even have a notion of: the rarely written about subus!
This weirdo is a pull from the nearly half-a-millennium-old tome The History of Four-footed Beasts and Serpents, mostly because if it has a real world animal equivalent it is a very elusive one. If this is a real living creature please tell us what it is! Generally it doesn’t have a lot to reveal other than that the subus is of a red-gold color that it uses to attract and distract fish, its got two strong horns, it hunts in the sea but can also live on the land, it’s kind of an angry and bloodlusting creature, and most amusingly of all it’s “the worst kind of sheep”.
Design Notes: This is definitely high on my list of things to become next time I’m playing a druid. Blood Frenzy, Charge, and Hold Breath are all easy picks for this creature (the formermost putting the most punch into its design), and Distracting Hide is pretty much round-by-round hypnotic pattern which should be manageable in a fight (thanks to a very hittable DC) but still have enough of an impact to put a bit of fear into adventurers. Let’s do the numbers! The DMG came in at 2.89, the Blog of Holding with 2.458, and that leaves the subus’ final challenge rating definitely at 2.
Subus
Medium beast, unaligned
Armor Class 13
Hit Points 32 (5d8+10)
Speed 30 ft., swim 30 ft.
|
STR |
DEX |
CON |
INT |
WIS |
CHA |
|
17 (+3) |
16 (+3) |
14 (+2) |
2 (–4) |
13 (+1) |
15 (+2) |
Skills Perception +3, Survival +3
Damage Resistances cold
Senses passive Perception 13
Languages —
Challenge 2 (450 XP)
Blood Frenzy. The subus has advantage on melee attack rolls against any creature that doesn’t have all its hit points.
Charge. If the subus moves at least 20 feet straight toward a target and then hits it with a gore attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 7 (2d6) piercing damage.
Distracting Hide (Recharge 5–6). The subus can use a bonus action to undulate and make its hide shimmer with a twisting pattern of red and gold. Each creature within 30 feet that can see the subus must make a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the creature becomes charmed until the start of the subus’ next turn. While charmed by the subus, the creature is incapacitated and has a speed of 0. The effect ends for an affected creature if it takes any damage or if someone else uses an action to shake the creature out of its stupor.
Hold Breath. The subus can hold its breath for 20 minutes.
ACTIONS
Multiattack. The subus attacks once with its bite and once with its gore.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4+3) piercing damage.
Gore. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4+3) piercing damage.
