Past few weeks have unintentionally had a bit of a Japanese theme going on and that's not quite over yet! Hailing from a generation of Monster Hunter before I started playing, this was nevertheless a cool creature that I wanted to try and build a stat block for. Slide in and check out the mizutsune!
Having never played the game this particular creature came from, I had to do some research on it though the usual Monster Hunter wiki was less than useful this time around. I ended up having to watch several videos on the fight against the creature before I had an idea on what to do with it. Like most Monster Hunter creatures I do, I wanted to make it a magical beast, giving it a full BAB, d10 HD, and darkvision right off the bat. It is also described as having a faint sort of sense of movement around it, much like a shark, that is even more refined in its soulseer variant, so I decided to give it blindsense as well. As usual for higher level MH creatures I do, I gave it DR/adamantine to account for the fact that weapons not of a high enough quality are liable to bounce off its hide, and then also worked in its electricity vulnerability.
As a leviathan type monster, a swim speed was a must and from watching it, I felt like giving it a fairly high base speed that I feel like I could've taken higher. Research said that it had recurved fangs, like those of a snake, so I wanted to give it a grab attack with its bite, working in a rake so that it can do something extra to the creatures it has held in place. Its tail slap is the first of its abilities to inflict Suds, my approximation of the unique status that it inflicts in its usual game. I couldn't really figure out a good way to work the normal slipping and sliding that happens in game, and instead settled for some slipping and falling. The Bubbles it blows can pop, startling other creatures and inflicting suds on them though I refrained from including its red and green bubbles as I couldn't find a good description of what they did in anything I watched or read. While I like Blue's idea, I settled on making its Pressure Beam hit in a cone to represent how I saw it used in game and also included its ability to push creatures back so that it can try to trigger Suds-covered opponents to make them fall. For the last of its special attacks, I gave it Slip and Slide, allowing it to move swiftly and cover the ground in its soapy secretions.
Stat-wise, I definitely wanted this to be a more dexterous creature, but its Strength ended up being higher than I initially envisioned. Its feats largely help it take advantage of downed foes while also allowing it to keep mobile and still land devastating blows. As a semi-aquatic creature who, from what we see spends a sizable amount of time on land, I thought the common Hold Breath would be appropriate.
Pathfinder First Edition:
Since animals and beasts in Pathfinder Second Edition have different qualifications, the mizutsune ended up becoming an animal. Motion Sense replaces its blindsense though I wasn't quite sure what to give it at first. I looked up shark statblocks in 2e, but couldn't find any sense meant to reflect their lateral lines, so instead I turned to oozes to help me with that. I was glad that I could work in an ability to slide and slither out of reach as a reaction with Slip and Slide, which was fun to use during the combat testing of this creature. The attacks are largely the same though I decided to downgrade the condition inflicted by the bursting bubbles to dazzled, which does feel better since they only take 1 action now. Deep Breath is pulled from creatures like crocodiles once again while I changed what was Slip and Slide in the 1e version to Slippery Secretions in 2e since I liked that name better for the reaction.
Pathfinder 2e:
Blue's D&D 5e Version (https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/XSVlrnPq)
ENCOUNTER HOOKS
Catch and Release: A mizutsune has moved into a recent lake where its diet has caused trouble for the local fishermen though it hasn’t harmed any of them. The fishermen post a contract to get rid of the mizutsune, but promise a greater reward if the heroes can avoid slaying the beast. If pressed on a method on how to do so, they suggest catching its favorite type of fish and then leading it on a chase to a new habitat. The mizutsune doesn’t attack the heroes unless provoked but will try to snatch the fish if it can catch up to them.
Cradle to Watery Grave: A number of people have been injured by an unknown creature dwelling along the river, requiring the intervention of heroes when more common mercenaries are just as fiercely beaten. Investigating the riverbank reveals the tracks of a mizutsune but a substantial success reveals there are actually two – a mated pair that soon attack the heroes. If one is slain, the other immediately retreats, and if the heroes follow it back to its den, they discover that the mizutsune were guarding their nest and the yet unhatched eggs in it. Unless the heroes have some way to calm the mizutsune, it fights to the death with untold ferocity, leaving the heroes with the quandary as to what to do with the remaining eggs.
Thanks for taking the time to check out this monster! If you want to join in on the discussion about other monsters I'm building, the own homebrew stuff your working on, or other nerdy TTRPG topics, join our Discord. I also stream rather infrequently on Twitch - either making monsters or tests that I'm running on monsters I've made.
Have a Monstrous Monday!
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