Fish, Crusher, Adult
- Armor Class
- 7 [12]
- Hit Dice
- 7 to 8
- Attacks
- Bite (2d6)
- Special
- venomous defensive spines, surprise
- Move
- Swim 12
- HDE/XP
- 7 or 8/600/800
Description
Crushers inhabit coral reefs upon which they "graze," as their jaws and teeth are powerful enough to crush coral. They are able to digest the organic matter within the outer layers of a coral reef, and then excrete the indigestible parts. While they are not properly predators nor are they particularly aggressive, crushers will attack in self defense if challenged or surprised. Crushers are shaped more or less like thick, muscular eels, but each has a double row of sharp spines protruding up and slightly backward along its back. An individual might have 4, 6, or 8 such spines as indicated by its size (though this has little if any effect in combat). Each spine injects venom when it penetrates a victim; any such victim must make a saving throw against poison or die. These spines are not used offensively, but rather will "hit" any melee opponent who attacks from above, beside, or behind the monster. Only those directly in front of a crusher, or attacking it from below, will be unaffected by these spines.
According to some legends, crushers have a particular fondness for creatures who have been turned to stone (such as by a medusa or basilisk, or by the spell Transform Stone-Flesh (Flesh to stone only)) such that they will gorge themselves on such fare if it becomes available, devouring a man-sized or smaller character or creature in about 8 hours, divided by the number of crushers consuming it.
See Also
Other creatures grouped under Fish: Fish, Crusher, Fry, Fish, Crusher, Juvenile, Fish, Giant Barracuda, Fish, Giant Bass, Fish, Giant Catfish, Fish, Giant Gar, Fish, Giant Pike, Fish, Giant Piranha, Fish, Giant Prehistoric (Dinichthys), Fish, Huge Barracuda.
Source note: This creature is converted from The Basic Fantasy Field Guide of Creatures Malevolent and Benign – Omnibus Edition, 1st Edition Release 4, © 2010–2025 Chris Gonnerman, R. Kevin Smoot, James Lemon, Matt Sluis, and Contributors. The Basic Fantasy Field Guide textual material is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International; this page adapts that creature to White Box.