Freedom of Movement. The storm ignores difficult terrain, and magical effects can't reduce its speed.
Swarm. The storm is an amorphous mass containing an endless swarm of sharks. The storm can occupy another creature's space and vice versa, and the storm can move through any opening large enough for a Medium shark.
Tropical Storm. At the start of the storm's turn, if at least 1 space it occupies is in, on, or over water it regains 25 hit points. If all spaces it occupies are on or over land at the start of its turn, it loses 50 hit points. This damage cannot be reduced in any way.
Water Walk. The storm move across any liquid surface--such as water, acid, mud, snow, quicksand, or lava--as if it were harmless solid ground. While moving over water, the storm moves at double its normal walking speed.
Whirlwind. When the storm moves into a creature's space or vice versa, that creature is affected as it would be by a whirlwind spell (DC 20), treating the storm as the whirlwind. Increase the size of creatures or objects the spell affects by 1 size category. This spell effect has an indefinite duration, ending only when the storm is reduced to 0 hit points.
Rain of Sharks. The storm rains down ravenous sharks, which land in unoccupied spaces within 30 feet of the storm, or within the storm's space. Roll a d6 to determine what sharks appear.
| ROLL | SHARKS SUMMONED |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1d4 giant shark |
| 2 | 1d6 hunter shark |
| 3 | 1d8 swarm of quippers |
| 4 | 1d10 reef shark |
| 5 | 1d12 quipper |
| 6 | The storm summons two groups. Roll twice more, rerolling any 6. |
The sharks are hostile to all creatures, except the storm. Roll initiative for the summoned sharks as a group, which has its own turns. The sharks pursue and attack the nearest non-sharks to the best of their ability.
Sharks summoned by the storm gain a walking speed of 10 feet, and are immune to any damage or condition inflicted by the storm, but are sucked up by the storm when they enter its space or the storm enters theirs as though they were objects. While in the storm's space, a shark summoned by the storm gains a fly speed equal to its swim speed, moves with the storm when the storm moves, and can move freely within the storm's space during its turn. If the shark leaves the storm's space, it drops to the ground. A shark that ends its turn outside of at least 5 feet of water or outside the storm's space begins suffocating.
Sharkastatic Reply. When the storm is subjected to damage, it can use its rain of sharks as a reaction.
The Sharkest Hour. The first time the storm is reduced to half its hit points or less, it uses its rain of sharks two times as a reaction.
Aftershark. When the storm is reduced to 0 hit points, it uses its rain of sharks three times before dissipating.
The storm can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. The storm regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Heart of Sharkness (Costs 3 Actions). Each shark summoned by the storm within 120 feet of it can use its reaction to move up to half its speed and make a bite attack against a non-shark creature.
Shark and Stormy Night. The storm makes a rain of sharks attack.
Shark Attack... Attack. A shark within the storm makes a bite attack against creature within 5 feet of the storm. Roll a d6 to determine the type of shark using the Shark Attack table below.
Sharkatapult. The storm makes a rain of sharks attack, but rather that appear in unoccupied spaces within 30 feet of the storm, the sharks appear in unoccupied spaces within a 10-foot-radius area centered on a space the storm can see up to 120 feet away. A number of creatures within that area equal the number of sharks that appear must succeed on a DC 23 Dexterity saving throw taking 14 (4d6) bludgeoning damage plus the bite damage for the type of sharks that appear on a failed saving throw.
Shark Weak. All non-shark creatures within 120 feet of the storm must succeed on a DC 23 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, a target gains vulnerability to nonmagical piercing damage until the end of the storm's next turn. This effect overrides a target's immunity and resistance.
Sharkshooter. The storm ejects a shark, hurling it at a creature it can see within 120 feet of it. The target must succeed on a DC 23 Dexterity saving throw, taking 18 (4d8) bludgeoning damage plus the shark's bite damage and be knocked prone on a failed saving throw. The ejected shark then appears in an unoccupied space within 10 feet of the target. Roll a d6 to determine the type of shark using the Shark Attack table below.
Storm Off. The storm moves up to half its speed.
The Shark Attack Table
| ROLL | SHARK |
|---|---|
| 1 | giant shark (22 (3d10 + 6) piercing damage) |
| 2 | hunter shark (13 (2d8 + 4) piercing) |
| 3 | swarm of quippers (14 (4d6) piercing damage) |
| 4 | reef shark (6 (1d8 + 2) piercing damage) |
| 5–6 | quipper (1 piercing damage) |
Description
A raging tempest that rains down voracious sharks as it passes, the selachian cyclone is an un-natural disaster of divine-plague proportions. It is more an event than it is a monster, and like any other natural (or not) disaster, it is virtually unstoppable.
Lair and Lair Actions
A Selachian Cyclone's Lair
As a storm, a selachian cyclone does not have a lair in the traditional sense; if does not live, and therefore has nowhere to do its living in. However, its presence has an obvious impact on the world around it. Perhaps a better term for a selachian cyclone's lair would be its disaster area.
Lair Actions
On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the storm takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the storm can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:
- The water level within 120 feet of the storm rises by 5 feet, including over dry land, making the area difficult terrain for any creature that does not have a swim speed. This effect ends and the water recedes on initiative count 20 on the next round.
- 1d6 creatures within 120 feet of the storm must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or be struck by debris hurled by the storm, taking 18 (4d8) bludgeoning damage and being knocked prone on a failed saving throw.
Regional Effects
The region containing a selachian cyclone is warped by the storm’s magic, which creates one or more of the following effects:
- The area within 6 miles of the selachian cyclone's disaster area is flooded with at least 1 foot of water.
- The skies within 6 miles of the selachian cyclone's disaster area roils with churning clouds with a greenish tint.
- Strong winds whip around within 6 miles of the the selachian cyclone's disaster area, smelling strongly of fish, kelp, and other seaside scents.
If the the selachian cyclone dies, these effects end after 1d8 hours.
Previous Versions
| Name | Date Modified | Views | Adds | Version | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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8/1/2018 4:49:44 AM
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25
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5
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1.0
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Coming Soon
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Posted Aug 15, 2019This is glorious. Exactly what I was looking for. Only criticisms are that the effective hitpoints are well over 1,000 due to all of the damage resistances/vulnerabilities, I feel like Rain of Sharks should have a recharge (even 3-6), and Shark Attack.. Attack doesn't have an attack modifier.
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Posted Aug 15, 2019This particular encounter was designed to be high-level with the intent that players think it through rather than face the storm directly while things around them go absolutely nuts. No one would (or at least: no one should) consider running at a tornado and hitting it with a sword... except maybe your standard player. :P
The damage resistances are intended to discourage that particular plan of action. The storm's only real actions are to drop CR 5 or lower creatures, and run things over. Assuming the players aren't trying to hit a tornado with a sword, there is little risk of them being run over, which just least the creatures raining down on them. By level 20, these shouldn't present much of an issue with extra attack features and AoE spells.
The creature's descriptive text also frequently repeats that it is a storm, which was intentional. A player could cast control weather to do away with the entire encounter in one casting. Or, blast it with force damage. Or lure it over land and keep ahead of it until its Hit Points naturally deplete. The number of creative ways to handle this encounter is ultimately up to the imaginations of the players and how the DM interprets the encounter/what they're willing to allow.
The attack modifier for Shark Attack... Attack would be whatever attack modifier the randomly rolled attacking shark's modifier would be.
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Posted Aug 16, 2019I suppose that's a fair point, I'm a little used to "monster" statblocks being statblocks for things capable of being fought, rather than elaborate puzzles or entire encounter descriptions, but I see what you're going for.
As for the shark attacks, I just figured the name of the shark was just there for description, not to be used to determine the attack modifier. I understand now