Armor Class
14
(natural armor)
Hit Points
85
(9d12 + 27)
Speed
30 ft., swim 50 ft.
STR
21
(+5)
DEX
9
(-1)
CON
17
(+3)
INT
2
(-4)
WIS
10
(+0)
CHA
7
(-2)
Skills
Stealth +5
Senses
Passive Perception 10
Languages
--
Challenge
5 (1,800 XP)
Proficiency Bonus
+3
Traits
Hold Breath. The crocodile can hold its breath for 30 minutes.
Actions
Multiattack. The crocodile makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its tail.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (3d10 + 5) piercing damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 16). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, and the crocodile can't bite another target.
Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target not grappled by the crocodile. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 16 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
MM pg 324
DM tip, use the tail attack first. Then when they are prone, go in for a bit attack at advantage.
The only thing I dont like about this creature is that if a target is grappled by the Croc then subsequent bite attacks should be auto-success
That's not how a Crocodile Bite works, oversized or not. The majority of the Damage of a Crocodile Bite is done by the penetration of the Teeth.
IRL a Crocodile is still releasing and Biting on the thing in its mouth again as it tries to snap the thing in Half. It is only in Anime, Cartoons & Movies do you see Crocodiles (or Alligators) snapping through something by simply applying more pressure, while in reality they briefly release their Bite in order to Bite again.
The fact that the Grappled Creature is considered Restrained simulates the difficulty of removing your Arm for example from its Mouth, as the Restrained Condition imposes:
specifically effect number 2 makes this dangerous with a +8 (+40% chance) To Hit, especially since they're incapable of running away, and have Disadvantage to fight back. in a straight 1v1 against your Average Humanoid that isn't prepared for fighting Monstrosities, this is extremely lethal.
INTERIOR
Wow. You seem to know A LOT about crocodiles, Blue64.
U know, the normal croc stat block is really underpowered for what the croc is like IRL since crocs have the strongest raw bite force of any animal (although great whites do more damage overall due to serrated teeth) u seem to be quite knowledgeable on crocs, do u hav any suggestions on how to rework the croc to be more realistic?
This may be somewhat accurate about a crocodile biting but this isn't how they attack and it's a bit crazy that they don't have a death roll action. Here is some information for anyone who doesn't know how Crocodiles remove limbs from their victims. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/laelaps/the-secret-of-the-crocodile-death-roll/
So would a giant crocodile be considered a sarcosuchus in terms of stats? (For reference the giant crocodile is 30 feet long while a sarcosuchus is 40 feet long)
Giant Crocodile would work perfectly for Sarcosuchuses (Sarcosuchi?). Maybe increase its hold breath time, I'm fairly sure crocodiles can hold their breaths for at least an hour.
CROCODILE ALLIGATOR
You wanna beef this statblock up while being realistic? Add a "Death roll" option when it has a target grappled and is in a body of water, that has no save and does massive damage.
I add a death roll to all crocs in my games.
Death Roll. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target grappled by the crocodile. Hit: 27 (4d10 + 5) slashing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or it runs out of breath if it suffocating.
The ability can make games exceptionally deadly, as the character who fails the saving throw while underwater will have rounds before they have to make death saving throws instead of minutes. This works in my games, but it may be too lethal if your players aren't expecting, or ready, for it. I feel it emulates the croc's ability to drown its victims, but you can switch out the drowning part for extra damage (I suggest two extra dice), the stunned condition, a level of exhaustion, or nothing.
The death roll's attack bonus is the same as the bite and it does one more die of damage. It does slashing damage instead of piercing because that's how a crocodile tears apart its prey, they can't chew. The saving throw DC is the same as the DC to escape its grapple.
And as a boss fight there's one with legendary actions in Ghosts of Saltmarsh.
If the crocodile uses bite as an attack of opportunity on a target fleeing, and successfully hits, is the fleeing target grappled?
That is awesome and more accurate. I used this as a boss on a low-level campaign I ran and used your Death Roll attack, Mars. The character made the unfortunate error of getting close to this big gator, it bit him, then moved into the water to use its Death Roll attack, and it one-shot the dude. He flipped out and wasn't expecting that, but everyone else enjoyed it because the guy was being an idiot. They then realized that getting close would be lethal, so they peppered the gator with ranged weapons and carefully planned attacks and, paired with some lucky rolls, were able to defeat it and gain the Giant Crocodile Tooth, a side quest item for a trophy collector.
I got a devil fruit in a one piece guest and I got a giant crocodile ancient zoan
Oughtta have a Death Roll imo because that's what crocs do. They clamp down with unbreakable force and roll, tearing apart their prey and/or drowning them before swallowing them in chunks.
Just an idea: when a creature is grapple, it moves with its grappeller. And if a creature is bitten by the croc, its also restrained, so it can't get away. you could just make it swim deep into the water!
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