Am I misremembering?

[strega]

or did we have a discussion about kraken here recently?

I could have sworn we did but can't find the thread.

 

[alex_greene]

Congratulations on starting the new Kraken thread, rather than resorting to thread necromancy.

 

[hanszurcher]

Lots of Kraken talk in the tail end of Major and Minor Actions (house rule concept) thread.

 

[strega]

The Major and Minor Actions thread must have been it although it's a lot less detailed on Kraken than I remembered. The joys of growing old.

I have stats for an octopus, apart from the number of arms, how different would you make a kraken?

I'm thinking Disney 20,000 leagues squid type kraken.

 

[Matt_H]

How big of a Kraken are you after? (I'm assuming squid type here after various movies) The largest giant squid is about a metric ton and 60/70feet long.

A ship wrecker like Verne's must be several hundred feet and 7+ tons.(SIZ 65-70 ish)
Its mantle would be 75/85 feet, head 20 feet across, 8 main arms as long as the mantle & head combined and main grasping pair of tentacles 150 to 200 feet.

Squid Image from a clipart site.

List of giant squid spcimens

The crushing damage from the 8 arms would be huge...and then you get the beak!!

Below the thunders of the upper deep;
Far far beneath in the abysmal sea,
His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep
The Kraken sleepeth...

Tennyson.

 

[strega]

I'm thinking something large enough to pluck sailors from a sailing ship. I also remember a movie set on a Canadian lake I think. Ah yes Eye of the Beast, typical SciFi channel rubbish but good on the dragging people into the water.

So as long as it's got tentacles long enough to reach up to the poop deck that's fine. The arms don't need to be especially lengthy as I don't need the ship to be crushed. A standard Architeuthis female with say 6m tentacles and 3m arms would work. Gigantic squid with shorter arms but overall larger size is a possibility as well. It's pity the Vampire Squid is so small, with a name like that it should cause terror amongst seafarers.

So let's say STR 3D6+20, CON 3D6+20, SIZ 3D10+12, INT 8, POW 5, DEX 2D6
Tentacles 75% for D6 sucker and tooth damage, pass grabbed victim to Arms or beak
Arms 60% for grab, 2D6 per arm per turn crushing damage, pass grabbed victim to Beak.
Beak 60% for 2D6 damage
Av. Damage Bonus +1D12
Armour - Rubbery skin
Move 12m in water
Tentacles have Reach VL, Arms L
Hit Locations - Head 1, Body 2-3, Tentacles 4-7, Arms 8-10
HP Head 18, Body 20, 2 Tentacles 15 ea, 8 Arms 15 ea.
AP 4 all over.

Comments?

 

[Simulacrum]

I think your SIZ and STR are on the low side - looking at Monsters, a Brontosaur has SIZ 4D6+50 and STR 4D6+40 - you should probably be at least par with that for a massive sea monster.

I'd allocate 1CA+1 per Tentacle, with CMs to represent grasping and pulling off ship.

If you want to treat it more like a 'phenomenon' or an environment in itself, I'd consider statting each tentacle as an independent creature, which is seeking to return its victim to the mouth in the body. The beast gives up and makes off if three tentacles are mained. The body is essentially beyond killing unless you have serious levels of magic or maybe a siege weapon - or it has a legendary weak spot.

 

[strega]

I deliberately didn't make the SIZ and STR too high as I wasn't after the 'ship crushing' beast rather one that just snatches sailors off a ship.

Reading some of the material in the links given about the actual size of Architeuthis makes a range of 15-42 centering around 28-29 seem about right when compared to the Size chart in CoC.

As for strength I thought that 23-38 centering around 31 would be fine. After all an opposed Brawn roll where a Giant squid has a base of 60 vs. a PC with say base 30 when pulling or lifting him off the ship should work fine. Although technically a giant squid can lift a SIZ 45 object (p47) without a Brawn roll and SIZ 90 on a success.

How about SR+15 and 4CAs?
CM's Grip and Entangle by Tentacles or Arms
Unarmed base average is 38% and I'll probably not increase this as it gives a PC a chance to escape in a opposed test of Grip.

Enemies aren't going to be able to close easily (the squid's in the water after all) which makes it mostly that they'll fight against tentacles and arms using up CAs to get free from Grip/Entangle.

 

[Matt_H]

I've never been impressed with the whole 'plucking from the deck' routine. Squid are fantastic creatures in the water, almost the pinnacle of predatory perfection, but out of water they're reduced to impotent water squirting jelly.

That aside, as the players are basically engaged with tentacles only, perhaps the arms too, you may as well make it a big squid and treat each limb like a single location monster.
All said and done, its a pretty lethal monster (even your small version above), a couple of unlucky rolls, multiple crushing arms and a razor sharp beak, a character is in the water and they're done for. Done forget pulling off the suckers may cause damage too as they are armed with hooks in the giant versions.

 

[strega]

While I agree that IRL squid are just lumps of jelly out of water (I've had a fair bit of interaction with them while scuba diving) I'm more interested in the cinematic squid of 20,000 leagues and Eye of the Beast than real life.

It's really only a plot point to get blood pumping, heart pounding reactions from the PC's, but I like to have something to show/tell them how dangerous it could have been afterwards.

Of course Your Legend Might Vary.

 

[hanszurcher]

...
If you want to treat it more like a 'phenomenon' or an environment in itself, I'd consider statting each tentacle as an independent creature, which is seeking to return its victim to the mouth in the body. The beast gives up and makes off if three tentacles are mained. The body is essentially beyond killing unless you have serious levels of magic or maybe a siege weapon - or it has a legendary weak spot.

This is what I'd go for. Stating toothy tentacles as individual enemies. Unless the players have access to some sort of great harpoon.

I would not advise getting in the water with it. But if you do, most Sci-fi/fantasy sources seam to agree that when poking giant man-eating tentacle beasts with pointy sticks...aim for the eye.

 

[alex_greene]

Treat each tentacle as a single large entity, capable of doing crushing damage. Work out each tentacle's SIZ, STR and DEX, and they all have the same stats, attacking with the same SR, the same natural armour, doing the same damage. Each tentacle can do a grapple attack, can damage structural elements of the ship and can use large objects such as the ship's masthead as weapons. Massive damage modifiers. At any time, the characters can come under attack from 1d6+2 of those tentacles, unless a Major Wound has been struck severing one - which would tend to prompt the creature to disengage rather sharply, incidentally. Never mind aiming for the eye. If your guys can actually cut off a tentacle, it'll split pdq.

And you'll all have calamari for every meal for a month.