Muckdweller
Tiny Monstrous Humanoid
Hit Dice: 1/4 d8 (1 hp)
Initiative: +7
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), swim 20 ft.
Armor Class: 18 (+2 size, +3 Dex,
+3 natural), touch 15, fl at-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +0/–11
Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d3–3)
Full Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d3–3)
Space/Reach: 2-1/2 ft./ 0 ft.
Special Attacks: Squirt
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft.
Saves: Fort +0, Ref +5, Will +1
Abilities: Str 4, Dex 16, Con 10, Int 10,
Wis 9, Cha 8
Skills: Balance +5, Hide +13, Listen +1, Spot +1,
Swim +11
Feats: Improved Initiative, Weapon FinesseB
Environment: Temperate marshes
Organization: Solitary or pack (5–20)
Challenge Rating: 1/4
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Usually lawful evil
Advancement: 1–2 HD (Tiny); 3 HD (Small)
Level Adjustment: +0
A rustling in the marsh weeds briefl y reveals itself as a bipedal creature that resembles an upright Gila monster. It
waddles forward on partially webbed rear feet, then darts back into the undergrowth, its mottled hide blending with
the grasses.
Muck dwellers are bipedal amphibians that dwell in swamps, marshes, and mud-bottomed bodies of still water. Many serve kuo-toa or lizardfolk tribes, surviving on the periphery of such societies and venerating their gods.
Muckdwellers are omnivorous, but they prefer fresh, warm meat to plants, insects, and aquatic animals.
They dwell below the water but maintain muddy, above-water areas for resting,
eating, and hoarding shiny objects. Though they are not toolusers, they do occasionally build rafts of reeds, twigs, and mud on which to fl oat and hunt, as well as shelters where they can
hide from predators. Muckdwellers hibernate during the winter
months in temperate or colder climes.
A muckdweller looks like a miniature bipedal dinosaur with
mottled gray and brown scales and a pale yellow underbelly. Its
short tail is used for balancing and swimming. It has partially
webbed rear feet and small, weak, prehensile foreclaws.
Muckdwellers speak Draconic.
Combat
Muckdwellers flee unless cornered or certain of an easy kill. Packs of the creatures lurk below the waterline, waiting in ambush for potential prey. Before closing with a foe, muckdwellers employ their spit attacks to blind their opponents.
Squirt (Ex): A muckdweller can
squirt a jet of water into the eyes of
a target up to 25 feet away. Anyone
hit by this attack must make a DC 13
Refl ex save or be blinded for 1 round. The
save DC is Dexterity-based.
Skills: A muckdweller has a +8
racial bonus on any Swim check
to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered.
It can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight line.
A muckdweller uses its Dexterity bonus instead of its Strength bonus for Swim checks.
In the Realms
Muck dwellers live in the shadow of lizardfolk tribes across
Faer?n, from the Mere of Dead Men to the Great Swamp of
Rethild, and from the Lizard Marsh to the Surmarsh. The
lizardfolk of Kalran in the northern Serpent Hills k eep a
large number of muckdwellers as slaves. The creatures are also
prevalent in the subterranean cities of the kuo-toa, including
Gathgoolgapool, beneath the heart of the Chultan Peninsula.