Blotsphere
It's Transportation Week, and that means today's monster is a new addition to the long list of exciting fantasy mounts. But who wants another horse or lion with a few extra bits stapled on? No one, that's who. Which is why instead, we have an eldritch monstrosity that can take you anywhere you need to go, in comfort and style.
Blotsphere
Floating in the air like a giant jellyfish, this translucent blue-green creature has six long, willowy tendrils that hang below it as it floats in the air. The top of its body is ringed with several small transparent orange sacs, which form a sort of crown around a single larger transparent orange dome in the center.
BLOTSPHERE CR 7
XP 3,200
N Large aberration
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +14
DEFENSE
AC 19, touch 12, flat-footed 16 (+2 Dex, +1 dodge, +7 natural, –1 size)
hp 85 (10d8+40)
Fort +7, Ref +7, Will +8; –4 vs. compulsion effects
Defensive Abilities all-around vision, hidden eyes
Weaknesses domesticated, transparency
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft., fly 30 ft. (average), swim 20 ft.
Melee 6 tentacles +11 (1d4+4 plus grab)
STATISTICS
Str 18, Dex 14, Con 19, Int 7, Wis 12, Cha 9
Base Atk +7; CMB +12; CMD 24
Feats Dodge, Lightning Reflexes, Mobility, Skill Focus (Fly), Weapon Focus (tentacle)
Skills Climb +12, Fly +19, Perception +14, Swim +12
SQ balloon shape
ECOLOGY
Environment any
Organization solitary or congregation (2–12)
Treasure incidental
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Balloon Shape (Ex): A blotsphere's body consists of several small air sacs surrounding a single, much larger sac. As a move action, a blotsphere that has successfully grappled a creature with one of its tentacles can deposit the creature inside its main air sac through a toothless opening that is normally kept tightly contracted. This functions similarly to being swallowed whole, except that the creature inside the sac does not remain grappled, and does not take damage each round. The interior of a blotsphere has AC 13 and 20 hit points, as the air sac is surprisingly tough and durable. A blotsphere's air sac can hold up to 2 Medium or smaller creatures comfortably, or 4 Medium creatures if they are squeezing. Creatures outside the blotsphere can also attack its primary air sac directly. If a blotsphere's air sac is ruptured, it loses its fly speed until the damage is healed.
Domesticated (Ex): Blotspheres were long ago enslaved and conditioned as beasts of burden by an ancient and powerful alien race, and their minds have been conditioned over eons to accept commands. They suffer a –4 penalty on saving throws made to resist compulsion effects.
Hidden Eyes (Ex): A blotsphere's numerous eyes are located beneath its transparent skin, protecting them while still allowing them to see the world around it. Between this protection and the large number of eyes the blotspheres possess, they are immune to being blinded.
Transparency (Ex): A blotsphere's skin is a translucent blue-green color, except its air sacs, which are a translucent orange. This allows the muscles and organs beneath the skin to be seen, granting a +4 bonus on attack rolls made to confirm a critical threat.
Ecology
Sages disagree on whether blotspheres were created specifically to serve as beasts of burden, or whether they were an existing race that was simply domesticated because of their potential usefulness, but these strange creatures were long ago put to the purpose of serving as a means of transportation, storage, and imprisonment for a strange and inscrutable alien race. This race either specifically engineered the blotsphere’s unusual biology, or at least capitalized on it, using specialized magic to control the creatures from within, piloting them like organic crafts over land, sea, and sky.
A blotsphere's numerous lesser air sacs generate a variety of different gases, which it is able to mix together for a variety of useful purposes, foremost among which is making them buoyant enough to float through the air. They can also use these gases to create fresh air within their primary air sac, allowing them to keep passengers alive during long journeys. The blotsphere can also cut off air to its primary air sac, eventually suffocating any creatures inside, after which its digestive juices, which are too weak to inflict measurable damage, eventually break them down for digestion.