Feats of Consumption
When you think of feats, and who benefits from them the most, you probably think of fighters and other characters who receive large quantities of bonus feats. Even if that’s not the case, you’re probably envisioning some kind of player character, right? Well, it’s certainly true that for most games, the majority of careful feat selection is done by players, but as anyone who has made a high-Hit Dice monster from scratch is aware, such creatures wind up with tons of feats, and not a lot to spend them on.
At the same time, not all combat options are created equal, and sadly, sometimes the cool ones are not the effective ones. Case-in-point: being swallowed whole is, for many monsters, an invitation to cut them up on the inside where their AC is lower and (in many cases) so is the damage the creature inflicts per round.
So I decided to kill two birds with one stone and make a bunch of new monster-themed feats designed to supplement creatures with swallow whole in order to give creatures with that ability (and such creatures tend to be pretty large and high on Hit Dice) both a way to spend their feats productively and a way to make their swallow whole ability useful in combat. Bon appétit.
Absorbent Insides (Monster)
As you devour creatures that you swallow whole, you drain their life essence in order to promote rapid healing.
Prerequisite: Swallow whole ability.
Benefit: Whenever you inflict damage to a creature with your swallow whole ability, you heal a number of hit points equal to 1/2 the amount of damage that you inflict in this way.
Constricting Throat (Monster)
When you swallow a creature, your throat constricts, making it more difficult for them to escape.
Prerequisite: Swallow whole ability.
Benefit: Whenever you use your swallow whole ability, the swallowed creature is automatically pinned. The swallowed creature can attempt to escape the pin on its turn, as normal, using your normal CMD. Each round, when the creature is damaged by your swallow whole ability, if the creature is no longer pinned, you may make a grapple attempt as a free action to pin them again (you suffer a -10 penalty on this attempt).
Fast Digestion (Monster)
You digest creatures you eat particularly quickly.
Prerequisite: Swallow whole ability.
Benefits: When you swallow a creature whole, the amount of damage that that creature suffers each round as a result of being swallowed whole increases by 1d6 points of acid damage per four Hit Dice you possess (to a maximum of 5d6 for a creature with 20 or more Hit Dice). This is in addition to the normal damage inflicted by your swallow whole ability.
Iron Gullet (Monster)
When you swallow a creature whole, it is particularly difficult for that creature to escape.
Prerequisite: Swallow whole ability.
Benefits: When you swallow a creature whole, it is more difficult for that creature to escape from your insides. The armor class of your interior is equal to 10 + your full natural armor bonus, rather than the usual 10 + 1/2 your natural armor bonus. If the armor class of your interior is already equal to or greater than this amount, it increases by +4, instead. Additionally, a creature attempting to cut its way free with a light slashing or piercing weapon must inflict an amount of damage equal to 1/5 your total hit points, instead of 1/10 your total hit points.
Swift Swallow (Monster)
You can swallow your victims all in one bite.
Prerequisites: Grab ability, swallow whole ability.
Benefits: Whenever you successfully use the grab special ability to grab a creature with a bite attack, you may immediately attempt a new combat maneuver check as a free action in order to swallow the opponent whole immediately, rather than having to wait until your next turn to do so.