Thursday, July 21, 2022

[Samson Sunday] Savage Menagerie: Vacuum Leviathan

(I'm playing a bit of catch-up with Samson Sunday entries! Fortunately, Issue 6 has a bunch of bizarre creatures for MCC RPG.)

Vacuum Leviathan: Init +5/+7/+9; Atk suction maw +5/+7/+9 melee (swallow whole); AC 15/17/20; HD 8d20/13d20/18d20; MV 80'/90'/100'; Act 1d20; SP swallow whole, bigger and bigger; SV Fort +10, Ref +5, Will +10; Crit M/d20.

Swallow whole: The Vacuum Leviathan doesn't chew or bite a victim; rather a target who is successfully hit is "swallow whole" as they are caught in the powerful suction of its gaping maw. Once swallowed, the victim is lost forever. The judge should allow a player to perform one last-minute action to save themselves on a DC 20 (a Strength check to hang onto something; a Reflex save to leap to safety before being pulled in, etc.)

Bigger and bigger: Any material the Vacuum Leviathan takes in is absorbed and added to its bulk. For every 24 hours it lives, it increases in size, moving up one step in initiative, melee bonus, AC, HD, and movement rate. (Refer to the creature's stat box above.) Once it reaches its maximum size, it will remain there until defeated.

The Vacuum Leviathan is a creature from space that crashed to Earth on a fallen satellite as a collection of microscopic molecules. Once it reassembled, it began its destructive cycle by "vacuuming" and consuming everything in its path. (Just read the comic and it'll make a bit more sense.) A Vacuum Leviathan looks like a bizarre combination of snail and centipede with a monstrous "bag" making up the bulk of its body. It has a pair of antenna that it uses as sensory organs, and a wide gaping mouth that it uses to take in sustenance. It does this through a powerful vacuum effect that draws anything and everything into its mouth where it is instantly consumed. It is thought that perhaps a microscopic black hole is within the Vacuum Leviathan's "body", which would explain the monstrous forces of pull the creature is capable of.

The Vacuum Leviathan starts off life about the size of a large house, approximately 30' high and 200' long. As it takes in raw materials, this mysterious space creature breaks down the molecules and adds it to its own bulk, exponentially increasing in size during the process. After 24 hours, the Vacuum Leviathan will have more than doubled in size, and 24 hours after that, the creature will have grown to the size of the tallest Ancient skyscrapers. (The judge should use the first figures in the stat box above, then move up another level as the Vacuum Leviathan grows, and ending with the highest-most stats once it reaches its maximum size.)

The Vacuum Leviathan should not be tossed into an MCC campaign as a random wandering monster. Instead this titanic beast should be a campaign all its own. The players may be able to defeat the creature at its smallest stage through sheer brute force, but once its reaches its biggest size, mere melee and missile fire combat will do little to stop it. The judge should reward clever players who come up with a plan to defeat this giant monster with a reasonable chance of success. In the comic issue, Samson attempted to drop a bomb within the Vacuum Leviathan's mouth, only to have it go off without effect. Only by clogging the Vacuum Leviathan's mouth with a giant Colloso-whale, causing it to suffocate, was Samson able to stop this beast. Once defeated, the Vacuum Leviathan will disintegrate back into its dusty molecular structure where it will float back into space from whence it came...

NOTE: This creature was inspired by the tale from Issue 6 of "Mighty Samson." Stay tuned each week for Samson Sunday!

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