TEXT: ANDREW BOSWELL
  
  Andrew Boswell
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  The
  Slayer’s Guide
  To
  Kraken
  Contents
  2
  Introduction
  3
  Kraken Physiology
  7
  Habitat
  9
  Kraken Society
  13
  Methods of Warfare
  14
  Roleplaying Kraken
  18
  Scenario Hooks and Ideas
  20
  Antangil
  28
  Kraken Reference List
  31
  D20 & OGL License
  Credits
  Editor
  Daniel Bishop
  Cover Art
  Nathan Webb
  Interior Illustrations
  Gillian Pearce
  Production Manager
  Alexander Fennell
  Proof-Reading
  Ian Barstow
  
  2
  Introduction
  N
  early all monsters are shrouded in some
  mystery.  Even the so-called ‘common’
  beasts that plague the intelligent races are in
  some ways unknown despite efforts to probe their
  secrets.  Many become increasingly familiar to us as
  we constantly ask of our friends and allies, and from
  this information we piece together what we can.
  However, there are some creatures that will forever
  resist our attempts.  Those that live beyond the
  material world are, by definition, inexplicable:
  anything we can learn is so otherworldly as to defy
  interpretation.  However, even here on this plane
  there are creatures that we cannot hope to gather
  much information on.  Of these creatures, the kraken
  stands in the forefront as the most mysterious.
  These behemoths, which dwarf all except the largest
  ships, dwell in the depths of the ocean with near-
  unimaginable pressure bearing down on them.  They
  live for millennia, have the strength to drag whole
  ships beneath the waves, and possess powers and
  intellect that make them formidable foes.  While no
  kraken ever encountered has been passive or
  friendly, neither have they been mindlessly
  destructive or stupidly evil, though to our eyes it
  may seem so.  Their brain capacity likely exceeds
  our own and they rule a domain so different from
  ours that we cannot even begin to understand what
  motivates them.  Even the habitats of coastal marine
  humanoids are so different from the ocean depths
  that these creatures can only guess at the mind of the
  kraken.
  Yet even the darkest mystery may be solved by the
  application of logic.  This manual represents the
  greatest gathering of information available
  concerning these beasts of the deep.  Great personal
  expense, and no small investment by my patron, who
  has an unfettered interest in preserving free trade on
  the waves, has resulted in this: the first, most
  authoritative guide to the kraken.  Disregard it at
  your peril, for herein lies everything that is currently
  known about these beasts, and therefore it may well
  contain the very instrument of your deliverance
  when the titanic tentacles enclose your ship in the
  dead of night…
  The Slayer’s Guides
  Each of the Slayer’s Guides deals with a specific
  species that may have been neglected, or is in need
  of attention to make them more ‘real’ for the hard-
  pressed Games Master.  The Slayer’s Guide to
  Kraken presents, not a common foe that parties of all
  sizes might encounter and best, but a monster that
  only the very powerful would ever dream of
  tackling.  In this manual you will learn about their
  mysterious origins, meet their god – the one true
  Kraken, discover how they were cast out onto this
  plane in shame, learn about their astounding
  physiology and their perverse societies.
  Kraken – False God
  of the Deep
  The kraken is a solitary beast of enormous power
  and age.  Formed in the elemental plane of water but
  then cast out, each one is a demented, often insane,
  representative of their own religion.  They are the
  unloved avatars of a god that rejected them.  Now
  they seek to found religions in their own name, or to
  return to their home and wreak revenge.
  Encounters with a kraken, for no mortal would ever
  wish to meet more than one, will seldom be to the
  adventurer’s advantage.  In the deep sea, the kraken
  has all the advantages.  On land, where a kraken may
  have created slave or subject societies, that society
  at large will resist assaults on their god.  In the
  elemental plane of water, where more of their kind
  and indeed the patron deity of many non-humanoids
  dwell, they assume even more awesome powers.  A
  kraken is not merely a monstrous foe – it is the core
  around which an entire campaign may be based.
  INTRODUCTION
  
  3
  Kraken
  Physiology
  T
  he kraken, distinct from ordinary giant squid,
  which ‘only’ reach some 50 feet, are not
  native to this plane.  They share many of the
  characteristics of those creatures, and this has led
  many to suppose that they are a product of natural
  evolution; however, the differences are quite
  marked.  First and foremost is their enormous size,
  with kraken growing to be up to 200 feet long.  Well
  over half of this length is tentacles, of which they
  have only eight, in comparison to the normal ten of
  other squid.  Nestled at the base of the tentacles is
  the beak.  Any unfortunate victim brought to the
  beak has little chance of escaping intact as its size,
  and the musculature powering it, is quite capable of
  biting through the hull of a ship.
  Critical Hits Against Kraken
  When attacking a kraken, a critical hit may have the
  additional effect of striking a specific location, such
  as an eye or tentacle.  Whenever a critical threat is
  scored against a kraken, roll on the following table.
  Critical Hit Location (roll 1d20)
  1
  Left Eye
  2
  Right Eye
  3-10 Tentacle
  11+ Body
  In addition to causing normal damage, any hit to an
  eye that causes 10 or more points of damage blinds
  that eye and will cause the kraken to disengage and
  flee.  Kraken position themselves when attacking, so
  that their eyes are either below the surface of the
  water, or as far away as possible from the action.  Any
  blow dealing 25 or more points of damage to a
  tentacle will sever it.  If three or more tentacles are
  severed the beast will similarly flee.
  If injured in this way, the kraken will recover from its
  wounds at a rate of five hit points a month, with eyes
  or tentacles growing back over the appropriate
  period.  Even if the damage is magically healed, a
  new tentacle will still take five months to fully grow
  back, unless specific regenerative magic, such as a
  regenerate spell, or a ring of regeneration is used.
  Their eyes are, quite simply, the largest of any living
  creature, being over two feet in diameter, capable of
  distinguishing colour and movement over long
  distances even in the lightless environment of the
  deep sea.  Like the ordinary squid they are expert,
  though comparatively slow, swimmers who, through
  chemically controlled swim bladders, can descend to
  remarkable depths.  It is speculated that they alone,
  of all the sea dwellers, can actually descend to the
  ocean’s floor and return to the surface without
  imploding or exploding respectively.  Movement
  and respiration are controlled in the same fashion as
  ordinary squids; that is, by sucking water into spaces
  around its head cavity and then expelling it out
  again.  This fans water through the paired gills, each
  of which is easily as large as a rowing boat.  There
  are no free air compartments in its body which allow
  it to withstand the compressive forces of the deep
  sea without rupturing, though of course its size
  diminishes as it moves further down in the water
  column.  Movement up through the sea from great
  depths is undertaken slowly, not to avoid the bends
  (they do not breathe air and thus have no nitrogen to
  bubble), but to prevent the explosive expansion of
  the tissue itself.
  To control its movement, the kraken has a large
  water jet that sits below the axis of the tentacles
  projecting out from the hood of the head.  This is a
  very dexterous organ and can direct the flow of
  water in any direction, allowing the kraken to move
  freely.  The fastest motion is attained when the jet is
  directed straight backwards (towards the creature’s
  tentacles), which is what most people would expect.
  Kraken eggs are laid in open waters.  They are
  buoyancy-neutral and float at about the 2,000-foot
  mark.  Each egg is laid from a batch of roughly two-
  dozen, with at least a mile or two separating it from
  its nearest sibling.  They are approximately four feet
  long and distinctly oval, with only the enormity of
  the sea protecting them from predators, such as giant
  squid.  After only thirteen or fourteen days the eggs
  hatch out into giant squid, differing from their
  natural cousins only in that they have eight
  tentacles, like their parents.  However, from the
  moment of their birth they behave in exactly the
  same way as their giant-sized relatives.  Perhaps the
  only interesting thing about the offspring of the
  kraken is that they instinctively recognise genuine
  kraken, becoming docile and submissive in their
  presence.  It has been speculated that some form of
  communication may be taking place and we suspect
  KRAKEN PHYSIOLOGY
  
  4
  that the offspring treat their elders with a religious
  awe but the truth is, we simply do not know.
  Kraken Offspring
  For all kraken offspring born in the material world
  use the giant squid presented in Core Rulebook III,
  with the exception that they have only eight
  tentacle rake attacks.
  Bodily products useful to apothecaries such as the
  pen, ink, chromatophore cells, nerve fibres and skin
  are still valuable, but attract only half the value
  described later in this chapter, and are only half as
  effective.
  Internally they have a single rigid structure: the so-
  called ‘pen’, which runs the length of the head and is
  consequently up to 65 feet in length.  It is primarily
  a shell-like material and is used to give some
  rigidity as well as to anchor the musculature.
  Though rarely acquired, shipwrights prize this
  structure for its length, strength and workability.  It
  can be cut and sawn to any shape required, and is
  occasionally seen in magnificent elven ships in the
  form of spars and sometimes even full masts.
  Externally, most are covered with what are known as
  chromatophores.  These are pigmented cells that can
  change colour on command and, while less
  expressive than those of the cuttlefish, are fully
  capable of transmitting a wide range of emotional
  information and putting on a magnificent show.  A
  rare few are covered instead with cells that are
  bioluminescent, meaning that they glow from an
  internal source under the complete control of the
  kraken.  In the upper depths of the sea where light
  can penetrate, these rare beasts have the typical
  uninteresting squid-like colouration.  However, at
  the greater depths where there is no natural light,
  they are every bit as spectacular and expressive as
  their coloured counterparts.  This colour control can
  be changed or cycled many times a second allowing
  complex patterns to be created.  Clearly it is part of a
  language, presumably for communicating with
  others of its kind as well as other squid.  This
  language has never been successfully translated.
  Like the octopus, the kraken can expel a large
  quantity of ink from glands within the hood of its
  head.  This is to provide a cover screen to allow
  escape if a combat is going poorly or to deter
  predators.  Chemically the ink has a number of
  elements that are specifically distasteful to fish, but
  it is not poisonous.  In fact, many sea-going cultures
  KRAKEN PHYSIOLOGY
  consider the ink from an octopus to be a spicy
  delicacy: doubly so for kraken ink, though it would
  probably have to be the scarcest and most expensive
  of all the spices.  Scarcer still is the ink that comes
  from the bioluminescent kraken.  These beasts can
  squirt out a cloud of luminous ink in the same
  quantities as the more common black ink.  At
  shallower depths this appears as a milky substance
  and is less effective as a screen.  At greater depths,
  where black ink is similarly less effective, it creates a
  dazzling cloud that shocks darkness-acclimatised
  eyes and easily allows the escape of the producer.  In
  both cases the ink is a valued component in magical
  scribing.  Good money is paid the world over for
  genuine kraken ink of high purity and
  concentration.
  Kraken Ink
  At depths of less than 400 feet, the luminous ink
  cloud provides only one-half concealment, and
  creatures within the cloud suffer the effects of dense
  fog.  At depths greater than 400 feet, the luminous
  cloud is fully effective, providing the full benefits as
  detailed in Core Rulebook III.  Conversely, at depths
  greater than 400 feet, the black ink cloud of normal
  kraken is only half as effective, as detailed above.
  A kraken does not have eyelids and does not sleep
  in any way that we would understand.  However,
  every few days it falls into a torpor, floating at a
  steady depth or wallowing on the surface.  This
  torpor lasts only a few hours, and is a kind of
  meditative trance: once alerted to any threats nearby
  the beast regains full mental faculties instantly.
  Torpor
  During torpor the kraken loses its Alertness feat, and
  it’s Spot and Listen checks are reduced to +7.  There
  is a 20% chance that any encountered, stationery
  kraken will be in a state of torpor.
  Kraken Alchemical
  Reagents
  The kraken is a mythical beast, and a great many of
  its body parts are sought after by alchemists,
  apothecaries and other experimenters in the magical
  arts.  The following is a list of these components,
  their uses and the values that they might command
  to the right buyer.
  
  5
  collection as the black variety.  It is used in more
  obscure preparations, and is particularly effective
  when used to scribe spells from the school of
  illusion.  Due to its rarity each ounce commands 5
  gp for every percentage point of purity.
  As a final note: production of ink is a vital process
  that the kraken does spontaneously.  Only small
  amounts are stored in the body so killing the beast
  and extracting the gland will yield only 3d20
  ounces of 100% pure ink.
  Kraken Ink Scrolls
  While kraken ink is not required for the penning of
  magical writings such as scrolls and spellbooks, it is
  preferred by some spellcasters due to it’s potency.
  Any scroll penned using kraken ink has the saving
  throw DC increased by one.  Scrolls that contain
  water-based spells gain +2 DC when standard kraken
  ink is used and scrolls of illusion gain +2 DC from
  the use of  luminous kraken ink.
  Chromatophores/Hide
  Both coloured and bioluminescent chromatophore
  cells are sought for their brilliant display effects.
  These cells, scraped from the skin of a dead kraken,
  are used in potions and ointments such as vision,
  blur, charisma, darkvision, remove blindness, etc.
  Each four square feet (a square, two feet per side) of
  kraken hide will yield enough scrapings to make
  Pen
  The pen is a long shell-like structure resembling
  mother of pearl in colour.  Its strength and rigidity
  make it useful for a number of uses, such as strong-
  yet-light spars and masts for ships, as well as a
  multitude of smaller objects about ship, such as pins,
  hull ribbing, projecting walkways, and so on.  It has
  twice the strength of wood when used for these
  purposes.  Additionally, it can be worked into
  elements of armour, such as banded or splint mail, by
  splitting and sanding it to shape.  In addition to
  being masterwork, kraken pen armour has a non-
  magical +1 enhancement bonus to AC and a 10
  pound reduction in weight.  Kraken pen is sold at a
  cost of 500 gp per foot, with two feet being enough
  to make one suit of banded or splint armour.
  Ink
  Wizards use black kraken ink as a preferred
  ingredient for penning magical scrolls and recording
  spells in spellbooks.  What is less well known, but
  can be deduced, is that ‘pure’ kraken ink is
  exceedingly rare.  By definition ink collected from a
  location where a kraken has been combatted is
  mixed with seawater, often diluting it so much that it
  looks more like smoky tea than ink.  The real cost in
  the purchase of most kraken ink is in the purification
  of it: the removal of the salt water is a lengthy and
  expensive process.  An experienced wizard can taste
  how pure the kraken ink that he is being sold is.
  Pure kraken ink must be collected as close to the ink
  gland as possible, as it is being expelled.  The
  further away, and the longer a collector waits, the
  more expensive the purification process becomes,
  and the lower the profit margin.  To simulate this,
  treat ink collected within 10 feet of the ink gland to
  be 90% pure, and for every ten feet ‘downstream’
  reduce the purity by 10%.  Even though the cloud
  will appear to extend beyond what this calculation
  would allow, the reality is that, over 100 feet away
  from the ink gland, the purification
  processes required simply
  doesn’t make the effort worth
  it.  The price for one ounce
  of black kraken ink is 2
  gp for every
  percentage point of
  purity.
  Luminous kraken ink
  has the same uses and
  follows the same general
  principals for purity and
  KRAKEN PHYSIOLOGY
  
  6
  would only happen after titanic storms at sea that
  have stirred up the currents at tremendous depths.
  More likely, though the probability is still
  infinitessimal, is the discovery of an egg floating at
  its assigned depth, possibly after the characters have
  been tracking an adult kraken.  Recovery of the egg
  poses no particular problem once the characters have
  managed to achieve that depth in the first place.
  They are not overly heavy and there is nothing
  inherently dangerous or magical about them.  The
  only thing that might cause the characters concern is
  the short incubation period of the egg, resulting in
  the hatching of an aggressive squid anything up to
  ten feet long.
  Meat
  Lastly, the kraken is a squid and, as such, its flesh is
  edible.  If consumed within an hour of being killed
  (it may be cooked) it affects the diner as if he had
  consumed a mild dose of a heroism potion.  For the
  next hour he gains a +1 competence bonus to attack
  rolls, saving throws and skill checks.  However,
  associated with this increased competence, they are
  also inflated with their own self-importance, and
  their confidence increases.  If the effect is seen in a
  Non-Player Character, they will be cocksure and
  unwilling to back down if challenged.  Games
  Masters should remind players who have feasted on
  kraken flesh, during the next game hour, that they
  feel very confident of their own abilities, possibly
  even forcing a Will save (DC 20 -1 for each full 10
  minutes that has passed since the character ate the
  flesh) if they display excessive caution.
  An hour after death, or if the flesh is in any way
  preserved, the magical side effects no longer occur.
  None-the-less, the meat is still edible, and sellable
  (as much as any seafood), and its novelty ensures a
  ready market.  Fresh meat will sell for 100 gp per
  pound, preserved or ‘aged’ meat will sell for 10 gp
  per pound.  Note, however, that even if a whole
  kraken corpse could be brought to shore within an
  hour of its demise, no fishmonger would dream of
  buying the whole thing at premium prices (several
  thousand pounds worth), because they would have
  no chance of selling it all in time to maximise the
  investment.  The best an entrepreneurial character
  could hope for is to have a deal pre-arranged with
  dockside middlemen who supply local highbrow
  restaurants.  In this case they could move up to 200
  pounds of meat at the premium price, but would
  have to negotiate the sale of the remainder.
  KRAKEN PHYSIOLOGY
  one such potion (along with the other preparations
  that must be added).
  Additionally, a section of kraken hide, before
  scraping, that is at least five feet square, can be
  tailored and enchanted to make a medium wondrous
  item called the cloak of the kraken.  See boxed text
  for details.
  New Magic Item: Cloak of the Kraken
  This garment appears to be an ordinary leather
  cloak.  However, on command the wearer can cause
  either a dazzling hypnotic pattern to play across its
  surface, as per the spell hypnotic pattern, or can
  cause a disruptive pattern to appear that confuses his
  opponents during melee, as per the blur spell.  Both
  effects occur as if cast by a 9th level Sorcerer, and the
  cloak can be utilised for a total of ten minutes per
  day.
  Caster Level: 9th; Prerequisites – Craft wondrous
  item, blur, hypnotic pattern;
  Market Price: 11,000 gp; Weight: 1 lb.
  Raw kraken hide that has been freshly cut from a
  recently killed beast (within one hour) is worth 250
  gp per square foot.  Once acquired, the hide can be
  preserved for an additional eight hours by fully
  immersing it in fine alcohol.  After an hour, if it has
  not been preserved, the hide is useless for any
  magical purposes.  Even in this denatured form it
  can still be used in the fashion industry, where each
  square foot of hide will fetch 100 gp.
  Eye nerve fibres
  The resolving power of the kraken’s eyes is sought
  for many magical preparations.  They may be used in
  potions, as an alternative to chromatophore cells,
  though they may not be combined with them, in
  hopes of increasing the efficacy of the draught.
  Usually, they are added to preparations when
  creating wondrous items, and are always consumed
  by the process.  For the most part experimenters from
  the school of illusion seek them, and these people
  will pay anything up to 500 gp per inch of kraken
  eye nerve fibre.  Each kraken corpse will yield up to
  five feet of nerve fibre suitable for these purposes.
  Eggs
  Close to the top of the list of incredibly rare
  delicacies are kraken eggs.  Because of their
  rareness, the four-foot long eggs command prices of
  anything up to 3,000 gp each.  A lucky character
  might find one washed up on the shore, but this
  
  7
  Habitat
  T
  he open sea can be roughly divided into four
  ‘layers’; the sublittoral zone near the surface
  is where nearly all creatures that we would
  recognise live.  Below this is the bathyal zone that
  effectively covers the continental shelf.  Below this
  is the abyssal zone which stretches from the edge of
  continental plates down into the dark and
  inaccessible depths.  Even this is not the end
  though.  In places the sea floor dips away into
  incredibly deep trenches, which are anywhere up to
  35,000 feet deep.  This is the hadal zone.  At the
  abyssal and hadal depths, the temperature is as low
  as 3o Celsius and the salinity levels are close to
  100% (in comparison to the surface of the sea that
  averages 35%).  It is here that the kraken is most
  comfortable, where nightmare creatures with jaws
  that seem too big for their bodies hunt and eerie
  bioluminescent displays give a hellish counterpoint
  to the otherwise unremitting blackness.
  Where the sea reaches these extreme depths, an iron
  ball would take roughly an hour to sink to the
  bottom.  To gain a perspective on the kinds of
  extreme pressures down there, an egg dropped into
  the sea would implode at far less than one
  thousandth of that depth.  Life exists everywhere
  and there are countless creatures of kinds that have
  never been seen by us that live in perfect comfort,
  though they are constrained to live at their own
  depth.  The kraken, however, can traverse the
  distances from top to bottom, making such a journey
  in a little over three hours.  They graze the sea
  indiscriminately, eating anything and everything,
  unaffected by the poisons and spines of their
  victims.  They prowl through this vast domain only
  rarely meeting another of their kind, constantly
  plotting how to gain power and inflict discomfort on
  others.
  The hadal and abyssal plains are, contrary to popular
  opinion, far from being desolate and boring fields.
  They are rich in life and structure, and are home to
  many species and societies that we have no name for.
  The thousands of feet of water above them provide
  food in abundance as everything eventually finds its
  way down.  There the remains add to the immensely
  deep silt which is in turn eaten and used by plants
  and animals that live in this lightless zone.  When
  not trying to master the world around them, the
  kraken descend to these unimaginable depths to
  further their other driving goal.  Down on the hadal
  and abyssal plains they search the landscape, rich
  from the raining corpses, moving and sifting through
  the silt to find the mythical gate that links to the
  elemental plane of water.  No one knows what the
  gate might look like, however there is speculation
  that it is no more than an enchanted patch of water
  (which would naturally make it exceedingly
  difficult to find), or alternately an enormous
  structure surrounded by solid material native to that
  plane.  This gate is operated by specific passwords
  spoken in aquan and it is through here that visitors
  make their way to the material world.  Should a
  kraken ever find and operate the gate, their central
  goal would be to wage war on the divine beings
  there and to pervert others to their cause.
  No air-breathing bard knows the tales concerning
  this gate; for that information, one must ask the
  marine races.  What we do know is that the kraken
  do not enter our world by this great gate.  Instead,
  they are thrust here through a temporary gate in the
  open sea which is then promptly closed before the
  dazed monster can recover.  Sailors sometimes report
  hearing great booms or seeing flashes of light from
  well below their hulls.  This is probably such a gate
  in operation.  The rareness of these reports can give
  us comfort, because it indicates that the expulsion of
  these evil creatures into our world is also rare.  Were
  there ever to be an increase in these events it would
  indicate not only that our world was in for serious
  trouble, but that major disruptions, possibly even
  civil war, had broken out on the elemental plane of
  water.
  Typical Lair
  The lair described here is one that a kraken might
  typically inhabit, and is distinctly different from the
  more political lair described in the Antangil chapter.
  The lair lies 3 miles offshore and 1,000 feet below
  the surface.  The original structure was formed by an
  overhanging piece of the continental shelf that has
  been gradually filled with air by natural out-gassing
  in the surrounding coral.  The kraken populated it
  with captive’s centuries ago by simply carrying them
  down and then curing their wounds.  Occasionally
  new captives are added to build up the stock but
  most of the 300 inhabitants are the descendants of
  the original captives.  These people, predominantly
  and originally human, but with many races
  introduced over the long and bitter years, are totally
  adapted to the atmospheric pressure of their
  environment.  Even if they could be brought to the
  HABITAT
  
  8
  We know, of course, that the kraken can never walk on land.  He is a creature of the deep, and we would no more expect him to
  enter into our towns than we would an octopus.  But I tell you now of a legend that was related to me by my master, some forty
  years ago.  There was a kraken of immense age and power.  He had lived in the sea, building his petty empires and molesting ships
  for centuries.  He grew in magical knowledge until, at last, he mastered the art of shape-changing.  Can you imagine the intellect,
  age and sheer brute power that it must have had to achieve such a thing?
  This kraken, calling himself ‘The Emperor of Life and Death’, travelled as a human among the coastal towns.  At first he did
  not settle, but his power was obvious.  The vain, the evil and the needy were all attracted to his following, and soon he had an
  entourage whenever he appeared, even while yet damp from the ocean waves.  He had the population around there worship him in his
  aspect as the gigantic sea beast, and a great temple was erected in his name.  Wealth flowed in and death flowed out.  Terrible
  tales of sacrifices and profane rites escaped the region.  He surrounded himself with luxury and opulence.  He fathered many cursed
  offspring, and he cast his gaze on the cities inland, and dreamed of a continental empire.
  In time, the king of that land felt the need to take action.  Auditors were dispatched but never returned.  Champions followed, but
  fared little better.  Mercenary bands caught wind of the festering boil on the coast and they tried their luck, few survived to tell the
  tale.  In desperation the king called on his barons to provide troops.  Strong sorcerers from neighbouring lands were offered rich
  rewards to join in the extermination effort.  This war started in the spring, and ended two years later, resulting in vast stretches of
  that once-fertile coast being laid bare, and with the loss of several thousand lives.  The temple was pulled down stone by stone, the
  surviving captured worshippers were sold into slavery on the galleys, as they were good for nothing else, and the victorious troops were
  issued awards that even now adorn their regimental banners.  Thus the kraken was defeated, destroyed, and his remains cremated.
  But that is not the end of this cautionary tale.  Of the offspring of that creature, most were born hideously deformed.  They lived
  out their squalid lives lying in foetid pools, lashing out with their tentacles and bellowing at passers by, fed on the remains of profane
  sacrifices.  The conquering forces dispatched them, skewering them where they lay.  But a tiny few were not so obviously afflicted;
  they could live on both land and in the sea, half man and half squid, they slapped into the waves to feed, but then returned to
  continue their depredations on anyone they found.  Many were captured and released from their curse at the point of a sword.
  Others, however, and no one knows how many there were, escaped.  A few may not have even known that they were such monstrosities
  – appearing normal at birth, spirited away by their mothers, perhaps only realising their curse later in life.
  It is a brave party that camps on that stretch of shore even today.  Especially when the tide is running high, and the nights are
  dark.
  – Excerpt from a lecture given in the Academy of Sages, Bhängphôt.
  surface without suffering the bends they would
  probably not survive the in the ‘thin’ atmosphere.
  These inhabitants live in a state of perpetual
  barbarism; they are clothed in whatever rags have
  survived the trip down, whatever the kraken delivers
  to them, and bits and pieces they have fashioned
  from sea plants.  King Jujumann, a fifth generation
  slave, rules the others with an iron fist.  He achieved
  his role by killing his predecessor and, with his
  strong-arm supporters, keeps the others in line with
  brutality and vigilance.  For food they have
  whatever the kraken brings them and a species of
  fungi that grows profusely on the dung they
  indiscriminately deposit.  Light is provided by
  bioluminescent fungi, as is heat.  Anyone showing
  any sign of magical ability is immediately killed by
  the kraken.  Their language is an argot that would
  defy any interpretation without months of study or a
  comprehend languages spell.  Any visitors to the
  complex will be attacked instantly: the kraken has
  warned them of ‘demons’.
  The slaves have enlarged the original cave over the
  centuries using the few hand tools that the kraken
  salvaged from shipwrecks.  It now comprises 36
  caverns connected by short passages.  The largest of
  these is the first overhanging cave, which is over 70
  feet in diameter, with the others ranging in size down
  to a mere 10 feet in diameter.  Despite having very
  few hand tools and no dedicated weapons at all, the
  inhabitants are comparatively rich.  It is here that the
  kraken stores its treasure even though it personally
  has no use for it.  In every chamber of the complex
  are chests of gold and jewels that have been taken
  from ships.  Such wealth is meaningless to the
  slaves, as they have no way to spend it, and have
  only dim memories of what it is.  The kraken, for its
  part, stores all this wealth for unknown reasons; it
  too has no way to spend it.
  At least once a month the kraken surfaces in the
  main cavern and summons all of the slaves into its
  presence.  As soon as they enter the cavern and see
  their master they fall to their knees and start a
  mournful song of worship.  This song is composed of
  words from a hundred different languages and
  means, essentially, ‘you are the greatest, you are the
  only god, you are everything, we are nothing
  without you, don’t ever leave’.  This is the sole
  purpose of the society; the captives can live their
  pathetic little lives any way they like, as far as the
  kraken is concerned for, as long as they recognise it
  as a god, it is satisfied.
  HABITAT
  
  9
  Kraken
  Society
  After the Fall
  When found on the material plane, kraken
  themselves have little in the way of society.  They
  live solitary lives, only coming together every few
  decades to reproduce,  although such meetings more
  often than not resulting in combat to the death.
  Occasionally however, after potentially months of
  negotiation, the male and female will produce a few
  eggs.  There is little to differentiate between male
  and female kraken, physically or behaviourally.
  Kraken communicate with each other using mixtures
  of their chromatophore displays and aquan.  It seems
  likely that their conversations revolve around
  deciding which is the true divine being, and
  therefore which is the subservient one.  For males
  and females who are willing to mate, an uneasy
  conclusion is reached where neither admits the
  dominance of the other, but concedes that the other
  may be deluded in their beliefs.  This truce lasts only
  as long as the mating activity, which may be several
  days.  After this, old antagonisms resurface and the
  female typically withdraws to another part of the sea
  to lay her precious eggs in peace.
  The real societies associated with kraken are those
  that they create.  These take one of two forms.  The
  least imaginative one entails capturing humanoids
  and transporting them to submarine cave complexes,
  where they live out their horrid existences
  dependent on the beast to furnish they’re every need.
  Dank and stuffy, these slave societies exist only to
  serve the ego of the kraken, labouring to enlarge the
  cave complex and subsisting on the marine offal that
  it serves up.  Such societies worship the kraken
  because they have no choice, rebellion means death
  and escape is next to impossible.  In a hostage
  situation like this, many succumb to the madness of
  captivity and fall under the kraken’s perverse
  charisma, believing it to be a genuine god.  Children
  born into these dungeons know no better, and even
  if they could be rescued would likely die of shock if
  released.
  The other form of society, and this counts as the
  kraken’s art, is where a sea-going people (usually an
  island tribe) finds over time that if they sacrifice to
  the monster that lurks in their waters, they gain
  protection.  Sacrifices, naturally, are living
  humanoids cast into the deep.  As the months and
  years progress the kraken gradually shows more of
  itself and delivers salutary punishments by sinking
  ships for transgressions.  The owners and operators
  of the ships learn through bitter experience that the
  kraken can strangle their civilisation by strangling
  their ships.  They protect themselves by offering
  sacrifices and by further experimentation learn what
  pleases it.  In time it supplants whatever local
  religion was in force simply by being present and
  active.  This process may take many years, though at
  the end of it the beast is firmly entrenched in the
  population’s mind as their patron god.
  Both of these created societies exist for only one
  purpose – to flatter the god.  If they ever grow tired
  of their flock, or feel that they are not being treated
  as befits their status, they have no hesitation in
  wiping them out.  This they do by using their natural
  abilities to control the weather or simply flooding
  the submarine caves of the slave civilisations.
  Still Bathed in Divine
  Light
  The beast that we know as the kraken rarely appears
  on the material plane, and this is a good thing.
  Though they can reproduce here, their offspring
  achieve only a shadow of their parents’ power,
  intelligence and size.  For centuries the question of
  why these creatures should act unlike any other
  plagued scholars who studied the seas and the life in
  them.  However, the recent interest in maritime
  technology, and with it the resurgence of research
  into aquatic species, has shed new light on the
  matter.
  The kraken is not native to this plane.  Each and
  every genuine kraken, and no one knows how many
  of these beasts lurk in the deep, was formed as an
  avatar with a divine spark by a deity known as the
  Kraken.  The Kraken swims in the infinite seas of the
  elemental plane of water, wallowing in the warmth of
  its own divinity and spawning countless young of
  all types of creature.  Though it has the senses and
  intelligence of a god, it is often seen as blind and
  insensate.  It takes no interest in the affairs of the life
  it creates, the politics of the material world, or the
  effects of weather, war, or other destruction.  Its only
  interest is the production of life in all its wondrous
  forms.
  KRAKEN SOCIETY
  
  10
  The Kraken is known and revered by many sea-
  dwelling species, though it is virtually unheard of
  by air breathers.  Most often perceived as being
  female (because of the great abundance of life that it
  produces from its own body), male, neuter and
  hermaphrodite aspects are also known, representing
  the variety of sea life that lie within its domain.
  Even its perceived form may be different from
  species to species.  This is due no doubt to the biases
  of the viewing populations, but also because of the
  variety of forms that sea life can take.
  In its leisurely, eternal swim through the elemental
  plane of water, the Kraken leaves behind it a wake of
  new life.  These spill out from its limitless ovaries
  then speed, wobble or float off to fulfil their own
  (sometimes short) lives.  Death follows the Kraken as
  surely as life issues from it.  Sharks and other
  predators, created along with all the rest, circle it and
  gorge themselves on the smorgasbord of fledgling
  life.  Periodically the Kraken puts on a burst of speed
  to make distance between itself and its progeny, and
  in an infinite space it is certain that the god never
  revisits a location.  It avoids other gods that also
  swim in the waters, for no other reason than there is
  little to be gained from the meeting.  The other gods,
  or even supplicants from other planes, have little to
  say to a gigantic mother whose only love is the
  wonder of continual birth.  It, in this context,
  radiates abundance and contentment.
  All of the life that the Kraken manufactures is cast
  out from the moment of birth.  It has no interest in
  them and they, for the most part, have insufficient
  intelligence to recognise it.  This endless production
  line of creation is not entirely pointless, however.
  Though the Kraken seldom, if ever, interferes in the
  affairs of the mortals in the material world, it is
  dimly aware of the goings on there.  While the
  Kraken has not seen fit to take action against over-
  fishing, mass extinctions due to poisoning or deep-
  sea volcanoes, or any other sort of death-dealing
  event, it does experience a sense of loss by the
  events.  To compensate for this, and in an attempt to
  correct the imbalance, the Kraken periodically, and
  regularly, opens gates from its own plane to the
  material world, through which it expels the latest
  batch of creatures.  Thus, local stocks of fish and
  other creatures are assisted in replenishing
  themselves.
  Also, like all of the other gods, the weight
  of immortality and the loneliness of
  divinity can weigh heavy on the mind –
  even one so clearly unbiased by temporal
  matters.  To cope with the lonely vigil of
  filling the seas with one’s own children the
  Kraken
  maintains a
  large retinue of
  avatars.  These
  creatures, each
  representing a
  small portion of
  the god’s own
  divine force,
  swim along with
  it and sing
  songs telling it
  how boundless,
  fertile and
  wonderful it is.
  Each avatar is a
  duplicate in
  miniature of the
  god and
  produces
  offspring in
  KRAKEN SOCIETY
  
  11
  great quantities.  Sometimes these avatars are sent as
  ambassadors to other deities, at other times they are
  sent away to different parts of the plane altogether
  and advised to fill that area with life.  These avatars
  have powers much reduced from that of their god,
  and effectively have very little real personality.
  They are, for all intense and purposes, clones.
  One of the powers that these first-rank avatars carry
  over from the Kraken is the power to create avatars
  of their own.  These second-rank avatars share many
  of the qualities of their relatives.  They can produce
  life in vast quantities, know all of the languages
  spoken by the dwellers of the sea and can use
  magical effects to enhance, change or destroy the
  life around them.  However these powers are vastly
  reduced from those of their betters.  They have the
  divine spark, to be sure, but they are as distant from
  the Kraken as a grandchild is from grandparent.  This
  is the light in which the Kraken views the second-
  rank avatars.  It takes an indulgent interest in them,
  takes pride in their creations, and shares in their joy
  of life.  This is doubly so in one way, because the
  second-rank avatars have something that the first-
  rank do not.  Because they are twice removed from
  the deity, they have the rudiments of true, individual
  personalities.  They experience the environment
  around them in ways that the first rank cannot.  To
  the first-rank avatars, the comprehension of their
  creations is limited, and therefore not really worthy
  of much attention.  To the Kraken, however, these
  perceptions are as entertaining as the antics of
  cherished children.  The Kraken takes great delight
  in watching them discussing and arguing with each
  other over matters that, to it, are transparent and
  obvious.
  This gift, or perhaps curse, of individuality has many
  benefits.  It tempers the disinterest that the mighty
  god has for the goings on in the mortal world and in
  the politics of the immortal realms.  Second-rank
  avatars are often sent on spying missions, and their
  reports take on a special quality for the god because
  they are coloured with emotion.  However, since
  every one of these creatures experiences life in its
  own way, the meaning of what is observed is often
  interpreted differently.  The Kraken is a truly neutral
  deity; it sees balance in all things.  It understands
  that life and death, justice and injustice, society and
  the individual, are all equally important.  The first-
  rank avatars are unswerving in this view of
  observation and non-interference; the second rank
  do not, and cannot, see the world in this light.  They
  form their own ethical opinions, and advocate all
  forms of action in response to external events.
  Some, particularly those physically close to the god,
  remain true to the outlook of non-interference.
  Others find that they sway to different outlooks,
  finding solace in lawful, chaotic, good, or evil
  ethics.
  It is this divergence from the path of neutrality that
  is the downfall of what we call the kraken, those
  monsters of the deep in our own oceans.  These
  second-rank avatars are partisan and vital: they form
  groups to discuss weighty matters, they entertain
  themselves by producing batches of certain types of
  life to see how they grow and interact, they attempt
  to create new forms of life if they perceive that an
  ecological niche is unfilled, and they may even
  attempt to influence affairs in other planes.  The
  Kraken indulges these activities as long as the
  interference is slight, and the ethical viewpoints
  espoused are not too widely different from its own.
  When these guidelines are breached, the offending
  avatar is brought before the god to answer.  In most
  cases, the avatars are sufficiently awed by the
  presence of the god that they mend their ways and
  are sent off again, happy and content to have been
  shown the true path.  Some do not react in this way.
  Some rebel so violently against what they see as
  indifference, stupidity, laziness, and a thousand
  other abusive terms that they are considered
  irredeemable.  Many are eaten there and then,
  reunited with their creator.  A few others fight their
  way to freedom and attempt to make good their
  escape.  Escape from a god in its own realm is
  impossible, of course.  While a few may live for a
  while as guerrillas, attacking other avatars of the first
  and second rank and attempting to band together to
  overthrow the despotic rule of the Kraken, all are
  eventually located.  Once located they are banished.
  Banishment from the elemental plane of water
  entails the opening of a gate between that plane and
  the material world.  The second-rank avatar, and the
  volume of water that surrounds it, is magically
  grasped and thrust out, creating enormous light and
  sound effects in the process.  This fall from the
  divine realm strips the avatar of its divinity, robbing
  it of the power to create new life and the ability to
  speak all of the languages it once knew.  A kraken, as
  we know it, is born into this world at that moment.
  They arrive disoriented, weak, angry and almost
  certainly evilly-aligned.  From that moment forth
  they experience the horror of being parted from the
  divine, yet knowing they were once more than they
  are now.  Their corrupt and bitter minds conclude
  KRAKEN SOCIETY
  
  12
  Birth Domain
  Deities: The Kraken, any others whose portfolio includes birth or fertility.
  Granted power: You gain a +5 divine bonus to all skill and ability checks dealing with birth and the after
  effects thereof.
  Birth Domain Spells:
  1.
  Bless water.  Makes holy water.
  2.
  Calm Animals.  Calms 2d4 +1/level HD of animals, beasts and magical beasts.
  3.
  Calm Emotions.  Calms 1d6 subjects/level, negating emotion effects.
  4.
  Sleep.  Put 2d4 HD of creatures into comatose slumber.
  5.
  Goodberry.  2d4 berries each cure 1 hp (max 8 hp/24 hours).
  6.
  Consecrate.  Fills area with positive energy, making undead weaker.
  7.
  Cure Serious Wounds.  Cures 3d8 +1/level damage (max +15).
  8.
  Endurance.  Gain 1d4+1 Con for 1 hr./level.
  9.
  Heal.  Cures all damage, diseases and mental conditions.
  that previously they were indeed divine: a god that
  was warred upon and expelled unjustly.  Krakens
  know only hatred for their past life and the traitors
  that cast them out.  They strive to recover their
  divinity and to exact revenge.
  KRAKEN
  Mother of the Waves, The Great Provider, Queen of
  All That Swims, Boundless Source of All Life Whose
  Eggs Sacs Are Never Empty, It That Is Eaten.
  Intermediate God
  Symbol:  An egg.
  Home Plane:  Elemental plane of water.
  Alignment:  Neutral.
  Portfolio:  Abundance, fertility, contentment, life,
  the sea.
  Worshippers:  Aquatic creatures.
  Cleric/Worshiper Alignment:  Any.
  Domains:  Animal, birth, death, luck, protection and
  water.
  Favoured Weapon:  Tentacle (whip, net).
  The Kraken appears as a colossal squid with only
  eight tentacles.  He, she, or it, is the deity of plenty,
  representing the boundless life and vitality of the
  sea.  It is forever giving birth to new life that it
  expels into the waters around it and sends to the
  material plane to restock the seas there.
  Dogma:  The sea provides everything.  Richness of
  life is all around, from tiny plankton right up to
  mighty whales, all are one in the beautiful
  symphony of life.  Worshippers believe that, were
  the Kraken ever killed, overthrown, or otherwise
  KRAKEN SOCIETY
  incapacitated, the seas would become barren and all
  life would cease.  The Kraken teaches its followers to
  respect all life in the sea.  Eat of it, certainly, but
  revere it in all its forms.  Be resigned and calm if you
  are vanquished, and be humble if you are the
  vanquisher.
  Everything is connected to everything else in the
  sea, from the smallest flora to the largest fauna.  The
  Kraken loves all the life of the sea, and is
  particularly close to fertile females.
  Clergy and Temples: The clergy of the Kraken are
  usually, but not exclusively, female.  The emphasis
  is on birth, growth, balance and life.  Clerics attend
  to females who are in the agonies of birth, oversee
  coming-of-age ceremonies and bless hunting parties.
  They tend to be non-judgemental of the activities of
  their people, because they believe that the sea
  washes away all small variations.  What does it
  matter if massacres occur in one spot, or famine
  occurs somewhere else? As long as the sea endures,
  and all of life remains fertile, everything turns out
  for the best.
  As a non-human deity it may be worshipped along
  with several others in a pantheon without fear of
  conflict.  The very nature of the religion makes it a
  passive, accepting one, usually only rising to action
  if major threats to life occur.  Alternatively this
  religion could be used in a monotheistic non-human
  society.
  
  13
  classical attacks only take place directly over or near
  their preferred travelling and living zones.  The
  reason for this appears to be that should, by chance,
  an attack be repelled it would generally mean that
  significant harm has been inflicted on the beast.  In
  such circumstances it naturally wants to be in a
  position where it can descend to safety in the most
  direct manner.  An alternative interpretation is that,
  out of these deep-sea zones, the kraken feels no
  particular need to exert its dominance over the
  pathetic creatures of the atmosphere.
  In this attack, the kraken seizes the ship and starts to
  rotate, spinning the helpless vessel.  This serves two
  functions.  Firstly, it throws the crew off balance so
  that they are less effective at hacking at the
  smothering tentacles.  Secondly, it creates a
  whirlpool effect, increasing in strength the longer
  the kraken continues it, that eases the ship below the
  surface.  The knock-on effect of this is that other
  ships close by may be captured in this vortex and
  drawn down with the stricken vessel.
  New Feat: Whirlpool (kraken)
  A kraken can use its size and power to spin a
  captured surface ship to assist in dragging it below
  the surface.
  Benefit: The kraken must spend one minute for
  every structure point of the captive vessel, spinning
  it around on its axis, to cause a whirlpool sufficient
  to suck it beneath the waves.  Without this feat, the
  kraken must spend two minutes for every structure
  point spinning the ship.  The constricting tentacles
  of a kraken will cause damage to a ship in standard
  fashion, with every ten hit points counting as one
  structural point.  Note: any damage done to the
  captured ship by the crushing tentacles, or the biting
  beak, reduces the time needed to pull it under.
  Additionally, any ship within 300 feet of the
  doomed vessel is pulled toward the growing
  whirlpool and will be sucked down along with it
  unless they have more structure points than the
  target.
  Characters fighting a kraken aboard a ship that is
  being spun in a whirlpool suffer a -1 attack penalty
  for every full minute that the spinning occurs.
  Methods of
  Warfare
  I
  t must be emphasised at the outset that the
  kraken never attack sea going vessels, or indeed
  anything from the realm of air, out of hunger or
  necessity.  The sea provides more riches in terms of
  nutrition than an army of such behemoths could eat.
  Instead their attacks seem to form a pattern
  composed of either furtherance of some complex
  plot, or just for the sheer fun of it.  No one has ever
  established what kind of sense of humour they have,
  or indeed what form their plots for world domination
  may take, but the evidence is clear that both of these
  higher mental characteristics lie within their minds.
  They are known to lie still on the surface of the
  water, feigning death until something comes near to
  investigate.  They then spring into action, sending
  their strong tentacles to envelope the startled prey.
  Naturally, the only things worthy of note near the
  surface would be dolphins, sharks, whales and, of
  course, ships.  In this mode they often resemble
  small islands or sandbars.  This particular style of
  attack is strange in that the kraken certainly does not
  need to do it.  It could just as easily lurk in the
  depths and then dart up to grasp the helpless victim.
  The only plausible reason is that they enjoy doing
  it.  It entertains them to bask in the sunlight until
  something ignorantly comes to investigate, and then
  they gain malicious glee in attacking.  The
  commonality of this attack is well attested in
  literature and the cautious sailor treats any floating
  object with the respect it deserves.  None-the-less,
  ships are often lost to this attack and the low
  survival rate of the crew of these unfortunate vessels
  means that word of this devious and evil assault are
  more often than not written off as apocryphal.
  The more common, and terrifying, attack mode of
  the kraken is to ascend below the hull of a passing
  ship, pass its gigantic tentacles around either side,
  and slowly but inexorably draw the whole ship
  beneath the surface.  Usually the first anyone is
  aware of this attack is when the mighty limbs burst
  from the water and start to fold over the decks,
  snapping rigging and downing masts in the process.
  Such attacks occur only in deep water, usually where
  the depth below the hull is at least 2,000 feet.  Even
  though the kraken can successfully operate in
  depths as shallow as 100 feet, it seems that their
  METHODS OF WARFARE
  
  14
  Roleplaying
  kraken
  T
  he kraken view themselves, and are
  sometimes viewed by others, as gods.  They
  do not worship anything except themselves
  and they create disgusting slave societies so that
  they might be worshipped.  Individual kraken do not
  recognise any other member of their species as being
  as powerful or exalted as themselves and
  consequently, except for the rare moments when
  they come together to mate, they avoid each other.
  A kraken views any other kraken as a heretic, a false
  god, a pretender.
  The reason for this lies in their origin.  They are
  native to the elemental plane of water, wherein
  resides the Kraken, the ultimate
  god of the deep sea.  It lives an immortal, and
  predominantly neutral, existence counting the tides
  and maintaining the enormously long food chain.
  There, helpers surround the Kraken and live
  fulfilling existences caring for all things great and
  small, husbanding the complex politics of the realm.
  However, not all of the helpers are satisfied with this
  lot.  Even though they have immortality, comfort
  and power, they are brought to life harbouring
  resentment, and a craving for power and cruelty.
  They are, in short, evil.  The Kraken banishes these
  few from the elemental plane of water to the material
  morld.  In the fall they are stripped of their
  immortality and thrust into a world where they must
  fend for themselves.
  Driving each kraken is the desire for revenge, an
  overwhelming repentance, or a terrible fear.  All most
  want is to return to their home, seeking to find the
  legendary gate, hidden somewhere on the sea floor,
  that will transport them back.  In their fall they are
  less than they were.  They know this, but they also
  sense that they are more powerful than anything else
  in the sea.  In this knowledge each and every one
  concludes that it is a god, albeit a wronged one that
  will do anything to make others suffer and to find
  a way to achieve power either here or back home.
  Were any kraken ever to achieve this return
  they would without doubt create mischief.
  They would attempt to recruit creatures in
  their home realm to overthrow the
  Kraken and establish their own rule.
  The inhabitants actively fear civil
  wars of this nature and precautions
  are taken to patrol, report on and
  muster to defeat any such incursion.
  The ongoing policy of expelling
  kraken that have evil tendencies
  perhaps indicates the mercurial
  nature of the inhabitants of the
  elemental plane of water and the
  lengths that they will go to control
  these tendencies.
  Each and every kraken is a self-
  proclaimed deity.  As such they are
  beyond such considerations of law
  or chaos: neither the group, nor the
  individual, is important.  Only they
  have value and they believe that
  only the strong around them may lay
  claim to life.  Societies of their
  creation, or under their protection,
  will exist, prosper, or fail through
  ROLEPLAYING KRAKEN
  
  15
  whim alone as the kraken does not attach any
  particular value to them.  This realm is petty and
  insignificant in comparison to the one they came
  from.
  Contact with kraken is always guided by these
  beliefs.  To them all other life is inferior and worthy
  only to serve it, worship it, or entertain it by dying.
  Negotiations with a kraken can take place, but they
  are always from a position of god to insignificant
  creature.  A deal that has the kraken agree to not
  molest ships that fly a certain flag will only be
  bought at the cost of that entire population
  regarding that kraken as their god.  They must adorn
  their clothes, flags and other works of art with it.
  They must regularly worship it.  They must cast
  sacrifices to it.  The kraken gains no spiritual or
  power benefit from this attention: it is all for vanity.
  Similarly, the worshippers will never gain divine
  powers from their deity.  But if defied, that petty and
  evil god will not hesitate to destroy them.
  Kraken Prestige
  Classes
  Particularly powerful kraken are able to take levels
  in one of the core character classes or a prestige
  class.  Presented below are two prestige classes, one
  for the kraken itself and one for a devout follower of
  the kraken.  These are designed to add flavour to any
  encounter with either a kraken or one of it’s
  communities and, as such, should be used sparingly.
  Shepherd of the Sea
  The shepherd of the sea is somewhat of an oddity
  amongst the kraken, a regression of beliefs to
  something resembling the neutrality and outlook of
  the Kraken.  While still undeniably evil, these
  kraken have allowed their nurturing side to develop,
  albeit with selfish intent.  They are perhaps the
  closest to neutrality that any fallen kraken can be.
  A shepherd of the sea cultivates a collection of
  animal companions in a spirit of mutual protection.
  Even though the shepherd believes itself to be far
  more important than any of it’s followers, and most
  likely would not hesitate to sacrifice one if it meant
  the kraken’s survival, it shows an almost maternal
  instinct towards them.
  Over time the shepherd’s animal companions
  become as twisted and evil as their master – such is
  the effect of associating with a creature of this
  nature.
  Hit Die:  d10.
  Requirements
  To qualify to become a shepherd of the sea, a
  character must fulfil all the following criteria.
  Race:  Kraken.
  Skills:  Animal Empathy as a class skill.
  Spells:  Able to cast 3rd level divine spells.
  ROLEPLAYING KRAKEN
  The Shepherd of the Sea
  Class
  Base
  Fort
  Ref
  Will
  Level
  Attack
  Save
  Save
  Save
  Special
  Spells per Day/Spells Known
  1
  +0
  +2
  +2
  +0
  Healing Circle (1d8+1)
  +1 level of existing class
  2
  +1
  +3
  +3
  +0
  Animal Growth 1/day
  3
  +2
  +3
  +3
  +1
  Healing Circle (2d8+2),
  +1 level of existing class
  Alter Life (+1 HD)
  4
  +3
  +4
  +4
  +1
  Animal Growth 2/day
  5
  +3
  +4
  +4
  +1
  Healing Circle (3d8+3),
  +1 level of existing class
  Companions (10 HD)
  6
  +4
  +5
  +5
  +2
  Animal Growth 3/day,
  Alter Life (+1 HD)
  7
  +5
  +5
  +5
  +2
  Healing Circle (4d8+4)
  +1 level of existing class
  8
  +6
  +6
  +6
  +2
  Animal Growth 4/day
  9
  +6
  +6
  +6
  +3
  Healing Circle (5d8+5),
  +1 level of existing class
  Alter Life (+1 HD)
  10
  +7
  +7
  +7
  +3
  Animal Growth 5/day,
  Companions (20 HD)
  
  16
  Class Skills
  The shepherd’s class skills (and the key ability for
  each skill) are Animal Empathy (Cha),
  Concentration (Con), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal
  (Wis), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Swim (Str), and
  Wilderness Lore (Wis).  See Core Rulebook I for skill
  descriptions.
  Skill Points at Each Level:  4 + Int modifier.
  Class Features
  All of the following are class features of the
  shepherd of the sea prestige class.
  Weapon and Armour Proficiency:  Shepherds gain
  no proficiency with any weapons or armour.
  Spells per Day/Spells Known:  For every other level
  gained in the shepherd class, the kraken gains new
  spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if
  it had also gained a level in a spellcasting class it
  belonged to before adding the prestige class.  It does
  not, however, gain any other benefit a character of
  that class would have gained (additional wild shape
  options, metamagic or item creation feats, or the
  like).  If the kraken had more than one spellcasting
  class before becoming a shepherd of the sea, it must
  decide to which class to add each level for
  determining spells per day and spells known.
  Companions (Ex):  A shepherd’s class levels stack
  with those of it’s spellcasting class for the purpose of
  determining the maximum number of hit dice of
  animal companions it is allowed to attain with the
  animal friendship spell.  Beginning at 5th level, and
  every 5 levels thereafter, the shepherd gains a +10
  bonus to this figure (thus a 6th level druid/5th level
  shepherd can have a total of 21 HD of animal
  companions, a 10th level druid/10th level shepherd
  can have a total of 40 HD of animal companions,
  etc.).
  Healing Circle (Sp):  Beginning at 1st level, a
  shepherd of the sea can cast an improved version of
  the healing circle spell.  This ability functions in all
  ways as the spell detailed in Core Rulebook I, save
  that it heals the damage listed below and affects
  only animals, beasts and magical beasts.  The
  shepherd can use this ability once per day per class
  level they possess.
  Animal Growth (Sp):  Beginning at 2nd level, a
  shepherd of the sea can cast an animal growth spell
  once per day, exactly as detailed in Core Rulebook I.
  A shepherd gains an additional use per day of this
  ability at each even level they attain (4th, 6th, 8th,
  10th).
  Alter Life (Ex):  Beginning at 3rd level, the
  shepherd’s influence and presence has a warping
  effect on its companions.  This grants all of the
  shepherd’s companions one bonus Hit Dice for every
  three full levels the shepherd has attained (+1 HD at
  3rd level, +2 HD at 6th level, +3 HD at 9th level).
  These bonus Hit Dice do not count against the
  shepherd’s maximum allowance and are not applied
  retroactively.  (Thus, a companion who is with the
  shepherd from 1st through 6th level will have two
  extra Hit Dice, however if the shepherd picks up a
  new companion at 4th level, that companion will
  only receive the extra Hit Dice gained at 6th level.)  A
  shepherds animal companions alignment will
  gradually shift towards neutral evil over time,
  represented by a change of one step for each bonus
  Hit Dice gained.
  True Disciple
  The true disciple is one who has given himself
  totally to the kraken.  He actively worships the
  kraken not out of fear, as most do, but out of genuine
  adoration.  The disciple truly believes the kraken to
  be a god.  This devotion allows the kraken to grant
  him some small boon, although it is not even close
  to that granted by true gods.  The disciple, however,
  is more than satisfied with his god’s generosity.
  True disciples are the kraken’s eyes and ears in its
  slave communities, acting as judge, jury and
  executioner when dissidents are found.  They are
  feared by the general populace of these
  communities, or perhaps held in a small amount of
  awe by those who have started to believe the
  kraken’s claims of godhood.
  Irredeemably evil and fiercely loyal, disciples are
  the select few who are allowed to swim and converse
  with their patron god.
  Hit Die:  d10.
  Requirements
  To qualify to become a true disciple, a character
  must fulfil all of the following criteria.
  Alignment:  Neutral evil.
  Skills:  Swim 10 ranks.
  ROLEPLAYING KRAKEN
  
  17
  The True Disciple
  Class
  Base
  Fort
  Ref
  Will
  Natural
  Level
  Attack
  Save
  Save
  Save
  Armour
  Special
  1
  +1
  +2
  +2
  +0
  +1
  Natural Swimmer
  2
  +2
  +3
  +3
  +0
  +2
  Empathic Link
  3
  +3
  +3
  +3
  +1
  +3
  4
  +4
  +4
  +4
  +1
  +4
  Speak With Master
  5
  +5
  +4
  +4
  +1
  +5
  Tentacle Arms
  Feats:  Endurance, Improved Initiative, Skill Focus
  (swim).
  Special:  Must live in a kraken-created slave society.
  Class Skills
  The true disciple’s class skills (and the key ability
  for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Intimidate
  (Cha), Knowledge (geography) (Int), Knowledge
  (nature) (Int), and Swim (Str).
  Skill Points at Each Level:  2 + Int modifier.
  Class Features
  All of the following are class features of the true
  disciple prestige class.
  Weapon and Armour Proficiency:  True disciples
  gain no proficiency with any weapons or armour.
  Natural Swimmer (Ex):  At 1st level, the disciple
  develops gills on the sides of his neck, allowing him
  to breathe water as well as air.  The character also
  gains the ability to swim at his normal,
  unencumbered, land speed.  Note that this ability
  allows the character to move at this rate without
  making Swim checks, and grants him a +8
  competence bonus to checks made to avoid hazards
  and perform special manoeuvres.  The character can
  always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if
  rushed or threatened, and can use the run action
  while swimming provided he moves in a straight
  line.
  Empathic Link (Su):  This link is similar to that
  shared by a sorcerer and his familiar.  The kraken has
  an empathic link with the disciple out to a range of
  500 miles, allowing it to see through the disciple’s
  eyes and allowing both to communicate with each
  other telepathically.
  Speak With Master (Su):  The disciple can
  communicate verbally with the kraken as if they
  were using a common language.  Other creatures do
  ROLEPLAYING KRAKEN
  not understand the language without magical help,
  since it is more in-depth than a simple conversation
  in aquan.
  Tentacle Arms (Ex):  At 5th level, the true disciple’s
  arms become incredibly flexible, moving more like
  tentacles than normal human limbs.  The tentacle
  arms can be stretched up to five additional feet,
  effectively giving the disciple five more feet of
  reach.
  
  18
  Scenario
  Hooks and
  Ideas
  K
  raken are best used as a driving force behind
  an adventure, most often as the main
  antagonist.  With their high challenge
  rating, they should only be faced directly in combat
  by parties of at least 12th level, higher in the case of
  most naval combats where the kraken has a distinct
  advantage.  The kraken’s innate ability to control
  the weather allows it to harass the characters without
  them even realising what is going on.  In fact, unless
  the party includes a druid, ranger, or otherwise
  nature-savvy character, the players may not realise
  what is happening until it is much too late and the
  kraken already has them in it’s tentacles.
  The Games Master can use the following scenario
  hooks and ideas to bring kraken into his game.  Note
  that not all of these ideas are suitable for mid-level
  parties.
  Religious War
  Two sea-going nations are at war.  Both worship the
  kraken and seek its protection.  Both call on the
  beast to attack the shipping of the other, but
  unknown to the humanoid populations of both
  nations, rival kraken have taken residence in their
  waters.  The people have unwittingly become
  involved in a personal religious war between the two
  beasts, each one using their human populations to
  destroy the other.  Characters introduced into this
  plot will discover the remarkable similarities
  between the two societies and how they are
  manipulated.  Their goal is to ultimately rescue both
  nations from their gods, before both are devastated.
  Divine Civil War
  In an introduction to a truly epic scenario,
  mysterious flashes and explosions are heard out to
  sea, with steadily growing regularity.  Ships have
  been going down with no adequate explanation,
  though the few survivors scream about ‘tentacles in
  the night’.  Once, the corpse of what appeared to be a
  gigantic squid washed up on the shore.  Sages later
  claimed that it was a kraken, killed (by the look of
  the wounds) by one of its own kind.  There is but
  one possible reason for all this – civil war has
  broken out on the Elemental Plane of Water.
  Banishments are coming thick and fast, and those
  second-rank avatars that have been expelled are
  mad, demented, and seeking revenge.  Players
  introduced into this plot may quest for the
  submarine gate to join the fray, or perhaps negotiate
  a settlement.  Alternatively, they may discover some
  way of communicating with exiled kraken here, and
  then assist them in their return home.  This may be
  further complicated by one or more kraken using
  spells on themselves and coming ashore to seek
  magical assistance.  Entire magical academies may
  be turned over to finding the answers that these
  beasts want.  Nations, values and economic systems
  might be turned on their heads, as these beasts
  attempt to further the war.
  Glorious Commerce
  The characters are hired to capture or kill a notorious
  pirate and/or slave trader who has been pillaging
  villages up and down the coast.  However, this
  villain has an arrangement with a kraken: abducting
  people for the kraken’s colony.  In return the kraken
  provides him with information on the location of
  wrecked treasure ships.  The kraken will give the
  pirate a certain amount of protection and assistance.
  However, if the characters do kill or capture the
  pirate, the kraken offers the players the same deal it
  offered the pirate, thus creating a moral dilemma.
  Greater than the moral dilemma is the battle for
  survival that the characters will face if they turn
  down such a generous offer from the beast.
  Royal Sacrifice
  The characters are approached by a disguised agent
  of the crown who employs their services to ‘defeat a
  great menace to the kingdom and rescue the princess
  who is set to be it’s latest sacrifice’.  All the agent is
  able to tell the characters about the menace is that it
  is a ‘great beast of the sea’, as the kraken has been
  careful to ensure that no one sees it, even going so
  far as to use it’s weather control abilities to conceal
  its acceptance of the sacrifices.  Alternately, the
  princess may have been kidnapped by a cult of
  kraken worshipers who are intent on appeasing their
  god’s cry for the blood of royals.
  SCENARIO HOOKS AND IDEAS
  
  19
  Guard Duty
  The characters are hired as guards on a merchant
  vessel which is to set out with a valuable cargo.
  Before they board, a haggard old man approaches
  them and attempts to bribe them into ‘looking the
  other way’ when his associates accost the vessel on
  the high seas.  Ideally the characters will turn down
  the bribes and warn the merchant captain about the
  planned attack.  Regardless of the characters’
  actions, the merchant refuses to be intimidated into
  changing his plans – he has too much riding on this
  cargo run.  When the attack inevitably comes, it
  becomes immediately apparent that the old man’s
  associates were actually a kraken and it’s followers.
  Alternately, the old man could be portrayed as a mad
  old hermit who attempts to warn the characters about
  the kraken with babblings about ‘arms in the dark’.
  A Profitable
  Arrangement
  A noted local alchemist or wizard hires
  the characters to bring him the
  components he needs to complete his
  research.  When the characters agree to
  fetch these items, he reveals that he needs
  the ink, blood and hide of a freshly-slain
  kraken.  He offers to pay the characters
  150% of the standard market price for
  such items (as detailed on pages five and
  six of this guide), as well as covering the
  cost of any healing and/or raising the
  party may require.  As a twist, the
  alchemist could actually be the kraken in
  question, using it’s established cover
  identity to lure in a fresh meal.
  Unsuitable
  Liaison
  A nobleman approaches the party to
  retrieve his daughter from the clutches of
  a kidnapper.  All he knows is that she was
  last seen heading out of town towards the
  coast a couple of days past, and has not been
  seen or heard from since.  He assumes it has
  something to do with a youth his daughter was
  involved with, as he also has not been seen since
  he was thrown out of the town a week prior.  When
  the party investigates, they find that she is in the
  ‘clutches’ of a kraken; however, not is all as they
  might first assume.  The kraken did not, in fact,
  kidnap the girl.  Instead she came willingly, having
  fallen in love with the kraken when it was in human
  form, who surprisingly found that it had genuine
  feelings for her as well.  This scenario presents the
  players with a true challenge, since the kraken
  appears to have forsaken it’s evil nature and fallen in
  love with a human girl.  If the players do choose to
  attack the kraken, the noble girl will do her best to
  try and stop the fighting, however the players will
  find that the kraken is a powerful druid, or perhaps
  sorcerer, as well as possessing it’s standard array of
  abilities.  Similarly, the only way to convince the
  girl to return to her family is through force, which
  will result in the kraken attacking.  Perhaps the best
  solution to this is to find a way of allowing the
  lovers to remain together, while convincing the
  nobleman that his daughter is beyond anyone’s
  reach.  This scenario allows for some interesting and
  challenging roleplaying on the part of the players.
  SCENARIO HOOKS AND IDEAS
  
  20
  Antangil
  T
  he island state of Antangil had, for centuries,
  been a respectable link in a chain of trading
  nations that carried exotic goods around the
  world.  Their fine ships were well built and crewed,
  and their banner was recognised and welcomed.
  They had long ago deposed their hereditary rulers,
  and in their place installed a republic, administered
  by the powerful trading guild.  With a good
  education system and a liberal attitude to religion,
  they were a travelled and worldly people who could
  often be found in almost any trading capital or port.
  However, over eighty years ago, a kraken took
  residence in a vast submarine cave beneath the
  island and gradually began to seize control.  It
  started with the sinking of ships, apparently at
  random.  Local and foreign vessels went down with
  all hands while in Antangil’s waters.  Rumours went
  out that a sea monster was stalking the area.  In time
  the kraken allowed itself to be seen by local ships,
  but it refrained from attacking them, turning instead
  on foreign ships.  Soon the merchant navies of the
  world began to shun the waters where the kraken was
  known to lurk.  Fearing an economic collapse the
  administration of Antangil hired adventurers to kill
  the kraken.  They were unsuccessful, terminally so,
  and in revenge the kraken sank a few local ships and
  buffeted the island with magical storms.  In
  desperation the administration cast treasure, food,
  books, anything it could think of, into the sea, in an
  attempt to placate the beast.  Nothing worked until,
  egged on by a local prophet, a band of vigilantes
  threw a living sacrifice into the waving tentacles of
  the lurking monster.  Immediately the storms ceased.
  Seizing on this, the trading guild ordered that
  convicted criminals be taken from the harbour and
  cast into the briny deep.
  Little by little a routine developed.  Monthly at least
  one live person was cast into the sea.  If this sacrifice
  was not made, a ship was sunk; with this sacrifice,
  the ships of Antangil passed freely in and out.  With
  this protection they alone, of all the trading nations,
  have grown enormously in wealth and power.  In
  recognition of this, the official emblem of the
  republic of Antangil has been changed to a kraken,
  and very large banners with this motif are flown
  prominently on all its ships.  The government is
  fiercely protective of this arrangement, as it has, after
  all, made them extremely rich.  Antangillians are
  now not a welcomed people along the coast,
  however; they are viewed with distrust and envy,
  though no one dares to try and sail to their island to
  ‘sort them out’.
  For the people the shift from the traditional gods to
  this new protector was not always easy.  Clerics, who
  pursued the perceived wishes of the old gods, where
  these wishes involved challenging the kraken, were
  attacked and banished for bringing disaster when the
  kraken retaliated.  Now there is only one official
  religion on the island.  Others may exist but they are
  practiced only in secret.  This state religion of the
  kraken has a ministry and hierarchy like any other,
  and these are the people who push the unfortunate
  victims of trumped-up charges down the plank.
  Naturally these ‘clerics’ do not have any clerical
  powers, as the kraken can grant none.  Instead they
  are usually lawful neutral, or lawful evil, fighters.
  The government, the clergy, the sailing community
  and most of the population (because they are related
  to the aforementioned) will resist any action that
  upsets their ‘god’.  Other trading princedoms are
  very likely to finance expeditions to kill the beast,
  but they will be cautious to fund only high-level
  parties that have a very good chance of success.
  Bitter experience has taught them that the god of
  Antangil is vengeful, and they will not want to lose
  any more ships and men.
  Natural features
  Antangil is an island occupying about 50 square
  miles, surrounded by open sea.  At is widest point is
  it only slightly over eight miles long.  The highest
  peak is Anelgauhat, reaching to a lofty 850 feet.
  Numerous caves dot the hillsides, and are home to
  the wandering goats, foxes and other small animals
  that inhabit the island.  Only a couple of mildly
  poisonous spiders and a small viper are dangerous:
  there are no ‘monstrous’ creatures to speak of.
  Generally the country is green and fertile, giving rise
  to a perfectly adequate agricultural economy based
  on goat’s meat, wool and milk products.
  Below Antangil lies a vast submarine cave that can
  only be accessed from one deep-sea entrance and a
  long, descending passage from the hillside.  The
  former of these was discovered quite by accident by
  the kraken, which now resides in the cave when not
  out roaming the seas searching for the mythical gate
  or sinking foreign ships for malicious pleasure.  The
  passage from the hillside was revealed at the same
  time as the appearance of the kraken.  Now the High
  ANTANGIL
  
  21
  Approaching the island of Antangil by sea, the visitor is immediately impressed by the large and well-
  protected natural harbour.  Prevailing winds carry shipping past the island at most times of the year and it
  is only a short diversion to make this gentle port.  Clearing the heads at Punta Baja moves the ship into the
  calm bay, where fifty ships could easily ride at anchor, and at least five will be doing so at any given time.
  Rising behind the docks is the city of Avarua, which straddles the relatively gentle slopes up Mount
  Anelgauhat.  From the perspective of the sea however, the modest tree-covered peak seems mighty and
  imposing.  Half way up the slope, directly above the city, the visitor cannot miss seeing the mighty temple
  of the kraken.  This structure stands several storeys high and appears to grow out of the hillside itself.
  Eight broad, winding staircases lead down from its single main portcullis, and each of these staircases
  reminds the viewer of the tentacles of a mighty squid.  In fact, the entire structure looks very reminiscent
  of a gigantic sculpture of a squid, half sticking out of the rock, the main gate resembling a toothed mouth,
  the upper works taking the shape of an extended, bulbous head.  Each tentacle-staircase leads into a
  different section of town.
  The architecture of the city can be clearly divided into three styles.  The first are the simple wooden
  cottages, which still reach to the foreshores of the bay and are ubiquitous in this part of the world.  The
  second are the more impressive, two-storey wooden mansions of the trading families, which again can be
  seen gracing the overlooking hillsides of any maritime nation.  The third type is clearly recognisable, and
  is reflective of a society that has recently gained much in the way of material wealth, but little in the way
  of taste.  These nouveau riche monstrosities are composed of imported stone and exotic wood, and occupy
  large tracts of land.  Each is designed to be more ostentatious than it’s neighbour, consuming an entire
  acre with little regard to garden or harmony with nature.  Inside, one supposes, they are the very models
  of refinement, comfort and modern convenience.  But to this humble travel chronicler, they are
  monuments to gauche excess.
  On reaching dock, the traveller is accosted by the numerous guards who seem to swarm about the place,
  all heavily armed.  They pry into one’s business and demand to see papers, if you have any, even though
  you could only have arrived on an Antangillian ship.  To say that security is tight is not too much of an
  overstatement, though as long as you carry yourself as a person of some importance, and have some clear
  task on the island, you are generally allowed to move on without more than a 15 minute delay.  The
  visitor at this point onwards is well advised to make himself meticulously familiar with the labyrinthine
  laws that apply nowadays in the republic.  The slightest infraction of these complex, and sometimes
  bizarre, statutes will land you in jail, and there is no shortage of ‘good citizens’ who will happily inform
  the authorities of your offence.  No fear need attend incarceration concerning being maltreated, as
  apparently the spacious cells are comfortable and prisoners are well treated.  Of much greater concern is
  that many who are thus imprisoned are simply never seen again.
  One cannot help but be impressed by the apparent richness of the city and of its inhabitants.  All appear
  well dressed and fed, and the streets are wide and well maintained.  Buildings are clean and in superb
  repair, and the discerning shopper can find virtually anything they might want from sources across the
  world, though the prices are considerably higher than on the mainland.  Lodgings can be found, every bit
  the equal of the best inns and hostels of the mainland, and the service is second to none, as long as one is
  prepared to tip generously.  Only one note of discord can be detected in this otherwise cosmopolitan city,
  nearly everyone appears sombre, distracted and nervous.  They are wary of striking up animated
  conversations with visitors, and constantly look over their shoulders (metaphorically speaking), as if they
  fear that they are being eaves-dropped upon.  Despite this uneasiness, the seasoned traveller can still find
  the kinds of establishments that enthusiastically provide the type of ‘entertainments’ that the lonely and
  adventuresome seek.  Outside of the city, the country folk still maintain that kind of easy friendliness
  which the island used to be noted for.
  – Extract from The Observer’s Guide to the Sea Nations.
  ANTANGIL
  
  22
  Priest and his cronies guard the entrance to this
  passage and have built a temple to their god over it.
  Descending through the hillside into a natural
  amphitheatre, the inward part of the cavern is
  enormous.  Termed ‘the cathedral’, it is known only
  as a rumour to the rest of the population.  Here, it is
  believed, the kraken surfaces to slumber, though no-
  one save the High Priest has ever descended to see.
  The temple is under guard night and day by foreign
  mercenaries and local toughs.
  Government
  Following the revolution that overthrew the
  hereditary monarchy, the country became a republic,
  ruled by a council of 11 members.  First and
  foremost of these are the five patriarchs and
  matriarchs of the trading families, hereditary roles
  filled by the eldest member of the leading families.
  In past times these people fulfilled the posts of close
  advisers to the king.  Consequently, little has
  changed for them.  Second is the seat of Royal High
  Judge.  This learned member of the council is chosen
  by a vote of the other members once every seven
  years, and is concerned with civil law.  Next is the
  President of the Banking Guild, selected from the
  commercial and financial elite, to represent the fiscal
  and other economic interests of the republic.  Next
  come the roles of Chief Stewards of the Shipbuilders
  and Stevedores Unions, who represent the interests
  of the practical maritime constituency.  Then comes
  the Secretary to the Administration.  In times past
  this was the premier role in the council, having the
  casting vote in all matters, and was the default leader
  of the council; he still officially ‘chairs’ all council
  sessions, but his actual power has waned with the
  coming of the kraken.  Now responsibility is
  primarily limited to infrastructure matters, such as
  the construction of roads and maintenance of public
  works.  Finally, and this is a relatively new post, is
  the High Priest of the Cult of the Kraken.  The same
  man has held this post for the entire eighty years
  since the coming of the kraken, and it is believed
  that divine favour is what keeps his looks untouched
  by time.  The High Priest now wields enormous
  power in the council, intimidating all of the other
  members with threats if they do not comply with
  their god’s commands.  More details on this last
  Non-Player Character can be found later in this
  chapter.
  The council meets every few days to discuss matters
  of policy, and to set in motion any decisions that
  need to be made; citizens of the republic are only
  called to the session when directives are made.  For
  example, the chief constable may be called and
  advised to provide guards for certain shipments, or
  to give an account of the state of the military.
  Leading members of the various guilds may be
  called in to pass on instructions on the optimum
  level of output that they should target for the
  coming quarter, and so on.  In most ways the
  government of Antangil is perfectly representative of
  any commercially-focussed ruling body.  One thing
  sets it apart though, and that is the overhanging
  shadow of the kraken.  Nearly every decision is
  considered in light of what their god might feel
  about the action.  In this the High Priest of the Cult
  of the Kraken is its official spokesman, and he is not
  shy about expressing what he believes to be the
  correct action in any matter of concern.
  Corruption is not perhaps as rife as might be
  expected of an elite oligarchy that has a monopoly
  on trade.  In the intervening years nearly everyone
  has become immensely rich, so day-to-day hardships
  of life are no longer of primary concern.  Certainly,
  the wise members of the council have many millions
  of gold coins stashed away, but this is only natural.
  Where there is corruption it is of a moral form.  Since
  they have become more or less isolated from the rest
  of the world, and their method of dominance is
  essentially evil, they have become a petty and
  paranoid government.  Spies are sent amongst the
  people to root out dissenters, who rapidly become
  sacrifices to the kraken when found.  Members and
  families plot against each other and feuds that
  should have been forgotten long ago continue to
  simmer.  A kind of organic evil has overcome the
  body politic of the republic, starting from these
  public figures downwards; revenge and pettiness
  have become national pastimes.
  Demographics
  At the last census, 10,912 people could claim to be
  Antangillian citizens.  Of these, most are associated
  with the maritime trade, being ship builders,
  stevedores, deck hands, or simple fishermen.  Many
  of the remainder continue to live the simple pastoral
  lives they always have: tending their goats,
  producing distinctive-patterned woolly jumpers, and
  making remarkably pungent cheese.  The rest are all
  part of the growing commercial enterprises that
  make the economy hum.  Ninety percent of the
  population is human, with some elf and gnome
  representatives present.  Their language is an
  ANTANGIL
  
  23
  accented version of common recognisable anywhere
  along the coast.
  Additionally, some 500 foreigners are on the island
  at any given time, excluding any mercenaries.
  These people are traders, financiers and other
  workers who have come across on an Antangillian
  ship to earn good money, act as business go-
  betweens, or sew up lucrative deals.
  Economy
  Trade drives the economy of Antangil.  Its position
  along a trade route, and monopoly of its section of
  the coast, due to the intervention of the kraken,
  means that it has become a crossroads for shipping.
  Ships of foreign powers deliver cagro to nearby
  ports, where they are loaded onto Antangillian
  vessels for shipping to the other side of the island.
  This taxi service has generated vast profits and the
  have been used to import luxury goods into the
  republic, along with holds full of raw cash.  The
  export of cheese, wool and fish, once the islands
  chief source of imcome, creates an insignificant
  injection into this system.  Additionally, many
  foreign powers have recognised the security of the
  isolated island, and have started to use it as a
  banking facility.  Fear of being unable to retrieve the
  money seems, thus far, to have been offset by the
  apparent honesty and security of the banking firms
  involved.  This is a slowly growing business, but one
  that the Guild of Bankers is actively pursuing.
  The only export of note from the republic now is
  kraken ink.  This is collected in secret from the
  cathedral, and brought to the surface for bottling.
  Having upwards of 85% purity, this ink is highly
  sought after in the neighbouring cities of the
  mainland and premium prices have been paid in the
  past.  Over time the price is being eroded as the good
  quality, and fairly regular supply, over-fulfil
  demand.  None-the-less, sale of this product has had
  two vital effects.  The first is that it has put the name
  of Antangil on the map once more, for apothecaries
  and wizards frequent it as a major source for one of
  magic’s most prized components.  Antangil ink is
  now synonymous with high quality, and the product
  is spreading far and wide, though naturally
  becoming more diluted the further it travels, to
  maximise middle-man profits.  The second is that it
  has cemented in the mainland countries’ minds the
  fact that an active alliance is in place with the
  kraken.  Where once it was considered only as a
  horrible possibility, there now remains little doubt
  that close association with the sea monster, in some
  way, maintains Antangil’s stranglehold on this
  portion of the sea.  Those who wish to challenge the
  republic’s growing supremacy know that they must
  kill the kraken to do so.  Despairing of the loss of
  life and treasure that this would entail, most are
  content to find ways to profit economically, and
  seek ways to outmanoeuvre them in the marketplace.
  There are three banks on the island: Anelgauhat
  Rock, the Farmers Credit Union and the Royal
  United Bank of the Kraken.  Each has cash reserves
  on hand of at least 150 million gold pieces.  All are
  powerful establishments and see themselves as the
  saviours and administrators of the republic’s well-
  being.  This wealth is liberally injected into the
  local economy and Antangil can boast good roads,
  excellent buildings and plumbing and a well-paid
  and trained professional navy and military.  What
  the flood of money cannot do is buy intellectual
  freedom or peace of mind for the citizens, but this
  has always been a secondary concern when
  accounting focuses on numbers.  In all, the financial
  masters of the island are completely satisfied in their
  alliance with the kraken and would be actively
  opposed to even a hint of changing anything.
  The only financial group to suffer from the presence
  of the kraken is the formerly-powerful Seafarers
  Cooperative Society, an insurance vendor that
  underwrote all shipping and cargoes through the
  island.  Since the ‘protection’ of the ‘god’ began,
  fewer and fewer ship owners and transportation
  management firms have bothered to insure their
  goods.  Even great institutions like the Coffee House
  on Queen Street, where the old families used to
  gather and wager on departing ships, effectively
  putting up the stake underwriting money, have
  fallen into disuse.  Now that noble building, once a
  hotbed of financial and political power, is little more
  than a smoke-and-coffee-begrimed seafront tavern.
  From the elite of the population it is here, if
  anywhere, that grumbling about the current situation
  can be heard.
  Army and
  Constabulary
  Traditionally the army of Antangil was a citizen
  militia that was raised from every able-bodied
  person in times of need.  Now it has become semi-
  professional with a uniform, training regime and pay.
  The army undertakes policing, guarding and, in
  ANTANGIL
  
  24
  ANTANGIL
  theory, defensive actions against invasion.  That this
  last duty is maintained, despite an invasion being
  highly unlikely to reach the shores of the island, due
  to the kraken’s presence, is evidence of the paranoia
  that the administration feels.  This indigenous army
  is a company strong, divided into four ‘quintets’ of
  roughly fifty swords each, and one quintet of
  somewhere between forty and fifty staff officers,
  armourers, administrators, commissary agents and so
  on.  All are on foot and each quintet is recognisable
  by its own distinctive badges and colours.  Each
  quintet is rotated through the roles of constabulary
  (patrolling the city and country roads, and
  apprehending law-breakers), shipboard guards
  (where they are parcelled out to protect not
  necessarily the ships at sea, but the ship, cargo and
  crew when they reach foreign ports), training (where
  they are run through exercises generally given by
  foreign mercenaries) and, finally, leave, when they
  are theoretically able to be with their families.  Each
  of these duties entails a posting of three months.
  Part of the role of the staff quintet is to know exactly
  where everyone in the company is at any given
  moment, so that they can be mustered if any
  emergency should arise.
  The Army of Antangil
  The army of Antangil is composed entirely of Non-
  Player Characters with the warrior class.  Each
  quintet is comprised of forty 1st level warriors, with
  eight 2nd level warriors providing close leadership to
  groups of five each, and is led by a 3rd level warrior.
  In command of the whole army is a 6th level warrior,
  the chief constable.  Six 5th level and nine 4th level
  staff officers support him.
  Supplementing the local company is a mercenary
  company recruited by the paranoid government.
  This follows continental patterning, and is
  composed of two ‘centuries’ of roughly eighty
  swords and twenty administrative staff each.  Each
  century is further divided into ten ‘tent groups’ of
  eight swords, led by a more experienced character.  It
  is the tent group that is the functional unit of the
  mercenary army, and these bunk together (often
  imposing themselves on local houses), do duty
  together and fight together.  Tent groups are sent to
  bolster local quintets in whatever duty they are
  performing and provide the majority of the training
  they receive.  These mercenaries are not popular
  with the local civilian population, even though they
  are outrageously well paid, and know how to spend.
  They are, however, hardened soldiers of fortune and
  their tastes in ‘good clean fun’ are often far more
  robust than many would be comfortable with.
  Mercenary Company
  The mercenary army is a more diverse entity than the
  army of Antangil.  Each tent group of eight
  combatants may be composed of almost any kind of
  class and typically represents an adventuring band.
  In general, it is reasonable to say that, of a tent
  group, four will be 1st or 2nd level, three will be 3rd or
  4th level and the last person will be 5th or greater
  level, and in the leadership role.  Commanding each
  century is an 8th level character who is supported by
  a separate tent group of similarly high-level Non-
  Player Characters.  The overall commander of the
  mercenary company is a 9th level fighter.  Use the
  tables presented in Core Rulebook II for generating
  these Non-Player Characters.
  Both mercenary and local companies wear the
  kraken as a symbol on their uniform; bearing in
  mind that, for the mercenary unit, the sign of the
  kraken may be the only token of uniformity that
  they show at all.  Resisting the activities of the
  soldiers, speaking ill of the soldiers, fomenting civil
  disobedience, conspiring with foreign agents to
  undermine the security and well being of the
  republic of Antangil, as well as many other
  activities, are all capital crimes for which there is
  only one obvious penalty…
  Navy
  The original navy of the republic consisted of a few
  coastal traders, many small fishing vessels and a
  frigate to protect them all.  Now its fleet is quite
  extensive, built with the wealth of its evilly-
  protected trade and crewed predominantly by paid
  foreign deckhands.  The following is an Observer’s
  list of the vessels currently registered in Antangil.
  †
  15 coastal traders.  These have a variety of
  names dependant on the whims of the captains,
  unlike the larger ships that have been given
  names consistent with a theme when they were
  bought or commissioned.
  †
  10 trading ships.  Ogden, Chagall, Poussin,
  Phidias, Himachal, Heyerdahl, Dinesen,
  Blanqui, Mitford, and Rothko.
  †
  3 mercantile ships.  Bishkek, Lenekal, and
  Ronkiti.
  
  25
  laboured to rebuild his power and locate the kraken -
  the holder of his priceless phylactery.  When he had
  done so he again set out: this time to find and
  slaughter the monster.  Again his ship was crewed by
  zombies, but it was a stouter vessel, and he was
  confident of victory.  Yet again, the ship was
  destroyed, and Xardan reformed without the prize he
  sought.  Many more decades passed and several
  more attempts failed.
  Finally, out of frustration with this never-ending
  duel, the kraken surfaced in its lair (the submarine
  cave beneath Antangil), disgorged the remains of
  Xardan on the beach and waited in the darkness.
  When the lich reformed the kraken spoke to him.
  The patience of both was immense and they talked
  ANTANGIL
  Protecting these are the following:
  †
  4 frigates.  Might of the Waves, Glorious
  Commerce, Horned Tentacle, and Black Night.
  †
  1 heavy frigate.  Architeutis.
  Detailing the Navy
  If you are using the Seas of Blood accessory by
  Mongoose Publishing, the ships listed above are of
  the Fleur, Orca, High Seas, Voyager and Typhoon
  classes, respectively.
  To accommodate the increased traffic the docks have
  been enlarged several times, ten ships can now be
  serviced simultaneously.  Slipways similarly have
  sprung up and the skeletons of new ships are slowly
  but surely taking form.
  The terrible twist
  revealed
  300 years ago, Xardan Darkfyre was an adventurer, a
  sorcerer and a necromancer.  He studied his dark arts
  well and grew in power, succumbing to the madness
  of that particular discipline.  Eventually he took the
  ultimate step as his natural life drew to a close: he
  secluded himself in his forest keep, crafted a
  phylactery, concocted the lethal potion and became
  a lich.  For many years he continued to study,
  preying upon the local kingdom until they
  eventually rose up and conspired to drive him out.
  In secret he abandoned his home of more than a
  century and set out to find a new territory where he
  could carry out his master plan, creating a perfect
  kingdom of his own.  Thinking that the realms
  across the sea might offer greater opportunities, he
  bought and crewed a stout ship and ventured across
  uncharted waters.  Soon all of that fated crew were
  zombies and troubled him no more with their
  hateful singing and banter.
  But all of his plans were undone when the kraken
  seized the vessel, crushed it, spun it, and dragged
  it beneath the surface.  Even though the battle
  was fierce, Xardan was ripped apart and
  consumed, his precious phylactery, a stone
  bound into a necklace, was parted from him
  and lodged in the beast’s gut.  He later
  reformed on the sea bottom, and it
  took him the next six months to walk
  to shore.  For roughly twenty years he
  
  26
  Xardan Darkfyre, High Priest of the Cult
  of the Kraken
  Male lich Sor12; CR 14; Medium-size undead; HD
  12d12; hp 84; Init +2 (Dex); Spd 30 ft.; AC 15
  (touch 10, flat-footed 15); Atk +7/+2 melee touch
  (1d8+5 and paralysis, touch) or +8/+3 melee (1d6+1,
  masterwork scimitar), or +8/+3 ranged (1d4+1,
  dagger); SA Damaging touch, fear aura, paralysing
  touch, spells; SQ +4 turn resistance, damage
  reduction 15/+1, immunities, undead; AL LE; SV
  Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +10; Str 12, Dex 15, Con –, Int
  17, Wis 14, Cha 17.
  Skills and Feats: Alchemy +16, Concentration +16,
  Craft (engraving) +13, Knowledge (arcane) +5,
  Knowledge (necromancy) +9, Scry +13, Spellcraft
  +18; Brew Potion, Craft Wondrous Item, Martial
  Weapon Proficiency (scimitar), Silent Spell, Spell
  Focus (necromancy), Spell Penetration.
  Spells Known: (6/7/7/7/5/4/3): 0 – arcane mark,
  dancing lights, daze, detect magic, disrupt undead,
  ghost sound, open/close, ray of frost, read magic; 1st
  – cause fear, chill touch, mage armour, ray of
  enfeeblement, spider climb; 2nd – darkness, ghoul
  touch, hideous laughter, scare, spectral hand; 3rd –
  dispel magic, halt undead, hold person, vampiric
  touch; 4th – contagion, enervation, fear; 5th –
  animate dead, cone of cold; 6th – circle of death.
  Possessions: Masterwork scimitar, ceremonial robes,
  3 daggers, 2 potions (randomly determined), 2 minor
  magic items (randomly determined) and 1 medium
  magic item (randomly determined).
  For details of Xardan’s abilities refer to the
  appropriate sections of Core Rulebooks I and III.
  for many years of what was to be done.  Eventually, a
  pact was formed.  Xardan thirsted for the power to
  make a kingdom and the kraken thirsted to be
  recognised in its true divinity.  Together they would
  further both these goals, entwined into one exquisite
  plan.  To ensure that Xardan would never double-
  cross him, the kraken kept the phylactery, but in
  compensation he provided the lich with corpses to
  animate and ink to sell.
  With a newly-risen army of skeleton workers the lich
  tunnelled out of the cave, now renamed the
  cathedral, into the sunlight air of the unsuspecting
  island republic.  Meanwhile, the kraken had been
  sinking ships that bore the Antangillian banner on
  the high seas and buffeting the island with storms.
  Disguised by enchantments and the clothes from
  uncounted victims, Xardan entered the city as an
  eccentric hermit, the prophet of a new god.  Every
  sinking he foretold, and for every one he proposed
  the same solution: Placate the beast by making it a
  god, worship it, cast into its tentacles live sacrifices.
  For a long time his council was studiously ignored,
  but eventually an outraged community took matters
  into their own hands and cast a bound criminal into
  the sea, resulting in an immediate cessation of the
  evils that had beset the island.  The rest, as they say,
  is history.
  Now the lich sits, as High Priest of the Cult of the
  Kraken, on the council of the republic as its most
  dominant member.  He guides their every decision
  and, since he can conspire with the kraken to have
  rapid proof of his threats of divine retribution, he is
  gradually becoming the only voice.  In time, of
  course, he plans to do away with them all and their
  endless petty questions and concerns.  When
  Antangil is the greatest sea empire in the world,
  when its banners are flown in every port, when
  stately death hulks ply the waves unmolested, when
  the pathetic contagion of mortal life is removed from
  his borders, then will Xardan Darkfyre have the
  perfect kingdom, and then he will cut his phylactery
  from that rubbery false god.
  Xardan knew he had to cover the obvious
  appearance of his undeath.  Over the years before he
  and the kraken unleashed their master plan, he had
  the beast wreck ships and bring him all the books,
  items and scrolls that it found.  Eventually he found
  what he was looking for: a scroll that allowed him to
  alter his appearance and another that made the
  enchantment permanent.  Reading these scrolls he
  took the appearance of a non-descript, aged human
  male.  To cover the smell of his hideous true form, he
  has produced a number of masking potions in his
  cathedral laboratory.  Each of these potions lasts 8
  hours after he ingests it, and totally masks his
  undead aroma.
  His phylactery is a flattened stone of black obsidian,
  roughly three inches in diameter, on which are
  meticulously engraved incantations that preserve his
  existence, and bound with a leather thong so it can
  be worn as a necklace.  Purely by accident it lodged
  within the kraken’s gut during their first encounter,
  where it has remained, perfectly safe, but
  irretrievable by the lich.
  ANTANGIL
  
  27
  The cult and the
  cathedral
  The central goal of the Cult of the Kraken is collect
  victims for sacrifice to the ‘god’.  To that end, an
  ever-increasing range of complex laws has been
  enacted, ‘in the interests of public safety and order’.
  Those who break these laws are incarcerated in the
  temple on the hillside, released only if the citizen is
  of sufficient public stature that their presence would
  be missed, or if substantial bribes are paid to the
  guards.  Otherwise they are publicly cast into the
  harbour, or simply spirited away, down the winding
  steps to the cavern below, by the high priest.  In both
  cases the sentence is terminal.
  Priests of the cult have no clerical powers; they are,
  in actuality, predominantly lawful evil fighters and
  rogues of varying levels.  They see their task as one
  of creating an ordered society and are happy
  performing their assigned ministrations.  These
  members of the clergy regularly hold public services
  to give glory to the god, though these are just
  mumbo-jumbo made up on the spot to terrify and
  impress the locals.  In all there are 20 priests in these
  roles, the highest being a 6th level human fighter.
  Secreted behind the main alter in the temple is the
  secret door that leads to the steps down to the
  cathedral.  No-one apart from Xardan, High Priest of
  the Cult of the Kraken, knows of its existence, and
  he uses every means at his disposal to keep it this
  way.
  The cathedral of the kraken is at least 500 feet in
  diameter.  A large lake occupies most of this area,
  with the rest being a sandy shore that circles most of
  the perimeter.  The lake itself is very deep and leads
  out, though a 100 foot-diameter, 1,500 foot-long
  tunnel, into the open sea at a depth of 600 feet.
  Xardan has had his zombies and skeletons stack
  goods from destroyed ships that the kraken has
  brought to him against the walls of the cathedral.
  There are priceless goods of all descriptions, Xardan
  having carefully placed them, more out of a sense of
  orderliness than care for their value.  To one side of
  the cavern, a quarter of the distance around the lake,
  away from the single staircase that ascends to the
  temple entrance, Xardan has set up his laboratory.
  Here the section of beach is 45 feet wide and a large
  number of benches and other furniture have been set
  up, along with many racks and shelves.  All of this
  has been salvaged over the years from wrecked
  ANTANGIL
  ships.  Here Xardan continues his alchemical
  research, ostensibly to create powerful potions that
  will poison the water supply of every local port and
  create a zombie army under his control but, in
  reality, mostly concerned with producing the scent-
  masking potion that he so desperately needs.
  Strewn about on the beach are the bones and corpses
  of the countless victims of the kraken’s attacks,
  brought here for Xarden to animate, which he does
  whenever he needs someone to do some manual
  work.  If anyone descends into the cathedral from the
  staircase without Xarden with them, 1d10 skeletons
  and 1d6 zombies will animate per round to attack
  the intruders.  This will continue for 1d20+10
  rounds, after which no more skeletons or zombies
  will animate, unless specifically commanded to by
  Xarden.  At his disposal there are 1d10x100
  skeletons, and 1d10x50 corpses suitable for
  zombification.  The undead guardians will not
  automatically attack anyone entering the cathedral
  from the sea tunnel.
  The Antangil Kraken
  Male advanced kraken; CR 19; Colossal magical
  beast (aquatic); HD 33d10+363; hp 478; Init +4
  (Improved Initiative); Spd swim 20 ft.; AC 21 (touch
  2, flat-footed 21); Atk +41/+36/+36 (4d6+16 19-20/
  x2, 2 tentacle rake; 1d8+8 19-20/x2, 6 arm; 4d8+8
  19-20/x2, bite); Face/Reach 40 ft. by 80 ft./15 ft.
  (150 ft. with tentacle); SA Improved grab, constrict
  4d6+16 or 1d8+8; SQ Ink cloud, jet, spell-like
  abilities; AL NE; SV Fort +29, Ref +18, Will +18; Str
  42, Dex 10, Con 33, Int 21, Wis 20, Cha 10.
  Skills & Feats: Concentration +24, Knowledge
  (geography) +10, Knowledge (nature) +10,
  Knowledge (politics) +10, Listen +15, Search +15,
  Spot +15; Alertness, Blind-Fight, Expertise,
  Improved Critical (arm, bite, tentacle), Improved
  Initiative, Improved Trip, Iron Will, Whirlpool.
  For details of the krakens special abilities refer to
  Core Rulebook III.  The Whirlpool feat is detailed on
  page 13 of this guide.
  
  28
  Kraken
  Reference
  List
  T
  he following statistics are presented here to
  give the Games Master an instant reference
  for the various types of kraken and their
  special followers that are presented in this guide.
  They can be immediately dropped into a scenario,
  simply rename them as required.  Possessions listed
  are only a suggestion, but their effects have been
  factored into the rest of the statistics.  You are free to
  replace or add possessions, so they might better fit
  your situation, however it is recommended that you
  do not remove an item without replacing it with one
  of similar or greater value.
  Kraken
  CR 12; Gargantuan magical beast (aquatic); HD
  20d10+180; hp 290; Init +4 (Improved Initiative);
  Spd swim 20 ft.; AC 20 (touch 6, flat-footed 14); Atk
  +28/+23/+23 (2d8+12/19-20/x2, 2 tentacle rake;
  1d6+6, 6 arm; 4d6+6, bite); Face/Reach 20 ft. by 40
  ft./10 ft. (100 ft. with tentacle); SA Improved grab,
  constrict 2d8+12 or 1d6+6; SQ Ink cloud, jet, spell-
  like abilities; AL NE; SV Fort +21, Ref +12, Will
  +13; Str 34, Dex 10, Con 29, Int 21, Wis 20, Cha 10.
  Skills & Feats: Concentration +19, Knowledge
  (geography) +10, Knowledge (nature) +10 Listen
  +15, Search +15, Spot +15; Alertness, Blind-Fight,
  Expertise, Improved Critical (tentacle), Improved
  Initiative, Improved Trip, Iron Will.
  Special Attacks/Qualities: Details of the kraken’s
  special attacks/qualities can be found in Core
  Rulebook III.
  Kraken Offspring
  CR 9; Huge animal (aquatic); HD 12d8+12; hp 66;
  Init +3 (Dex); Spd swim 80 ft.; AC 17 (touch 11, flat-
  footed 14); Atk +15/+10 (1d6+8, 8 tentacle rake;
  2d8+4, bite); Face/Reach 10 ft. by 20ft./10 ft. (40 ft.
  with tentacle); SA Improved grab, constrict; SQ Ink
  cloud, jet; AL NE; SV Fort +9, Ref +11, Will +5; Str
  26, Dex 17, Con 13, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 2.
  Skills & Feats: Listen +8, Spot +8.
  Special Attacks/Qualities: Details of the kraken
  offsprings special attacks/qualities can be found in
  Core Rulebook III.
  Shepherd of the Sea
  Kraken Drd6/Shp3; CR 21; Gargantuan magical
  beast (aquatic); HD 23d10+6d8+261; hp 400; Init
  +4 (Improved Initiative); Spd swim 20 ft.; AC 20
  (touch 6, flat-footed 14); Atk +34/+29/+29 (2d8+12/
  19-20/x2, 2 tentacle rake; 1d6+6, 6 arm; 4d6+6,
  bite); Face/Reach 20 ft. by 40 ft./10 ft. (100 ft. with
  tentacle); SA Improved grab, constrict 2d8+12 or
  1d6+6; SQ Ink cloud, jet, spell-like abilities, nature
  sense, animal companion, woodland stride, trackless
  step, resist nature’s lore, wild shape 2/day, healing
  circle (2d8+2) 3/day, animal growth 1/day, alter life;
  AL NE; SV Fort +29, Ref +17, Will +19; Str 34, Dex
  10, Con 29, Int 21, Wis 20, Cha 12.
  Skills & Feats: Animal Empathy +13, Concentration
  +19, Handle Animal +13, Heal +17, Knowledge
  (geography) +10, Knowledge (nature) +10 Listen
  +15, Search +15, Spot +15, Wilderness Lore +17;
  Alertness, Blind-Fight, Expertise, Improved Critical
  (tentacle), Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Iron
  Will.
  Special Attacks/Qualities: Details of the shepherd’s
  special attacks and qualities can be found in Core
  Rulebook I, Core Rulebook III and this guide.
  Spells Prepared (6/5/4/4/3): 0 – Cure minor wounds
  x6; 1st – Animal friendship, calm animals, cure light
  wounds, entangle, obscuring mist x2; 2nd – Hold
  animal x2, speak with animals, summon nature’s
  ally II x2; 3rd – Cure moderate wounds, remove
  disease, summon nature’s ally III x2; 4th – Freedom
  of movement, sleet storm, summon nature’s ally IV.
  Animal Companions: Randomly determined up to a
  maximum of 18 HD.  All of these creatures will have
  +1 bonus HD which does not count against this total
  and their alignment will be one step shifted towards
  neutral evil.
  True Disciple
  Gurter; Human Ftr7/Dcp2; CR 9; Medium-size
  humanoid; HD 9d10+18; hp 72; Init +5; Spd 20 ft.,
  swim 30 ft.; AC 22; Atk +14/+9 melee (1d10+6, +1
  bastard sword), +11/+6 ranged (1d8+3, mighty
  masterwork composite longbow); Face/Reach 5 ft.
  by 5 ft./5 ft.; SQ Bonus feats, weapon specialization,
  natural swimmer, empathic link; AL NE; SV Fort
  KRAKEN REFERENCE LIST
  
  29
  AC:  Natural armour improves by +7.
  Damage:  A half-kraken’s arms are malleable and
  incredibly flexible, granting them two slam attacks
  with a reach of up to fie feet farther than the base
  creature.  If the base creature does not already have
  this attack form, use the damage values in the table
  below.  Otherwise, use the values below or the base
  creature’s damage, whichever is greater.
  Size
  Slam Damage
  Fine
  1
  Diminutive
  1d2
  Tiny
  1d3
  Small
  1d4
  Medium-size
  1d6
  Large
  1d8
  Huge
  2d6
  Gargantuan
  2d8
  Colossal
  4d6
  Special Attacks:  A half-kraken retains all the special
  attacks of the base creature and also gains the
  Improved Grab and Constrict abilities with its arms.
  These abilities function exactly as described in Core
  Rulebook III, allowing the half-kraken to deal
  automatic slam damage each round to a grappled
  foe.
  Special Qualities:  A half-kraken retains all of the
  special qualities of the base creature and can breathe
  both air and water freely.
  Saves:  Same as the base creature.
  Abilities:  Increase from the base creature as follows:
  Str +6, Dex +0, Con +4, Int +2, Wis +2, Cha +0.
  Skills:  A half-kraken has four skill points, plus its
  Intelligence modifier, per Hit Die.  Treat skills from
  the base creature’s list as class skills and other skills
  as cross-class.  If the creature has a class, it gains
  skills for class levels normally.
  Feats:  Same as the base creature.
  Climate/Terrain:  Same as the base creature or any
  aquatic.
  Organization:  Same as the base creature.
  Challenge Rating:  Same as the base creature +2.
  Treasure:  Same as the base creature.
  Alignment:  Usually neutral evil.
  Advancement:  Same as the base creature.
  +11, Ref +7, Will +4; Str 17, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 10,
  Wis 12, Cha 8.
  Skills & Feats: Climb +12, Jump +12, Swim +22;
  Cleave, Endurance, Exotic Weapon (bastard sword),
  Improved Initiative, Point Blank Shot, Power Attack,
  Skill Focus (swim), Weapon Focus (bastard sword),
  Weapon Specialization (bastard sword).
  Special Qualities: Details of Gurtur’s special
  qualities can be found in Core Rulebook I and this
  guide.
  Possessions: Large metal shield, +1 full plate, +1
  bastard sword, mighty (Str 16) masterwork
  composite longbow, 20 arrows, potion of cure
  moderate wounds, potion of endurance, cloak of
  resistance +1.
  HALF-KRAKEN
  Kraken are highly magical creatures that are
  constantly plotting bigger and better ways to
  achieve their goals.  Sometimes, in the case of
  particularly powerful kraken, this can involve a
  dalliance with a surface creature while under the
  effects of shape-changing magic.  This union rarely
  results in offspring, however, when it does bear fruit,
  the young are evil, twisted versions of their non-
  kraken parents, although there is a hint of the kraken
  in their features.  Their eyes appear abnormally
  large, their skin has a slightly rubbery texture to it
  and, upon careful examination, a set of gills can be
  found on the sides of their neck.
  All half-kraken revere their parent as the god they
  believe themselves to be, and act as spies and
  ambassadors to costal civilizations on behalf of the
  kraken.
  Creating a Half-kraken
  ‘Half-kraken’ is a template that can be added to any
  humanoid, giant or monstrous humanoid (referred to
  hereafter as the ‘base creature’).  The creature’s type
  changes based on its original type: humanoid
  creatures become ‘monstrous humanoid (aquatic)’,
  while all other types simply gain the aquatic sub-
  type.  It uses all the base creature’s statistics and
  special abilities except as noted below.
  Speed:  In addition to the base creatures normal
  movement rate, the half-kraken can swim at the full,
  unencumbered, land speed of the base creature.
  KRAKEN REFERENCE LIST
  
  30
  Half-Kraken Characters
  Half-kraken often have a character class, favouring
  barbarian, druid, fighter and ranger.  Half-kraken
  clerics and paladins are extremely rare.
  Sample Half-Kraken
  Half-Kraken/Half-Ogre
  Large Giant (Aquatic)
  Hit Dice: 4d8+16 (34 hp)
  Initiative: -1 (Dex)
  Speed: 30 ft., swim 30 ft.
  AC: 23 (-1 size, -1 Dex, +12 natural, +3 hide)
  KRAKEN REFERENCE LIST
  Attacks: Huge greatclub +11 melee, or 2 slam +10
  melee; or Huge longspear +1 ranged
  Damage: Huge greatclub 2d6+12, or slam 1d8+8; or
  Huge longspear 2d6+8
  Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft./15 ft. (20-25 ft. with
  longspear)
  Special Attacks: Improved grab, constrict 1d8+8
  Saves: Fort +8, Ref +0, Will +2
  Abilities: Str 27, Dex 8, Con 19, Int 8, Wis 12, Cha 7
  Skills: Climb +8, Listen +5, Spot +5
  Feats: Weapon Focus (greatclub)
  Climate/Terrain: Any land, aquatic, and
  underground
  Organization: Solitary, pair, gang (2 – 4),
  or band (5 – 8)
  Chalenge Rating: 4
  Treasure: Standard
  Alignment: Neutral evil
  Advancement: By character class
  Combat
  Half-kraken/half-ogres attack for no reason, taking
  delight in inflicting pain on others.  In combat they
  either use the favoured weapons of their race, or slam
  unwitting opponents with their thick arms.
  Improved Grab (Ex):
  To use this ability, the
  half-kraken/half-ogre
  must hit an opponent
  of up to Medium-size
  with a slam attack.  If it
  gets a hold, it can
  constrict.
  Constrict (Ex): A half-kraken/half-
  ogre deals automatic slam damage
  with a successful grapple check
  against Medium-size or smaller
  creatures.
  
  31
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