Cave Moray

The creature is a brownish-gray, slug-like creature about 5 feet long and 1 foot thick. Its eyes are dark brown and bulbous.

Cave Moray (CR 2)

Medium Magical Beast
Alignment: Neutral
Initiative: +3
Senses: Darkvision 60 feet, Low-Light Vision, Tremorsense 60 feet; Perception +9

Speed: 20 feet
Space: 5 feet

Defense

Armor Class: 15, touch 13, flat-footed 12 (+3 Dex, +2 natural)
Hit Points: 19 (3d10+3)
Saving Throws: Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +2

Offense

Melee: bite +5 (2d6+3)
Reach: 5 feet

Special Attacks: ambush, recoil attack

Statistics

Str	Dex	Con	Int	Wis	Cha
14 (+2)	17 (+3)	13 (+1)	2 (-4)	13 (+1)	10 (+0)

Base Attack Bonus: +3
CMB +5
CMD 18

Feats: Skill Focus (Perception, Stealth)

Skills: Perception +9, Stealth +10 (+14 in rocky or stony areas)

• Racial Modifiers: +4 Stealth in rocky or stony areas

Languages:

Special Abilities

Ambush (Ex)

If a cave moray surprises its opponent, it gains a +4 circumstance bonus to its attack roll for that round.

Recoil Attack (Ex)

A cave moray lunges out of its cyst up to 5 feet to strike at passing opponents or prey. This attack is swift enough to attack running or flying creatures. A cave moray's recoil attack is always considered a charge attack since it recoils into its cyst after an attack to lunge at its opponent again.

Ecology

Environment: Underground
Organization: cluster (4-6) or colony (7-16)
Treasure: none


Cave morays make their lairs underground in abandoned mines, dungeons, or natural occurring caves, usually near corridors, hallways or other areas of high traffic. Its lair is a burrow, just large enough for its body dug into the walls. Only one cave moray inhabits each burrow.

A typical cave moray cluster contains an equal number of males and females, while a colony is often contains more females than males. Even so, the male cave moray dominates the colony. Mating occurs in the warmer months of the year with a gestation period of about 6 months. Young are born live and depend completely on their mother for nourishment and food until they are about 8 months old.

A cave moray is a carnivore and its diet consists of whatever it can kill. Prey is devoured immediately and never stored or saved for later. A typical adult cave moray can go a month or more without eating. A cave moray's favored tactic is to lie in wait in its cyst-like burrow in the wall and attack whenever prey passes nearby. Two or more cave morays usually strike in unison, one from each side of a passage. After an attack, a cave moray recoils into its cyst to strike again.

Credit The Cave Moray originally appeared in the First Edition module S4 Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth (© TSR/Wizards of the Coast, 1982) and later in the First Edition Monster Manual II (© TSR/Wizards of the Coast, 1983) and is used by permission. Cave morays made their first appearance in d20 in the Necromancer Games module Tomb of Abysthor by Clark Peterson (©2001, Clark Peterson, Necromancer Games, Inc.).

Copyright Notice Authors Scott Greene and Clark Peterson, based on original material by Gary Gygax.