Sea Spawn
Overview
Many of the stories sung as sea shanties and passed on as tales in dockside taverns tell of people lost to the sea - but not merely drowned and gone. These unfortunates are taken by the ocean and live on as sea spawn, haunting the waves like tortured reflections of their former selves. Coral encrusts them. Barnacles cling to their cold skin. Lungs that once filled with air can now breathe in water as well. Tales provide myriad reasons for these strange transformations. “Be wary of falling in love with a sea elf or a merfolk,” some say. “Return to port before a storm, no matter how tempting the catch.” “Honor the sea gods as they demand, but never promise them your heart.” Such cautionary tales disguise the deeper truth: things lurk beneath the waves that strive to claim the hearts and minds of land dwellers.Deep Thralls
Krakens, morkoths, sea hags, marids, storm giants, dragon turtles - all of these sea creatures and more can mark mortals as their own and claim them as minions. Such people might become beholden to their master through a bleak bargain, or they might find themselves cursed by such creatures. Once warped into a fishlike form, the person can’t leave the sea for long without courting death.The Sea Spawn of Purple Rocks
Visitors to a string of islands called the Purple Rocks might notice one curious fact about the islands’ human inhabitants: no infants or elderly are among them. This is because babies born to the Rocklanders are cast into the sea and claimed by a kraken named Slarkrethel. The experience transforms the children into fanatics dedicated to the kraken. They return from the sea as humans, but when they reach old age, they transform into sea spawn and rejoin their master in the dark depths. Some children return having suffered partial transformations, leaving them semi-bestial until their full transformation when they reach old age. These wretches are hidden until their final change, to keep the secret of the Purple Rocks.Sea Spawn CR: 1 (200 XP)
STR
15 +2
DEX
8 -1
CON
15 +2
INT
6 -2
WIS
10 +0
CHA
8 -1
Limited Amphibiousness. The sea spawn can breathe air and water, but needs to be submerged in the sea at least once a day for 1 minute to avoid suffocating.
Actions
Multiattack. The sea spawn makes three attacks, two of which must be unarmed strikes. Unarmed Strike. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 feet, one target. Hit: 1d4 + 2 bludgeoning damage. Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 feet, one target. Hit: 1d4 + 2 piercing damage. Poison Quills. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 feet, one target. Hit: 1d6 poison damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
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