Kipawo (Kip-Pah-Woe)

Kings of the Western Seas, the kipawo is an oceanic monster to fear and revere. Prissy and territorial, kipawo hate interactions with surface creatures, preferring to remain underwater unless their presence on the surface of the water is necessary. When confronted, the burning stream of the breath weapon scalds their victims and reduces them to burnt cadavers.

Dragons of the Ocean Floor

Stemming from their evolutionary heritage, Kipawo prefers to live in coastal regions, exploring the murky floors of the sea for new plunder after the events of big storms, and naval battles. At times, Kipawo may surface to converse with seafarers about passage rights or defend its territory from encroaching bronze dragons, but beyond that, they prefer to remain deep within the waters of their layers.

Viscious Monsters

Kipawos are not outright aggressive, preferring to live isolated lives within their lairs and only leaving to defend it from those that encroach on their territory. They care little for anything outside of the water and usually ignore any ships that pass overtop, care more about the like of mermen over land-dwelling humanoids. However, if one was to get on the bad side of a kipawo, then they would soon discover that they are a force to be reconned with, easily destroying any form of defenses or naval ships, slicing through tiny adventurers, and burning their flesh with their breath weapons. If they feel so inclined, they can launch tsunami waves with just a flick of their large tails, causing vast destruction to nearby coastal settlements. Due to these fears, many who live along the shores of a kipawo's territory will often appease it with gifts, and create passage treaties with the purpose of preventing any coastal destruction whenever possible.

Sunken Treasure

If it has sunk to the bottom of the ocean, then it is a part of the kipawo's hoard. Kipawos claim all wreckage and sunken treasures worth anything that happens to find themselves within their territory to be their hoard. Unlike normal dragons, kipawo do not go out of their way to collect their treasures and pile them up, preferring to leave their hoard pieces laying about across the ocean floor, where they may land. This makes the theft of a kipawos hoard quite the challenge, as one would have to scour the entire territory of the kipawo to find every piece of sunken sand-covered reward.

homebrew by Team Brievary

Ancient Kipawo CR: 22 (41,000 XP)

Gargantuan dragon, lawful neutral

Armor Class: 24

Hit Points: 481 (26d20 + 208)

Speed: 40 ft , swim: 120 ft

STR

30 +10

DEX

24 +7

CON

27 +8

INT

14 +2

WIS

17 +3

CHA

21 +5

Saving Throws: Dex +14, Con +15, Wis +10, Cha +12

Skills: Perception +17, Stealth +14

Damage Resistances: bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks

Condition Immunities: exhaustion

Senses: blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 27

Languages: Common, Draconic

Challenge Rating: 22 (41,000 XP)

Amphibious. The dragon can breathe air and water. Magic Resistance. The dragon has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. Siege Monster. The dragon deals double damage to objects and structures. Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the dragon fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.

Actions

Multiattack. The dragon can use its Frightful Presence. It then makes three attacks: one with its bite and two with its claws. Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +16 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 21 2d10+10 piercing damage plus 11 2d10 force damage. Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +16 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 19 2d8+10 slashing damage. Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +16 to hit, reach 20 ft., one target. Hit: 16 1d12+10 bludgeoning damage plus 6 1d12 force damage. Frightful Presence. Each creature of the dragon's choice that is within 120 feet of the dragon and aware of it must succeed on a DC 20 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature's saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to the dragon's Frightful Presence for the next 24 hours. Steam Breath (Recharge 5–6). The dragon exhales water and steam in a 60-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 20 Constitution saving throw, taking 77 14d10 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Being underwater doesn't grant resistance against this damage. Tidal Wave (Recharge 6). While submerged, the dragon magically creates a wall of water centered on itself. The wall is up 250 feet long, up to 250 feet high, and up to 50 feet thick. When the wall appears, all other creatures within its area must each make a DC 20 Strength saving throw. A creature takes 28 5d10 bludgeoning damage on failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. At the start of each of the dragon's turns after the wall appears, the wall, along with any other creatures in it, moves 50 feet away from the dragon. Any Huge or smaller creature inside the wall or whose space the wall enters when it moves must succeed on a DC 20 Strength saving throw or take 22 4d10 bludgeoning damage. A creature takes this damage no more than once on a turn. At the end of each turn the wall moves, the wall's height is reduced by 50 feet, and the damage creatures take from the wall on subsequent rounds is reduced by 1d10. When the wall reaches 0 feet in height, the effect ends. A creature caught in the wall can move by swimming. Because of the force of the wave, though, the creature must make a successful DC 20 Strength (Athletics) check to swim at all during that turn.

Legendary Actions

The dragon can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. The dragon regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn. Detect. The dragon makes a Wisdom (Perception) check. Tail Attack. The dragon makes one slam attack. Move. The dragon moves up to its speed.

Lair Actions

On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the Kipawo can take one of the following lair actions; the Kipawo can't take the same lair action two rounds in a row:

Lightning Strike. A thunderous bolt of lightning strikes one creature in the lair that the Kipawo can see. That creature must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or take 13 3d8 lightning damage and be stunned until the end of its next turn.
Launching Wave. The kipawo conjures a 15-foot cube of water that fills an unoccupied space it can see within 30 feet of it, then moves the water in a straight line up to 60 feet, after which the water disperses. Any creature that comes into contact with the rushing wave must succeed on a DC 16 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone by it and pushed 15 feet along its course.

Additional Lair Actions

At your discretion, a legendary (adult or ancient) kipawo can use one or more of the following additional lair actions while in its lair: Ocean's Call. The kipawo conjures a swarm of spectral crustaceans. Each creature in the water within 120 feet of the kipawo must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take 5 1d10 slashing damage; then the swarm vanishes. Salt Burst. The kipawo chooses a point it can see in the lair. The air in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on that point bursts with abrasive salt crystals. Each creature in that area must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take 10 3d6 slashing damage. Whelming Water. The kipawo causes a strong current to course through the water in its lair. The kipawo chooses any number of creatures it can see that are standing or swimming in water within 120 feet of it. Each chosen creature must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.

A Kipawo's Lair

Kipawo's make their homes in underwater cave systems, and large bays and coves. As they grow older, they migrate to larger locals with the purpose of keeping themselves comfortable, desiring larger hunting grounds with which to control. By the end of their lives, a kipawo may reside within a large network of underwater caves or might consider a large range of coastal ocean as their territory, bringing potential risk to anything that even approaches the area. The challenge rating of a legendary kipawo increases by 1 when it's encountered in its lair.

Regional Effects

The region surrounding a legendary Kipawo's lair is altered by the dragon's magic, creating one or more of the following effects:

Rainy Skies. Once per day, the kipawo can alter the weather in a 6-mile radius centered on its lair. The kipawo doesn't need to be outdoors; otherwise, the effect is identical to the control weather spell.
Stormy Seas. Whirpools form within 16 miles of the lair, and undercurrents become stronger and more violent.
Thriving Wildlife. Giant Crabs and similar crustaceans are attracted to the area within 6 miles of the lair and settle there in large numbers.

If the Kipawo dies, the population of crustaceans in the region returns to normal levels over the course of 1d10 days, along with a large number of whirlpools. The change to the weather ends immediately.

Additional Regional Effects

Any of these effects might appear in the area around a kipawo's lair, in addition to or instead of the base regional effects described above: Phantom Escort. Ghostly naval ships from damned crews that lost their lives within the kipawos lair can be found escorting well-meaning creatures in need of the dragon's help toward the dragon's lair. Underwater Pursuit. Sailors glimpse the shadowy, illusory form of a sea monster (kipawo or otherwise) in the depths below them, keeping pace with their vessel.

Variant: Dragons as Innate Spellcasters

This kipawo can innately cast five spells, once per day each, requiring no material components. Each spell's level can be no higher than 7th. The kipawo's spell save DC is DC 20, and it has +12 to hit with spell attacks. A suggested spell list is shown below, but you can also choose spells to reflect the kipawo's character. A kipawo who innately casts druid spells feels different from one who casts warlock spells. You can also give a kipawo spells of a higher level than this rule allows, but such a tweak might increase the kipawo's challenge rating—especially if those spells deal damage or impose conditions on targets.

chain lightning
control water
lightning bolt
scatter
speak with animals
whirlwind

Other Statblocks

Basic Information

Anatomy

Looking like large sea serpents that are covered in large shell-like scales, the Kipawo can only be described as large serpentine lobster dragons, with bodies spanning large swaths of water, and ending in large fins comparable in shape to that of a normal lobster. They have multiple limbs across their bodies, combining legs and claws that allow the Kipawo to move more easily across the surface of the ocean's bottom, and defend itself from other creatures that may attempt to attack it.

Genetics and Reproduction

Like other draconic species, Kipawo lay eggs, they will eventually hatch under the watchful eyes of their mothers.

Growth Rate & Stages

Kipawos, like many dragon species, experiences many stages of growth, tied to their size and lifespans. Starting as eggs, they eventually hatch into Kipawo wyrmlings. After an average of 15 years, the wyrmling will have grown enough to become a Young Kipawo, capable of fending for itself and starting its own hoard/ creating its own lair. After 100 years, it will be classified as an Adult Kipawo, and it would be classified as an Ancient Kipawo at 800+ years.

Ecology and Habitats

Kipawos prefer to live within coastal ocean regions, claiming large bays and vast shorelines as their territory, and laying claim to any sunken treasure that finds itself upon the bottom of the ocean floor as part of their hoards. Kipowas may change their layers as they grow larger, leaving smaller bays for larger more open coastlines.

Additional Information

Average Intelligence

Like many dragons, Kipowa are a scentient species, with intelligence above the likes of average humanoids. Whiel intellegent and capable of conversation, their intellect is often lower than that of a true dragon.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Like most dragons, Kipawo's develop powerful blindsight in the later stages of their life. Additionally, they can produce a steam breath weapon, burning the flesh of those that oppose them. When fighting larger sea vessels, a Kipawo can also utilize its large tail to cause tidal waves that can be compared to the abilities of a Leviathan.

Civilization and Culture

History

During the 0th Era, when the battles of giants and dragons raged on, an early species of lobster happened upon the corpse of a dragon that had sunk to the surface of the ocean floor. Unintelligent, and instinctive, the lobsters fed on the corpse, living nearby and spending their days within the local. Over time the lobsters were mutated by the dragon flesh that contained unimaginable quantities of magic, and transformed slowly into larger lobsters, evolving quickly into the large dragon-like forms that are found today.

Spiny Lobster Dragon by Lē Yamamura

Statblocks

Scientific Name

Homarus Draconus

Origin/Ancestry

Homarus

Lifespan

1400 years

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Kipawo often appears with a range of shell colors, from reds and blues to whites and blacks, though these shell colors have yet to indicate an actual difference between Kipawos as would be found in say Chromatic Dragons.