Copyright 2008 Wizards of the Coast

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Crocodiles exist in real life and frequently feature in media such as nature documentaries, so if you’re reading this you probably already know what they look like. For a long time everyone thought crocodiles were the closest thing you could get to dinosaurs in the modern day, then they discovered that honor belonged to chickens.

The Monster Vault has stats for a “mundane” crocodile in its animal appendix, and the Monster Manual has two fantastic varieties that are more likely to attack adventurers.

Crocodile

This is the one from the Monster Vault. Since it’s in the appendix and not in a full entry, there’s no lore at all. The mundane crocodile is a Medium Natural Beast (reptile), and a Level 3 Soldier with 46 HP. It has low-light vision, a land speed of 4 and a swim speed of 8. It attacks with a bite that does damage and grabs on a hit, and once it’s grabbed someone it can inflict automatic damage on the victim as a standard action. Short and simple. The grab has an escape DC of 13.

We’ll have to fall back to the standard cliches here: they live in lakes, rivers and swamps and hunt by looking like floating logs until something small and meaty gets within charge range. I imagine mundane crocs won’t go out of their way to attack PCs, but might become violent if they feel threatened or are protecting their young.

Visejaw Crocodile

The first fantastic variety from the Monster Manual. Its scales are grey and a red streak menaces with leathery spikes on its back. The visejaw crocodile is a Large Natural Beast (reptile), and a Level 4 Soldier with 58 HP. It has a ground speed of 6 and a swim speed of 8, and its attacks are pretty almost identical to those of the mundane crocodile.

This crocodile’s jaws don’t inflict automatic damage on grabbed targets, but instead make an attack against Fortitude with half damage on a miss. Fixing the damage bugs on this one would also involve dropping the attack roll and making this damage automatic.

Feymire Crocodile

The platonic ideal of a man-eating crocodile. This Huge Fey Beast (reptile) is so good at looking like a log in a bog it actually has vegetation sprouting from its back, and carries the swamp with it wherever it goes. It’s native to the Feywild but also inhabits the world in places where the two planes touch. Interestingly enough it seems to be able to sustain itself by putting down roots, but it obviously prefers the tender meat of adventurers.

The feymire crocodile is a Level 10 Elite Soldier with 216 HP. That bit about it carrying the swamp with it is not an exaggeration! It has a Feymire aura that makes the ground in a 2-square radius from itself difficult terrain for enemies. It also has Regeneration 5, which can be temporarily shut down with fire damage. Yes, it has the same staying power as a troll. It’s also nearly as smart at Int 5, though being a Beast it’s not sapient as such.

Other traits include low-light vision and the expected swim speed of 8. It attacks with stronger versions of the grabby bite and clamping jaws from the other two crocs, and needs the same fix as the visejaw. In addition, if it grabs a bloodied Medium or smaller creature, it can try to Swallow it. This is an attack against Fortitude; if it hits, the target goes into the croc’s gullet, becoming dazed, restrained, and taking ongoing 10 acid damage until free.

I used to think restrained meant you couldn’t take any actions, but a restrained target can still make attacks at a -2 penalty. The Feymire Crocodile’s Swallow ability places a further restriction: the swallowed victim may only make basic attacks against the insides of the croc. Yes, you still have to beat its defenses. Not much of a problem for the fighter or warlord, but nearly everyone else is in trouble.

Encounters and Final Impressions

The suggested encounter in the Monster Manual is a party of lizardfolk and their visejaw pet. I imagine the feymire crocodile would be the sort of animal to hang out with trolls or bog hags.

The feymire croc is definitely my favorite of the lot. It gives me a nice fairytale vibe.