Grunch

 

Grunch

Medium Magical Beast (Augmented Humanoid)

Hit Dice: 6d10+18 (51 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 40 ft., swim 20 ft.
Armor Class: 17 (+3 Dex, +4 natural), touch 13, flat-footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple: +6/+9
Attack: Bite +9 melee (1d8+3)
Full Attack: Bite +9 melee (1d8+3) and 2 claws +7 melee (1d6+1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Rend flesh, bayou ambush
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent, swamp stride, damage reduction 5/magic
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +8, Will +3
Abilities: Str 16, Dex 17, Con 16, Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 8
Skills: Hide +12, Move Silently +10, Listen +8, Spot +8, Survival +6, Swim +11
Feats: Multiattack, Alertness, Weapon Focus (bite)
Environment: Warm marshes and swamps (especially near settled areas)
Organization: Solitary, pair, or pack (3–5)
Challenge Rating: 5
Treasure: None
Alignment: Usually chaotic evil
Advancement: 7–9 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: —

Combat

Grunches are ambush predators that prefer to stalk prey from waterlogged undergrowth or roadside ditches before launching a sudden, savage attack. They favor isolated targets and will retreat into the swamp if seriously injured, often circling back later.

Their intelligence is low but cunning - they understand roads, wagons, and the habits of humanoids, suggesting a dim echo of their origins.

Rend Flesh (Ex)

If a grunch hits with both claw attacks, it tears into its victim’s body for an additional 2d6+4 points of damage.

Bayou Ambush (Ex)

When attacking a creature that is unaware of its presence, a grunch gains a +4 bonus on attack rolls and deals an extra 2d6 points of damage on its first successful strike.

This ability functions similarly to a rogue’s sneak attack but only applies during the first round of combat when the grunch is hidden.

Special Qualities

Swamp Stride (Ex)

A grunch can move through natural difficult terrain in marshes, shallow water, and mud at normal speed without taking damage or suffering impairment. This functions like a druid’s woodland stride, but only in swamp environments.

Scent (Ex)

Grunches can detect prey by smell, often tracking travelers long before revealing themselves.

Damage Reduction (Su)

A grunch’s twisted, unnatural physiology grants it damage reduction 5/magic.

Skills

Grunches have a +4 racial bonus on Hide checks in swampy or wooded terrain and a +8 racial bonus on Swim checks. They can always take 10 on Swim checks, even when threatened.

Ecology

Grunches are said to be the degenerate descendants - or perhaps cursed remnants - of isolated humanoid communities driven into the swamps. Over generations, exposure to dark magic, desperation, and cannibalism warped them into something no longer truly human.

They lair in half-sunken shacks, abandoned roadside structures, or crude dens of bone and refuse at the edge of civilization. Evidence of their presence includes gnawed remains, strange hoof-like tracks mixed with claw marks, and distant, unnatural howls that echo across the water at night.

Lore

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (local) or Knowledge (nature) can learn more about grunches:

• DC 10: A grunch is a swamp predator that hunts near roads and isolated settlements.
• DC 15: It prefers ambush tactics and drags prey into the marsh.
• DC 20: Legends claim grunches were once human - or something close to it.
• DC 25: Packs sometimes coordinate attacks, suggesting a crude, unsettling intelligence.

Adventure Hooks

• Travelers vanish along a lonely road skirting the marsh - locals whisper of something watching from the reeds.
• A ruined homestead is discovered deep in the swamp, its walls marked with clawed symbols and old, human belongings.
• A survivor insists the creatures spoke - not words, but broken, almost-remembered sounds.

Grunch Alpha

Large Magical Beast (Augmented Humanoid)

Hit Dice: 7d10+28 (66 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 40 ft., swim 30 ft.
Armor Class: 19 (–1 size, +4 Dex, +6 natural), touch 13, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +7/+14
Attack: Bite +11 melee (1d10+6)
Full Attack: Bite +11 melee (1d10+6) and 2 claws +9 melee (1d8+3)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Rend flesh, bayou ambush, terrifying bay
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent, swamp stride, damage reduction 5/magic, pack leader
Saves: Fort +9, Ref +9, Will +4
Abilities: Str 22, Dex 18, Con 18, Int 7, Wis 13, Cha 10
Skills: Hide +11, Move Silently +12, Listen +10, Spot +10, Survival +8, Swim +14
Feats: Multiattack, Alertness, Improved Initiative
Environment: Warm marshes and swamps
Organization: Solitary or with pack (1 alpha plus 3–6 grunches)
Challenge Rating: 7
Treasure: Standard (often scattered remains of victims)
Alignment: Usually chaotic evil
Advancement: 8–10 HD (Large)

Combat

A grunch alpha rarely attacks alone. It uses hit-and-run tactics, coordinating its pack to isolate prey. It prefers to strike from concealment, then unleash chaos with its bay before closing in.

Terrifying Bay (Su)

As a standard action, a grunch alpha emits a horrifying, broken howl that echoes with almost-human tones.

All creatures within 60 ft. must succeed on a DC 15 Will save or become shaken for 1d6 rounds. Creatures that fail by 5 or more are instead frightened for 1 round, then shaken.

This is a mind-affecting fear effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Pack Leader (Ex)

All allied grunches within 30 ft. of the alpha gain a +2 morale bonus on attack rolls and Will saves.

Additionally, any grunch flanking a target with the alpha deals +1d6 extra damage.

Rend Flesh (Ex)

If the alpha hits with both claw attacks, it deals an additional 2d8+6 damage.

Bayou Ambush (Ex)

As the standard grunch ability, but the alpha deals +3d6 extra damage on its initial ambush strike.

Swamp Stride (Ex)

As standard grunch.

Ecology

The alpha is the oldest, strongest, and most cunning of its kind. Its body is more twisted - horns thicker, limbs longer, and its eyes burn with a dim, hateful awareness. Some tales insist the alpha remembers what it once was.

It marks territory with shredded remains and crude symbols carved into wood or bone.

Grunch Curse

Supernatural Affliction

The transformation into a grunch is not always immediate. Some victims are marked - body and spirit slowly dragged toward something feral and inhuman. The curse isn’t inflicted like lycanthropy is; the victim is usually guilty of some true crime against the swamps and bayous, or it is inflicted by a powerful user of dark magics.

Type: Curse (transformation)
Save: Fortitude DC 14 (initial and each stage)
Onset: 1 day
Frequency: 1/day
Cure: Remove curse and remove disease before final stage

Progression

• Stage 1: The Mark
• Symptoms: Fever, nightmares of drowning marshes, distant howling
• Effect: –2 penalty on Will saves, +2 bonus on Survival checks in swamp terrain
• Physical: Eyes slightly yellowed, teeth subtly sharpen
• Stage 2: The Hunger
• Symptoms: Craving raw meat, aversion to civilization
• Effect: –2 Intelligence, +2 Strength, character must succeed on a DC 12 Will save to avoid attacking helpless creatures or feeding on corpses
• Physical: Nails harden into claws, posture becomes hunched
• Stage 3: The Change
• Symptoms: Loss of speech, animalistic behavior
• Effect: Intelligence drops to 6 if higher, gains scent ability, alignment shifts one step toward chaotic evil
• Physical: Horn buds emerge, body hair thickens, gait becomes bestial
• Stage 4: The Grunch

The victim fully transforms into a standard grunch under the DM’s control. The original personality is lost, though fragments may linger in rare moments.

Breaking the Curse

• Before Stage 3: Remove curse or remove disease ends the affliction
• Stage 3: Requires both spells cast within 24 hours
• Stage 4: Only wish or miracle can restore the victim
• Lore (Knowledge: Local or Arcana)
• DC 15: Some grunches are made, not born
• DC 20: Survivors of attacks sometimes change over time
• DC 25: The curse worsens in swamp environments or near other grunches

Using the Curse in Play (Quick DM Notes)

This works beautifully as a slow horror element:

• A bitten NPC starts acting… off
• The party notices subtle physical changes
• Moral dilemma: cure them, restrain them… or put them down