Aggie? I don't know if 'she' needs a description here, as Gaz I already described her fairly well. Whoever tackles the sea-serpents could certainly name-drop about the rumors of a similar creature in the Lake of Red Tears, however. Ditto for the avanc.
"Who [u]cares[/u] what the Dark Powers are? They're [i]bastards![/i] That's all I need to know of them." -- Crow
Perhaps not of interest, but I have wandering the Musarde and its tributaries a bone collecting water necromental that was created and set free as a consequence of the Requium . . . .
doctor-evil wrote:Hey - as a real life marine biologist (and professor of marine mammal biology) I love this idea.
Yaaa-hoo! We've got an honest-to-Ezra expert on the subject among us!
I'm happy to help out with the biology (write ups for marine species in the monster manual suck and are, typically, biologically incorrect)
No kidding! Certainly, whatever helpful advice you have to offer would be really valuable to everyone.
I love the idea of a great (wight) whale, a la Moby Dick. I'll also volunteer a side-bar on life on a whaling/sealing boat
Could there be a section on real marine fauna?
Great idea, for the sidebar! Perhaps the "unnatural beasts" chapter could be expanded to include sea life in general, some natural and some otherwise? We could probably come up with a nasty template or two to apply to marine life, to take genuine aquatic animals and make them more aggressive and spooky.
There's a lot of folklore in the Pacific Northwest on orcas (killer whales) - so the idea of a were-orca could fit into this. Were-polar bears would be neat too... (technically marine mammals and v. good swimmers). Leopard seals are probably the 'meanest' of all marine mammals, so they'd definitely be a good model for sea stalkers, despite them being Antarctic. And I love the idea of dread selkies. There's lots of Scottish folklore that could be mined for. Were (moray) eels?
Wereorcas were speculated on by Van Richten, and later written up in a netbook as part of a maritime domain (2E stats, I think). Polar bears are probably scarce in Ravenloft -- plus, they'd need to have a different name in a world with no poles -- so that one might better be saved for an unique maladictive werebeast, perhaps an evil Lamordian seal-hunter.
Were-eels would certainly be possible, and probably quite sneaky; there are dire eels in Stormwrack, that we could base the template on.
One of my students says I should propose were-manatees. The least scary of the lycanthropes - more likely to be eaten than eat something else. Certainly a mantee would be a good animal species to find in Sargassos.
Cute, but I think VRGtWerebeasts ruled out herbivores as lycanthropes. No werecows, wererabbits, or werepandas on land, either.
I'm not sure manatees would last long in Saragoss, given how much meat one would provide the stranded residents. Perhaps they could inhabit the shallows and estuaries along the Souragnien coast?
I'd like to float the idea of aquatic vampire variants (turning into rays/sharks/squid) & evil lovecraftian merfolk (tentacles below the waist).
Already on it! The Sea of Sorrows vampire could descend from Auden Beck (changes into octopus) from CotN:V, while the velya -- a monster from the Mystara setting, where the Nocturnal Sea's Meredoth originated -- can turn into a great white, a manta, or a water current.
Kopru already fill the "Lovecraftian merfolk" body-plan, but it might be interesting to put something like that in the waters around Rokushima. There was a good-aligned octopus-creature in the old Oriental Adventures rules, IIRC, so an evil (undead?) version might haunt the Poison Sea.
Considering the role of lighthouses in nautical horror - perhaps a little section on these. The main reason lighthouses have such a bad rep., is that their lights typically used to float on a pool of mercury (in the 17/1800s) and this (plus the isolation) led to high rates of 'madness' in light house keepers.
Maybe one of our in-character narrators could be such a lighthouse-worker, whose reports of "monsters" nobody but the VRS will listen to, on account of his profession's reputation for insanity!
Useable submarines and diving suits started to be developed in the real world time period depicted in Ravenloft. In an equipment section there could be rules for Dementlieu/Lamoria submarines, diving suits.
Very, very cool idea! The NS Gaz doesn't say anything about bathyspheres or diving, so it would be very useful to include such information here. A bit of a Van Richten's Arsenal throwback at the end of the book, perhaps?
Must stop now, because I've got to head off to a conference on whales in New Englamd...
Woods Hole, by any chance? I've only been there once, while I was at UMass-Amherst, but it was fascinating. If you happen to see the skeleton of a right whale names Staccato on display while you're there, I helped a bit in the defleshing of the carcass after the Coast Guard found it floating off Cape Cod.
"Who [u]cares[/u] what the Dark Powers are? They're [i]bastards![/i] That's all I need to know of them." -- Crow
Joël of the FoS wrote:I'd like to explore the fun world of dread octopuses, and related critters, if I may?
Sure, Joel ... although there don't seem to be any actual octopi on the list yet. Shall I put you down for the kraken/soul-kraken? Or did you want to make up something new?
"Who [u]cares[/u] what the Dark Powers are? They're [i]bastards![/i] That's all I need to know of them." -- Crow
Okay, here's a preliminary format for the chapters -- or rather, two -- to give everyone a clear idea of what we'll need for each critter. Depending on the creature, it might not need a particular section (e.g. solitary beasts won't have a Society), and all but the most complex should need only a paragraph to half a page on a given subject. When you use the headings in your text, include the monster's name (e.g. "Sea Spawn Habitat"), as it'll be easier for Stephen to create the Index that way.
If the monster in question is something never before discussed in a VRG, the following topics (those that apply) will need addressing:
Intro -- Source of document & name of creature
Folklore -- A short anecdote or folk tale about the monster, either scary, mysterious, or poignant as appropriate
Description -- Physical size, shape, color, etc. Hopefully we'll have a pic for each monster that needs one, but putting their appearance into words will help DMs introduce the critter in-game.
Habitat -- Domain and body of water, preferred conditions (salt vs fresh, temperature, depth), terrain features preferred (caves, sandy, reefs, wrecks, etc), lairs (if any)
Habits -- Activity patterns, behavior in the wild, diet, natural enemies
Abilities -- Natural & supernatural, salients/racial feats (if you're gung-ho to write some ), classes (only if it advances that way)
Life Cycle -- Breeding/spawn creation, maturation, gender roles (if different)
Society -- Grouping habits, organization, relations with other sea races (if sentient)
Threat -- How it preys on/enslaves/manipulates humans and/or otherwise poses a danger (e.g. krakens' storms are a threat to shipping)
Pursuit -- Vulnerabilities; "fish stories" about the monster's capture, death and/or defeat
If the creature-type has already been addressed by past VRGs, such as lycanthropes, the content should be more like this:
Intro -- As above
Folklore -- As above
Description -- Mostly, this should say how its looks differ from its land-based counterparts' looks (e.g. weresharks won't be unusually hairy in human form)
Aquatic traits -- How its powers differ from its land-based relatives'
Aquatic biology -- How its lifecycle, diet, etc differ from land-based version (e.g. aquatic natural werebeasts probably spend their childhoods in animal form, not human, so they don't drown)
VRG topics re-visited as needed*
Threat, Pursuit -- As above
[* - Whichever subjects the corresponding VRG examined, that's what should be (briefly) addressed here. For instance, the "Sleep of the Dead" topic from VRGtV may need re-examination for sea vampires, as I doubt coffins are easy to come by underwater. "The Mind of the Vampire" wouldn't need to be re-hashed, assuming they think the same way as the ones on land.]
Either way, an Adventure Hook for each monster would also be useful, to build a hook-bank for the DM Appendix. If you invent a new creature -- or if you decide the Denizens of Dread stats are unplayable or just not appropriate -- use the 3.5 rules and most recent stat-bloc format to write it up, and I'll put it in the New Monsters section.
"Who [u]cares[/u] what the Dark Powers are? They're [i]bastards![/i] That's all I need to know of them." -- Crow
A question still without answer: do we have to write "in character?"
If so, who's writing? Can we create a member of the society who writes the essay about "our" monster(s)?
Oh, by the way: I again call dibs on the caller from the deep.
Is the malasynep (Frostburn, pag.142-3) too fantasy for the waters of Lamordia? It has the "dolphin gone monstrous" thing that seems quite lamordian.
What about koprus? Quite Lovecraftian.
I coloni rovinavano la foresta costruendo il capolavoro dell'uomo civilizzato: il deserto.
- Luis Sepúlveda
Jakob, as i understand it you invent a new character, who is either a member of the Van Richten Society or who reported to such a one, and write from their perspective. the VRS member could of course also have found some documents logbooks or old account that he wants to include.
Rotipher of the FoS wrote:Wereorcas were speculated on by Van Richten, and later written up in a netbook as part of a maritime domain (2E stats, I think).
I remember that one. I think the Darklord of the domain is a Were-orca. We should get together a list of sources so that we can at least namedrop a few of them.
Also do we already have the ixitxachitl (vampiric-demonworshipping-manta-ray) on our list?
Jakob wrote:A question still without answer: do we have to write "in character?"
If so, who's writing? Can we create a member of the society who writes the essay about "our" monster(s)?
To stick with the format of the existing VRGs, there should be an in-character component to this book. (If a monster's description is OOC, it'd look more like a QtR article than a netbook chapter.) You can create a Society member from scratch, use an existing Ravenloft NPC's POV, or write from the viewpoint of someone who's not in the VRS, but whose documents fell into their hands: donated, sold, stolen, retrieved from a monster's lair, etc.
If you just can't think of an in-character author, that's all right; we can put a little memo at the start ("Laurie, are you sure there's nothing in Uncle's reference-list on where he found this? We really should verify its contents! - Genny") that accounts for the omission.
That way, we'll not only have a monster-book at the end, but we'll have added a few names and contacts to the VRS as an organization, along the way.
Oh, by the way: I again call dibs on the caller from the deep.
Done!
Is the malasynep (Frostburn, pag.142-3) too fantasy for the waters of Lamordia? It has the "dolphin gone monstrous" thing that seems quite lamordian.
Certainly it could fit there. Want that one, too? I'll add it to the list, if so.
What about koprus? Quite Lovecraftian.
Nathan's picked them. They're originally from OD&D and the Mystara setting, so would probably fit best in the Nocturnal Sea.
"Who [u]cares[/u] what the Dark Powers are? They're [i]bastards![/i] That's all I need to know of them." -- Crow
The Giamarga wrote:Also do we already have the ixitxachitl (vampiric-demonworshipping-manta-ray) on our list?
I didn't list them for the same reason as sahuagin: if there's a community of them in the Ravenloft seas, we should probably describe that in a Gaz, not just a monster-book. (Perhaps that tropical-island cluster that people were working on a while ago could have some?) If they're depicted more as raiding nomads and predators like the reavers, we could add them to the book.
There's one vampiric ixitxachitl that's officially present in the Land of Mists: Myxitizajal from CotN:V. Last seen in Souragne, he may have moved on after his encounter with heroes. His psychotic hatred of fellow devilfish makes it unlikely he'd have teamed up with others, even if there are more ixitxachitl out there. As a named NPC villain, Myxitzajal probably rates a sidebar (or Dread Possibility?) of his own.
"Who [u]cares[/u] what the Dark Powers are? They're [i]bastards![/i] That's all I need to know of them." -- Crow
Rotipher of the FoS wrote:Wereorcas were speculated on by Van Richten, and later written up in a netbook as part of a maritime domain (2E stats, I think).
I remember that one. I think the Darklord of the domain is a Were-orca. We should get together a list of sources so that we can at least namedrop a few of them.
The domain is Whal, (diacresis/umlaut over the a) and it's in the first or second BoS.
Here's the Soul Kraken conversion I wrote up for myself some time back (along with Nathan's Tiny Tale of Terror); do with it what you will. As a note, when the soul kraken appeared in Neither Man Nor Beast it was, mechanically, just a normal Monster Manual kraken with a minor cosmetic change. I expressed that cosmetic change in actual game mechanics for the 3E version.
Oh -- apologies for the non-standard stat block below. All the needed info is there, however.
Soul Kraken
Neither Man nor Beast
Unfathomed depths the dark sea holds,
Wandered far by mariners bold;
Unknown creatures there abide,
Things which never see the light...
The sea-witch cast her awful spell
To bring a servant up from Hell,
Its ten arms raised to do her will,
Its snapping beak those men to kill.
It seized upon that doughty ship
Its hull to maim, its rigging strip,
And every tar aboard did know
The sea-witch aimed to bring them low,
Down beneath the ocean wave,
Their blood to slake her kraken slave!
—Ballad of the Stormrunner, traditional Darkonian
Soul Kraken
Usually NE Huge Magical Beast (Aquatic)
Initiative: +4 Speed: Swim 20 ft. (4 squares) Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Listen +19, Spot +19
Space/Reach: 15 ft./10 ft. (50 ft. with tentacle, 20 ft. with arm) Base Attack/Grapple: +12/+28 Attack: Tentacle rake +18 melee (2d6+8/19–20) Full Attack: 2 tentacle rakes +18 melee (2d6+8/19–20) and 6 arm rakes +13 melee (1d4+4) and bite +13 melee (2d8+4) Attack Options: Blind-Fight, Combat Expertise, Improved Trip Special Attacks: Head snatch, improved grab, constrict 2d6+8 or 1d4+4, soul puppets
Hit Dice: 12d10+84 Hit Points: 139 Armor Class: 18, touch 8, flat-footed 18 (–2 size, +10 natural) Saves: Fort +15, Ref +8, Will +8 Special Qualities: Ink cloud, jet, spell-like abilities
Abilities: Str 26, Dex 10, Con 25, Int 20, Wis 19, Cha 20 Skills: Concentration +16, Hide +0, Search +19, Survival +6 (+8 to follow tracks, avoid getting lost, or avoid hazards), Swim +16, Use Magic Device +14 Knowledge: Geography +14, Nature +13 Social: Diplomacy +7, Intimidate +14, Sense Motive +13 Languages: Aquan, dead man’s tales (see text) Outcast Rating: 10 (+4 size, +3 appearance, +2 reputation, +1 unnatural powers) Feats: Blind-Fight, Combat Expertise, Improved Critical (tentacle), Improved Initiative, Improved Trip
Environment: Temperate and warm aquatic (Sea of Sorrows) Organization: Solitary Challenge Rating: 9 Treasure: Triple standard Advancement: 13–19 HD (Huge); 20–32 HD (Gargantuan); 33–60 HD (Colossal) Level Adjustment: —
Soul krakens are aggressive and cruel behemoths distantly related to the true krakens of other worlds. They are as cruel and cunning as true krakens, but they adapted to existence in the merciless seas of the Demiplane of Dread. Soul krakens are smaller than true krakens, but no less dangerous or malevolent. Soul krakens are most active at dusk and dawn. During the daylight hours, they tend to slumber inside their lairs, waiting for the daylight to fade.
While true krakens lurk in the abyssal ocean depths, soul krakens roam relatively shallow waters, often lingering near coral reefs or rocky outcroppings. They make their lairs inside shipwrecks—often those of their own making. Soul krakens often drive ships onto jutting rocks, then devour their crews. Once a soul kraken has destroyed all resistance, it smashes a hole in the ship’s hull, drags the ship to the seabed, and slips inside to surround itself with its sunken treasures. The hunting grounds of soul krakens often acquire an accursed reputation among the region’s seafolk: a place where ships vanish without trace. Fortunately, soul krakens are solitary beasts with no use for others of their own kind or the humanoid slaves favored by their true kraken kin.
A soul kraken resembles a massive, monstrous squid. Its clammy flesh is a pale, bluish gray, with a black beak and silvery eyes. Six of the beast’s tentacles are shorter arms about 30 feet long; the remaining two are nearly sixty feet long and covered with barbs. Its beaklike mouth is located where the tentacles meet the lower portion of its body.
A soul kraken’s most disturbing trait is its habit of ripping the heads off humanoid victims and skewering them on the tips of its writhing limbs. A soul kraken can manipulate these heads like puppets and, so long as flesh clings to their skulls, can scry through their senses and even gain limited access to the corpses’ memories. A soul kraken extends its skull-tipped limbs into crippled ships to track down any victims attempting to hide. Sailors who dare speak of soul krakens claim that they eat not just men’s flesh but their very souls—thus the name.
Soul krakens understand Aquan, though they cannot communicate by any means humanoids can understand. Through their dead man’s tales ability, they can also communicate through their soul puppets, gaining the ability to understand and speak any language known to a fresh severed head’s former owner—usually one or more domain tongues of nearby coastal regions.
Combat
Soul krakens strike their opponents with their barbed tentacles, then grab and crush victims with their arms or drag them into their huge jaws. If opponents take cover, the soul kraken uses the severed heads mounted on the ends of its limbs to seek out or taunt hiding prey.
An opponent can make sunder attempts against a soul kraken’s tentacles or arms as if they were weapons. A soul kraken’s tentacles have 20 hit points, as its arms have 10 hit points. If a soul kraken is currently grappling a target with one tentacle or arm, it usually uses another limb to make its attack of opportunity against the sunder attempt. Severing a soul kraken’s tentacle or arm deals damage to the kraken equal to half the limb’s full normal hit points. A soul kraken usually withdraws from combat if it loses both tentacles or three of its arms. A soul kraken regrows severed limbs in 1d10+10 days.
Head Snatch (Ex): If a soul kraken successfully performs a coup de gras against a helpless defender at least one size category smaller than itself (but no smaller than Tiny), then instead of the usual coup de gras result, it forcibly tears the creature’s head from its body, instantly killing the creature. If the soul kraken has the victim grappled when it performs a head snatch, it can maintain its grapple on both the victim’s head and body with a single tentacle or arm if it so desires. Creatures that do not need their heads to survive are not instantly slain, suffering the normal coup de gras effects instead.
Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, the soul kraken must hit a Large or smaller creature with an arm or tentacle attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking attacks of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can constrict.
The soul kraken has the option to conduct the grapple normally, or simply use the part of its body it used in the improved grab to hold the opponent (an option soul krakens often take while fishing victims out of a crippled ship). If it chooses to do the latter, it takes a –20 penalty on grapple checks (for a total +8 grapple check modifier), but is not considered grappled itself; the soul kraken does not lose its Dexterity bonus to AC, still threatens an area, and can use its remaining attacks against other opponents.
Constrict (Ex): A soul kraken deals automatic arm or tentacle damage with a successful grapple check.
Soul Puppets (Su and Ex): As a move action, a soul kraken can insert the end of a tentacle or arm into the severed head of any Small or Medium animal, humanoid, or monstrous humanoid. The slender tendrils at the end of a soul kraken’s arms and tentacles wrap themselves around the facial skeleton and pierce the skull, partially fusing themselves to the creature’s brain. An attached head grants the soul kraken several abilities.
Dead Man’s Eyes (Su): The soul kraken gains the ability to use the head’s senses as if scrying through an arcane eye. If the head had any extraordinary sensory qualities (such as low-light vision, darkvision, scent, and so on), then that head retains those qualities.
For example, if a soul kraken attaches a fresh sahuagin head to the end of a tentacle, then it can see and hear through that head. Furthermore, when the soul kraken uses that head’s senses, the head retains the sahugain’s blindsense and darkvision but is also subject to the sahuagin’s light blindness.
Barring other factors, an attached head decays beyond the ability to transmit its senses one week after it is severed.
Dead Man’s Teeth (Ex): The soul kraken can physically work the head like a puppet. If the creature had a bite attack, then the soul kraken can make a bite attack with that arm or tentacle. A bite attack is always considered a secondary attack (taking a –5 penalty on the attack roll), and does not benefit from any feats that apply specifically to the soul kraken’s tentacle attacks (such as Improved Critical). Use the original creature’s base bite damage, plus half of the soul kraken’s Strength modifier. When used to make a bite attack, that specific tentacle gains an extra 5 feet of reach, since only the very tip of the tentacle needs to reach its target. The head loses all special attack forms (such as poison).
A soul kraken can alternate between making tentacle rake attacks or bite attacks as it chooses, but the same arm/tentacle cannot make both a bite and a rake attack in the same turn. However, a single tentacle can both constrict and bite a previously grappled foe in its clutches.
For example, if a soul kraken attaches a sahuagin’s head to the end of a tentacle, then it can make bite attacks with that tentacle as follows: Tentacle bite +13 melee (1d4+4), reach 55 ft.
A soul kraken can continue making bite attacks with its attached heads well after the head has been reduced to an algae-tinted skull, so it tends to keep old skulls attached until it can replace them with fresh heads.
Dead Man’s Tales (Su): Once it fuses with a brain, a soul kraken contacts the lingering imprint of the slain creature’s soul as a free action. This ability is similar to speak with dead (caster level 9th), except that the soul kraken only needs the head intact. The head gets a Will save to resist, as normal. On a failed save, a typical soul kraken can ask the head up to four questions (as per the spell), which usually pertain to the capabilities and/or hiding places of the corpse’s allies, and gains the ability to understand any language known by the dead creature for as long as the head remains relatively fresh (about a week).
Ink Cloud (Ex): A soul kraken can emit a cloud of jet-black ink in a 60-foot spread once per minute as a free action. The cloud provides total concealment, which the soul kraken normally uses to escape a fight that is going badly. Creatures within the cloud are considered to be in darkness.
Jet (Ex): A soul kraken can jet backward once per round as a full-round action, at a speed of 280 feet. It must move in a straight line, but does not provoke attacks of opportunity while jetting.
Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day—control weather, control winds, resist energy. Caster level 9th. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Skills: A soul kraken has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action of avoid a hazard. It can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action while swimming, provided it moves in a straight line.
This soul kraken gains a +2 synergy bonus on Survival checks made aboveground (including its aquatic environment), which has already been included in its statistics.
Elder Soul Kraken
Usually NE Gargantuan Magical Beast (Aquatic)
Initiative: +4 Speed: Swim 20 ft. (4 squares) Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Listen +30, Spot +30
Space/Reach: 20 ft./15 ft. (60 ft. with tentacle, 30 ft. with arm) Base Attack/Grapple: +20/+44 Attack: Tentacle +28 melee (2d8+12/19–20) Full Attack: 2 tentacles +28 melee (2d8+12/19–20) and 6 arms +23 melee (1d6+6) and bite +23 melee (4d6+6) Attack Options: Blind-Fight, Combat Expertise, Improved Trip Special Attacks: Head snatch, improved grab, constrict 2d8+12 or 1d6+6, soul puppets
Hit Dice: 20d10+180 Hit Points: 290 Armor Class: 20, touch 6, flat-footed 20 (–4 size, +14 natural) Saves: Fort +21, Ref +12, Will +13 Special Qualities: Ink cloud, jet, spell-like abilities Abilities: Str 34, Dex 10, Con 29, Int 21, Wis 20, Cha 20 Skills: Concentration +21, Hide +0, Search +28, Survival +5 (+7 to follow tracks, avoid getting lost, or avoid hazards), Swim +20, Use Magic Device +16 Knowledge: Geography +17, Nature +16 Social: Diplomacy +7, Intimidate +16, Sense Motive +17 Languages: Aquan, dead man’s tales (see text) Outcast Rating: 14 (+8 size, +3 appearance, +2 reputation, +1 unnatural powers) Feats: Alertness, Blind-Fight, Combat Expertise, Improved Critical (tentacle), Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Iron Will
Environment: Temperate and warm aquatic (Sea of Sorrows) Organization: Solitary Challenge Rating: 12 Treasure: Triple standard Advancement: 21–32 HD (Gargantuan); 33–60 HD (Colossal) Level Adjustment: —
These massive soul krakens are the eldest of their kind. Centuries old, they largely lurk in the deepest, coldest, darkest abysses of Ravenloft’s seas, seeking larger prey to feed their terrible hunger. Over the centuries, several “ghost ships” have been found drifting without their crews. Many superstitious old salts insist that these doomed crews met their strange fate when they were unlucky enough to be present on the rare occasion when an elder soul kraken returned to the surface.
Combat
This soul kraken has been advanced by 8 HD and has grown by one size category, making several of its attacks more effective.
Head Snatch (Ex): This advanced soul kraken can sever the heads of helpless creatures of up to Huge size.
Improved Grab (Ex): If this advanced soul kraken simply uses the part of its body it used in the improved grab to hold an opponent, it has a total +24 grapple modifier.
Soul Puppets (Su and Ex): If an elder soul kraken attaches a sahuagin’s head to the end of a tentacle, it uses the following statistics attacks with that tentacle’s bite attacks: Tentacle bite +23 melee (1d4+6), reach 65 ft.
Ink Cloud (Ex): This advanced soul kraken can emit a cloud of jet-black ink in an 80-foot spread.
Tactics Round-by-Round
A soul kraken attacks without warning, using its long reach to pull an initial round of sailors to their doom. If the remaining survivors hide out of sight, the soul kraken uses its soul puppets to hunt them down and say them all before turning the wreckage of their ship into a new lair.
Prior to Combat: The soul kraken uses control weather and control winds to drive an unlucky ship onto rocks or reefs, crippling it and possibly even punching holes in the hull. One round before it surfaces to attack, the soul kraken uses resist energy on itself, typically choosing to resist fire or electricity unless it sees that the crew is using a different energy type.
Round 1: The soul kraken surfaces adjacent to the ship, possibly grappling the ship itself with an arm. It uses its arms and tentacles to reach onto the upper decks and attack any visible crew, grappling as many as possible.
Round 2: The soul kraken constricts any creatures it has grappled, plucks them off the deck, and pulls them underwater to drown them. Any arms or tentacles that have not successfully grappled an opponent continue their attacks on deck. The soul kraken begins to bite the ship itself, gnawing through the wooden hull with its beak.
Round 3: The soul kraken continues to constrict opponents while holding them underwater. As soon as a victim reaches –1 hit points or otherwise becomes a helpless defender, the soul kraken uses its head snatch attack. If the remaining crew on board retreat below decks, the soul kraken uses any free arms or tentacles to blindly reach inside the ship and grope around for victims (treating hidden foes as if they were invisible). The soul kraken alternatively uses its bite to attack the ship or devour decapitated corpses, as appropriate.
Round 4: The soul kraken attaches freshly severed heads to its arms and tentacles, then immediately extends them into the ship to attack the remaining crew. The soul kraken uses its soul puppets to find and sense foes below decks, negating their total concealment.
Round 5: When the soul kraken has slaughtered the crew, replaced its rotted soul puppets with fresh heads, and eaten the headless bodies, it continues its attempts to smash the ship’s hull and drag it to the bottom.
Soul Kraken Lore
Characters with bardic knowledge or ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about soul krakens. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.
DC 19: This massive squid-like creature is a soul kraken, a distant relative of the true kraken easily distinguished by the skulls and rotting heads skewered onto the end of its tentacles. This result reveals all magical beast traits and the aquatic subtype.
DC 24: Soul krakens often attack during sudden storms. They can reach onboard a ship to snatch up sailors with their long tentacles, pulling them down into the water to drown or be devoured. Soul krakens devour both the flesh and the spirits of their victims. They sink ships to use as their lairs.
DC 29: If a soul kraken gets its clutches on a helpless sailor, it can rip the hapless victim’s head off with one violent motion. A soul kraken may retreat if its foes manage to sever several of its tentacles. A retreating soul kraken can propel itself through the water at high speeds and mask its escape with a cloud of black ink.
DC 34: Soul krakens are highly intelligent and can see, hear, and even speak through the rotting heads mounted on the tips of their tentacles. Beware a soul kraken with skulls on the end of its tentacles — the beast will want fresher replacements.
DC 39: It’s no coincidence that soul krakens attack during storms. They can control the winds and waves, often driving ships onto rocky shoals just before launching a sudden attack.[/code]
That's amazing stuff, Mr. Mangrum! Thanks a bundle for sharing! These stats, and the ghastly new aspects of the soul-kraken that they illustrate, will definitely have a place in the new netbook.
Quick, somebody snap this critter up, before I give in to temptation and hog the krakens all for myself!
Hmmm... a smaller kraken-breed, adapted to/altered by the evils of the Land, eh? That makes me wonder if the soul-krakens are restricted to the Sea of Sorrows -- Ravenloft's oldest sea, where there's been plenty of time for them to mutate -- whereas the standard MM kind are typical of the younger, larger Nocturnal Sea. (We know there are standard krakens in the NS, because Meredoth killed one to create the Horror from QtR9.) The monster-list for Mordent could be given an update in the Sea of Sorrows Survey, to reflect this revision.
Stocking each of Ravenloft's seas -- SoS and NS in the Core, Saragoss in the Verdurous Lands, Poison Sea (and Great Mirror Lake?) in Rokushima Taiyoo, and the Murky Sea in Souragne, for the record -- with a slightly different slate of monsters seems like a good plan. After all, each of Ravenloft's terrestrial domains has that, and it adds to the lands' flavor immensely! Saragoss's sea life is documented in Islands of Terror, the Nocturnal Sea monster-lists are pretty well set, and the Poison Sea will obviously have undead and other poison-immune critters, but beyond that, we'll have a lot of leeway to make each body of water unique.
"Who [u]cares[/u] what the Dark Powers are? They're [i]bastards![/i] That's all I need to know of them." -- Crow
Certainly, whatever helpful advice you have to offer would be really valuable to everyone. 
