Lusca (Image from http://pirates.hegewisch.net/Nautical_Myths.html)
“Perhaps I should have reported my find, yet its nature was too ambiguous to make action natural. Since it had been partly eaten by some ocean-dwelling monstrousness, I did not think it identifiable enough to form evidence of an unknown but possible tragedy.”
H.P. LOVECRAFT, “THE NIGHT OCEAN”.
Lusca (Image from http://pirates.hegewisch.net/Nautical_Myths.html)
The lusca resembles a cross between a great white shark and a giant octopus, with a sharklike head, thick scales and eight long tentacles trailing behind. Its jaws are filled with many rows of razor sharp teeth. Most luscas are between 30 and 45 feet long with their tentacles fully extended, however a few are said to grow over twice that in length.
Luscas can quickly change coloration to blend in with their surroundings, like some smaller cephalopods. Despite the size, its flexible body is able to squeeze into tight spaces such as beneath reefs and inside undersea caves. It uses these natural abilities to conceal itself in order to ambush unsuspecting prey.
A lusca is capable of leaving the water and traveling on shore for short distances. Although awkward moving over dry land, it is an agile swimmer, gracefully propelling itself with jets of water from its gill slits through a siphon on its side.
In combat, the lusca can either grasp an opponent with 1D4 of its suckered tentacles or bite with its powerful jaws. It can also squirt a cloud of dark ink while swimming underwater as a defense against attackers.
A remarkably adaptable and intelligent species, luscas are sometimes found in the company of deep ones or other denizens of the ocean’s depths. One or more of these creatures are reported to inhabit the waters of the Caribbean, lurking around the blue holes off Andros Island in the Bahamas.
LUSCA, Horrors of the Caribbean
STR 6D6 21
CON 2D6+6 13
SIZ 6D6 21
INT 2D6+6 13
POW 3D6 10-11
DEX 2D6+12 19
Move 4/12 swimming HP 17
Av. Damage Bonus: +2D6.
Weapons: 1D4 Tentacles 45%, damage 1D6 + db each.
Bite 50%, damage 2D6 + db.
Armor: 4-point scales and rubbery hide.
Spells: every lusca has a chance equal to INT or less on D100 to know 1D3 spells. Spells typical to these creatures are those dealing with the ocean, such as Attract Fish and Contact Deep One.
Skills: Hide 80%, Sneak 60%, Squirt Ink (Dodge) 40%.
Sanity Loss: 0/1D8 to Sanity points to see a lusca.
