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The Mother Shell

Adversaries Designed by Alan Valles

Adversary overview

A colossally mutated purple translusent snail driven by an overwhelming mutated biological drive to consume all that is warm to incubate her nest

The Mother Shell is the colossally mutated heart of the Hearthmere plague. She is not a naturally aggressive predator, but a creature driven by an overwhelming, mutated biological drive: she has been drawn to the deep cave by the “evolutionary radiation” leaking from a petrified fragment of an ancient, First Cataclismo titan. Clamping herself directly over this source of power, she uses its warm, oozing purple icor to incubate her nest. Her threat to the town is existential; if left unchecked, her hyper-accelerated desove (spawning) will flood the river system and bury Hearthmere under a suffocating marea of unstoppable, flesh-eating moluscos.

Stat block

Tier
1
Type
Leader
Difficulty
14
HP
7
Stress
4
Attack mod
+2
Damage thresholds
Minor Damage — Mark 1 HP Minor
Mark 1 HP
12
Major Damage — Mark 2 HP Major
Mark 2 HP
16
Severe Damage — Mark 3 HP Severe
Mark 3 HP

Standard attack

Translucent Tentacle Whip
Range: Close
Damage: 1d8+5
Attack Mod: +2
Damage Type: Physical

Features

Passives

  • Call of the Nest

    When the Mother Shell is at Half of his HP it start to emits a rhythmic, whistling hiss through her exposed gills. Two Armored Snails (or a swarm of mutated crabs/slugs) drop from the cave ceiling or emerge from the black water to defend her, immediately joining the spotlight.

Actions

  • Corrosive Slime Vomit
    stress 2

    The Mother Shell expels a tide of dark violet fluid in a cone in within Far range in front of her. All characters in the area must make a Agility Reaction roll (14) or take 2d8 + 2 physical damage and lose one armor score.

Reactions

  • Momentum

    When this adversary makes a successful attack against a PC, you gain a Fear.

Motives & tactics

Desire Warmth Incubate Nest Absorb Icor

Experiences

  • Abyssal Growth +2

The Mother Shell

Tier 1 leader

A colossally mutated purple translusent snail driven by an overwhelming mutated biological drive to consume all that is warm to incubate her nest

Motives & Tactics: Desire Warmth, Incubate Nest, Absorb Icor

Difficulty: 14 | Thresholds: 12/16 | HP: 7 | Stress: 4

ATK: +2 | Translucent Tentacle Whip: Close | 1d8+5 Physical

Experience: Abyssal Growth +2

HP:

STRESS:

Features

Call of the Nest - Passive: When the Mother Shell is at Half of his HP it start to emits a rhythmic, whistling hiss through her exposed gills. Two Armored Snails (or a swarm of mutated crabs/slugs) drop from the cave ceiling or emerge from the black water to defend her, immediately joining the spotlight.
Momentum - Reaction: When this adversary makes a successful attack against a PC, you gain a Fear.
Corrosive Slime Vomit - Action: The Mother Shell expels a tide of dark violet fluid in a cone in within Far range in front of her. All characters in the area must make a Agility Reaction roll (14) or take 2d8 + 2 physical damage and lose one armor score.

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