Malboros are aberrant plant creatures that look like big toothy mouths connected to hundreds of squirming tentacles. They are scavengers and are capable of eating almost anything, though their preference is rotting carrion and decaying plants. Adventurers tend to avoid areas where malboros have been sighted because their bad breath can incapacitate even the hardiest of individuals long enough for their rows of sharp teeth to finish the job.
Malboros frequent forests, savannah, swamps, and some cavernous ecosystems where there are plenty of animals and plants to be found. A small number of large cities have had reported sightings of malboros in their sewers. The color of a malboro changes accordingly to its habitat.
Malboro
Level 12 Brute
Huge aberrant plant
XP 700
Initiative +6
Senses: Perception +13; blindsight 10
HP 151; Bloodied 75
AC 24; Fortitude 25, Reflex 20, Will 22
Immune disease; Resist 30 poison
Speed 4
Big Bite (melee; standard; at-will)
+15 vs. AC; 3d6 + 5 damage, and a target of Small or smaller size is swallowed whole until the start of the malboro’s next turn. A target that starts its turn while swallowed takes 10 earth damage. A target that makes an attack against the malboro (automatic hit if attack vs. AC or Reflex) while swallowed whole and deals at least 5 points of damage is immediately released onto a space adjacent to the malboro.
Tentacle Grab (melee; standard; at-will)
+9 vs. Reflex; Target is grabbed.
Gagging Breath (special; standard; encounter) ✦ Poison
Close Blast 3; +14 vs. Fortitude; 4d8 + 5 poison damage, and the target is dazed until the end of the malboro’s next turn.
Bad Breath (special; standard; encounter)
Close Blast 3; +14 vs. Fortitude; The target is dazed, slowed, and weakened (save ends all three).
Alignment: Evil
Languages: —
Skills: Perception +13
Str 17 (+9) Dex 10 (+6) Wis 14 (+8)
Con 21 (+11) Int 2 (+2) Cha 11 (+6)
Malboro Lore
A character knows the following information with a successful Dungeoneering or Nature check.
- DC 15: The malboros’ dietary habits are hypothesized by researchers to be the source of their most potent natural weapon: their putrid breath attack, which has a debilitating effect on animals and a wilting effect on all sorts of plant life.
A character knows the following information with a successful Dungeoneering check.
- DC 15: The malboro is territorial and attacks any possible threats to its brood. If a malboro kills another creature, it usually swallows the creature’s body whole and then regurgitates it. The malboro’s digestive juices and natural decay cause the body’s meat to spoil and break down. The malboro feeds on the body after a few days of “ripening”.
Malboros reproduce asexually by vomiting a larval version of themselves once a year. In battle they start by using their putrid breath weapon, then they attempt to grab breath-affected enemies with their tentacles so that they can pull their immobilized victims to their salivating mouths. - DC 20: Malboros can live for centuries. As malboros mature, they get stronger and they develop a fleshy hump on the top of their “heads”, and they use their digestive juices to soften and refine metal ores to fashion “crowns” that they wear on their heads. These ancient malboros are referred to as “malboro kings” and “malboro overkings”. It is said that the size of a malboro’s hump and its “crown” is proportional to how old and how powerful it is.
- DC 25: Rumors persist of giant malboros in remote locations in the wilderness, eating anything and everything that gets in their way. These rumors are true, and a few brave adventuring organizations have made it their sworn duty to find and destroy these monstrosities, for it has been observed by a few hunters that malboros that are larger than normal give birth to larvae that are also larger than normal. Should a group of giant malboros emerge to attack a village, town, or city, many lives would surely be lost.