Bog Strider

Bog Strider Creature2

Uncommon N Medium Aberration

Senses Perception +8; darkvision, wavesense 120 feet

Languages Aquan; Seshes can communicate with other bog striders via wavesense by tapping at a water surface they’re standing upon. Other creatures with wavesense can detect these tappings, but understanding them is typically beyond non-seshes. A GM might allow a character who has wavesense, can speak Aquan, and spends a significant amount of time living among bog striders to understand tremor tapping or to communicate via this unusual method.

Skills Athletics +8 (+10 to Leap while Water Striding or Swimming), Stealth +8, Survival +8

Str +2, Dex +4, Con +2, Int +0, Wis +2, Cha +0

Items net, spear

Deep Breath A bog strider can hold their breath for 2 hours.

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AC 18; Fort +8, Ref +10, Will +8

HP 30

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Speed 25 feet, swim 20 feet

Melee [one-action] spear +8, Damage 1d6+4 piercing

Melee [one-action] mandibles +8 (agile), Damage 1d6+4 piercing

Ranged [one-action] spear +10 (thrown 20 feet), Damage 1d6+3 piercing

Hurl Net [one-action] Requirements The bog strider is holding a net in two hands; Effect The bog strider hurls their net to hamper a foe. They make a ranged Strike (with a +10 modifier) against a Medium or smaller creature within 20 feet. On a hit, the target is flat-footed and takes a -10-foot circumstance penalty to its Speeds. On a critical hit, the creature is instead restrained. The DC to Escape the net is 16. A creature adjacent to the target can Interact with the net to remove it from the target.

Water Sprint [three-actions] The bog strider Strides up to three times in a straight line across smooth water. They can make a single Strike against a creature at the end of this movement.

Water Stride The bog strider can stand and move on the surface of water or other liquids without falling through. The bog strider can go underwater if they wish, but they must Swim to do so.

About

The insectile bog striders call themselves seshes, but they take no offense at those who use the more common vernacular to refer to them. They resemble upright water striders with four legs, two arms, and powerful mandibles. Bog striders can move about on water like solid ground, chasing down prey or fleeing from predators across the water. They rarely leave the swampy rivers and lakes they call home. Bog striders stand 5 feet tall and weigh approximately 150 pounds.

A bog strider’s diet consists almost entirely of meat, but they prefer to feed only on animals, as they consider the consumption of the flesh of any sapient creature a taboo.

In sesh society, each individual is expected to serve equally in all efforts to ensure the society’s survival against the more aggressive creatures often found in or near their swampland homes. In addition, each member of the community is expected to develop a skill that contributes to the community’s prosperity, and by extension, the continued survival of the species. Traditionally, female bog striders are builders and artisans while males are hunters and gatherers, but often such roles aren’t limited to a single gender, as every member of a small community pitches in to help as they can.