Have you ever dumped your PCs into a pit and thought, "Hmm, that was just not brutal enough. What could I put in that pit to make my players scream in terror?"

 

Piranha Swarm Tiny Animal (Aquatic, Swarm) Hit Dice: 5d8+8 (30 hp) Initiative: +2 Speed: Swim 40 ft. (8 squares) Armor Class: 15 (+2 Dex , +3 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 13 Base Attack/Grapple: +3/- Attack: Swarm (2d6) Full Attack: Swarm (2d6) Space/Reach: 10 ft./0 ft. Special Attacks: Distraction, superior swarm Special Qualities: Feeding frenzy, swarm traits, tremorsense Saves: Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +0 Abilities: Str 2, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 2, Wis 8, Cha 2 Skills: Hide +4, Jump +4, Move Silently +4, Swim +4 Feats: Improved Initiative, Toughness Environment: Warm aquatic Organization: Solitary or school (2-8) Challenge Rating: 3 Treasure: None Alignment: Always neutral Advancement: - A school of silver fish, each with a wide mouth filled with sharp teeth. Piranha are a razor-toothed carnivorous fish that are fierce enough individually. When they gather in large groups, however, they can devour an adventurer in seconds. The fish are a common danger in tropical rivers, where schools feed on other fish or land animals that fall into the water, but adventurers more commonly encounter them as part of a death trap of some sort. They are often added to moats, pit traps, or underground rivers as a cheap and deadly method of keeping out unwanted intruders. An individual piranha is no more than two feet long at the most, but swarms can cover a much larger area. Combat Piranha will attack living creatures that they encounter, but will become particularly aggressive if they smell the blood of an injured creature. They have been known to even leap out of the water to attack a creature standing to near the surface of a river. Feeding Frenzy (Ex):Whenever a living creature is injured within the tremorsense range of a piranha swarm (including a creature injured by the swarm itself), the swarm automatically enters a feeding frenzy on its next turn as a free action. A swarm in a feeding frenzy inflicts 1d6 additional damage with its swarm attacks and is immune to mind-affecting spells and effects. The frenzy continues as long as the swarm can sense any other living creature within their tremorsense range, and for an additional 2d4 rounds afterwards. If a creature enters their tremorsense range before the frenzy expires, it continues as if uninterrupted. When in a feeding frenzy, piranha might even attack other fish within the same swarm! Whenever a piranha swarm in a feeding frenzy takes damage from a slashing or piercing source (other than its itself), the swarm must make a Will saving throw (DC 10) at the start of its next turn. If it fails, the swarm suffers 1d6 points of additional damage as the fish devour one or more of their own. Distraction (Ex): Any living creature that begins its turn with a piranha swarm in its space must succeed on a DC 13 Fortitude save or be nauseated for 1 round. The save DC is Constitution-based. Even with a successful save, spellcasting or concentrating on spells within the area of the swarm requires a Concentration check (DC 20 + the spell level). Superior Swarm (Ex): With their hundreds of needle-like teeth, a swarm of piranha is exceptionally deadly and deals more swarm damage than their Hit Dice would otherwise indicate. Swarm Traits: A swarm has no clear front or back and no discernable anatomy, so it is not subject to critical hits or flanking. As a swarm made up of Tiny creatures, a piranha swarm takes half damage from slashing and piercing weapons. Reducing a swarm to 0 hit points or fewer causes the swarm to break up, though damage taken until that point does not degrade its ability to attack or resist attack. Swarms are never staggered or reduced to a dying state by damage. Also, they cannot be tripped, grappled, or bull rushed, and they cannot grapple another. A swarm is immune to any spell or effect that targets a specific number of creatures (including single-target spells such as disintegrate), with the exception of mind-affecting effects if the swarm has an intelligence score and a hive mind. A swarm takes a -10 penalty on saving throws against spells or effects that affect an area, such as many evocation spells or grenadelike weapons. If the area effect attack does not allow a saving throw, the swarm takes double damage instead. A swarm rendered unconscious by means of subdual damage becomes disorganized and dispersed, and does not re-form until its hit points exceed its subdual damage. Tremorsense (Ex): Piranha have such an acute sense of smell within the water that they can notice creatures that move through the water. Piranha swarms can locate creatures within 60 feet using tremorsense. Opponents still have total concealment against the piranha swarm (though swarm attacks ignore concealment). Skills: The piranha swarm gains a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or 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 swims in a straight line.

 

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