That's ONLY CR 9??? Let's Read: The Monster Manual II

[LOTRfan]

Cloud Ray

Cloud Rays! I do not know why, but all fiction seems to love the idea of flying sea creatures. I guess it might be because sea creatures already move in three dimensions, and so it is easier to imagine them doing so, but it still seems weird. For you KotOR fans out there, this creature seems superficially similar to the Brith of Dantooine.

Anyway, Cloud Rays are described as majestic creatures that soar through the air. They don't actually fly, though, instead propelling themselves forward as they magically levitate. It resembles a (you guessed it) colossal flying manta ray. Its tail, called a zip, is covered in spikes, and its wings have thick muscle tissue.

With the exception of dragons, it has no natural predators. They eat Rocs, hippogriffs, griffons, and all sorts of large air creatures. Oddly, sometimes they land on the ground to consume human settlements. This seems like a rather ham-fisted way of shoehorning them into possible adventure hooks. Why on earth would this creature make itself more vulnerable by landing? Its not even like it can move once landed....

This creature swallows its natural prey whole, which makes sense for a manta-ray like creature. It also has a pretty cool ability to deactivate its levitation at will, allowing it to descend 500 ft. freely per round. Now I can see how human hunting could be a viable option; crush 'em, eat 'em, and levitate back in the air in the same round. The tactic would take a while, though...

It also has a supernatural ability that functions like a permanent protection from arrows spell, which could be helpful.

Challenge Rating: Currently, it is listed as a 16. This could be reasonable, seeing how it has 30 HD and relatively minor abilities. It comes out to be CR 22. It should be noted, however, that this probably is not correct. Tribble's calculator does start to break down when a lot of hit points are involved; according to the calculator, the Tarrasque is CR 30 based o its hp total alone. This shows that even the best system has its flaws... still, if you want to play it on the safe side, call it CR 18.

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435 divided by 7 (30 HD): 62,1 (about 62)
Armor Class: 8 (-0)
Special Attacks: Swallow whole (+1)
Special Qualities: darkvision 60 ft, levitation, low-light vision, protection from arrows, telekinesis (+3)
Bonus Feats: It actually requires many more feats than it has (+0)
66 divided by 3: 22
End Result: CR 22 monster