A Pair of Ragged Claws: Monstrous Crabs

Giant crabs have a surprisingly long history in Dungeons & Dragons, with the obvious inspiration being the giant crab from the 1961 movie Mysterious Island, which featured several of Roy Harryhausen’s stop motion animation monsters. Information on giant crabs is scattered throughout OD&D. They are first mentioned in the Underworld and Wilderness Adventures (1974) on page 11, appear on the “Swimmer Types” table on page 19, and have a brief entry on page 35, where they are described as having AC 2, Mv 6, 3 HD, and 2 attacks. Greyhawk (1975) lists their pincers as doing 2d6 each. The Blackmoor supplement (1975) provides some interesting details that aren’t picked up again:

[Giant crabs] mainly raid the underwater farms of the mermen who consider them a nuisance since the mermen can easily grapple with them and pull them off of their feet, underwater, thereby rendering them helpless. Only during the Spring do these armored giants voluntarily leave the water, and then in tremendous numbers, for mating and egg-laying. Anything found in their path is immediately attacked and torn apart. Fortunately, they rarely go inland more than a mile, and usually frequent the same hatching grounds from year to year (15).

Although giant crabs do not get a formal monster entry in the J. Eric Holmes Basic Set (1977), they are mentioned in the Sample Dungeon, where they have AC 3 and 2 HD (page 43). Giant crabs appear in the 1st edition Monster Manual (1977) with AC 3, 3 HD, and 2 pincer attacks doing 2d4 damage each. The Moldvay/Cook D&D Expert Set (1981) lists them as AC 2, 3 HD, with 2 pincers doing 2d6 each. The 2e Monstrous Compendium Volume Two (1989) follows the 1e version very closely.

Giant crabs did not make it into 3rd edition until the Stormwrack (2005) supplement, though the Tome of Horrors included a conversion of the giant crab. I think the best version, though, appeared in Green Ronin’s Creatures of Freeport, which treated the monstrous crab much like other vermin in 3e, appearing in different size classes. Giant crabs are core monsters in both Pathfinder and 5e.

Given the prevalence of giant crabs in D&D, it was nice to finally get some miniatures of them in the Reaper Bones 4 “Dire Consequences” set. I originally thought this was going to be a very quick paint, but there are some nice details that were worth taking the time to hit, like the barnacles on its back and claws. This figure could be mounted on either a Medium or Large base, and I opted for the latter.

Green monstrous crabs can be found in the marshy estuaries of the Great Gobbo River, and have been known to use some of the smaller islands off the coast for hatching grounds. These creatures rarely exceed 5 feet in diameter. Giant crabs of enormous size and bright red shells have been reported to inhabit the Terrarium demiplane.

The following text is Open Game Content.

Crab, Monstrous

This sea creature, its body covered with a leathery carapace, scuttles about on eight legs and snaps at you with two large pincers.

Always Hungry. Monstrous crabs are omnivores and spend most of their time combing the ocean floors for food. Still others prefer to dwell in coastal waters and prey upon land-based creatures that wander too close to the shoreline. Monstrous crabs are often hunted as food by other races (particularly humans and sahuagin).

Near Water of Any Sort. Crabs can hide by digging themselves into sand and other soft ground astonishingly quickly, leaving only the thickest part of their carapace vulnerable.

Claws that Snatch. A monstrous crab will fight if cornered or hungry, using its pincers to rip and tear its opponents. When hunting land-based prey it often scoops the prey up in its pincers and heads for deep water where it submerges and attempts to drown its grappled prey.

Special Abilities

All monstrous crabs have the following special abilities.

Constrict (Ex): On a successful grapple check, a monstrous crab deals bludgeoning damage in addition to its normal attack damage.

Improved Grab (Ex): When a monstrous crab makes a successful claw attack, it deals normal damage and can attempt to start a grapple; this is a free action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. No initial touch attack is required.

Skills: Ferocious hunters, monstrous crabs have a +4 racial bonus on Spot and Hide checks and a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks. A monstrous crab has 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.

Medium Monstrous Crab CR 1

Always N Medium vermin (aquatic)

Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 60 ft.; Listen +0, Spot +4

Defense

AC 15, touch 10, flat-footed 15
(+5 natural)

hp 13 (2d8+4 HD)

Fort +5, Ref +0, Will +0

Immune vermin traits

Offense

Spd 30 ft., swim 20 ft.

Melee 2 claws +2 (1d6+1)

Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.

Special Attacks constrict 1d4+1, improved grab

Statistics

Str 13, Dex 10, Con 14, Int –, Wis 10, Cha 2

Base Atk +1; Grp +2

Skills Climb +9, Hide +4, Spot +4, Swim +9

Ecology

Environment any aquatic

Organization solitary or swarm (2–12)

Treasure none

Advancement 3–4 HD (Medium)

Large Monstrous Crab CR 3

Always N Large vermin (aquatic)

Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 60 ft.; Listen +0, Spot +4

Defense

AC 16, touch 9, flat-footed 16
(+7 natural, -1 size)

hp 32 (5d8+10 HD)

Fort +6, Ref +1, Will +1

Immune vermin traits

Offense

Spd 40 ft., swim 30 ft.

Melee 2 claws +6 (1d8+4)

Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.

Special Attacks constrict 1d6+4, improved grab

Statistics

Str 19, Dex 10, Con 14, Int –, Wis 10, Cha 2

Base Atk +3; Grp +11

Skills Climb +12, Hide +0, Spot +4, Swim +12

Ecology

Environment any aquatic

Organization solitary or swarm (2–6)

Treasure none

Advancement 6–9 HD (Large)

Huge Monstrous Crab CR 6

Always N Huge vermin (aquatic)

Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 60 ft.; Listen +0, Spot +4

Defense

AC 20, touch 9, flat-footed 16
(+12 natural, -2 size)

hp 75 (10d8+30 HD)

Fort +10, Ref +3, Will +3

Immune vermin traits

Offense

Spd 40 ft., swim 30 ft.

Melee 2 claws +11 (2d6+6)

Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft.

Special Attacks constrict 1d8+6, improved grab

Statistics

Str 23, Dex 10, Con 16, Int –, Wis 10, Cha 2

Base Atk +7; Grp +21

Skills Climb +14, Hide -4, Spot +4, Swim +14

Ecology

Environment any aquatic

Organization solitary or group (2–3)

Treasure none

Advancement 11–20 HD (Huge)

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