Val CHA Cost Roll Notes 30 STR 20 15- Lift 1600 kg; 6d6 HTH Damage [3] 18 DEX 24 13- OCV: 6/DCV: 6 20 CON 20 13- 23 BODY 26 14- 5 INT -5 10- PER Roll 12-/14- 5 EGO -10 10- ECV: 2 20 PRE 10 13- PRE Attack: 4d6 10 COM 0 11- 10 PD 4 Total: 10 PD (2 rPD) 6 ED 2 Total: 6 ED (2 rED) 3 SPD 2 Phases: 4, 8, 12 12 REC 4 40 END 0 50 STUN 2 Total Characteristic Cost: 99 Movement: Running: 0" Leaping: 0" Swimming: 4"/8" Cost Powers & Skills 15 Beak: HKA 1d6 (2d6 w/STR), END 1 20 Soft Body: Physical Damage Reduction, Resistant, 50%; Only Versus Guns And Most Other Ranged Attacks (-1/2) 2 Tough Hide: Damage Resistance (2 PD/2 ED) 12 Heavy: Knockback Resistance -6" 3 Aquatic: Life Support (Safe in High Pressure; Safe in Intense Cold) -12 Only Swims: Running -6" 2 Aquatic: Swimming +2" (4" total), END 1 4 Aquatic: Swimming 6"; Straight Line Movement Only (-1/2), END 1 10 Tentacles: Clinging (normal STR) 6 Sharp Senses: +2 PER with all Sense Groups 4 Sharp Eyesight: +2 PER with Sight Group 3 Sharp Eyesight: +2 versus Range Modifier for Sight Group 6 Tentacles: Extra Limbs (10), Inherent (+1/4) 34 Tentacles: Stretching 8", Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2); Limited Body Parts (-1/4), No Noncombat Stretching (-1/4), No Velocity Damage (-1/4) Skills 8 +4 OCV with Grab 5 Stealth 14- Total Powers & Skill Cost: 122 Total Cost: 221 75+ Disadvantages 15 Hunted: Sperm Whales 8- (Mo Pow, Harshly Punish) 15 Physical Limitation: Animal Intelligence (Frequently, Greatly Impairing) 10 Physical Limitation: Enormous, up to four times human size (Frequently, Slightly Impairing) 5 Physical Limitation: Reduced Leap, cannot leap (Infrequently, Slightly Impairing) 15 Physical Limitation: Very Limited Manipulation (Frequently, Greatly Impairing) 86 Experience Points Total Disadvantage Points: 221
Ecology: Giant Squid seem to live at depths of about 1,000-6,000 feet, although this is not certain. It is known that they avoid the surface -- unless sick or dying -- although some giant squid have been washed ashore after great storms. Three of the more common places to find giant squid are Newfoundland, New Zealand, and Norway.
Giant squid prey on fish, small sharks, skates, shell fish and other squids. It is not know how they hunt, how long they live (some estimates put this at 3-5 years) or how they breed. No one has ever seen a living giant squid in the wild (when this character sheet was written, see below for more).
It is unknown how large the giant squid can get -- lengths of 100 feet or more have been ascribed to it. It is also said to be capable of pulling ships to the bottom. The Norwegians believed in the Kraken, a squid reported as being over a mile in circumference.
Personality/Motivation: Typical animal motivations.
Powers/Tactics: As giant squid are neutrally buoyant, it is presumed that they float motionless in the water and wait for prey to blunder into their long tentacles (at which point prey is dragged to the beak). They may hunt near the surface, and there have been a few cases of giant squid attacking boats (usually after being prodded by occupants in the boat). At least one report states that two men were snatched from the side of a becalmed ship in the Indian Ocean, while another states that a giant squid grabbed a man off of a floating bit of wreckage during World War II. If injured the squid will jet away quickly, and unlike its smaller relatives, the giant squid's ink sacks are very small and don't produce clouds of ink equal to its size.
Appearance: The giant squid is the largest living invertebrate (and possibly the largest ever). The largest squid ever recorded weighed about 1,900 pounds (or more) with a mantle length of 10 feet and tentacles that were upwards of 45 feet long. The longest known giant squid was a full 57 feet long from the end of the mantle to the tips of the longest tentacles. Giant squids are a reddish or purplish color, with a thick mantle and two large eyes that can be up to 10" across. They have 8 short tentacles and two long whip-like tentacles. The suckers lining these tentacles are equipped with numerous small hooks and are can be up to 1 inch across.
Designer's Notes: The giant squid is the largest known animal that no one have ever seen in the wild. It is only known by dredged up specimens and bodies that have washed ashore.
Edit I: Although the giant squid is the longest invertebrate, there is a larger and heavier one -- the colossal squid. Estimated to reach lengths of 46 feet, the largest known specimen is 33 feet long and weighs 1,091 pounds.
Edit II: On September 30, 2004, researchers from the National Science Museum of Japan and the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association took the first images of a live giant squid in its natural habitat. Several of the 556 photographs were released a year later. The same team successfully filmed a live giant squid for the first time on December 4, 2006.
Recommended Reading:
Ellis, Richard. Monsters of the Deep, The Search for the Giant Squid
Giant Squid Hero Designer File
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