OSE Encounter Activities - Sea Serpent (Lesser)

Another critter that doesn’t seem to have survived the transition to BECMI from B/X: The Lesser Sea Serpent.

For me, there’s more than a little cognitive overlap between these and Sea Dragons (although the Serpents don’t have Breath, Gliding, or Spells by default), but I’m more inclined to populate the waves with Sea Serpentsrather then their Draconic counterparts (I’ve already professed my love for Dragon Turtles, and they really handle that “Aquatic Dragon” niche nicely). I suppose the Sea Dragon could make for a nice change of pace to break with player expectations.

I tend to vary my Sea Serpents greatly in appearance and tactics, but the basic Stat Block is serviceable for most. Giving them an unexpected feature (horns, a sting, electricity, etc) can make for a nice surprise occasionally. It might even be fun to have their coils contain some kind of valuable or special substance and have them hunted by foolhardy Serpenteers. Perhaps this is where all that Dungeon Lantern Lamp Oil comes from?

Of course, the tantalizing implication is that since this is only the Lesser, something even more menacing might be waiting for your Players ‘neath the foreboding foam 😊.