Ocularon

The ocularon is a paranoid, bizarre creature that steals the sight of its foes. After claiming a territory as its own, it drives all the other denizens out, no matter how small. Its territory might only encompass a few rooms in an abandoned keep, but to the ocularon, this area is its sacred stomping ground.

An ocularon’s body appears much like a sickly green floating man-of-war jellyfish. It pulses and ripples due to the tremendous amount of gas carried within it; sometimes a pocket of the gas just under the creature’s skin develops a leak, causing the gas to whistle as it slowly escapes. Dangling from the floating body are a number of barbed tendrils, upon which are skewered the eyes of the ocularon’s former prey.

An ocularon can animate eyeballs it has captured and send them out to keep tabs on its territory. Those who venture near an ocularon lair may first become aware of that fact when they spot one of these floating eyeballs. By that time, the ocularon has probably spotted the intruders as well, and it immediately takes steps to attack, either to kill them or drive them away.

Ocularons speak Common and Undercommon.

Combat

An ocularon usually begins an encounter at a great distance by sending animated eyeballs at its opponents. The eyes race toward the creature’s foes and attempt to strike them, releasing a cloud of the foul gas carried within the ocularon. If it begins to run low on eyes, it steals more from its prey, grabbing opponents and ripping their eyes out with its barbed tendrils.

Animate Eyeballs (Su): An ocularon can control up to six captured eyeballs at one time, as if they were levitating eyes like those created by a prying eyes spell. These eyes are filled with the ocularon’s toxic gas while skewered on the creature’s barbed tendrils, and the ocularon can also use them as weapons. It can make a ranged touch attack against any opponent within 80 feet. Success indicates the eye impacts on the victim and explodes. Such characters take 3d6 points of damage and are exposed to the ocularon’s poison.

Death Throes (Ex): When killed, an ocularon explodes in a cloud of toxic gas that deals 3d6 points of damage to everything within 20 feet and exposes those victims to its poison (see below).

Improved Grab (Ex): If an ocularon hits an opponent that is at least one size category smaller than itself with a tendril attack, it deals normal damage and attempts to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity (grapple bonus +17). If it gets a hold, it can attempt to remove the opponent’s eyes on the following round. Thereafter, the ocularon has the option to conduct the grapple normally, or simply use its tendril to hold the opponent (−20 penalty on grapple check, but the ocularon is not considered grappled). In either case, each successful grapple check it makes during successive rounds automatically deals tendril damage.

Poison (Ex): An ocularon delivers its poison (Fort DC 19 negates) on each successful attack with an arcane eye or in its death throes.Initial and secondary damage are the same (1d4 Str plus 1d4 Con).

Spell-Like Abilities: At will⁠—​arcane eye*; 3/day⁠—​darkness, invisibility, passwall, true seeing*. Caster level 12th; save DC 13 + spell level.

• The ocularon can only use its arcane eye and true seeing spell-like abilities if it has eyes on its tendrils available to be used as arcane eyes.

Steal Eyes (Ex): Once an opponent has been grappled for 1 round, an ocularon can attempt to forcibly remove its eyes. It must make an opposed grapple check to do so. If it is successful, the victim must make a Fortitude save (DC 20) or be permanently blinded, its eyeballs removed from its sockets. The eyeballs are now impaled on the ocularon’s barbed tendrils and will fill with gas in 3 rounds, ready to be used as weapons.

All-Around Vision (Ex): An ocularon can see in all directions at once. Because of this, it has a +4 racial bonus on Search and Spot checks, and it cannot be flanked. An ocularon only benefits from this ability when it has eyes attached to its tendrils.

Regeneration (Ex): An ocularon takes normal damage from silver and keen weapons. See Regeneration.

Source: Fiend Folio, page 132. Changes applied as per the D&D^® v.3.5 Accessory Update.