Mooncalf

Mooncalves are otherworldly monstrosities that, according to rumor, flew down to earth from the dark side of the moon. When these creatures “come to ground,” they never venture farther down than mountaintops, the tips of tall hills, and other high, lonely, desolate places.

A mooncalf combines the body of an immense cephalopod with the wings of a bat. It has six short tentacle-arms that it uses for close combat and two long tentacles that it uses to attack at a distance because of their 30-foot reach. The creature’s beaklike mouth is located where the tentacles meet.

Mooncalves do not speak, but they can communicate telepathically with any other creature within a 100-foot radius that has a language.

Combat

Mooncalves prefer to fly high above their targets, striking at foes from a distance with their spell-like abilities. In melee, they may grab and crush opponents with their tentacles, or drag foes into their slavering beaks, or command the elements to electrocute an enemy.

An opponent can attack a mooncalf’s tentacles as if they were weapons⁠—​see Sunder. A mooncalf’s tentacles have 20 hit points. If the mooncalf is currently grappling a target with that tentacle, it usually uses another limb to make its attack of opportunity against the sunder attempt. Severing a mooncalf’s tentacles deals damage to the creature equal to half the limb’s hit points. A mooncalf regrows severed limbs in 1d10+10 days.

Bite (Ex): With each successful grapple check, a mooncalf automatically hits a grabbed opponent with its bite attack, dealing 2d8+6 points of slashing damage.

Improved Grab (Ex): If a mooncalf hits an opponent that is its own size or smaller with a tentacle rake attack, it deals normal damage and attempts to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity (grapple bonus +23). If it gets a hold, it automatically hits with its bite attack on the same round. Thereafter, the mooncalf has the option to conduct the grapple normally, or simply use its tentacle to hold the opponent (–⁠20 penalty on grapple check, but the mooncalf is not considered grappled). In either case, each successful grapple check it makes during successive rounds automatically deals tentacle rake and bite damage.

Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day⁠—​call lightning, control weather, control winds, dominate animal, greater magic fang, protection from energy, quench, resist energy. Caster level 9th; save DC 10 + spell level.

Keen Senses (Ex): A mooncalf sees four times as well a human in low-light conditions and twice as well in normal light. It also has darkvision (100-foot range).

Source: Monster Manual II, page 150. This creature’s statistics block has been updated to version 3.5 as given in the D&D® V.3.5 Accessory Update for Monster Manual II. Changed protection from elements to protection from energy and resist elements to resist energy.