Giant Snapping Turtles

Giant snapping turtles are animals.

An animal is a living, nonhuman creature, usually a vertebrate with no magical abilities and no innate capacity for language or culture.

Animals have low-light vision.

Animals breathe, eat, and sleep.

Giant snapping turtles typically grow to diameters of about 35 feet and weigh 20,000 pounds.

Giant snapping turtles detect approaching enemies, sniff out hidden foes, and track by sense of smell. Giant snapping turtles can identify familiar odors just as humans do familiar sights. If the opponent is upwind, the range increases; if downwind, it drops. Strong scents, such as smoke or rotting garbage, can be detected at longer ranges. Overpowering scents, such as skunk musk or troglodyte stench, can be detected at even longer ranges. When a giant snapping turtle detects a scent, it doesn’t know the exact location of the source – only its presence somewhere within range. Giant snapping turtles can find the direction of the scent. When a giant snapping turtle is next to the source, it pinpoints the source’s location. The difficulty to follow tracks by smell increases or decreases depending on how strong the quarry’s odor is, the number of creatures, and the age of the trail. Giant snapping turtles tracking by scent ignore the effects of surface conditions and poor visibility.

A giant snapping turtle that bites deals normal damage and attempts to start a grapple without provoking an attack of opportunity. Grab can only be used against creatures of a size equal to or smaller than the giant snapping turtle. A giant snapping turtle has the option to conduct the grapple normally, or simply use its bite to hold the opponent. If it chooses to do the latter, it is more difficult to make and maintain the grapple, but does not gain the grappled condition itself. Each successful grapple check it makes automatically deals bite damage.

If a giant snapping turtle has an opponent grappled in its mouth, it can attempt to pin the opponent. If it succeeds, it swallows its prey, and the opponent takes bite damage. The opponent can be up to one size category smaller than the giant snapping turtle. Being swallowed causes a creature to take damage each round. A swallowed creature keeps the grappled condition, while the giant snapping turtle does not. A swallowed creature can try to cut its way free with any light slashing or piercing weapon, or it can just try to escape the grapple. If a swallowed creature cuts its way out, the giant snapping turtle cannot use swallow whole again until the damage is healed. If the swallowed creature escapes the grapple, success puts it back in the attacker’s mouth, where it may be bitten or swallowed again.

A giant snapping turtle’s body is difficult to cut through.

A giant snapping turtle can hold its breath longer than usual before it risks drowning.

A giant snapping turtle can pull its extremities and head into its shell. It cannot move and attack as long as it remains in this state, but it is harder to hit.