Mollusca Percussa

In the past week, I've seen this little premise pop up twice in my G+ feed: Grenade Snail.

Originally, +Michael Curtis shared a great image of a simple grenade and identified it as a snail. The funny thing was that I had seen the same thing at first glance. Googling for images is wonderful: I found my grenade snail image in seconds! It's always reassuring to see that others see these odd manifestations, too. 

+Brendan Strejcek had some wonderful ideas to offer in the original post, too. And now today, I saw +David Brawley had added a Grenade Snail to his wonderful blog, Tower of the Archmage. I realized that I had taken my write-up and just left it to rot on GoogleDocs. Oops!

So, here is my initial write-up, with some additional notes and links to the works of the aforementioned Snail Sages. Great stuff.

Grenade Snail (Mollusca Percussa)

No. Enc.: 2d6 (5d4)

Alignment: Neutral

Movement: 40’ per hour

Armour Class: 2 (9)

Hit Dice: 1 hp, 1d3hp, 1 HD

Attacks: explode (upon death)

Damage: special (1d4/1, 2d6/1d6, 3d8/2d8; deals concussive damage: point of impact/nearby up to 5’)

Save: F1

Morale: 9

Size: Diminutive, Tiny (“Greater G.S.”), Small (“Giant G.S.”)

XP: 5

Ecology:

Grenade snails have a strange biological response to having their shells crushed or broken: they explode in tiny bursts of shells. They are a terrible menace in underground passages and can cause severe damage despite their small size. The “Giant” Grenade Snail is exceptionally rare and horrifically devastating.

Notes: The snails shell has an AC of 2 (for their small size), but if stepped upon or if the soft tissues under the shells are pierced the AC is 9.

What the Snail Sages say:

• Grenade Snails become quite dangerous during their reproductive phase. If stepped on (or flung against a target), they explode. 2d6 damage at point of origin, 1d6 for all nearby (shell shrapnel), save for half damage. A corpse with shell bits will gestate 2d6 baby grenade snails in 1 week. - Brendan Strejcek, Master Snail Sage
• Grenade Snails can be controlled by Snail-o-mancers! - David Brawley, Tower of the Archmage.

Inspiration: Micheal Curtis

Additional credit: Brendan Strejcek, David Brawley

Image: benasayer on Deviant Art