The Great Flood
CREATURE 20There are few creatures capable of such ecological destruction while staying as humorous and lighthearted as the Great Flood. The Great Flood towers with their giant serpent body and nine humanoid heads, each one with a different personality, though all serve the same purpose—to vanquish all signs of life that shouldn't be where they are. This creature intends to maintain the balance of the universe, ensuring that nothing takes up more space than necessary. Unfortunately, the judgment of where someone or something should be is only seen and weighed by the 18 eyes of the Great Flood, with little regard to mortal input.
The Great Flood is an immortal, or at least ageless, being who hibernates for 12 years at a stretch. On the thirteenth year, they emerge from the depths of the oceans and begin weighing the state of the world and the environments closest to their resting place: should the first thing they see on dry land be destroyed? Each of the Great Flood's nine heads lends their thoughts and insights to this deliberation, and upon reaching a consensus, they'll either carry on to the next location or they'll drown the land, immersing miles of dry land in salty waters from the ocean. In instances where they perceive the excess life as particularly problematic, they'll even decide to poison the waters with their bitter breath to ensure that nothing survives the judgment they've decreed. The Great Flood, despite its inherently destructive nature, isn't actually bloodthirsty and will often afford an opportunity for poor townsfolk to state their case and beg for the lives of their town to be saved. While the Great Flood has the capacity for mercy and consideration, the godlike creature stands adamant once they've made their decision. One or two of the heads might feel a twinge of guilt and tell a small joke to the townsfolk, relieving themselves of the mental pressure, before murdering an entire village.
The nine personalities of the serpentine creature often run into contention with each other. One is a perfectionist, while another is aloof; one is assertive, while another is playful; one is capricious, while another is suspicious; one is ambitious, while the other is a people pleaser. The last one is quiet and secretive, only ever whispering to the heads closest to them. Though the heads squabble like siblings, they eventually always make a compromise.
Scent involves sensing creatures or objects by smell, and is usually a vague sense. The range is listed in the ability, and it functions only if the creature or object being detected emits an aroma (for instance, incorporeal creatures usually do not exude an aroma).
If a creature emits a heavy aroma or is upwind, the GM can double or even triple the range of scent abilities used to detect that creature, and the GM can reduce the range if a creature is downwind.
90 feet.
If a creature ends its turn in the aura, it's exposed to the Great Flood's flood breath disease.
The Great Flood's multiple heads allow them to act on two separate initiatives, rolling initiative twice and acting on both results. They can't Delay. At the start of each of their turns, they gain 2 actions (see Multiple Reactions below for reactions). Any ability that would sever one of the Great Flood's heads doesn't cause the Great Flood to die if they still have at least one head, but it does cause them to lose the additional reaction granted by the severed head.
A monster with darkvision can see perfectly well in areas of darkness and dim light, though such vision is in black and white only. Some forms of magical darkness, such as a 4th-rank Darkness spell, block normal darkvision. A monster with Greater Darkvision, however, can see through even these forms of magical darkness.
The Great Flood gains an extra reaction per round for each of its nine heads, which they can use only to make Reactive Strikes with their jaws. They can't use more than 1 reaction on the same triggering action, even if a creature leaves several squares within the Great Flood's reach, and they gain reactions on only their first turn each round.