REAL WORLD CREATURES
TITANOBOA
(Titanoboa Cerrejonensis)
Val CHA Cost Roll Notes 28 STR 18 15- Lift 1212.6 kg; 5 ½d6 HTH Damage [1] 12+3 DEX 4 11-/12- 30 CON 20 15- 8 INT -2 11- PER Roll 11-/14- 5 EGO -5 10- 25 PRE 15 14- PRE Attack: 5d6 4+1 OCV 5 3 DCV 0 2 OMCV -3 2 DMCV -3 3 SPD 10 Phases: 4, 8, 12 6 PD 0 Total: 6 PD (4 rPD) 6 ED 0 Total: 6 ED (4 rED) 10 REC 6 50 END 6 22 BODY 12 50 STUN 15 Total Characteristic Cost: 264 Movement: Running: 6m/12m Leaping: 0m Swimming: 12m/24m Cost Powers & Skills 17 Coils: +20 STR, Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼), Penetrating (+½); Only With Grab And Squeeze (-1), END 1 21 400 Pounds Per Square Inch Of Pressure: Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼), Penetrating (+½) applied to STR 4 Water Snake: +3 DEX; Only When In The Water (-½) 3 Water Snake: +1 OCV; Only When In The Water (-½) 13 Bite: HKA 1d6+1; No STR Bonus (-½), END 2 15 Suffocates Its Prey: Change Environment (Suffocation), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); No Range (-½), Linked (Coils; -½) 12 Scaly Skin: +4 PD, Resistant (+½) plus +4 ED, Resistant (+½) 8 Heavy: Knockback Resistance -8m -2 Can't Leap: Leaping -4m (0m total) -6 Slow On Land: Running -6m (6m total) 4 Water Snake: Swimming +8m (12m total), END 1 6 Serpent’s Tongue: +3 PER with Smell/Taste Group 18 Sense Vibrations: Detect Physical Vibrations 14-/17- (Touch Group), Range 15 Heat-Sensitive Pits: IR Perception (Touch Group), Targeting 10 Hunts By Tasting The Air: Targeting with Normal Smell 5 Hunts By Tasting The Air: Tracking with Normal Smell 2 Can Hold Breath For 45 Minutes: LS (Extended Breathing: 1 END per Minute) 2 Eats About Once A Year: LS (Eating: Character only has to eat once per year) Skills 6 +3 OCV with Grab 2 Concealment 11-; Self Only (-½) 2 Camouflage Coloration: +2 with Concealment; Only In Specific Environments (when in the water or marshy areas; -1) 3 Stealth 11- (12-) 2 Camouflage Coloration: +2 with Stealth; Only In Specific Environments (when in the water or marshy areas; -1) Total Powers & Skill Cost: 162 Total Cost: 260 175+ Complications (50) 20 Physical Complication: Animal Intelligence (Frequently; Greatly Impairing) 20 Physical Complication: Cold-Blooded (Frequently; Greatly Impairing) 20 Physical Complication: Huge (up to 15m long; +6 OCV for others to hit, +6 to PER Rolls for others to perceive) (Frequently; Greatly Impairing) 20 Physical Complication: Poor Eyesight, suffers -2 to all Sight PER Rolls (Frequently; Greatly Impairing) 20 Physical Complication: Very Limited Manipulation (Frequently; Greatly Impairing) Total Complication Points: 50 Experience Points: 85
Ecology: Dwelling in the tropical rain-forests of equatorial South America, Titanoboa (ty-tan-oh-bow-ah) was an apex predator of the region’s Paleocene epoch-era rivers and waterways. Due to its great weight, it probably spent most of its time in the water, where it would be better able to resist the effects of gravity. There it waited near the bottom of shallow rivers, preying on just about anything it could catch, including lungfish six to ten feet in length, and blunt-nosed crocodiles measuring 15 feet in length and weighting around 1,000 pounds.
Personality/Motivation: Typical animal motivations.
Powers/Tactics: As noted under Ecology, the Titanoboa—like its relative the green anaconda—is an ambush predator. Lying in wait in marshy wetlands, or slow-moving rivers, the Titanoboa will settle down and sit virtually motionless, waiting until something comes within range. Using its ability to “taste” the air with with its tongue, the Titanoboa will also works its way closer and closer to a potential target, finally lunging out to snatch up a prey item with its jaws before bringing its massive coils into play. In addition, infrared sensitive pits on the nose can “see” body heat, while physical vibrations can be felt through the sensitive belly scales. Due to its slow metabolic processes, the snake may eat only once a year, although in order to due so, it needs to consume the aforementioned 1,000 pound crocodile.
As with all constrictors, a Tiitanoboa will first Bite, using its jaws to Grab prey. It will then wrap coil after coil around its victim (a follow up Grab using its full 48 STR), pinning limbs and slowly suffocating its prey (see the rules for drowning on page 130 of 6E2, the listed Power uses the optional Change Environment rules from APG 83). Once dead, prey items are swallowed head first, and its possible the Titanoboa will lift its head vertically in order to use gravity to assist in forcing a meal down its throat. Once its prey has been swallowed, the snake will then crawl off somewhere secluded to digest its meal (a process taking anywhere from a week to ten days [or more]).
Appearance: An ancestor of anacondas and boas, Titanoboa is the largest snake known to man. A fully-grown adult can measure 48 feet in length, is three feet wide at its thickest point, and weighs 2,500 pounds. Coloration is probably akin to that of the green anaconda, with a dark speckled back and a pale belly.
Designer's Notes: First discovered in 2009, fossils of T. cerrejonensis were found in the slopes surrounding the Cerrejeón coal mines, in La Guajira, Columbia. As of this writing, the fossils of 28 different Titanoboas have been unearthed with the largest being between 40 and 50 feet long. Based on its size, the snake could only have survived in a tropical environment with average annual temperatures of 84°-93° F.
At 48-50 feet, Titanoboa easily beats the previous record-holder of Gigantophis, which was a “mere” 33 feet in length. It’s also significantly longer then any extant snake, seeing as the green anaconda may grow to 25 feet in length, while the reticulated python reaches a maximum length of around 29 feet.
Recommended Viewing: Titanoboa: Monster Snake (Smithsonian Channel, viewed via Youtube)
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