Monster of the Week: Chaos Koi

"...you never know what you're going to get."

Digital composite by Brian S. Pauls, copyright 2022; original images by René Schaubhut (koi in pond), James DeMers (jewelry), sourced from Pixabay.

A chaos koi is a highly intelligent, magical, and unpredictable creature from a plane of pure chaos. It’s often found living in a beautifully designed, rocky pool, as the companion of a chaotic magic-user. The creature’s host may use it as a guardian, attempt to harness its spell casting ability, or simply enjoy its company and random nature.

Chaos koi appreciate sophisticated discussion, especially regarding philosophy and metaphysics. Roll randomly for the voice the chaos koi will use for any particular conversation, keeping the voice for the entire exchange. If the party returns later, roll again.

Voices:

1. Child

2. Old Man

3. Young Maiden

4. Crone

5. Angel

6. Demon

Each time a reaction roll is used during discussion with a chaos koi, the creature will also cast a random third-level spell (as a fifth-level spell caster.)

In combat, the chaos koi can cast one spell per round.

All spells are handled as per their descriptions in the Expert rulebook, with the exception that spells with a range of 0’ feet will be targeted at the nearest creature, instead of the chaos koi. All other spells will be targeted at creatures with whom the chaos koi is talking/fighting, or at a random creature (DMs discretion.)

Spells:

1. Clairvoyance

2. Dispel Magic

3. Fireball

4. Fly

5. Haste

6. Hold Person

7. Infravision

8. Invisibility, 10’ Radius

9. Lightning Bolt

10. Protection/Evil, 10’ Radius

11. Protection/Normal Missiles

12. Water Breathing

A chaos koi enjoys shiny objects and magic items. Its host will typically strip the bodies of those who don’t survive their encounters with the creature, leaving any treasure in the pool to please their enigmatic companion.

Chaos koi cannot be slain on this plane. Reducing them to zero hit points will banish them to their native plane, but for each turn that passes, there is a 1 in 6 chance the creature will reform in the location it last occupied.

Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 5**
Move: 120’ (40’)
Attack(s): 1 spell
Damage: varies
No. Appearing: 1(1)
Save As: F1
Morale: 8
Treasure Type: D
Alignment: Chaotic
XP: 425