Scary Flying Shark

My youngest boy is obsessed with Sharks.

And dinosaurs.

But, for a loooong  time, it was Sharks and only Sharks. It didn't matter if they were real-life Sharks or Cartoon Sharks. Baby Shark's Big Adventure played on repeat for much of 2021. And then, one day, a video made its way into the "Recommended for You" list on YouTube.

It was a short, catchy toon and there were dozens of animated videos to accompany the song.

That song was "Scary Flying Shark" by Boom Buddies. It told the story of the eponymous shark, its death, and its subsequent hunt of children.


He loved it.

More recently, he has discovered (i.e. rifled through the DVDs upstairs) the 1980s Dungeons and Dragons cartoon and realized that the show was based on the shelves of game books that take up much of the wall in the living room (beholders are his current favorite).

This has led to me needing to provide stats for the previously mentioned "Scary Flying Shark".

This is basically just a Huge Shark from the Monster Manual with the Ghost Brute template from Savage Species applied to it.


Scary Flying Shark
CR: 6     Huge Undead (Incorporeal)    
HD: 10d12 (66 hp)
Init: +6     Spd: Swim 60', fly 30' (perfect)
AC (against Material Plane opponents): 13 (-2 size, +2 Dex, +1 Deflection), t: 13, ff: 11
AC (against Ethereal opponents): 15 (-2 size, +2 Dex, +5 Natural), t: 10, ff: 13
Attacks: (BAB +7; Grap +12);
Against Material Plane opponents: +7 Corrupting Touch: 1d4
Against Ethereal opponents: or +10 Bite: 2d6+7 (20/×2) or +10 Corrupting Touch: 1d4+7
SA: Corrupting Touch
SQ: Blindsense, Keen Scent, Manifestation, Rejuvenation, Turn Resistance
Align: NE     Saves: Fort +9, Ref +9, Will +4
Str: 21, Dex: 15, Con: --, Int: 1, Wis: 12, Cha: 10
Skills: Hide +2, Listen +18, Search +3, Spot +18, Swim +13
Feats: Alertness, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Iron Will

• Blindsense (Ex): A shark can locate creatures underwater within a 30' radius.
• Keen Scent (Ex): A Shark can notice creatures by scent in a 180' radius and detect blood in the water at ranges of up to one mile.
• Manifestation (Su): As Ethereal creatures, ghost brutes cannot affect or be affected by anything in the material world. When they manifest, they become visible but remain Incorporeal. It can strike with a touch attack if it has one. A manifested ghost brute remains on the Ethereal Plane but can be attacked by opponents on both the Material and Ethereal Planes.
• Rejuvenation (Su): It is difficult to destroy a ghost brute through simple combat. The "destroyed" spirit can restore itself in 2d4 days with a successful DC16 level check (1d20 + the brute's HD). The best way to get rid of the ghost is to determine its reason for existence and set right whatever presents it from resting. As ghost brutes are often tied to a person (thier previous owner) or a location, laying that spirit to rest or repairing damage to a specific locale will lay the brute to rest as well.
• Turn Resistance (Ex): The Scary Flying Shark has +2 turn resistance.
• Skills: Sharks have a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. They can always take 10 on a Swim check even if distracted or endangered. It can use the Run action while swimming provided it moves in a straight line. Ghost Brutes gain a +8 racial bonus on Listen, Search, and Spot checks.

Using the Scary Flying Shark in your campaign:

The monster's backstory is right there at the beginning of the song. Once upon a time, a shark struck the bottom of a boat, died, and became a ghost. It now haunts a coastal fishing village, preying on children during high tide on the night of the full moon. It is up to the party to stop the ghost and save the citizenry. As a potential complication, perhaps the boat that killed the shark has been used to build or repair other boats and all of its parts must be destroyed to quiet the undead beast.

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