General Rules: Monsters - Platypus

Platypus (from Dragon Magazine #341)
Diminutive Animal

Hit Dice: 1d8 (4 hit points)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 15 feet
Armor Class: 17 (+4 size, +1 Dexterity, +2 natural); touch 15, flat-footed 16
BAB/Grapple: +0/-16
Attack: Claw +5 melee (1d3-4 plus poison, slashing, 20 x2)

Full Attack: 2 claws +5 melee (1d3-4 plus poison, slashing, 20 x2)

Space/Reach: 1 foot by 1 foot/0 feet
Special Attacks: Poison
Special Qualities: Low-light vision
Saves: Fortitude +2, Reflex +3, Will +1
Abilities: Str 3, Int 2, Wis 12, Dex 12, Con 10, Cha 5

Skills: Hide +17, Listen +5, Spot +5, Swim +12

Feats: Skill Augmentation (Listen and Spot), Weapon Finesse
Environment: Warm aquatic and marsh
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: ¼
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: -

Sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, the platypus is a semiaquatic egg-laying mammal. The unusual appearance of this egg-laying, duck-billed, beaver-tailed, otter-footed mammal often baffles naturalists when they first encounter it, and people outside its range who examine a preserved platypus body frequently judge it a fake, made of several animals sewn together.

Combat
The platypus has a spur on the hind foot that delivers a venom capable of causing severe pain.

Poison (Ex): Claw; Fortitude save DC 10 negates; initial and secondary damage 1d2 temporary Dexterity. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Skills: Platypuses gain a +8 racial bonus to Swim checks to perform a special maneuver or avoid a hazard. A platypus can always take 10 on a Sim check, even while distracted or threatened. A platypus can use the run action while swimming provided it swims in a straight line.

Platypuses as Familiars
Platypuses can serve as familiars for characters eligible to obtain familiars including arcane engineers, hexblades, mind weavers, shadowsworn, sorcerers, and wizards. Arcane casters with platytpus familiars gain a +3 bonus to Swim checks. Platypuses are suitable familiars for Tiny spellcasters.

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