Turnip Crab (Monster, Voice range: Quick, chittering, and sharp)

Creature Type: Tiny Beast 

Alignment: Neutral 

Challenge Rating: 1/4 

Habitat: Swamps, fungal groves, root thickets

The Turnip Crab is a bizarre creature that defies easy classification—a crustacean with a fondness for root vegetables and a talent for bodily horror. Roughly the size of a gnome's fist, this tiny terror is often mistaken for discarded produce until it lunges.

It earns its name from its habit of hollowing out turnips and other vegetables to use as armored shells. However, the Turnip Crab is more than just a nuisance: it secretes a unique transmutating fluid that turns organic material into a steel-like substance. This allows it to harden its shell or weaponize the environment. Its true danger lies in its instinct to burrow into flesh, petrifying the host from the inside out.

Special Traits:

• Burrowing Strike: Can dig into living tissue; successful hits may cause paralysis via internal petrification.
• Transmutating Secretion: Solidifies organic material into metal-like armor.
• Claw Attack: Minor distraction with a sharp snap; rarely fatal alone but dangerous when swarming.