Frightful Fridays! Ki Rat

Hello, and welcome to this week's Frightful Fridays! Today's entry is courtesy of my friend Drejk, and it sat in my folder for a long while before I decided to do something with it. The ki rat uses the rules for the Pathfinder Unchained monk, which suits the creature better than the typical monk. At any rate, if you unleash a ki rat on your players, they won't want to underestimate this rat.

I hope you enjoy the ki rat, and I'll see you next time with another monster. Thanks for reading!

This hairless rat with a sagacious mien is blind but moves with surprising grace.

Ki Rat      CR 12

XP 19,200

LN Tiny magical beast

Init +10; Senses blindsight 120 ft.; Perception +27

DEFENSE

AC 27, touch 27, flat-footed 20 (+6 Dex, +1 dodge, +8 insight, +2 size)

hp 152 (16d10+64)

Fort +14, Ref +16, Will +15

Defensive Abilities improved evasion

Weaknesses blind

OFFENSE

Speed 60 ft.

Melee unarmed strike +22/+17/+12/+7 (1d10+4) or 2 claws +22 (1d10+4) or unarmed strike flurry of blows +22/+22/+22/+17/+12/+7 (1d10+4)

Space 2½ ft.; Reach 0 ft.

Special Attacks flurry of blows, pounce, stunning fist (4/day, DC 26)

STATISTICS

Str 2, Dex 22, Con 19, Int 14, Wis 27, Cha 17

Base Atk +16; CMB +28 (+30 trip); CMD 35 (41 vs. trip)

Feats Deflect Arrows^B, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Improved Iron Will, Improved Trip^B, Improved Unarmed Strike, Iron Will, Mobility^B, Spring Attack, Stunning Fist, Underfoot^APG

Skills Acrobatics +25 (+37 to jump), Climb +15, Perception +27, Perform (wind instruments) +19, Stealth +25; Racial Modifiers +8 Climb

Languages Common, Ki Rat

SQ insightful combatant, ki pool (16 points, adamantine, lawful, magic), ki powers (diamond mind, diamond soul, feather balance, light steps, one touch, quivering palm, wholeness of body)

ECOLOGY

Environment any land

Organization solitary, pair, or sangha (3–16)

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Insightful Combatant (Su) A ki rat gains an insight bonus equal to its Wisdom modifier to its Armor Class, attacks, and damage.

Ki Powers (Su) For purposes of its key powers, a ki rat has an effective monk level equal to its Hit Dice.

Ki rats are exceptionally powerful animals that possess many abilities associated with monks. The prevailing thought is that ordinary rats at temples where monks trained absorbed the ki that flowed into and out of the monks. These rats lost their sight but gained awareness of their environment and their own inherent power. Many ki rats roam the world and use their power and wisdom to right wrongs, free the falsely imprisoned, and impart their own knowledge to those willing to learn from a rat. Some of these rats have settled down and started temples of their own, usually teaching aspiring monks through a proxy. All ki rats have a love for wind instruments, and carry reed flutes, from which they produce soothing melodies.

Frightful Fridays! Tarrhino

Hello, and welcome back to a new Frightful Fridays! Today's monster is courtesy of Jason Mitchell, who pointed out the tire sculptures in the link below this week's image. It inspired me to create a tar-covered rhinoceros that can gore opponents and glue them to its hide and subsequently crush them.

I hope you enjoy the tarrhino, and I hope GMs will use it to literally stick it to their characters. I'll be back next time with a new monster. Thanks for reading!

This sculpture and others like it can be found here

This humongous, black rhinoceros drips tar that sizzles when it hits the ground.

Tarrhino      CR 7

XP 3,200

N Huge magical beast

Init –2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +9

DEFENSE

AC 20, touch 6, flat-footed 20 (–2 Dex, +14 natural, –2 size)

hp 94 (9d10+45)

Fort +11, Ref +4, Will +6

DR 10/piercing; Resist acid 10, fire 10

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft.

Melee gore +14 (3d6+7), slam +14 (3d6+7 plus 1d6 fire and grab)

Ranged tar spit +5 (2d6+7 plus 1d6 fire)

Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft.

Special Attacks grab, powerful charge (6d6+14), sticky hide, tar spit

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 9th; concentration +9)

   1/day—tar pool (DC 14)

STATISTICS

Str 25, Dex 6, Con 21, Int 2, Wis 16, Cha 11

Base Atk +9; CMB +18 (+22 grapple); CMD 26 (30 vs. disarm and trip)

Feats Diehard, Endurance, Impaling Charge, Intimidating Prowess, Power Attack

Skills Intimidate +13, Perception +9

ECOLOGY

Environment any warm land

Organization solitary, pair, or herd (3–8)

Treasure standard

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Sticky Hide (Ex) A tarrhino’s hide is highly adhesive. When it strikes an opponent with its slam attack, it gains a free grapple attempt. If it succeeds, it does not gain the grappled condition, and it only deals 1d6 fire damage to a creature with which it maintains a grapple. It can adhere up to 8 Medium creatures (or an equivalent number of smaller or larger creatures) to itself. As a full round action that provokes attacks of opportunity, the tarrhino can roll, dealing its slam damage (plus 1-1/2 Strength bonus) to all creatures stuck to it.

Additionally, a creature striking a tarrhino with a manufactured melee weapon must succeed at a DC 19 Reflex save to avoid the weapon sticking to the tarrhino. Freeing a stuck weapon requires a successful disarm attempt, and the creature’s hide grants a +4 racial bonus to CMD against disarm checks.

Tar Spit (Ex) If a tarrhino’s tar spit attack hits its target’s touch AC but otherwise misses the target, it deals no damage to the target. However, the target is affected as if hit by a tanglefoot bag (with a DC 19 Reflex save to avoid becoming glued to the floor). A tarrhino’s tar spit has a range increment of 20 feet.

Ancient battles between earth and fire elementals left melted corpses behind, some of which dissolved into pools of semi-sentient tar. As animals blundered into the tar and succumbed to its sticky embrace, the slumbering sludge remembered the victims’ shapes. When the tar awoke its torpor, it chose its favorite form, that of the rhino, before leaving the pits wherein the tar slept.

Despite their elemental origins, tarrhinos must eat, and they range over large areas to hunt prey. Their preferred method of hunting is to glue a victim in place with expectorated tar and then pulverizing the victim at the end of a thunderous charge. They also enjoy fighting multiple creatures at once, so they can stick unsuspecting foes to their hides and roll around to crush those that cannot free themselves. Tarrhinos are usually covered in stuck weapons and various items, making them virtual walking treasure chests for stalwarts who can defeat them.

Superstar Voting Has Begun!

It's the most Superstar time of the year. It's a wee bit early (three months), but this will keep it out of competition with the holiday season to encourage more entries and voting.

Speaking of which, vote for your favorite items here!
http://paizo.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Store.woa/wa/RPGSuperstarAction/votingPage

(caution: the site may be down periodically due to the rush of voters at the outset)

Frightful Fridays! Surprise! Elemental

Hello, and welcome to this week's Frightful Fridays! This one has been floating around for a while, but my friend Owen recently brought it up again. Inspired by this YouTube video, I present the surprise elemental, complete with "age categories" like proper elementals. Its purpose is to mess with characters (and players) who presumably figure out how to most effectively kill it, only to find out how wrong they are. It's quite fiddly with all the random rolling, so I would caution against throwing a dozen of these out there (despite what their organization line says).

I do hope you enjoy the surprise elemental, and I'll be back with another monster next time (probably something less wacky). Thanks for reading! (and keep your eyes on the comments to figure out which rugby matches or NFL games are taking place)

Yes, this is a surprise.

An exclamation point pops out of thin air and begins attacking.

Surprise Elemental

ECOLOGY

Environment any (Plane of the Unexpected)

Organization solitary, pair, or perplexity (3–13)

Treasure none

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Now You See Me (Su) A number of times per day equal to a surprise elemental’s Charisma modifier, it can take a full round action, which does not provoke an attack of opportunity, to teleport itself up to twice its movement rate and make a single attack. The target of the attack must succeed at a Perception check opposed by the elemental’s Stealth check, or it is flat-footed with respect to the attack.

Sneak Attack (Ex) A surprise elemental deals sneak attack damage as if it were a rogue with levels equal to its Hit Dice.

Surprise Defense (Su) A surprise elemental must be threatened by at least one other creature to take damage.

Variable Resistance (Su) A surprise elemental begins combat with the listed resistance to a random energy type, based on a d4 roll (1: acid, 2: cold, 3: electricity, 4: fire). When it takes damage from the resisted type of energy, reroll for a new type of energy (for example, if it was originally resistant to cold, roll a d6 for the new resistance: 1–2: acid, 3–4: electricity, 5–6: fire).

Will This Work? (Su) A surprise elemental begins combat with spell resistance equal to 10 + CR. Each time a spell overcomes its spell resistance, its spell resistance increases by 1. Each time a spell fails to penetrate its spell resistance, its spell resistance decreases by 1.

Small Surprise Elemental      CR 2

XP 600

N Small outsider (elemental, extraplanar)

Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +6

DEFENSE

AC 16, touch 14, flat-footed 13 (+3 Dex, +2 natural, +1 size)

hp 19 (3d10+3)

Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +1

Defensive Abilities surprise defense, will this work?; DR versatile DR; Immune elemental traits; Resist variable resistance 5

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft., burrow 20 ft., climb 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (average), swim 60 ft.

Melee slam +4 (2d6)

Special Attacks now you see me, sneak attack +2d6

STATISTICS

Str 10, Dex 17, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 12

Base Atk +3; CMB +2; CMD 15 (can't be tripped)

Feats Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative, Lunge^B

Skills Acrobatics +9 (+13 to jump), Bluff +7, Climb +12, Disguise +7, Fly +10, Perception +6, Stealth +21, Swim +8; Racial Modifiers +8 Stealth

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Versatile DR (Su) A small surprise elemental begins combat with DR 5, bypassed by a random weapon type based on a d6 roll (1–2: slashing, 3–4: piercing, 5–6: bludgeoning). When an attack bypasses its DR, reroll for a different weapon type (for example, if slashing weapons originally bypassed its DR, roll a d6 for the new weapon type: 1–3: piercing, 4–6: bludgeoning).

Medium Surprise Elemental      CR 4

XP 1,200

N Medium outsider (elemental, extraplanar)

Init +8; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +10

DEFENSE

AC 18, touch 14, flat-footed 14 (+4 Dex, +4 natural)

hp 37 (5d10+10)

Fort +6, Ref +8, Will +3

Defensive Abilities surprise defense, will this work?; DR versatile DR; Immune elemental traits; Resist variable resistance 10

OFFENSE

Speed 50 ft., burrow 30 ft., climb 40 ft., fly 60 ft. (average), swim 60 ft.

Melee slam +8 (2d8+4)

Special Attacks now you see me, sneak attack +3d6

STATISTICS

Str 16, Dex 19, Con 15, Int 10, Wis 15, Cha 12

Base Atk +5; CMB +8 (+10 dirty trick); CMD 22 (24 vs. dirty trick, can't be tripped)

Feats Combat Reflexes, Improved Dirty Trick, Improved Initiative, Lunge^B

Skills Acrobatics +4 (+12 to jump), Bluff +11, Climb +16, Disguise +11, Fly +10, Perception +10, Stealth +28, Swim +11; Racial Modifiers +16 Stealth

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Versatile DR (Su) A medium surprise elemental begins combat with DR 5, bypassed by a random weapon type based on a d6 roll (1–2: slashing, 3–4: piercing, 5–6: bludgeoning). When an attack bypasses its DR, reroll for a different weapon type (for example, if slashing weapons originally bypassed its DR, roll a d6 for the new weapon type: 1–3: piercing, 4–6: bludgeoning).

Large Surprise Elemental      CR 6

XP 2,400

N Large outsider (elemental, extraplanar)

Init +8; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +14

DEFENSE

AC 20, touch 14, flat-footed 15 (+4 Dex, +1 dodge, +6 natural, –1 size)

hp 68 (8d10+24)

Fort +9, Ref +10, Will +5

Defensive Abilities surprise defense, will this work?; DR versatile DR; Immune elemental traits; Resist variable resistance 10

OFFENSE

Speed 60 ft., burrow 30 ft., climb 40 ft., fly 90 ft. (average), swim 90 ft.

Melee 2 slams +12 (2d8+5)

Special Attacks now you see me, sneak attack +4d6

Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.

STATISTICS

Str 20, Dex 19, Con 17, Int 10, Wis 17, Cha 14

Base Atk +8; CMB +14 (+16 dirty trick); CMD 29 (31 vs. dirty trick, can't be tripped)

Feats Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Improved Dirty Trick^B, Improved Initiative, Lunge^B, Mobility

Skills Acrobatics +15 (+27 to jump), Bluff +15, Climb +18, Disguise +15, Fly +11, Perception +14, Stealth +35, Swim +13; Racial Modifiers +24 Stealth

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Versatile DR (Su) A large surprise elemental begins combat with DR 10, bypassed by a random weapon type based on a d4 roll (1: slashing, 2: piercing, 3: bludgeoning, 4: magic). When an attack bypasses its DR, reroll for a different weapon type (for example, if slashing weapons originally bypassed its DR, roll a d6 for the new weapon type: 1–2: piercing, 3–4: bludgeoning, 5–6: magic).

Huge Surprise Elemental      CR 8

XP 4,800

N Huge outsider (elemental, extraplanar)

Init +8; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +17

DEFENSE

AC 21, touch 13, flat-footed 16 (+4 Dex, +1 dodge, +8 natural, –2 size)

hp 105 (10d10+50)

Fort +12, Ref +11, Will +7

Defensive Abilities surprise defense, will this work?; DR versatile DR; Immune elemental traits; Resist variable resistance 15

OFFENSE

Speed 70 ft., burrow 40 ft., climb 40 ft., fly 90 ft. (average), swim 90 ft.

Melee 2 slams +16 (3d6+8)

Special Attacks now you see me, sneak attack +5d6

Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft.

STATISTICS

Str 26, Dex 19, Con 21, Int 10, Wis 19, Cha 14

Base Atk +10; CMB +20 (+22 dirty trick); CMD 35 (37 vs. dirty trick, can't be tripped)

Feats Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Flyby Attack^B, Improved Dirty Trick^B, Improved Initiative, Lunge^B, Mobility, Spring Attack

Skills Acrobatics +17 (+33 to jump), Bluff +18, Climb +21, Disguise +18, Fly +11, Perception +17, Stealth +37, Swim +16; Racial Modifiers +28 Stealth

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Versatile DR (Su) A large surprise elemental begins combat with DR 10, bypassed by a random weapon type or material based on a d6 roll (1: slashing, 2: piercing, 3: bludgeoning, 4: magic, 5: cold iron, 6: silver). When an attack bypasses its DR, reroll for a different weapon type (for example, if slashing weapons originally bypassed its DR, roll a d10 for the new weapon type: 1–2: piercing, 3–4: bludgeoning, 5–6: magic, 7–8: cold iron, 9–10: silver).

Greater Surprise Elemental      CR 10

XP 9,600

N Huge outsider (elemental, extraplanar)

Init +9; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +21

DEFENSE

AC 24, touch 14, flat-footed 18 (+5 Dex, +1 dodge, +10 natural, –2 size)

hp 136 (13d10+65)

Fort +13, Ref +13, Will +9

Defensive Abilities surprise defense, will this work?; DR versatile DR; Immune elemental traits; Resist variable resistance 20

OFFENSE

Speed 70 ft., burrow 40 ft., climb 40 ft., fly 90 ft. (average), swim 90 ft.

Melee 2 slams +20 (3d8+9)

Special Attacks now you see me, sneak attack +7d6

Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft.

STATISTICS

Str 28, Dex 21, Con 21, Int 12, Wis 21, Cha 16

Base Atk +13; CMB +24 (+26 dirty trick); CMD 40 (42 vs. dirty trick, can't be tripped)

Feats Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Flyby Attack, Improved Dirty Trick^B, Improved Initiative, Lunge^B, Mobility, Quick Dirty Trick^{B, UC}, Spring Attack, Step Up

Skills Acrobatics +21 (+36 to jump), Bluff +22, Climb +22, Disable Device +19, Disguise +22, Fly +15, Perception +21, Stealth +45, Swim +17; Racial Modifiers +32 Stealth

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Versatile DR (Su) A large surprise elemental begins combat with DR 10, bypassed by a random weapon type or material based on a d6 roll (1: slashing, 2: piercing, 3: bludgeoning, 4: magic, 5: cold iron, 6: silver). When an attack bypasses its DR, reroll for a different weapon type (for example, if slashing weapons originally bypassed its DR, roll a d10 for the new weapon type: 1–2: piercing, 3–4: bludgeoning, 5–6: magic, 7–8: cold iron, 9–10: silver).

Elder Surprise Elemental      CR 12

XP 19,200

N Huge outsider (elemental, extraplanar)

Init +10; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +25

DEFENSE

AC 27, touch 15, flat-footed 20 (+6 Dex, +1 dodge, +12 natural, –2 size)

hp 168 (16d10+80)

Fort +15, Ref +16, Will +11

Defensive Abilities surprise defense, will this work?; DR versatile DR; Immune elemental traits; Resist variable resistance 30

OFFENSE

Speed 70 ft., burrow 40 ft., climb 40 ft., fly 90 ft. (average), swim 90 ft.

Melee 2 slams +24 (3d8+10)

Special Attacks now you see me, sneak attack +8d6

Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft.

STATISTICS

Str 30, Dex 23, Con 21, Int 12, Wis 23, Cha 18

Base Atk +16; CMB +28 (+32 dirty trick); CMD 45 (47 vs. dirty trick, can't be tripped)

Feats Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Flyby Attack, Greater Dirty Trick^B, Improved Dirty Trick^B, Improved Initiative, Lunge, Mobility, Quick Dirty Trick^{B, UC}, Spring Attack, Step Up

Skills Acrobatics +25 (+37 to jump), Bluff +26, Climb +24, Disable Device +23, Disguise +26, Fly +18, Perception +25, Stealth +49, Swim +18; Racial Modifiers +32 Stealth

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Versatile DR (Su) A large surprise elemental begins combat with DR 15, bypassed by a random weapon material or quality based on a d8 roll (1: magic, 2: cold iron, 3: silver, 4: chaos, 5: good, 6: evil, 7: lawful, 8: roll twice ignoring a result of 8 [a weapon must possess both qualities/materials to bypass the elemental’s DR; if the same result is rolled, double its DR). When an attack bypasses its DR, reroll for a different weapon material or quality as previously noted.

In the chaotic demi-plane known as the Plane of the Unexpected, surprise elementals serve as wardens and guides for visitors to the plane. Stalwart creatures in their home plane, these elementals transform into unpredictable killers when they travel to other planes. Sages who have studied surprise elementals concluded that the relative structure and order of other planes drives the creatures to madness.

No two encounters with surprise elementals are the same. The creatures use a variety of unusual tricks when they attack, and they possess bizarre, random defenses that change during battle. Additionally, surprise elementals have a different appearance from one another and usually take the form of the local concept of surprise (one might be virtually invisible but make sudden, loud noises, while another might look like a massive jolt of electricity, for example).

Frightful Fridays! Aggressisaur

Hello and welcome back to a new Frightful Fridays! GenCon fatigue will not keep me from posting a new monster, and this one is courtesy of Paizo friend, Mac. I like the idea of a creature that destroys lesser predators, seemingly saving the day, but really just enjoying sweeping out competition so it can freely attack its prey. And, yes, this one may also have been inspired by a recent movie.

In Frightful Fridays-related news, I'm finding that I have an incredible backlog of illustrations to process, and I have a feeling that a marathon is due before the end of the year. Stay tuned for that.

In Pathfinder RPG-related news, I would be remiss in not pointing out that this year's RPG Superstar has already begun! The deadline for entries is August 17th. Check it out here: http://paizo.com/rpgsuperstar. Good luck to all who decide to enter!

I hope you enjoy the aggressisaur, and I'll be back next time with another monster. Thanks for reading!

This cuddly fella can be found here

This enormous aquatic lizard-like creature leaves a tidal wave-like wake as it swims.
Aggressisaur      CR 21

XP 409,600

N Colossal magical beast (aquatic)

Init –2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., keen scent, low-light vision; Perception +25

DEFENSE

AC 36, touch 0, flat-footed 36 (–2 Dex, +36 natural, –8 size)

hp 445 (33d10+264); regeneration 10 (fire)

Fort +26, Ref +16, Will +10

Immune mind-affecting effects

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft., swim 180 ft.

Melee bite +37/+32/+27/+22 (4d6+24/18–20)

Space 30 ft.; Reach 20 ft.

Special Attacks enraged mind, fast swallow, multibite, pounce, powerful bite, ship crusher, swallow whole (6d6 acid damage, AC 28, 44 hp)

STATISTICS

Str 34, Dex 6, Con 27, Int 3, Wis 9, Cha 8

Base Atk +33; CMB +53 (+57 grapple); CMD 61 (65 vs. trip)

Skills Acrobatics +10 (+42 Acrobatics when jumping), Perception +25, Swim +24; Racial Modifiers +32 Acrobatics when jumping

Feats Awesome Blow, Bleeding Critical, Critical Focus, Critical Mastery^B, Devastating Strike^UC, Diehard, Endurance, Greater Vital Strike, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Devastating Strike^UC, Improved Vital Strike, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Staggering Critical, Stunning Assault^APG, Stunning Critical, Vital Strike

ECOLOGY

Environment any ocean

Organization solitary or pair

Treasure incidental

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Enraged Mind (Su) An aggressisaur is immune to mind-affecting spells and effects. However, it must still attempt a Will save when targeted by such spells and effects. If it fails its save, it immediately enters into a rage. It gains +2 Constitution and +2 Strength, but it takes a –2 penalty to AC. The rage lasts for the duration of combat or 1 minute, whichever is shorter.

Multibite (Ex) An aggressisaur can bite multiple times per round. It gains iterative attacks with its bite attack.

Powerful Bite (Ex) An aggressisaur adds twice its Strength modifier for its bite attack, and its bite’s critical threat range increases to 18–20.

Ship Crusher (Ex) An aggressisaur's bite ignores 10 points of hardness and 10 points of DR bypassed by a special material.

Created by dread krakens, aggressisaurs derive from mosasaur stock with a perhaps unnecessary amount of belligerence bred in. Ironically, the manipulation done by the dread krakens renders their creations immune to mental control, and any attempt to exert such control over aggressisaurs results in rage directed at the intended controller. These dinosaurs are virtual juggernauts of the sea and typically attack large creatures and vessels first before consuming smaller items, such as unfortunate survivors of a destroyed ship. Fortunately, aggressisaurs thrive primarily in the deeps where they have plenty of large prey to hunt.

In areas where multiple aggressisaurs roam, they quickly depopulate the sea and eventually turn on each other. Aggressisaurs driven by extreme hunger will launch themselves onto land near populated seashore areas. Their incredible stamina allows them to survive on land long enough to destroy whole towns—incidentally sating their hunger—and then return to the sea.