Welcome back to Frightful Fridays! which returns with a doozy of a monster. In a Paizo messageboard thread that I frequent (Forums are Way Too Long, now on its 5th iteration and near 85,000 posts in this iteration), the topic of the zloty came up. Drejk, who hails from Poland, explained that it was Polish currency, but Freehold DM joked that it sounded like a monster I came up with (a fair point). Several days later Scott suggested a four-armed, killer platypus, and I paired up that concept with the name zloty. Then, in my search for an image to go with today's monster, I came across the piece below, and it screamed "ZLOTY!" to me. So...that is the origin for this creature.
Today's extra takes its inspiration from the zloty's amazing adaptability, which seemed like something druids could recreate as a spell.
I hope you enjoy today's Frightful Fridays! monster, and I'll be back next week, perhaps with something less daft. Who knows? Also, make sure to come back on Sunday for Flash's new shield--he will definitely have one ready this week, or the zloty will get him. Thanks for reading!
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| The zloty pictured just before scientists opened a portal to an unknown world, through which the creature exited. |
This massive creature with a duckbill, six legs—four of which feature wicked claws—and a beaver's tail looks like it was assembled by a drunken god.
Zloty CR 19
XP 204,800
CE Gargantuan aberration
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +37
Defense
AC 28, touch 4, flat-footed 28 (-2 Dex, -4 size, +24 natural)
hp 315 (30d8+180); ability score fast healing, fast healing 10
Fort +16, Ref +8, Will +21
Defensive Abilities adaptive armor, affliction adaptation, death resistance, energy adaptation; Resist acid 5, cold 5, electricity 5, fire 5, negative energy 5, sonic 5; SR 30
Offense
Speed 60 ft., burrow 30 ft., swim 40 ft.
Melee bite +30 (3d6+12/19–20 plus bleed and grab), 4 claws +30 (1d8+12 plus grab), spur +25 (1d8+6 plus poison), tail slap +25 (1d8+6)
Ranged spur +20 (2d6+12 plus poison)
Space 20 ft.; Reach 20 ft.
Special Attacks bleed (2d6), fast swallow, poison, pounce, replenishable spurs, swallow whole (6d6 acid damage, AC 22, 31 hp)
Statistics
Str 34, Dex 6, Con 23, Int 13, Wis 18, Cha 11
Base Atk +22; CMB +38 (+42 grapple); CMD 46
Feats Blind-Fight, Crippling Critical, Critical Focus, Deadly Finish, Diehard, Eldritch Claws, Endurance, Greater Blind-Fight, Improved Blind-Fight, Improved Critical (bite), Improved Initiative, Opening Volley, Power Attack, Snatch, Stunning Assault
Skills Intimidate +33, Perception +37, Stealth +27, Survival +37, Swim +53; Racial Modifiers +8 Stealth
Languages Common (can't speak)
Special Abilities
Ability Score Fast Healing (Ex) A zloty heals 1 point of ability damage for each ability, at the beginning of its turn. The creature also heals 1 point of ability drain every 24 hours.
Adaptive Armor (Ex) If a zloty takes weapon damage, the zloty immediately gains a +1 bonus to its natural armor.
Affliction Adaptation (Ex) For every failed save against a disease, poison or effect that causes a harmful condition, the zloty gains a cumulative +4 resistance bonus to future saves against that disease, poison, or harmful condition. This bonus also applies to the same poison, disease, or harmful condition from a different source.
Death Resistance (Ex) A zloty dies when it reaches negative hit points equal to double its Constitution score. If a zloty's hit points reach 0 or lower, its fast healing increases by 5 (to a maximum of fast healing 30).
Energy Adaptation (Ex) When a zloty takes damage from an energy type, its resist energy value doubles for that energy type. If a zloty takes damage from an energy type while it has resist energy 20 for that energy type, the zloty gains immunity to that energy type.
Replenishable Spurs (Ex) After a zloty uses its spur as a ranged attack, it cannot make a spur attack during its next turn as its spur grows back.
Zloty Spur Poison (Ex) Spur—injury; save Fort DC 31; frequency 1/round for 8 rounds; effect 1d6 Con and 1d6 Dex; cure 3 consecutive saves. The save DC is Constitution-based.
A zloty takes evolutionary growth to an incredible new level. The creature seems to be a bizarre assemblage of parts of random creatures and has an impressive array of natural weaponry, including a painfully poisonous spur that it can regrow after firing it at an opponent. In addition to a zloty's offensive capabilities, it boasts astonishing adaptability, featuring skin that thickens as the creature takes damage, and powerful resistances that improve to the point they render the zloty immune to energy damage, poison and disease. Perhaps most alarming, a zloty has chameleonic skin and a surprisingly light tread, making the creature difficult to spot considering its size. A zloty is 40 feet tall and weighs 20 tons.
A zloty is not native to this world, and the most common theory holds that the creature arrived from a magic-dead world (which may account for its spell resistance). The theory goes on to explain that the people of that world created the zloty as an experiment, somehow manipulating the creature's fundamental makeup without the aid of magic. Attempts to magically recreate a zloty have failed, sometimes spectacularly, but a sect of druids has managed to duplicate some of the creature's rapid adaptability in a spell.
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Zloty Adaptability
School transmutation; Level druid 7
Casting Time 1 round
Components V, S, DF
Range touch
Target creature touched
Duration 1 hour/level
Saving Throw Fortitude negates (harmless); Spell Resistance yes (harmless)
The subject of zloty adaptability begins with resist energy 5 to all energy types, fast healing 2, and a +4 natural armor bonus (which stacks with other natural armor bonuses). If the subject takes damage from an energy type, the resist energy value provided by the spell increases by 5 (to a maximum of 20) for that energy type. If the subject takes weapon damage, its natural armor bonus increases by +1 (to a maximum value equal to the caster level). Finally, if the subject's hit points drop to 0 or below, the subject immediately stabilizes, and fast healing provided by this spell increases by 2 (to a maximum of 10). This spell overlaps and does not stack with resist energy and protection from energy.
