Monday, September 22, 2014

Frightful Fridays! (Manic Monsterdays) Siege Scorpion

Welcome to a laaate installment of Frightful Fridays! A siege scorpion is a not-so-mindless, yet still immune to mind-affecting effects, vermin-like creature, so their one-time masters had to train them somehow, but that knowledge has been lost to time. Most likely characters will encounter a scorpion as it lays siege to a castle or other fortification.

 

I hope you enjoy the siege scorpion, and I will be back in four days with a new monster. Thanks for reading!

This fun little monster can be found here.

 

This massive scorpion has a dark carapace with a dull metallic appearance. Its gigantic claws look like they could crush stone and its stinger could easily impale a person.
Siege Scorpion CR 17
XP 102,400
N Colossal magical beast
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +30

Defense
AC 32, touch 4, flat-footed 30 (+2 Dex, +28 natural, –8 size)
hp 287 (23d10+161)
Fort +20, Ref +15, Will +8
DR 20/adamantine; Immune acid, cold, fire, mind-affecting effects

Offense
Speed 60 ft., burrow 40 ft.
Melee 2 claws +27 (5d6+12 plus grab), sting +27 (4d8+12/19–20)
Ranged 4 stingers +21 (4d8+12/19–20)
Space 30 ft.; Reach 20 ft. (30 ft. with sting)
Special Attacks constrict (5d6+12), destructive weaponry, poison, sundering claws, volley of stingers

Statistics
Str 34, Dex 15, Con 25, Int 4, Wis 12, Cha 5
Base Atk +23; CMB +43 (+47 grapple); CMD 55 (63 vs. trip)
Feats Bleeding Critical, Combat Reflexes, Crippling Critical, Critical Focus, Critical Mastery[B], Deadly Finish, Diehard, Endurance, Hammer the Gap, Improved Critical (sting), Opening Volley, Power Attack
Skills Climb +20, Perception +30; Racial Modifiers +8 Perception

Special Abilities
Destructive Weaponry (Ex) A siege scorpion's attacks bypass hardness as if they were adamantine weapons.
Poison (Ex) Sting—injury; save Fort DC 28; frequency 1/round for 8 rounds; initial effect paralysis for 1d6 rounds; secondary effect 1d6 Str and 1d6 Con; cure 3 consecutive saves. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Sundering Claws (Ex) If a siege scorpion deals constrict damage to an opponent, it gains an automatic sunder attack against the opponent's armor without incurring attacks of opportunity.
Volley of Stingers (Ex) A siege scorpion regrows lost stingers in rapid succession, allowing it to fire a total of four per round as part of a full attack. It cannot make a melee attack with it stinger during this attack. The scorpion has a +4 racial bonus on its ranged attacks with the stingers.

Destructive engines of war used in ancient battles, siege scorpions were shelved when their masters no longer need them. The long-lived creatures, infused with barely sentient elemental spirits, bred in their forgotten underground hold. They recently escaped and dispersed to resume their tasks of leveling fortifications and dispatching defenders, but as masterless beasts. With no direction, and a dim recollection of their duty, the scorpions attack anything that looks remotely defensible. Fortunately, they spare poor villages without any obviously tall walls or forts.

The earth elemental infusion gives siege scorpions a nigh-impenetrable carapace and the capability to bypass all but the strongest materials. The fire elemental infusion grants siege scorpions a surprising grace for their size and bulk. Finally, the water elemental infusion allows them to rapidly regenerate lost stingers to fire a barrage at defenders. All three infusions provide immunity to the related energy types. The scorpions' ancient creators could never get an air elemental infusion to stick, but rumors hold that successful infusions allow their scorpions to charge their flung stingers with an explosive ball of energy when they strike a target.

Typical siege scorpions weigh 12 tons and live for 1,500 years.