Hello, and welcome to another (slightly late) edition of Frightful Fridays! I have two semi-related monsters for you this time, thanks to a discussion where my friend Gregg suggested swarms. I couldn't decide between the earth elemental swarm and the air elemental swarm, so I ended up including both.
I hope you enjoy these weird swarms, and I'll see you soon with another monster. Thanks for reading!
A cloud of sand kicks
up suddenly and moves against the prevailing direction of the wind.
Sandshred Swarm CR 9
XP 6,400
NE Fine outsider (earth, elemental, native, swarm)
Init +8; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception
+17
DEFENSE
AC 23, touch 23,
flat-footed 18 (+4 Dex, +1 dodge, +8 size)
hp 114 (12d10+48)
Fort +11, Ref +12, Will +6
Defensive Abilities
swarm traits; Immune elemental
traits
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft.
Melee swarm (3d6
plus blinding sand, distraction, and scouring sand)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks distraction
(DC 19)
STATISTICS
Str 1, Dex 18, Con 16, Int 3, Wis 14, Cha 9
Base Atk +12; CMB —; CMD —
Feats Dodge,
Improved Initiative, Lightning Stance, Mobility, Toughness, Wind Stance
Skills Knowledge
(nature) +10, Perception +17, Stealth +24
ECOLOGY
Environment any
desert
Organization
solitary, pair, or sandstorm (3–6)
Treasure none
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Blinding Sand (Ex)
A creature damaged by a sandshred swarm must attempt a DC 19 Reflex save. On a
failed save, the victim is blinded for 1d4 rounds; on a successful save, the
creature is instead dazzled for 1 round. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Scouring Sand (Ex)
A creature damaged by a sandshred swarm must succeed at a DC 19 Fortitude save
or take 1d2 points of bleed damage. Bleed damage inflicted by this ability
stacks with itself. The save DC is Constitution-based.
A sandshred swarm is composed of hundreds of individual earth
elementals collected for mutual protection. The individual creatures in this
living sandstorm enjoy the feeling of flesh peeling away as they strike living
creatures. While not capable of nuanced tactics, the elementals have learned
the value of lying in wait among desert sands with which they are virtually
indistinguishable. The swarm mixes in with shifting sand to give itself
additional protection from attacks.
Evil elementalists and powerful earth elementals command
sandshred swarms and have discovered a technique to bottle the swarms up and
release them on unsuspecting victims.
Dozens of individual, miniature
storms throw hundreds of miniscule lightning bolts, producing a strong ozone
odor.
Supercell Swarm CR 11
XP 12,800
CN Tiny outsider (air, elemental, native, swarm)
Init +11; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception
+21
DEFENSE
AC 24, touch 20,
flat-footed 16 (+7 Dex, +1 dodge, +4 natural, +2 size)
hp 147 (14d10+70)
Fort +13, Ref +18, Will +8
Defensive Abilities
swarm traits; Immune elemental
traits
OFFENSE
Speed fly 80 ft.
(good)
Melee swarm (3d6
plus 4d6 electricity, distraction, and multishock)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks
distraction (DC 21)
STATISTICS
Str 2, Dex 25, Con 19, Int 5, Wis 18, Cha 14
Base Atk +14; CMB —; CMD —
Feats Dodge,
Hover, Improved Initiative, Improved Lightning Reflexes, Lightning Reflexes,
Mobility, Toughness
Skills Fly +25,
Knowledge (nature) +14, Perception +21, Stealth +25
ECOLOGY
Environment any
temperate or warm land
Organization
solitary, pair, or squall (3–6)
Treasure none
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Hover A supercell
swarm is treated as a Large creature for the purposes of this feat.
Multishock (Ex) A
creature damaged by a supercell swarm must succeed at a DC 21 Fortitude save, or
become staggered for 1d4 rounds. If a creature is already staggered and fails
this save, it is instead stunned for 1d4 rounds. Stunned creatures are
unaffected by this ability. The save DC is Constitution-based.
A supercell swarm results when a massive thunderstorm begins
to break up and air elementals attracted to the storm inhabit the cloud fragments.
The elementals give the storm new life and collectively attack creatures still
caught outside. They relish overwhelming the nervous systems of their victims,
but they rarely remain among such victims while other mobile targets are available.
Given a choice, a supercell swarm prefers to pursue flying creatures and knock them
out of the sky.
The unpredictable elementals resist control by other
creatures, even more powerful air elementals. Spellcasters capable of generating
severe weather can attract a supercell swarm, but are equally potential prey
for the elementals.
