First up is the ceramifrog. The Inktober theme for Saturday was "breakable," and the ceramifrog definitely fits the bill. However, it becomes more dangerous the more it gets broken, leaving caltrop-like shards behind and eventually animating the shards as swarms that slice and dice their opponents. After all, I couldn't let the month go by without designing a swarm.
A word of caution when using this as written: an encounter with a ceramiforg and its two swarm "offsrping" is actually CR 6.
As with all this month's Frogtober offerings, the ceramifrog comes complete with a great illustration by Hugo Solis (https://www.deviantart.com/butterfrog)!
I hope you enjoy the ceramifrog, and I'll see you later today with Sunday's monster.
Say hello to my little friends
This giant ceramic
statue of a frog is painted in green and blue, featuring tree, leaf, and water
motifs on its surface.
Ceramifrog CR
4
XP 1,200
N Huge construct
Init –2;
Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light
vision; Perception +0
DEFENSE
AC 16, touch 6,
flat-footed 16 (–2 Dex, +10 natural, –2 size)
hp 67 (5d10+40)
Fort +1, Ref –1,
Will +1
Defensive Abilities
ceramic shards; DR 10/bludgeoning; Immune construct traits, electricity,
fire; Resist acid 10, cold 10
Weaknesses
vulnerability to bludgeoning damage
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee slam +9
(2d6+9)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks
trample (2d6+9, DC 18)
STATISTICS
Str 23, Dex 7, Con —, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 13
Base Atk +5; CMB +13; CMD 21 (25 vs. trip)
SQ camouflage
ECOLOGY
Environment any
land
Organization
solitary or row (2–10)
Treasure none
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Camouflage (Ex)
Since a ceramifrog looks like an ornamental statue when at rest, a DC 20
Perception check is required to notice it before it attacks for the first time.
A creature with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can use that skill instead of
Perception to notice the ceramifrog.
Ceramic Shards (Ex)
If a ceramifrog is struck with a bludgeoning weapon, it releases a spray of
shards in a 15-foot cone, centered on the creature that struck it. Creatures in
the cone take 3d6 points of slashing damage (Reflex DC 14 half). If the
creature that dealt the damage is adjacent to the ceramifrog, it has a –4
penalty on the save. The space is treated as covered in caltrops, except they
deal 1 point of bleed damage in addition to all other damage and effects when
stepped on. Additionally, the ceramifrog’s slam attacks inflict 1d4 points of
bleed. The save DC is Constitution-based and includes a +2 racial bonus.
When a ceramifrog is reduced to 30 hit points or less, and
then when it is destroyed, the various shards collect together into a
ceramifrog shard swarm at the beginning of the ceramifrog’s next turn. If the
ceramifrog starts with more than 30 hit points and is destroyed, it creates two
swarms.
Shards of blue and
green ceramic swirl about on the ground.
Ceramifrog Shard
Swarm CR 2
XP 600
N Tiny construct (swarm)
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light
vision; Perception +0
DEFENSE
AC 14, touch 14,
flat-footed 12 (+2 Dex, +2 size)
hp 27 (5d10)
Fort +1, Ref +3, Will +1
Defensive Abilities
swarm traits; Immune construct
traits, electricity, fire
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee swarm (1d6
plus 1d4 bleed and distraction)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks
distraction (DC 12)
STATISTICS
Str 1, Dex 15, Con —, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 13
Base Atk +5; CMB —; CMD —
ECOLOGY
Environment any
land
Organization
solitary or scattering (2–20)
Treasure none
Ceramifrogs are decorative constructs that beautify their
owners’ homes. However, they also serve a deadlier purpose as protectors of
those same homes. Ceramifrogs usually open hostilities by surprising intruders
and running them over. They then repeatedly bash themselves against their foes
until they are destroyed, or their foes have fled or fallen. Destruction of
ceramifrogs is only the beginning, as they leave deadly shards in their wake,
and those shards are animated as swarms by the same forces that animate the
parent construct.
An intact ceramifrog is 15 feet tall and weighs 700 pounds.
A fully intact, but inert ceramifrog is worth 2,000 gp to an interested buyer.
To reconstruct a destroyed ceramifrog, make
whole and more powerful, similar spells must be used to restore it to its
full hit point total.
