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Legacy of the Dragons
Briar Beast Large Magical Beast Hit Dice: 8d10+40 (84 hp), dying/dead –5/–19 Initiative: +0 Speed: 40 feet AC: 23 (–1 size, +14 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 23 Base Attack/Grapple: +8/+18 Attack: Claw +13 melee (1d6+6) or briar whip +8 melee (1d8+6) Full Attack: 2 claws +13 melee (1d6+6) and gore +11 melee (1d8+3), or 2 briar whips +8 melee (1d8+6) Space/Reach: 10 feet/10 feet or 15 feet (briar whips) (Face/Reach: 5 feet by 5 feet/10 feet or 15 feet) Special Attacks: Control briars Special Qualities: Low-light vision, briars, immunities Saves: Fort +10, Ref +6, Will +5 Abilities: Str 23, Dex 11, Con 19, Int 6, Wis 13, Cha 9 Skills: Knowledge (nature) +4, Listen +4, Spot +3 Feats: Light Sleeper, Multiattack*, Opportunistic Attack†, Stunning Blow Environment: Temperate forest or hills Organization: Solitary or pair Challenge Rating: 6 Treasure: Standard Advancement: 9–12 HD (Large); 13–16 HD (Huge) Level Adjustment: +3 * Denotes a feat from the MM.
A huge beast covered in briar tangles, this monstrosity roams the wilderness, capturing prey by mentally controlling the strands of briars wrapped around it. It can use them to grab foes, whip them, or spray them with barbs. It can even control briars found in patches nearby, causing them to grasp at foes or forming them into difficult barriers. The briar beast is a predator, but normally it only goes after prey that does not fight back. Nevertheless, it can prove a threat to humanoids, because it defends its territory against all other perceived competition. It is an obstinate and easily irritated beast. The briar beast usually roams alone, but occasionally two siblings (the beasts are always born in litters of two) or a mated pair hunt together. Unless part of such a pairing, briar beasts hate others of their kind more than anything. Anytime a beast comes upon a briar patch, it renews the briar tangles that wrap around it. It often sleeps within briar patches but rarely keeps a permanent lair, unless it is caring for newborn young. For their first year, the parents watch over these young beasts closely. Known for its extremely durable armored hide, the briar beast has a muscular physique. It normally walks on all
fours, with its back hunched. It can, for short periods, walk on only its rear legs, which—unlike the massive weapons on its front legs—bear only small claws. Its head looks a little like that of a boar, with two yellowish tusks on each side of its wide snout. Its hide is dark brown with tufts of long, wiry black hair. The briars covering the creature are light brown and dark green.
Combat When hunting, a briar beast aggressively pursues its quarry by running it down and grasping with briars (or its claws). Against dangerous foes, it fights defensively, retracting into a tight mass of muscle, claws, and briars. Briars (Ex): This beast is covered in barbs. Any creature that attempts to grapple it, becomes grappled by it, or strikes it with natural weapons (including unarmed strikes) suffers 1d3 points of damage per round from the barbs. Control Briars (Su): The briar beast can psionically control all briars within 50 feet at will, making them move as if using telekinesis. This ability allows it to produce a number of effects, each requiring a standard action (except for wall of thorns, which requires a full round). Whip: The simplest thing the briar beast can do is whip someone with a strand of briars. It can strike anyone within 15 feet of itself with a strand from its own body. It can also use a separate briar strand within 50 feet of it to attack a target within 15 feet of the briar. (A briar whip not wrapped around the beast strikes with an attack bonus of +8, inflicting 1d8 points of damage.) The briar beast can use one briar whip attack as a standard action or two as a full attack action. Grapple: A creature struck by a briar whip is subject to an immediate grapple attack if the beast wishes it. This does not provoke an attack of opportunity. A briar attached to the beast may use the beast’s size and grapple bonus. Otherwise, the briar’s grapple bonus is +8, and it is treated as a Medium creature. An individual strand has a hardness of 2 and 5 hit points. Spray Barbs: The briars wrapped around the beast flail about, launching their barbs in all directions. Everyone within 30 feet suffers 3d6 points of damage. A Reflex saving throw (DC 14) decreases the damage by half. The beast can spray barbs only from its own encircling briars. The saving throw DC is Dexterity based. Wall of Thorns: This effect, which takes a full-round action to create, requires a particularly thick, briar-filled area beyond those briars attached to the beast itself. The beast creates an effect as described in the wall of thorns spell, as if cast by a 10th-level caster. The briar beast can use this ability once per day.
