Gas Spore

in those nearby. Any living creature within 10 feet of an eidolon must make a successful Will saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 the eidolon’s Hit Dice + Wis modifi er) each round or become confused for 1 round.

Special Qualities: An elder eidolon loses all special qualities of the base creature, but gains the special qualities listed below.

Construct Traits: An eidolon has immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, necromancy effects, mind-affecting spells and abilities (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects), and any effect that requires a Fortitude save unless it also works on objects or is harmless. It is not subject to extra damage from critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability damage, ability drain, fatigue, exhaustion, or energy drain. It cannot heal damage, but it can be repaired. It has darkvision out to 60 feet and low-light vision.

Damage Reduction: An eidolon gains damage reduction based on the base creature’s Hit Dice:

Hit Dice Damage Reduction 1–3 1/adamantine 4 – 6 3/adamantine 7–10 5/adamantine 11–15 7/adamantine 16 or more 10/adamantine

Fast Repair (Ex): An eidolon repairs damage to itself at a rate of 5 hit points per round as long as it is above 0 hit points.

Immunity to Magic (Ex): An eidolon is immune to any spell or spell-like ability that allows spell resistance. In addition, certain spells and effects function differently against the creature, as noted below.

Etherealness immediately repairs damage to an eidolon equal to the spell’s caster level. Dimensional anchor causes an eidolon to cease functioning for 1 round (treat as if dazed). Dimensional lock does not interfere with an eidolon’s operation, but an eidolon that enters the area of a dimensional lock spell or similar effect loses the benefi ts of its otherworldly geometry and its insanity aura. A transmute rock to mud spell slows an eidolon (as the slow spell) for 2d6 rounds, with no saving throw, while transmute mud to rock heals all of its lost hit points. A stone to fl esh spell does not actually change an eidolon’s structure, but negates its damage reduction and immunity to magic for 1 round.

Otherworldly Geometry (Su): An eidolon’s form incorporates what should be impossible geometrics. This warping of planar realities around an elder eidolon grants it a +4 defl ection bonus to its Armor Class.

Saves: Recalculate an eidolon’s saving throws. The eidolon’s base save bonuses are Fort +1/3 Hit Dice, Ref +1/3 Hit Dice, and Will +1/3 Hit Dice.

Abilities: Modify the base creature’s ability scores as follows: Strength +8, Dexterity +4. An eidolon has no Constitution or Intelligence score. Change its Wisdom score to 11, and its Charisma score to 1.

Skills and Feats: An eidolon loses all skill points and feats, except feats that improve its attacks, such as Improved Natural Attack, Multiattack, or Weapon Finesse.

Environment: Any.

Organization: None.

Challenge Rating: As base creature +3.

Treasure: None.

Alignment: Always neutral.

Advancement: —.

Level Adjustment: —.

CONSTRUCTING AN ELDER EIDOLON

Although the technique to build eidolons is ancient and, for all practical purposes, lost to time, rules for creating them are presented here. Discovering the secrets of creating eidolons could form the core of a high-level adventure. The eidolon’s creator must have the Craft Construct feat. The eidolon’s body must be built from stone, and requires a DC 25 Craft (sculpting or stonemasonry) check. Knowledge (architecture and engineering) can be substituted for the Craft skill when building an eidolon. The cost of the eidolon’s body depends on its size:

Size Cost Tiny 500 gp Small 1,000 gp Medium 2,000 gp Large 5,000 gp Huge 10,000 gp Gargantuan 25,000 gp Colossal 50,000 gp

The market price is 6,000 gp per Hit Die of the eidolon, plus the cost of its body. The cost to create is 3,000 gp and 240 XP per Hit Die, plus the cost of the body. The minimum caster level to create an eidolon is equal to its Hit Dice. For example, a Gargantuan eidolon with 20 Hit Dice has a market price of 145,000 gp and requires 4,800 XP to create. The cost to create is 85,000 gp, and the caster must be at least 20th level.

GAS SPORE

Large Plant Hit Dice: 10d8–30 (15 hp) Initiative: –3 Speed: 5 ft. (1 square), fl y 20 ft. (poor) Armor Class: 6 (–1 size, –3 Dex), touch 6, fl at-footed 6 Base Attack/Grapple: +7/+14 Attack: Slam +9 melee (1d6+4 and spores) Full Attack: Slam +9 melee (1d6+4 and spores) Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft. Special Attacks: Death throes, infestation Special Qualities: All-around vision, beholder camoufl age, fl ight, low light vision Saves: Fort +4, Ref +0, Will +3 Abilities: Str 16, Dex 4, Con 4, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 1

Skills: Disguise –5 (+15 imitating beholders), Search +4,

Spot +4 Feats: — Environment: Cold hills Organization: Solitary, pair, or cluster (3–6) Challenge Rating: 3 Treasure: Spores; see text Alignment: Always neutral Advancement: — Level Adjustment: —

A bulbous body fl oats toward you. It has a central, unblinking eye, and a large maw fi lled with daggerlike teeth. Smaller eyes, attached to wriggling stalks, sprout from the top of the orblike body.

The gas spore is a highly specialized form of plant life originally created by ancient beholder mages. Since then, these prolifi c creatures have spread far and wide. While a gas spore resembles a beholder in appearance, it is in fact a form of f ung us. The creature is hollow, fi lled with a large volume of spores under terrifi c pressure. A gas spore is typically about 8 feet across but weighs only 50 pounds.

COMBAT

Gas spores are mindless, but far from harmless. When they sense a nearby creature, they immediately approach and attempt to infest the creature with spores. A gas spore attacks by slamming into a creature with its body. Upon contacting a target, thousands of tiny fi laments lash at the creature’s fl esh and infest it with spores. As mindless creatures, gas spores pursue their selected target relentlessly until slain or until the target escapes beyond their range of sight. Even then, a gas spore continues to drift lazily in the direction it last saw its target.

Death Throes (Ex): A gas spore reduced to 0 or fewer hit points immediately explodes in a powerful burst of spores and foul-smelling gas. This blast affects all creatures in a 10-foot radius, dealing them 6d6 points of sonic damage and exposing them to the spores (see Infestation, below). A DC 10 Refl ex save halves the damage. The save DC is Constitution-based. The spores are dispersed in this explosion and cannot be harvested thereafter.

Infestation (Ex): Any living nonplant creature that is damaged by a gas spore’s slam attack or its death throes must immediately succeed on a DC 12 Fortitude save or become infested with spores. An infested creature takes 1d4 points of Constitution damage upon becoming infested and an additional 1d4 points of Constitution damage every hour that follows as the spores rapidly grow and consume fl esh. The save DC is Constitution-based. These spores are similar to poison, and anything that delays, neutralizes, or prevents poisoning has a similar effect on the spores. Creatures immune to extra damage from critical hits or immune to poison are immune to a gas spore’s infestation. When the victim’s Constitution is reduced to 0, it dies. Its body immediately dissolves into a formless mush that transforms into 1d4 Small gas spores over the course of 1 minute. Each Small gas spore has 1 Hit Die. These gas spores grow rapidly, gaining 1 Hit Die per minute until they reach their maximum size (10 Hit Dice). Beholders, beholderkin, and creatures with beholder grafts are immune to gas spore infestation, and gas spores know intrinsically to ignore such creatures. All-Around Vision (Ex): A gas spore Gas spore can see in all directions at once. Because of this, it gains a +4 racial bonus on Search and Spot checks, and it cannot be fl anked. Beholder Camoufl age (Ex): A gas spore’s appearance is so clever that it gains a +20 racial bonus on Disguise checks to appear as a beholder. Flight (Ex): A gas spore’s body is naturally buoyant. This buoyancy allows it to fl y at a speed of 20 feet. This buoyancy also grants it a permanent feather fall effect (as the spell) with personal range.

HARVESTING GAS SPORES A typical gas spore yields 1d4 doses of usable gas spore powder with a DC 20 Craft (alchemy) check; failure by 5 or more results in the gas spore’s explosion and the destruction of its supply of spores (and possible infestation of the harvester). Gas spore powder is a dangerous poison that costs 500 gp per dose. Anyone who dies of this poison quickly deteriorates into 1d4 Small gas spores as detailed above under the creature’s infestation attack. Poison (Ex): Contact, Fortitude DC 12, initial and secondary damage 1d4 Con.

Illus. by D. Crabapple