Chapter Seven
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Monsters When the heavens rain down exotica from places beyond the boundaries of the germane, sometimes creatures from these unknown spheres are transported to the world, and are considered to be monsters.
ndeed, they are monstrous in nature, wholly unlike any creatures the player characters have ever encountered. Some of them, such as the ark guardian and the memekeeper, are charged with fulfilling a purpose that may bring them into conflict with PCs. Others, such as the cruor, are vicious and voracious monsters that exist only to bring suffering and death to any victims they come across. The table below summarizes the Challenge Ratings for the six new creatures introduced in this chapter.
I
CR 3 5 7 9 13 17
Monster Star ooze Hungry dreamer Memekeeper Lesser ark guardian Cruor Ark guardian
Ark Guardians ARK GUARDIAN Huge Dragon (Plasma) Hit Dice: 25d12 + 150 (312 hp) Initiative: +5 Speed: 50 feet AC: 33 (–2 size, +24 natural, +1 Dexterity) Attacks: 2 slams +35 melee, gore +33 melee, kick +33 melee Damage: Slam 2d6+11, gore 2d8+5, kick 2d6+5 Face/Reach: 10 feet by 10 feet/15 feet Special Attacks: Breath weapon, frightful presence, plasma immolation, spell-like abilities Special Qualities: Ark guardian, blindsight 200 feet, damage reduction 10/+4, dragon traits, fast healing 10, plasma subtype, spell resistance 27 Saves: Fort +20, Ref +15, Will +18 Abilities: Str 33, Dex 13, Con 23, Int 10, Wis 19, Cha 18 Skills: Diplomacy +8, Hide +3, Jump +39, Listen +34, Search +28, Sense Motive +32, Spot +34 Feats: Alertness, Cleave, Great Cleave, Improved Initiative, Multiattack, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (slam) Climate/Terrain: Any (on a world containing an engram ark) Organization: Solitary or swarm (2–5 lesser ark guardians plus one ark guardian) Challenge Rating: 17 Treasure: Half standard Alignment: Neutral Advancement: 26–30 HD (Huge); 31–39 HD (Gargantuan); 40–56 HD (Colossal)
LESSER ARK GUARDIAN Large Dragon (Plasma) Hit Dice: 16d12 + 64 (168 hp) Initiative: +0 Speed: 40 feet AC: 24 (–1 size, +15 natural) Attacks: 2 slams +25 melee, gore +23 melee, kick +23 melee Damage: Slam 1d8+9, gore 2d6+4, kick 1d8+4 Face/Reach: 5 feet by 5 feet/10 feet Special Attacks: Breath weapon, frightful presence, plasma immolation, spell-like abilities Special Qualities: Ark guardian, blindsight 120 feet, damage reduction 10/+3, dragon traits, fast healing 5, plasma subtype, spell resistance 19 Saves: Fort +14, Ref +10, Will +12 Abilities: Str 29, Dex 10, Con 19, Int 10, Wis 15, Cha 14 Skills: Diplomacy +4, Hide +1, Jump +24, Listen +23, Search +19, Sense Motive +21, Spot +23 Feats: Alertness, Cleave, Great Cleave, Multiattack, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (Slam) Climate/Terrain: Any (on a world containing an engram ark) Organization: Solitary, pair, or swarm (2–5 lesser ark guardians plus one ark guardian) Challenge Rating: 9 Treasure: Half standard Alignment: Neutral Advancement: 17–24 HD (Large); 25+ HD (advances to ark guardian) The ark guardian is a special class of powerful creature dedicated to the task of guarding engram arks. Despite being bred from powerful otherworldly dragons, ark guardians have the rough aspect of huge, scaled humanoids. Infused with the celestial energy of plasma, an ark guardian radiates light from between its scales as if from the inner presence of a violet sun. Weighing anywhere from 900 lbs. (for Large lesser ark guardians) to 5,000 lbs. (for mature ark guardians), these mighty-thewed scaled monstrosities can both breathe plasma and wield spells, always for the benefit for their charge: their associated engram ark. Ark guardians typically fall as if calved meteorites from a larger strike containing an engram ark. They pepper the countryside around an engram ark (see Guardians of the Ark on page 14 in Chapter One) and become active if they sense the impact area is receiving too much attention from locals. While ark guardians are responsive to diplomacy, especially if offered treasure—a penchant that seems to be a relic of their draconic
