Fourthcore Bestiary: PAX East DM Challenge Absentee Edition

Close enough.

The PAX East 2011 DM Challenge is coming up this weekend, and this year’s theme is “a unique and fantastic dragon and its lair.” Sadly, I can’t attend, but that didn’t stop me from thinking about what I might write were I there to participate. Today’s Fourthcore Bestiary is the result of those daydreams.

According to the event rules, the adventure must culminate in a “showdown with a draconic foe.” Below, you’ll find such a foe: the primeval chimeric dracolisk!

Primeval Chimeric Dracolisk

Said to be the offspring of the first black dragon and the first basilisk, this six-legged three-headed abomination hibernates in its underground grotto for centuries at a time, stirring only when the hunger for stone becomes too great to ignore. Ancient beyond the memory of even the gods, the primeval chimeric dracolisk is a legendary force of nature that cannot be subdued.

Primeval Chimeric Dracolisk

Level 10 Solo Soldier (XP 2,500)
Huge natural magical beast (dragon, reptile)

HP 400; Bloodied 200
Initiative +12
AC 26, Fort 23, Reflex 21, Will 23
Speed 6, fly 6 (clumsy)
Perception +7, darkvision, fleshsense 10
Immune gaze, petrifaction
Resist 15 acid
Saving Throws +5
Action Points 2

TRAITS

Relentless Territorialism * Aura 3
The dracolisk makes a coup de grace bite attack as a free action against any creature that starts its turn in the aura helpless.

Basilisk Weakness
If an attack scores a critical hit against the dracolisk, it is blinded and cannot use powers with the gaze keyword until the end of its next turn.

Primeval Action
Whenever the dracolisk spends an action point, it may recharge one power of its choice. A power may only be recharged in this way once per round.

Primeval Recovery
At the end of the dracolisk’s turn, any dazing, stunning, or dominating effect on it ends.

STANDARD ACTIONS

Acidic Bite (acid) * At-Will
Attack: Melee 3 (one creature); +15 vs. AC
Hit: 3d8 + 5 damage, plus 10 acid damage.

Rending Claws * At-Will
Effect: The dracolisk makes four claw attacks.

Petrifying Gaze (gaze) * At-Will
Attack: Close blast 5 (one creature in the blast); +15 vs. Fortitude
Hit: The target is immobilized (save ends). Second Failed Save: The target is petrified (no save).

Gaze of the Chimera * At-Will
Effect: The dracolisk makes up to three petrifying gaze attacks, each against a different creature.

Acid Breath (acid) * Recharge 5 6
Attack: Close blast 5 (creatures in the blast); +15 vs. Reflex
Hit: 4d6 + 12 acid damage, and ongoing 10 acid damage (save ends). Third Failed Save: The target is reduced to a moldering skeleton.
Miss: Half damage, and no ongoing damage.

Primeval Might * Recharge 6
Effect: The dracolisk makes four claw attacks and three petrifying gaze attacks.

MINOR ACTIONS

Claw * At-Will
Attack: Melee 2 (one creature); +15 vs. AC
Hit: 2d6 + 6 damage. This attack deals an extra 1d6 damage to creatures granting combat advantage to the dracolisk.

TRIGGERED ACTIONS

Acidic Blood (acid) * At-Will
Trigger: The dracolisk is hit by a melee attack.
Attack (No Action): Melee 2 (the triggering creature); +15 vs. Reflex
Hit: 10 acid damage, and the target is blinded (save ends). Second Failed Save: The target is permanently blinded.
Special: If the dracolisk is bloodied, this attack hits automatically.

Bloodied Breath * Encounter
Trigger: The dracolisk is first bloodied.
Effect (Free Action): Acid breath recharges, and the dracolisk uses it three times.

Primeval Fury * At-Will
Trigger: The dracolisk fails a saving throw.
Effect (Free Action): The dracolisk makes a claw or bite attack, even if it would be otherwise unable to do so (such as while stunned). This attack scores a critical hit on an 18-20.

Str 21 (+10) Dex 13 (+6) Wis 14 (+7)
Con 20 (+10) Int 15 (+7) Cha 21 (+10)
Languages Draconic

Protomoon

This 10′ diameter sphere of dark stone flies about the dracolisk’s grotto, churning the bog with its gravitational pull.

Protomoon

Level 10 Hazard (XP 500)
Large Object

Initiative acts with dracolisk
HP 80
AC 24, Fortitude 22, Reflex 24, Will -
Immune acid, necrotic, poison, psychic, all conditions except immobilized and restrained, ongoing damage
Speed fly 5 (hover)

TRAITS

Tidal Force * Aura 2
Enemies in the aura take a -2 penalty to saving throws versus being immobilized.

STANDARD ACTIONS

Tidal Barrage * At-Will
Attack: Close burst 5 (creatures in the burst in difficult terrain); +13 vs. Fortitude
Hit: The target is slid 3 squares and knocked prone.

TRIGGERED ACTIONS

Shatter * Encounter
Trigger: The dracolisk is first bloodied, or the protomoon is reduced to 0 hit points.
Attack: The protomoon explodes, raining meteors down upon the grotto. Close burst 5 (creatures in the burst); +13 vs. Reflex
Hit: 3d6 + 6 damage.
Effect: The burst creates a zone of raining meteors that lasts until the end of the encounter. Creatures in the zone other than the dracolisk grant combat advantage.

COUNTERMEASURES

Pull Down. An effect that knocks the protomoon prone causes it to fall from the air unless it makes a saving throw. Medium-sized or smaller creatures in the 2-by-2 square area underneath the falling protomoon are attacked (+9 vs. Reflex). On a hit, they are crushed to death. On a miss, they are pushed into the nearest safe square of their choice. In either case, the protomoon cracks open and is destroyed. It has a crystal core worth 5,000 gp.

 

This article is part of the Fourthcore Bestiary series.