Huge Outsider (Augmented Magical Beast, Extraplanar, Fire)
Hit Dice: 11d10+58 (118 hp) Initiative: +1
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), swim 20 ft.
Armor Class: 21 (–2 size, +1 Dex, +12 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 20 Base Attack/Grapple: +11/+25 Attack: 11 bites +16 melee (1d10+6) Full Attack: 11 bites +16 melee (1d10+6) Space/Reach: 15 ft./10 ft. Special Attacks: Breath weapon Special Qualities: Aberrant behavior, darkvision 60 ft., fast healing 21, immune to mind-affecting effects, impossible ge- ometry, improved evasion, low-light vision, scent, space-time bending, unnatural aura
Saves: Fort +12, Ref +8, Will +5
Abilities: Str 23, Dex 12, Con 20, Int 2, Wis 10, Cha 9 Skills: Listen +9, Spot +9, Swim +14 Feats: Blind-Fight, Combat ReflexesB, Iron Will, Toughness, Weapon Focus (bite) Environment: Any Organization: Solitary Challenge Rating: 15
Treasure: 1/10 coins; 50% goods; 50% items
Alignment: Usually neutral Advancement: —
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Bladeblaze wyrms are terrible, roiling masses of intertwin- ing necks, limbs, and heads, whose interlacing challenges the minds of all who view the creature. Their name comes from their toothy and fiery attacks.Combat
Bladeblaze wyrms can attack with all their heads at no penalty, even if they move or charge during the round. A bladeblaze wyrm can be killed either by severing all its heads or by slaying its body. To sever a head, an oppo- nent must make a successful sunder attempt with a slash- ing weapon. (The player should declare where the attack is aimed before making the attack roll—aiming for a head means looking directly at the wyrm and all the ramifica- tions thereof.) An opponent can strike at a wyrm’s heads from any position in which he could strike at the wyrm itself, because the bladeblaze wyrm’s heads writhe and whip about in combat. An opponent can ready an action to attempt to sunder a bladeblaze wyrm’s head when the creature bites at him. Each of a wyrm’s heads has 10 hit points, and losing a head deals 5 points of damage to the body. A natural reflex seals the neck shut to prevent further blood loss. A bladeblaze wyrm can no longer attack with a severed head but takes no other penalties.
Each time a head is severed, two new heads spring from the stump in 1d4 rounds. A bladeblaze wyrm can never have more than twice its original number of heads at any one time, and any extra heads it gains beyond its original number wither and die within a day. To prevent a severed head from growing back into two heads, at least 5 points of cold or acid damage must be dealt to the stump (a touch attack to hit) before the new heads appear. A frost weapon (or similar effect) deals its energy damage to the stump in the same blow in which a head is severed. Cold or acid damage from an area effect may seal multiple stumps in ad- dition to dealing damage to the wyrm’s body. A bladeblaze wyrm does not die from losing its heads until all its heads have been cut off and the stumps sealed by cold or acid. Targeted magical effects cannot sever a bladeblaze wyrm’s heads (and thus must be directed at the body) un- less they deal slashing damage and can be used to make sunder attempts.
Breath Weapon (Su): Bladeblaze wyrms can breathe jets
of fire 10 feet high, 10 feet wide, and 20 feet long. All heads breathe once every 1d4 rounds. Each jet deals 3d6 points of fire damage per head. A successful DC 20 Reflex save halves the damage.
Aberrant Behavior (Ex): A bladeblaze wyrm must make
a DC 15 Will save at the beginning of any confrontation. If it fails the save, it acts as if affected by a confusion spell.
After 24 hours, and each 24-hour period thereafter, the creature may make a new saving throw to throw off the effect.
Impossible Geometry (Ex): Due to the indescribable ge-
ometries a bladeblaze wyrm demonstrates, those who see one must make a DC 14 Will save. Those who make the save are subconsciously aware that something is completely
wrong with the thing and may avoid looking directly at it, but doing so grants the bladeblaze wyrm total concealment (50% miss chance) when combined with its space-time bending ability (do not roll both for an attack affected by concealment). Opponents choosing to look directly at the creature anyway are treated as having automatically failed this save.
Those who fail the initial Will save are required to make another Will save with their positive Intelligence bonus as a penalty on the roll. (Beings with greater intelligence are more likely to fail this saving throw.) Success renders the victim shaken for 2d6 rounds, but he suffers no other adverse effects and doesn’t have to save against the same bladeblaze wyrm’s impossible geometry again for 24 hours. If the save fails, the victim’s mind has attempted to grasp the impossible angles of the creature and is driven insane, acting as if under the effects of a confusion spell. This con-
dition can be instantly reversed with a heal spell or other
insanity-curing magic. Every 24 hours, the insane being is allowed to try to recover with another DC 14 Will saving throw. Those who recuperate from this insanity without outside aid may be left with permanent psychological dam- age or personality quirks. This is a mind-affecting ability.
Improved Evasion (Ex): Due to the space/time bending
nature of a bladeblaze wyrm, if it is exposed to any effect that normally allows a creature to attempt a Reflex saving throw for half damage, it takes no damage with a successful saving throw. The bladeblaze wyrm takes only half damage if it fails the save.
Space-Time Bending (Ex): The bladeblaze wyrm exists
at right angles to normal existence. Because of this, the bladeblaze wyrm has a 20% chance to simply ignore any attack, spell, or other action targeting it. The bladeblaze wyrm may not voluntarily fail this check to allow a benefi- cial act to affect it.
Unnatural Aura (Su): All animals (and many children)
can sense a bladeblaze wyrm when it is within 100 feet of them, and they will not willingly approach it.
Skills: Bladeblaze wyrms have a +2 racial bonus on
Listen and Spot checks, thanks to their multiple heads. A bladeblaze wyrm has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can al- ways choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight line.
Feats: A bladeblaze wyrm’s Combat Reflexes feat allows
it to use all its heads for attacks of opportunity.
Redeemed
As a celestial can fall to lust and worse, so too can the base and depraved beings of the netherworlds rise above their natures and bring light to the universe or at least do less harm than their base kin. This occurrence, unfortunately, is extremely rare. Worse, their erstwhile relatives often hunt the redeemed—the path of goodness then being doubly dire to tread. More commonly, fiends turn from a slavish
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life of evil to pursue their own philosophies and desires without the burden of extremism. These latter monsters are just as frequently slain by their kin as some misguided celestial or group of heroes. Fiends that maintain an evil alignment, yet go against their station, are not redeemed. They’re only rebellious.
Appearance Changes
Unlike the fallen, good redeemed always take on a more pleasant aspect. They may still be monstrous, but some change comes over them showing their new link to good- ness (if any). Neutral fiends look much as they did in the abyss that spawned them, with only their attitudes to set them apart.