The fighter jumped back, grabbing the wizard and dragging her along as the sand erupted beneath their feet. Daggers flashed into the hands of the rogue while the cleric readied his staff, eyes wide at the beast dragging itself from the sands. A scorpion of epic proportions, its ebony carapace was interrupted by crystals growing along its shell. Rather than a stinger, its arching tail ended in a geode that glittered in the bright sun. Crimson eyes fixed upon the adventurers as its claws snapped menacingly in the air. The wizard scrambled to her feet as the fighter pulled his shield in front of him – just before a spray erupted from the geode. It splattered across the grizzled warrior and splashed onto the caster and within seconds, crystals began to grow upon them, weighing them down as the rest of their band looked on in astonishment.
The akura vashimu originates from Monster Hunter Frontier and is the first carapaceon not to be based on a crustacean. Its scorpion design is embellished by crystal growth covering its body, particularly its tail. The akura vashimu wields a unique status it can inflict called crystallization, which is recreated in this build through its Crystal Spray. This uses an extreme DC to start out with since it has no damaging effect on it. In-game, crystallization drains the stamina of hunters, represented by the fatigued condition while the misbalancing weight of the crystals throws them off-guard. This penalties stack, which led to me using only a moderate attack bonus for the akura vashimu's attacks. When the crystals detonate, they deal standard limited use area damage at a high DC. The cooldown is a little longer to prevent the akura vashimu from keeping creatures constantly crystallized even if it only gets to use it once per encounter.
It can use its Lay Geode more regularly but doing so prevents it from utilizing its tail in its attacks as it detaches the cluster of crystals at the end of its tail. These grow back quickly, meaning there are some shenanigans that can be used with it, but these exploding geodes deal unlimited use area damage at a high DC. The area is small, but using the Improved Grab ability of its claws or the Savage Sting that might have a greater benefit in light of the changes to Grab in the remaster where creatures have to roll for it. The akura vashimu uses Reactive Strike mainly to discourage enemies from moving from away from its geodes whereas Erupt From Beneath is more unique and fits how the akura vashimu likes to hide beneath the sand when first encountered. On a different note, the akura vashimu does have immunity to several conditions based on their immunity to a number of status effects in Monster Hunter.
Pathfinder 2e:
There's a few more scorpions in Pathfinder 1e than there are in 2e, and I referenced some of them when designing the akura vashimu. In particular, I made use of the sudden strike ability as well as ambush pit, which is based on Erupt From Beneath. I don't know why I rename some of the abilities between first and second edition, but its crystalline spray and plant geode are pretty basic. Given the short range of this geode as well as the fact that enemies can move away from it, which it tries to discourage with its Combat Reflexes, I wanted to mess around with the action economy a bit and make this a move action to use.
Pathfinder 1e:
Blue's D&D 5e:
ENCOUNTER HOOKS
Mommy Meanest: Tales of a particularly aggressive akura vashimu haunting the caravan routes reaches the heroes' ears just before a contract to hunt the creature does. If they investigate before setting out, they further discover that the akura vashimu is covered in an unusual amount of crystals. The reason for this and its aggression becomes clear when they encounter the akura vashimu and discover that its a mother carrying her brood of children. The children are a leveled-up scorpion swarm who haven't quite developed their crystallization fluid yet, but readily descend upon prey.
Scorpions in the Sand: When exploring an ancient temple in search of secrets pertinent to a greater mission, the heroes stir up its girtablilu guardians. Things go from bad to worse when the girtablilu reveal that they have tamed an akura vashimu that also besets the heroes. If things get too hairy, the heroes may be forced to escape into the ruins, taking advantage of its smaller corridors keeping the larger creatures out.
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Enjoy the video featuring the akura vashimu as well!
Have a monstrous Monday!
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