The barbarian roared as his axe smashed through one cultist into another, but the sound of his fury was almost lost as a horn blew over the battlefield. Perched atop a crumbling pillar in the dilapidated temple, the ranger looked towards the top of a hill from where the sound came. She paused in her firing of arrows to watch as a looming figure crested over the ridge. Festooned in the adornments and designs of the swarming cult that she and her companions battled against, the vast creature walked on all fours, its heavy fists slamming into the earth. Atop its broad, flat back was an altar with a writhing victim strapped to it and a particularly well-adorned cultist looming over them. Another rider atop the beast blew a resounding horn again and the massive construct begin to pound its way towards the party.
This creature has some history behind it, being the first Pathfinder creature that my buddy Blue made a D&D 5e conversion of and shared with me. This was before we started posting to the blog and so on a post close to the anniversary of the blog, I wanted to post a revised version of it!
The living altar was inspired by art I found with this version featuring new art from SethMonster. It is a construct meant to channel divine power while also serving as a chariot of sorts for clergy of the faith it is dedicated to. While a fun creature, it isn’t overloaded with abilities like some creations that I have put together. As a construct, it has a bunch of immunities naturally, but also has DR and SR as a powerful, magically infused construct. Its slam attacks have the grab ability so that it can seize foes and then use its shackle ability to entrap a creature atop its altar. Since this pins the creature, it sets them up for a coup de grace for a creature riding atop the altar. This in turn plays into its sacrifice to the gods where a cleric can finish off a creature to harness their soul to fuel their divine magic. I did consider having this sacrifice grant the living altar access to these domain spells until the end of its next turn instead of fueling a cleric’s spells, but it doesn’t work as well for the Pathfinder First Edition version. Finally, with the dedication to a deity, sort of the passive effect of sacrifice to the gods, the living altar actively suppresses magic that opposes its deity with its sacrilegious aura. As more of a mount and a brutal tank than a planner, the living altar doesn’t have a lot of tools in its box but the ones he does have, he uses them well.
Pathfinder 1e:
While the PF1e living altar mostly just needed a touch up and some of the dust blown off, I decided to take the chance to do a slight rebuild of the Pathfinder Second Edition living altar. A quick discussion on numbers, it only has one skill, but it does that one skill rather well. While its attacks have the Grab ability, its investment in Athletics is intended to make it more difficult for its victims to escape. A standard AC and HP towards the lower end of the range is balanced by the vast array of immunities that constructs naturally possess as well as its physical resistances. While its Fortitude is fairly high, its Reflex and Will saves are a step above terrible, allowing the players try to figure out a way to exploit that weakness. Spell resistance isn’t a feature in PF2e, so it receives a status bonus on its saves against magic to compensate the loss of that ability.
I included the Mounted Pulpit feature to simplify creatures riding or standing atop it while also giving enemies a chance to do so ala Shadow of the Colossus. I renamed the 1e’s sacrifice to the gods to Graven Image to better describe how the altar is crafted, dedicated, and generally built in the image of a deity. I also decided to expand upon it, allowing the living altar to trigger and wield the spell it grants, which works easier in 2e because of the ability to assign spell DCs and spell attack bonuses. Sacrilegious aura follows the same idea as its original concept. In the interest of a fun and interesting reaction, which is one of my favorite things about 2e monster design, the living altar gains Saving Grace. The decision to include this ability came after the monster test where the cultist I included atop of it kept getting knocked off. It provides more interactivity between the living altar and any allied creatures riding it. Its fists have a high attack bonus but I erred towards moderate damage to account for its Grab ability. I specifically chose Grab over Improved Grab because I want it to have to spend the action so that it takes it at least two turns to set up for Lay Sacrifice. Because this ability is two actions and it requires the living altar to already have the victim in hand, I decided to forgo a check or anything of that sort on it. Additionally, I was convinced by my test subjects to lower its Escape DC slightly so that non-martial classes have a chance of getting out of there.
Pathfinder 2e:
Blue's D&D 5e:
ENCOUNTER HOOKS
Buried Gods: The heroes stop off to rest in a coastal town, or may have even been asked to investigate it, where disappearances have been happening. The townsfolk are friendly enough but there's a strangeness in the air, which the heroes soon realize come from the cult living within and under the town. Leading this cult, one likely dedicated to an eldritch abomination of a deity, is a neophyte priest of the foul god. He controls the cult and the townspeople, some of whom seek to enlist the aid of the heroes, with the living altar dedicated to the god that he discovered. Disabling or destroying this monstrous monolith shatters his hold.
Wake the Gods: While in a smaller village on the outskirts of a mysterious jungle, the heroes are present when a raid is conducted upon the village. This cult is led by several powerful priests and their living altar mounts but they seem uninterested in extending fights. While they leave fanatics to slow down the heroes, they are more intent on seizing hostages and fleeing into the jungle. If the heroes are able to follow immediately, this may result in a chase, but if the altars get away, the heroes must track them down. At the end of the trail, the heroes discover a massive lost temple where the sacrifices are being brought. If they investigate the temple, they discover that it is similar to the living altars - a vast construct dedicated to a wicked god that the priests are trying to reawaken with sacrifices.
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Have a monstrous Monday!
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