The fighter gritted his teeth as the cascade of water pounded against his raised shield, driving him back through the muck and mire. He lowered his shield and fixed his glare on a distant, hulking shape through the trees. Firmly planted in the swamp was a six-legged entity, tree-trunk thick legs supporting a rotund body from which wild vegetation sprouted. A strange mix of wild growth covered its body and the pair of hollow logs that jutted from its form were overgrown with moss. Remnants of foliage and water dripped from the end of the logs, a small stream dropping from the one that had just launched its payload at the warrior and his companions. The cleric helped the wizard to her feet as the rogue readied her daggers and split off towards the other side, darting as best she could through the muck towards the mangrove artillerist as it readied itself for another blast.
Illustration by SethMonster
It's an original monster this week and a concept that I have been toying with for a while. The concept is captured perfectly in its name of mangrove artillerist, a wooden elemental and plant that is able to launch payloads from afar. This creature actually went through quite a bit of rework with the Monster Mash when we tested it, with one I made mid-test. With its focus as a ranged combatant and ability to bombard multiple creatures at once, it initially had a high armor class that proved to be far too potent. Its Hit Points are moderate for a similar reason. Its melee Strikes have a moderate bonus and moderate damage to match, but as a focused ranged combatant, it is armed with a trunk cannon that uses a high attack bonus with its damage being on the lower end.
And this is because of its Trunk Cannon effect. Aside from outlining the basic function of its trunk cannons, it details the munitions that the artillerist can use, all of which include effects outside of its damage. These extra effects lend to that lower damage especially because all but one of them happen automatically without any chance for the enemies to save. Recovering from the sickened condition this inflicts requires a save against a high DC whereas the Sapping Seeds that it plants in its victims use only a moderate DC given the danger that they present. These seeds saw a lot of change from the mash in which they posthumously slew one of the players because they were too oppressive. Changing them to function as a poison offered a few benefits, such as allowing allies to help an afflicted character recover from it, and then I also moved the drained condition to later stages since that conditions makes it harder to recover from it in the first place.
Sylvan Sharpshooter helps the artillerist make its shots in its preferred environments whereas Swamp Stride lets it more safely maneuver around in those same habitats, which proved very important in the Monster Mash where the entire party were faster than it - but couldn't quite catch it easily in its domain. Further helping it in that regard is Cannon Leap, which can end some surprising but fun mobility to the artillerist at the cost of consuming its ammunition. It used this to great effect in the test and while it didn't have it for long, it also made great use out of its central ability, Dig In. This puts some 'art' in the 'artillery' as it lets the monster bombard targets and afflict multitudes with the extra effects of its variable ammunition. However, it is limited when it comes to attacking creatures within its volley range, taking a penalty against them. To help it keep enemies grouped up and vulnerable to this effect, it has a few spells, which us a high spell DC and spell attack roll. Finally, to give it some protection for when the heroes close and especially when it has to contend with closed in foes that have Reactive Strike, it has Replenishing Reload to give it a small buffer that aids its survivability.
Pathfinder 2e:
One of the biggest issues when it came to converting the mangrove artillerist to Pathfinder 1e was working out its action economy. I ultimately had to make its reload into a swift action to make it work while also designing its dig in as a move action. I did draw a bit from the cannon golem, as seen with its gun training aiding its damage. This added some extra oomph to its cannons, which saw me adding a saving throw to the extra effects inflicted by its trunk cannons. I was able to take some ranged combat feats when designing this creature with options such as Lob Shot standing out perfectly and Forest Ambush just being a lot of fun.
Pathfinder 1e:
Blue's D&D 5e:
ENCOUNTER HOOK
Walls of Wood and Woe: The heroes are at a border town that has been deemed a blight by the natural forces that feel they are encroaching too deeply. The heroes are called upon to defend the settlement when the attack comes. And when it does, many are likely surprised to find the lead of the arboreal assault to be mangrove artillerists who bombard the town walls. The heroes must weather the assault before they can strike out to engage with these enemies beyond the wall.
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Have a monstrous Monday!