Monster Monday - Ravager

A strange, distorted sound resembling a growl emerged from the heavy, mechanical jaws of the beast as it prowled forward. Despite the heft of its frame, it moved with an almost feline grace as the party watched it warily, their backs pressed together. The barbarian and sorcerer faced one as the ranger and druid watched the second of the strange machines attempting to get around behind them. With their ambush clearly disrupted, the machines snarled and the strange devices on their back clicked and twitched. The strange weapons rose into position and suddenly rattled as they unleashed sprays of rounds that forced the party to dodge and throw themselves to the side - creating an opportunity for the ravagers to pounce!

Ravager from Horizon Zero Dawn

This sinister, cybernetic stalker sneaks into a superior spot before springing on unsuspecting soldiers and such, or sending a sweeping salvo of shrapnel into the scene with shocking severity.

If you'd be so kind (or at least interested), you can check out the video on the ravager over on YouTube.

It's another collaboration with Cameron McLoud, which means another Horizon monster! This time, we're building one actually from the game in the form of the ravager, a combat critter that appears to be somewhere between a cat and a canine. It was originally described to me as something of a skirmisher but looking at its design and similar creatures led to a general skirmisher design while its ability scores are a bit more Strength-based. It uses a high Armor Class (extreme for its Components) and HP between high and moderate, making it fairly defensive though it has weaknesses and resistance alike for the heroes to exploit. Given its defenses, its attacks only have a moderate bonus but do some decent damage. Its claws do have the Knockdown ability, which is based on the Pounce ability of the e version.

Partially influenced by this, Pounce is a component of the PF2e ravager's skirmisher design as well and a fairly typical ability. Its reaction, Hunt Down, furthers this concept while design-wise, it is pulled straight from the barbarian and the No Escape feat. Its remaining abilities are a bit more combat-oriented. I could've built its cannon as a ranged Strike, but I followed Cam's lead this time around to build it as an area effect with Cannon Burst, which uses unlimited use area damage and a high DC to dish out its effect. A more limited area effect is Shock Cocoon, featuring a high DC but damage in between high and moderate as it has a chance of inflicting stunned if enemies critically fail their save against it. It can also unleash some electrical effects through its Shock Jaw Smash. This has some similarities to effects such as Vicious Swing, being a two-action damage ramp that gets its jaws Strike up to about extreme damage. However, that extra damage is all electricity that leaps from one enemy to the next. The main target must then attempt a high DC Fortitude save or else, like with the Shock Cocoon, the victim becomes stunned.

Overall, it's a pretty straightforward design but a fun one that I hope you'll all enjoy!

Pathfinder 2e Ravager

Pathfinder 2e Components

Cameron McLoud's D&D 5e Ravager

I've talked about how I struggle a little bit when it comes to devising encounter hooks for these less intelligent creatures. Along with that, I've talked about how the encounter hooks for these Horizon creatures are often similar, which means that I don't actually have anything in mind this time around. However, in a few weeks, Cam and I will be creating a shieldmane to accompany the 'lioness' that is the ravager, and I'll certainly have some ideas when it comes to running them together!

If you're interested in joining the discussion on what creatures/builds I'm working on or just discussing your own homebrew works, check out our Discord! If you want to get some teasers or help us get to our yet unlisted milestones for extra content, check out the Twitter.

Have a monstrous Monday!