The tink of metal against metal rang out from the dilapidated hovel, sounding steadily like the beat of a drum. Through tangles of concertina wire, abandoned scraps, and crumbling halls, the sound rang. Its origin was a room not fit for its towering occupant who sat cross-legged in the room, surrounded by scraps of broken tools, toys, and people. Much of its bulk was obscured by the overflowing backpack and feathered cape, making it difficult to pick out the specifics of its features. It cradled a dented pot that it slowly hammered at with the blunted backside of a hatchet that looked tiny in its oversized hands. As a board creaked in the rotted husk of a house, its head snapped to the side, revealing a face hidden behind a red, beaked mask.
After building the meathead, I decided to take a crack at another creature from Hunt: Showdown, only this time I decided to build a boss from the game. Unfortunately, I apparently deleted all the notes I took on the Scrapbeak, but I remember some of the things I wanted to capture. Firstly was Scrapbeak's use of concertina bombs to create hazardous terrain. I also wanted to explore the fact that attacks will sometimes knock items out of Scrapbeak's pack and that he will lob his concertina bombs at people the hurt him. In an effort to explore more of the benefits that his pack offers him, I wanted it to protect him from behind and also shield him a little bit as he is noted to be resistant to piercing damage. While Scrapbeak can wield a few different weapons, most pictures I found of him feature the hatchet, and so I decided to have that be his main weapon for this design. Also, Scrapbeak possesses the ability to inflict bleed and while it wasn't something I wanted every single one of his attacks to apply, I did want to include it.
I talked to the guy who initially inspired my decision to build creatures from Hunt: Showdown and he mentioned how defeating a boss involves 'banishing' them. Given that information and the general theme of the game, I settled on outsider (native) for Scrapbeak's creature type. We also came to the conclusion that a low-mid CR suited him and likely the other bosses best, especially in comparison to the high-fantasy world of Pathfinder. His defenses are fairly simple, with overstuffed sack both a protective measure and something that the PCs can potentially benefit from. I also simply settled on straight-up damage reduction that is only penetrated by piercing. It felt a little weird building a creature that uses a weapon instead of a natural attack even though I did the Davy Jones build somewhat recently, but it ends up being fairly straightforward. Spiteful toss gives it the bomb-tossing reaction to damage, which is enhanced by Combat Reflexes. Then blood frenzy allows it to fly into a rage that enhances its speed. While I have this set to really only trigger once, Scrapbeak does this several times throughout Hunt: Showdown, which is just a sacrifice that has to be made to keep things simpler. A large portion of Scrapbeak's description is taken up by his concertina bombs, which I had to list out along with his ability to wade through their effects unharmed. I wasn't sure what to use for the DC before settling on Int, much like an alchemist. I have movement through the hazardous terrain clear it, much like caltrops. Finally, Scrapbeak has the Bloody Assault feat to inflict bleed damage.
Pathfinder 1e:
Recently, I've been designing the 2e versions of the monsters first so that I can test them out before posting them, so this 2e Scrapbeak was built before the 1e Scrapbeak. Distinct abilities were combined for the 1e version, but it is otherwise much the same as found there. Some key differences are its Frenzy being split into Final Frenzy to better capture the feel of that incremental increase in speed. Hack and Slash covers Bloody Assault and specifically has the flourish trait since I had Final Frenzy grant an unlimited quickened. Also, I included the concertina bomb as a separate thing for anybody who just wants that.
Pathfinder 2e:
Blue's D&D 5e:
ENCOUNTER HOOKS
Broken Remains: As a war rages, stories have grown about the victims of it returning home – shambling corpses whose broken limbs and grotesque wounds have been crudely patched. While these undead have enough memory to crawl home, they retain little else and savagely attack their friends and family. Regardless of which side they serve, the heroes are asked to investigate the bizarre circumstances. The heroes must collect information from the survivors of the attacks in hopes of learning where their loved ones were battle and then try to track down whoever is bringing them back. As they follow the trail, they find more undead threatening them, including some that have concertina bombs in their chest cavities that explode when they die. They eventually discover that Scrapbeak has been trying to ‘repair’ that corpses left by battles. The heroes must put a stop to the tinkering fiend and his growing army of scrap-metal zombies.
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Have a monstrous Monday!
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