With a contented sigh, the ranger slid the backpack from her shoulders and stretched as she waltzed into the clearing. Settling onto a collection of rocks, she dug through her pack to retrieve the simple rations that she had packed. Under the warm, afternoon sun, she merrily chewed upon her loaf of bread, interspersing her bites with nibbles from the cheese she had packed along with it. Her rest was interrupted by a rumble and a shifting in the earth beneath her, causing her roll to slip from her grasp. She scowled but had little time to worry about her lost meal as the rocks heaved beneath her, rising into the air. Sliding off, she collected her bow from the ground and spun as the skarn fully pulled free from the earth and fixed her with an angry glare.
I wanted to diversify my monsters a bit so I decided to finally tap into Dauntless and its slew of interesting creatures, starting with the terrakinetic skarn. I designed the skarn to have a slightly lower HP than average to make up for its carapace ability meant to reflect its power to create an armor from stone around itself. Given that hammers shatter its armor in-game, I picked bludgeoning to be the type of damage that bypassed its DR. In my initial concept, I was going to have it use HP from its carapace to activate certain abilities; however, balancing that idea seemed unnecessarily difficult. Its more offensive powers include its classic cyclone of stone, which I had to balance out a little bit when it came to figuring out how to make it all work. I was thinking about adding in that it becomes concealed from all the dirt and stone flying around it, but felt like there was enough going on with the ability.
It already has some ranged capabilities thanks to its rock throwing, but I wanted to include its ability to summon a spike of earth from the ground with erupting spike. Finally, stomping burrow is an offensive ability that gives it a chance to knock creatures prone while repositioning. Naturally, I had to include its ability to hide itself within the ground with its burrowed disguise.
Pathfinder 1e:
The 2e skarn is a pretty straightforward translation from the 1e version that I built, but I did of course give it a reaction to further defend itself when it has its Carapace. For the Carapace ability itself, I wanted it to greatly increase its defenses from its AC to its HP.
Pathfinder 2e:
Blue's D&D 5e:
ENCOUNTER HOOKS
Mine Your Manners: The presence of a potent ley line has caused a strange development in the minerals in an area that miners are taking advantage of. However, a skarn takes issue with the intruders and attacks them, driving the miners from the tunnels they’ve dug. The owner of the mine hires the heroes to clear out the beast dwelling there but in the absence of the miners, other creatures have taken up residence in the caverns, careful to avoid the skarn but eager to prey on any other intruders. Furthermore, the skarn’s burrowing through the area has left the tunnels unstable, making them dangerous if disturbed too much.
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Have a monstrous Monday!
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