The ground rattled, preceding the crimson sphere that launched over the ledge of the cliff. It seemed to hang in the air for a moment, blotting out the sun before it came crashing down among the heroes. They staggered as the earth trembled beneath them, the barbarian losing his footing to the vibrations, while the strange beast unfurled. It rose to stand on a pair of stout, stumpy legs as it raised similarly short but powerful arms, making itself seem larger as it unleashed a resounding bellow.
I've already typed this once today and then accidentally shut off my computer, so forgive me if I'm a little brief for this one. Having gotten a bit deeper into Monster Hunter Rise, I've been hunting the volvidon a bit for a switch axe build and wanted to bring it over to Pathfinder. Resembling a giant armadillo, it is armed with an almost chimeric array of abilities - aside from its obvious shell, it can release a stench-inflicting spray like a skunk, use venom of insects to paralyze adversaries, and even trip up and draw in foes with its long tongue. When rolled up, the volvidon can bowl over people and can also launch itself into the air before coming down with ground-shaking force. Favoring volcanic and deserted regions, the volvidon is immune to fire but susceptible to cold and water.
Probably the most central of the volvidon's powers is its protective curl. As discussed over on the Monster Monday Discord, we've come to the conclusion that DR better represents hide block damage rather than just straight up natural armor. As such, that is what its shell provides for it once curled up. In this state, it can also use its cannonball crash, which borrows heavily from the crush ability of true dragons though not without considerable modifications. Similarly, its musk power is based on the same ability possessed by the skunk while its tongue attack references the chameleon. For its paralysis ability, which I consider to be one of the most awful conditions to suffer from in the game, I kept the duration lower, but possibly too much so. This ability finds better use when the volvidon isn't on its own.
Pathfinder 1e:
In the test for the Pathfinder Second Edition version of the beasty, the volvidon had a rough start due to some early crits, but once Curled Up and able to start Cannonball Crashing around, it was able to deal some serious damage. I ended up decreasing the DC of its crash to a moderate DC because of its ability to inflict a lower degree of success on targets that it lands on. My testers thought that it needed a little further discouragement from spamming this ability and convinced me to add the stunned condition to it. The only other change I made was adding the caveat to its Paralyzing Saliva that reduces the DC for each turn spent paralyzed. As with the 1e version, many of its abilities are based on the powers of other creatures, all brought together into a single monster.
The idea for its item comes from a suggestion made by SH3R4TA5 over on the MM Discord, keeping something that is protective while also playing into rolling around foes.
Pathfinder 2e:
Blue's D&D 5e:
Sorry for any briefness, I'm gonna blame it on losing everything I already had typed up!
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Have a monstrous Monday!
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