There was a single shout of warning, ringing out over the din of battle, for the fighter, but it was enough. It bought him the second to get his shield up, get in place just as the impact against it nearly launched him from his feat and wrenched the protection from his grasp. Instead, he managed to reduce the fling into a push that sent him sliding through the muck and giving him the chance to regard his adversary. The creature prowled upon all fours, horse-like in size and mass but possessing a feline grace as a long tail, tipped with a spiked club of bone, flicked back and forth. Amidst its green scales were plates that looked like armor, but there were no straps or bands holding them in place. They grew out of the beast’s body alongside an entire arsenal of weapons. It stabbed the air menacingly with it lancing tusks before pouncing towards him once more.
War Tarragon by SethMonster
Featuring the illustrious art of SethMonster, this week’s creature feature is the war tarragon, the third entry into my tarragon series of monsters – which, for those not in the know, is what I’m calling the quadrupedal, wingless dragons that don’t otherwise exist in Pathfinder but are called drakes in that other game. The war tarragon is designed using the soldier road map, which is perhaps most apparent with its Reactive Strike and Deflecting Crest. It might seem odd to design a creature with two reactions and sometimes this forces a choice on the GM’s part, but for the war tarragon, it has Honed Reflexes. This grants it two reactions each round, but it doesn’t necessarily have to split its reactions between those two – it could make two Reactive Strikes or two Deflecting Crests within a round. However, to use its Deflecting Crest in the first place, the war tarragon has to use its Raise Plates action, which changes its high Armor Class to a point below extreme. With many of its Strikes and body parts intended to resemble various weapons, this resembles a shield and provides protective armor for the tarragon instead of more weaponry.
As mentioned, the war tarragon's numerous Strikes are based on a selection of weapons and use a high attack bonus, save for its lance-like tusks, with a range of damage determined by their traits. The intent is to make them all worth using depending on the situation and what the war tarragon wants to do and to further encourage the use of its different 'weapons,' it has unique actions for each of them. Some of them are very simple, like the Improved Knockdown of its tail. Others emulate abilities without fully resembling them, like its Chaaaaarge!!!, which borrows heavily from something like Powerful Charge with enough movement meaning that its high damage becomes extreme. Additionally, it can attempt to unseat mounted foes with a high DC Fortitude save. Its remaining weapon abilities come from the effects of feats. Vicious Cleave is very directly based on the fighter's Swipe feat while Impaling Claw is based on the barbarian's Impaling Thrust. This differs from many other impaling abilities, which usually grant the creature the ability to drag others around, but that's not what the war tarragon wants to do. It's on a battlefield, not trying to drag prey back to its lair.
The war tarragon also has its own draconic powers that it can call upon. The other two tarragons I've made have had auras and I decided to make it a through line in future tarragons. For this one, it has War Fervor, which can cause a character to become consumed by their moment of martial mastery and loses themselves in a battle lust - unless they succeed at the moderate DC Will save it forces upon them. Failing to do so leaves them confused, lost in their battle lust. Naturally, the war tarragon does come with a breath weapon but rather than releasing gouts of flame or anything like that, it can unleash a War Cry, which deals limited use area damage at a high DC. It also very briefly empowers the war tarragon and its allies, making them quickened though only once per minute to avoid this ability becoming overwhelming.
Pathfinder 2e:
The Pathfinder First Edition war tarragon might look like a slightly simpler design, but it has martial flexibility, allowing it to buy combat feats depending on the situation it is face. To that end, it has a line-up of very basic feats to build off of them, using them as prerequisites to gain benefits as needed. It maintains its war cry and war fervor abilities but a lot of the weapon-based abilities aren't there - because the intent is to use its martial flexibility to recreate them. Sadly, there isn't really something to replicate its Raise Plates or Deflecting Crest because shields just don't work that way in PF1e.
Pathfinder 1e:
Blue's D&D 5e:
ENCOUNTER HOOKS
War Time: The heroes are fighting skirmishes during a war, taking out squads, powerful individuals, and siege engines that are turning the tide of battle. However, a war tarragon turns the tables by springing upon them, forcing them into a fight, possibly alongside others of its kind or with a troop.
Test Your Mettle: With war on the horizon, the heroes are attempting to recruit powerful forces to serve in their own army. They seek out a war tarragon to enlist its martial might but to do so, they are forced to prove themselves in battle against the creature. The heroes may not necessarily need to win and simply prove themselves capable enough to impress the war tarragon.
I had some fun making this video and you might just have some fun watching it!
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Have a monstrous Monday!
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