I messed up a bit last week, but I have since returned - stronger, faster, better. And with the proper monster. With this creature, we'll wrap up the elder dinosaurs from MtG's Rivals of Ixalan set. So with that said, come and check out Zacama, Primal Calamity!
Zacama is pretty beef though in-game lacks the raw power of Ghalta. However, I knew I wanted a creature that stood above the elder dinosaurs - one that could fulfill its role as an avatar of the Threefold Sun. I also wanted something a little beefier than the typical CR 15 heralds of other deities, so I settled on CR 25 for Zacama. I also decided to make the three-headed dino a kaiju rather than the behemoths of the elder dinosaurs, showing it to be part of a deadlier species. I went with the usual assortment of feats to represent 'Vigilance' and 'Trample,' and now that I think about it, I might have been able to use Lunge or something to represent 'Reach.' Capturing the idea of untapping all lands when you cast Zacama didn't really translate well into Pathfinder, which just left its activated abilities.
Ultimately, I decided to use a basic concept for all three - using a move action, a standard action, or a full-round action to increase the efficacy of the ability as though you're plugging more mana into it. The red activated ability is clearly Zacama's Breath Weapon, the mechanics of which I got from Agyra's breath weapon. For the green ability, I went with Sunder Spell, the removing of the magic on items or people effectively copying the ability to destroy artifacts or enchantments. Finally, I went simple with the white ability and made Restorative Roar, allowing Zacama to heal itself. I included some other kaiju abilities but opted for regeneration over the fast healing they typically have along with some SR - the changes I ended up making were designed to bring it more in line with the other elder dinosaurs. I had never realized that behemoths had a slightly better array of defenses over kaiju until I started working on Zacama.
Pathfinder First Edition Version:
With PF2e, I had to come up with what sort of abilities a kaiju would have and am fairly satisfied with the decisions I made. The three action system worked well with how I wanted Zacama's activated abilities to function and I thought it would be fitting to include Trample for this one - it's an ability seen in other large dinosaurs in PF2e. I also included Triple Opportunity to help reflect 'Vigilance' while I looked to the baomal to come up with Three Heads. Beyond that, it is a pretty direct translation over from Pathfinder First Edition though it was a little rough figuring out all the numbers without the help of the Gamemastery Guide - suggested stats in there only go up to 24. So I had to look into the two other level 25 monsters in Pathfinder Second Edition to figure out good ranges for my numbers.
Pathfinder Second Edition Version:
Blue's D&D 5e Version (https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/XSVlrnPq)
ENCOUNTER HOOKS
Let Sleeping Gods Lie: The various elder dinosaurs have been stirred into wakefulness by a mad cult that seeks to end the world so that it be remade anew. After killing or putting the other behemoths to rest, the heroes must fight through subterranean tunnels to track down the cult. The trail leads to a vast, buried city where the cult is trying to awaken the final of the elder dinosaurs – Zacama, Primal Calamity. Rampaging through the city threatens to bring the entire cult down on their head, but if they aren’t quick enough, the cult succeeds on their task. Once awoken, Zacama seeks to burst through the caverns imprisoning it, ignoring the heroes unless they can do something worth drawing its attention.
Overwhelming Force: Zacama has risen but is a threat too great for the heroes to face directly, requiring them to either seek other means of gaining power to face it or discovering a means of pacifying it. This can lead them on quests to recover powerful artifacts and search for hidden legends and lore in search of a way to bring it down. Killing it may even earn the ire of the god, forcing them on a path to pacify it without slaying it. This may require them to delve into ancient ruins or forgotten dungeons to discover secrets about Zacama such as a song to return it to slumber or a magic ritual to seal it.
Next week, we have some more Asian mythology monsters, and then we'll be doing some non-MtG franchise monsters! These elder dinosaurs were fun, but there's definitely a part of me that is glad they're done.
If you want to share your thoughts on Zacama, suggest other creatures I should, join the discussion of monsters I'm working on, or just hang out and chat about general TTRPG homebrew stuff, then have we got a Discord server for you! Come join us at the Monster Monday Discord, and tell us your ideas for monsters, items, maybe even homebrew classes.
Have a Monstrous Monday!
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