Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Frightful Fridays! Needlesphere

Happy New Year and welcome back to Frightful Fridays! (not actually on Friday this week) The new year starts with a ball of needles which bounces around and treats characters as its pincushions. It then flies apart into a veritable swarm of needles to get up close and stabby.

I hope you enjoy the needlesphere, and I'll see you later this week with another monster. Thanks for reading!


A cohesive ball of needles rolls of its own accord. Painfully sharp needles, dripping with a viscous red fluid, fly from the mass.
Needlesphere      CR 11
XP 12,800
N Large construct
Init +9; Senses blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +9
DEFENSE
AC 27, touch 15, flat-footed 21 (+5 Dex, +1 dodge, +12 natural, –1 size)
hp 112 (15d10+30)
Fort +5, Ref +12, Will +6
Defensive Abilities needle defense; DR 10/bludgeoning and magic; Immune construct traits; Resist cold 10, fire 10
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft.
Melee slam +18 (4d6+4 plus pain and poison)
Ranged 4 needles +19 (1d6+4 and poison)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks autonomous attacks, poison
STATISTICS
Str 18, Dex 21, Con —, Int —, Wis 13, Cha 5
Base Atk +15; CMB +20; CMD 36 (can't be tripped)
Feats DodgeB, Improved InitiativeB, Lightning ReflexesB, MobilityB, Spring AttackB
Skills Perception +9; Racial Modifiers +8 Perception
SQ camouflage, needleswarm form
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Autonomous Attacks (Ex) A needlesphere can make ranged needle attacks as part of a full attack or when it uses Spring Attack.
Camouflage (Ex) Since a needlesphere looks like a pile of needles when at rest, a DC 20 Perception check is required to notice it before it attacks for the first time. Anyone with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can use this skill instead of Perception to notice the creature.
Needle Defense (Ex) Any creature that strikes a needlesphere with a non-reach melee weapon, unarmed strike, or natural weapon takes 1d6+4 points of piercing damage from the needlesphere’s needles, suffers from the creature’s pain attack, and is subject to the creature’s poison.
Needles (Ex) A needlesphere’s needles have a range increment of 20 feet. If the sphere is reduced to 50 or fewer hp, it can no longer make ranged attacks.
Needleswarm Form (Ex) On command or when a needlesphere drops to 30 or fewer hp, it reverts to a swarm of needles (refer to the statblock below). The needleswarm has the needlesphere’s current hp or the needleswarm’s listed hp, whichever is lower.
Pain (Ex) A foe hurt by a needlesphere’s slam attack or needle defense must succeed at a DC 22 Reflex save or a needle breaks off in its flesh, causing the target to become sickened until all embedded needles are removed. Removing a needle requires a DC 15 Heal check made as a full-round action. For every 5 by which the check is exceeded, one additional needle can be removed. On a failed check, the needle is still removed, but this deals 1d6+4 points of damage to the victim. The save DC is Dexterity-based.
Needlesphere Poison (Ex) Needle or slam—injury; save Fort DC 17; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d4 Dex; cure 2 consecutive saves.
Slam (Ex) A needlesphere’s slam attacks deal bludgeoning and piercing damage.

A cloud of needles swirls around a tiny core of metal. Each needle glows red as if it was just pulled from a fire.
Needleswarm      CR 11
XP 12,800
N Fine construct (swarm)
Init +9; Senses blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +9
DEFENSE
AC 26, touch 24, flat-footed 20 (+5 Dex, +1 dodge, +2 natural, +8 size)
hp 97 (15d10+15)
Fort +5, Ref +12, Will +6
Defensive Abilities swarm traits; Immune construct traits; Resist cold 10, fire 10
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft., fly 30 ft. (perfect)
Melee swarm (3d6 plus 2d6 fire, distraction, pain, and poison)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks distraction (DC 17), poison
STATISTICS
Str 1, Dex 21, Con —, Int —, Wis 13, Cha 5
Base Atk +15; CMB —; CMD
Feats DodgeB, Improved InitiativeB, Lightning ReflexesB, MobilityB, ToughnessB
Skills Fly +21, Perception +9; Racial Modifiers +8 Perception
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Pain (Ex) A foe hurt by a needleswarm’s swarm attack must succeed at a DC 22 Reflex save or a needle breaks off in its flesh, causing the target to become sickened until all embedded needles are removed. Removing a needle requires a DC 15 Heal check made as a full-round action. For every 5 by which the check is exceeded, one additional needle can be removed. On a failed check, the needle is still removed, but this deals 1d6 points of damage to the victim. The save DC is Dexterity-based.
Needlesphere Poison (Ex) Swarm—injury; save Fort DC 17; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d4 Dex; cure 2 consecutive saves.

Needlespheres are odd golem-like constructs created to serve particularly sadistic spellcasters who can afford them. Like many lesser golems, needlespheres are programmed to guard an object or area when created; this programming typically cannot be changed after creation. The spheres have two basic forms: a densely compact sphere with the ability to fire individual needles at multiple targets, and a loose collection of needles capable of swarming targets. The magnetic energy holding the swarm form together generates friction among the needles, causing them to superheat and burn targets caught in the swarm.

Construction
A needlesphere is created from 1,000 pounds of individual masterwork needles and a chunk of magnetic ore costing a total of 5,500 gp.

Needlesphere
CL 9th; Price 45,500 gp
CONSTRUCTION
Requirements Craft Construct, lead blades, lesser geas, poison, summon swarm, caster must be at least 11th level; Skill Craft (sculpting) DC 20; Cost 25,500 gp