Andrew D. Gable
First Post
PRIMAL
In days now lost to the mists of ancient history, the world was a more primal place and the gods took an active hand in the affairs of mortals. The beasts which came about in those days were terrible indeed, giant monsters with an intellect that rivalled their savagery. Still, with the help of the gods mortal men overcame these great beasts, and built splendid cities and palaces that dazzled the eye. They sang out the praises of their deities, and they lived and died in the nations they built.
Then, in one terrible day, all that changed.
The gods grew wrathful at men, for what slights or misdeeds none can now say. In one day of wrath, the land was cast down. Many mortals died, and their cities and palaces drowned under the seas. Ages later, the world emerged from its dark age, and new nations were built. New heads bore new crowns, and new banners were raised to fly in the breezes. But not all from that primal era had died.
Some of the great beasts lived on, hidden away in far corners of the world. These are the primals. Many primals are feared, respected, even worshipped in their respective areas by folk who believe them to be manifestations of the gods.
Creating An Primal
"Primal" is a template that can be applied to any Aberration, Animal, Dragon, Fey, Giant, Magical Beast, or Plant. It uses all the base creature’s statistics and abilities except as noted here.
Size/Type: The creature's type changes to Magical Beast. Size increases one category, up to Colossal.
Hit Dice: Primals usually have Hit Dice that are advanced to the maximum or even beyond for their species. In addition, they receive maximum hit points per die. Die type increases to d10, unless it is already higher.
AC: A primal receives +5 natural armor.
Special Attacks: A primal retains all the base creature’s attack forms, plus it gains 1d2 of the following.
* Breath Weapon (Su): Every 1d4 rounds, the primal may make a breath weapon attack. The breath weapon is always a line, with length determined as per a dragon’s breath. This weapon does 3d8+Charisma modifier damage, and may be of acid, cold, fire, lightning or positive or negative energy (in these cases, it also inflicts a negative level to creatures of evil or good struck, respectively).
* Gorespray (Ex): The primal has a damaging bloodstream. Its blood may be acid, cold, fire, lightning, positive energy or negative energy. Whenever the creature is struck by a critical hit, its blood sprays out in a 5-foot aura around it, dealing 1d8+Charisma modifier damage (in addition, a negative level is dealt to good creatures struck by negative energy, or evil creatures struck by positive energy. Upon its death, the corpse explodes with the damaging blood, dealing 3d8+Charisma modifier damage to all within 10 feet (all additional effects also apply).
* Multiple Heads (Ex): The creature has multiple heads, up to one per size category over Medium. These new heads can make additional bite attacks at the creature's normal attack bonus (or highest attack bonus, should it have multiple attacks already). The new heads can take no other actions. If this power is applied to a creature such as a hydra which gains power from additional heads, the creature's Hit Dice increase accordingly.
* Spell-Like Abilities (Sp): The primal may use 1d6 spells of up to 5th level as spell-like abilities. The spell-like abilities are usable 3/day, and take effect as if cast by a sorcerer of a level equal to its Hit Dice.
Special Qualities: A primal retains all the base creature’s special qualities, plus the following.
* Fast Healing (Ex): A primal regenerates 10 hit points per round.
* Spell Resistance (Su): 15+½ HD.
* Torpor (Ex): Similar to the tarrasque, a primal slips into a cycle of 10d10 year long slumbers, broken by a relatively brief period of wakefulness (2d10 years).
Abilities: Str +14, Dex +14, Con +16, Int +10, Cha +12.
Skills: A primal has the skill points and class skills of the base creature, adjusted for its modified Intelligence. A primal knows Common, as well as 1d4 other languages.
Challenge Rating: Base creature +10.
Treasure: Often triple or even quadruple standard.
In days now lost to the mists of ancient history, the world was a more primal place and the gods took an active hand in the affairs of mortals. The beasts which came about in those days were terrible indeed, giant monsters with an intellect that rivalled their savagery. Still, with the help of the gods mortal men overcame these great beasts, and built splendid cities and palaces that dazzled the eye. They sang out the praises of their deities, and they lived and died in the nations they built.
Then, in one terrible day, all that changed.
The gods grew wrathful at men, for what slights or misdeeds none can now say. In one day of wrath, the land was cast down. Many mortals died, and their cities and palaces drowned under the seas. Ages later, the world emerged from its dark age, and new nations were built. New heads bore new crowns, and new banners were raised to fly in the breezes. But not all from that primal era had died.
Some of the great beasts lived on, hidden away in far corners of the world. These are the primals. Many primals are feared, respected, even worshipped in their respective areas by folk who believe them to be manifestations of the gods.
Creating An Primal
"Primal" is a template that can be applied to any Aberration, Animal, Dragon, Fey, Giant, Magical Beast, or Plant. It uses all the base creature’s statistics and abilities except as noted here.
Size/Type: The creature's type changes to Magical Beast. Size increases one category, up to Colossal.
Hit Dice: Primals usually have Hit Dice that are advanced to the maximum or even beyond for their species. In addition, they receive maximum hit points per die. Die type increases to d10, unless it is already higher.
AC: A primal receives +5 natural armor.
Special Attacks: A primal retains all the base creature’s attack forms, plus it gains 1d2 of the following.
* Breath Weapon (Su): Every 1d4 rounds, the primal may make a breath weapon attack. The breath weapon is always a line, with length determined as per a dragon’s breath. This weapon does 3d8+Charisma modifier damage, and may be of acid, cold, fire, lightning or positive or negative energy (in these cases, it also inflicts a negative level to creatures of evil or good struck, respectively).
* Gorespray (Ex): The primal has a damaging bloodstream. Its blood may be acid, cold, fire, lightning, positive energy or negative energy. Whenever the creature is struck by a critical hit, its blood sprays out in a 5-foot aura around it, dealing 1d8+Charisma modifier damage (in addition, a negative level is dealt to good creatures struck by negative energy, or evil creatures struck by positive energy. Upon its death, the corpse explodes with the damaging blood, dealing 3d8+Charisma modifier damage to all within 10 feet (all additional effects also apply).
* Multiple Heads (Ex): The creature has multiple heads, up to one per size category over Medium. These new heads can make additional bite attacks at the creature's normal attack bonus (or highest attack bonus, should it have multiple attacks already). The new heads can take no other actions. If this power is applied to a creature such as a hydra which gains power from additional heads, the creature's Hit Dice increase accordingly.
* Spell-Like Abilities (Sp): The primal may use 1d6 spells of up to 5th level as spell-like abilities. The spell-like abilities are usable 3/day, and take effect as if cast by a sorcerer of a level equal to its Hit Dice.
Special Qualities: A primal retains all the base creature’s special qualities, plus the following.
* Fast Healing (Ex): A primal regenerates 10 hit points per round.
* Spell Resistance (Su): 15+½ HD.
* Torpor (Ex): Similar to the tarrasque, a primal slips into a cycle of 10d10 year long slumbers, broken by a relatively brief period of wakefulness (2d10 years).
Abilities: Str +14, Dex +14, Con +16, Int +10, Cha +12.
Skills: A primal has the skill points and class skills of the base creature, adjusted for its modified Intelligence. A primal knows Common, as well as 1d4 other languages.
Challenge Rating: Base creature +10.
Treasure: Often triple or even quadruple standard.
