Semangat
It’s Volcano Week this week, and I wanted to take the opportunity to create a powerful evil outsider that could serve as a stereotypical “evil god of the volcano,” demanding sacrifices be thrown in the lava to appease it. The more I thought about it, the more this sounded like a job for an asura, especially since I’ve already made it my mission this year to create more high-CR asuras. The result was the semangat, an asura closely linked to volcanoes and lava, and if you keep reading, you’ll find out how and why.
Asura, Semangat
This creature has a humanoid torso, although it is covered in glistening, ruby-red scales. From the waist down, however, its body splits into three long, scaly tails, each bearing fins and undulating slowly in the air, in a manner reminiscent of a fish. It holds a brass trident in its hands, and glowers malevolently.
SEMANGAT CR 17
XP 102,400
LE Large outsider (asura, extraplanar, evil, lawful)
Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +32
Aura elusive (120 ft.)
DEFENSE
AC 30, touch 10, flat-footed 29 (+1 Dex, +20 natural, -1 size)
hp 310 (20d10+200); regeneration 10 (cold damage or good weapons or spells)
Fort +21, Ref +9, Will +19; +2 vs. enchantment
Immune curses, diseases, fire, poison; Resist acid 10, electricity 10; SR 28
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (good), swim 60 ft.
Melee masterwork trident +27/+22/+17/+12 (2d6+9/19-20), 3 tail slaps +20 (1d8+6)
Special Attacks explosive end, regeneration retribution
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 15th; concentration +22)
At Will—burning hands (DC 18), scorching ray
3/day—siroccoAPG (DC 23), stoneskin, tar poolUC (DC 23)
1/day—incendiary cloud (DC25),summon (level 7, 1 semangat 30%, or 1d2 adrasuras 40%), wall of lavaAPG
STATISTICS
Str 23, Dex 13, Con 28, Int 13, Wis 20, Cha 24
Base Atk +20; CMB +27; CMD 38
Feats Combat Reflexes, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical (trident), Improved Initiative, Intimidating Prowess, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Toughness, Weapon Focus (trident)
Skills Climb +29, Escape Artist +7, Fly +22, Intimidate +36, Knowledge (planes) +24, Perception +32, Sense Motive +28, Swim +29; Racial Modifiers +6 Escape Artist, +4 Perception
Languages Common, Infernal; telepathy 100 ft.
SQ lava form
ECOLOGY
Environment any (Hell); warm mountains
Organization solitary
Treasure double
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Explosive End (Su): A semangat can will itself to explode in a shower of lava, though doing so is time consuming and dangerous. In order to use this ability, the semangat must spend two consecutive rounds concentrating. At the end of its turn on the first round, its body visibly swells, and at the end of its turn on the second round, it explodes. If damaged while concentrating, it must succeed on a concentration check (DC 30), as though it were casting a spell. If it fails, its progress is lost, and it must begin again.
If the semangat does successfully cause itself to explode, it deals 20d6 points of fire damage to each creature in a 60-foot-radius burst. A successful Reflex save (DC 29) halves this damage. Creatures that fail their Reflex save are also covered in lava, and suffer 10d6 points of fire damage per round until the lava is removed. A creature can attempt to remove the lava as a full-round action by making a Reflex save (DC 29). Each round, the DC for this save decreases by 2 as the lava cools and hardens. Because clinging lava is more tenacious than fire, dropping and rolling on the ground grants a +2 bonus on this save, and full immersion in water grants only a +5 bonus. A single success reduces the damage each round to 5d6, and a second success removes the lava entirely.
When the semangat uses this ability, its body is destroyed. There is a 30% chance that a small fragment remains from which the semangat can begin to regenerate; it is treated as being at -200 hit points for this purpose. On a result of 31 or higher, or if the semangat’s regeneration wasn’t functioning when it exploded, it is destroyed completely. The saving throw DC is Constitution-based.
Lava Form (Sp): A semangat can cause its body to melt into a pool of living lava. This functions as gaseous form, except that it retains half its natural armor bonus to AC, suffers half damage from all weapon attacks instead of gaining DR 10/magic, and gains a land speed of 20 feet instead of a fly speed. Any creature that shares a square with the semangat while it is in this form suffers 10d6 points of fire damage (Reflex DC 27 for half). The semangat’s elusive aura still functions even in this form. The saving throw DC is Charisma-based.
Regeneration Retribution (Su): If a semangat’s regeneration ceases to function (whether because it suffers cold damage or damage from a good source, or because some spell or similar effect prevents it from regenerating), its body bursts into flames, granting the semangat the burn universal monster ability. The amount of fire damage inflicted by the semangat’s natural attacks and to creatures that damage it is 1d6. Once the semangat’s regeneration resumes functioning, it loses the burn ability.
Ecology
It is believed that the first semangat was created when an ancient deity, in a fit of divine wrath, hurled an entire mountain down to earth, destroying a city of his worshippers who had displeased him in some minor way. Moments later, the deity regretted what he had done, as he had acted rashly and punished his people more heavily than he should, but it was too late: the damage had been done.
Semangats are closely linked to the destructive power of volcanos, and they prefer to spend their time on and around lava, contemplating its dual natures of destructive and creative potential, and how each volcanic eruption wipes away what is in the present in order to make room for the new layers of rock and soil created by the flow. They spend much of their time in Hell around infernal volcanoes, which, as a general rule, are quite terrible and awesome sights to behold. Many semangats find portals and other passageways in the depths of these volcanoes that lead to ones on other planes, and wandering semangats can often be found on the Elemental Plane of Fire, and on the Material Plane, though they rarely venture far from volcanic places there.
When on the Material Plane, semangats often pose as gods with powers over a local volcano, and corrupt locals into worshipping them with threats of dire consequences should they fail to do so. If a semangat on the Material Plane finds itself far from the flames and molten rock that it knows so well, it often will seek them out: sometimes by travelling to an existing volcano, and other times by using occult rituals and a cabal of minions to transform the area into a volcano, in the most destructive and deadly way possible.